Chapter 120: Research and Sublimation

"Tch, stingy!"

Lando emerged from the fissure, looking disheveled. It turned out that this path did indeed lead to the broken World Heart, but perhaps it had been picked clean by unscrupulous arcanists in the past. The area was not only layered with defensive spell arrays but also plastered with signs reading, "This is the collective property of the Silver Tower; no arcanist is permitted to steal from it." In the end, he had no choice but to return, crestfallen.

Fortunately, his research on the Core Flower had finally gotten on track. His current focus was the special ability radiating from its roots, which allowed it to reach deep into the world. It was precisely because of this ability that the flower could effectively absorb world energy. However, this power only functioned in places where world energy was already present; the flower itself could not directly delve into the depths of a world to reach the World Heart and draw power directly.

Lando had an idea. His system could automatically absorb world energy, which meant it was capable of penetrating into the deeper layers of a world. The current rate of +1 per day, however, was far too slow. If he could effectively combine the system's capabilities with the Core Flower’s unique abilities, he might achieve extraordinary results.

The key to merging these two powers lay in his Mindscape, which also involved the research he had been conducting on that space all along. To this end, while studying the Core Flower, he had also been attempting to alter the environment within his Mindscape to meet the flower’s growth requirements.

Three months passed in the blink of an eye. Having once again adjusted his Mindscape, Lando prepared for his fourth attempt at transplanting the Core Flower. The previous three had failed for various reasons, but having learned from those setbacks, he felt the chances of success this time were high.

He expanded his Mindscape. The surrounding canyon fissures instantly transformed into an endless prairie, with a magic tower standing not far behind him. The only thing that remained unchanged was the Core Flower, sitting quietly beside the tower. A gentle breeze blew, causing its delicate leaves and petals to sway. A faint, glowing light rippled across its surface as it absorbed the wisps of world energy Lando had introduced into the Mindscape. It was growing well!

Lando smiled. Although he was happy, this was only the beginning; the real main event was yet to come.

After so much use, Lando had become increasingly proficient with his system. He channeled the system's power into the Mindscape, connecting it to the Core Flower. Sensing the connection, the flower suddenly exhibited a behavior similar to when Lando had placed it in the fissure three months prior: its roots began to stretch and grow, radiating that special energy from within!

Lando retracted his Mindscape, closed his eyes, and sat cross-legged outside the array at the world energy leakage point.

A day later, Lando snapped his eyes open. A shocking brilliance erupted from them—it was a mixture of immense surprise and a hint of... greed!

As he had expected, the Core Flower had accelerated the system's speed of condensing soul essence, nearly tenfold. While this was one of the original reasons he had wanted to study the Fressen Flower, such an increase no longer caught his eye. What truly surprised him was the breakthrough in a different area of his research!

Ever since he had planted the Core Flower and discovered the special energy radiating from its roots, he had wanted to use his Mindscape to analyze and simulate that power. If he succeeded, not only would his research into the Mindscape take a giant leap forward, but the synergy between the Mindscape and the system alone would allow him to extract world energy from any world he chose at will. If he were branded a "World Destroyer" for it, he would accept the title!

However, just as the Mindscape had been powerless against many special energies—including world energy itself—it had been unable to affect the power radiating from the Core Flower's roots. That was what had led to the three-way synergy experiment.

Surprises, however, often come unexpectedly. The moment the Core Flower took root in the Mindscape and connected with the system, a special effect—one Lando didn't fully understand—occurred. The special energy from the flower's roots spread and grew within the Mindscape, and while it absorbed world energy to nourish the flower, it simultaneously nourished the Mindscape itself.

World energy was an extremely high-level form of energy and was notoriously difficult to absorb and utilize. Currently, the only known simple method of absorption was for natives of a world to be rewarded by a naive World Heart after achieving some great feat, such as saving the world, whereby the energy was infused directly into them, allowing them to absorb it easily. Because of the special utility of world energy, countless laboratories were dedicated to studying how to use it, and the "World Laboratory" itself was one of the most successful outcomes. Lando’s system could easily convert world energy into soul essence, a fact that had shocked him for a long time.

Lando had also been developing his Mindscape; after all, it was a "Purple-Limit" talent, and who knew? Perhaps one day, if he found the right direction, he would open the door to an "Orange" talent! Based on the ideas from his past life and the knowledge of this one, world energy had always been his primary research focus for the Mindscape. But whether he injected world energy directly or soul essence, the Mindscape had never shown any special reaction, forcing his research to stall.

This Fressen Flower had finally provided the opening he needed. The current result was the best he could have hoped for—no, it was even better.

The moment the Mindscape used the Core Flower to absorb world energy, Lando clearly sensed the Mindscape cheering and rejoicing. His Purple-Limit talent was rising! It was mutating! It was sublimating!

The surprise was regarding the experimental results; the greed, naturally, was for the Fressen Flowers of the Treesea Elf clan.

According to his calculations, a Purple-Limit talent required 100,000 units of soul essence, while all Orange talents required 1,000,000. Now, the special energy from the roots, beyond supplying the basic growth of the Core Flower, could either be accumulated into the system as soul essence or used to directly nourish the Mindscape, allowing it to grow.

The value of the nectar the Core Flower could condense each year was roughly 3,000 units of soul essence. If he stopped nourishing the Mindscape and didn't condense any nectar, the system could gain an additional 3,000 units of naturally grown soul essence annually.

If he let the Mindscape absorb all of this, perhaps in three hundred years (?!), the Mindscape could evolve into an Orange talent?

Conversely, if he chose neither of those, he could obtain 3,000 units worth of nectar annually. This figure far exceeded that of an ordinary Fressen Flower—one had to remember that the total annual production of the entire vast field of Fressen Flowers in the Treesea Elf sanctuary was only about 20,000. Moreover, the nectar of the Core Flower was easier to absorb and offered a higher potential ceiling than the common variety.

Calculating it this way, no matter which of the latter two options he chose, the daily "+1" was gone. He had set out to study how to increase the yield of soul essence, but ended up losing even his daily baseline!

Lando: "..."