...

"What are you getting so excited about, you broken Spirit Artifact?" Qingying retorted angrily, "What do you know about my master Qin Weiwei's affairs?"

Qin Weiwei.

Qingying finally uttered the name, unaffected by any restrictions.

"It's over, it's over, you actually said that name," Spirit Artifact Ai Pan was almost in tears, "You've violated the laws of the Divine Dynasty."

"Divine Dynasty, what Divine Dynasty is there now?" Qingying sneered sarcastically, "I think you're still living in a dream. If it weren't for Weiwei and the others, who beheaded the other two Great Demon Lords among the outer region demons, your great Divine Dynasty would have been flattened long ago."

"You're talking nonsense!" Spirit Artifact Ai Pan exclaimed, as if its sore spot had been hit, "It was clearly His Majesty the Holy Emperor who stopped the invasion of the outer region demons."

"Alright, alright," Wang Shouzhe frowned and stopped the three Spirit Artifacts from arguing, "Let's not argue. We all know about Senior Sister Lu Wei's background. I believe that after living another life, she will consider everything carefully."

Although being reborn and true spirit reincarnation are different and cannot be considered as entirely new individuals, because there are no memories carried over during rebirth, it's essentially like living again, and one's thoughts and views are naturally influenced by the era.

The current Lu Wei, although still a research fanatic, is completely different from her past self.

Hearing Wang Shouzhe speak, Spirit Artifact Ai Pan hesitated for a moment but eventually agreed, "Yes, Lord Wang Shouzhe, but I still have to report this matter to my superiors for their decision."

Now that Wang Shouzhe's aptitude level has reached the top tier of Heavenly Son, surpassing even the once highly regarded "Little Holy Emperor" Ji Wushuang in potential. Naturally, Spirit Artifact Ai Pan takes his opinion seriously and treats him with great respect.

Seeing this, the sisters Qinghuang and Qingying wisely kept their mouths shut.

This person before them is a top genius qualified to inherit the Green Emperor Sacred Diagram. Back in the day, the title of "Little Holy Emperor" would have been his.

Not someone to be trifled with~

"You can report it, but according to the rules, the rewards that should be given must still be given. She is now Lu Wei, not Qin Weiwei," Wang Shouzhe said again, "If your superiors have any objections, they can take it back later."

"This..." Spirit Artifact Ai Pan was slightly troubled, but due to Wang Shouzhe's demonstrated potential, she reluctantly agreed, "Since you say so, let's settle the rewards according to the normal procedure first."

"In the advanced prize pool, I want to take Weiwei's evolution fruit, a Lingxu Realm puppet, a small bottle of Chaos Essence, and the Holy Emperor's Protection."

"In the super prize pool, just take something at random. Chaos Spirit Stone seems nice, it looks like a good item," Lu Wei said with interest.

"Ancestor Lu Wei, what is a Chaos Spirit Stone? Is its utility greater than a Lingxu Realm peak puppet?" Wang Ningxi asked curiously.

"They are not the same thing, and their utilities are completely different," Lu Wei explained, "A Lingxu Realm peak puppet is very powerful, especially as a clan's treasured heirloom, passed down through generations, it can maximize its value and ensure the clan's prosperity below the Immortal grade. But Chaos Spirit Stone is a consumable, unusable by low-level cultivators, yet once one reaches True Immortal or higher levels, it becomes an invaluable treasure."

Wang Ningxi understood.

The Lingxu Realm peak puppet is more useful in the early stages, but once one reaches True Immortal or even higher levels, the help provided by a Lingxu Realm peak puppet becomes negligible, while the demand for Chaos Spirit Stone increases.

However, the Wang Clan is a clan, and a developing one at that, so the utility of a Lingxu Realm peak puppet is naturally greater.

After all, although the Lingxu Realm experts like Chaoyang King are stationed at the Wang Clan, they are ultimately not of the Wang Clan. In times of life and death crises, having one's own Lingxu Realm combat power at the forefront is essential. One cannot expect Chaoyang King and the others to risk their lives for the Wang Clan.

Truly a super prize pool, every item is top-notch.

Although Lu Wei took the rewards, she did not keep them for herself but handed them over to Wang Ningxi for unified management and distribution according to the rules.

"Shouzhe, earlier Luo Jing took a Half-Step Celestial Plant and a Celestial Plant, Wang Mei took a Half-Step Celestial Plant, Luo Qiu took a Half-Step Celestial Beast, and now there's only one Immortal Beast reward left in the advanced and super prize pools."

Prince An leaned over to Wang Shouzhe, his face thick-skinned, and said, "How about we use that last Immortal Beast as our Great Gan's national guardian Immortal Beast?"

"No," Wang Shouzhe decisively refused, "Ningxi has already found out that the Immortal Beast cub is of the Yuan Water type, and it's likely meant for Yaoyao to raise."

"..."

Prince An knew he wouldn't be able to get the Immortal Beast, but he still put on a heartbroken expression, saying, "Shouzhe, your Wang Clan now has a pile of Celestial Plants and Immortal Beasts, while our poor Great Gan's national guardian spiritual beast is just an old tenth-order Azure Dragon. Do you think that's appropriate?"

"Didn't Ancestor Canglong just recently advance to the eleventh order?" Wang Shouzhe gave him an annoyed look.

"Is the eleventh order enough? With Demon Lords flying all over the outer region battlefield..." Prince An lamented, "Our Great Gan is still too weak, all because of my incompetence as the regent prince."

"Alright, alright, I've actually already thought about it," Wang Shouzhe waved dismissively, "That Half-Step Celestial Beast happens to be an Azure Dragon egg, so I'll donate it to Great Gan."

A Half-Step Celestial potential Azure Dragon egg?

Prince An was overjoyed, grinning from ear to ear, "As expected, Shouzhe is generous. Rest assured, I will take good care of it."

"Don't be too happy too soon. Raising a Half-Step Celestial Beast isn't easy," Wang Shouzhe reminded him, "In the future, you'll have to work twice as hard to strengthen our Great Gan quickly, securing excellent resources for it. There's a chance it could become an Immortal Beast in the future."

With the original old Azure Dragon, Great Gan now has two Azure Dragons to raise, and one of them is still growing, so providing enough nutrition for rapid growth is essential. It's manageable when it's young, but once the little Azure Dragon grows up, the economic pressure will be significant.

In this regard, Wang Shouzhe, who has already raised quite a few Half-Step Celestial Plants and Half-Step Celestial Beasts in the clan, has the most authority.

"Rest assured, Shouzhe, even if I have to shortchange myself, I won't shortchange my pet beast," Prince An said, rubbing his hands eagerly, "Since Shouzhe has made the decision, why not let me personally hatch it?"

"Very well, I've been a bit tired from continuously topping the rankings lately," Wang Shouzhe pondered briefly, "Let's organize the recent gains and take a break."

During this time, Wang Shouzhe has been the most exhausted. If not for the leap in his bloodline aptitude, he would have been overwhelmed long ago.

Following the instructions, Wang Ningxi first brought over the Half-Step Celestial Beast Azure Dragon egg and handed it to Prince An.

This Azure Dragon egg, although not as large as the egg Zong Kun had back then, still weighed two to three thousand pounds.

The massive Azure Dragon egg had a yellow-brown color resembling the earth, with a surface covered in a layer of fine, scale-like patterns, giving it a textured appearance.

Probably due to being stored for too long, the egg was clearly in a dormant state, showing no signs of life, yet it still exuded a faint pressure, appearing extraordinary.

"Truly a Half-Step Celestial Beast Azure Dragon egg, indeed remarkable."

Prince An was quite excited, carefully stroking the egg's surface with a look of parental affection.

After a long while, Prince An finally snapped out of his delight, his body shook, and the ancestral Azure Dragon Codex appeared above his head.

A heavy, boundless aura with a sense of vastness rose from him.

It was the activation of the Azure Dragon bloodline within him.

He reached out, pressing his hand on the egg, and thick strands of Azure Dragon profound energy surged out, enveloping the Azure Dragon egg tightly.

The next moment.

The Azure Dragon egg trembled slightly.

Seeing this, Prince An instinctively held his breath. The others around him were also momentarily stunned, then fixed their gazes on the egg without blinking.

As if awakened by the power of the same origin, the scale-like patterns on the surface of the Azure Dragon egg began to glow faintly amidst the subtle tremors, with strands of Azure Dragon power being absorbed into the eggshell.

With each strand of energy absorbed, the patterns on the egg grew brighter, and the speed of energy absorption increased.

As time passed, the patterns on the egg became increasingly bright, and the speed of energy absorption accelerated, eventually forming a small energy vortex.

Fortunately, Prince An was already at the late stage of the Purple Mansion Realm. If his cultivation were lower, he might not have been able to withstand this absorbing force.

In just a few moments, the Azure Dragon egg had absorbed enough energy, and the patterns on the egg became radiant, even the pressure it emitted grew stronger.

The little creature inside also became restless, moving and struggling within the egg, as if trying to break free.

The entire process didn't last long.

With a "crack," a crack suddenly appeared on the Azure Dragon eggshell.

Soon after, the egg shook more violently, the cracks multiplied, and finally, with a vigorous shake, a piece of the eggshell was pushed out, and a large, earth-colored snake covered in mucus crawled out from the egg.

The snake's head was slightly larger than that of an ordinary snake, its scales noticeably thicker, with a faint sheen on the surface, moving cautiously, appearing somewhat cute.

Dragons are like this; they are in the form of pythons at birth, transforming into jiao at the fifth order, and into dragons at the seventh order, at which point they are considered true dragons.

It seemed to know who had hatched it, as it immediately slithered towards Prince An upon breaking the shell, its long snake body coiling around his wrist, nuzzling him affectionately.

"Great, great, our Great Gan Wu Clan finally has a Half-Step Celestial Azure Dragon, and it's a male," Prince An was overjoyed, caressing the snake's head, as if envisioning its future soaring through the skies, commanding awe.

"Husband, give the child a name," Gongye Qingxin was also delighted.

"Alright, let's call him Wu Chenglong, in the same generation as Chengjun," Prince An immediately came up with a name.

Clearly, this was following Wang Shouzhe's naming convention.

"Uh..." Wu Chengjun, who had been watching with excitement, was speechless.

Alright, now he had a younger brother. But this was a good thing; this "brother" had great potential and a promising future.

With Wu Chenglong in hand, Prince An focused all his attention on him, learning feeding and training techniques, ignoring even Wang Shouzhe.

Wang Shouzhe, seeing this, was "unconcerned."

He turned to Wang Ningxi and said, "In that case, let's also reveal our two Half-Step Celestial Plants. Ningxi, how have you arranged these two Half-Step Celestial Plants?"

"One of the two Half-Step Celestial Plants is a Silver Moon Laurel, which can absorb the essence of the moon to grow. Once it reaches the ninth order, it can produce Silver Moon Laurel flowers, a rare spiritual flower tea," Wang Ningxi said, "After discussion, we believe that the tenth granduncle is the most suitable to care for it."

"Tenth granduncle?" Wang Shouzhe frowned, "Who is that?"

"Uh... Father, Ningxi means me."

Wang Zongrui stepped out from behind Wang Shouzhe, bowing and greeting him with an awkward yet polite expression.

As Wang Shouzhe's second son, Wang Zongrui was undoubtedly the least noticeable among the five children. Even his younger sister, the fifth child Wang Lijue, had a stronger presence than him.

"So it's Zongrui. Yes, you have a wood-type bloodline, so you're quite suitable to care for the Silver Moon Laurel," Wang Shouzhe nodded in agreement, "But the contribution points should still be deducted, you can make them up later."

"Yes, Father," Wang Zongrui calmly agreed.

Being frequently overlooked by his parents, he had long since gotten used to it.

There was no helping it; his elder brother and sister were all prominent figures, and even his daughter "Wang Yingxuan" was far more famous than him.

However, if anyone underestimated him because of this, they would likely be the ones to suffer.

Unlike his elder brother Wang Zong'an and elder sister Wang Liyao, after graduating from the clan school, he had been working in the Changning United Headquarters of the clan industries, and now he had risen to the position of Chief Director, with his abilities and social influence being top-notch.

The Changning United Headquarters was also a very important "cash cow" for the Wang Clan.

Throughout Great Gan, he was already someone many people sought to curry favor with.

Unfortunately, there were too many dazzling figures in the clan, and his strengths were only known within the Wang Clan's system, far less prominent than those of Wang Zong'an and Wang Liyao, and even less so than the younger generation like Wang Anye, Wang Yingxuan, and Wang Ningxi.

His biggest labels were being Wang Shouzhe and Liu Ruolan's second son, and Wang Yingxuan's father!

Yet, despite his lack of fame, his contributions to the clan's development were substantial, and no one opposed him taking the Silver Moon Laurel.

When it was brought out, the Silver Moon Laurel was still a seed the size of a fist.

It was slightly elongated and oval-shaped, with a thick and hard purplish-black seed coat, appearing very durable for storage. If observed closely in the dark, fine silver patterns could be seen on the seed coat, emitting a faint glow.

Wang Zongrui held the seed lovingly, observing it for a long time before finally coming back to his senses and beginning to infuse his profound energy into it, refining it into his life-bound spirit plant.

The process of refining a life-bound spirit plant is not complicated, especially when the spirit plant is still a seed.

As the profound energy was infused, the Silver Moon Laurel seed, originally in a dormant state, was quickly awakened, bursting with strong vitality.

Before long, the seed absorbed enough energy.

"Pop~"

With a soft sound, a green sprout broke through the shell, quickly expanding under the stimulation of wood-type profound energy, growing larger, and soon becoming a small sapling in Wang Zongrui's palm.

It was a small sapling, with a sturdy trunk covered in oval-shaped green leaves, and clusters of tiny silver-white flowers hidden beneath the leaves. Upon closer inspection, the flowers seemed to be coated with a layer of moonlight, appearing very dreamy.

"Eeya eeya~"

The Silver Moon Laurel's branches and leaves swayed slightly, emitting a tender sound.

"What a beautiful little treasure," Wang Zongrui was overjoyed, caressing its crown, "From now on, Father will call you Wang Yinggui, how about that?"

"Eeya eeya~" Wang Yinggui seemed very happy.

"Come, come, let me introduce you to the family. This is your grandfather, grandmother..." Wang Zongrui held the small sapling, turning around to introduce it to the people gathered around him, "This is your brother Wang Shixin, Wang Shifeng, sister Wang Yingxuan..."

The children all looked at each other.

Alright, they suddenly had a younger sister.

Of course, although the gender is currently unknown, normally spirit plants grow into the gender they are nurtured as, with only a few spirit plants reversing under extreme conditions.

It's said that there was a big shot named "Jinshan" in Changchun Valley who once raised a freak.

However, such cases are extremely rare, and most spirit plants are relatively gentle.

"Ancestor Grandfather, there's also a Half-Step Celestial Plant, the Five-Colored Gourd Vine," Wang Ningxi said, "Considering that most of the clan's wood-type talents come from our direct line, I recommended my grandfather first."

His grandfather was Wang Shizhao, now the "Little Cabinet Elder" of Great Gan, and also the Wang Clan's representative in the Great Gan court.

"Shizhao is indeed a suitable choice," Wang Shouzhe nodded, "In that case, Shizhao, you take the Five-Colored Gourd Vine first."

"Yes, Grandfather," Wang Shizhao stepped forward, saluted, and then took a piece of "withered vine" with roots.

The withered vine was only as thick as a little finger, its surface dry and yellow, showing no signs of life, as if it had completely withered. But as strands of wood-type profound energy flowed in, the original withered vine was gradually awakened from dormancy.

Its originally shriveled vine body gradually became plump, the dry yellow vine skin regained a green hue, and it slowly unfurled in Wang Shizhao's palm, regaining vitality.

Suddenly.

Tender green buds appeared on the vine, quickly growing larger, and then transforming into new vines that spread outwards.

In just a moment, several fuzzy, slender gourd vines were wrapped around Wang Shizhao's arm.

Next, round heart-shaped leaves grew from the new vines, lush and green, swaying in the wind, looking extremely charming.

The slender gourd vine exuded a very special spiritual charm, seemingly resonating with some law of heaven and earth.

Seeing this, Wang Shizhao stopped infusing profound energy.

He wasn't like Grandfather Wang Shouzhe, with the immensely powerful life source profound energy for catalysis. His profound energy's catalytic ability was only slightly stronger than that of ordinary wood-type cultivators, and catalyzing the gourd vine to sprout had already consumed a lot of his profound energy.

In the future, if he wanted it to grow quickly, it would be a matter of slow accumulation over time.

Nevertheless, Wang Shizhao felt very pleased, fondly touching the heart-shaped leaves of the gourd vine.

According to Spirit Artifact Ai Pan, it was still young and would first grow vines in the early stages, only starting to flower and bear fruit once it reached the ninth order.

Its flowers are white, with small petals, not very eye-catching, but the gourds it produces, depending on the attribute of the spiritual energy absorbed, will have different colors and attributes, making it a very unique Half-Step Celestial Gourd Vine.

As per tradition, Wang Shizhao adopted it as a foster son, naming it Wang Anhu, naturally adding a younger brother to Wang Anye, Wang Anxin, and other children.

Prince An watched as the two Half-Step Celestial Plants were revealed, and the joy of just obtaining the Azure Dragon cub was quickly overshadowed.

He looked at Wang Shouzhe speechlessly.

Everyone said this guy had a good temper, was gentlemanly like jade, and graceful, but who would have known that in private, this guy had a strong sense of revenge.

Wasn't it just that he, Prince An, had gotten a bit carried away and ignored him? And now, he was being made uncomfortable.

How childish~

Prince An grumbled to himself, muttering for a long time, but Wang Shouzhe's "attack" continued.

He asked Wang Ningxi, "So, who does your team think is most suitable to raise our Celestial Plant?"

"Of course, it should be you, Ancestor Grandfather," Wang Ningxi said, "Normally, one can only have one life-bound spirit plant. But your bloodline is special, and your aptitude has reached the top tier of Heavenly Son. You awakened the eighth bloodline at the Purple Mansion Realm. The eighth bloodline is also known as the True Spirit Body (previously mentioned incorrectly, now corrected), and there's a high probability you can contract another life-bound spirit plant."

"I've already consulted with Miss Ai Pan, and she said that the 'Little Holy Emperor' Ji Wushuang contracted two Celestial Plants. There's no reason he could, and you couldn't."

The main reason one can only contract one life-bound spirit plant is due to insufficient bloodline strength to bear it. But Heavenly Sons and Daughters, as darlings of the heavens, are exceptions.

"I see," Wang Shouzhe realized, "Since Ji Wushuang could, then naturally I can too. Alright, I'll raise this Celestial Plant."

No one in the clan would object to Wang Shouzhe contracting a Celestial Plant.

The Wang Clan had almost been developed single-handedly by Wang Shouzhe, and his prestige within the clan was unimaginable to most. With just one word from him, countless clan members would willingly go through fire and water for him.

Moreover, the Clan Leader now had the top tier aptitude of a Heavenly Son, an aptitude that was hard to match throughout history. How could such an extraordinary figure not be worthy of two Celestial Plants?

They only hoped the Clan Leader would grow stronger because only then would the clan be safe, and he could continue to lead the clan through challenges, paving the way for a glorious future for the Wang Clan.

This time, the Celestial Plant was also a tree, and when it was brought out, it was a dark brown seed.

The seed was slightly larger than a fist, not the usual oval shape, but pointed at one end and blunt at the other, resembling a melon seed. Its seed coat was much harder than ordinary seeds, even with his Purple Mansion Realm Heavenly Son's strength, it remained unmoved, much harder than typical black iron.

According to Spirit Artifact Ai Pan's brief introduction, this was a World Tree seed, also a Celestial Plant seed discovered by the Holy Emperor in a foreign realm.

Legend has it that once the World Tree grows, it forms an independent space similar to a secret realm.

When fully grown, the World Tree can even support a small world, and even after its main body dies, the energy from its remains can maintain the space from collapsing for a long time.

Spirit Artifact Ai Pan clearly held the World Tree in high regard, speaking of it with great praise.

Wang Shouzhe listened and had a general idea.

Since the space created by the World Tree is called "a small world," it was obviously not comparable to the artificially created small spaces of officer training cadets.

But he wondered how large it actually was. Was it as big as a Great Gan? Or as big as a Han Yue Immortal Dynasty? The difference between the two was significant.

Wang Shouzhe didn't delay and immediately infused his life source profound energy into the seed.

In an instant, the dormant "it" came to life, its consciousness awakening.

Seemingly instinctively sensing the benefits of the life source energy, the seed trembled slightly, and a consciousness emerged from within, sending signals of excitement and desire.

"Hmm?"

Wang Shouzhe was slightly surprised.

The little guy was quite smart~

He increased the infusion of profound energy.

As the seed absorbed more and more life source energy, a mysterious and subtle energy fluctuation spread from it, as if a space vortex enveloped it, forming an invisible space barrier.

But perhaps the seed coat was too hard, or maybe the energy required for the Celestial Plant to break through was too much. In the same amount of time, the Half-Step Celestial Plant had already broken through, but the World Tree seed continued to absorb Wang Shouzhe's life source profound energy, showing no signs of breaking through.

However, Wang Shouzhe was patient, continuously supplying profound energy to the seed.

Unknowingly, another cup of tea's time passed.

Finally.

"Crack!"

With a crisp sound, a tender green sprout pushed through the seed coat, stretching out. The sprout was vibrant green, swaying slightly in Wang Shouzhe's palm, full of vitality.

The faces of everyone around lit up with joy.

Under the influence of the life source energy, the sprout grew rapidly, soon reaching the height of a person.

Its trunk was straight and sturdy, with a dark black color, resembling black iron, with mysterious patterns faintly visible on its surface.

Its leaves were long and spread out, like feathers attached to the sides of the leaf stems, with silver veins on the leaf surface, resembling flowing mercury, mysterious and unpredictable.

Even as a small sapling, it already exuded a noble, mysterious, and unique aura. When it eventually took shape, it would likely be a dignified and elegant young boy or girl.

Perhaps due to its inherent spatial attributes, it could already fly in the air upon birth.

It floated in front of Wang Shouzhe, its slender branches and leaves gently brushing against his arm, expressing its affection and admiration for Wang Shouzhe in a restrained yet intimate manner.

Wang Shouzhe stroked its straight black trunk, feeling a sense of blood connection, and was overjoyed, "Alright, alright~ I understand~ I understand~ In the future, Father will ensure you live well in the clan and grow happily."

However, he was also slightly conflicted.

The Celestial Plant was cultivated, and the life-bound contract was signed, but should this World Tree be raised as a son or a daughter in the future?

...