Lying on his bed, Li Xuan suddenly remembered something. "Crap, I haven't done the daily settlement yet!" he muttered, then quickly called out to the system.
"System, process today's settlement!"
His tone was rushed—he hated missing it. The system allowed only one settlement a day, and if he forgot to trigger it, that day's rewards would go to waste. Sure, his strength wasn't much right now, but even crumbs were still food, and he needed every bit he could get.
As soon as the words left his mouth, the familiar blue interface flickered into view. Lines of text scrolled rapidly before his eyes.
[Initiating daily points settlement…]
[Soul Power Level: 10 – Reward: 10 points!]
[…]
[No additional point triggers detected… No bonus points awarded.]
[Congratulations, Host. You've earned 10 points today. Current total: 26 points.]
"Not bad. Twenty-six. Let's hope tomorrow's special deals are within budget." He dismissed the screen, lay back, and stared at the ceiling, trying to remember if there was anything else he'd forgotten today.
The thoughts slowly lulled him to sleep.
The next morning, the first rays of sunlight streamed into his room. Li Xuan opened his eyes naturally with the dawn.
Now that his soul power had reached level ten, there wasn't much point in training—he'd hit a bottleneck.
Stretching, he stepped into the courtyard and went through an entire set of warm-up exercises. Only after working up a sweat did he crack open a bottle of water and start drinking.
Just then, the sound of wheels creaking reached his ears. He froze mid-sip, quickly capped the bottle, and looked up—only to see Lin Mo arriving in a horse-drawn carriage.
"Well, well… You're tougher than I thought. Took a beating from my whip and bounced back in two days. Next time I'll make sure to hit harder," Lin Mo said in his usual snakelike tone, eyes gleaming maliciously, a faint smirk tugging at his lips.
Before Li Xuan could respond, Lin Mo casually tossed a cloth pouch to the ground near his feet.
"Here. These are the seeds you need to cultivate this month." With that, Lin Mo turned and left without another word.
Li Xuan raised an eyebrow, watching him disappear.
That's weird… Normally this guy would mock me for at least an hour. Why the sudden efficiency?
Still, Li Xuan wasn't one to complain about less verbal abuse. He bent down and picked up the seed pouch.
In the Flower Sea, whenever things calmed down agriculturally, Chrysanthemum Douluo would assign seeds to the flower slaves to cultivate.
Each person typically received 100 seeds. Growing at least 90 successfully was considered passing, 95 and up earned you a reward.
Below 85?
Straight to the compost heap—literally. Failed flower slaves were used as fertilizer for the very plants they failed to grow.
So yeah, seed cultivation had become something of a death sport around here.
But Li Xuan had a secret weapon: his new sub-class as an Herbalist. For him, growing plants was child's play. He tucked the pouch into his robes and headed to the cafeteria.
He didn't have time to inspect the seeds one by one, so he figured he'd check them while eating.
In the cafeteria, small groups of flower slaves sat around, eating and whispering, many already swapping seeds.
Since each person only really understood how to grow a specific type of plant, everyone usually traded for what they were more familiar with. It was the only way to keep the sprouting rate high and their necks off the chopping block—again, literally.
Li Xuan's ears perked up at a nearby conversation.
"Hey, I heard Chrysanthemum Douluo got his hands on some super rare flower seed this year. Damn near impossible to grow."
"Ugh, whoever gets that one's doomed."
"No kidding. Supposedly it's an orchid. Keep an eye out when we trade—don't want that cursed thing ending up in our bags."
"Yeah, steer clear. That seed's death in disguise."
Li Xuan felt a cold chill trickle down his spine.
He suddenly recalled Lin Mo's suspiciously quick delivery and eerie lack of insults.
Oh no… Don't tell me…
He stuffed the rest of his steamed bun into his mouth and yanked open the seed pouch.
One by one, he pulled the seeds out and examined them.
Then he froze.
In his hand was an orchid seed—but not just any orchid. This one was the size of a soybean, a shimmering violet, translucent like crystal, cold to the touch, with a deep, unsettling aura about it.
"Damn you, Lin Mo, you bastard! You're trying to kill me!"
Li Xuan instinctively activated his Herbalist skill: Plant Appraisal.
[Plant: Nether Orchid (Dark Ghost Orchid)]
[Quality: Rare Spiritual Treasure]
[Cultivation Age: 0 years]
[Description: One of the highest-tier spiritual treasures. Grows by absorbing resentment. Blooms once every 100 years. Petals can greatly boost spiritual power. Leaves and stem are highly toxic. Must be cultivated in areas rich with yin and death energy.]
"A spiritual treasure? Grows on resentment?" Li Xuan's eyes lit up.
Flower Sea lacked many things—but resentment? Not one of them. Thousands of flower slaves died here every year, their bodies buried beneath the soil. If resentment were fertilizer, this place was Miracle-Gro Heaven.
Li Xuan exhaled in relief. Thank the heavens for that Herbalist subclass. Without it, he'd probably murder this seed by accident—and Ju Douluo would turn him into fertilizer.
Now, however, this troublesome orchid might become his greatest asset. Boosting spiritual strength was no joke.
And then… a bold idea bloomed in his mind.
If this seed was so rare, who's to say the rest weren't valuable too? Chrysanthemum Douluo likely mixed in other precious herbs.
Which meant… other people were holding onto them.
Time for some strategic capitalism.
Li Xuan leapt onto a nearby boulder, held up a handful of seeds, and declared loudly:
"Uncles and Brothers! As some of you may know, my martial soul evolved recently and awakened a new ability—one that can speed up plant germination. So! I'd like to offer a trade: your hard-to-grow seeds for my easy ones. In exchange, all I ask is a little help—build me a better hut, fix up my yard, help tend the Flower Sea, that sort of thing. Sound good?"
Everyone stopped talking.
They looked at Li Xuan in stunned silence.
"…Li Xuan, you noble fool! You're taking one for the team!" someone finally shouted.
"I've got two nightmare-level lotus seeds—take them!" A middle-aged man sprang up and offered two pigeon-egg-sized seeds, one red and one blue, both gleaming like gemstones.
Li Xuan smiled. "Brother Zhao, those are lotuses—I don't have any lotus basins, can't grow them."
"No worries! I'll bring you one myself! Also, I'll handle your weeding and watering for the next month," Zhao declared firmly. Growing lotuses was notoriously hard—he'd rather carry the pot than try it himself.
And so it began.
Li Xuan traded two low-difficulty seeds for Zhao's high-grade lotus seeds, then quickly appraised them.
[Plant: Firejade Lotus]
[Quality: Rare]
[Cultivation Age: 0 years]
[Description: A potent medicinal plant. Nontoxic, but its seeds contain scorching flame venom. Bitter, hot natured, enters the heart and lung meridians. Always paired with Icejade Lotus—cannot grow alone.]
And the second seed?
[Plant: Icejade Lotus]
A perfect pair!
Grinning, Li Xuan slipped the two seeds and the Nether Orchid into a pouch and tucked it safely into his inner robe.
More trades followed. The crowd surged as others pulled out their problem seeds and came running.
Li Xuan didn't rush. With a calm smile, he kept bartering and appraising.
Half an hour later, the frenzy died down. The flower slaves all looked satisfied with their trades, clutching easier seeds and glowing with hope.
"Well then, uncles and brothers, today's trades are done. I'm heading back. Let's work together again in the future!" Li Xuan called out with a friendly wave.
The crowd scattered. After all, even the easiest seeds didn't plant themselves.
And Li Xuan?
He returned to his yard with a seed pouch full of treasures and a head full of schemes.