Chapter 19: The Plant Cultivator Who Was Drawn In

When the king of a species formed a bond with members of its own lineage, the Shared Level would automatically reach Level 6. In a case like that, even a little more contact could quickly push it higher. There was nothing more satisfying than this. In the future, Wang Mu would not even need to come up with so many excuses to build feelings before sharing spells.

Of course, this trait also proved that the Greenleaf Butterfly truly possessed Beast King potential. The only question was whether, after sharing this trait to Qingling, it would undergo any change.

Wang Mu shook his head inwardly.

He had already guessed the result. Even after being shared to himself, the Greenleaf Butterfly's King of the Species trait remained exclusive to the Greenleaf Butterfly. It had not turned into a human version of King of the Species. That meant that even if he gave it to Qingling, it would not adapt itself.

To avoid accidents, Wang Mu did not immediately share it to Qingling this time. Instead, he decided to wait until some future spirit beast of another race reached the required Shared Level, and only then would he experiment. Qingling was, after all, his first contracted spirit beast. If something went wrong with it, the consequences would be far too serious.

The Greenleaf Butterfly's transformation lasted three days. When it appeared again, it truly left Wang Mu stunned with admiration. Its size had increased by more than tenfold. With its wings spread, it was as large as a washbasin. Its entire body was emerald green and half-transparent.

Light and shadow shifted endlessly as its wings moved, casting intoxicating, shattered glimmers that left one dizzy just from looking at them.

When Wang Mu examined it carefully, he immediately noticed tiny emerald particles floating around it. Those were crystallized spiritual energy. The Greenleaf Butterfly could condense them during ordinary times and consume them when needed, thereby prolonging its fighting endurance.

That was the effect brought by Force of Life.

At this moment, Wang Mu could clearly feel that this was the potential the Greenleaf Butterfly had accumulated. The next time it broke through, to the Fifth Rank, it would bring about a tremendous evolution. It would certainly reach Commander rank, and might even reach Beast King rank.

As for its descendants, unless something unexpected happened, all of them would at least be Excellent or Elite. If they were then further bred during the Greenleaf Caterpillar stage, they would stably reach Elite, with some even attaining the Commander level.

Wang Mu's eyes lit up.

The path of his own advancement had now become completely clear. From here onward, all he needed to do was replace all of the Greenleaf Butterfly's low-tier spells with high-grade ones, and then it would be ready to advance.

Compared to the grades of spells, the materials needed for advancement were the easiest part.

Speak of Cao Cao, and Cao Cao arrives.

On that very same day, the intelligent system notified Wang Mu that one of the customers had fulfilled the requirements of the Growth Plan and had already submitted an application for verification. So long as it was genuine, Wang Mu would invest in him.

And when Wang Mu opened the backend to take a look, he discovered that it was actually a new Control-level spell, called Thorn Entangling. For a common-type skill like this, which had no special amplification effect and no mysterious power, a basic spell testing instrument was enough to verify its grade.

Although Wang Mu could determine its properties at a glance through Sharing, outwardly he still had not mastered any probing spell, so he needed to maintain appearances.

He happened to have free time today. Or rather, he had been relatively free lately.

So Wang Mu gave the other side three days to come, allowing them to choose any time between 9:00 and 17:00.

Apparently the other side was too impatient, because he arrived that very afternoon.

A robot led the way. Because he was the very first, Wang Mu was curious, and since he had nothing pressing to do anyway, he personally waited beside the testing instrument.

He saw a dark-skinned adult bringing along a youth who was similarly dark. At a glance, it was obvious from their complexions that they spent their days out in the wilderness. The Azure Jade Butterfly resting on the young man's shoulder had Third-Rank peak strength, and its aura was firm and steady. That was not the kind of strength one gained through stuffing it with medicine. It had been tempered through real battle.

Through his talent, Wang Mu already knew that the Azure Jade Butterfly truly fulfilled the requirement, so he pointed to the testing instrument and said to the somewhat nervous young man, "Command your Azure Jade Butterfly to use the spell you want tested against the machine."

The target area of the machine was a puppet dummy made of memory metal.

The youth answered, "A-Alright."

"Lingyu, use Thorn Entangling."

Almost before the command had fully left his mouth, the Azure Jade Butterfly had already acted. Thick vines wrapped around the puppet, covered in dark green, hooked thorns that viciously drove themselves into it. The spell even carried poison with it.

Above the machine was a progress bar. During the testing period, the spell had to be maintained continuously so that the data would be more accurate.

Half a minute later, the bar reached the end, and the results appeared.

Energy Coefficient: 3

Power Coefficient: 4

Additional Poison Damage: 2

Total Power: 12 + 2

Wang Mu nodded in satisfaction, then said, "Not bad. A Control-level Thorn Entangling. Next, you may choose one of four mid-tier spells: Leaf Storm, Forest Domain, Arrow Barrage, or Wood Spirit Blessing."

"Choose one."

The youth had originally assumed the options would be Energy Beam and Leaf Storm, and he had long since decided which one he wanted. He had not expected these four choices instead.

Of course, this was even better—but it also left him wavering.

Wang Mu smiled. "No rush. You can go back and think it over slowly. You still have three days. But during that time, your Little Jade must stay at the breeding center."

Only then did the youth let out a breath of relief. Gathering his courage, he answered, "Thank you, Director. I choose Forest Domain."

If there had only been two offensive spells, then he would naturally have chosen a beam attack. It was fast and nearly impossible to defend against. But now that the choices included offense, defense, and enhancement, things were different. His Beast Tamer teacher had drilled one thing into him: if a wood-type spirit beast had the chance to learn Forest Domain, then there was no need to hesitate. Take it at once.

Especially in the environment around Shanhai City, this spell was the most suitable of all. As long as a low-tier spell reached the Mastery level, it could combine with Forest Domain and burst forth with the might of a mid-tier spell.

Wang Mu nodded and led the spirit butterfly away. "Very well. Go wait in the reception area for an hour or two."

After the robot led the father and son away, Wang Mu placed the spirit butterfly inside an instrument filled with energy and, using his talent, shared Thorn Entangling to himself. Though sharing such spells to himself would not cause much commotion, caution was still necessary.

Afterward, Wang Mu sat nearby and browsed literature, occasionally glancing at the time. A little over an hour later, he shared the spell Forest Domain to the spirit butterfly. Its aura immediately began to change, and it almost broke through to the Fourth Rank on the spot. Judging by the look of it, however, it only needed a few more days after returning home.

That left Wang Mu quite satisfied.

Nearly all of this spirit butterfly's spells had already reached the Mastery level, and those had been tempered out through many battles. It was certain that before long, multiple spells would reach the Control level.

After giving it some thought, Wang Mu made changes to the Growth Plan. He directly specified that the reward for one Control-level spell was the choice of one among four mid-tier spells.

Then he continued editing:

If, within one year of the cultivation period, any two low-tier spells reached the Control level, the available reward would additionally include Energy Beam.

If there were more than three Control-level spells, or if one reached Perfection, then the spell Life Sense would also be added, and the number of spells that could be taught would increase to two.

It was publicly known that the spell Growth could only be used by plant-type spirit beasts, and Wang Mu had no intention of overturning that understanding just yet, so he did not include it.

As for Qingling's Energy Beam, any beam-type spell was considered rare among spells of the same level, so it could not be placed among the ordinary options either.

Life Sense, however, was particularly interesting. It was the only detection spell among mid-tier wood spells, and most wood-type spirit beasts were not even qualified to learn it. Its value could well be imagined. It was almost no less precious than a high-tier spell.

So that spell was prepared for true geniuses.

At the same time, it was also a signal to the outside world.

Wang Mu was making his intentions plain. He wanted to attract powerful wood-attribute breeders to come, and when they did, he would gain many spells from them.

In any case, the同行 within Shanhai City would not have the time to focus on him in the next few years. By the time they did, he would already be long gone. So Wang Mu's courage had naturally grown bolder.

Once that was done, Wang Mu brought the spirit butterfly to find its owner. At that moment, he also started having new thoughts. Perhaps he really could recruit a few staff members—or train them himself.

...

In the waiting hall, the father and son were both rather tense. Sun Chuan in particular had been absentmindedly scrolling through the breeding center's official site when he suddenly saw an update. The moment his eyes fell upon the words Life Sense, he nearly jumped to his feet.

Even so, he was extremely excited and immediately shoved the phone toward the person beside him, keeping his voice as low as possible. "Dad, look at this! The Director can teach this spell!!"

Sun Haiming saw those words in a single glance. He himself was also a wood-type Beast Tamer, so how could he fail to understand the weight carried by those four characters?

He immediately closed his eyes.

After calming himself, he made a decision.

And at that moment, Wang Mu had already walked out. "Sun Chuan, the spell has already been taught. I look forward to your future progress."

This time, Sun Haiming spoke before his son could.

"Director, thank you. I have one more question. Is it possible to purchase the right to receive instruction in Life Sense from your spell teaching service?"

He was becoming anxious.

As a Fifth-Rank Beast Tamer, his own status was actually higher than that of an ordinary breeder. Only when facing a true Breeder would he normally use such respectful language. But Wang Mu, at this moment, was worthy of it.

Wang Mu frowned, and Sun Haiming's heart immediately sank.

Then he heard the young Director say, "At present, I don't intend to provide it. You should know as well that not every wood-type spirit beast is capable of learning it."

"And if I were to teach a spell like that to anything other than spirit butterflies already familiar to me, it would be too great a waste of time."

Sun Haiming's eyes, however, lit up.

So that meant there was a possibility!

His attitude grew even more respectful. "Director, to be frank, I am also a Plant Cultivator. I have gathered every spirit plant in Shanhai City below the Fifth Rank. With your outstanding ability, you will surely need to build your own secret realm sooner rather than later. I am willing to gift you a complete set of spirit plants in exchange for one qualification."

Only then did Wang Mu understand.

So he was a Plant Cultivator.

That explained everything.

When used in the wilderness, Life Sense was a detection spell, but that was hardly its only use. It could directly probe the intensity of a living being's vitality, allow people and plant-type spirit beasts to communicate, and even let one sense the emotions of plants.

It could be said that, among spells, purely offensive spells stood at the very bottom, while certain functional spells were instead highly sought after.

As for the proposed trade, Wang Mu was deeply tempted.

He would be leaving Shanhai City in the future, but he absolutely had to gather all the local spirit plants before going. Rather than wait and struggle with it later while busy, it was better to settle the matter right now.

So Wang Mu asked him, "May I ask your surname?"

A smile spread across the dark-faced man's features. "My surname is Sun. Sun Haiming."

Wang Mu gave a faint nod, then turned away as he spoke. "Follow me. Release your spirit beast first. I need to check whether it qualifies."

The father and son hurriedly followed.

Before long, they arrived at the ecological zone, where they beheld the enormous banyan tree at its center and the swarms of spirit butterflies wheeling through the air around it.

This beautiful scene spoke wordlessly of Wang Mu's strength.