Chapter 148: Seed, Seen Again

Consciousness withdraws from the sea of awareness.

No longer thinking about serious matters.

Lin Ke picks up his Portable Smart Brain, logs onto the forum, intending to relax.

The forum has already been in an uproar.

All kinds of messages fly everywhere, heated discussions are visible everywhere.

After briefly browsing several hot posts that had exploded in popularity, Lin Ke suddenly discovered that the word appearing most frequently was actually the name "Linke Grand".

Looking closer, the Benevolent Brother Group and the Social Anxiety Group turned into "Lin Ke blowers", wandering the forum and boasting wildly.

What my big shot, with a wave of his hand, wiped out three of Pureblood Will;

What my big shot, with a slight smile, triggered a huge explosion, vaporizing seven of Pureblood Will;

What my big shot, with unparalleled wit, caused a super-large explosion, instantly vaporizing over sixty people from the North District;

What my big shot overpowered more than a thousand from the North District and bravely took first place in the Two Districts Grand Comparison.

From every angle, using every method, mindlessly boasting.

It seems Linke Grand is already invincible under heaven!

Lin Ke originally wanted to relax, but ended up retreating helplessly.

It's too cheesy; I don't have the cheek to keep watching.

All I can do is sleep soundly.

During the Two Districts Grand Comparison, hearts were raised and minds schemed, yet I never got a peaceful night's sleep.

I slept soundly through the night.

The next day.

Lin Ke woke up early, feeling refreshed.

The academy is absolutely crazy, actually giving no buffer time at all.

Yesterday was the Two Districts Grand Comparison; today we have class.

From the war-torn "world" to a classroom where only the instructor's voice can be heard, the shift is extremely hardcore.

It seems that for the academy, the most important thing for wizard apprentices is studying.

As long as studying doesn't kill you, study to death.

Rest?

Nice to think about.

Fortunately Lin Ke has the Brain Seal Technique to help; he adjusted his mindset in time and experienced no maladjustment.

Mo Li, after one and a half semesters of training, has excelled in adapting to fast-paced life.

Not like the Benevolent Brothers, sighing and weak.

She got up early, ate in the cafeteria, previewed in the classroom, focused on class—no different from usual.

The only thing that displeases Mo Li is that wherever she goes, strange stares constantly fix on her and Lin Ke.

It feels like returning to the period of being "net-violenced".

Unpleasant memories surfaced, and her mood inevitably grew somewhat irritable.

The slightly better thing is that she didn't feel much malice from those strange looks.

Most are curiosity; a small part is admiration.

Only those who can't stand others' good, who bear grudges against Lin Ke, who are envious and jealous, will be full of malice.

When encountering such people, Mo Li directly glares back.

Everyone is doing being human for the first time; why should I indulge you?

The first daytime after the Two Districts Grand Comparison passed in a slightly strange atmosphere.

After dinner.

Underground third-floor laboratory.

Mo Li casually complained about those strange looks, vented some anger, and then calmed down.

She originally wanted to share with Lin Ke her achievements from the Two Districts Grand Comparison, her rewards, and her joy.

Now she no longer has that mood.

Lin Ke waited a while, seeing that Mo Li had no intention in that regard, and didn't proactively ask.

He sat before an office smart brain, reproducing all recorded research data for future research use.

The "Seed" is the embodiment of the world origin of that shattered world.

These research materials may not be very useful for cultivating the "Seed", but can still serve some reference.

Being able to take fewer detours is also good.

Lin Ke also plans to purchase others' research data, experiment records, even water samples, soil, plant specimens, and animal specimens, by any means.

When the academy's rewards come down, having a dedicated large comprehensive lab, he will open a section in that lab devoted to researching every aspect of the shattered world.

However, this matter cannot be done by himself showing up.

He needs to wear several layers of "vests" (i. e., use multiple alternate identities).

Otherwise, even if others can't guess he obtained the origin seed, they'll suspect he got one or several treasures highly related to the shattered world.

Otherwise, the Two Districts Grand Comparison is already over—why still painstakingly collect these things?

There's definitely something fishy about it.

As his thoughts turned, all research data was recorded into the smart brain via brainwave contact.

Then it was printed out, a thick stack.

What?

Shouldn't you be tapping with the "keyboard"?

Smart brain!

Isn't having a more convenient brainwave input function quite normal?

One of the foundations of a wizard is mental power.

Using brainwave input is intuitive, convenient, and quick—much faster than tapping the 'keyboard' by hand.

After organizing the data, the Benevolent Brother Group also came to the laboratory.

The Social Anxiety Group is currently under observation and will not be allowed into the laboratory for the time being.

Moreover, this laboratory, granted for six months' use by the Paro Wizard, is about to expire.

Having passed the assessment, the Social Anxiety Group will go to—and be able to receive—the large comprehensive laboratory tomorrow.

"Ba Ke, Lin En, come over—I have something for you to do."

Lin Ke tidied the data in his hands and waved to the Benevolent Brother Group.

"Boss, just give the orders."

Ba Ke and Lin En immediately left the main group and walked toward Lin Ke.

Aigio, Ditje, and Dalton, feeling a few steps behind, first went to greet the elder sister Mo Li.

"You all work out a way—don't show yourselves; privately, through others, obtain all the comparative apprentices' research data, water samples, soil, and specimens, whether from the South District or the North District."

Lin Ke assigned a difficult task to Ba Ke and Lin En.

The key and difficulty of this task lie not in the South/North District opposition, but in concealing one's identity.

Lin En thinks a lot, considering more.

He knows the boss himself won't show up, and also wants them not to show up—there must be a reason.

Without asking the reason, Lin En stopped the blunt, ready-to-agree Ba Ke and asked calmly:

"Boss, do we not need to rush on time? To hide our identity while handling this, we need to go through several rounds—we can't rush it."

"Take it slow, don't be anxious."

Lin Ke gave a reply that let Lin En relax a little.

Not being anxious is fine.

Then we can do things slowly, with meticulous operation.

"This is the budget; if it's not enough, come find me for more."

Lin Ke then took out a box and handed it to Ba Ke and Lin En.

Inside the box are the few dozen Magic Stones that Lin Ke has left.

It can truly be said he's spent his entire fortune.

"Aigio, Ditje, Dalton, come over for a moment."

Let Ba Ke and Lin En step aside to discuss the plan, and Lin Ke issued another summons.

Aigio, Ditje, and Dalton, who were chatting with Mo Li, immediately gave her an apologetic smile upon hearing this.

Walking up to Lin Ke's side, the three spoke in unison:

"Boss, what are your orders?"

Lin Ke ordered: "I need you three, over the recent period, on the "forum," to stir up conflict between pure-bloods and half-bloods, as well as negative feelings of Newbloods toward pure-bloods."

"No problem, Boss."

Aigio stepped forward to take on the task and then asked, "Boss, is there anything else?"

"Yes."

Lin Ke nodded, looking at Ditje, and said: "You and Betty McGee and her group should have more contact, gauge their thoughts, and see if they're willing to join us and progress together."

"Okay, Boss, I understand."

Ditje received his personal task and was very happy.

Is this just a task?

This is the boss's trust!

After arranging these things, Lin Ke indicated to the Benevolent Brother Group to go study.

The Two Districts Grand Comparison has ended; it's time to look forward.

Learning knows no end.

It's late at night.

Everyone left the laboratory.

After seeing Mo Li back to the dormitory, Lin Ke went alone to the Wizardry Trade Center.

Three rewards,

Large comprehensive laboratory, to be received tomorrow morning;

Apprentice-level cultivation secret realm, to be entered after the vacation, is the best choice;

The natal wizardry and its corresponding resources are most suitable to obtain now.

First-circle wizardry is not that simple to learn.

The corresponding knowledge base is extremely broad.

Given Lin Ke's current knowledge reserves, it's still rather demanding.

Therefore, Lin Ke must, before entering the cultivation secret realm, fully learn the knowledge corresponding to the natal wizardry awarded by the academy.

Only then will efficiency be high.

Not long after, Lin Ke entered the Wizardry Trade Center.

Having come to the Wizardry Trade Center so many times, this is still Lin Ke's first time entering the small room.

After verifying his identity and confirming his choice, Lin Ke took the scroll of his natal witchcraft's witchcraft model and a small bag containing something into his hand.

Without opening the bag on the spot to check its contents, Lin Ke headed straight back to the dormitory.

There's nothing to check.

The academy basically won't make a mistake.

Even if there were a mistake, could Lin Ke figure it out on the spot?

Since he couldn't find out, there's no need to worry unnecessarily.

Dormitory, study.

Lin Ke communicated with the scroll using his mental and magical power at a specific frequency.

A super-complex rune structure appeared in his sea of consciousness.

After examining it closely, Lin Ke felt as if he were looking at a crystal lattice diagram.

Layer upon layer, intricate and elaborate.

First-ring witchcraft, compared to zero-ring witchcraft, is ahead by at least one generation in its witchcraft model.

After carefully contemplating, Lin Ke picked out the unfamiliar rule runes and their corresponding knowledge one by one.

Benefiting from the large stock of entry-level zero-ring witchcraft prepared for the Two Districts Grand Comparison, in terms of rule runes he had only not encountered the twelve first-level rule runes.

Yes, rule runes also have graded levels.

The core rune of zero-ring witchcraft is a zero-level rule rune;

The core rune of first-ring witchcraft is a first-level rule rune, with many zero-level rule runes serving as auxiliaries.

These twelve first-level rule runes, according to the academy's teaching schedule, can only be learned in the spring semester of the second year and the autumn semester of the third year.

Lin Ke's situation is special; he must find a way to self-study the relevant rune studies in advance.

Some materials can be found in the advanced literature library, and more content is available on the credits exchange page.

"Looks like I need to figure out how to publish some 'papers'."

Lin Ke intends to exercise the researcher's generic skill of padding papers, writing a few "papers" about various aspects of the Two Districts Grand Comparison to earn some credits.

Moreover, this action can not only earn him "credits," but also serve as a cover for his covertly dispatching people to gather those research materials and specimens.

After all, having encountered two academic "competitions," being cautious is quite normal.

With the plan settled, Lin Ke continued to focus on his natal witchcraft.

The name of this witchcraft is rather tacky, called "Armor Orchid Battle Armor," yet its effect excites Lin Ke immensely.

"Armor orchid" is an extremely special orchid, resembling layered miniature armor, waterproof and fireproof, with extremely high toughness and strong survivability.

After conversion and activation by the witchcraft model, the "armor orchid" carefully cultivated and fused by a witch will, in an extremely short time, extend like a nanomaterial to cover the witch's entire body, forming a suit of armor.

Lin Ke imagined the usage effect of the first-ring natal witchcraft "Armor Orchid Battle Armor."

An image instantly appeared in his mind.

That was the scene of Iron Man Tony Stark in Women's Federation District 3, wearing a tight sports outfit, strolling down the street, pressing a few times on his chest, and the nanotech battle suit smoothly extending out to cover his whole body, entering combat mode.

Handsome, cool.

I want it!

Lin Ke couldn't help but become excited.

He repeatedly browsed the description attached to the witchcraft model, confirming that the first-ring natal witchcraft "Armor Orchid Battle Armor" is extremely similar to the nanotech battle suit in both appearance and actual effect, instantly igniting him.

"So cool, it ought to be mine!"

Clenching his right fist, he heavily tapped his left palm, and Lin Ke threw out a line of dialogue that clashed with the art style.

He was really too excited.

Battle armor, oh, how many people dreamed of it as a treasure in their childhood.

Now, he is about to fulfill this childhood dream from his past life; how could he not be excited?

After taking several deep breaths to calm his excitement, Lin Ke put away the witchcraft model scroll, opened the bag, and poured out what was inside.

It turned out to be a round, black seed!

"It's actually a seed!"

Even though he had already sensed it, upon confirming this, Lin Ke still couldn't help but let out a sigh.

He has recently been extremely fated with seeds.

He had just obtained a world primordial seed and hadn't yet decided how to cultivate it.

Now, the natal witchcraft awarded as a reward actually comes with an attached plant seed.

Lin Ke picked up the black armor orchid seed and examined it closely.

The seed itself has nothing special; it's just an ordinary supernatural plant seed.

What is comparatively special is that Lin Ke felt a disturbance in his sea of consciousness.

With a thought, he summoned the primordial seed causing the disturbance in his sea of consciousness, preparing to figure out the cause.

The "seed" hovered before Lin Ke's brow, emitting waves of fluctuation.

It told Lin Ke that it longed to devour the armor orchid seed.

Lin Ke couldn't help but slightly frown.

The "seed" requires a large amount of resources to cultivate, which he knows.

However, the armor orchid seed is tied to the study of the first-ring natal witchcraft "Armor Orchid Battle Armor," so he cannot easily give it away.

If the "seed" absorbs and consumes it, where would he find a second armor orchid seed to study the witchcraft?

Lin Ke's brows furrowed slightly as his gaze focused on the core of the "seed."

The little girl lifted her head and met Lin Ke's gaze.

After a moment, the little girl, who had already accepted the fact that her father had exchanged his life for her rebirth, timidly said, "Master, please give me a name."

Lin Ke thought for a moment, then said, "From now on you will be called Fulan Duo; also, do not use the title 'master'."

"Fulan Duo will obey your commands; may I ask how Fulan Duo should address you in the future?"

The little girl, Fulan Duo, blinked her big eyes and asked with a cute 'meng'na'na'.

"Hmm..."

Lin Ke pondered for a while, then said, "Just call me 'my lord' (similar to 'mylord/yourmajesty')."

"All right, my lord."

Fulan Duo quickly accepted this somewhat odd form of address, then asked, "My lord, do you have any orders for me?"

Lin Ke directly placed the Armor Orchid seed and the first-ring innate witchcraft "Armor Orchid Battle Armor" into the core of the "Seed", opened all permissions of the "Seed" to Fulan Duo, and asked, "If this plant seed is absorbed and digested by the 'Seed', will it affect the study and use of the witchcraft?"

Fulan Duo is the spirit of the "Seed"; on this question she can give Lin Ke an answer.

Especially, Lin Ke had just opened all of what he had learned, through his connection with the "Seed", to Fulan Duo.

She can freely retrieve all knowledge, use it for "calculation", and derive an answer.

In Fulan Duo's big eyes, a "data stream" flickered.

The entire "Seed"'s source power became active, helping Fulan Duo with "calculation".

Not long after, Fulan Duo obtained the result.

In her eyes, the "data stream" converged, flashing with an excited expression.

She loudly said, "My lord, based on the knowledge you shared, we seem able to improve this first-ring witchcraft 'Armor Orchid Battle Armor', directly casting it with the 'Seed' as the core."

Lin Ke never expected that his first interaction with Fulan Duo would bring such a great surprise.

If Fulan Duo's "idea" could truly be realized, one would don the power of the world and battle with people.

What is a single Armor Orchid seed?

Even hundreds or thousands are not stingy.

The problem is,

Can it be achieved?

(End of chapter)