46: Roddy

Watching his classmates bending over to work in the spiritual fields, Zhang Sheng didn't expect that he would return to the school's Planting Base.

He had just booked a cultivation room in the nearby building, and the seeds he purchased from Myriad Treasures Net had also just arrived.

There were seeds for three types of Spiritual Plants, one thousand three hundred seeds each, costing several thousand Spirit Pearls.

As far as Spiritual Plant seeds were concerned, this price was quite substantial.

Zhang Sheng had carefully calculated this number—he intended to use his "Once Certified, Forever Certified" Talent to push the planting skills of these three Spiritual Plants to the Transcendent stage in one fell swoop.

While 1,110 plants was the theoretical minimum requirement, he purchased extra as insurance, considering the unavoidable losses and accidents in Spiritual Plant cultivation.

With a slight flick of his fingers, Zhang Sheng performed the Object Manipulation Art, skillfully and evenly sowing the seeds into the soil; the tiny seeds fell, failing to even fill a single acre of the spiritual field.

The next moment, an anomaly suddenly occurred!

A massive spirit cloud several hundred meters in diameter silently condensed over the spiritual field, its thick layers perfectly covering the entire area—this was exactly Zhang Sheng's Spring Breeze Turning into Rain Technique at the Perfected State.

As the pitter-patter of spirit rain fell, the seeds beneath the soil seemed to be injected with surging vitality, breaking through the earth one after another to reveal emerald-green, succulent new sprouts.

Immediately following that, the Thick Earth Art at the Perfected State was activated, its invisible force drawing up the terrestrial Qi from deep within the earth to continuously nourish the soil and enhance its fertility.

The process of forcing the Spiritual Plants' growth did not require Zhang Sheng to cast Spells continuously.

With his Realm at the Perfected State, he only needed to supplement with a few Spells at set intervals.

Referencing others' online experiences in cultivating these three types of Spiritual Plants, Zhang Sheng set the casting intervals and then withdrew to begin contemplating the cultivation of new Spells.

For offense, he had the Fireball Technique and Object Manipulation Art; for movement, he had the Roving Dragon Movement Technique and Flight Technique; but Zhang Sheng keenly realized that he currently lacked effective control methods.

If he had mastered a control-type Spell back then, he wouldn't have been so passive when dealing with that cunning Wind Falcon.

He Proficiently opened Myriad Treasures Net, his Divine Sense scanning through the dazzling array of Spell lists, specifically filtering for options with control capabilities.

"Wood Prison Cage: Upon casting, forms a tough wooden vine cage to trap enemies. When in a green plant environment, it can additionally trigger surrounding plants to act in coordination, drastically reducing Spell consumption and doubling its power." — This Spell is a Sharp Weapon in lush vegetation, bought!

"Electric Shock: Upon casting, triggers a swift, small bolt of lightning; it is powerful, but the spiritual power consumption is quite heavy." — This Move... Zhang Sheng instantly recalled Lin Xiaotian's stunning strike in the Secret Realm. If that flash of lightning hadn't paralyzed the Wind Falcon, he might not have succeeded so easily.

Bought!

Subsequently, he also selected Water Binding and Freeze.

These two Spells are most effective in aquatic environments; even in waterless areas, one can consume spiritual power to condense water out of thin air to perform the techniques, making them very practical crowd-control methods.

Having acquired his desired Spells, Zhang Sheng paused his Primordial Chaos Qi Refining cultivation and instead focused on two things at once:

While tending to the spiritual fields, he also painstakingly cultivated his newly acquired control Spells. To create the optimal cultivation environment, he specifically left the campus and went to a wide river on the outskirts.

The riverbank here was lush with vegetation, making it an excellent place to practice the Wood Prison Cage;

And the ceaselessly flowing river provided a perfect testing ground for Water Binding and Freeze.

Inside his body, the Heavenly Circulation Method operated on its own, continuously Refining Essence into Qi to replenish his spiritual power.

The consumption from practicing Spells was entirely within the range of the spiritual power supply automatically generated by the Heavenly Circulation Method, allowing him to repeatedly temper his skills without distraction.

The following afternoon,

"Skill: Planting spirit harmony grass (Transcendent: 127/100,000)"

...As the information on the talent panel flickered, Zhang Sheng's mind stirred:

All three types of Spiritual Plants in the spiritual field had fully matured! The planting skills for the three Spiritual Plants had simultaneously jumped to the Transcendent stage!

A massive amount of planting experience, techniques, and insights regarding these three Spiritual Plants flooded into his mind like a torrent.

No matter how many times he experienced it, the feeling of enlightenment—as if knowledge was being branded directly into the depths of his Soul—was intoxicating.

Of course, these Spiritual Plants had only matured for one year, which was a far cry from the precious ten-year variety.

Moreover, in the eyes of Zhang Sheng, a newly ascended Transcendent planting Great Master, this batch of "fast-grown" Spiritual Plants had an insufficient Innate Foundation and limited potential, making it almost impossible for them to grow to the ten-year mark. Their greatest value at this moment was helping Zhang Sheng reach Perfection in his skills and providing the seeds needed for the next round of cultivation.

Returning to the spiritual field, Zhang Sheng used the Object Manipulation Art with ease; an invisible force swept across the field, and the mature Spiritual Plants, along with the seeds they contained, were all collected accurately and gently.

The number of seeds harvested was already ten times what he had originally sown.

Even so, this small amount of seeds was far from enough to fill his fifty-acre spiritual field. Without hesitation, Zhang Sheng placed another order to purchase tens of thousands of seeds, determined to plant all three types of Spiritual Plants across the entire field. The ratio of seeds strictly followed the requirements of the Pill Formula for refining qi gathering pills, ensuring that no shortage of any Spiritual Plant would occur.

In just a day and a half, Zhang Sheng had completed one year's worth of accelerated growth. He estimated in his mind: if he wanted to force growth to the ten-year mark, it would take about half a month of continuous casting.

Under the control of his Perfected State Object Manipulation Art, the sowing efficiency was staggering. Before long, the fifty-acre spiritual field was densely planted with the newly purchased Spiritual Plant seeds... That very night, just after midnight, a blue light gate suddenly opened over the United States, instantly setting the world ablaze!

This light gate was fifty meters high and twenty meters wide, with deep blue ripples flowing across its surface; under the gaze of China's high-precision satellites, its presence was unmistakably prominent. The volume of the new blue light gate was more than four times that of the previous yellow light gate! It signaled that after the descent of the Apocalypse Star and the appearance of the Yellow-rank Secret Realm, Earth had welcomed an even higher level of unknown Secret Realm!

Based on the experience with the Yellow-rank Secret Realm, this new Secret Realm was temporarily named the "Blue-level Secret Realm." An invisible pressure enveloped the globe—the Yao Beasts within would likely be unimaginably powerful.

The Blue-level Secret Realm appeared right in the busiest downtown area of Los Angeles! Related images and videos swept across the global internet like a tsunami! Panic spread like a plague!

The Qi Sea Realm Yao Beasts in the Yellow-rank Secret Realm had already left humanity struggling to cope; how should they deal with this newly appeared Blue-level Secret Realm? Once the powerful Yao Beasts from the Secret Realm descended upon Earth, what kind of terrifying disaster would that be? In the video clips circulating online, people could even be seen kneeling in the distance, kowtowing and praying frantically toward that deep blue light gate, the camera shaking violently... Inside a deep underground hall at China's First Cultivation University.

Dean Hou was staring at the high-definition video footage urgently sent back from the United States, along with nine Sequence Members.

In the depths of the Pentagon, United States.

"Fuck! Why did this damn Blue-level Secret Realm have to appear in the great United States Federation?! Why didn't it appear in damn China?!" a bearded officer roared, pounding the table.

"Sir, there's no need to worry! We have Lord Rodi!" a subordinate immediately responded.

Upon hearing the name "Rodi," the fury on the officer's face was instantly replaced by a trace of awe.

That man with the terrifying Devour Talent... as long as he was given enough time to grow and enough "nourishment," the United States unifying the globe would be no mere talk.

"How is the progress on the 'supplements' prepared for Rodi?" the officer asked in a low voice.

"Reporting, sir! Lord Rodi has recently devoured two SS-Rank Talent Awakeners in succession and needs time to digest and absorb them; he cannot continue for the time being."

"Additionally... Lord Rodi stated that if SSS-level Talent Awakeners could be provided for him to devour, his growth rate would increase significantly..."

"Absolutely impossible!" the officer flatly refused. "SS-level is already the limit!

Every SSS-level is a pillar of the nation! Tell him to put that thought out of his mind!"

"Yes! Understood!"

Countries around the world were urgently discussing countermeasures, even sending applications to the United States for a joint investigation of the Blue-level Secret Realm. However, without exception, these applications were all firmly rejected by the United States Federal Government.

The next day, June 27, 2030.

Above the Earth, a second blue light gate silently opened!

Location—New Delhi, the capital of India!

Almost simultaneously, the Awakener in Europe known as the SSS-level Talent "Divination Witch" issued a prophecy to the entire world:

"The Great and Ineffable Being has revealed to me:

Since the Apocalypse descended, the White-Grade Secret Realm appeared, and seven days later the Yellow-rank Secret Realm emerged;

Forty-nine days after the Yellow-rank Secret Realm appeared, the Blue-level Secret Realm is born!

From this day forward, a Blue-level Secret Realm gate will be born on Earth every single day! This process will continue for exactly 343 days (49*7), until... an even stronger Secret Realm descends!

The Blue-level Secret Realm gates will not close in seven days; their duration is forty-nine days!

If the Yao Beasts of the Secret Realm are not annihilated within forty-nine days, then the Yao Beasts will surely burst through the gates and descend upon the mortal world!"