"...There's a blade of grass in my Soul Space now. Yara, care to explain?"
Su Zhou stood on the Su Family balcony late at night, gazing at the stars above and the distant city lights. He contemplated the vastness of the cosmos before adding gloomily, "Good thing it didn't sprout from my head. Otherwise, it would be a whole 'Su Zhou's head has turned green' situation!"
"That's the Spiritual Energy of the Wisdom Tree."
Yara, coiled atop Su Zhou's head, spoke with an air of nonchalance. "A Divine Wood like this typically straddles both the Material Realm and the Spirit Realm, sometimes even more. What has taken root in your Soul is the Spiritual Energy of this nascent Wisdom Tree—its most important part."
"The Apple Wood in the Material Realm is merely the Divine Wood's physical shell—a deteriorated one, at that. After losing its connection with its Essence Soul, it not only fails to bear fruit, but will even wither and go dormant. And now, through the connection between your Soul and the Divine Wood Spirit, you can perceive the Divine Wood's current condition at any time. Without your permission, it won't even grow."
"It feels like I'm playing some kind of farming game... My Soul Space isn't going to be filled with this stuff in the future, is it?"
Su Zhou mumbled to himself as he channeled his Spiritual Energy, attempting to touch the 'Wisdom Tree seedling'.
The Essence Soul of the nascent Wisdom Tree seedling was a translucent crystal, wreathed in a sacred radiance. At times, this light would transform into an Angel wielding a Fire Sword; at others, it would become a shimmering ocean of light.
And as Su Zhou touched it, he quickly learned of the Wisdom Tree's current condition.
—HUNGRY HUNGRY HUNGRY HUNGRY HUNGRY HUNGRY HUNGRY HUNGRY HUNGRY HUNGRY!!!!
It felt like someone spam-pinging the map, to the point that he started to feel hungry himself. The only thing the nascent Divine Wood Spirit could convey to Su Zhou right now was an extreme sense of 'hunger'!
"Ugh, is this its way of telling me to fertilize and water it?"
Swallowing hard, Su Zhou broke free from the 'So hungry!' mental broadcast and asked Yara, exasperated, "But I thought it doesn't drink regular water?"
"It does. You need to water it daily. But if you want it to grow strong and even bear fruit, it needs the Spiritual Energy from Spiritual Objects—like Demon Blood, or things like Moon Well Water and Celestial River Water."
The Snake Spirit's answer was simple and direct. It seemed a little tired; apparently, guiding Su Zhou through the ritual had been more draining than it looked. It said softly, "Any other questions, Su Zhou? I'd like to rest for a bit..."
"Thanks for your hard work, Yara."
Su Zhou was grateful for Yara's help. Even though their relationship was mutually beneficial, a partnership built on respect was far better than one built on suspicion. Still, he had one more question. "Does it really have to be the blood of Demon Fiends or Evil Demons? Can't it be a regular monster?"
"What 'regular' monster?!" Even on the verge of sleep, Yara couldn't help but retort, "You don't actually think things like 'mobs' exist in this world, do you? Is this a game?"
"Every Monster, every Evil Demon, is a unique being with its own life and its own value to be hunted. This powerful, distinct, and one-of-a-kind 'True Spirit' is the very Source of 'Spiritual Energy'!"
"However..." At this, the Snake Spirit's tone shifted. It seemed to have thought of something, and it said with a laugh, "If you insist on finding something like that... beings without a True Spirit that still possess Spiritual Energy... Resentful Spirits and Evil Spirits are the most typical examples. They're the closest thing you'll find to 'mobs'."
"Once you get a weapon and perform an Enchantment on it, you can try hunting a Resentful Spirit a tier higher than the black Dark Shadows. Consider it a warm-up before you take on Evil Demons."
With that said, Yara nestled into the young man's hair and fell fast asleep. Su Zhou didn't disturb it, simply remaining on the balcony and looking down at the silent neighborhood in the dead of night.
'Resentful Spirits... Evil Spirits...'
Muttering to himself, Su Zhou gazed at the black Dark Shadows wandering through the residential complex at midnight. He couldn't help but narrow his eyes, a thoughtful expression on his face.
「A dreamless night.」
Su Zhou rose from his bed at 5:30 AM on July 26th. His parents weren't home yet, of course—that was the norm. He'd heard that Patrols and doctors had been getting busier and busier in recent years. Many people kept sleeping bags and pillows at their desks, and their workplaces even provided meals and showers.
That in itself wasn't so bad. The most lamentable part was that very few freshmen were entering these professions, creating a severe shortage of new blood. Before his grandfather passed away a few years ago, he had often complained that there were fewer and fewer young Patrols, their quality was inconsistent, and the problems were even more severe in the lower-level departments.
5:45 AM.
He went through his familiar routine: watering the potted garlic and making food. He pan-fried two meat cutlets, then used the leftover oil to stir-fry a black pepper sauce with onions, garlic (homegrown), and black pepper. Paired with two cold fried dough sticks and some soy milk, his East-meets-West "pre-breakfast" was complete. (Total: 1530 kcal)
6:20 AM.
After sorting the trash and taking it downstairs, Su Zhou went for a run, doing a few laps around the residential complex. He greeted the various neighbors out for their morning strolls and familiar faces like Boss Chen, who was already getting his shop ready to open. He even ran into a few classmates from school. 'God knows why they're up at six in the morning,' he thought. 'Maybe to get some early studying in?' In any case, they didn't talk for long.
"Say, don't you think that Su Zhou kid has gotten even more handsome?"
"I know, right? See, exercising every day really makes a difference! I'm going to have to drag my own grandson out for a run!"
(A passing classmate stares enviously at his physique.)
After running for about an hour, Su Zhou headed to the breakfast stall at the entrance of the complex. He ordered a large bowl of stir-fried rice noodles, a large bowl of tossed rice noodles, an egg and meat patty crockpot soup, and a few red bean sesame balls—extra spicy. That concluded his breakfast. (Total: 1517 kcal)
Yes, he ate breakfast twice, followed by lunch, dinner, and a late-night meal. He'd occasionally add an afternoon snack of bread or a hamburger, too.
The cold, merciless, high-volume eating machine rebooted after breakfast.
7:40 AM.
He went home, took a shower, and after confirming his summer homework was pretty much all copied, he started doing one-handed push-ups. His other hand was busy holding his phone, typing, and flaming people on forums.
Of course, the shower was just a habit. Nowadays, this kind of ordinary muscular exertion didn't even make him sweat. The heat dissipation of his Body of Perfection was practically a cheat ability; as long as he wore a short-sleeved shirt, his exposed skin acted like a heat sink.
"Heh. 'The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao.' If it were something you could just casually see, would it still be called a Daoist Art? You're so short-sighted. I suggest you read the Daoist Scriptures from cover to cover before you presume to discuss this with me."
"Do you know a thing about Witchcraft? Can you perform rituals? Have you ever summoned a Spirit Monster, successfully completed an Orbit, or even seen a Ghost? What? You've done none of that? Then what the hell are you even talking about? What a disgrace!"
"I can do all that! You don't believe me? Your disbelief has nothing to do with me. I really can do it! Nya nya nya nya~"
After half an hour of warring with people on various forums and message boards, having sated his argumentative spirit, Su Zhou switched to reading a book and changed his exercise to sit-ups. The book was a bestselling dark-suspense novel called Time Worm. It was actually pretty good and contained a lot of interesting elements related to Mysticism.
8:30 AM.
The Snake Spirit Yara awoke.
"Sigh. To think my remnant Soul is so fragile now. Just guiding you through a simple ritual from the sidelines was enough to make me tired."
The small, ruby-like snake emerged from Su Zhou's hair, complaining, "How many years has it been? I haven't been this weak in ages. This might just be the weakest I've ever been."
"You were probably even weaker when you were first sealed."
But Su Zhou, who was currently doing a one-finger handstand while reading his novel, decided to up his taunt level. He offered a guess: "I bet you couldn't even speak back then."
"If you don't have anything smart to say, then don't say anything at all." Yara paused, then replied stiffly, "So, what's the plan for today? Are you going to investigate the Evil Demon site?"
"I'm not stupid." Su Zhou put down his novel, raised a finger, and wagged it with a "tsk tsk".
"Of course I'm not going!"
And at that very moment, as Su Zhou and Yara were discussing his plans for exploration...
Morning. During the busiest hour at the Hongcheng Criminal Justice Department, an unexpected guest arrived.
A black government car pulled up to the main entrance of the department. Several high-ranking officials, who had been working overtime for days on end, came out to greet the arrival. Their smiles were genuine, devoid of any empty pleasantries or pretense.
On the side of the car, a single, dark, and inconspicuous word was visible.
Zhengyi
Below it, a line of smaller text:
Hongzhou Zhengyi Academy