Chapter 142: Demon Cave Cultivation Garden! Omen!

The next day, at 8:54 a. m.

In front of the main building of Shun'an Supply Base, the square was packed solid.

Filled with freshmen, their faces alight with excitement, whispering to one another.

Though they were only here to harvest rare flowers and herbs, everyone was fully armed.

Behind their backs, they carried black tactical backpacks for collecting the rare flora.

"I've heard our Great Xia has cultivation gardens inside every demon cave—now I'll finally see one with my own eyes."

Liu Wentao said eagerly, among the group.

Xu Jingming, beside him, also wore an expression of anticipation.

Rare flowers and herbs bring numerous benefits to psychics, and are essential materials for refining pills and potions.

Humanity has made many attempts to cultivate more of them.

Eventually, they discovered that the more dangerous the wilderness, the higher the survival rate of rare flora.

Thus, all of Great Xia's dozen or so demon caves have cultivation gardens—this No. 7 Demon Cave is no exception.

Of course, humanity currently only masters large-scale cultivation methods for C-rank and below rare flora.

Above C-rank, survival rates plummet drastically; S-rank is pure luck.

As for SS-rank and SSS-rank rare flora, there's no chance at luck at all—humanity simply cannot cultivate them.

The rare flora garden inside No. 7 Demon Cave is said to span over ten thousand mu.

The number of rare plants grown there is incalculable.

"It's late autumn now—most rare flowers and herbs should be in full bloom; the garden must be stunning."

Song Qiuyun's almond eyes gleamed faintly.

Unlike ordinary plants, rare flora typically bloom in autumn.

In high school, she had once visited the garden with her aunt.

Unfortunately, it was winter then—the rare flora had already been harvested once.

The scenery was still decent, but nowhere near as magnificent as during full bloom.

Time passed swiftly; it was soon exactly nine o'clock.

In front of the main building,

a teacher stepped forward and announced softly:

"Time's up—depart! Head for the demon cave cultivation garden!"

She was a female instructor, her voice not loud.

Even somewhat gentle, yet it echoed clearly in every freshman's ears.

"Depart! Depart!"

"The sea of flowers in the garden! I can't wait!"

"Those who didn't join the study trip really missed out."

All the freshmen wore smiles.

Though they were all prodigies from across the nation, each pursuing their own strength,

they would still savor such a rare chance to relax.

Notably,

Jingshan's S-rank Kiran, under the healing of a sixth-rank psychic instructor from Jingshan, had recovered seven or eight tenths.

He now looked slightly pale as he mingled among the Jingshan group.

Thus, the crowd departed en masse from the square in front of the supply base, entering the demon cave.

Along the way, many older psychics watched with envy.

To them, the demon cave was a perilous zone where one misstep could cost their life.

But to these students, it was like a spring outing.

In fact,

this trip to the garden was truly much like a spring outing.

As soon as they entered the demon cave, many pulled out snacks from their bags and began eating.

They weren't worried about ferocious beasts suddenly emerging.

Though the demon cave teemed with ferocious beasts, their group numbered nearly three thousand, plus over a dozen sixth-rank instructors.

Even low-rank beasts acting purely on instinct wouldn't dare approach.

The cultivation garden they needed to reach for harvesting rare flora lay at the demon cave's outer edge, posing minimal danger.

The three vice principals did not accompany them; instead, over a dozen sixth-rank instructors led the group.

Of course, should any unexpected situation arise,

with Eighth-Rank Grandmaster Hearing Ling Shuang, who possesses spatial psychic abilities, a single step through void-space could bring her directly to the scene, over ten kilometers away.

The garden was about ten kilometers from the demon cave entrance; the freshmen, moving at full speed, could reach it in under half an hour.

But since this was a trip out, no one needed to rush.

They chatted and laughed all the way, taking over two hours to finally arrive at the garden's region.

Before the freshmen appeared a highly modernized cultivation facility.

The facility was completely encircled by barbed wire, laced with high-voltage lightning along its perimeter.

Patrol squads of fully armed psychics, each with at least a third-rank aura, moved back and forth.

Through the barbed wire, they could see the blooming rare flowers and herbs within.

Some blazed like the sun, others glowed crimson as flame—seen from afar, they resembled vast oceans of differing colors.

"So pretty!"

"Those are C-grade Sunflowers, right? How can there be so many in the base?"

"I can't wait to pull them out of the soil!"

A group of new students all gazed in amazement at this sea of flowers.

"Welcome, instructors and students from the three major universities. This way, please."

At the entrance, the planting base's general manager Ma Yang and a group of administrators had long been waiting there.

"Sorry to trouble you, Supervisor Ma."

The teacher in charge of this collection activity was Hu Ping, from the Weaponry Academy of Mo Da Ability University.

A peak Sixth-Order ability user — Xu Jingming had once attended one of her classes.

However, because his marksmanship had already reached Master level, after attending once, he never went again.

Hu Ping gave a slight nod, then led the group of new students into the plantation.

"Students from Jing University are responsible for collecting Sunflowers in area C-12; students from Jin University are responsible for collecting Blaze Grass in area B-16.

Students from Mo Da are responsible for collecting Heart-Clearing Grass in area C-11.

Additionally, the top three students in this study tour need to go separately to the innermost area S-2 to collect S-grade rare flowers and herbs."

Supervisor Ma introduced as they walked.

Inside the plantation were flat roads, with all sorts of rare flowers and herbs planted on both sides.

Various strange herbal fragrances mingled together, refreshing the heart and spirit.

"The top three new students need to be separated?"

Leading the way, Hu Ping's delicate brows furrowed slightly. "Why don't the plantations in other Demon Caves have this rule?"

This wasn't her first time participating in a study tour either. In previous study tours,

although the location wasn't Demon Cave No. 7, the format was roughly the same.

Although students from the three schools collected rare flowers and herbs separately, the top three were never separated.

"These are newly cultivated S-grade rare flowers and herbs — a perfect chance to let these outstanding students broaden their horizons.

Otherwise, if they encounter them in the wilderness someday and fail to recognize them, that would be a pity."

The smile on Supervisor Ma's face remained unchanged.

"Broaden their horizons?"

Hu Ping pondered for a moment, then finally nodded. "Fine. Xu Jingming, Ji Lan, Dong Sheng — you three, step out separately.

The rest of you will be led by your respective school instructors to different areas."

"Collect S-grade rare flowers and herbs separately?"

Xu Jingming in the group frowned slightly, always feeling something seemed off about this Supervisor Ma.

But exactly what was off, he couldn't say.

"But with the instructors here, there shouldn't be any problems, right…"

Unable to figure it out, Xu Jingming turned and said something to Song Qiuyun and the others, then walked forward alone.

"Collecting S-grade rare flowers and herbs separately — I want to go too!"

"Heh, you must be dreaming. That's a privilege reserved for the top three!"

"S-grade rare flowers and herbs — even taking a single whiff might bring tremendous benefits!"

Under the envious gazes of the new students,

Xu Jingming and the other two left the group and followed behind Hu Ping.

"Then Teacher Hu, and the three students, please follow me."

The smile on Supervisor Ma's face grew a fraction wider.

The other dozen or so administrators also split into three groups, each leading the instructors and new students of the three universities to different areas of the plantation.

Wishing all my dear readers a happy Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day double holiday!