LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 55 - Changes
Mai Dongzi had originally thought there were plenty of medicinal plants on this hillside and planned to stay a few more days to search for spiritual plants. However, a flash flood had destroyed it all.
The once vibrant hillside was now a desolate wasteland, completely devoid of green plants, leaving her with nothing to search for.
Mai Dongzi had no choice but to climb quickly to the mountaintop, intending to cross over to the other side and check out the hillside there. The flood had only affected this side, and the other side should still be lush and green.
However, things often turn out differently from what one expects. Less than twenty meters up the mountain, Mai Dongzi’s wood-elemental abilities detected a faint energy fluctuation.
She looked up and saw, about two meters away, some root-like structures similar to ginseng in the soil that had been washed away by the flood.
Not only did these energy plants resemble ginseng in appearance, but their energy fluctuations were also similar to those of ginseng.
Mai Dongzi approached and dug out these ginseng-like roots, which turned out to be two to three meters long. It took considerable effort to extract them.
Since there were no plants left on the ground, even with the ancient Shui Lanxing plant guide, Mai Dongzi couldn’t identify any similar species right away.
However, after examining the root she had dug up, a name finally came to mind: could this be a mutant Codonopsis?
She then found the image of Codonopsis roots in the ancient Shui Lanxing plant guide and compared it carefully.
In her previous life, Mai Dongzi had not only consumed Codonopsis soup but had also seen the dried Codonopsis plants. Without this experience, it would indeed be challenging to identify the plant based solely on the guide.
The mutated Codonopsis had changed so much that its roots were almost three times larger than before the mutation, looking yellow and plump. If not for its length of over two meters, she would have doubted it was Codonopsis.
After comparing several times with the plant guide, Mai Dongzi confirmed that this was indeed Codonopsis.
The fact that both Codonopsis and Ginseng have “shen” in their names is not just a coincidence. Codonopsis not only looks somewhat similar to Ginseng but also has similar medicinal properties. No wonder the energy fluctuations of the mutated Codonopsis are also similar, as they are both suitable energy plants for warriors.
Mai Dongzi collected the mutated Codonopsis without hesitation. Although its energy was not as potent as mutated Ginseng, the weight of one mutated Codonopsis was equivalent to that of five mutated Ginseng plants.
However, since the green Codonopsis plants on the ground had been washed away by the flood and there were no distinct reference points, it became somewhat challenging for Mai Dongzi to use her spiritual power to locate other mutated Codonopsis.
She could only use her spiritual power to “observe” for similar roots and identify them as she came across them.
However, not all roots were exposed; many were buried under debris brought by the flood.
Fortunately, the flood had washed away much of the soil that originally covered the energy plant roots, and the debris covering the roots did not shield the energy fluctuations.
Although Mai Dongzi couldn’t find many mutated Codonopsis using just her spiritual power, her wood-type ability could easily sense the energy fluctuations when she passed by.
However, the efficiency of her wood-type ability was not as high as her spiritual power, so she had to search carefully, which slowed her progress up the slope.
Nevertheless, her efforts paid off. She not only found a significant number of mutated Codonopsis but also discovered another type of energy plant.
This new energy plant had also been ravaged by the flood, leaving only its roots behind.
After digging it up and examining it closely, Mai Dongzi didn’t recognize it at all, though the plant’s energy fluctuations seemed to be of the metal type.
She searched the plant guide extensively but couldn’t find any similar plants and was too tired to compare further.
The cost of her rich harvest was that she had walked an entire day and was still less than 200 meters from the pine tree where she had originally set up her treehouse.
Fortunately, the mountain range was not high, and she was not far from the summit.
On the afternoon of the twenty-fourth day of the survival game broadcast, Mai Dongzi finally reached the peak of the small mountain range and then started descending the slope in another direction.
As expected, this side of the mountain slope had not suffered the ravages of a mountain flood. Mai Dongzi found mutated Fu Ling and mutated Codonopsis on this slope as well.
She also used the plant guide to find several medicinal plants known for their leaves or fruits, only to discover that these plants contained no energy.
Recalling the non-energetic Lingzhi and comparing it with the energetic medicinal plants she had found, she formed a hypothesis.
Only medicinal plants with roots and stems contain energy.
Mai Dongzi stayed on the small mountain range for a full seven days, and her rich harvest made her incredibly successful.
Since there were no mutated beasts in the area, the viewers in the live stream were given the impression that Miss Lucy was not participating in a survival adventure game but rather casually treasure hunting.
…
At the headquarters of the Blue Water Star garrison, King Gu Jia scolded Prince Arthur fiercely after learning that the prince had used energy plants during his adventure. Not only did his mental damage recover, but after being promoted to a level seven late-stage warrior last year, he had also advanced to an early-stage level eight warrior due to the impact of the energy plants.
King Gu Jia then ordered Prince Arthur to return to the capital star immediately after consolidating his cultivation.
Prince Arthur had come to Blue Water Star because of his injuries. He had never intended to focus his efforts on developing Blue Water Star, as he had more important tasks to handle.
Before arriving on Blue Water Star, he had already planned to select a few prominent families and let them take charge of the development of the planet by holding shares in the venture.
The survival adventure live game on Blue Water Star was organized at Prince Arthur’s behest to help the people of the Blue-Black Empire become familiar with Blue Water Star and to dispel the myths of its dangers.
No one expected such an accident. The director of the survival game program approved Lucy Xi’s application to boost ratings, which completely altered the nature of the survival show.
Lucy Xi’s discovery of energy plants in the Blue Water Star forest entirely disrupted Prince Arthur’s plans.
Especially because the Alchemist Guild used the energy plants discovered by Lucy Xi to create energy potions, which, after testing, were found to have not only high but also very pure energy concentrations. The effectiveness of these potions in assisting cultivation was superior to all previously known energy potions.
After receiving this information from the Alchemist Guild, Prince Arthur planned to use this batch of energy potions to rapidly cultivate a group of high- and mid-level practitioners.
Those who were aware of certain details understood the importance of these energy potions to the Blue-Black Empire.
As a result, Prince Arthur altered his original plan and decided to excavate all the energy plants that could be found in the Blue Water Star forest before proceeding with the planet’s development.
The Alchemist Guild followed King Gu Jia’s orders and did not disclose the details of the energy plants and potions to the outside world.