Qian Qi initially wanted to send Su Xingle away, but upon hearing that she intended to spend the night in the mountains, Su Xingle hesitated repeatedly and ultimately decided to stay.
He was genuinely worried about Qian Qi. After all, in his eyes, no matter how troublesome Qian Qi was, she was still a girl; it was unsafe for her to be alone in the mountains at night.
Of course, the main reason was that the dormitory had already closed at this hour, and neither of them could go back.
He squatted honestly beside the experimental field, looking curiously at a small seedling sprouting from a large area, and asked, "What are you planting?"
"Fire Qilin Lotus." Qian Qi was mixing fertilizer nearby and reminded, "You'd better stay away from it. Its roots have teeth, extremely high attack power, and can bite through your neck easily."
Su Xingle was startled and quickly stepped back, remembering the bandage around Qian Qi's neck. He couldn't help but ask, "Did you get bitten?"
Qian Qi let out a sinister laugh, "Yes, bitten to death directly."
Su Xingle: ...
Su Xingle naturally didn't believe it. He silently watched Qian Qi pour the fertilizer into the ground and then directly threw a large, roughly 2-pound piece of bloody demon beast meat next to the little seedling.
"Is that all?" he asked curiously.
"Yes." Qian Qi activated the Light Brain's recording feature, aiming at the seedling to start documenting. Shortly after, Su Xingle noticed that the soil in the experimental field seemed to move on its own.
"What's happening?" he couldn't help but swallow and sneak peeks from behind Qian Qi, vividly illustrating what it meant to be both fearful and curious.
Qian Qi squinted her eyes and gripped the hoe in her hand tightly.
In the camera's frame, the soil moved for a while before several slender lotus roots suddenly burst out, flailing wildly in mid-air like black whips. The root surfaces were covered with dense rows of small sharp teeth. After probing around for a while, they suddenly wrapped around the demon beast meat on the ground, tossing it into the air.
The hard and solid chunk of demon beast meat was instantly shredded by the wildly dancing roots. Those teeth slightly parted, chewing the shredded meat like wild beasts, or as if beggars maddened by hunger had crashed a royal feast. After feasting, they tossed the precious and delicious food around without care, maniacally venting their intense joy.
The cold and fragmented blood and flesh sprayed in the air, causing Su Xingle to gasp in astonishment.
Qian Qi's face also turned a bit pale as the memories of the original host's death suddenly surged forth.
That deep night, "Qian Qi" had brought sulfuric acid with the intention to corrode the Fire Qilin Lotus.
Unfortunately, the Fire Qilin Lotus's root system was extremely developed, especially the mature ones, with underground roots capable of strangling two adults. When "Qian Qi" poured the sulfuric acid, seven lotus roots instantly emerged, attacking her with sharp teeth bared.
"Qian Qi" reacted swiftly, lifting the hoe to smash those roots, yet the defensive capability of the Fire Qilin Lotus's roots was stronger than that of typical E-level Magic Plants. "Qian Qi" expended great effort to smash six roots but was caught off guard when, while dealing with the seventh, a thick root suddenly emerged from underground, fiercely biting her neck.
The intense pain drove "Qian Qi" to a frenzy, smashing the last two lotus roots. She clutched the Fire Qilin Fruit tightly, intending to seek help from the mountain. However, having lost too much blood in the fight, she collapsed to the ground, slowly losing life as her blood continued to drain away.
Qian Qi rubbed her throbbing temples. She felt that if the original host had just read more to understand that a Fire Qilin Lotus has up to 8 main roots and taken more precautions, she could have avoided death.
She herself wouldn't have ended up in this messed-up world.
"Hey? They're retreating!" Su Xingle suddenly exclaimed.
Qian Qi looked over at the sound, seeing those roots retreat back into the soil after devouring the demon beast meat. Soon after, several smaller lotus roots emerged, nibbling at the remaining scraps left by the larger roots, and then extending their little tips into the soil, greedily absorbing the demon beast's blood.
After filling themselves, they too disappeared into the earth, leaving everything still.
Qian Qi took a spray bottle from her pocket, spraying it around the Fire Qilin Lotus seedling, then stepped into the experimental field.
Su Xingle immediately tensed up, "Be careful, Qian Qi!"
"It's okay, I sprayed the inhibitor." The Fire Qilin Lotus is highly repelled by sodium bicarbonate solution. After spraying the special sodium bicarbonate inhibitor, those roots wouldn't emerge.
She took out a measuring stick, measuring the length of the seedling, discovering that in just this short span, the seedling grew by 1cm. Not only that, it still showed a tendency to grow continuously.
It appeared that the blood and flesh of demon beasts could accelerate the growth of Magic Plants.
Qian Qi recorded these data, then summoned the system panel and, following the previous Fire Qilin Lotus analysis, prepared related reports on the Light Brain.
Su Xingle glanced curiously and was somewhat taken aback.
Although he was a student of the Magic Beast Department, he often conducted dissections of magic beasts and related experimental reports. Even though he couldn't comprehend the Magic Plant data and information Qian Qi recorded, he could tell from the organization of her experimental reports that it wasn't something a poor student could usually write.
"Qian Qi, could you be a hidden genius?" Su Xingle felt he might have unearthed a big secret.
Qian Qi gave him a cold look, "You know too much."
Su Xingle: Zip it tight.gif
Qian Qi checked the time; it was just past midnight. Using the Light Brain as a cover, she analyzed three Magic Plant Seeds, documenting their planting methods one by one. Once she was done, she hoisted her hoe and began her diligent cultivation again.
When a new day dawned, Li Shuyun arrived at the mountain, only to find that Qian Qi and Su Xingle had already left.
Li Shuyun stood beside the experimental field, gazing at the Fire Qilin Lotus, which had already sprouted a small bud. Her beautiful face was etched with indescribable shock.
Was this grown by Qian Qi?
Hadn't the growth condition of this bud been exceptionally good? She had once spent a full seven days, using many agents and nutritional waters, to help the Fire Qilin Lotus sprout a bud successfully, but even that bud was yellow and lacked nutrition, on the brink of wilting at any moment.
But Qian Qi... she had only taken two days to cultivate a bud in good condition, which left Li Shuyun struggling to process the truth.
What exactly did she do?
Wasn't she supposed to be a poor student? Was it a case of a blind cat hitting a dead mouse?
Recalling Qian Qi's confident demeanor, Li Shuyun pondered for a while before extracting a sample of soil with a sealed bag.
Then she looked through the fertilizer bags beside her, judging from their reduced quantities to determine which fertilizers Qian Qi had used.
But unfortunately, since Qian Qi was also cultivating other Magic Plants, Li Shuyun was destined to be unable to get the correct answer.
Several days later, Qian Qi's Fire Qilin Lotus had matured.
Gazing at the three plump, vibrant red Fire Qilin Fruits in the center of the Fire Qilin Lotus's blossom, Qian Qi shed tears of excitement.
Truly, heaven does not disappoint the determined. She finally managed to grow the Fire Qilin Lotus. Moreover, a plant that normally only bears one Fire Qilin Fruit ended up producing three, with such excellent quality!
Qian Qi sprayed the inhibitor, intending to get a closer look at the Fire Qilin Fruit. However, as she neared the Fire Qilin Lotus, a thick root suddenly burst out from the ground, launching a precise attack at her!