Ecological Architect

The attributes from having both professions at beginner level 15 had increased Lincon's strength by several times over.

Especially after his Strength and Mental Power broke through 100, his body seemed to undergo some mysterious changes.

Mental Power was no longer confined to his body and could now be projected outward.

His Strength had also undergone a special mutation. His skin had become harder, like solid rock. Even a reinforced carving knife could barely break the skin.

When he threw a punch with Xingyi Fist, it seemed capable of stirring up the surrounding energy for his own use.

Lincon tried to find a Weird Calamity to practice on, only to discover that even without using Mental Power, the aura shield enveloping his skin could harm Weird Calamities.

Lincon had asked Li Zhouhai about this. Li Zhouhai's answer was that Lincon's physical enhancement had already reached the threshold of a C-Class Ability User.

Qi force could be released outward, and the energy within his body could constantly adhere to the surface of his skin, forming its own cycle. This was the hallmark of a C-Class enhancement-type Ability User.

Likewise, when the Plant Cultivator's abilities manifested externally, it signified that the Plant Cultivator profession had entered the C-Rank tier.

In other words, once Lincon's profession reached level 15, it was equivalent to an Ability User advancing from D-rank to C-Rank.

In fact, bolstered by his dual professions, he had already entered the C-Rank tier.

Unfortunately, there was still a threshold. Although he did not need to comprehend things like the energy of heaven and earth as other Ability Users did, he still had to complete a class advancement mission.

Lincon looked at the panel. Beside his Lord's Talent, a blue upward arrow was flashing.

[Talent: Lord ↑]

This meant that if his main profession successfully advanced, his Lord's Talent would also rise to level two.

A Level-Two Lord's Talent would bring about a qualitative transformation in his main profession.

[Longwind Lord]

[Having comprehended the Leader's Heart, you have gained the support of your subjects and can command a greater mobilization of talent and resources. From this day onward, you will no longer be alone. Behind you stand countless hearts. Your will shall be the law of the territory.]

From the description alone, Lincon could clearly sense the transformation of the profession. Changing from a guardian to a Lord was not merely a change in name, but a fundamental evolution in the nature of its power.

He would completely transform from a warrior defending one place into a ruler who set the laws of an entire region.

Naturally, the class advancement was no easy task: hunt a C-Rank Weird Calamity alone and establish the Lord's prestige through it.

However, another problem now lay before him: the choice of advancement for his secondary profession.

Botanist, Plant Mage, Ecological Architect.

The three were actually easy enough to understand.

The Botanist clearly leaned toward cultivating Spirit Plants. Even its advancement mission required cultivating a C-Rank Plant.

And Lincon keenly noticed something else.

Fusion.

If he became a Botanist, he might unlock a new way of using his abilities. Beyond simply evolving plants, he would also be able to fuse them.

He could fuse two different Spirit Plants and evolve them into a higher-level plant.

The second advancement path was even simpler: Plant Mage.

Contract a war plant with at least B-Rank growth potential. This profession obviously leaned more toward combat. It would greatly enhance his fighting power while unlocking a new method.

Contracting.

If there had not been a third hidden profession, Lincon would most likely have chosen Plant Mage.

After all, Longwind Fortress was now surrounded by enemies, while the fortress had too few Ability Users to withstand an attack by Ability Users from Flint or Black Iron.

Lincon looked at the hidden profession on the Sub-Profession Panel: Ecological Architect.

The color of this profession was distinctly different from the other two, a deep purplish-black.

It was more deeply bound to his main profession, and its advancement mission was absurdly difficult. Not only did he have to withstand a C-Rank Black Tide assault, he also had to clear the Trial Space set by the panel.

If the first two profession missions were B-Rank or C-Rank in difficulty, then this final hidden profession was unquestionably S-Rank.

What did a C-Rank Black Tide assault mean?

Even a city guarded by a B-Class Ability User might not be able to withstand a C-Rank Black Tide assault.

Back then, Shangmai City had been breached in less than half an hour despite having one C-Class Ability User and more than a dozen D-rank Ability Users, including Li Zhouhai. That alone showed how terrifying a C-Rank Black Tide was.

Not only would it contain large numbers of Dark Creatures, there was also a high chance of C-Rank Anomaly Calamities or Weird Calamities appearing within it. The difficulty was several times greater.

However, a hidden profession with such high difficulty would surely provide far more help after advancement than a mere Botanist or Plant Mage could match.

Which should he choose?

Lincon had already reached a conclusion.

[You have selected the hidden advancement path—Ecological Architect.]

[Trial Space activation countdown: 48 hours]

[Black Tide arrival countdown: 15 days]

"That soon?!"

Lincon had not expected that after choosing his profession path, the mission mode would activate immediately without any warning—and with a time limit.

The Trial Space could wait for now, but Longwind Fortress would face a Black Tide in fifteen days. A heavy pressure settled onto Lincon's shoulders.

"No matter what, since I've already chosen it, bring it on!"

Lincon took a deep breath and turned to look at the fortress's increasingly formidable defenses behind him.

Over these fifteen days, he had to push Longwind Fortress's ability to withstand the Black Tide to the very limit of what he could currently achieve.

"So Tentacle Thorn and Hunting Pea Pod alone are nowhere near enough. I need even stronger war plants as trump cards!"

Lincon stood where he was, his sharp brows slightly furrowed as he sank into deep thought.

He was desperately short on Sunlight right now. The Sunlight provided by hunting E-Rank Crystal and D-rank Dark Creatures was simply not enough to meet the demands of resisting the Black Tide.

Unless he could kill a C-Rank Dark Creature during this period, or make a breakthrough with Runes.

At that thought, Lincon could not help looking toward the dense forest where the Pale Wraith was located.

Through the Shrine anchor point on the panel, he could see that the dense forest remained as calm as ever.

If one did not venture deep inside, perhaps no one would know that such a powerful Dark Creature of unknown rank was hidden within.

Just then, a bespectacled young man hurried over in a panic, interrupting Lincon's thoughts.

His name was Wang Bo. After the Rune Workshop had been established, he had been personally selected by Shen Congzhi as an assistant. He had once been a graduate student at Jinghai University.

In the old era, someone with his education would never have worried about finding a good job. But after the Dark Creatures' invasion, knowledge was far less useful than force.

When Shen Congzhi found him, Wang Bo had still been digging ditches with a group of people.

Wang Bo arrived before Lincon and respectfully bowed. Then, with an extremely excited expression, he said, "My lord, Professor Shen has made a new breakthrough in Rune research and asked me to invite you over to take a look."

Hearing this, Lincon's tightly furrowed brows loosened slightly, and he nodded.

"Take me there."

What perfect timing. Lincon had just been wondering whether Runes could make a breakthrough before the Black Tide arrived, and Shen Congzhi had immediately brought him good news.

The Rune Workshop did not resemble a traditional building. Instead, it was a giant tree that Lincon had personally accelerated and transformed.

At first, he had merely wanted to save construction time, so he had helped Shen Congzhi and the others establish the workshop. Yet it had become one of Longwind Fortress's landmark buildings, even overshadowing Lincon's small Lord's Manor courtyard.

This left Zhang Rui, the steward, deeply dissatisfied.

In his view, the Lord's Manor should have been Longwind Fortress's most distinctive and representative building.

So he asked Lincon to allow him to arrange for people to specially construct a Lord's Manor befitting Lincon's status as lord.

Lincon did not care much about such things. Living anywhere was still living.

However, after Zhang Rui's repeated requests, he had no choice but to agree, leaving everything from site selection to design entirely to him.