Chapter 302: Chapter 264: Earth Core Potato

"So..." Su Ze looked at the half-red, half-green Heart-shaped Fruit in his hand. "Is this Heart-shaped Fruit of mine more effective than the purely red ones?"

"A purely green Heart-shaped Fruit is about twice as effective as a red one. Yours is half-red and half-green, so it might be 1.5 times as effective."

"So, you have to anger it to get the most effective Heart-shaped Fruit?"

’The Heart-shaped Fruit Tree’s disposition is really asking for trouble...’ It was only because Su Ze wasn’t strong enough; otherwise, he would have definitely provoked this petty tree until it was furious, then plucked all the green fruits off its body!

The Mother Tree’s voice was calm. "Actually, the Heart-shaped Fruit Tree is famous throughout the universe for admiring the strong. If you are stronger than it, it will easily submit, bow its head to you, and offer up all its fruits. Even if you torture and humiliate it, it will only feel fear, not anger. Therefore, its fruits won’t turn green."

’What a masochist!’

Su Ze was speechless. ’So you have to pretend to be weaker, play the wolf in sheep’s clothing, provoke it first, then burst out with your true power to subdue it, and then pluck its fruits...’

"So, uh, after it calms down, if I bow, can I go up and pick another five fruits?" Su Ze asked.

"It will remember you. A person can only pick fruit this way once."

"What if I disguise myself?"

"If you think your disguise can fool a Tier Six Spiritual Plant, you can try."

Su Ze thought about his Hundred-Change Mask. It was only a Tier Three wonder item and couldn’t even fool a Saint-level Venerable, let alone a Tier Six Spiritual Plant.

"But it should be fine if someone else does it, right?" Su Ze planned to have Mr. Ya give it a try.

"That’s fine, but you’ll have to wait until it calms down," the Mother Tree replied.

At that moment, the green on the Heart-shaped Fruits was gradually fading, slowly turning back to red.

Su Ze gave Mr. Ya a few instructions, telling him to stay here and wait to pick the Heart-shaped Fruits. He then continued forward to look at the other Spiritual Plants.

The nursery wasn’t entirely filled with Tier Five and Tier Six Spiritual Plants; there were also some weaker Tier Two and Tier Three ones, as well as a good number of Tier Four Spiritual Plants.

Su Ze could handle the weaker Spiritual Plants with ease, and he could even suppress the Tier Four ones.

After the recent battle, Su Ze had a general understanding of his own strength.

His current combat power was definitely at the Overlord level, and not the weakest kind of Overlord, either.

Weaker Overlords like Mrs. Yun and Ye Muni would be completely crushed by him. Furthermore, he completely countered psychic-type Overlords.

However, Su Ze estimated that he was still no match for the stronger Overlords, such as the leaders of the six nations like Gu Chengguang, Jasim, and Budi. They were all long-famous Overlord powerhouses, not to mention the completely inscrutable King Mu.

But Su Ze was confident that once he completed his fourth evolution, he would quickly become the strongest among the Overlords. After developing for a while longer, he might even dare to challenge a Venerable Powerhouse.

His only fear was that his Evolution Divine Grace Skill would become ineffective after he reached the Saint level.

But back to the matter at hand. Although Su Ze was confident he could defeat the Tier Four Spiritual Plants in the nursery, he didn’t know their uses or medicinal properties. Also, the Spiritual Plants were packed too densely, making combat inconvenient.

So, in the end, Su Ze decided not to act.

He would only consider using force to subdue a Tier Four Spiritual Plant if the Mother Tree confirmed it was of great use to him.

As for the Tier Two and Tier Three Spiritual Plants, at his current evolution level, they were of little use. So even though he could easily pick them, he gave up on them for the time being.

As he walked on, the Mother Tree introduced him to several more Spiritual Plants, but they were either too high-tiered for him to handle or useless to him.

Su Ze secretly memorized the Tier Five and Tier Six Spiritual Plants that he coveted but couldn’t defeat. As long as this spaceship eventually returned to the Mother Tree’s possession, he might have a chance to come back in the future.

When he was strong enough, he could return for another harvest.

Fortunately, while there were many Tier Five and Six Spiritual Plants in the nursery, there were no Divine-level Spiritual Plants.

As Su Ze passed a small, emerald-green blade of grass only about ten centimeters tall, he suddenly stopped.

A long-forgotten instinctive urge surged within him. He could feel a fatal attraction to the area where the small blade of grass grew!

’This is... a treasure that can upgrade my skills!’

Su Ze was very familiar with this feeling. He had experienced something similar when he previously encountered Evolution Items that could upgrade his skills, like the Tier Four Coral Worm Tentacles.

"What Spiritual Plant is this? What tier?" Su Ze asked, pointing at the blade of grass.

’The Mother Tree hadn’t introduced this blade of grass on her own, which means she probably doesn’t recognize it. But she should know some information, like its tier, or what Spiritual Plant it was cultivated from...’

The Mother Tree was silent for a few seconds before answering, "This is a variety modified from a Spiritual Plant called the ’Earth Core Potato.’ The original Earth Core Potato has extremely deep roots that reach all the way to the planet’s core. Its most valuable part is its tuber, similar to the potatoes on your Blue Star. However, the Earth Core Potato’s tuber follows the roots deep into the core, making it very difficult to excavate.

"My master’s purpose in modifying it was to cultivate a variety with shallower roots and tubers that were relatively easier to harvest. As for whether he succeeded, and what abilities this modified Earth Core Potato has or what tier it is, I do not know."

’Who cares what its abilities are? As long as it can strengthen my skills, that’s enough...’ Su Ze knew his senses wouldn’t fail him. Right now, his main concern was confirming the tier of this Earth Core Potato.

As long as it wasn’t a Tier Five or Tier Six Spiritual Plant, he wouldn’t let it go!

Out of caution, Su Ze asked, "What kind of attacks did the original Earth Core Potato have?"

The Mother Tree replied, "As a Spiritual Plant with extremely deep roots, it can’t be killed even if its leaves are destroyed or some of its roots are cut. Its life force is tenacious. As long as a part of its tuber remains deep in the planet’s core, it can regenerate.

"Having its roots buried deep in the core gives it an advantage, but it also comes at a great cost. Like most Spiritual Plants, it’s immobile, but it lacks the powerful combat capabilities other plants have on their own territory. Its combat ability is pathetically weak. The part above ground can only release some irritating gases and toxins for self-defense; it has no other attack capabilities.

"However, if you try to dig up its tuber, the tuber itself can explode with considerable force. That is unless you can quickly slice it off, severing its connection to the root system before it has time to react."

"It doesn’t sound that strong," Su Ze said thoughtfully. "The main difficulty is how to quickly cut off the tuber without letting it explode. By the way... what is the Earth Core Potato’s tuber used for?"

"Strictly speaking, ’Earth Core Potato’ refers to its tuber, just like when you say ’potato,’ you’re referring to the edible part, not the plant it grows on," the Mother Tree said. "The Earth Core Potato is a Holy Medicine for healing injuries. It’s said that it can even regrow a severed head, but of course, that also depends on the life level of the being who consumes it."

The effectiveness of Healing Medicine is also related to the level of the life form itself. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

A healing medicine that could instantly bring a critically injured ordinary person back to full health might be completely useless for a Saint-level powerhouse.

After all, repairing an aircraft carrier is not the same as repairing a small wooden raft.

If Su Ze’s Regeneration Skill hadn’t been upgraded and strengthened, its potent self-healing effect might have long since diminished as his evolution level increased.

But even with the upgrade, once Su Ze evolved to the Saint level, the Regeneration Skill could still end up holding him back.

That’s why evolvers undergo a comprehensive skill upgrade after reaching the Saint level, bringing all their skills up to the Saint level.

"The Earth Core Potato’s effect is healing. Could this be another upgrade for the Regeneration Skill?" Su Ze guessed.

He stood still, but two bolts of lightning shot from his eyes, striking the part of the Earth Core Potato above ground—the small blade of grass.

In an instant, two holes were scorched into the grass blade.

Just as the Mother Tree had said, the above-ground part of this Spiritual Plant was indeed very fragile.

But immediately, a faint cyan light of evolution glowed from the small blade of grass, and at the same time, an extremely pungent odor was released.

"It’s actually a Tier Five Spiritual Plant!" Su Ze was slightly shocked, but on second thought, it wasn’t surprising.

After all, his Regeneration Skill had been upgraded with the Tree Marrow of a Tier Four Spirit Root Tree. Anything that could upgrade it again would have to be at least a Tier Five Evolution Item.

Su Ze immediately retreated. Just a whiff of the pungent odor made him feel extremely uncomfortable.

Fortunately, the Earth Core Potato lived up to the Mother Tree’s assessment of it being a weakling Spiritual Plant. It truly lacked attack methods, and its attack range was limited to a small area around it. After moving away and resting for a moment, Su Ze felt the discomfort fade.

Just then, Mr. Ya finished picking the Heart-shaped Fruits and came over to Su Ze.

"How was the harvest?" Su Ze asked.

"I got four." Mr. Ya opened his palm to reveal four Heart-shaped Fruits—three red and one half-red, half-green. "That old tree has gotten a lot pettier after you picked from it once, Boss."

"Never mind that tree for now." Su Ze pointed to the Earth Core Potato in the distance. "Take me underground over there. Be careful, that thing can explode."

"No problem. I’m invincible, what’s there to be afraid of?" Mr. Ya said confidently.

The nursery was filled with soil, so Mr. Ya’s Earth Escape came in handy. He took Su Ze and burrowed directly into the ground.

Su Ze’s Perception Tentacles penetrated the gaps in the soil and spread outward, instantly creating an image of the underground in his mind.

Underground, it wasn’t the tangled mess of crisscrossing roots he had imagined. The roots of each plant were confined by a transparent, glass-like container, forcing them to grow within a limited area.

They were like individual potted plants buried in the earth.

The space below the Earth Core Potato was larger than that of the other plants, but his Perception Tentacles couldn’t penetrate the glass-like container of unknown material.

Su Ze could only have Mr. Ya bring him right up to the outside of the container. Peering through the transparent glass, Su Ze could see the dense network of roots below and the fist-sized tubers on them, which did indeed look very much like potatoes.