Prince Baiyu was already at the Mustard Tree farm, and he greeted me with a smile and a brief hug. “My dear, this is extraordinary!”
I absently returned the hug, but I couldn’t reply because I was staring at the five [Ruling Plants] that were running around and making speech-like sounds.
“Yiyi hu mo la!” The sound came from a corn plant that had uprooted itself and was currently floating about the ground, dashing about here and there in a vivacious manner. Its stalks were a vibrant green, and the ears of corn were still closed, with the brown silk hanging out from the top. The tassels at the top and the roots at the bottom were both waving around like tiny fingers.
Even without me checking the System, it was obviously the [King Corn] that was grown from the [Ruling Plant Seed].
[Ruling Plant Seed:
Just as humans have rulers, so do spiritual plants. This packet contains five random seeds that will grow into a supreme being with dominion over a specific plant species. It possesses the ability to influence and control the growth and development of its subjects.
Effect: Boosts crop growth and quality for its species]
I had expected them to grow to maturity by the end of summer, but it seems I was off the mark by one day. Nonetheless, I hadn’t thought they would be loud and energetic. None of them had mouths, but somehow they could talk, and each one had a different voice. The [King Corn] sounded like a young man. [Lord of Rice] talked like a child. [Queen of Tea] spoke like an old woman, and [Lady Wheat] has a lovely, melodious voice.
“Nya yah shu!” said [King Corn].
This may have been a signal of some sort, because [King Corn], [Lord of Rice], [Queen of Tea], and [Lady Wheat] came together and seemingly conversed among themselves.
“Bo buh heeee!”
“Woooo gul ji ji ren do.”
“Mi lo ye hi bee pam gee.”
The exception was the silent [King of Ginseng], who was floating slightly apart from the others and turning around slowly as though looking for something.
I turned to Fengying for answers. “When did this happen? How did this happen? Have they done anything apart from this?”
“They were already like that when one of the maids went through the portal this morning after breakfast,” she said. “Deming says they should be monitored at all times.”
The Demon Chef was beside her, frowning at the [Ruling Plants].
“Their qi is quite intense,” said Prince Baiyu. “Shall we try talking to them?”
“Yes, I think we should,” I said.
My apprentices and the others watched us closely as my husband and I cautiously approached. We went within a foot’s distance of the plants, and I said, “Greetings, Your Graces, I am Violet, owner of this farm.”
They totally ignored me, not even glancing our way as they continued their discussion.
My eyes met Prince Baiyu’s. He shrugged.
There was nothing to do but wait and see.
Kharli, with the help of Mo and Lari, recorded the scene using the System camera while I distributed the last of the vending machine popcorn I had looted from the seaside hotels for us to eat while we waited.
Scholar Wu, who had been fiddling with her qi recording devices, came over to where we were and announced that there had been another upsurge in the qi levels on the farm two hours after midnight. We speculated that this was the time [Ruling Plants] came alive. She returned to her instruments and began writing her observations in a notebook.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Eventually, the [King of Ginseng] emitted a low, powerful hum which stopped the other plants in their tracks. They all came together in a circle and touched each other’s leaves.
Had they come to a consensus?
My guess was proven right when they each got busy digging in the ground. For one wild moment, I wondered if they were going to return to earth by burying themselves again, but what happened was much more magical than that.
“Qi levels rising!” yelled Scholar Wu from behind her devices. “I think they’re going to do something big!”
Deming made a gesture for us to retreat, which we all did.
“Teacher, what are they doing to the soil?” asked Mo worriedly.
“They’re good plants, I’m sure it won’t be bad,” said Kharli. From the look of concentration on her face, I could tell she was still using the camera.
“This qi… yes, I recognize it.” Prince Baiyu smiled. “It’s the feeling of someone making a portal.”
“Ooooh!” I put a hand on my chest. “They’re making a portal? Maybe we can catch a glimpse of Plant World!”
“What’s ‘Plant World’?” asked Prince Baiyu.
“It’s the world that Mr. Potato Head came from!”
Of course, he didn’t understand the reference, but by now everyone was used to my saying things that didn’t make sense.
A few minutes later, he was proven correct. The plants only dug a foot into the ground, and the soil they displaced flew up and then rearranged themselves into a small earthen mound with a dark opening in it. A glowing magic circle lit up the hole in the mound, and we could see that the middle of it was a portal leading to somewhere with blue skies and green grass.
I thought that the [Ruling Plants] would go through the portal at once, but instead they floated over to me, Lari, Kharli, and Mo.
The [King of Ginseng] was first to make his move. He flew up to Lari’s head, and one of his leaves flew off and landed on my apprentice’s head. The leaf then glowed white and disappeared.
A System pop-up appeared.
[Congratulations, your farm has received the King of Ginseng’s blessing!
Special Effect: Ginseng harvests will always be high quality or better]
In quick succession, [King Corn] gave its blessing to Kharli and [Lady Wheat] to Mo.
[Congratulations, your farm has received King Corn’s blessing!
Special Effect: Corn harvests will always be high quality or better]
[Congratulations, your farm has received Lady Wheat’s blessing!
Special Effect: Wheat harvests will always be high quality or better]
I held my breath as both the [Lord of Rice] and [Queen of Tea] approached me on my left and right sides. They flew to my head in unison, and each of them put a leaf on the top of my head. It felt slightly ticklish.
[Congratulations, your farm has received the Lord of Rice’s blessing!
Special Effect: Rice harvests will always be high quality or better]
[Congratulations, your farm has received the Queen of Tea’s blessing!
Special Effect: Tea harvests will always be high quality or better]
The [King of Ginseng] made one more loud, low humming sound, and the other plants followed him to the portal, where they jumped in while he stayed behind. He made that sound again, and eight of his leaves attached themselves to the magic circle. He flew in, and the leaves slowly moved to the center of the glowing circle, dragging the light behind them and closing the portal.
There was a hushed silence, and we all looked around at each other, expressions full of wonder and excitement.
Kharli was the first to speak. “Teacher, we did it!”
“Yes!” Lari touched the top of his head. “My [Ginseng] will all be high quality now!”
The staff crowded around us to ask what Lari meant since they couldn’t see System pop-ups. My apprentices explained it while Prince Baiyu and I talked to Scholar Wu.
“The qi?” I asked.
“Higher than ever before!” she said.
“How much higher?” asked Prince Baiyu.
“I will need to make more calculations, but it should be around twenty to thirty percent higher.”
He frowned. “That is a large increase. Won’t that cause problems?”
I left them to it since the details became technical after that, and I was pretty sure the System could handle it. I waited until my apprentices were done talking to the others before waving them over.
“Hey, hey, you know what this means, right?” I said to the three of them.
Prince Baiyu and Scholar Wu were listening in on us.
“That we will plant more [Ginseng] in the [Herb Garden]!” said Lari.
“Correct, and also we’ve planned to sow a lot of [Rice], [Tea], and [Corn], but we left [Wheat] out this season because it doesn’t give as much exp. I think we need to change that.”
They nodded and we pored over the farm map to discuss which field we should clear.
“The [Black Soil] is ready, why don’t we plant the [Wheat] in that?” Kharli suggested.
“Oh, that’s not a bad idea. I’m pretty sure if we did that, we could get legendary quality [Wheat], but that would be a waste since [Immortal Herbs] are much more valuable,” I said.
The [Black Soil] had taken a lot of time and effort to make. This summer, I thought it was almost ready and could be planted soon, but it remained “almost” finished until eight days ago, when we were too busy with the harvest to do anything about it. Though it was the most valuable part of the main farm, it could be sown at any time; therefore, we decided to take care of the regular seasonal crops first.
“We should clear a field in the southern part of the farm, and I just had a great idea! Why don’t we build a railroad?”
*****
Author's Note:
- The Ruling Plants finally made their appearance, but like the qilin and pixiu they left the farm.
- Thanks for reading!
- Please let me know if there are any errors.