After several consecutive days of half-hearted and failed attempts at Spirit Awakening, Zhang Deming decided that today, he would fully commit to Spirit Nurturing and finally get a success.

After skillfully cultivating his Awakening Skill for a while, Zhang Deming arrived at the section he had been working on for the past few days. The truth was, just like Yuee Mengsheng and his two companions, he also screened the area in sections.

He wasn’t just picking randomly from the entire region; he had started with the best Flower Wood in the whole Flower Sea.

He was only saying this because he had been so successful in the past.

That was why he had deliberately avoided working on adjacent sections, choosing them out of order instead.

Yet, in the section he’d been working on for the last few days, not a single attempt had succeeded, which made Zhang Deming feel a little ashamed.

’Is it because I haven’t been taking this seriously? Have the Flower Wood noticed, and that’s why they’re ignoring my advances and refusing to cooperate?’

Once he felt the preliminary cultivation of his Awakening Skill was complete, Zhang Deming selected a vibrant-looking Flower Wood and began the Spirit Nurturing process.

A long while later, the Flower Wood exploded into motes of light, leaving a crater in its place. All around it, a patch of the Flower Sea withered and died.

Zhang Deming shook his head and resumed his preparations.

Failure!

He prepared again.

Another failure!

By noon, Zhang Deming began to realize something was wrong.

The success rate for Spirit Nurturing Flower Demons wasn’t high due to the pollution, but with his abilities, Zhang Deming could still manage three or four successes a day if he gave it his all.

This was a conclusion he’d drawn from the past several months of experience.

But now, after several days of his routine attempts plus the entire morning, he had invested nearly a full day’s worth of effort with absolutely no results.

Even if the success rate fluctuated, the drop couldn’t be this severe.

Zhang Deming’s brow furrowed. He closed his eyes to sense the Flower Wood in this section but didn’t find anything strange. In fact, he felt they were considerably more vibrant.

’I’ll be damned if I let this beat me today!’

After another failure, Zhang Deming felt like a gambler on a losing streak, determined to butt heads with this patch of the Flower Sea.

He stopped bothering to screen them and just went down the line, performing Spirit Nurturing on one Flower Wood after the next.

Time flew by, and soon it was mid-afternoon.

Zhang Deming had already blown up more than half of the Flower Wood in this section. Now, a large, withered patch of what should have been Flowers of Flower Demons was clearly visible from a distance.

He selected another Flower Wood and initiated the Spirit Awakening.

As countless motes of light flew out and formed a hollow sphere around the Flower Wood’s bud, Zhang Deming paused, stunned.

This hollow sphere of light was completely different from all the previous ones. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Due to the pollution, there were usually not enough motes of light during Spirit Awakening in this Flower Sea, so the resulting hollow spheres were always uneven in density.

They were typically sparse, making a successful Spirit Nurturing a struggle.

But with this one, as Zhang Deming performed the Spirit Awakening, the emerging motes of light were exceptionally dense.

The sphere formed by the light was so thick that the bud within was completely obscured. From the outside, it looked like a searing-white ball of light.

Zhang Deming was stunned. He said in astonishment, "Royal Race? That’s not right. Aren’t there supposed to be signs when a Royal Race appears? Isn’t the Flower Wood itself supposed to be clearly different?

This one looks no different from the others."

As the Spirit Awakening continued, the orb grew even more incandescent. Then, in a flash, it expanded into a massive sphere of light, enveloping both Zhang Deming and the Flower Wood.

But before Zhang Deming could celebrate, before he could even select a Technique insight to infuse it with, the Flower Wood inside the orb began to twist.

Before Zhang Deming’s astonished eyes, silvery spots appeared on it. The leaves and stems twisted into bizarre Vines. The flower bud opened, but there was no Flower Demon Elf inside.

Instead, there was only a grotesque, slime-filled maw. In the center of the mouth, where the pistil should be, was a single eye.

It split its maw in a grin at Zhang Deming and began to sway, as if it wanted to press forward and nuzzle affectionately against him.

’What the hell is this?’

’Weren’t they saying the pollution had been eradicated? And that the Cyan Wood Flower Sea was under special protection and hadn’t suffered any actual contamination?’

As his thoughts raced, the grotesque flower-maw was already pressing against him.

But just as Zhang Deming tried to dodge, the entire flower stiffened, then began to tremble violently, like it was having a seizure.

The sphere of Spirit Nurturing light that enveloped them both also began to flicker rapidly, then it burst apart, filling the sky with Spiritual Light. The grotesque Flower Wood before him was no exception.

The only difference between this explosion and the others was the visual effects. A massive shockwave blew over many of the surrounding plants, creating an empty clearing. A sizeable crater now appeared where the Flower Wood had once stood.

All of these sudden developments left Zhang Deming stunned and dazed.

TING...

A metallic clang caught Zhang Deming’s attention.

When the Flower Wood had exploded, a metal fragment had fallen out of the flower. The silvery-white piece of metal fell directly into the crater, landing with a soft clink before lying silently within.

’What is...?’

Zhang Deming’s expression shifted slightly as he stared at the metal fragment.

After a moment’s hesitation, an emerald-like Vine emerged from his palm and, under his control, snaked toward the silvery-white metal fragment.

The moment it made contact, the silvery-white glow on the metal fragment flickered. Zhang Deming instantly sensed a foreign entity invading his emerald Vine.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Zhang Deming dispelled the Vine.

Nevertheless, a trace of a cold, bizarre, and ominous aura invaded Zhang Deming’s Dantian.

Before it could act, his editing panel automatically materialized. With a slight tremor, the frigid aura vanished completely.

"Karma +0.1!"

Zhang Deming looked at the new red notification dot that had appeared in his inventory, his face lighting up with delighted surprise.

His gaze immediately shifted back to the metal fragment on the ground. ’What a treasure! A Precious-Level windfall! How could I just leave it here!’

The Vine extended from his palm once more, carefully touching the silvery-white metal fragment. The fragment flashed with silver light again.

...