A week later, John is cultivating as always. His leaves glimmer in the light of the rising sun. Dew drips off his tear-shaped leaves. He shakes himself, gently sending water droplets into the air. A rainbow forms in the mist, causing the hill to look majestic.

  John projects his senses toward his hill mate Joe. Recently the demonic bull's energy has been fluctuating. ‘This shows that he is nearing a breakthrough,’ John muses.

  ’The heavens have been showing signs of tribulations. Joe is on the verge of moving into the next stage of demonic beast life. I’m an expert on demonic beasts, but he is perhaps at the Counterfeit stage. Which means he will soon be moving into the Contaminated stage. From what I’ve been told, the stages names are based on how close the blood is to their great ancestors. Each significant cultivation leap will lead to purer and truer blood for a demonic beast,’ John contemplates.

  “Well, it has nothing to do with me as a plant cultivator. As human cultivators, we didn’t face tribulation either we had to conquer the lower and upper six expertise. Well, as a plant, I have to build up my core,” John says to Joe suddenly. Joe looks at the bush with exasperation.

  John, too feels his Seed Coalescing Core is starting to burst with energy. ‘Within the next couple of months, I’ll break through to Fractured Seed stage. Isn’t this pretty fast,’ he thinks proudly.

  Of course, most plants won't have intelligence at this stage. So it is unfair to compare himself to them. A typical plant will spend five years in Seed Coalescing stage. This is the simplest and fastest stage of plant cultivation. At the Fractured Seed stage, a plant starts to have basic survival instincts. Thus your average Foundation stage human cultivator will have a hard time plucking a plant at this level.

  John can feel the energy that flows through him permeate the surroundings. It feels like he created a zone where he can perceive everything. It is a strange feeling. It is like he is a part of everything in this sphere of influence. Even in the humans, the energy flows through them gently.

  He'd try to control the energy inside a blade of grass next to him to no avail. In fact, John has tried many experiments since he discovered that the energy seems connected to him. Including trying to aid in Franklin's training, but all attempts failed to have any effect. John would be pulling out his hair if he had any.

  John can somehow sense a vague feeling of respect from the nearby plants. Of course, they don't have sentience, so it's hard to say what they feel. It is the first time in his life he felt someone or something respecting him. He feels like a king looking over his subjects.

  "Brumph," the bull snorts at the bush. For some reason, he feels like it needs to be taken down a peg. "What, how dare you say I look gross. I'm a majestic ruler of plants, a grand bush!" John retorts as he sends sparkles from his leaves.

  Joe looks with disgust at the stupid plant. He chomps down on some weeds near him. With significant mouth movements, he smugly looks at the plant as he eats its subjects. "Yeah, you showed me. No one thought that the big fat bull could eat," John states sarcastically.

  Meanwhile, Rosie Fire is painstakingly practicing her surgery technique on a dummy in the Sunny Spring sect, created by her master. She has a book next to her with healing techniques. Every day Rosie practices these medical techniques. She's chased her dream to this small sect to become the apprentice of Catherine Lighthands.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  The room is lit by illumination inscriptions. Three desks and operating tables align the walls. The three apprentices of Catherine use them. However, one has dust from long neglect. The desk only has a few oddities and a book on Treasure Zones.

  Rosie's short red hair is plastered to her head with sweat. She wears a thick pair of glasses they are often worn by apprentice healers with lower sight cultivation, the sixth expertise of the lower six. They have a zoom functionality allowing the user to see even the smallest of veins. They also show energies the user may not have been able to see at their current cultivation stage.

  Kendra Star, a fellow apprentice, walks in, her long golden hair flowing behind her. She has penetrating blue eyes, almost looking like crystals. Her eyes are an excellent boon for healing. She doesn't have to wear bulky glasses like Rosie.

  "No, Elanor again?" She asks Rosie as she places her books at her desk. "What do you think?" Rosie responds sarcastically without looking up.

  "I don't know why master just lets her do whatever she wants," Kendra grumbles as she opens one of her books. "It's not our place to question her. At least we get more attention thanks to her absence," Rosie says as she finally finishes her work.

  At that exact moment, the doors fling open. A bouncing curvaceous woman whose outfit is as colorful as a rainbow barges into the room. The three apprentices of Catherine can't be more contrasting. With the grimy hard-working Rosie with her plain clothes, the talented and well-kempt majestic Kendra, and the well endowed vibrant adventurer Elanor.

  "Is master around?" Elanor asks her two fellow apprentices with a bright smile. Sighing, Rosie responds, "She should be in her study." Kendra closes her book loudly and accusingly says, "shouldn't you do some work before bothering our master again?"

  Elanor rubs her head awkwardly, "you know I'm not good with this stuff. I'll leave it to smart people." Kendra's eyes flash with anger, "humph, you're just lazy. You always have some excuse to ditch lessons."

  "Ha, ha, you caught me," Elanor responds with an upbeat attitude turning to leave. Kendra nearly throws her precious book at the oblivious woman in rage. Rosie can't be bothered to join in on this repeating farce as she cleans up her workspace.

  Catherine Lighthands is a woman with gray hair and light wrinkles. She sits in her lounge, sighing as she thinks of her troubled apprentice. She'd only taken her in because she was friends with her mother in her youth. Now the girl only returns after causing trouble.

  "If the girl only put a fraction of the effort she puts into treasure hunting into studying," Catherine laments, shaking her head. "Oh, speak of the devil!" Catherine says, sensing Elanor coming down the hall. "She's more lively than usual." Usually, she'd be limping and crying, worrying about scars. ‘It’s all just crocodile tears, though. How many things on this planet could hurt her?’ Catherine admonishes Elanor in her head.

  Elanor stops in front of the door and straightens out her clothes before knocking. "Come in." She hears her master from the other side of the door. She then enters the room with a bright smile. "Master, you're looking great today!"

  Catherine immediately frowns, "what do you want now. You know, flattery like that doesn't work on me. What do I always say about looks?" Elanor pauses in her steps. "Um, I believe you said that a healer shouldn't hide their age. Since a patient prefers age over beauty in their time of need?" She answers, scrunching her nose and furrowing her brow as if she needs the use of every brain cell.

  "That's right," Catherine nods sternly, "So don't waste my time with drivel." Elanor awkwardly smiles as if she'd just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "Master, you jest. It's not like I only come here to ask for stuff," She replies graciously, clapping her hands. "I also enjoy your company. Your vast wisdom inspires me to even greater feats!" Elanor says while shoving her fist in the air.