Chapter 166 The Sacred Pilgrimage (Requesting Monthly Tickets~)

June 29th, 2015, 12:05 PM.

Nanhai, Golden Beach.

The sound of the tide, so close it felt like it was at his ear, and the unique fishy smell of the sea assaulted his senses, as scorching sunlight and a cool sea breeze swept over him simultaneously. This was the atmosphere of the seaside.

"Who would have thought I'd have a publicly funded vacation one day."

With his hands behind his head, Chen Zhicheng lay on a beach chair. The former fruit and vegetable store owner, a man in his thirties approaching forty, closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief unlike any he’d experienced in the past thirty years: "Is this what vacation feels like… So comfortable!"

"Comfortable!"

At that moment, a cheerful voice could be heard above Chen Zhicheng’s head. A petite, humanoid figure seemingly made of flower petals was circling above him like a bee, enjoying the bright sunlight and cheering softly, "Comfortable!"

Opening his eyes, the first thing Chen Zhicheng saw was a vast blue sky, and the flower fairy he had named 'Xia Lan'.

It had been almost a year since he awakened his cultivation talent and met Xia Lan. Likewise, it had been almost a year since he became a cultivator affiliated with the State Environmental Protection Administration.

The orchid from which Xia Lan was born was a light purple ink orchid, very similar in color to Zixia, and on the day she was named, Xia Lan herself seemed to like the appearance of Zixia very much, so Chen Zhicheng gave her this name.

During this year, Chen Zhicheng sold his original fruit and flower shop and became a civil servant, spending his days running around the country with the Environmental Protection Administration's special operations team.

His task was to use his wood-attribute affinity and the flower fairy's sensitivity to spiritual plants to find various rare spiritual plants, and then transplant them back to the 'National Rare Plant Breeding Center' in the suburbs of Tiandu.

There, more wood-attribute cultivators, and even the Sage of Agriculture himself, were working diligently, trying to cultivate many rare and valuable spiritual plants on a large scale, or to select a meaningful portion to hybridize with rice, potatoes, wheat and other crops, intending to cultivate near-extraordinary foods that were somewhere between spiritual plants and ordinary crops.

National extraordinary ability meant that the nation's food consumption had greatly increased. Even the most ordinary Qi Awakening cultivator had an appetite about one and a half times that of an average person, and the higher the level of the cultivator, the greater their appetite would be if they ate freely.

This meant that the Zheng Nation's grain output had to be at least one and a half times higher than before to barely maintain stability—if this hurdle could not be overcome, the so-called national cultivation was just a self-deceiving lie, and it would eventually collapse.

And the key to breaking through this barrier lay in spiritual plants.

Half-spiritual rice containing spiritual energy, one bowl of rice, could be worth four or five bowls from before.

"Grain is the foundation of a country, and in the era of spiritual energy resurgence, spiritual food is the foundation of a transcendent power!"

The words of the elderly Sage of Agriculture resonated powerfully, and even Chen Zhicheng, who had no great ambition and only wanted to be recognized by others, became passionate at that time, and worked diligently with the team, regardless of spring, summer, autumn or winter, traveling all over the country.

Of course, Xia Lan was not mistreated—as the true core of the team, the flower fairy enjoyed comprehensive and distinguished VIP treatment, with even a special small spirit gathering array and spiritual bee honey to restore her strength.

Over the past year, Xia Lan's intelligence had also improved a lot. Now she could not only easily understand many words, but also occasionally say a word or two.

As for why Chen Zhicheng and Xia Lan, who should have been busy working, were here on a publicly funded vacation, the answer was simple.

Some time ago, the twenty-seventh hybrid rice variety was declared successfully cultivated. Although this semi-spiritual plant crop had a lower yield than normal rice, it contained extremely precious spiritual energy that could be easily absorbed by ordinary people!

If it were promoted and planted, in terms of effect, it would be equivalent to more than doubling the national grain output! This could greatly reduce the food pressure brought about by national cultivation.

Coincidentally, the hybridized spiritual plant of the twenty-seventh hybrid rice was discovered by Chen Zhicheng. As a reward, he not only received various cultivation resources and cultivation technique rewards, but also a twenty-day paid vacation and a Nanhai travel ticket.

"Hot, wanna sleep~"

"Had enough sun? Then let's go back."

After sunbathing for a while longer, Chen Zhicheng heard that Xia Lan was not flying as cheerfully as at the beginning, and immediately knew that the flower fairy's light absorption for the day was complete, and she was ready to rest.

So Chen Zhicheng did not hesitate. He immediately packed up the beach chair, let Xia Lan lie on his head, and prepared to return to the hotel.

On the way back, he asked with a smile: "Do you want to eat spiritual maple syrup today, or do you want to eat hundred-flower spiritual honey?"

"Maple syrup! Maple syrup!" The cheers of the flower fairy could be heard.

Returning to the hotel, Chen Zhicheng found that a couple living next door had also just returned, but they seemed to be arguing, and their voices were a little loud.

"These things are all scams!" The voice of the man said, with a hint of helplessness: "Xiaoyun, it's impossible to improve your aptitude by taking these inexplicable medicines... Although your aptitude isn't high, it's not bad either, at 11%. As long as you cultivate step by step, you'll always be able to awaken your spiritual sense."

"Sister Liu and Ashi are all taking them, and they're about to awaken... Your friend, Wang Ge who plays basketball, isn't he taking them too?"

A rather gentle female voice could be heard, presumably she was usually a calm person, but when it came to cultivation, she would not give an inch: "Anyway, even if they are scams, what harm will they do to my body? Experts have said that the placebo effect is the most important thing. As long as I think it's effective, my cultivation efficiency will improve!"

"What's more, my cultivation efficiency has really improved recently. Not only that, but I also seem to be able to hear strange sounds at night, maybe it's the spiritual sound of awakening?"

A very common dispute about cultivation.

Since the Zheng Nation made the cultivation method public and opened self-service spiritual talent test points in relevant major cities, many black-hearted merchants who wanted to profit from this began to launch various health products that claimed to improve aptitude and increase cultivation efficiency.

As for the degree of credibility... Hey, didn't the girl herself say it? It's just the placebo effect. In the final analysis, it's just various flavored starch tablets, similar to the brain development tablets that sold the best before the Sage Selection Test, one willing to hit, one willing to be hit, what else can be done.

But for some reason, Chen Zhicheng felt a little creepy: "Just this kind of fanaticism for cultivation... If it were to be used by someone..."

"Hopefully, it's really just starch tablets."

At the same time.

On the same beach.

It was noon, the sun was shining brightly, the sky was bright, and the golden sand was rising with warm heat. With the warm sea breeze blowing, all the yin and coldness in the body were really dispelled.

Su Zhou was lying on a beach chair. He was wearing sunglasses, wearing a pair of beach pants, his hands behind his head, bathing in the sun, enjoying the sunshine of the seaside.

It must be said that Su Zhou's smooth and strong muscles, and indeed his remarkable appearance, attracted many envious and fiery gazes—it was not that no one wanted to come up and flirt, but no matter who it was, at the same time as the thought of 'approaching' arose in their hearts, they could not help but feel a chill, and then dismissed the idea.

—The aura of an extraordinary person, even if only a trace is leaked, is equivalent to pouring a bucket of cold water on ordinary people.

And Yala, disguised as a decoration on Su Zhou's sunglasses frame, was also enjoying the sunshine.

"Right, right, right, that's the feeling!"

On the other side, Shao Qiming had been buried in the sand, while Shao Shuangyue was shoveling sand with an unhappy face, covering her brother's body.

"It's this feeling of being buried—I feel it!"

Shao Qiming's serious voice could be heard: "Is this the feeling of a plant? Rooted in the ground... I have this feeling, I have this taste!"

Hearing this, Shao Shuangyue, a swimsuit beauty with a ponytail, suddenly turned dark. She couldn't help but pat Shao Qiming's head with a small shovel, then turned to Su Zhou and shouted angrily: "My brother is crazy and wants to be buried in the soil, what do you want to do, Su Zhou? Do you want to get a tan?"

"Unfortunately, I have a constitution that doesn't tan." Lying on the beach chair, Su Zhou lazily replied while absorbing spiritual energy: "And I just discovered that the spiritual energy along the coast is actually a little more active than inland, it's very suitable for cultivation."

This was Su Zhou and the Shao siblings who had come to Nanhai for vacation.

Because of the resurgence of spiritual energy, the number of tourists all over the world had greatly decreased, fearing that they would encounter the global climate anomaly like at the end of last year.

Therefore, even the golden beach of Nanhai had a much lower flow of people than in the past. The seaside, which should have been crowded with people, had less than a hundred people playing at this time.

"No, is there something wrong with you two?"

Looking at the almost empty beach, Shao Shuangyue looked back at the two 'brothers' who were lying on the beach chair like salted fish and buried in the ground, and couldn't help but turn her finger next to her temple: "It's not easy to come to the beach once, why don't you go into the sea to play?"

"I can't swim." Shao Qiming's answer was normal—he used to be in poor health and never swam, and he hadn't been in good health for a year, so he obviously didn't know how to swim.

"I can. But it's so calm, swimming is boring." Su Zhou was the other extreme, he thought the waves weren't big enough during the day: "I'll go down for a swim when the tide rises at night... Shuangyue, why don't you go into the water yourself?"

"I can't swim, I'm afraid to be alone!" She received a very justifiable answer.

"Alas... Forget it, I'll accompany you." Having said that, Su Zhou couldn't help but sigh, preparing to get up and take this little sister for a swim.

Even if she wasn't flat-chested, Su Zhou wouldn't feel anything—Shao Shuangyue had really watched her grow up since she was a child, and she was no different from his own sister. Although she looked good, and when she was serious, she had the temperament of a lady, but she was usually carefree and even foul-mouthed, just like him, it was really impossible to have any feelings.

Although he always seemed to be teasing her, this was essentially a way of caring. Shao Qiming was the same. As far as Su Zhou knew, the reason why Shao Shuangyue was able to play games crazily and still not drop her grades was because Shao Qiming had prepared a full set of knowledge points to tutor his sister. Otherwise, this internet addict would have become a problem student long ago, how could she have been admitted to a key school.

Just as Su Zhou was holding a floating board and taking Shao Shuangyue into the water, teaching her how to swim, suddenly, he stopped his guidance and looked at a yacht in the distance.

"What's wrong, Brother Zhou?"

Shao Shuangyue's athletic talent seemed to have inherited it from Aunt Wen when she was young. Although it was her first time in the water, she learned it in a decent manner. After a while, she was flapping her feet up and down, and could already move forward with the floating board.

Seeing Su Zhou suddenly frowned, she couldn't help but ask: "Am I swimming badly?"

"No, you're learning pretty fast, you're much better than your brother in this regard." Su Zhou turned his head and praised Shao Shuangyue, but soon, he turned his head again, looking at the yacht that was sailing away into the distance, and a little doubt arose in his heart.

"Strange... There are actually two awakened ones on that yacht?"

Although the auras of the two awakened ones were very well concealed, they were almost like ordinary people, but Su Zhou, who had already transformed his eyes, and now had completely 'spiritual eyes', could see that the cultivation of those two Qi Awakening stage cultivators was quite good. They should be people who had cultivation before the resurgence of spiritual energy.

"Are they official cultivators?"

Su Zhou muttered in his heart: "If they are, why are they being so secretive?"

But before he could figure out this question, he suddenly heard a shocked exclamation from the sea not far away.

"Damn, what is this?!"

Su Zhou turned his head, first glanced at it slightly, and then immediately shifted his attention to this side.

The one who exclaimed was a man who was swimming. He seemed to have seen something in the sea just now, and then he exclaimed, and quickly turned around and swam ashore: "There are snakes! There are snakes in the sea!"

Indeed, it could be seen that a pure black sea snake was swimming in the clear sea water. It was swimming in the waves, scaring away all the originally small number of swimmers. Su Zhou couldn't help but raise his eyebrows: "A pure black sea snake? There's no such species, right?"

It could be seen that the entire body of the sea snake was covered with black scales, with a strangely cold beauty.

"Zhou, Brother Zhou, let's go too?"

Shao Shuangyue also felt scared, and couldn't help but grab Su Zhou's hand, her voice trembling a little—she was usually afraid of this kind of long creature, and Su Zhou, who didn't care much, took her back to the beach.

"There are sea snakes? Still pure black?"

Helping Shao Qiming, who was buried in the ground and experiencing the so-called 'plant' feeling, push away the soil covering his body, Shao Qiming took off his sunglasses after listening to the descriptions of Su Zhou and Shao Shuangyue, and looked at the seaside, his tone a little strange: "As far as I know, there are no naturally pure black sea snakes—at least they don't exist in my memory."

If Shao Qiming didn't remember, then it was probably really not there. Seeing Shao Shuangyue, who seemed to be still a little afraid, Su Zhou smiled and exchanged a look with Shao Qiming.

And the other party nodded in understanding.

After coughing, Su Zhou patted Shao Shuangyue's shoulder, and when she turned her head with a confused look, he said with a serious face: "Do you know? Most sea snakes are venomous!"

And Shao Qiming followed closely: "If the toxicity of the five-step snake is twice that of Li Bai."

Su Zhou: "Then it's 1.4 times that of Cao Pi."

Shao Qiming: "It's one-tenth of the Tang Family's Smiling Steps of Death."

Su Zhou: "But even so, the toxicity of the five-step snake is probably only one percent of some sea snakes."

Shao Qiming: "It's very scary, you can't stew it all in one pot."

"Hahaha, what crosstalk are you two talking about, the more I listen, the more scared I get, okay?"

Shao Shuangyue was a little confused at first, but quickly reacted, this was the way the two of them were comforting her, and she burst into laughter, and wasn't so scared anymore: "Ah! Then, why is that thing following us?!"

Halfway through laughing, Shao Shuangyue immediately hid behind the two of them again, and Su Zhou looked up and saw that the sea snake in the distance had landed and was slowly crawling in their direction.

At this time, there were not many people on the entire beach. After all, it was lunch time, and there was a sea snake, so basically everyone had left, and some people even went to find the beach manager.

"This snake looks a bit spiritual?"

Su Zhou signaled Shao Qiming to take Shao Shuangyue away first, and he went over to see what was going on.

As a result, when he got closer, the pure black sea snake accelerated and scurried over quickly—and then stopped at the edge of Su Zhou's beach shoes, rubbing Su Zhou's feet very affectionately.

"...Sure enough."

Su Zhou stretched out his hand speechlessly and grabbed the black sea snake. He complained to Yala: "Since I advanced to extraordinary, a large group of carp jump around by the water's edge as soon as I get close to the river, splashing water on me, now it seems that this snake is probably the same, they are all attracted by your bloodline."

"It's your bloodline." Yala, disguised as a ring, shook her head and said extremely irresponsibly: "I've given it all to you, so it's none of my business."

At this time, it could be seen that the black sea snake that was caught by Su Zhou did not show any aggressiveness, but instead wrapped itself around Su Zhou's hand very docilely, rubbing back and forth.

"Alas."

Seeing this scene, Yala couldn't help but shake her head. She closed her eyes, looking like she couldn't bear to look directly, and criticized in a tone that hated iron for not becoming steel: "What's going on, the world is going downhill, the world is going downhill!"

Listening to Yala's words, Su Zhou blinked his eyes, looked at the black sea snake that was wrapping around him, and then looked at Yala, and his expression suddenly became strange: "Wait, could it be..."

"Yes, it's that could it be!"

Yala nodded seriously, suppressing her laughter and said: "You're being courted!"

"Damn it!"

Su Zhou's face darkened: "No one confessed when we said goodbye to each other after graduating from high school, but instead I was liked by a snake first?"

There was no way, he could only take this sea snake that was quite spiritual and very bold back to the sea, and after taking it off, he solemnly warned: "Don't attack humans, and don't get close to crowded beaches... You understand humans, right? They look about the same as me, don't get close to them!"

While speaking, Su Zhou used a trace of the pressure of the Undying Blood, and also used spiritual power to directly warn the soul—God knows that his first time using Yala's bloodline was not to deter any Jiaolong or magic dragon, but to teach a sea snake the safety guidelines of snake life.

And the black sea snake nodded quite spiritually. After Su Zhou let go, it swayed and swam away in the water.

Su Zhou, who clicked his tongue twice, was just about to turn around and leave, but his keen vision found that there seemed to be colorful shadows in the sea in all directions.

Whirring, the tide was hitting the beach.

Hundreds of sea snakes, as well as sea fish that God knows where they came from, were silently涌coming towards the beach in accordance with the tide.

It was like... a sacred pilgrimage.

"Oh my God..."

Noticing that he seemed to be surrounded by hundreds of sea snakes and various sea fish, Su Zhou's expression instantly twisted: "What... what is all this?!"

3 more chapters break 10,000 words, asking for monthly tickets~ The recent plot is all foreshadowing, but the details are useful, so update as much as possible, so as not to say it is short and weak.