Wizard: Starts with Advanced Meditation

Hughes picked up a vine, examined it for a moment, and then gently pressed the tip against his forehead.

...Buzz!

In an instant, his pupils suddenly brightened, and information about various demonized plants flooded into his mind.

His fingertips moved unconsciously, and knowledge runes instantly took shape in front of his fingers.

"Buzz, buzz—buzzing..."

"..."

"Clatter..."

In Research Lab Number Two, after the last record vine drooped back onto the wall, Hughes collapsed completely to the ground.

"Thump—"

At that moment, a flood of information rushed into his mind. Even though the knowledge runes sealed it away, the mental burden still made his head feel heavy.

Fortunately, after meditating for a while, he recovered and then began browsing the knowledge he had already collected in his consciousness.

The runes floated within, like countless stars in the sky.

"Buzz—"

He casually touched the nearest one, and the next second, information about the growth cycle and improvement methods of the Soul-Burning Flower flooded into his mind.

"..."

Hughes was increasingly alarmed, but also increasingly delighted.

The reason is that the few he casually touched contained records of demonic plants he had never heard of before.

Every qualified potion master is familiar with all kinds of enchanted plants in the encyclopedia, but what is recorded in it is only the knowledge that is circulating in the market.

In other words, as long as there are enough magic stones, these are things that everyone can obtain.

The truly valuable plant knowledge undoubtedly comes from the research of various wizards; this is the truly precious knowledge that even magic stones cannot obtain.

Often, a single piece of knowledge can represent a completely new potion recipe, and these are the things that truly differentiate potion masters.

And now, among the hundreds of records pasted on the wall in front of him, at least two-thirds are records of this kind of knowledge.

"Creak—"

A moment later, Hughes came out of Laboratory Number Two and then followed the map toward Botanical Garden Number Three.

But he had no intention of going to the laboratory from this botanical garden, because...

"call……"

"clatter."

A moment later, Hughes landed on a wide-open meadow.

No magical plants were planted here, only a few scattered branches, forlornly stuck in the grass.

But upon closer inspection, one can discover that these branches are quite extraordinary.

Not only do they have a unique appearance, but they also contain a vast amount of plant energy.

Because these... are the branches of the Tree of Life that Kasidurin once tried to plant.

Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, no matter what treatment the other party gave the branches, they would not grow if planted in this space.

So now, this place has gradually become a "wasteland".

This is why Kassidurin later entrusted the "Land of Life" to the Chis family.

After all, if he couldn't even grow the Tree of Life, the most important thing for the elves, then for him, this space was just a mobile botanical garden.

However, Hughes, who has now arrived here, does not think so...

He surveyed the patch of grass before him, which had only a few branches, and his mind couldn't help but recall the stories about Grimm from "The Sigh of the Mother of Trees."

"Stripping away the mark," "desecrating the gift"... these phrases from the book kept appearing in his mind, making him understand some things:

It was Grin Onidas who didn't like the Tree of Life.

Although he didn't know the reason, Hughes believed that the other party must have discovered something, thanks to that unparalleled talent.

So, as Grimm's close friend, could it be that Gabriel added something to the "Land of Life" when he created it, causing the Tree of Life to stop growing?

Thinking of this, Hughes immediately took out a branch from his storage bag.

This is a branch he recently cut from "Grimm's Grudge," while "Grimm's Grudge" itself seems to have stopped growing.

He couldn't find any reason; it was as if the sapling itself simply didn't want to grow.

So after taking away the land of life, he conceived the idea of ​​planting "Grim's Grudge" here, which led to the scene we see today.

After all, while "Grimm's Grudge" does have the same effect as the Tree of Life, it arose from Grimm's death, so there must be some connection between them.

Could it be that the purpose of the Living Land is actually to cultivate "Grim's Grudge"?

Thinking of this, Hughes hesitated for a moment, then found a spot on the grass where the plant energy was most concentrated and planted the branch in his hand.

"Pat-pat..."

A moment later, Hughes' pupils contracted rapidly as the miraculous scene suddenly unfolded before his eyes!

As soon as it was planted, the surface of the branch instantly lit up with a purple light, and then black lines spread out on the grass.

The moment the veins touched the sapling of the Tree of Life, the sapling turned to ashes, but the energy it contained flowed into the branch without being revealed.

"Buzz... Click—"

The next second, the branch lit up again, but this time it grew a considerable length at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Buzz... Click—"

"Buzz... Click—"

And so, with the continuous influx of energy, the branch grew rapidly, and before long it had grown into a sapling.

Hughes, however, looked at the saplings of the Tree of Life turning to ashes one after another on the ground, and a wave of fear washed over him.

"This shouldn't be considered... blasphemy against the Tree of Life, right?"

Thinking of this, Hughes turned his gaze to the "Grimm's Grief" that had turned into a sapling.

He never imagined that "Grim's Grudge" could accelerate its growth by absorbing the Tree of Life.

"It seems that Green has more than just a dislike for the Tree of Life..."

...boom boom

Just then, a faint rumbling sound reached Hughes' ears.

He was startled and, after casting a deflection field around himself, immediately looked around.

The sound originated here, and... it's still ringing out now.

Without hesitation, he immediately followed the sound and went to the place where it came from.

"Boom!"

That was the edge of the third botanical garden, but more accurately... a huge rock not far away.

Having arrived here, we have reached the edge of the "Land of Life and Rest". At this moment, an extremely distorted ripple wall blocks our way, marking the boundary of this space.

The boulder got stuck in this rippled wall.

Seeing this, Hughes walked over and, as if sensing something, suddenly reached out and took out the ring.

"Boom!!"

The next second, the boulder trembled violently, and then a stone door suddenly opened on its surface.

"Click—thump..."