Chapter 516: Monster Garden

It was already the height of summer the following year.

Chen Shu and Ning Qing's journey, calculated by the watches they carried, took nearly two months. However, the flow of time in the universe is not uniform; for instance, the time flow on a planet near a black hole is far slower than on Earth—staying there for one hour would mean several years passing on Earth. Furthermore, the gravity of different planets and the influence of Spiritual Power—which the academic circles on Earth have yet to discover—on motion can also make the flow of time faster or slower. In short, when the two of them finished their nearly two-month journey through the stars and returned to Earth, about five months had passed on Earth.

The weather in Chunming was still as it was in spring, only a bit warmer than it had been in December.

When the Station Master and Miss Cheng Yan told them the time consumed by this trip, although the two had already calculated it, truly knowing the discrepancy still left Chen Shu momentarily stunned by that indescribable sense of wonder.

He reacted immediately after.

"This is something we brought back for you... consider it a travel souvenir." Chen Shu took out that palm-sized diamond. "The last stop was a planet covered in gold and diamonds. I just picked one up and polished it a bit; you can put it at the front desk as an ornament."

"Is this a real diamond?" The Station Master's sister-in-law's eyes immediately sparkled.

"It should be."

"Are there any more? Big Boss."

"Uh, only this one. If you had said you wanted some earlier, I could have brought back a urea sack full of them... but this stuff isn't anything rare."

"Truly a Big Boss."

"It's just a piece of carbon." Chen Shu smiled and continued, "Actually, those two planets had many delicious fruits and beautiful flowers. I originally wanted to bring some back for you all to taste, but considering the potential existence of microorganisms and invasive species, I was afraid of causing trouble, so I gave up."

He paused:

"However, we have kept the coordinates of those two planets for you. When you are interested in the future, provided you can ensure safety and avoid bringing back viruses or microorganisms, you can try going for a visit; it would also be very interesting."

"Wow..."

The group was suddenly filled with longing.

Miss Cheng Yan glanced at the diamond, completely indifferent, then glanced at Miss Yaoyao, seemingly disdainful of her foolishness, and then said, "I am still more interested in the Spiritual Power you mentioned."

"Spiritual Power, huh..."

Chen Shu organized his words in his mind.

That evening, the night was clear.

Chen Shu's explanation of Spiritual Power had reached its end.

In this lecture, he basically copied the content of Qingqing's graduation defense, but his own ability to express himself was superior to Qingqing's, and he had embellished it with his own language, making it more charming and moving.

For a moment, everyone was lost in thought, their expressions varied.

"... And because Spiritual Power is like a broadcast of information outward from a planet, a star system, a Plane, or a universe, by capturing it, we can also rely on the information contained within to make a preliminary judgment and basic understanding of its origin. We can even use it to calculate the distance between different planets and us, and even the difference in movement speed—that is, the time difference."

Everyone remained silent, every single one of them.

Even that talking flower and the little hamster raised by a cat had quieted down.

Except for the hotel's female cleaner, who was lying on the table blinking her eyes without understanding a word, the others were either conquered by the marvelous charm of Spiritual Power or had fallen into deep contemplation because of it.

Chen Shu was already used to this.

Back when Qingqing proved Spiritual Power, and later when Ling'an Academy posted the defense video online, the mentors at the defense site and the netizens who learned about Spiritual Power online later had almost the same expressions.

The mysteries of the universe are the ultimate knowledge, and exploring the universe is the ultimate yearning of those who seek knowledge; pure knowledge has its own charm.

Seeing the shock in everyone's hearts and the way they looked at him as if he were a master of knowledge, Chen Shu felt very satisfied.

Only Qingqing squinted at him, expressionless; that look seemed to say—

Not bad, using my knowledge to show off.

Chen Shu sensed her gaze, met it for a brief moment, and immediately looked away.

Can't see it, can't see it.

"No wonder..." The Station Master seemed to have deep emotions. "No wonder the biological evolution of different universes and different planets is so similar. I have been trying to find the secret behind this and never had a clue, but I didn't expect that by a stroke of luck, you have solved it."

"Strictly speaking, it was solved by our universe." Chen Shu replied to the Station Master. "Different universes have different laws, and civilizations develop differently; they must have different areas of expertise, and we just happened to meet."

"This is the second mystery your universe has solved for me."

"It means we are fated."

"It is..."

The two raised their Sprite Wine and clinked them together.

They took a large gulp.

Chen Shu noticed out of the corner of his eye that the talking flower on the flowerbed nearby suddenly gagged, and he couldn't help but ask: "What's wrong with it?"

"It's fine. They drink water with their feet; seeing us use our mouths, they find it very awkward."

"I see..."

"Is there any way for us to capture Spiritual Power?" asked the Station Master's sister.

"We can only observe and infer it from different angles. If you want to clearly capture Spiritual Power, you either have to be in the process of traversing the universe, or you have to be like our Qingqing, with a special Cultivation System. And even in our Plane, Secret Sect Practitioners are few and far between."

"That is truly a pity..."

"We can leave you the methods for observing and verifying Spiritual Power. When your cultivation is higher in the future, you can try doing it this way."

"Thank you!"

"Just a small effort..."

At this moment, the front desk lady, who was a struggling web novelist, gradually regained the sparkle in her eyes. She had been in a daze before, and she, who rarely spoke, finally couldn't help but speak up:

"So... the stories I write might be happening for real in some world?"

"Perhaps."

"Our stories might also be being written by someone else in another world?"

"Perhaps."

"..."

The front desk lady was silent for a long time, then suddenly straightened up and bowed to Chen Shu:

"Thank you."

Chen Shu smiled brightly, not bothering with formalities.

Perhaps for every creator, for everyone who has had wondrous experiences, this is a thing very much worth being happy about.

Chen Shu tilted his head back, looking toward the night sky.

The time was already very late.

Even with the light pollution in the city, one could still see stars one by one overhead, though those as fine as sand were invisible to ordinary people. However, with his eyes, he could completely pierce through this thin layer of light pollution on the planet's surface to peer at the planet, to capture the appearance and rotation of distant planets.

I wonder if there is one that I have visited before?

The feeling of returning to civilization is great.

The feeling of exploring the unknown is also great.

……

For a period in the future, while waiting for the Space-Time Item to finish charging, Chen Shu often entered the Jiedian Kongjian to further familiarize himself with Space-Time Energy; in this process, he also received help from the Station Master—when it comes to the understanding of Space-Time Energy, no one can compare to a Space-Time Master.

When free, he would also eat and chat with everyone.

The Station Master's cooking skills were quite good, and the cakes and pastries made by Tang Laoban were a specialty; once Chen Shu came out of the Jiedian Kongjian, he would think of nothing else, neither thinking of the Plane War nor the vast universe, just peacefully enjoying the life of the present.

This is a very enjoyable process.

Finally, at lunch, the Station Master informed them: "Both Space-Time Items have finished charging."

As soon as the words fell, Chen Shu and Ning Qing were still fine, but the others were stunned.

For this period of time, everyone often ate together, chatted together, went out shopping, watched movies, ate late-night snacks, and bought electronic products together; Chen Shu even had them recommend many songs and movies, and they had long since developed feelings.

Fortunately, they were in this space-time hostel and had already grown accustomed to partings.

"Actually, ah..." Nüxia said, holding a large iron basin, reluctant to let go, "You don't have to go back. What's so good about fighting? It's so dangerous. It's so good to have food and drink here, with white rice and meat at every meal. Besides, this is also your hometown; doing this doesn't make you a coward."

Chen Shu just laughed: "I have to go back."

"When are you leaving?"

"Tonight, I won't linger any longer." Chen Shu made his decision, "Anyway, the songs, movies, and videos I want to download, the books I want to take, and other miscellaneous things are all ready. I'll go out in the afternoon to buy some flower seeds and leave at night; staying longer would only increase distracting thoughts."

"Alright... then we won't say much more."

"We'll see you off when the time comes."

"Alright..."

Chen Shu still smiled brightly.

After finishing the meal, the two went out.

The Station Master's younger sister is a person with wide-ranging interests; she and Yaoyao took the two of them out to buy flowers.

The hotel itself was on the edge of Chunming, and the four of them rode shared electric scooters; after making a few turns, it became increasingly remote. This was normal; flower nurseries usually occupy large plots of land, and while the storefronts might be in the city, the nurseries are definitely outside the city.

Cheng Yan introduced as she rode:

"This is the Chunming University City, and Caiyun Daxue is right ahead. Chunming is full of flower markets, but many sell fresh flowers and cut flowers. If you want to buy flower seedlings, it's better to go to the nurseries outside the city... I remember there's a nursery around here that has a good reputation online; the quality of the seedlings is good, the root systems are robust, and it's been open for about ten years, and it's basically free of pests and diseases."

"Good."

The group soon stopped at the entrance of a garden. Through the iron gate and iron fence, one could see the garden full of flowers, as well as a Chinese-style courtyard behind it. The open space outside near the road was filled with pots of blooming flowers, with a sun umbrella set up.

A little girl with a bun-face, wearing a wide fisherman's hat to prevent getting tanned, sat on a small chair, arms crossed over her chest, head lowered, dozing off.

A courier truck had just come out of the garden; it seemed this place mainly operated as an online shop.

"Ding ding..."

Yaoyao twisted the bell on her electric scooter.

The bun-faced girl instantly lifted her head, squinting at them in a daze, as if her instinctive inquiry mechanism had been activated:

"Buying flowers? Why not buy a pot of flowers?"

"Buying flowers."

"Oh, oh, oh..."

The bun-faced girl then stood up, staring blankly at them: "What do you want to buy? We mainly sell roses."

"Just buy roses."

"Feel free to look around. Basically, all the varieties our garden has are placed outside. If you want to buy more or larger ones, or if you are not satisfied with the plant shape of the samples displayed outside, you can also go inside to choose. Our garden doesn't have many flowers, but the quality is very good, guaranteed to satisfy you."

"We'll take a look."

"Alright..."

The bun-faced girl stood where she was, motionless.

Due to the effect of Spiritual Power, there is an overlapping part between the rose varieties of the two worlds, but Spiritual Power is not that powerful, so there are ultimately some flower varieties here that Dayi Shijie does not have; naturally, Dayi Shijie also has many varieties that are not here, especially those related to Spirit Plant.

Chen Shu and Ning Qing began to pick.

"Besides potted plants, do you have seeds?"

"Then you've come to the right place." The bun-faced girl became serious, her tone also becoming much more professional, "Gardens usually propagate by cuttings, but because our garden also does its own variety cultivation in addition to selling potted plants, that's why we have seeds for sale. However, if you want to buy seeds, you have to ask our boss."

"You aren't the boss?"

"I'm a worker."

"Alright, alright, alright..."

The four of them soon saw the boss of the garden.

The bosses were a couple; unexpectedly, they were both very young and very good-looking, quite different from the dark-skinned flower farmer image Chen Shu had imagined.

Among them, the landlady was a head taller than Cheng Yan, with a generous and beautiful appearance; what was most eye-catching was the small tuft of hair on the top of her head, which swayed left and right with her steps and the wind blowing from Dianchi whenever she moved, making Chen Shu watch with amusement. The boss was a tall and handsome man, very handsome; Chen Shu felt that even compared to himself, it wasn't much different, which shows just how handsome he was.

In addition, they also saw the other two employees of the garden besides the bun-faced girl; both were female, one extremely beautiful, and one quiet and delicate.

Chen Shu was afraid they wouldn't sell him seeds, so he couldn't help but smile broadly, first complimenting them: "Your garden is full of handsome men and beautiful women."

"Haha!"

The landlady laughed boldly, asking with a smile: "What does the boss want to buy flower seeds for? Are you doing cultivation?"

"No." Chen Shu grinned and said off the cuff, "It's that we're settling in Africa and want to buy some flowers to take over, but potted plants aren't convenient to carry."

"Africa? Where is that?"

"Xiguaduo..."

"Never heard of it."

"That's normal, that's normal."

Chen Shu was hearing it for the first time himself.

"Hmm..."

The proprietress fell into deep thought, appearing to be the one in charge: "Selling is possible, but I have to say this in advance: if you buy flower seeds, the technical requirements for planting and cultivation will be higher, and the seedlings grown from seeds might be unstable, you know..."

"Very professional."

"We are both graduates of the School of Life Sciences at Cai University."

"High achievers."

"Wouldn't call it that, it's just a trash school, our majors just happen to match."

"We should still buy some..."

"Come in and pick."

"Thank you, boss..."

Chen Shu followed them inside.

Inside was a large nursery, the ground filled with the fragrance of flowers; besides Chinese roses, many other plants had been planted purposefully to construct an ecological garden—some could attract natural predators of Chinese rose pests, some were tastier than Chinese roses and could lure the pests away to eat them, and others simply served as companions...

It seemed to be not just a nursery, but also a garden.

Butterflies and dragonflies danced about, and a cat that looked not very bright was jumping around in the garden, trying to catch little bugs; sometimes it would jump too high and lose its balance upon landing, falling flat on its back, and other times it would jump into the Chinese roses and yowl after being pricked by thorns—it was quite something.

The handsome male boss walked over with a helpless expression, picked it up, and carefully brushed off the dust and withered leaves for it.

The scene was entirely harmonious.

Seeing this, Chen Shu immediately felt at ease—

At the very least, buying flowers from such a gentle person, it was unlikely that situations like receiving the wrong variety, passing off inferior goods as quality ones, or being unable to grow them would happen, right?

----------Author's Note----------

Consider this a little Easter egg; anyway, Ning Qing likes flowers, and having come to a new world, she would naturally want to buy flowers to take back. Don't overthink it, it's only this much...