Chapter 108

Nightmare Rose!!

Looking at the four large characters on the description, Mu Huiyue’s trembling hands and excited heart felt a wave of blissful dizziness.

Finally, a rare seed she recognized had appeared!

This is an S-level resource with dual attributes of the Dark and Undying systems, which can greatly enhance the mental strength and soul resilience of Undying pets. The Nightmare’s special ability can project the powerful mental energy into the shadow realm, increasing the pet’s control over the shadow space.

Previously, Professor Xie Qingwei had mentioned the Nightmare Rose when helping Ellen and White Fang find suitable extraordinary resources.

If we disregard the rarity and acquisition difficulty, this is undoubtedly the most suitable evolution resource for Ellen.

If they can fully absorb and understand the power contained within the Nightmare Rose, White Fang might likely evolve further, becoming an emperor-level species with an immortal body and the ability to control the shadow space.

Unfortunately, the rarity of the Nightmare Rose is comparable to the extraordinary creatures of the Dark emperor species. Not only is it not on the Bureau’s list, but the few sightings recorded in modern history have all occurred in S-level Undying secret realms during the Flash Phase, making it virtually impossible to capture.

This is a national strategic-level extraordinary resource, far beyond what can be acquired through market transactions. Even if Mu Huiyue was eager to get it, she could only quietly browse through the information in the Bureau’s database.

She never expected to draw the seed of the Nightmare Rose from the event pool.

Although it’s just a seed, as long as the Nightmare Rose can bloom successfully, Ellen’s evolution path will have a clear direction!

Mu Huiyue exchanged the four rainbow-colored treasure chests from the pool, and a sense of harvest-like joy naturally surged within her.

Perhaps due to the pool boost from Harvey, all four SSR-level items she drew were seeds of various rare crops.

Among them, the Five Metals Tree Seed and Miracle Potential Fruit Tree Seed both need to be planted as soon as possible. The sooner they mature and bear fruit, the sooner she can enhance her and her pets’ strength.

The Cradle Lily Seed currently has no known use scenario. Mu Huiyue decided to check the demand for other crops before deciding when to plant it.

She put away the Cradle Lily Seed and handed the remaining two SSR-level tree seeds to Harvey, the manager of the Farmlands.

As for the Nightmare Rose Seed, the description mentioned that the Nightmare’s growth doesn’t require soil nutrients but rather craves the irrigation of the thoughts of the deceased.

Literally speaking, this seed is better suited for nurturing by an Undying extraordinary being’s 亡者 (Spirit of the Dead) rather than being planted in soil. Mu Huiyue decided to give the seed to Ellen, letting him place it alongside the Death Mist Gem and try to cultivate it.

Given the rarity of the Nightmare Rose, even the Bureau’s database only mentions its general effects, with no information on how to cultivate it. Mu Huiyue could only explore and figure it out bit by bit on her own.

She might try to subtly ask Professor Xie, but she wasn’t prepared to reveal the existence of the seed to anyone else.

The Harvest skill book could still be said to be a gift from the Withered and Flourishing Spirit Deer, and its properties were linked to the Yanluo Pages. But when it came to explaining an extraordinary resource like the Nightmare Rose, Mu Huiyue couldn’t come up with a reasonable origin for it.

Ellen received the Nightmare Rose seed from the Beast Master. He had been present when Professor Xie analyzed the Bureau’s resource list and knew how rare and precious this treasure was for him.

He had seen the fully bloomed Nightmare Rose in the compendium; it was a flower that seemed to burn with translucent, eerie blue flames, more fitting for the mark deep within his soul than the Eerie Blue Immortal Flower that once appeared in the Necropolis’ secret library.

If Harvey’s dreamscape was filled with crowds praying for a bountiful harvest, then Ellen’s dreamscape was filled with countless swirling blue roses.

The more he evolved and absorbed related extraordinary resources, the more Ellen could see the dreams deep within his consciousness, pushing him toward a higher form of life.

Click. White Fang looked at the Nightmare Scarecrow. Whether it bloomed or not in the end, he would always remember the Nightmare Rose that Harvey brought.

The Nightmare Scarecrow swayed gently in the breeze, and the Beast Master and his companions felt a harvest-like joy. To it, that was the best reward.

After checking the most important SSR-tier seeds, Mu Huiyue continued to tally her gains from the card pool.

There were a total of six golden SR-tier items, including Crystal Stone Seeds x2, Experience Fruit Tree Seeds x2, and two Space Fruits.

It was a bit of a pity that she didn’t draw the Space Fruit Tree Seed directly, but it didn’t matter much with the Five Metals Fruit, which had even better effects.

Mu Huiyue was familiar with these items, and she handed all the seeds, except for the Space Fruit, to Harvey.

The remaining R-tier and N-tier items were mostly individual experience fruits and attribute fruits, as well as N-tier small items that didn’t contain extraordinary energy. The only seed item left was the Enhanced Attribute Fruit Tree Seed.

From the name, it was clear this was an upgraded version of the attribute fruit tree seed. Once it matured and bore fruit, it would yield attribute fruits that were delicious for the pets, along with the previously unobtained Enhanced Attribute Fruits.

After counting her card pool rewards, Mu Huiyue walked toward the Farmlands.

Harvey’s main body had moved back along with the Night Ravens, standing in his usual spot in the center of the field.

Mu Huiyue opened the Farm details panel, which recorded the existing crops in the field, along with their growth status and maturation times.

She had already confirmed the effects of the Harvest skill with Harvey.

Given Harvey’s current rank and skill proficiency, the effects of Harvest on crops could be divided into two main types.

One type is like a smaller version of Wide-Scale Prosperity, where the harvest energy is infused across the entire farmland, enhancing the growth of all crops.

Performing a Harvest infusion once would shorten the growth time of all crops in the field by about a quarter.

However, the effect of consecutive uses would gradually decrease. For example, for a Crystal Stone Seed with a maturation time of three months (90 days), the first use of Harvest could reduce the growth time by as much as 23 days, but the second use would shorten it to less than 10 days.

Additionally, only the first Harvest of the day would gain the bonus effect. Any further uses would only make the Farmlands richer and more fertile, without affecting the crops’ growth time.

This process also feeds back into the Harvest skill’s user, which is why Harvey hasn’t participated much in the Training Grounds practice matches lately, yet his growth rank is still increasing rapidly.

The other method involves sacrificing quantity and concentrating all the Harvest energy on a single crop, significantly speeding up the growth of that particular plant.

This method is highly energy-consuming and doesn’t allow the farmland to provide any feedback. Harvey has only used it once so far.

The concentrated Harvest energy shortened the growth time of the Experience Fruit Tree Seed, which typically takes five years, down to just eleven months.

By the time the next concentrated release happens, even though repeated use would reduce the effect of Harvest, it would still be enough to mature the Experience Fruit Tree Seed.

Mu Huiyue still needs to carefully plan how to use the Harvest skill with the frequency and method that best suits the seeds she has obtained this time.

Not only is this important for the crops’ harvest, but it is also crucial for Harvey’s growth.

The Dark and Wood-type Nightmare Scarecrow does not need food in the traditional sense; it draws the energy it needs for survival from the emotions within its contract and the feedback from Harvest.

In other words, using the Harvest skill is also a form of nourishment and enhancement for Harvey.

The ideal approach is to have Harvey release the wide-area Harvest daily, shortening the crop growth time and accumulating enough energy for himself. Then, depending on the needs, he can concentrate Harvest energy on key seeds to achieve mature fruits in the short term.

Currently, at level 1, the Farmlands can plant up to 12 seed-based items at once.

The previous Crystal Stone Seeds and Enhanced Experience Fruit Tree Seeds occupied 4 spaces, and this time, there are 8 seeds available, perfectly filling up the Farmlands.

Mu Huiyue performed a series of operations on the Farmlands details panel, planting all the seeds.

The Nightmare Scarecrow, located in the center of the field, gently swayed its body, happily watching the flourishing crops around it.

With the most important seeds planted, the remaining task was to distribute the various fruits drawn this time.

Attribute fruits were a popular snack among the pets, so Mu Huiyue divided the fruits according to their respective attributes and gave them to the three pets. There were only three Dark-type fruits, so they were evenly distributed.

The Experience Fruits were concentrated on White Fang, helping him quickly level up, fully absorb the B-level dual-type resource Frost Night Ice Flower, and prepare for his upcoming evolution.

The Space Fruits naturally went to Mu Huiyue herself.

With the pets all reaching their advanced growth stages, she also needed to quickly level up her Beast Master rank to reach level 5, unlocking the Beast Mastery Space so they could all break through to their mature stages.

After the Harvest Season event card pool ended, Mu Huiyue reduced the frequency of battles and allocated her time to meditation progress.

With the help of two Space Fruits, two weeks later, she successfully advanced to level 5 as a Beast Master, and her Beast Mastery space underwent a transformation.

The World Tree became even more lush, and the boundaries of the ranch expanded once again, stretching endlessly into the distance.

A refreshing breeze swept through, and all three of her pets felt the constraints on their growth levels loosening. From this moment onward, Mu Huiyue’s Beast Mastery space could allow them to enter their mature stages whenever they wished.

Mu Huiyue opened the details panel for the World Tree. After the Beast Mastery space level increased, she indeed gained a new innate skill.

Dark Attribute Enhancement: Energy Condensation

Description: Through innate enhancement, it improves the energy perception and skill comprehension potential of Dark-type pets, condenses the skill release path, with the enhancement degree related to the level of the Beast Mastery space.

This time, it was finally not a functional innate skill. Mu Huiyue was about to try out the effect of Energy Condensation on the spot, but after a moment of preparation, she realized that the new innate skill consumed a massive amount of energy—far more than a single use of Battle Resonance during a battle.

Roughly estimating, she would need at least four to five days to prepare for a single use of Energy Condensation.

Mu Huiyue stroked her chin, temporarily setting aside the new innate skill. She turned her gaze to the little cloud dog standing beneath the World Tree.

White Fang’s long fur shimmered with a soft glow, smooth like the moonlight in the night sky—beautiful beyond words.

It had fully absorbed the Frost Night Ice Flower and reached the tenth level of its growth stage. At this moment, it was working hard to suppress the energy within, preventing it from advancing into the mature stage along with Mu Huiyue’s Beast Mastery upgrade.

Enhancing the growth stage with Minor Evolution was also important, as it would trigger the evolution of highly skilled abilities. Mu Huiyue hoped that White Fang could synchronize its growth stage improvement with its racial evolution, maximizing the evolutionary benefits.