Chapter 20: Plant Shepherd

Lei En paid the fare and walked into Violet Manor.

Violet Manor occupies a huge area; just the reception hall alone is over a hundred square meters, but the interior decoration is quite simple, giving off a low-key yet substantial feel.

As Lei En just entered, the few female attendants at the front desk lit up, and one of them rushed forward to greet him with a beaming smile, saying:

"Sir, welcome to Violet Manor. May I ask how to address you?"

She wore a neat and efficient uniform, looking somewhat like a white-collar worker from his past life, her hair tied up, her figure attractive; as she spoke, her gaze fell on Lei En's face, her eyes full of amusement.

One feature of Violet Manor is that its staff are predominantly female, and their looks are all above average—any one of them placed outside would be a beauty.

It is said that the manager in charge of this shop is an elf, though she rarely appears before ordinary customers.

Lei En had been here before, so he wasn't overly surprised; he directly said, "My name is Lei En, and I'd like to take a soul test."

"All right, Mr. Lei En, please follow me."

The attendant made an elegant gesturing invitation, then led the way ahead.

Lei En followed her through the hall into an elegant room at the back. The whole room was divided into two parts by a glass window in the middle, through which he could see that the far half contained a recliner resembling a dental chair, with a device placed beside it.

The device, about half a person tall, resembled a metal cabinet; on top sat an irregularly shaped stone, the lower half of which was embedded in the metal cabinet, hiding its internal structure.

Seated beside the device was a middle-aged woman wearing a lake-green long dress, holding in her hand the metal lead connected to the device, as if she were injecting energy.

At that moment, a person in his twenties lay on the chair, reaching out to touch the stone on the device; his eyes were closed, but his face was twisted and pale, sweat covering his forehead, as if he were enduring immense pain.

Outside the glass window, another attendant monitored the situation inside, timing the test subject.

"How long has it been started?" the attendant who had brought Lei En in asked softly.

"It's already reached intermediate pain level."

The attendant glanced at the wall clock, then turned and said, "Mr. Lei En, please wait a moment; this guest should be finishing the test soon."

"All right."

Lei En nodded; he had never undergone a soul test before, but he knew the procedure.

That device is the Soul Grinding Stone; inside it has a soul-power conduction device. Ask a superhuman to inject soul power into the stone on top; touching it with the hand produces intense pain, simulating the Soul Transformation ritual.

However, the pain does not start at the level of the Soul Transformation ritual; rather, it gradually increases as soul power is infused.

The first five minutes are mild pain; enduring those five minutes raises it to intermediate pain, and after another five minutes it reaches severe pain, which is the most agonizing stage of the true Soul Transformation ritual.

If one can endure five minutes of severe pain, they qualify to perform the Soul Transformation ritual, with a success rate close to fifty percent!

Of course, the longer one endures, the better, and the higher the success rate.

After about two minutes, the young man undergoing the test let out a loud shout, released his hand from the Soul Grinding Stone, and sprang up from the recliner.

He glanced at the clock, his face filling with disappointment, then immediately regretted why he couldn't endure it.

Under intermediate pain, he lasted less than two minutes; if he were to undergo the Soul Transformation ritual, his chance of success would be nearly zero.

The middle-aged woman responsible for activating the Soul Grinding Stone comforted him with a few words; a green light shot from her fingertips into his forehead, after which he stood up, staggered out of the compartment, sat on an outside chair to rest, and the attendant in charge of him brought him a cup of tea, which he drank, finally improving his complexion.

"Mr. Lei En, you may now proceed with the test."

Lei En took off his coat and handed it to the attendant, then entered the compartment.

"Please lie down and relax."

" the middle-aged woman said gently, her voice sounding quite melodious, as if she had some vocal training.

Lei En had already noticed outside that this woman was a second-rank superhuman, her occupation being "Plant Shepherd"!

Perhaps her occupational rank isn't high, but as a Plant Shepherd capable of casting spells, no one dares to underestimate her.

The core element of a Plant Shepherd is plant affinity; they are skilled at controlling various plants, casting spells through them, with spell types encompassing everything—capable of healing as well as destruction, summoning and control also being their forte; if they also study alchemy to concoct poisons, they can kill without a trace.

Being able to invite a Plant Shepherd to give customers a free soul test is downright luxurious; Violet Manor's strength makes Lei En feel even more mysterious.

He lay down on the chair, took a deep breath, and placed his hand on the Soul Grinding Stone.

"I'm starting now."

As soon as the middle-aged woman's words fell, Lei En felt a piercing pain surge from his hand straight into his brain, as if his fingers had been cut off, nearly making him jump off the chair.

His body stiffened slightly, he clenched his teeth, took several deep breaths, and only then managed to endure it.

Wave after wave of pain assaulted his brain, like a knife repeatedly sawing his fingers, and it was a dull saw that kept tugging at his pain nerves.

"Damn, this is too painful."

Lei En shouted in his mind; although he could bear it for now, he couldn't be sure that after five minutes, when the pain reached the intermediate level, he would be able to withstand it.

"I must shift my focus!"

He began silently counting sheep, but he never managed to reach ten before the pain interrupted him.

Then he tried reciting his lessons.

"The old territory of Yuzhang, the new prefecture of Hongdu. Stars split Wings and Chariot, the earth joins Henglu. Embracing the three rivers and holding the five lakes, controlling, controlling… controlling your head, damn it, I'm dying of pain!"

"The sun sets behind the mountains, the Yellow River's waters flow to the heavens… wait, that's wrong—moonlight before my bed, hanging from the southeast branch, a branch of red apricot blooming over the wall…"

Lei En's mind was in chaos; not a single line could be recited smoothly.

He struggled with random thoughts, even beginning to recall the various teachers stored for years on his hard drive: Professor Ohashi, Professor Takagi, Professor Hatano, Professor Matsushima, Professor Mikami, Professor Ishihara, Professor Utsunomiya… but none of it helped; the terrible pain affected every thought, easily cutting off the teachers' splendid performances.

Unbeknownst to him, he finally endured five minutes.

Then, a more intense intermediate pain surged into his brain—this time it felt like his hand was being roasted over fire!

"Who can possibly endure this!"

Lei En bit down hard on his own lips to keep from crying out, veins bulging on his face, cold sweat soon dripping from his forehead.

A thought flashed through his mind: the guy before him had actually lasted two minutes—he was incredibly tolerant.

He then recalled a martyr hero from his past life—truly an admirable great figure!

Second by second passed, Lei En still held on; his right hand resting on the Soul Grinding Stone had almost completely stiffened, the veins on the back of his hand protruding, yet he pressed the stone firmly, refusing to let go.

He looked at the wall clock; its pendulum swung left and right regularly, each swing marking one second.

Yet each of those seconds was a terrible torment; Lei En wondered if the clock were broken, otherwise why would its pendulum move so slowly?

Two minutes later, Lei En felt a surge of joy—I had overtaken the person ahead!

Then, painfully realizing, there were still three minutes left in this stage.

Afterward, another three minutes passed.

These were the longest three minutes Lei En had ever experienced in his two lifetimes. Before he could even feel relieved, the pain surged to an advanced level—the most agonizing late stage of the Soul Transformation test.

This time, it felt as if someone had driven a finger‑thick steel nail from the crown of his head into his brain, then stirred it in circles.

Lei En couldn't help but let out a muffled groan, and his whole body began to tremble.

"If you can't hold on, just tell me." The middle‑aged woman's voice sounded in his ear; she feared that if Lei En suffered too much, his body would stiffen to the point he couldn't even loosen his grip.

"No, use..." Lei En slowly squeezed out two words.

One minute passed, and to Lei En it felt as long as an era.

Then another era passed, his consciousness nearly blurred, and he was on the brink of collapse.

During the third minute of the advanced pain, Lei En's mind went blank—he couldn't even think, shifting his attention no longer worked, and he relied purely on his willpower to endure.

In the final two minutes, Lei En didn't know how he had managed to endure.

When the clock ticked past five minutes, his willpower almost gave way in a single breath, and he wanted to pull his hand back.

"No way! I can still hold on—I want to test my limits." After passing the five‑minute mark, Lei En felt as if he had broken through a barrier, and he managed to endure another three minutes.

The several people present watched nervously, not daring to make a sound.

Lei En kept his eyes closed, his attention wandering, and just as he was about to give up, he caught sight of the little red flower in the corner of his visual field and opened his phone interface.

At that moment, he couldn't think at all, and he randomly tapped the interface.

Unintentionally, the music player was opened.

A beautiful melody played in his mind: "The sunset on the horizon once again casts upon my face, again upon my uneasy heart—what place is this still so desolate, that endless journey so long…"

Lei En was instantly drawn to the song, wondering what song this was.

Immediately, he noticed the pain had lessened!

Lei En was overjoyed; he quickly focused on listening to the song, silently humming along to the lyrics. Sure enough, the pain eased bit by bit. Although it hadn't vanished completely, it had likely dropped from advanced to mild pain, and this was well within what he could bear.

Moreover, as he sang earnestly, the pain continued to recede further.

After two songs, the pain had diminished to the feeling of having one's head caught in a door—even milder than the initial pain level, and he could easily endure it.

"I never thought I'd one day find having my head caught in a door this pleasant…"

Lei En thought, laughing and crying at the same time.

After listening to a few more songs, seeing that further testing was pointless, he withdrew his hand.

The pain vanished instantly; Lei En exhaled, regained his composure, and saw the middle‑aged woman sitting beside him staring at him in a dazed way, as if she had seen a ghost.

Not only her, but the cubicle outside the glass window was already filled with people—both female attendants from Violet House and several customers from the shop.

They saw Lei En pull his hand back and all gasped in unison, their eyes full of disbelief.