Ecological Architect

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

Especially after his strength and mental power broke past 100, his body seemed to undergo some mysterious changes.

His 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 an enhanced carving knife could barely break the skin.

When he threw a punch using Xingyi Fist, it seemed capable of drawing in the surrounding energy for his own use.

Lincon tried to find a Weird Calamity to practice on, only to discover that even without using his mental power, the aura covering his skin could injure Weird Calamities.

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

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

Likewise, the outward manifestation of a Plant Cultivator's abilities marked the profession's entry into the C-Rank.

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

And with the boost from his dual professions, he had already entered the C-Rank.

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

Lincon looked at the panel. Beside his Lord's Talent was an upward arrow flashing with blue light.

[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 forth, you will no longer be alone. Behind you stand countless hearts. Your will is the law of the territory.]

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

He would go from being a warrior who defended one place to becoming a rule-maker who governed an entire region.

Naturally, the class advancement was not easy either. He had to 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 secondary profession advancement.

Botanist, Plant Mage, Ecological Architect.

The three were actually easy enough to understand.

A Botanist clearly leaned toward cultivating Spirit Plants. Even its advancement mission was to cultivate a C-Rank Plant.

And Lincon keenly caught onto one point.

Fusion.

If he advanced into a Botanist, it might unlock a new way to use his abilities. Beyond simply evolving plants, he might 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 growth potential of B-Rank or above. Clearly, this profession leaned more toward combat. It would greatly enhance his fighting power while also unlocking a new method.

Contracting.

If not for the 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 attacks from the Ability Users of Flint or Black Iron.

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

The color of this profession was clearly different from the other two, a deep purple-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 mission difficulty of the first two professions was B-Rank or C-Rank, then this final hidden profession was unquestionably S-Rank.

What did a C-Rank Black Tide assault mean?

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

Back in Shangmai City, one C-Class Ability User, along with Li Zhouhai and over a dozen D-Class Ability Users, had been defeated in less than half an hour. One could only imagine the intensity of a C-Rank Black Tide.

Not only would it contain a huge number of Dark Creatures, there was also a high chance that C-Rank Anomaly Calamities or Weird Calamities would appear. The difficulty was several times greater.

However, the assistance brought by such a high-difficulty hidden profession after advancing would surely not be something a mere Botanist or Plant Mage could compare to.

Which should he choose?

Lincon already had his answer.

[You have selected the hidden class 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 the profession path, the mission mode would begin without any warning and come with a time limit.

The Trial Space could wait for now, but in fifteen days, Longwind Fortress would face the Black Tide. A heavy pressure settled on 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 resist the Black Tide to the very limit of what he could currently achieve.

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

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

He was far too short on Sunlight right now. The Sunlight provided by hunting E-Rank Crystals and D-Rank Dark Creatures simply could not meet the needs of this battle against the Black Tide.

Unless he killed a C-Rank Dark Creature during this period, or made 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 observe that the forest was as calm as ever.

If one did not venture deep inside, perhaps no one would know that it concealed a powerful Dark Creature of unknown rank.

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

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

In the Old Era, with his education, he would never have had to worry about finding a good job. But after the arrival of the dark 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 came before Lincon and respectfully bowed. Then, with great excitement on his face, 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 eased slightly, and he nodded.

"Take me there."

Talk about perfect timing. Lincon had just been wondering whether there could be a breakthrough in Runes before the Black Tide arrived, and Shen Congzhi had immediately brought him good news.

The Rune Workshop was not built like a traditional structure, but was instead a giant tree personally grown and modified by Lincon.

At first, he had only wanted to save construction time, so he 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 greatly displeased Zhang Rui, the butler.

In his view, the Lord's Manor ought to be Longwind Fortress's most distinctive and representative building.

So he asked Lincon to permit him to arrange for people to specially construct a Lord's Manor worthy of Lincon's status as city lord.

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

However, after Zhang Rui repeatedly requested it, Lincon had no choice but to agree, leaving everything from site selection to design entirely in his hands.