Chapter 1132: Spiritualist of Botany

*Swish*

Xia Fei quickly retracted his arm and saw that there was a small red welt on his wrist as if a bug had truly bitten him.

This was when that strange door suddenly flew open, revealing a strange s.p.a.ce within.

A virtual s.p.a.ce?! Radix was startled.

The top of the paG.o.da originally looked like it covered no more than a hundred square meters, but what had appeared right in front of Xia Feis eyes was a vast botanical garden, which stretched for well over ten thousand square meters. Many strange plants, which Xia Fei knew not the names of, grew in abundance here. An artificial sun bore down from above, allowing photosynthesis to take place here.

Evidently, this place had been altered with the Law of s.p.a.ce.

Its out. Xia Feis DNA a.n.a.lysis report, Fuchen, who had stayed behind onboard the Silver Specter, anxiously blurted out.

A long message began to be transmitted into Fuchens terminal, and all sorts of characters, as well as data, unceasingly appeared on the screen.

If Xia Fei were to learn of you looking into his DNA information, hed very likely turn on you, Fuchens personal soul servant said from the sidelines.

It turned out that everything had been prepared in advance. Xia Fei already knew that in order to reach PaG.o.da Central, his DNA would need to be extracted. As for why an a.n.a.lysis report of that would be sent straight to Fuchen, that was for this old man to know.

Fuchen shrugged. It cant be helped. That rascals far too curious. If I dont make sense of how he came to be the person he is today, Ill have trouble sleeping.

The DNA report was fairly complex, with well over several million words. Fuchen began reading from the very beginning the moment he received it as he sipped on a cup of tea in his hand. He was reading the data as if it were a very interesting novel.

Inside the paG.o.da, Xia Fei stepped on to a path that led him deeper into the botanical garden. Square areas of flat land could be seen on both sides, nothing covering too large an area, with plenty of plants growing on them. Everything around made it apparent that this was someones botanical laboratory.

Fuchen let you come here? A voice suddenly sounded from somewhere in this place.

Xia Fei lifted his head to look, only to find a short old man seated on a circular floating disk. This person quickly drifted over to him.

The old man had greyish-white skin and was no taller than half a meter; all in all, he looked like a child that had stopped growing after reaching p.u.b.erty. Nothing but spa.r.s.e hair grew on his head, and wrinkles filled his face.

Yes, Fuchen sent me over to retrieve something for him. May I ask who you are? Xia Fei asked courteously.

Call me Ulan. Come with me. The old man stared at Xia Fei before leading him deeper into the garden.

Something seems to have p.r.i.c.ked me when I was coming in, Xia Fei said, puzzled.

Ulan smiled and said, Dont pay it any mind. Thats just retrieving data of your DNA. If theres anything special about your DNA, then Ill use it to cultivate more plants, and if were lucky, a new plant variety can emerge from it.

Xia Fei furrowed his brows. Using human DNA to cultivate plants, is that even possible?

What are you so surprised about? Ulan countered breezily. Every life has always been intertwined, nothing is more n.o.bler than the other. Dont think that humans are smarter than plants; many plants out there are far more intelligent than humans.

Xia Fei was startled. This was a very refres.h.i.+ng take, which contained a kernel of truth. Take Peac.o.c.k Blue as an example; it was just a plant, yet it had its own mind and powerful combat strength. Most warriors were definitely no match for it.

What we, Spiritualists of Botany, study is precisely how plants can replace traditional soul weapons. As long as theyre properly cultivated, plants can possess all the traits inherent to Dark Energy and be capable of destroy souls. Its just too bad that botany is an unpopular trade in the Spiritualist circle, so not many know that we exist. Ulan sighed.

Xia Fei chuckled. I wont lie to you; this was actually the first time Ive heard of the Spiritualists of Botanys existence.

Ulan waved off his hands carelessly. Forget it. Lets not talk about such annoying things. Look, this is the sunflower that Fuchen wanted.

Xia Fei followed Ulans gaze and saw a small dirt mound, where over a dozen sunflowers grew. These sunflowers looked exactly like that image on the card.

What a strange type of plant. To think that theyll be golden sunflowers, Xia Fei muttered, somewhat surprised.

Ulan, who felt a little pleased with himself, gushed, The Spiritualist a.s.sociation has four major bases; the one were at is where all the miscellaneous experts of the a.s.sociation have gathered. That pa.s.s card Fuchen gave you has a sunflower image on it, right?

Xia Fei nodded.

Thats because we, Spiritualists of Botany, are the most successful in the fourth base. It was us who developed the golden sunflowers, and so that very same image of the plant is printed on every pa.s.s card in the fourth base. The other Spiritualists dont have such an honor, Ulan said with a big grin.

Xia Fei chatted with Ulan for a while. It turned out that the Spiritualist a.s.sociation had four big bases aside from its headquarters, and Xia Fei was currently at the fourth base. On top of being Spiritualists, many niche sects and lineages existed within the circle.

The paG.o.das here all belonged to the Spiritualists of Botany, and including Ulans, a total of three could be found across the Alpha Universe. Though it looked like these paG.o.das were all plentiful, most were actually empty.

There are only three Spiritualists of Botany in the entire Alpha Universe? Xia Fei could not help but feel that these Spiritualists of unpopular offshoots were very precious.

Ulan led Xia Fei to his room. Since this entire paG.o.da only had him to manage it, Ulan had decided to just live here; in fact, his office and bedroom were next to each other.

Acting all mysterious, the old man retrieved a palm-sized box and opened it in front of Xia Fei.

Inside was a type of sunflower seed that glowed with a strange golden color as if it was made entirely of gold.

Bring this to Fuchen. Back then, I lost a bet with him, and this was the wager. Every harvest, I need to give him a hundred of these precious seeds to satisfy his appet.i.te. Just the sight of these emphasizes the huge losses Ive made over the years! Ulan said through gritted teeth.

Satisfy his appet.i.te? Xia Fei was speechless. After everything, Fuchen had actually sent him here to retrieve some food?!

Being all secretive like that and even letting Ulan retrieve some of his DNA, all of it was just so that Fuchen could get himself something good to eat! How ridiculous was this?

Actually, considering the relations.h.i.+p I share with Fuchen, Its not really a big deal even if I give it to him, but losing to him in such a manner just fills me with great dissatisfaction! Ulan lamented.

Xia Fei stored the golden sunflower seeds away and was about to leave when he spotted a holographic simulation system inside Ulans study.

Master Ulan, is this holographic simulation system connected to the Spiritualist a.s.sociations intranet? Xia Fei asked.

Yeah. Thats the Spiritualist a.s.sociations holonet. You can give it a try if you want. This device is pretty much gathering mold here. Since you have Fuchens card, you might as well use it, Ulan pouted. Fuchen, that old man, is so unorthodox youre sure to get hold of something strange or weird.

With that said, Ulan left his office and went about his own business. It was almost as if he had not even been the least bit on guard against Xia Fei.

Xia Fei thought for a moment and then took a seat in front of the simulation system. Since his original plan for coming here was to browse the a.s.sociations database, rather than forcing his way into a private s.p.a.ce, he could just fulfill his purpose from the safety of Ulans paG.o.da. Since he was a friend of Fuchens, it was unlikely that he would betray the old man.

Pulling out Fuchens card from his spatial ring, Xia Feis eyes suddenly sparkled.

This card was originally golden in color, but after using it several times, Xia Fei noticed that its surface had peeled off, and a very thin layer of mold was covering the card.

Xia Fei frowned and took out a toolkit from his spatial ring. Having studied machinery in the past, he always carried an omni tool with him wherever he went.

Several seconds later, Xia Fei had succeeded in very carefully removing that thin layer from the card to reveal a completely different card!

Black without any sunflower insignia? Just what kind of ID is this? Radix asked curiously.

Xia Fei shook his head. I dont know, but it isnt an ID from the Spiritualist a.s.sociations fourth base. Ulan said it clearly: All the cards being used in the fourth base have the sunflower insignia; even Tong Jinliangs card has it.

Well, thats strange. Why would Fuchen want to disguise this ID card? Does it perhaps contain a secret that he has no wish for you to learn? Radix asked, scratching his head.

Xia Fei pulled out a cigarette and began smoking it.

No matter what, well know once we give it a try. Perhaps there might even be points in it, Xia Fei said with a laugh.

He proceeded to place the simulation helmet on and inserted the card into the card reader.

*Whoosh*

Xia Fei entered into the Spiritualist a.s.sociations holonet.

It was completely different from his earlier entry. This time, Xia Fei had truly entered the a.s.sociations network; several portals headed to different parts of the simulated surroundings, with each of which having a description on top.

Archives, Confidential Archives, Auction House, Training Hall We have access to all these locations. This card Fuchen has is practically omnipotent, giving one access to any part of the holonet! Xia Fei was shocked.

This was an absolutely shocking discovery! Every single portal had different functions. Some needed a level 2 clearance, while others needed level 3. The highest was level 5; Fuchen actually had the highest permission in the Spiritualist a.s.sociation!

Oh, heavens! Fuchen mustve had quite an important role in the a.s.sociation before, or else why would he have such a high level of clearance? Still, theres something I find to be very strange. Since he already left the a.s.sociation, why can he still carry this card with him? Radix was absolutely baffled.

Thats definitely questionable. The holonet is controlled by an AI computer, so even if they couldnt retrieve Fuchens ID, they should be able to cancel his privileges. From a technological perspective, thats not something difficult to do at all.

Plus, theres something even more questionable. An ID card like this is bound by DNA; how come I can use Fuchens card? Xia Feis mind raced.

Unless this is a card that circ.u.mvents the system Its just like when I gave you special permissions in Fig Corporation all those years back! Radix blurted out.

This only further highlighted the irregularities. Radix had been able to give Xia Fei full permission only because he was Fig Corporations mainframe. Was Fuchen once the Spiritualist a.s.sociations mainframe or had Fuchen somehow managed to hijack the entire organization?!

Chuckling, Xia Fei said, No point in thinking about all that. Regardless, Ive been presented with a rare opportunity, and I need to seize it well!