Everything was perfect.
I walked out to my backyard and locked the gate behind me. I hadn't been back here properly in weeks. I’d popped in to grab ingredients or drop off cores, but I hadn't been here.
"I'm a cultivator first," I whispered to the bamboo wall. "Business owner second. If I get rich but stay weak, Axehill will just take it all."
I knelt in the dirt.
I started by pulling weeds. Simple, manual labor. I felt the resistance of the roots, the texture of the soil, the humidity in the air.
Then, I did something I had never done before.
I sat down in the center of the Soil. I crossed my legs. I closed my eyes.
In the past, my meditation was transactional. I sat to regenerate Qi so I could spend it. It was like charging a battery.
This time, I didn't focus on the bar filling up.
I focused on the concept.
Growth.
What did it mean? It wasn't just getting bigger. It was the refusal to die. It was the grass cracking the concrete. It was the vine strangling the tree. It was the cell dividing, healing, expanding.
I sat there for a week.
I barely moved. The Heavenly Moss pumped enough dense Qi into the air to sustain me in my deep meditative state. I became a statue in my own garden.
A sound came from inside my chest.
My eyes opened.
The world looked sharper. Brighter. I took a breath, and I could feel the oxygen bonding to my blood cells.
[Realm Advance: Seed (Stage 2)]
[Spirit Soil Upgrade: Grade 3 -> Grade 4]
[Qi Capacity Increased: 100]
I stood up.
[System Notification: Insight Gained.]
[Dao of Growth Understood.]
[Effect: Photosynthetic Regeneration. The user’s body heals at an accelerated rate. Severed limbs can be regrown as long as the heart remains intact.]
I stared at the text.
I was becoming like a plant—you could chop me down, but unless you dug up the root, I would come back.
I tested my new strength. I spun and kicked the air.
A vacuum wave launched from my leg, slamming into the bamboo wall. The stalks rattled violently, leaves raining down, but they held.
"Okay," I said, grinning. "That's new."
I checked my resources. 100 Qi.
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I looked at my plants. They were still Spirit Grade 1. Upgrading them all would cost hundreds of points. They were doing their job fine for now.
But the engine needed a tune-up.
I walked to the perimeter. The Heavenly Moss was glowing softly.
"Upgrade," I commanded.
[Consuming 50 Qi...]
The moss darkened to an oceanic teal. The light intensified.
[Heavenly Moss (Spirit Grade 4)]
[Generation: 6.4 Qi / Hour]
I staggered slightly as the drain hit me, but the new influx of energy was almost instant. 6.4 Qi an hour meant I could refill my entire tank in less than a day of doing nothing.
I went inside, napped for some hours, and woke up fully recharged.
"Now for the gear," I said.
I pulled my Spirit Bamboo Sword and Armor from the rack.
[Consuming 50 Qi...]
[Consuming 50 Qi...]
[Spirit Bamboo Gear (Grade 4)]
I strapped the armor on. It felt weightless.
"Time for a field test," I said.
I didn't want to test my new power in the Safe Zone. If I accidentally leveled a city block, the government—and the other factions—would notice.
I took the Terramotta.
I drove past the border checkpoint, waving to the guards who knew me by now.
I drove past Metroy. Too close.
I drove for two hours, deep into the Wilds, until the road turned to dirt.
Rushfall.
It was a settlement I’d seen on the danger maps. It was a town.
It looked like something out of an Old Western movie, transplanted into rural Michigan. There were shacks made of corrugated metal and salvaged wood. There was a General Store, a makeshift Doctor's office with a red cross painted on the door, a Saloon with swinging doors, and a schoolhouse.
And in the center, a Fighting Pit.
I parked the truck.
People stopped what they were doing to stare. They were rough—scarred, dirty, carrying various weapons. They looked at the black truck and the man in black armor like I was an alien.
I walked down the main dirt road. My boots crunched on the gravel.
I reached the Pit. It was a dug out crater surrounded by cheering spectators. Two men were brawling inside, blood flying.
I stepped up to the edge.
The cheering died.
One by one, the crowd turned. The fighters stopped mid punch, looking up at me.
Silence descended on Rushfall.
A man with a scar across his nose and a shotgun on his back stepped forward.
"Who might you be, traveler?" he asked, his hand drifting toward his weapon.
I smiled.
"You can call me the Gardener," I said.
Character Sheet
Name: Kaz Kaaz
Age: 36
Path: Heavenly Gardener’s Path
Cultivation Realm: Seed (Stage 2)
Qi Capacity: 100 / 100
Domain Stats:
- Soil: Spirit Soil (Grade 4)
- Ambient Qi Generation: 6.4 Qi/Hour (via Heavenly Moss Spirit Grade 4)
Skills:
- Gathering: Extract Qi/Materials from plants.
- Nurturing: Infuse Qi to accelerate growth/mutate plants.
- Swordsmanship: Proficiency with Spirit Bamboo Sword.
- Dominion: Mental control, teleportation, and acceleration of plants within the Domain.
- Alchemy: Refine plant matter into consumables/artifacts.
- Awaken Plant Spirit: Grant sentience to a plant (Cost: 25 Qi).
Dao:
- Growth: Photosynthetic Regeneration. The user’s body heals at an accelerated rate. Severed limbs can be regrown as long as the heart remains intact.
Active Plants:
- Tim (Awakened Heavenly Tomato): Sentient. Produces fruits that permanently boost Constitution and heal.
- Heavenly Bamboo: Indestructible wall. Active Defense: Thorn Reflex.
- Heavenly Moss: Bioluminescent (Teal). Generates 3.2 Qi/hr.
- Heavenly Mandrake: Sentry. Psychic scream.
- Explosive Heavenly Squash: Explosive impact grenade.
- Heavenly Tuber: High calorie sustenance.
- Heavenly Cucumber: Quenches thirst for 24 hours.
- Heavenly Potato: Wards off hunger.
- Heavenly Filter: Purifies contaminated water.
- Heavenly Whispervine: Dampens sound and energetic signatures.
- Heavenly Gourd of Holding: Grows a gourd containing an extra-dimensional space.
Inventory/Equipment:
- Spirit Bamboo Sword (Grade 4)
- Spirit Bamboo Armor (Grade 4)
- 4,241,468 Spirit Stones