March into the Desert

[Ecological Trial activated. Plant Cultivator, prepare yourself.]

In an instant, the sleeping Lincon felt his body continuously falling. The powerful sensation of weightlessness jolted him awake.

His entire being seemed to enter a strange state, his soul carried by some force into an alternate space.

When he opened his eyes, he saw a scorching wasteland. The air warped and rose beneath the sun's blazing heat, while searing waves of heat rushed at him, instantly evaporating the moisture from his skin.

[Trial mission: Ecological Restoration]

[A qualified Ecological Architect needs sufficient perseverance and patience. Even in a dry wasteland, he must be able to grow the most beautiful flowers.]

[Mission requirements: Within a limited lifespan, use the available resources to restore the ecology of this region.]

[Current progress: 0%]

Lincon stood atop a sand dune, snapping out of his thoughts at the trial mission prompt. Stiffly, he turned his head and looked over the boundless wasteland beneath his feet.

Restore the ecology here? Was this some kind of joke? And he had to do it alone!

Lincon felt that this trial mission was simply ridiculous.

The wasteland stretched beyond sight, filled with endless yellow sand. There was not even a source of water nearby, and with such a scorching, arid environment, plants could not survive at all.

And he was alone. He could not even use a Plant Cultivator's abilities. At most, he was now an ordinary person with astonishing strength. Restoring this place's ecology was nothing but a fantasy.

"How could I possibly do that?!"

Under the blazing sun overhead, Lincon's eyes reddened, and his emotions gradually became restless.

"This is just a waste of time. I want to leave this place, exit the Trial Space, and choose another class advancement."

[You cannot leave the Trial Space before the Ecological Trial ends.]

The panel prompt was like a basin of cold water poured over Lincon's head, pulling him out of his agitated state.

Lincon sat cross-legged on the ground and closed his eyes. Only after his thoughts had completely settled did he slowly open them again.

He had adjusted himself. Although the trial mission looked utterly impossible to complete, he still decided to give it a try.

The panel displayed the resources he could currently use.

There was everything from plant resources to certain modern materials, which let Lincon breathe a small sigh of relief.

If he had to rely on only his own two hands, he would probably never finish dealing with this wasteland in his lifetime.

Sitting on the sand, Lincon spent some time roughly drafting a series of plans.

He was not entirely without references when it came to managing wastelands.

In his previous life, his mother had devoted tremendous effort to rehabilitating the northwestern wastelands, developing an effective scientific management system based on ecology and adapted to local conditions.

To restore the ecology, the first thing to do was not plant trees, but prevent and control sandstorms.

Although this wasteland appeared quiet now, Lincon could feel the faint hot wind brushing over his skin. That meant this place had not been created solely for the trial mission. It might have been a wasteland from another world.

Wind meant that sand grains would shift, while rainwater could not remain or seep into the soil.

To turn this sea of sand into an oasis of life, the first thing he needed to do was create Checkerboard Sand Barriers.

Lincon tried hard to recall the documentaries about wasteland management he had watched in his previous life and roughly settled on his direction.

Checkerboard Sand Barriers were a signature technique for stabilizing sand dunes. By simply using wheat straw and rice straw to set up one-by-one-meter grids across shifting sand, they could reduce wind speed at the surface and prevent sand grains from moving.

At the same time, they could trap some moisture and dust, creating conditions for microorganisms and algae to grow and forming a stable layer of biological soil crust.

Once he thought of it, he acted.

Lincon immediately threw himself into the work, and that work lasted ten years.

Within the Trial Space, he did not need to drink or eat, yet his vital signs remained stable. He did not even fall ill.

But time still left obvious marks on his face.

His skin became dark and rough beneath the wind and sand. His hands were covered in calluses and scars, his hair was disheveled, and his clothes were tattered. Only his eyes, like the stars above the wasteland, gradually became calm and sharp.

Ten years allowed him to completely adapt to the wasteland's environment.

What was the highest temperature during the day? How much water could be collected through condensation in a single night...

He went from an ordinary person who knew little about wasteland management to steadily advancing toward the oasis he envisioned.

At first, he felt lonely, and repeated failures drove him to the brink of madness.

But when a lush green seedling unfurled beneath the sunlight, Lincon truly seemed to hear the rhythm of life.

It was a sound completely different from the human heartbeat. It was extraordinarily slow, yet powerful, breaking through the soil with stubborn resilience and striking directly at the soul.

Lincon's heart was instantly filled with immense joy, and so began his long road of combating desertification.

From engineering-based sand stabilization to biological sand control, he planted drought-resistant, deep-rooted plants: Sand Willow, Desert Sweetvetch, Soongar Reaumuria, Caragana...

To strengthen the ecosystem's stability, he built a multilayered vegetation structure through repeated experimentation.

To ensure water usage, he walked dozens of kilometers to find a river beneath the sand that had not yet completely dried up. He laid long diversion channels, then built small rain-catching surfaces and cisterns to collect the limited rainfall for supplemental irrigation.

This process continued for another thirty years.

Constant trial and error, correction, improvement... Lincon's back gradually bent, his hands were stained with sand and alkali that could never be washed away, and his legs became deformed and twisted from walking for so long.

Near seventy, he could already feel that his life was nearing its end.

Every time he woke in the night, he felt deeply afraid, terrified that he would die in his sleep.

The panel's progress had reached 75%, but he still had not completed the mission to restore this region's ecology.

Although he had done everything he could, one person's ability was ultimately limited.

A few more years passed. Lincon often felt gaps in his memory, and sometimes he even forgot what the panel was.

Years of wind and sand, coupled with his advancing age, caused his muscles to atrophy until he was little more than skin and bones.

This was not a physiological illness. His metabolism had simply slowed more and more, until it could no longer support his body.

On a bright afternoon, Lincon dragged his stiff body along and planted the final plant.

It was a sunflower.

It could never have grown in the original wasteland, but now Lincon felt he could try planting this little thing.

In his field of vision, the endless yellow sand from before had vanished. The ground beneath his feet no longer had sand flowing across it, and all he could see was a scene brimming with life.

Though it could not compare to a forest with abundant water, this was already the limit of what he could achieve. He no longer had the strength to move.

The progress bar on the panel had now reached 87%. He was still 13% away from the required 100%.

Unfortunately, he no longer had the strength to persist. Simply moving to the sand tree he was leaning against now had exhausted all his energy.

But what was still missing?

He had walked across every stretch of yellow sand beneath his feet. Could there still be an area he had not discovered?

His lungs felt as though they were on fire. Lincon broke into a violent cough, and every breath seemed to drain his life away.

It seemed that he ultimately could not complete the Ecological Trial.

Lincon slowly closed his eyes. The wind blowing in from afar was cool and pleasant, carrying a faint scent of moisture.

"Rumble..."

Before long, layers of dark clouds covered the sunlight, and a low, oppressive rumble came from the sky.

Drip~

A raindrop fell from the sky and landed on Lincon's aged face.

Gradually, the raindrops turned into countless silver beads linked together, slanting slightly in the wind as they poured into this world.

Suddenly, Lincon felt something licking his fingers.

He used his last bit of strength to open his clouded eyes and look at the creature beside him, something that had never appeared before.

A furry creature with a slender, graceful body and fur as vibrant as autumn leaves appeared before his eyes.

It was a fox.

It tilted its head slightly and studied Lincon with curious eyes.

Perhaps sensing that Lincon posed no threat, it turned and ran away. Before long, a string of even smaller figures followed behind it.

The endless rain fell upon them, yet it could not dampen their excitement in the slightest.

As if they had just discovered a new continent, they darted through bushes laden with bright red fruit. From time to time, they even leaped onto Lincon's shoulders to gaze at the distant scenery.

But Lincon no longer had the strength to drive them away. His head drooped, and his graying hair gently covered his eyes.

His thoughts faded, his soul rose and fell, and Lincon finally closed his eyes once more in helplessness.

This time, he could no longer open them again.

The emergence and passing of life played out across this land at the same time. The young fox leaped down from Lincon's shoulder and ran with all its might toward the green ocean before it.

The next moment, the Ecological Trial's progress on the panel instantly filled, and an invisible force lifted Lincon's body high into the air.

[Trial mission: Ecological Restoration]

[Current progress: 100%]

[Mission complete]