Humans have caused the extinction of too many animals over three million years. The most famous extinct animal is the dodo, which has even been incorporated into online games. Besides the dodo, there are also the thylacine, the South China tiger, and the Yangtze giant softshell turtle, all of which are extinct. Most of these animals were driven to extinction by humans. Many plants have also gone extinct. At this moment, the mutated plant believes Shen Feng is here to exterminate it.
Shen Feng said seriously, "We are currently in a symbiotic relationship. You produce evolution base, and I guarantee your safety and food supply. Therefore, you pose no threat to me. You will continue to stay here, but I will not remove the ultraviolet lamps on the wall."
The ultraviolet lamps Shen Feng mentioned were the extinguished bulbs on the wall. Normally, the ultraviolet lamps would not be turned on, but once they were, the mutated plant would essentially be irradiated to death.
The mutated plants in other places also have their weaknesses. The weakness of the mutated plants in Yuzhou is ultraviolet light. Shen Feng knew this, so he installed many ultraviolet lamps on the walls of the room. At critical moments, as long as the ultraviolet lamps were turned on, the plant's heart would be killed.
Upon hearing Shen Feng's words, the plant's heart continued, "I want to read books, many books. But your people only give me one book a day. Since we have a symbiotic relationship, can you give me more books?"
Shen Feng looked at Professor Niu and asked, "Is that so?"
Professor Niu nodded seriously and said, "Yes, that's correct. But we have our reasons for doing so, and we must do it this way. City Lord, you must understand us."
"What reasons do you have?" Shen Feng quickly asked, wanting to know why Professor Niu wasn't letting the mutated plant read more books. As long as it didn't cause trouble, reading books was fine, and Yuzhou wasn't short of books.
Professor Niu said in a low voice, "Because this plant's heart has an incredibly strong learning ability. It can read a thousand words at a glance and has perfect recall. It never forgets anything it learns. If not controlled, it can read hundreds of books a day."
Hearing this, Shen Feng immediately thought of someone and said, "Speaking of which, perfect recall isn't unique to the mutated plant here. I have an advisor named Yu Zhijing, who can also achieve perfect recall."
Professor Niu said sternly, "City Lord, you cannot equate the two. You must understand one thing: Yu Zhijing's perfect recall ability was learned later in life and shortens his lifespan. He can live for at most twenty more years. But how long can a plant live? Ginkgo trees, if undisturbed, can easily live for fifty years. Twenty years from now, Yu Zhijing will die, but this mutated plant will still be alive. Furthermore, reading without restraint has no side effects. It's fine for now while it's confined, but twenty years from now, a mutated plant that has mastered human knowledge will be incredibly terrifying."
With this answer, Shen Feng finally understood Professor Niu's concerns. Professor Niu was looking at the problem from a human perspective. Letting the mutated plant read books was not an issue, but if the mutated plant learned the knowledge accumulated by humans over thousands of years, wouldn't that be a disaster?
Shen Feng then said to the plant's heart, "No, I cannot agree to your request. I can only tell you that you can only read one book a day. That's it. You'll have to make the best of it."
The plant's heart, upon receiving this answer, continued, "I see that everyone here has their own titles. I also need a title. If you don't give me a name, I will name myself."
Shen Feng thought for a moment. He didn't have any nice names to give the plant's heart. He then said, "You've read many books during this time. Why don't you name yourself? Let me see what your literary level is like."
Without hesitation, the plant's heart directly said, "If I name myself, I will be called Lin Qin. I heard it's the name of a type of fruit tree. If other plants can be called that, then I certainly can be."
Shen Feng looked at Professor Niu and asked, "Is there such a tree?"
Professor Niu nodded and said, "Yes, such a tree exists. The fruit it bears is called crabapple, also known as 'hua hong.' In any case, it tastes quite good and is somewhat similar to an apple. It's just that people don't usually call it Lin Qin."
Seeing that the plant's heart was still confined underground, Shen Feng felt relieved and was about to leave.
But at that moment, Lin Qin spoke, "Shen Feng, you are indeed very powerful, much more powerful than most humans I've encountered. However, human strength ends here. You will not become any stronger in the future."
Hearing this, Shen Feng couldn't help but frown and asked, "What do you mean?"
Lin Qin replied, "I've read so many books, and from them, I've come to a conclusion: all animals have their limits. Even the massive sea beasts in the ocean reach their limits after growing to a certain extent. As for humans, you have reached your limit now!"
"City Lord, let's talk outside," Professor Niu whispered to Shen Feng.
Shen Feng, half-believing, followed Professor Niu out of the underground space. The two then found a quiet room to communicate. Professor Niu first said, "Actually, City Lord, some scientists have proposed a hypothesis that humans have multiple barriers during the process of evolution. These are called evolution barriers. When humans evolved to the third stage, they encountered an evolution barrier. And in the sixth stage, there is also an evolution barrier. From now on, no matter how much evolution base is consumed, it will be impossible to break through the evolution barrier."
Shen Feng now understood what the mutated plant had said. The reason it said he had reached his limit was simple: he had encountered an evolution barrier. From now on, no matter how much evolution base he consumed, it would be impossible for him to become a seventh-tier ability user.
"How can this be? I can feel that there is still room for improvement for ability users. How can I stop at the sixth tier like this?" Shen Feng could not accept this news. He did not believe he would stagnate like this. Although he was already powerful enough, the apocalypse was far from over. If he did not gain enough strength, he would inevitably be unable to continue protecting his loved ones.
Professor Niu quickly comforted him, "This is just a hypothesis, just a hypothesis! What scientists say isn't necessarily correct. There are always exceptions, aren't there?"
Shen Feng nodded, rallying his spirits, and said, "That's right. Perhaps, just like before, I can discover something special to help me break through the evolution barrier. I will definitely become stronger in the future."
Shen Feng realized that the number of things he didn't understand was increasing. The matter of the mutated birds, the problem of viruses and bacteria, and his own evolution. These issues continued to trouble Shen Feng, leaving him unsure of what to do.
Before leaving the laboratory, Shen Feng began to instruct Professor Niu, "Professor, when you let Lin Qin read books, remember to mix in some miscellaneous books. Don't let Lin Qin see any high-tech content. Just let Lin Qin read more novels. Aren't online novels often millions of words long? Let Lin Qin read these web novels; I don't believe he can finish them in a short time."
Professor Niu nodded, "No problem. I was thinking the same thing. Let Lin Qin read more unnutritious, fast-paced books. Novels that are millions of words long might seem like they offer a lot, but in reality, they teach very little. It's a waste of time and doesn't impart much knowledge."
Shen Feng then left. Professor Niu escorted Shen Feng to the door and then returned to the laboratory.
How many human works are there? This is a question no one can answer, because in the information age, new works are produced every day. Online novels can be considered works. There are tens of millions of online novels alone. By diluting Lin Qin's reading material this way, scientific works must be limited in quantity, thus slowing down Lin Qin's knowledge acquisition.
Plants can survive for much longer than animals under natural conditions. Therefore, there are often news reports of trees a hundred or two hundred years old being discovered in deep mountains and old forests. It is said that five-hundred-year-old trees also exist. Even with meticulous care, the lifespan limit for humans is at most 140 years. As for the legendary Peng Zu living for eight hundred years, one can only take it as a story; such a thing is impossible.
After Shen Feng returned to the City Lord's mansion, Lu Xian came to find him and said, "City Lord, do you have some free time recently?"
Upon hearing this question, Shen Feng looked at Lu Xian and said, "I don't have much going on recently. Is there something you want to discuss?"
Lu Xian then said, "City Lord, actually, I've noticed that Yuzhou doesn't pay enough attention to art. Therefore, I believe we should focus on developing the cultural and artistic sector. Coincidentally, I know some artists, so I want to introduce them to you. You were very busy before, so I didn't bother you. Now that you have an opportunity, shouldn't you relax a bit? The opportunity has presented itself, hasn't it?"
Shen Feng thought for a moment and said, "Art? I don't know much about it, but I can find someone who does to accompany me. Secretary Wang, please call Advisor Feng Shicheng."
Shen Feng knew that Feng Shicheng used to write novels. According to Feng Shicheng, writing novels requires knowledge of all sorts of things, so his aesthetic ability should be fine. Bringing Feng Shicheng along would prevent him from making a fool of himself. As for developing the artistic sector, Shen Feng had no such plans. He just wanted to see what these so-called artists were like.
However, when Lu Xian heard that Shen Feng was going to bring Feng Shicheng, a look of disdain appeared on his face instantly, clearly looking down on Feng Shicheng.
In Lu Xian's eyes, Feng Shicheng was just a low-class fellow who wrote erotic novels. Bringing such a person to meet artists would be a desecration. However, this was the City Lord's decision, and Lu Xian had to at least respect it.
Feng Shicheng quickly arrived before Shen Feng and Lu Xian. Upon learning Shen Feng's intentions, he immediately nodded and said, "No problem. Let's go see these artists now. I'm curious about what kind of artists want to meet you. Art needs appreciation, and in this era, there are clearly not many people who appreciate it."
This statement struck a chord with Lu Xian, as he had written many songs but few people appreciated them. Even his wife, Hong Yehui, had said his skill was average after listening to them. Lu Xian believed that others' appreciation levels were lacking, not that there was anything wrong with his own work.
"I can't believe it. A guy who writes erotic novels actually has this level of insight," Lu Xian thought to himself.