[Good stuff! Absolutely good stuff!]
Ba Ji stared at the box intently.
It had a hunch—if it ate what was inside, its strength would definitely soar to new heights.
By then, even if it faced a human’s iron box, it could swallow it whole and refine it in an instant!
“This big guy has been feeding me ‘garbage’ for so long—he’s finally willing to give me something good?!”
Chen Huaian opened the box with a pair of scissors.
As expected, inside was a plant, while the other box contained a colorful soil embryo with a decorative pot.
He placed the plant in the pot, set it on the windowsill, and stared at it for a moment.
Finally, he pulled out his Thousand Degrees Image Recognition App and scanned it.
[Grass – a plant.]
“No way, buddy.”
“It’s just… an ordinary piece of grass?!”
Chen Huaian was speechless.
This game was too insincere. How much would it cost to just buy an actual orchid? Sending a random weed as a quest reward—wasn’t this way too lazy?!
And that colorful soil embryo…
It looked like industrial waste—not spiritually infused earth.
Just as he was about to complain, he noticed something else in the box.
Inside was a talisman, sealed in a small plastic pouch with instructions for use.
[Purple Thunder Talisman: Attach this talisman to the flowerpot to protect the Nine-Turn Spirit Orchid and prevent it from being eaten by greedy monsters.]
Chen Huaian: “…”
“Even greedy monsters?!”
“There are only mosquitoes and a dumb cat in my room!”
Whatever. He might as well stick it on as decoration.
Even if the plant was useless, the flowerpot at least looked nice, with intricate carvings of heavenly palaces and auspicious clouds.
He took out the talisman and attached it to the flowerpot.
Now, the pot held a simple piece of grass, but was adorned with a powerful-looking talisman.
It looked utterly ridiculous—as if a deranged feng shui master had done this.
Meanwhile, inside the game, Li Qingran was still circling the bed, nervously clutching the revealing white gauze dress Chen Huaian had gifted her.
Seeing nothing urgent in-game, Chen Huaian logged off.
“I haven’t even eaten breakfast yet.”
“I’ll practice swordplay at the square later. Hope the old man is there today.”
Ba Ji vs. the Thunder Talisman
While Chen Huaian was making breakfast, Ba Ji crept toward the flowerpot.
The closer it got, the richer the plant’s spiritual aura became.
[How could such a powerful spiritual herb exist in an era of thin spiritual energy? Where did this big guy get it?!]
It stared at the Nine-Turn Spirit Orchid, utterly puzzled.
But questions didn’t matter—what mattered was eating.
Ba Ji inched closer, opened its mouth, and…
Crackle!
A terrifying arc of lightning erupted, slamming down on Ba Ji’s head.
Boom!
The cat-like creature screeched in terror, rolling and tumbling backward until it crashed into the sofa.
Only then did it notice the piece of yellow paper attached to the flowerpot.
A talisman.
And not just any talisman—far more terrifying than the ones on the door and window.
Ba Ji shivered.
“If I had actually touched that flowerpot…”
“I would have died instantly!”
As it backed away, the thunder slowly retracted back into the talisman.
Ba Ji stared at the flowerpot in shock.
[Heh… This king was too naive.]
It tilted its head 45 degrees to the sky, reflecting on its poor life choices.
[Why would the big boss ever give me something so good for free?]
Shaking its head in self-mockery, it crawled back to the half-eaten Cao Heiya and continued gnawing.
Still, the presence of the Nine-Turn Spirit Orchid meant one thing—spiritual energy would soon spread throughout the room.
Over time, everything here would be infused with spiritual essence.
Ordinary rice? It would become spiritual rice.
A plain Cao Heiya duck? It would evolve into a spirit beast.
Even a fish in a bowl could gain sentience and become a monster!
“Although my food is still trash, at least it’ll be upgraded to trash-flavored chocolate.”
Ba Ji sighed, resigning itself to its fate, and continued eating.
The Mutant Wolf Incident
As Chen Huaian scrolled through Douyin, a news video caught his eye.
[A wild wolf appeared in Tianmen Mountain! In order to protect tourists, the authorities have intervened.]
[Let’s hear what the experts have to say.]
A white-haired Professor Wang, an honorary academician of Canine Studies, appeared on-screen.
“The giant wild wolf in Tianmen Mountain has caused a lot of speculation. Some have even claimed it was a ‘monster’—hahaha! Let me assure everyone, this is just a mutation caused by drinking polluted seawater. Although these wolves may look large, their body coordination is actually very poor, and they are less aggressive than normal wolves…”
Chen Huaian: “…”
“Less aggressive?!”
“So it dismantled a whole van just for fun?!“
Though mutant creatures had been appearing for the past ten years, this was next level.
He recalled the strange rumors from that era—multi-headed chickens being bred for their extended lifespan, their heads fighting amongst themselves.
At the time, people thought it was just a joke.
Now, actual three-headed or five-headed chickens had begun appearing in breeding farms.
Some people even considered them delicacies.
Chen Huaian, like most people, believed that mutants would eventually become a massive threat.
But for now, they were still manageable.
“When mutants evolve to the point where bullets are useless against them… well, that’s when the real trouble begins.”
Still, he wouldn’t live to see that day.
By next year, he’d already be dead.
“After I’m gone, who cares what happens?”
A Shocking Revelation
The video continued, showing Director Zhang being interviewed.
[Fortunately, a young female officer arrived just in time and took out her pistol, shooting the wolf dead!]
[Also, we must criticize the Sanguang van—its quality is terrible! Just a little force, and the door fell off by itself!]
Chen Huaian: “Yo, isn’t that Director Zhang?”
The footage then shifted to images of the thunder pit.
[The second wolf was killed by a lightning strike. Thank the heavens—if not, the remaining crew members would have been doomed.]
Seeing those thunder pits, Chen Huaian froze.
Suddenly, everything clicked.
The thunder he had heard that night.
The familiar burn marks.
The missing Thunder and Fire Talisman…
He slowly reached into his jacket, pulling out a few wrinkled talismans.
Setting seven Thunder and Fire Talismans onto the coffee table, he carefully poked one.
Minutes passed in silence.
Finally, in a dazed voice, he muttered—
“No way…
“Are these… real talismans?!”
