Cultivating Immortality in Two Realms: Sunflower Lord

At the crossroads, the ashes of the Yinhe River ghosts had not yet been dispersed by the night wind, and the air was still filled with a strange smell of river stench mixed with burnt odor.

Ji Ruchang appeared calm as she comforted her three still-shaken injured colleagues, but in reality, her mind had already sunk deep into her sea of ​​consciousness, firmly locking onto the first Golden Sunflower whose growth rate had reached "100/100," whose status bar was flashing slightly, as if it were issuing a silent summons.

Without the slightest hesitation.

Faced with the "Upgradeable?" prompt, Ji Ruchang silently thought to herself:

"upgrade!"

The instant the thought falls—

At the bottom of the dry well, the main plant, the Golden Sunflower, which had always stood side by side and radiated a warm and stable light, suddenly trembled!

It was not a painful tremor, but a joyful and expectant throbbing as the essence of life was about to undergo a leap!

Immediately afterwards, an extremely dazzling pale golden light burst forth from every inch of its stem, every leaf, and even every petal of its flower head!

The radiance was so intense that it instantly overshadowed the first-tier Golden Sunflower next to it, and even made the bronze ancient mirror floating above pale in comparison!

In the dazzling light, the plant began to grow rapidly and harmoniously, a growth visible to the naked eye!

Originally about three feet tall, it seemed to be stretched by an invisible hand, growing taller and taller!

Four feet, five feet... and finally it stopped steadily at a height of six feet, double the height of before!

The stem stands straight like a spear, exuding a sense of power.

The stem, which was originally only as thick as a little finger and looked rather thin, is now swollen and solid as if it were being inflated!

The surface has a healthy light golden color, with faint wood grain emerging. It eventually becomes as thick as an egg, and is exceptionally tough, as if it can withstand strong winds and rain.

The most significant changes are seen in the flower head!

The flower head, which was originally the size of a fist and looked rather immature, stretched and expanded rapidly outwards like a golden sun in full bloom!

The petals became longer and fuller, layer upon layer, exuding a purer and warmer yang energy.

Ultimately, the flower head reached an astonishing 20 centimeters in diameter, like an exquisite golden disc, steadily held atop the slender stem, drooping slightly as if examining its new life.

The entire evolutionary process was smooth, natural, and full of the magnificent beauty of life's transformation, lasting only a few breaths.

As the light slowly receded, a brand new, taller, stronger, and more majestic second-tier Golden Sunflower stood at the bottom of the dry well!

The changes in the plant itself are astonishing, but the changes in the surrounding environment that follow are truly revolutionary!

Just as the second-tier Golden Sunflower stabilized and took shape, the pale golden light screen with a radius of about three zhang around it suddenly expanded outward as if it had been injected with infinite vitality!

The pale golden light surged out like a tide, easily dispelling the gray fog further away from the dry well and pushing the coverage radius of the light screen to six zhang in one fell swoop!

This means that the area covered by sunlight has expanded significantly.

In the northwest corner of the courtyard where the dry well is located, only a small area near the wellhead was originally illuminated.

At this moment, everything within an eighteen-meter radius of the dry well—the blue brick ground, the corners of the walls, the partially collapsed debris, and even the entrance to the alleyway further away—was clearly exposed to the warm and stable second-order golden light!

What surprised Ji Ruchang even more was that the expansion of this light screen did not seem to completely follow the physical obstacles of reality!

When the light curtain touched the wall of the ancient building in the northwest corner, which was only partially visible and mostly hidden in the gray fog and the unknown, the light was not completely blocked!

A portion of the light, as if possessing a "penetrating" property, passed through the walls and formed a relatively dim but undeniably real golden area inside the building! Although the area was small and the brightness was far less than that outside, its warm and purifying essence remained unchanged.

Ji Ruchang could even "sense" through the contract with the sunflower that there seemed to be several "things" that were originally dormant and exuding a cold aura in the light field inside the building, which were now experiencing violent commotion and chaos due to the sudden, heaven-sent "holy light"!

The feeling is like someone sleeping soundly in their own bedroom when suddenly a heaping, semi-dried, fermented pile of dog poop appears in the room... For evil spirits that are accustomed to darkness and abhor light, this is undoubtedly an extremely painful and terrifying experience!

"This is getting interesting..." Ji Ruchang's mind raced. "It seems that the light of the second-tier Golden Sunflower already possesses certain 'penetration' and 'domain suppression' characteristics."

If we could plant a second-tier plant near that broken well in the northeast corner...

His gaze involuntarily fell upon the location of the damaged well in the northeast corner of the courtyard, as perceived by the star map.

If the two key nodes on opposite corners can be occupied by the second-tier Golden Sunflower, then their light may connect and bring the alleyways and passages of the entire northwest and northeast region, and even the interiors of some buildings, under the control of the Light Domain!

By then, exploring this area will become incredibly safe, and it might even be possible to "purify" away some weak or injured evil spirits!

"Transplanting? Can sunflowers be transplanted?" A bolder idea emerged.

If he could, he could even plant sunflowers directly in more critical and dangerous areas, proceeding step by step, using light to devour darkness!

However, these all require further verification.

With a thought, the status information of the second-tier Golden Sunflower appeared:

[Second-tier Sunflower Plant: Golden Sunflower (Growth: 0/1000)]

[Status: Recognized as Lord]

[Ability: Absorbs yin and evil energy and transforms it into the power of the sun's essence (enhanced)]

[Daily Semen Reserves: 0 units]

[New Feature: The range of the Light Domain has been expanded (radius of six zhang), possessing weak penetrability and a continuous purification effect.]

"The growth requirement has become 1,000 points... Sure enough, the higher the level, the more 'resources' are needed." Ji Ruchang was prepared for this and was not surprised.

Killing an armored corpse or a powerful ghost only costs 36 points, which means that it would take nearly thirty evil spirits of that level to fully feed a level two monster.

The road ahead is long.

The reserves of daily essence were depleted, mainly used on that seed.

The ability description changed from "weak" to "enhanced," new features appeared... everything showed a qualitative leap.

The Holy Sunflower seed still lay quietly on the soil between the two Golden Sunflowers. Under the more intense second-order light, the milky white halo on its surface seemed to have solidified slightly, and the awakening progress may have made a negligible improvement.

Outside, only a breath or two had passed.

The dazedness and profundity in Ji Ruchang's eyes quickly faded, and she refocused on reality.

After Sun Xiaowu and Qian Laoliu gave the three injured night patrolmen simple bandages and medicine, their condition barely stabilized.

All five people's eyes were now focused on him.

Those eyes were filled with the relief of surviving a disaster, awe of the unknown power, and... undisguised worship!

They witnessed firsthand how their young colleague effortlessly "saw through" the invisible ghost that had driven them to their doom, and how he swiftly and decisively annihilated it.

That composure, precision, and strength are deeply imprinted in their hearts.

In this world where strength reigns supreme and danger lurks everywhere, the strong naturally possess the power to unite people's hearts.

Ji Ruchang felt these gazes, but at this moment, what he was thinking was no longer simply about rescuing people.

The expansion of light brought about by the perfect completion of the second-tier Golden Sunflower gave him an excellent opportunity to quickly clear out and harvest these "resources" within the county!

The chaos continues, and the evil spirits have not yet receded. This is the golden time to take advantage of the chaos to "farm" and quickly accumulate growth points and daily essence!

He glanced at the six people who had gathered (including himself). Although three of them were injured, their combined strength and momentum were far beyond what a single squad could match.

He raised the torch in his hand, the firelight illuminating his young yet resolute face. His voice was steady and powerful, carrying an undeniable determination:

"The three brothers need to be treated for their injuries, but it is not advisable to stay here for long."

Everyone, follow me!

Go and rescue more people!

With the six of us working together and looking out for each other, ordinary monsters are no match for us!

Save one if you can, kill one if you can!

Walk!"

There were no lengthy speeches or impassioned rhetoric, only the most direct goals and the most resolute call to action.

But in such a chaotic night, with no leader and full of danger, such clear and specific instructions and the strong strength and confidence shown by the leader are precisely what can unite people's hearts and dispel fear.

Sun Xiaowu and Qian Laoliu responded without hesitation, "Yes, boss!"

The three wounded night patrolmen, also caught up in the atmosphere, struggled to their feet, gripped their weapons tightly, and their eyes rekindled with fighting spirit: "We'll do as you command, sir! We'll go with you!"

Ji Ruchang said no more, turned around, and cast his gaze toward the next area in the star map perception where energy fluctuations were intense and a patrol team was suspected of being in a difficult battle.

His torch pierced the night as he took the first step.

Five figures followed closely behind.

The town of Qinglan remained chaotic under the cover of night.

But for Ji Ruchang, this was no longer just a crisis, but the prelude to an unprecedented expansion and resource harvesting led by him!