36: Chapter 36 Continues the Exploration of the Wasteland's Mysteries
"Dad, stop trying to scare me!" Lu Mengmeng gripped her chopsticks tightly, her voice strained.
"Isn't the academy a place for teaching and educating students? Why does it sound like..."
"Like a military barracks?"
Lu Jianjie took over the conversation, picking up a piece of braised pork and placing it into his daughter's bowl.
"Pretty much. In this world, exotic beasts are increasing year by year, and new Secret Realms are discovered from time to time. The entire Blue Planet is full of holes, and the military alone can't hold them back."
"The Martial Soul Academy doesn't cultivate delicate flowers in a greenhouse; it trains warriors who can support the front lines."
Niu Er took a gulp of his drink and sighed. "Sigh, speaking of which, Da Chun's mom was forced to drop out because she got injured while on a mission for the academy back then."
"What! Auntie Lan was a Soul Master too? Why haven't you mentioned that?" Lin Mo looked astonished.
"That was over twenty years ago, why bring it up!"
"Besides, if I hadn't been injured and lost all my strength, how could a stubborn ox like you have ever married me?" Auntie Lan glared at Niu Er.
"Hehe, right, right, right. If it weren't for that, a useless cook like me wouldn't have gotten so lucky." Niu Er chuckled.
Lin Mo felt the same way.
He had never understood how Auntie Lan, who had the figure and appearance of a school beauty, ended up marrying Niu Er, this greasy man.
Now it seemed that Uncle Niu had taken advantage of the situation when Auntie Lan was at her lowest point in life...
"By the way, Auntie Lan, what was your Martial Soul?" Lin Mo suddenly asked.
"An A-grade weapon-type Martial Soul, the 'Gilded Overlord Spear'. My foundation was damaged back then, and the Martial Soul was ruined too!" A flash of sadness crossed Auntie Lan's eyes.
Awakeners have longer youth and lifespans than ordinary people.
Who would want to be an ordinary person if they could become an Awakener?
But Lin Mo understood why Niu Dachun's Frying Pan had mutated into a Gilded Frying Pan. It was likely due to him inheriting the Martial Soul attributes from Auntie Lan.
"Anyway, once you three get to the academy, you must be careful. Aside from guarding against exotic beasts, you must also guard against the human heart."
"That's right, the human heart is sometimes even more terrifying than exotic beasts." Lu Jianjie nodded in agreement.
"The human heart, huh?"
Lin Mo couldn't help but think of that guy, the Vice Squad Leader.
He had been so cute when they were kids, but because of his jealousy of Lin Mo's talent... he had become unrecognizable. Lin Mo couldn't help but sigh...
The next day.
Lin Mo didn't stay home waiting for his liberal arts scores to be released.
Instead, he met up with Lu Mengmeng and Da Chun to continue their exploration of the Wasteland Secret Realm.
Before the college entrance exam, the three of them had already ventured more than a hundred kilometers away from the camp.
Because of his curiosity about the Wasteland Secret Realm, Lin Mo planned to continue exploring deeper.
What kind of existence was this wasteland world that resembled the Blue Planet? It had been itching at his mind.
Coincidentally, today was also the day the Wasteland Secret Realm was open to the general public.
When the three of them drove to the entrance outpost, it was already packed with people.
The Wasteland Secret Realm had little appeal for high-level Awakeners, but for some low-level Awakeners, it was very attractive.
The monsters inside had a low danger rating, and the production rate of first-tier soul crystals was high.
A team of level 10 or 20 Awakeners could go in and make money. It was much safer than going out into the wild.
"No way, why is there a fee now?"
Lin Mo looked at the newly posted price list for the Secret Realm tickets, feeling a bit dumbfounded.
One day: 1000 dragon soul coins/person...
Lu Mengmeng, however, was unimpressed.
"What's so strange about that? Don't Secret Realms always charge money?"
Lin Mo thought about it and realized she was right; before the college entrance exam, it could only be said that they had taken advantage of some official benefits.
"Brother Mo, we've prepared so many supplies. How many days are we planning to go in for?"
Lin Mo had won second place in the city and received a storage belt, so they had prepared quite a lot of supplies when they came.
"Let's buy three days first. If we run over time, we can pay the difference!"
Lin Mo wasn't sure how many days they would be inside this time.
He planned to wander within a range of 600 kilometers deep, and if there were no special discoveries, he would return.
Inside the Wasteland Secret Realm.
Over a hundred kilometers away from the camp.
Yellow sand, scorching sun...
Stepping on it, one could feel the searing temperature.
The three of them rested under a withered tree.
"Boss, aren't you able to make the furnace fly? Why do we still have to roll it Ծ ‸ Ծ?"
Lu Mengmeng popped a motion sickness pill and took a large gulp of mineral water.
"It can fly, but it can't fly far, and it consumes a massive amount of Soul Power. It's better to use it sparingly unless absolutely necessary!"
Lin Mo had been cultivating with soul condensing pills for so long that his Soul Power was indeed twice as high as Awakeners of the same level, but controlling the Pill Furnace to fly was still a bit of a stretch.
"Ow!" Lu Mengmeng's face scrunched up like a bitter melon.
"Hey, Brother Mo, look at this. What is it?"
Niu Dachun crouched on the sand, his finger poking at something blue on the sandy ground.
That thing was very peculiar, growing out of the sand. Its lower end was as thick and long as an adult's finger, and its top was pointed; it was like grass, yet not quite grass.
"Don't touch it!"
Seeing Niu Dachun about to poke it with his finger, Lin Mo hurriedly called out to stop him. His shout startled Niu Dachun.
Lin Mo quickly walked over and pulled Niu Dachun back, keeping him away from the object.
"What's wrong? Is this thing dangerous?"
Lu Mengmeng leaned in and asked, puzzled.
"Dummy, do you think it's not strange for a plant like this to grow in a desolate sandy area?" Lin Mo said irritably.
"Sigh, I guess you're right... So what should we do? Should we just leave?"
Lin Mo shook his head. "No, this is a new discovery. We need to find out what the heck it is!"
After saying that, Lin Mo rummaged through his storage belt and pulled out an engineer shovel. Then, he carefully began to dig around the blue plant.
Yellow sand fell with a rustling sound, revealing an increasingly long stem.
The color was an eerie blue, as if it had been soaked in fluorescent light, and even the surrounding sand was stained with a faint blue halo.
This digging took half an hour. A pit more than a meter deep was dug out.
"This stem is so long..."
Lin Mo stood up and wiped away his sweat.
Looking at the root, the diameter was already as thick as an arm, yet it still hadn't reached the base.
He didn't know how much longer the part buried under the sand was, or where it extended to.
"Ah, Boss, this thing seems to be moving!"
Lu Mengmeng, who was lying by the edge of the pit, suddenly exclaimed.
"Hmm?"
Lin Mo quickly looked at the tentacle-like plant.
To his surprise, he actually noticed the tip wriggling from time to time.
"This thing wouldn't suddenly bite someone, would it?"
Niu Dachun swallowed hard, his face showing fear.
"Hard to say."
Lin Mo wiped the sweat from his forehead and continued to pick up the engineer shovel to dig.
Just as he was intending to dig away some of the sand around the stem, the shovel head accidentally touched the root.
With a "whoosh" sound, the one-meter-long stem retracted directly into the sandy ground and disappeared.
"I..."
The three of them looked at each other, all with dumbfounded expressions.
"Mommy, a ghost!"
Lin Mo suddenly threw the engineer shovel in his hand and scrambled out of the pit.
He grabbed Lu Mengmeng and the other one and ran far away.
That thing had retracted too quickly; it didn't look like a plant's reaction at all. It looked more like the tentacle of some creature.
After running over a hundred meters, the three of them turned their heads to look at the sand pit by the withered tree.
"B-Boss, that thing wouldn't be an exotic beast's claw, would it?"
Lu Mengmeng looked terrified, her voice trembling.
Lin Mo patted his little heart. "How would I know?"