The Yu Ling grass did not evolve into a tree, but from grass into vines, which Zheng Dong named Dragon Vine Grass.
He extended his left hand, and the Dragon Vine Grass appeared, lush green, like a stalk of rice.
Immediately, vines as thick as fingers grew out, rapidly spreading in all directions, soon covering the entire hall.
These vines were like coiling dragons, strong and powerful, capable of destroying this hall with just a thought from Zheng Dong.
The Dragon Vine Grass coexisted with Zheng Dong, able to independently absorb various elemental energies from heaven and earth, and also continuously absorb the Azure Dragon bloodline power within Zheng Dong's body.
However, the absorption was very slow, and it would take a long time to fully absorb and integrate the Azure Dragon bloodline power.
But it gave Zheng Dong hope of resolving the Azure Dragon bloodline power.
With the Dragon Vine Grass present, his life was no longer in danger, and he no longer had to worry about the Azure Dragon bloodline power suddenly erupting one day.
At the same time, with the successful evolution, his physical attributes had also improved.
He returned to his normal human appearance, with bright and energetic eyes.
Seeing Zheng Dong's condition, Emperor Qin also nodded.
"Not bad, coexisting with plant-type beast pets is indeed feasible. In the future, by continuously improving the plan, ordinary people might have a chance to become Beast Masters.
Also, I could have let the Dragon Vine Grass continue to evolve, but considering your body already coexists with a Lord-level heroic spirit, it's best to keep its growth level at Commander-class for now."
Zheng Dong nodded, the Dragon Vine Grass in its current state was most suitable for him.
As his Beast Taming Space level increased in the future, his body would gradually become stronger, and it wouldn't be too late to increase the Dragon Vine Grass's growth level then.
However, to Zheng Dong's surprise, the Dragon Vine Grass's energy value was significantly higher than Xiao Zi's.
[Name] Dragon Vine Grass
[Attributes] Wood, Dragon, Undead, Life, Space
[Race Level] Monarch
[Growth Level] Commander
[Energy Value] 18125
[Skills]:
Low Tier: Absorb, Wood Whip, Wood Spike, Flourish, Fragrance, Death Aura
Mid Tier: Wood Shield, Parasite, Clone, Nutrient Fruit, Healing Fruit
High Tier: Rapid Heal, Dragon Might, Life Essence, Super Growth
Super Tier: Life Guard, Dimensional Absorb
Life Guard: A Super Tier skill of Wood, Life, and Spirit elements, capable of condensing elemental energy sprites to protect oneself.
Dimensional Absorb: A Super Tier skill of Wood and Space elements, allowing the Dragon Vine Grass to infinitely absorb elemental energy from dimensional space, continuously replenishing consumption and satisfying its growth needs.
This was also why Zheng Dong could quickly make the Dragon Vine Grass use Super Growth to cover the entire hall.
The Dragon Vine Grass's evolution used part of the heartwood of the Life Dimensional Tree, inheriting some of its skills. Unfortunately, they were all defense-oriented skills.
However, Zheng Dong was still quite satisfied. Evolving a Yu Ling grass into a Monarch-level Dragon Vine Grass could only be achieved with Emperor Qin's help; he couldn't have done it himself.
Therefore, Zheng Dong expressed his gratitude to Emperor Qin.
Emperor Qin, however, did not mind.
"If you really want to thank me, just burn a few more paper offerings for me each year.
Take this heartwood; you can use it to continue evolving the Dragon Vine Grass. Also, I can't hold on much longer, so I'll give you all my inheritance.
Besides my Beast Taming Talent, there are some remaining resources; you can take whatever you see fit!"
Emperor Qin said, looking exhausted.
It seemed that using the Beast Taming Talent for infinite evolution had consumed a lot of his mental power.
This was undoubtedly fatal for Emperor Qin, who was already on his last legs.
Zheng Dong nodded.
He knew that no amount of words would make a difference.
So, he directly picked up the Talent Flower and began the inheritance.
The inheritance was simple: just consume the Talent Flower.
Immediately, Zheng Dong's entire body was enveloped in blue light, as if undergoing a rebirth and modification, his body undergoing incomprehensible and wondrous changes.
A moment later, the blue light disappeared, and Zheng Dong gained his second talent: Infinite Evolution.
Zheng Dong opened his eyes and looked at Emperor Qin.
He saw Emperor Qin smiling at him with satisfaction.
"One last reminder, no matter what life form it is, upon reaching the Divine level, it undergoes a qualitative change. The life level is completely different. Even a Divine-level life form on its last breath, if you were to kill it, you wouldn't be able to."
"Alright, all feasts must end. I should be going. Go out and tell that lecherous turtle that it's free."
Zheng Dong nodded. Within the illusionary world, he had experienced most of what Emperor Qin had been through, so he understood this.
There were indeed Divine-level life forms in this world, but they were in slumber.
At his peak, Emperor Qin encountered a Divine-level life form. Although that being was heavily injured and wouldn't live long even if left undisturbed in slumber, Emperor Qin sacrificed all his beast pets and still couldn't win.
As for the gap in strength below the Divine level, it was merely a quantitative difference, and there were ways to compensate.
Zheng Dong got up to leave the hall but was called back by Emperor Qin.
"Summon your heroic spirit and let me feel the joy of the world one last time!" Emperor Qin said.
Zheng Dong was stunned.
Then, he smiled.
Indeed, what kind of beast master, what kind of beast pet.
He summoned Youyou, gave her a few instructions, and then walked out of the hall.
He wondered if Youyou would be corrupted by this.
But facing Emperor Qin's final request, he had no reason to refuse.
Outside the palace, Zheng Dong saw the Burdened Xuan Turtle.
It turned out this fellow hadn't really left.
The Burdened Xuan Turtle looked at Zheng Dong, hesitated for a moment, and asked,
"He's gone?"
"He said you're free from now on," Zheng Dong replied.
"Free my ass, I'm not going to live much longer either!" the Burdened Xuan Turtle cursed.
"Oh, then Senior, do you have any last wishes that I can help fulfill!" Zheng Dong was quite willing to collect the Burdened Xuan Turtle's remains; this fellow was a treasure from head to toe.
The Burdened Xuan Turtle saw through Zheng Dong's thoughts and cursed him unceremoniously:
"You brat, don't even think about it. Even if I die, I won't leave anything for you."
...
Not long after, Youyou also came out of the hall and handed the key to the relic space left by Emperor Qin to Zheng Dong.
"Master, he just asked me to condense illusions and watch them dance, and then he left. He didn't do anything inappropriate like you said!"
Zheng Dong's face darkened.
Did I overthink it?
Putting away the relic key, Zheng Dong, along with Xiao Zi and Youyou, began searching for resources.
Anything that could be taken would not be left behind.
Zheng Dong had no intention of letting others benefit.
Unfortunately, most of the resources had been used up by Emperor Qin over the years.
The remaining ones were mostly level five and six resources, not even a single level seven.
However, there was still a well-preserved Talent Flower, unused, which Zheng Dong carefully put away.
Additionally, cracking Emperor Qin's relic space allowed for the application of one legendary-level resource.
Afterward, he prepared to leave the relic space.
But he was stopped by the Burdened Xuan Turtle.
"Brat, the times have changed outside. Take me around to get familiar with them. If you can make me happy, you won't lack benefits."
This surprised Zheng Dong.
It felt like a massive pie had fallen from the sky and hit him on the head.
With the Burdened Xuan Turtle by his side, what was he afraid of the Ling Shen Cult's assassination? They could send as many as they wanted, and none would return.
"No problem, Senior. I can take you wherever you want to go!"
"There's nowhere in particular I want to go, I just want to leave behind offspring!"
The Burdened Xuan Turtle said, shrinking its body and flying onto Zheng Dong's shoulder.
Zheng Dong frowned.
This was a bit difficult. The higher the growth level of a supernatural creature, the harder it was to reproduce. Otherwise, the Burdened Xuan Turtle wouldn't be so fixated on this matter.
However, he could ask Professor Xue Yin outside.
After all, there were all sorts of methods now. Even if it wasn't guaranteed to succeed, it should be enough to satisfy the Burdened Xuan Turtle.
Using the relic key, he teleported out of the relic space.
Zheng Dong arrived outside and saw Legend Li Yang and others waiting for a long time.
Since Shen Bing and others had been teleported out, Zheng Dong had been in the relic space for four or five days.
So, upon seeing Zheng Dong, Legend Li Yang couldn't help but ask,
"Did it succeed?"
At the same time, Professor Xue Yin and Professor Huang Cheng also looked at Zheng Dong with anticipation.
"Can I ask first, what rewards can I get if I crack Emperor Qin's relic?" Zheng Dong asked with a smile.
Immediately, Legend Li Yang and the others were stunned.
Then, after Legend Li Yang reacted, he exclaimed excitedly, "You brat, you actually succeeded! Cracking Emperor Qin's relic can get you a legendary-level resource and a cash reward of one billion Dragon Yuan."
This surprised Zheng Dong. A cash reward too? He was going to be rich.
Around him, Shen Bing, Wang Hao, and others also looked on with envy.
One billion Dragon Yuan was enough for Zheng Dong to live comfortably for a lifetime without doing anything else.
Even if used to buy resources and train beast pets, it could last for quite some time.
Next, Zheng Dong followed Legend Li Yang to the conference room of the Beast Master Corps stationed there and briefly explained the general process of cracking the relic space.
As for his own gains within the relic space, he didn't mention a single word.
"Legend Li Yang, tell me, when can I apply for my reward."
"Don't worry, kid. You won't be shortchanged on rewards. First, hand over the relic space key to Professor Huang Cheng. The Relic Bureau will be responsible for researching and developing the relic space.
As for the Burdened Xuan Turtle, Professor Xue Yin will help you find a way. If it can leave offspring, it might be cultivated into a Totem-level beast pet in the future, which can enhance our country's foundation," Legend Li Yang said.
Zheng Dong wasn't particularly interested in what Legend Li Yang said. He continued to ask,
"Alright, then when will my reward be processed!"
"You kid, you can't stop talking about rewards! The ten billion bonus will be in your account in three days. As for the legendary-level resource, it requires layered approval and will likely take over a week.
What kind of legendary-level resource do you want? I can help you apply for it."
Zheng Dong thought for a moment.
He wasn't sure what resources Xiao Zi needed for evolution.
After all, he hadn't used the Beast Taming Talent Infinite Evolution to simulate and deduce evolution plans for Xiao Zi.
Besides Xiao Zi, Youyou didn't need to evolve for the time being.
As for the Dragon Vine Grass, it had just evolved and wouldn't need to be considered for evolution again anytime soon.
This left only the Gem Cat, which he hadn't contracted yet.
So, Zheng Dong said,
"Do you have any time-element ones? If not, gold, earth, dark, and space elements are all fine."
Legend Li Yang was stunned.
Your selection range is truly broad.
"There probably aren't any time-element ones. For the remaining four elements, I'll help you pick the best ones to apply for," Legend Li Yang said.
Before he finished speaking, Professor Xue Yin couldn't help but interject,
"Zheng Dong, you must have received Emperor Qin's inheritance, right? Can you help me see how my Dandelion Empress, Ghost King Xiu Niang... should evolve next?"
This also reminded Legend Li Yang and Professor Huang Cheng.
"Yes, yes, help us see too."
Zheng Dong's eyes lit up. He immediately felt this was a good opportunity to both earn money and gain favor.
"No problem, I can take a look, but using the Infinite Evolution beast taming talent consumes a lot of mental power, so I probably can't check the evolution situation of too many beast pets.
As for simulating and deducing the evolution routes of beast pets, that consumes even more. I can probably only deduce the evolution route for one beast pet within three days," Zheng Dong said.
In reality, the consumption wasn't that high, but Zheng Dong didn't want to exhaust himself. For now, only Legend Li Yang and a few others knew about him, but in the future, there would likely be more.
At that time, he definitely wouldn't work for free. If he said it was hard work, it would be difficult for them to ask him for help for free.
Legend Li Yang and the others naturally didn't understand the situation.
However, thinking about such a heaven-defying talent as Infinite Evolution, it was normal for the consumption to be high.
But this way, Zheng Dong wouldn't be able to help all of them.
Because Professor Xue Yin alone had seven beast pets, and the three of them combined had twenty-one beast pets.
This was indeed too many.
So, Professor Xue Yin said again,
"Zheng Dong, don't worry about them for now. You and I met earliest, and I proposed it first. You help me first. If it's successful, I can find a way to completely cure your Nine-Tailed Ghost Fox's undead puppet!"
This was quite good. With the Nine-Tailed Ghost Fox, Zheng Dong's future safety would be guaranteed.
Currently, although the Burdened Xuan Turtle had chosen to follow him to get acquainted with the era, he didn't know how long the Burdened Xuan Turtle would stay.
Secondly, besides Professor Xue Yin, he didn't know any other beast masters who could cure the Nine-Tailed Ghost Fox.
Zheng Dong was about to agree.
Legend Li Yang interjected,
"Professor Xue Yin, you'll be meeting frequently regarding the Burdened Xuan Turtle's matter. I probably won't see Zheng Dong again for a long time, so let me go first.
I won't let you work for nothing. I have a comet's star core here, which can be considered an eighth-level resource. You can help me look at two beast pets."
The star core should be considered a dual-element resource of earth and gold. The specific situation would only be known after obtaining it. Zheng Dong wanted both.
So, he looked at Professor Xue Yin.
Professor Xue Yin frowned slightly and said unhappily,
"Alright, you go first, but after that, it will be my turn."
Legend Li Yang nodded.
As for Professor Huang Cheng, he didn't argue with the two and instead looked at Zheng Dong with a smile.
"Student Zheng Dong, you are part of our Relic Bureau. Come home for dinner with Meng Qiu when you have time!"
This statement confused Zheng Dong a bit.
He couldn't fathom Professor Huang Cheng's intentions.
However, Legend Li Yang and Professor Xue Yin immediately understood what Professor Huang Cheng was trying to do.
Xia Meng Qiu was not much older than Zheng Dong. If the two could get together, it would be a matter of a word to have Zheng Dong help deduce the evolution routes of beast pets in the future.
Professor Xue Yin immediately glanced at Professor Huang Cheng.
You old fox, you're so cunning!
Unfortunately, I don't have a granddaughter, only a grandson.