Chapter 1249: Chapter 1249

1249: Chapter 1235: Disciple of the Gardener 1249: Chapter 1235: Disciple of the Gardener Lu found a method to secure a temporary mentor, which was actually quite straightforward.

“In the city, are there any high-level Gardeners?”

He directly spent some money and casually inquired about some local public intelligence.

“Yes, there is a Sixth-tier Gardener, who is a Prophet of the local ‘Grey Web Sect’.”

Another benefit of the Linnu Force gathering here is that there are indeed many Life Series Professions, especially various Gardeners…..

And these logistics professions tend to reside within the safety of cities and often have products for sale, which makes them not hard to find.

“Forget hoping for favors; let’s just pay directly.”

However, the various sects that were already disorganized had developed on their own in the Otherworld for nearly ten years…

Warlords aside, they didn’t worship the same god, and they hadn’t fought each other only because there were cooperative relationships at higher levels.

“I am Lu Ping’an, a fifth-tier Gardener, currently pushing towards the Sixth Tier Realm, and if possible, I need some guidance.

I can exchange money, seeds of Rare Magic Plants, and Taboo knowledge.”

At Lu Ping’an’s stage, pursuing further advancement didn’t require “seeking mentorship” or “joining someone,” as a direct exchange was the most cost-effective approach.

‘The Lamp Craftsman’ Lu Ping’an?”

Upon hearing this, Lu Ping’an was stunned; when had he acquired that title?

“Oh, your ‘Lamp Flowers’ are our best-selling Magic Plants, with at least hundreds of versions and variations…”

It turned out that the Flame Flowers Lu Ping’an had left behind had become increasingly important as time progressed.

Those Holy Fire Factors had not spread, but instead, with more instances of reproduction and mutation, the Solar Fire, lacking “Holy Fire Source (Chapel),” had lost its feature of mass-producing Purifying Holy Fire.

This was a normal “devolution,” but from another aspect, it also meant a significant reduction in energy levels, which allowed for easy mass production.

What it retained was more of the Magic Plant life module that transforms “Life Energy into Flame.”

“The stove for living, the streetlight for illumination, they even developed a bioluminescent light for deep-sea use; you probably couldn’t imagine, just how many variations have used your original template…”

The circle of researchers such as Gardeners is quite unique; if you produce academic results, you naturally gain reputation.

And since many people’s research results required “exchange,” and “grafting modification” was a basic skill of Gardeners, many high-level Magic Plants were “evolved species” of low-level Magic Plants, and no one ever thought low-level Gardeners were unimportant…

Many incredible samples of Magic Plants and gene modules were found by low-level Gardeners, and because of their wide practical applications, they often gained greater fame.

Lu Ping’an was valued by Professor Wen back in the day precisely because of his frequent production of products, yet he diverged from his path and didn’t devote much effort and time to his main work.

Of course, he had plenty of research results, but most were the outcomes of various assemblies and random productions, always hovering at a subtle level of “Did you produce results?

Yes, but always just short of satisfactory.”

But unintentionally inserted willows grow, and in this Ocean World, a “living fire” that only needed water, soil, and some metabolites to thrive was extremely useful.

Once Lu Ping’an provided the most challenging stable template of “biological energy to thermal energy,” others naturally played wildly with it.

As a result, Lu Ping’an, this “low-level” Gardener, acquired his own academic nickname.

“The Lamp Craftsman, huh…

It does give a subtle impression.”

Lu Ping’an stroked his chin, knowing well that Gardeners somewhat looked down on “Craftsmen,” and the “craftsman” in the nickname was somewhat problematic, as it had a hint of saying, “Your level is just that of a craftsman.”

But for his standards, having a reputation was already quite good…

This would earn a lot in subsequent “trades” and “communications.”

At least, when dealing with high and mighty Great Gardeners in trades, they would regard you as a peer who could negotiate, rather than a fool who walked in to be slaughtered at will.

“I am only one tier higher than you, just a step ahead, considering how young you are, you should be able to surpass me soon…

But as a local, I can trade some newly produced Magic Plant Seeds with you.

Heh, it looks like, due to your outstanding performance, you might have missed some lessons; if you don’t mind, I indeed have some time for some trivial yet interesting talks.”

The thirty-something fifth-tier Gardener had quite good emotional intelligence, at least very capable of caring for the feelings of Lu Ping’an, this “young man”.

And indeed, after the real exchange, some of the doubts raised by Lu Ping’an were addressed.

“Just as I thought, Life Perception, and the externalization of Spiritual Power, huh…”

These were the first Career Abilities and skills Lu Ping’an learned, with the former being a mandatory ability of the Life system, which is the basic application of “Life Energy”…

You must first perceive its presence before you can control and manipulate it.

The latter is an essential skill to use, allowing one’s spiritual power to manifest externally and interfere with reality, and all of Lu Ping’an’s various “marking” abilities are predicated on the externalization of spiritual energy.

This is a prerequisite for communication between Gardeners and Magic Plants, and a plethora of Gardener career abilities are based on this assumption.

“If you intend to catch up on the ‘Connecting with Nature’ course, you must, at the very least, open your heart and connect your mind and soul with nature….”

This, obviously, was something Lu Ping’an could not achieve.

He was breathing, connecting, assimilating other lifeforms as parts of himself…

It seemed, from the beginning, his path was not that of a conventional Gardener.

But, he was a Parasitic Tree…

The vines on his body thrust into the earth; the young man sat upright beneath a large tree, for the first time trying to let the Magical Vine draw nutrients from the earth rather than from himself…

“Eh, a taste of soil.”

But apparently, aside from digging up a lot of dirt, he gained nothing.

“You need to get used to it, to extend your limbs and spiritual power, trying to assimilate with the surrounding earth, earth’s veins, water sources.

Generally speaking, we can connect indirectly through Magic Plants, but since you are a Parasitic Tree…”

Looking at the Magical Vine on Lu Ping’an’s body, this Gardener, known as ‘Grey Taboo,’ also felt a bit sentimental.

Becoming so inhuman so early is quite rare among peers.

“…you are already partly plant-based; you can skip many courses, but still, routinely, you’ll need to insert your spiritual power and vines into the earth and continually diffuse your ‘existence.'”

This again left Lu Ping’an feeling helpless; his “All Things Breathing” connected everything, but it also “devoured” everything.

He subtly realized that perhaps he couldn’t learn the traditional Gardener path.

“We humans are carbon-based life forms, animals in a certain sense, inhabitants of the natural environment, but also parasites and consumers, whereas plants are mostly part of the natural environment, they themselves are part of nature, therefore, their ‘score’ in the ‘world’ is much higher than ours…”

This senior passed the same insights to Lu Ping’an that had been briefly mentioned by the big shots from the southern islands.

“….each Gardener has their own way of connecting with nature, whether through a particular Magic Plant or some type of witchcraft rituals, which often represents their strongest, yet most vulnerable, part…”

This might also be why those masters didn’t repeatedly mention it…..

it’s the biggest secret and weakness of each Gardener, for if the connection between a high-level Gardener and ‘nature’ were cut directly, they would naturally fall from grace.

Yet connecting with nature is only the first step.

“More powerful Gardeners try to construct their own environment or carry their environment with them; they don’t need to establish their own ‘natural domain,’ because they are often nature itself.”

This was what Lu Ping’an heard most in teachings from past masters.

At the time, he thought he had understood, mainly thinking about how to “construct” his own stronghold.

Looking back, he probably truly hadn’t understood.

“I, Magic Plants, nature surrounding me, the world….”

Bit by bit, as his spiritual power manifested, Lu Ping’an’s will, like sugar dissolving in water, gradually understood.

He began to understand why Elder Liu had completely abandoned the physical body…

At their level, the body really was no longer significant; the spirit and soul were the essence, and the way to interfere with nature using “consciousness” was the essence of being a Gardener.

Understanding nature, merging into nature, becoming nature….

or, perhaps, even more.

“Become, the world….”

But at that moment, Lu Ping’an wrinkled his brows; he knew that his own path might no longer converge with this traditional route.

“….It’s time to find a new path.”