Chapter 1287
Chapter 1287 - 1273: Taking Root
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7 min read
Sometimes, a little misunderstanding can actually increase "affection" among all parties involved.
At least in the eyes of some big shots, those Lamp Flowers shining simultaneously in several cities represented Lu Ping’an showcasing his ability... Such an eerie power might not be harmful, but it also meant that it could reach an astonishing range of thousands of kilometers.
Among high-tier professionals, the "range" of an ability is actually a more obvious indicator of its strength.
And those shining Lamp Flowers themselves...
"Ten years ago... He laid out his plans ten years ago? What confidence did he have to spread the Lamp Flowers across the entire world?!"
In the eyes of the big shots, these Lamp Flowers were his "factors," all part of his scheme!
"No, it shouldn’t be by chance. He had already calculated the needs of this world. At the same time, he left the Rebirth Commerce to continuously promote and adjust through free trade and market demands, allowing his factors to be spread across the entire world."
"What cunning... The youth is formidable. Thankfully, I expressed my friendship in time..."
In the eyes of those informed, Lu was like an old coin that had been deeply submerged for many years, laying out and concealing his strength for so long until an opportunity came, and he finally surfaced.
Whether it’s competing for this world’s resources, status, territory, or seeking divine status, authority, World Fragments, or even a divine position, the time has come when everyone must show their hands and fight. Indeed, it’s time to come to the surface.
Just like with that "leaderboard," there were already two seventh-tier Rule-levels who had obtained more than two fragments each. And according to the eighth-tier big shot who fought with them, their strength was not just at the entry-level of the rules... Monsters like Lu Ping’an weren’t rare among high-tier professionals or, to put it another way, only by becoming a monster could one enter the real high-end playground.
In the eyes of the South One Pope, Lu Ping’an’s outburst might well have been taking advantage of the opportunity to stir up trouble with him...
"This young man really has no respect for martial ethics, always thinking about stepping on the old comrades to get ahead. Fortunately, this old comrade of over a hundred years is experienced and always vigilant, easily dodged his attack, and his sneak assault was in vain..."
As a result, the South One Church’s friendliness toward Lu Ping’an’s team even reached the point of weakness and indulgence, which left Lu Ping’an baffled and eventually even feeling a bit embarrassed to take too much advantage.
"Such a good person, truly kind-hearted."
As for now, Lu Ping’an’s attention was all on gardening.
The Newborn "Redemption," or rather the Fusang Sun Mother Tree, had successfully taken root.
But just this alone wasn’t enough; to let it grow wild would mean that Lu Ping’an’s efforts as a Quasi-rule gardener would be in vain.
"... Perhaps, this truly is a pretty good spot to take root in."
By chance or by a nudge of spiritual intuition, this place was indeed an exceptional "field"... It had ample pollution!
"Industrial waste, residues from Magic Potions, all count as pollution..."
The fundamental difference between Magic Plants and ordinary plants is that they, like professionals, have also embarked on the path of polluted evolution, and their very foundation of existence is often the soil with a certain degree of fertility (pollution).
The higher-tier the Magic Plants, the pickier they are about their soil. Prolonged poor nutrition can kill people, and it’s the same for trees.
In order to achieve his goals, Lu Ping’an’s first priority was to elevate his "Redemption" to Rule-level or above, but without the fundamental "soil," no matter how many points he poured in, it would all be a wasted effort, ultimately to no effect.
"Adjust the Magical Vine’s module, increase the power of ’Purification’..."
The "Bloodvine" originally devoured everything indiscriminately, and if left unchecked, it could consume an entire city in a day, like something out of a modern horror movie.
Now, Lu Ping’an was trying to adjust it, to reform it into something that "devoured all pollutants in the city."
The land and sea here were constantly lamenting. Industrial waste was one thing, but the residue from Magic Potions... those pollutants were the real trouble that couldn’t be dealt with.
But Magic Plants... Lavender started out as a tool for purifying pollution. Bloodvine, imbued with the "lavender" trait, could devour and purify a vast amount of pollutants and then use them for its own reproduction.
Once it could be successfully transformed, then, it meant using a city’s "nutrition" to continuously nourish redemption, and its advancement should only be a matter of time.
"...I originally thought it would be simple, since the principle is already established, but in practice, it’s really quite difficult,"
Lu Ping’an sighed, his experiments were not going smoothly.
Before him were blackened, withered tentacles. When Lu Ping’an introduced lavender genetics into the Bloodvine, although it gained a gentle purification trait, on the other hand, it inadvertently reduced its strength and resistance.
It became weaker, and the death of these tentacles was clearly due to "not accepting nourishment properly."
"Further adjustments are needed..."
Lu Ping’an continued to adjust its genetics, replacing and trying it with other Magic Plants that had purification traits. If he couldn’t find a suitable replacement in the short term, he attempted to graft the "offspring" of its own reproduction, intentionally iterating its function.
These were common techniques for a Gardener, but ordinary low-level Gardeners would take time and effort and could only wait season by season for the results, not knowing how many generations had passed before they achieved anything.
Lu Ping’an, however, could easily see the results and make real-time adjustments, producing outcomes much faster.
"Indeed, the ’Burning (Purification)’ of pollutants is most optimal with something like the Lamp Flower. Maybe I should let it form a higher-level symbiotic relationship, allowing for the exchange of heat between each other..."
Lu Ping’an hesitated, contemplated, and kept trying.
And in this process, his millennia-old "Planting" and "Grafting" Professional Skills finally began to stir.
When he truly worked like a Gardener, his accumulated knowledge and skills naturally became an asset.
"...Another failure?"
But after another week, he still hadn’t achieved his goal... but that didn’t mean his efforts were without any gains.
The "Sun Tree" had grown manifold in the shadows, becoming a new urban landscape of Salt City.
At that moment, with his back against the setting sun, Lu Ping’an lay under the great tree, resonating and sensing with it...
"Phew, it really is impressive..."
The Sun Tree grew taller again, already the tallest entity in the entire city, and its increasingly stout trunk showcased its evident evolution.
By appearance, it seemed to have simply grown taller and thicker.
But compared to those visible changes, a plant’s most significant changes are often at its roots. The signs reflected on the surface are often just the result.
At that moment, those vines had already spread throughout the city underground, rooting and exploring every corner along the pipelines and subterranean networks.
Lu Ping’an could feel when he linked with it, through those tentacles, he could sense every place in the city.
He even had the feeling that if "he" moved or turned over, the whole city might be destroyed in an earthquake.
What’s more important was that those roots had reached into the sea, forming a continuous connection with the earth’s veins.
Looking at the towering tree above his head, Lu Ping’an was contemplative and felt somewhat uneasy.
It wasn’t that he was worried about failing, but...
"With this progress, before long, the whole of Salt City will become ’its’ shell, with the land and earth’s veins all becoming its flesh. Am I overdoing it? I was supposed to only have one street’s territory... Well, it won’t be discovered in the short term, and even if it is discovered, uh, if the rooting and linking are already successful, except for digging up the whole city, it’s not possible to pull it out anymore."
— End of Chapter 1287 —