Ch. 9: Easy Mode
Lu Sheng sat quietly beneath the shade of a massive banyan tree, its ancient roots twisting across the earth like coiling serpents while countless hanging vines swayed gently in the afternoon breeze.
Sunlight filtered through the dense canopy above, scattering broken patches of gold across the ground and over the young boy's black hair.
Beyond him stretched rows upon rows of spirit flowers and rare herbs, covering the farmland like a sea of shifting colors.
Crimson petals glimmered faintly like embers in the wind, pale blue blossoms released drifting specks of frost-like pollen, while clusters of golden stalks shimmered softly beneath the sunlight.
The air itself carried a calming fragrance, rich with the scent of herbs, flowers, wet soil, and spiritual energy.
Occasionally, faint motes of light rose from certain mature plants, floating lazily through the farm before dissolving into the atmosphere.
He lay there quietly with quite a thick book in his hand, looking quite interested in the content as he skimmed through it.
At six years old, Lu Sheng already possessed features that made him stand out among children his age.
His appearance carried a quiet refinement, with clear youthful features that had yet to fully lose their childish softness.
Dark strands of hair rested loosely over his forehead, shifting slightly whenever the breeze passed by.
Leaning lazily against the tree trunk, he looked relaxed and carefree at first glance, but the calmness in his eyes carried a level of attentiveness uncommon for someone so young.
A faint breeze passed through the fields.
For a brief moment, the surrounding flowers seemed to sway slightly toward him more than they should have.
Lu Sheng closed the book in his hand.
"Soul Power Cultivation and Pathways."
It was another sign-in reward he had obtained in the days following the awakening of his martial soul.
And it was not just some ordinary book found here and there.
It was the major work of a once-in-a-century research genius from thirty thousand years in the future.
An era where the world had already stepped into the stage of interstellar civilization, where Titled Douluo-level powerhouses were everywhere, and even becoming a god—or more accurately, a false god at Level 100—was no longer considered impossible.
The author himself had been a Rank 98 Titled Douluo whose martial soul was the Neuron System.
Just thinking about the miraculousness of the sign-in feature made Lu Sheng unable to help but sigh.
Most of the things he obtained were either things he currently needed or things that would likely become useful to him in the future.
Except…
"Except the skills! Hell, I don't even have a decent skill. What kind of skills are eating, sleeping, and breathing anyway?!"
Yes, this had been Lu Sheng's greatest grievance ever since he became conscious.
The pattern of the sign-in feature had always been like this.
The first six days of every week usually gave random rewards, while the seventh day had a much higher probability of granting something valuable.
Similarly, the final day of every month almost guaranteed a high-grade reward.
The same pattern repeated at the end of every season and every year.
Each major cycle-ending day greatly increased the probability of obtaining a wished-for reward.
Only at the end of each year had he managed to obtain skills.
And even then, the skills were strangely constrained.
It was always something like:
[Congratulations, you have obtained Random Casual Activity Skill.]
Or:
[Congratulations, you have obtained 100-Hour Trained Activity Skill.]
"Only the meditation skill is actually useful. The instinct skill doesn't even do anything! At least the other skills still gain experience in decimal percentages, so there's some improvement."
He spoke while feeling both helpless and amused by his own ranting.
Strictly speaking, he wasn't truly dissatisfied with the skills being weak.
The skills he currently possessed had already made daily life much easier for him and even provided surprisingly strong passive benefits.
It was just that the child inside him wanted the stick in his hand to suddenly transform into Excalibur.
It had only been a few days since the awakening of his martial souls.
He still had yet to obtain his first soul ring.
During this period, he had thoroughly familiarized himself with both of his martial souls and their characteristics.
And he had to admit though...
The mutation fruits had performed miracles.
Deoxys was originally a Psychic-type Pokémon, but his version possessed both Psychic and Fighting attributes simultaneously.
(A/N: I know I previously wrote it as spiritual. I'm changing it to psychic now.)
Simply entering martial soul possession made him feel like an entirely different person, almost like a perfectly engineered war machine created solely for combat.
Another reason he had delayed obtaining a soul ring was because the awakening of his martial souls was still continuously affecting his body.
His spiritual power was steadily increasing.
His physical body had also become stronger—far stronger than before.
It might not seem obvious at first glance, but even without martial soul possession, his current physical strength was already comparable to that of a late-stage Soul Grandmaster.
And it was still growing.
What could he even say?
Divine-rank twin martial souls were simply too absurd.
Lu Sheng shook his head, once again looking at the vast expanse of farmland spread before him.
The gentle humming tune of nature echoed through the fields, while the swirling energy of heaven and earth drifted invisibly through the surroundings like flowing currents.
At first glance, it looked peaceful and beautiful, almost like an ordinary flower garden belonging to some wealthy noble family.
But the truth was that this was not some ordinary flower field.
It was one of the specialized herb farms owned by Lu Sheng's family, the very foundation of their rapidly growing wealth and influence.
Rows upon rows of rare herbs stretched across the land, glowing faintly under the sunlight.
Some released refreshing fragrances into the air, while others emitted subtle traces of soul power fluctuations.
Using their unique martial souls and spirit abilities, the family had cultivated countless rare herbs that were nearly impossible to grow elsewhere.
Many of these plants possessed spiritual properties and required extremely delicate environmental control.
Some demanded precise humidity.
Others absorbed moonlight during specific phases of the lunar cycle.
Certain rare species could only grow in areas rich with spiritual energy and would wither instantly if removed from such conditions.
Some were magical herbs that naturally existed only in specific regions of the continent.
Some required icy terrain covered in eternal frost.
Some could only grow underwater in deep spiritual springs.
Others thrived in scorching deserts or deep forests untouched by human civilization.
Yet all of them now existed peacefully within this single farm.
More importantly, some herbs growing here were species the world had never even seen before.
Naturally, this raised an obvious question.
How could Lu Sheng's family possibly possess such things?
The answer was pretty obvious.
Sign-in.
Over the years, Lu Sheng had obtained many things from the system.
Some were ordinary resources.
Some were treasures.
And a few of them were soul spirits.
Not ordinary soul spirits either, but completely traitless soul spirits.
Soul spirits without genetic information.
Without bloodlines.
Without any soul beast template inside them.
They were like transparent glass.
Whatever was poured into them would determine what they became.
At first, Lu Sheng himself had not fully understood how absurd that concept was.
But after obtaining samples of Pokémon genomes through the sign-in system over the years, he suddenly developed a bold idea.
And surprisingly-
It succeeded.
Using those traitless soul spirits as blank foundations, he created Pokémon soul spirits.
Not only that, he allowed his own family members to become the first people to absorb them.
The effects were nothing short of miraculous.
Not only did they obtain completely unique spirit abilities, but even their original martial spirits began to change after fusion.
Some spirit abilities evolved.
Some attributes mutated.
Even the martial souls themselves improved to a certain extent.
Most importantly, many of the abilities they obtained turned out to be extremely suitable for herb cultivation and agricultural work.
Some could accelerate growth.
Some improved environmental balance.
Others increased vitality within the soil itself.
Certain abilities even allowed precise control over temperature, moisture, and spiritual density within limited areas.
With enough experimentation, they eventually became capable of performing operations such as creating hybrid herbs and artificially cultivating spiritual plants that normally could not coexist.
A feat that should have been impossible under normal circumstances.
Looking at the endless fields before him once more, Lu Sheng could not help but feel slightly emotional.
Just a few years ago, this family had stood on the verge of decline.
And now?
They possessed one of the most absurd herb industries in the entire region.
Even he had to admit-
Luck really was terrifying sometimes.