Lin Qinghen rubbed his eyes, still recalling the strange dream he just had. But the screen had vanished, and upon seeing the person next to him, his attention quickly shifted.

He was lying in bed, and a woman was sitting at the foot of it—she was the one who had just spoken.

This woman looked to be of middle age, somewhat short in stature, with long hair casually tied up and a few red flowers stuck in as decoration. In her hand, she held a long smoking pipe, and a few Bee Crystal Butterflies flitted around her.

In terms of looks, she wasn’t conventionally pretty; her elongated, slightly reddish eyes held a certain charm, and even the wrinkles on her face exuded a unique grace. She was the kind of beauty with an air of sophistication.

Her surname was Yu, and she managed the outer ring of the Lin family’s vast planting garden, known as Yu Yinyin.

From the looks of her position, she didn’t seem very high up in status, and her abilities were only average, being a Mysterious Level One Star. However, it was said that she had been invited to the garden by a patron of the Lin family long ago, and the main owner of the entire planting garden treated her with great respect. There was an aura of mystery surrounding her.

Having been with the Lin family for over twenty years, she was reclusive and rarely drew attention to herself. She spoke little, appeared cold, and didn’t venture outside her designated area, leaving others to overlook her.

Outside, Lin Qinghen usually addressed her as “Garden Master Yu,” but seeing that there was no one around now, he switched to a different form of address.

“Master,” Lin Qinghen called her, his tone softening, “Did I sleep for so long?”

He felt like it had only been ten minutes or so.

Yu Yinyin didn’t respond but gestured for him to look outside. Indeed, the sky was darkening.

“Ah…”

Lin Qinghen sat up in bed, his first reaction being regret.

“My shrimp congee must have burned dry.”

Yu Yinyin glanced at him, seemingly bemused that he was still thinking about food at such a moment, her expression slightly exasperated as she replied, “Since there’s nothing else, you should head back early after waking up.”

Although Lin Qinghen referred to her as Master, the way Yu Yinyin carried herself suggested that their relationship was not particularly close.

However, Lin Qinghen understood her personality well and had long since gotten used to it. He softened his tone and thanked her.

Their acquaintance dated back to his childhood.

Lin Qinghen lived in the most remote and dilapidated courtyard right next to the planting garden. Whenever he was bullied and unable to fight back, he would seize the opportunity to run here.

The rule forbidding the use of combat-type Spirit Power in the planting garden was strictly enforced, and the vast crops here were enormous with complex terrain and many paths. Lin Qinghen would carefully hide in a spot where no one could find him.

Except for Yu Yinyin, who managed this area.

Back then, Lin Qinghen was small and frail. He would curl up like a ball in a little tree hollow, nervously peeking through a small gap as the group of bigger kids chased after him. He saw them asking Yu Yinyin if she had seen him.

With her cold demeanor, she appeared even fiercer than the kids bullying him when she had a blank expression.

Lin Qinghen knew she saw him. Her eyes turned toward him, and through the gap, their gazes locked.

Then, the fierce Yu Yinyin pointed the group of children in the wrong direction.

From Lin Qinghen’s perspective, this was the first time he felt kindness since arriving here. He silently thanked her in his heart, thinking how wonderful it was that a beautiful older sister could be so kind.

For Yu Yinyin, it was just a casual act of help; she didn’t think much of it. Once the bullies left, she noticed the ugly little boy in the tree hollow smiling gratefully at her, furrowed her brows, and walked away.

This was not enough to make her pay him any more attention, and she wouldn’t remember this small act. She didn’t care about the people of the Lin family, including this child.

Months later, however, an unexpected fluctuation occurred in the spirit source at the center of the planting garden, affecting the Bee Crystal Butterflies that Yu Yinyin raised.

These butterflies were her Essence. As a Beast Tamer Spirit Master, the five hundred butterflies she kept were vital to the Lin family’s planting garden. The spirit power they processed enriched the soil, significantly benefiting the growth of spirit plants.

It was through this skill that she secured her position. Even though she only managed the periphery, no one in the garden dared to offend her.

Due to the significant fluctuation that day, the connection between Yu Yinyin and her injured, lost Bee Crystal Butterflies was severed. Each butterfly was important, and everyone in the garden helped her search for a day, yet one remained missing.

Yu Yinyin considered giving up. But the next morning, she found Lin Qinghen, that ugly little boy, sitting on the steps in front of her door.

At that time, he was just over six years old. When he heard the noise, he turned around to look at her and grinned.

Lin Qinghen had not yet worn a mask back then. Yu Yinyin noticed his birthmark covering his entire face, a bluish tint that was almost purple in places. He was thin, small, wearing old and somewhat dirty clothes—a true ugly duckling.

Even with a smile, his appearance wasn’t exactly endearing.

But his large, bright eyes were striking. When he saw Yu Yinyin, he carefully opened his hands to show her what he had inside.

It was the last Bee Crystal Butterfly that no one else had found. He had searched all night and finally located it.

“I’m returning this to you. Thank you for helping me before,” he heard Lin Qinghen quietly say, “Look, it’s still alive.”

The butterfly flapped its wings, flying from the boy’s palm to the tip of Yu Yinyin’s finger.

In that moment, something within her shifted, a tiny change in her heart.

It wasn’t just because such a small child had a grateful heart; he was indeed much smarter than Yu Yinyin had anticipated.

While everyone in the garden failed to find the butterfly, this child did, and it wasn’t mere luck.

Yu Yinyin then asked him a question and discovered he was familiar with the entire layout of the planting garden.

He didn’t just hide here mindlessly; every path, big and small, seemed etched in his memory. As long as he didn’t want to be found, no one could locate him.

The garden was complex, and although he had only hidden here for a few months, he remembered it better than some old servants who had been around for half their lives.

“…And I noticed the Bee Crystal Butterflies have specific flight patterns; they have their own roles, and each one looks different,” Lin Qinghen explained to her slowly. His childlike voice was thin, yet his tone was quite confident. “That one was the same; it followed a fixed route. I just went to that area to look and found it hanging on a leaf at the treetop.”

Lin Qinghen, having crossed over, had never seen such a creature before and was naturally more observant, whereas even Yu Yinyin, who raised the butterflies, hadn’t paid attention to such details.

From then on, Lin Qinghen and she became intertwined in their fates.

Yu Yinyin remained distant, as if she didn’t care about anything. After over a decade of being together, their relationship didn’t seem to have changed much.

Yet, in the past ten years within the Lin family, this woman had provided him with some precious warmth and acted as an enlightening mentor.

Yu Yinyin was indeed an excellent teacher. She knew a great deal about spirit plants and recognized Lin Qinghen’s talent in this area. Even her brief advice often proved to be immensely beneficial.

It was a stroke of luck to have someone willing to teach him. Without her, Lin Qinghen wouldn’t have been able to muddle through all these years as a laborer.

Moreover, Lin Qinghen always felt there was more to his master than met the eye; her vast knowledge likely surpassed anyone else in the Lin family.

But everyone had their secrets, and Lin Qinghen didn’t pry too deeply.

He also understood that his situation in the Lin family wasn’t great. Some people there had no intention of letting him go, so he only dared to call her “Master” in private. From the outside, their relationship seemed minimal, which was exactly how Lin Qinghen preferred it.

After he woke up, Yu Yinyin appeared to be in a good mood, talking more than usual and updating him on the day’s events: “Just as you guessed, the Ninth Elder Lin Shushu indeed returned today, and those two laborers are fine.”

Looks like I wasn’t wrong after all, Lin Qinghen thought.

With their triumphant return, there should be a feast at home to celebrate. However, he knew he would be excluded from it. After a day of hunger, he decided to go out and find something to eat.

But just as Lin Qinghen took a few steps and was about to push the door open to go outside, he suddenly noticed something unusual.

He hadn’t noticed it when he first woke up, but now raising his hand revealed a green spot the size of a fingernail on his left wrist.

Upon closer inspection, it wasn’t just a spot; it was a small grass-like mark, almost like it was printed on his skin. Moreover, the appearance of the grass looked somewhat familiar.

He was about to leave when he paused. Yu Yinyin, sitting a distance away, also seemed puzzled and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Lin Qinghen was stunned for a moment, instinctively showing her his wrist. “Master, look.”

“Look at what?” Yu Yinyin examined his wrist and frowned. “Are you injured here too?”

Can’t she see it?

At that moment, Lin Qinghen remembered why the mark looked familiar—it resembled the “Essence” seen during the Alchemist’s soul testing.

He instinctively reached out to touch it, trying to see if he could rub it away. The moment his fingers made contact, a familiar screen lit up before his eyes, just like the one he had seen in his dream.

The Alchemist System!

Wait a minute… this thing is real, not just a dream!

Lin Qinghen was stunned.

Wasn’t he just a plain, useless nobody?

Moreover, this system had only appeared now, nearly twelve years after his arrival. That was an incredibly long delay!

Yu Yinyin couldn’t see the small grass-like mark on Lin Qinghen’s wrist, nor could she see the screen. She only felt something was off with him after he woke up and called out, but when she saw Lin Qinghen jump as if startled, she couldn’t help but ask.

“I’m fine now!” Lin Qinghen exclaimed, bolting out the door like a rabbit, “Thank you, Master! See you tomorrow!”

Yu Yinyin: “…”

Did he hit his head?

After he ran outside, he didn’t go far. He found a spot under a big tree to sit and try to calm himself down in the breeze.

It was just a system, nothing to panic over. Stay calm, stay calm.

He repeated this to himself over and over.

Then, in the next moment, Lin Qinghen couldn’t help but cover his head and scream silently.

Ahhhhhhhh!

No, this was just too sudden!

The cool breeze blew from dusk until deep into the night before Lin Qinghen felt somewhat settled.

Taking a few deep breaths, he touched the grass leaf on his wrist and summoned the screen again.

Though the system had come at a very late stage, thinking back, it seemed just right.

If he had been bound to it right when he crossed over, he would have thought of himself as the chosen one, and being overly confident was not a good thing.

Moreover, the benefits this system offered didn’t come for free. Look, it clearly stated that he needed to complete tasks.

The new novice task appeared to be an entry-level one that seemed easy to complete. However, within the entire Spirit World, everyone knew that the mutation rate of Round Wheat had always been impossible to control artificially.

The varieties used in the Lin family’s planting garden were already among the best, and the environment there was also hard to find elsewhere. Even then, the mutation rate only slightly increased to about two percent.

If anyone else were given this task, they would probably respond with a resounding “Impossible,” as there was simply no way to approach it.

Except for Lin Qinghen.