Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lin Ming felt great pleasure bathing in the drizzle.
Although he didn’t need a lot of water, this was certainly a good feeling.
Moreover, there was a significant density of spiritual aura in the rain. When the raindrops beat down on Lin Ming’s bamboo branches and leaves, he could feel a refreshing sense of power flooding through him.
He looked toward the captives trapped in his bamboo branch cage and saw that they were also opening their mouths wide, trying to catch the raindrops falling from the gaps in the bamboo leaves.
The Adorable Little Snake and the wolves ran to the edge of the lake and played in the rain, looking rather cheerful.
As Lin Ming could neither confine the giant panda with his branches nor drive it away, he ignored it and just let it be.
As the Adorable Little Snake and the wolves ran over together to drink some Spiritual Fluid, the originally listless and downcast animals in the cage suddenly widened their eyes, staring at the sweet liquid. They could not conceal the extreme desire in their eyes.
Lin Ming knew well that the Spiritual Fluid possessed a high density of spiritual energy that could undoubtedly raise the level of these mutated animals and promote their evolution.
Mutated animals flocked toward ‘spiritual aura’, so they definitely would not be able to resist his Spiritual Fluid.
Thinking back to the attacks from swarms of insects and beasts, Lin Ming now knew that it was because the powerful spiritual aura he exuded had attracted them to him.
Now, Lin Ming had eight branches secreting Spiritual Fluid for the Adorable Little Snake and the Wolves of Septenary to drink.
This was very different from before.
The captives watched his pets gulp down the Spiritual Fluid enviously. They lay down quietly in the cage and pleaded with Lin Ming with pleading eyes.
Just when Lin Ming thought that he had come up with a good plan, the panda, who had been hiding from the rain under the culm, ran over and pushed the Adorable Little Snake away, before gulping down the Spiritual Fluid.
Lin Ming was speechless. What was the matter with this fellow?
When Lin Ming saw the panda earlier, he knew that he was in the Shu Province. He had thought about keeping it as a cute pet and taming it, but he came to realize that he had no idea how he should handle this buffoon.
Since he could not make it leave, he had thought about killing it. However, its combat effectiveness worried him.
He never expected himself to be reincarnated as bamboo, which just so happened to be panda food.
Although his culm was indestructible, his branches, especially the tender ones, were still significantly weak. What’s more, their opponent was this Unranked Grade-2 mutated panda.
‘Looks like I’ll have to tame it properly. Otherwise, this presumptuous fellow is going to climb onto my head sooner or later.’
As he thought to himself, he wrapped a few branches around the panda tightly in a way so it was impossible to move. As a bamboo, Lin Ming excelled at this skill.
The panda might have had immense strength, but it realized it could not break free of the branches’ binding no matter how hard it struggled.
Although the panda had a low intelligence, it knew well that it was no match for this mutated bamboo in terms of strength.
Its previous lofty behavior was because it thought it mingled well with this bamboo’s subordinates to deserve special privileges.
It now realized that it was wrong.
Lin Ming ignored it. ‘You like mischief? You think you’re good enough? I’ll let you starve for a few days and then we can see.’
After dealing with the panda, Lin Ming turned his attention back to the nearby transformed terrain.
The battle last night had rendered his originally satisfactory living conditions considerably worse.
The strange shape of the Spirit Lake was enough to leave people speechless. If human satellites passed by from above and photographed the lake, the scientists involved would probably have facial spasms.
Lin Ming felt very awkward eyeing this shape.
After evolution, Lin Ming’s taproot had now extended about three to four hundred meters and he had countless other sub-roots.
Although Lin Ming could break them all off and move somewhere else to start over, it would be a pity.
Numerous fibrous roots had already come into contact with the small lake, which was rich in spiritual energy, as well as the Spirit River deep underground. If he were to leave just like this, he would need to use a lot of energy rearranging his root system wherever he went next.
Lin Ming felt that this ‘Moving Roots’ ability was only suitable for finding a proper living environment during the early stages of development. After finding one, it was pretty much useless.
Controlling dozens of black snake-like root systems, Lin Ming pushed them through the ground and drove them upward.
These roots were stronger than bamboo branches and were very suitable for construction to transform the landscape.
There were quite a lot of rocks underground and they were a hindrance to the continued growth of the root system.
While he used his underground root system to pull the rocks out of the dirt one by one, his roots on the ground grasped clumps of insect and animal carcasses and buried them deep into the earth.
Lin Ming did not believe he needed any fertilizers, but it was better than nothing. The wolves and the Adorable Little Snake refused to eat these disgusting carcasses, so they were just an eyesore at this point.
Rather than allowing them to rot and ruin his mood, it was better to repurpose them as fertilizer.
He threw the dug-out rocks into the distance, producing loud crashes as they landed.
Lin Ming was also not too satisfied with the lake’s shape, so he took this advantage to modify it.
Anyhow, it was better to prepare for danger in times of peace. Lin Ming did not want to be too obvious of a bamboo shoot either, if anyone dangerous entered his territory.
Now, there was neither a single big tree around him nor any weeds or wildflowers.
It was always the taller trees in the forest that would get their tops blown off in the strong wind.
What’s more, there were no other trees around him.
When these captured animals later became his loyal subordinates, he would have to make some suitable nests for them.
These were all things that needed to get done.
Utilizing more root systems, Lin Ming started a larger-scale transformation.
The rain gradually grew even heavier.
It was as if it would never stop. Together with the pale mist, it enveloped the mysterious valley like a thick cloud.
Lin Ming busied himself with his mission from morning until late at night.
Of course, he did not forget to wipe out any creature that came by to see where the noises were coming from.
His Evolution Points were still far from enough, though.
Whether it was Razor Leaves or Bamboo Whip or the two newly learned skills, a lot of Evolution Points were required to upgrade them.
He needed to become stronger.
Who could guess when humans would come to this valley again?
Lin Ming knew well how terrifying humans could be once armed with technology and weapons.
However, he would never give in to them easily.
As a mutated plant with consciousness, he recognized the boundary between him and humans and knew that it was impossible for the two to understand one another. All he could do was grow as strong as possible before humans realized his power, and then it would be too late for them!