Chapter 1 North of Yi Country

With a *poof*, space suddenly shifted, rotating and twisting before spitting out a middle-aged man covered in blood, dropping him onto the hardened yellow earth.

*Cough, cough...*

Barton had only a few scraps of cloth left on his body. One of his eyes was gone, leaving only a bloody hole. He was a wretched mess, his spirit seemingly broken, leaving only a residue of hatred.

"I survived..." In that Dead Zone, there was only darkness, filled with bizarre, floating, gaunt monsters. He had to keep running to avoid being devoured.

Fortunately, he had successfully cooperated with another calm and intelligent young woman, finding a way to escape, ultimately at the cost of one of his eyes.

"Heh… A Dead Zone person… I never thought I'd become one of those feared and driven mad by the Dead Zones."

"It was fate's choice." Not far away, a vehicle sped toward him. The hatch opened, and a lithe, black figure jumped out from mid-air.

The figure landed, creating a small pit of dirt, and then stood up straight.

It was a black-haired, pony-tailed woman in a tight-fitting, metallic protective suit.

This woman was Ding Ruoxing, the calm partner he had met in the Dead Zone.

"Looks like we're in luck. The locator I gave you still works, it didn't break." The woman said calmly.

"Are you really going to recruit me into your team? The trouble I'm running from is bigger than you can imagine.” Barton looked at the woman.

"We live on the edge as it is. The worst that can happen is death. What's there to be afraid of? Your strength is considerable. Worth the price I'm paying." Ding Ruoxing said coolly.

"Besides, I'm a member of the Ding family. In this world, there aren't many troubles that I fear."

"...Ding family's, one of the Nine Stars of Yi, Ding Meng the Bewitcher?" Barton instantly recognized her.

One of the Nine Stars of Yi… He had been betrayed by Yi, but now he was being saved by Yi…

"We spent a week in the Dead Zone, but only two hours have passed outside. This Dead Zone clearly had a significant time dilation. I suggest you rest quickly and prepare for the next Dead Zone." Ding Ruoxing said.

"I don't have time to rest. It probably won't be long before trouble comes knocking." Barton recalled the relentless Shadow Dragon. For him, reality might not be safer than the Dead Zone.

"I have a solution." Ding Ruoxing had clearly come prepared.

With a gentle toss, a silver metal ball, the size of an egg, flew towards Barton.

"This is a specially made isolation cloak. It's not optical stealth, but it's highly effective against various radiation and aura detection methods. Combined with your ability to isolate your aura and contain shadows, which you awakened in the Dead Zone, no one will be able to find you, if you're willing."

Barton caught the silver metal ball and examined it.

With a gentle squeeze, the metal ball exploded, transforming into countless silver particles that enveloped his body. Soon, they formed a close-fitting silver garment.

"Are you sure this will work?" He was uncertain.

"Care to gamble?" Ding Ruoxing said.

"...Looks like I have no choice." Barton sighed, hiding the hatred in his heart. "What do we do next?"

"Heal and train," Ding Ruoxing said coldly.

*

*

*

Fengnan Province.

"So, that guy got out of the Dead Zone, but Shadow Eater still hasn't found Barton, the only Heartblood Integrator who escaped?"

Li Cheng Yi looked at his disciple, Li Chongnan, on the communication screen, quite surprised.

Although Shadow Eater had been defeated by him, the three Shadow Dragons could easily take down other eighth-level cultivators.

They couldn't defeat ninth-level cultivators, but their overall strength was somewhere between the eighth and ninth level.

Plus, their abilities were bizarre, with various doppelgangers and shadow flashes. Even he wouldn't dare to say he could certainly defeat the three Shadow Dragons in an all-out attack.

After all, when pushed to the brink, one never knew what hidden cards they might have.

"That's right. Shadow Eater's people came to request full surveillance assistance from the Security Administration, which means they've lost track of Barton." Li Chongnan said in a deep voice.

"Then what does Old Man Li want to do?" Li Cheng Yi asked.

"The head of the family wants you to decide for yourself," Li Chongnan replied.

"Understood." The screen went dark.

Li Cheng Yi turned around, looking at a massive container parked on the underground base platform behind him.

The container door opened, revealing piles of materials needed to create his inscription spheres.

"The materials here have been inventoried. The detailed list is as follows, please review.” AI Yueji's voice echoed through the base.

Soon, a new screen appeared before Li Cheng Yi, displaying all the delivered materials in neat rows.

These were the materials Li Cheng Yi had obtained from the national treasury using his ninth-level authority.

Each material had at least a ton in quantity.

And most of them were prohibited items, which he didn't have to pay for. Just the value of these materials alone was at least several billion.

Moreover, many of them were not for sale. If it were the old Li Cheng Yi, he would have had to slowly accumulate them through other channels.

And even then, he wouldn't have been able to buy much.

But now... with a single command, the resources of the entire Yi country revolved around him, and the national treasury instantly mobilized a large amount of resources.

This was the power of a ninth-level cultivator.

'According to the inscription sphere crafting method, this is enough to create hundreds of inscription spheres. Now, all that's left are the final three materials.'

Li Cheng Yi thought with satisfaction.

His power had reached its peak, and it had been a long time since he had experienced the benefits of authority.

The mobilization of resources now made him truly appreciate the advantages of relying on a vast organization.

‘Since most of the needed materials have arrived, I should start building my own defense base as soon as possible.’

The death energy mage books he had read contained information about building mage towers, but it wasn't comprehensive.

Fortunately, modern technology was advanced enough. He could combine it with modern methods of building fully enclosed laboratories and modify them, and that would be fine.

Time was of the essence. He didn't know when the next Dead Zone would arrive, so he had to pursue his goals as soon as possible.

"Yueji, have my manufacturing plans been completed? When will the ordered modules be finished?" He asked.

"Master, according to the latest information from the military factory, all assembly modules should be completed by tonight." Yueji replied.

"Very good." Li Cheng Yi nodded, his eyes deep.

Next, once Shadow Eater fulfills their promise, I must quickly master the crafting method of inscription spheres.

He had no confidence in his own crafting abilities. Although his intelligence had been greatly enhanced, his consciousness was strong, and his ability to learn had improved, it was wishful thinking to create a method to create inscription spheres out of thin air in a short period of time.

But…

He had Flower Language.

As the main force, the Flower of Evil was undoubtedly a bit complex, but as a support…

It was a typical divine skill.

According to the large amount of Flower Language recorded, Li Cheng Yi had already chosen a special Flower Language in order to quickly gain more powerful learning, research, and knowledge absorption abilities.

Through the usage of Rainbow Candy and Big Bear, Li Cheng Yi felt that he had grasped the true core usage of Flower Language.

After confirming the various materials, he took the underground elevator back to the surface. He didn't go to the botanical garden, but instead wandered casually in the nearby forest.

He had asked people to plant many plants that were not suitable for planting in the botanical garden nearby.

And the Flower Language he needed could be found here, and it was a very common and extremely resilient species.

The afternoon sunlight in the forest was dazzling, the autumn wind blew, rustling the leaves, and bringing a hint of dryness.

Li Cheng Yi walked alone on the thick layer of fallen leaves, his footsteps making a cracking sound.

Sunlight shone through the gaps in the leaves and fell, standing beside him like golden rods.

Li Cheng Yi looked at the pristine forest in front of him.

The tree roots, like vines, protruded from the ground, winding and twisting.

The air was filled with dancing spores and the stinging hairs of some plants.

Tiny insects that tried to approach him were immediately swept away by strands of invisible death energy, turning into corpses and falling stiffly.

'Found it.' Soon, he came to a group of tall, leafy trees.

To be precise, from here on, everything in sight was made up of this type of tree.

Gray, thick trunks, fan-like yellow-green leaves resembling maple leaves.

Tiny, falling stinging hairs, dense yellow-green hairy fruit balls, and large, white-purple gradient trumpet-shaped flowers.

'Good luck, there are still some small flowers left.'

Li Cheng Yi's eyes lit up. The invisible *jiemao feilian* flower scale armor covered his body, entering fusion mode.

His entire body gently floated into the air under the flutter of wings, rising to a height of seven or eight meters, hovering in front of a string of white-purple flowers.

He reached out his hand.

Gently touching them.

*Hiss…*

Cool flower energy poured into his body.

At the same time, the mark of the Flower of Evil on the back of his hand lit up with white light in a new cell.

Information about the new Flower God position quickly flowed into his mind.

'London planetree flower: Also known as sweat-repelling tree, wutong tree. Deciduous tree, likes light, likes warm and humid climate, cold-resistant, shallow root system, not resistant to strong winds. The tree can reach more than thirty meters in height.'

'Flower Language: Versatile Talent (Choose a direction, and you can instantly draw and extract a large amount of knowledge and experience in that direction.)

Note 1: The size and breadth of the chosen direction are related to the specific quantity, depth, and detail of the knowledge and experience that can be extracted.

Note 2: Some remote directions may extract unknown and dangerous knowledge and experience, please be careful.

Note 3: This Flower Language can only be used once.'

'Are you sure this flower is the main flower for the Flower God position?'

The Flower of Evil's inquiry came simultaneously.

"Confirm! This is it!" Li Cheng Yi took a long breath.

In an instant, countless flower energies poured in through his fingers and converged into the new eighth Flower God position.

The first time Flower Language and flower scale armor are formed, no evil thoughts are needed.

The dense wutong trees in front of him were enough for Li Cheng Yi to complete his flower scale armor and Flower Language ability.

Half a minute later, the completion of the flower scale armor reached 100%.

'Please start specifying the direction of knowledge and experience to be drawn. Please use the prefix: I designate' The Flower of Evil's inquiry came again.

(End of this chapter)