Chapter Fifteen: Methods of Sowing and Reaping

What Divto Bogleym brought back were actually two letters. One contained messages that Div preferred not to convey orally to Bogleym and Mah; the other was filled with Millien’s deep longing.

In Millien’s letter, there were plenty of complaints and grumbles—she reproached Neo for being away for so long without visiting her, worried about Xavier’s refusal to allow her to be with Neo, and also frightened by the attack by the Dark Claws a few days earlier. She was concerned for the injured people and troubled by the internal conflicts and arguments.

With her heartfelt confessions and the kind of intimate reliance one feels toward parents or relatives, Neo fully understood Millien’s playful complaints and encouraged her to express them. In the customs of the Dark Wolves, love wasn’t about silently giving something for the other person—it was about bringing two hearts as close as possible, sharing both happiness and pain. Neo knew he should go back to see his lover, to share his stories and joys from these days. He believed Millien would be happy and gain more confidence in the future.

Neo gently folded the letter. After thinking for a moment, he threw it into the fire along with Div’s letter. Though these items carried affection, they might one day become sources of trouble, so it was better to get rid of them.

It was already 3 a.m. Neo had finished his daily meditation practice over ten minutes earlier and felt sleepy, but he still rubbed his face, stirred the wood in the fire, and continued his work.

Neo was sewing leather straps to secure the cuffs of a pair of boots. These boots weren’t for him but for Liz. With the help of white socks, firefluff had been obtained a few days ago, and thick insoles made from it had already been prepared. The soles were finished yesterday. Now that the leather and fur were ready, he worked through the night to deliver these boots to Liz as soon as possible.

“Thorn, I have some questions for you,” Neo said while working.

“Oh, go ahead,” Thorn replied. It hadn’t come out of its thorny collar, but that didn’t stop it from communicating with Neo.

“Do you need to consume energy every day?”

“Mm. Existence itself entails consumption.”

“Existence itself entails consumption.” Neo smiled. Thorn’s words were quite insightful. He said, “This kind of consumption can’t be compensated by the power of the Growth Tree, right?”

“Indeed. The power of the Growth Tree generates forces of change and improvement. Unless one can master its usage, its energy level is too advanced and concentrated—it’s not suitable for ordinary plants, which also lack the ability to absorb it directly.”

“Hmm.” Neo had thought of this too. After all, although the power of the Growth Tree was primarily related to growth and development and was closely tied to the life force, in the West Pentagram, it existed as one of the elements of sealing power. If it were so easily absorbable, it wouldn’t have persisted to this day. So, if he wanted to use this power, he would likely need to seek advice from the Perfect Woman and meet the conditions she set—just budding wasn’t enough; one had to reach a certain level first.

Taking this topic as an opportunity, Neo shared his thoughts: “Just taking out energy without replenishing it clearly isn’t a sustainable solution. Regarding energy consumption, how can I help you? Moreover, I have a technique that requires life force to be used—I wonder if there’s any overlap between my needs and yours?”
Spine moved straight to the next step: “Can you release some of that energy so I can examine it?”
Neo stopped what he was doing and reversed the process of drawing life force.
“That kind of energy is universal,” Spine replied after sensing the life force, giving Neo an answer that delighted him.
At that moment, White Socks returned. After entering the tent, she habitually shook her mane before walking over to Neo. “Those guys are really boring…”
Neo smiled. White Socks wasn’t gentle at all—typical of a violent girl. Having found nothing interesting outside at night, she suddenly got interested in checking out the few ‘soldiers’ who would soon be under her command, looking for an opportunity to provoke one of them and have a good fight. Given the current situation, it was clear she was disappointed.
“I’m chatting with my new friend Spine. Do you want to join?”
White Socks curled up on her own leather pad beside Neo. “Does it like fighting?”
Neo shook his head.
“Then it’s uninteresting. By the way, you promised to improve your combat skills with me—when are you going to start training with me?”
Neo apologized, “Lately, I’ve been either overusing energy or too busy. I’m afraid it will take some time.”
White Socks glared at Neo and muttered, “Then why not go to bed already? I’m too lazy to bother with you…”
Neo laughed and scratched White Socks’ forehead, signaling her to rest, while continuing his conversation with Spine.
The topic had now shifted from common needs to specific methods.
Spine said, “The energy we need doesn’t exist independently; it’s created through methods of energy conversion. Most plant-based spirits obtain energy by cultivation. I have a cultivation method, and if you’re willing to cover all my energy consumption, I can share it with you.”
Neo was naturally eager for this. He had been trying to create plant totems these past few days precisely to find a stable source of life force.
The method Spine offered wasn’t complicated—it was the Plant-Conversion Collection Method, or simply the Plant-Collection Method.
Plants themselves could be seen as devices for converting life energy. Light, water, and soil represented fire, water, and earth in the elements. The process of plant growth was essentially the transformation of these three forces into life energy. As for wind, its role was to transport—from rain clouds to seeds—so it couldn’t be ignored either.
The Plant-Collection Method Spine mentioned wasn’t ordinary planting. Although that could also work as a method, it would be difficult to meet Neo’s need for “minimal extraction and constant availability” unless there was a demi-plane created by a great mage.
Spine’s Plant-Conversion Method was characterized by “planting as needed and being portable with low costs.” Its actual implementation involved manipulating and controlling elemental forces to accelerate growth.

Spine explained, “Plants have different growth cycles, and each cycle has a different rate of growth. What we extract is what results from accelerating this period of highest growth rate…”
Neo quickly understood the concept. In detail, this extraction wasn’t about cultivating the plant and then stripping it of its vitality—such a method violated the principles of plant cultivation, and the amount of life energy obtained would be minimal. What was actually done was to act during the period when the plant grew most vigorously and rapidly. During this time, the plant’s growth was at its strongest, and it was vitality that determined growth. In other words, its energy conversion capacity was at its peak at this stage. The extraction involved making the plant work hard during this cycle, providing it with the best possible conditions while extracting energy, with the extraction ending when the cycle finished.
Neo thought this method was quite interesting. It was like raising chickens for eggs—killing them to get eggs was not worth it. The real approach was to feed them nutritious food during their laying period, taking good care of them so they would lay more eggs, achieving harmony and profit without causing harm.
Neo briefly analyzed his current advantages:
**Seeds**—there was no problem here. The growth power of theChinese Tallow vines vines had been fully demonstrated by the Giant Bitterthorns Forest, and the seeds authorized by Spine grew even more powerfully. If Neo could master this technique skillfully and provide sufficient “food,” it could even produce effects comparable to the Druids’ “Thorny Entanglement” spell.
**Support**—this should have been extremely difficult to obtain, but it had already been achieved perfectly ahead of schedule. The Jianmu—could there be a more powerful growth-enhancing force in the world than divine power? The existence of the Jianmu had the effect of cultivating high-quality hybrid rice seeds, with an inevitable increase in growth. It was also obvious that the higher the level of the Jianmu’s power, the greater its influence. Even turning decay into something miraculous was not impossible to expect—this was a characteristic of divine power.
**Environment**—this aspect was currently lacking. Neo could only manipulate the earth element, and not even at a basic level. Light, water, and wind were completely beyond his control. Thus, he could only follow Spine’s method of creating a minor convergence to achieve his goal.
Neo also asked Spine to explain the concept of minor convergence. Spine said it was a method he developed after observing the energy flow of the sealing array for nearly ten thousand years and understanding the four most fundamental sacred patterns.
“Whoa! A method mastered after ten thousand years—just hearing about the time taken makes it sound really advanced!” Neo was excited, all his fatigue gone…
The greatest advantage of direct thought communication was that even two completely different beings from different dimensions, worlds, species, or civilizations wouldn’t face obstacles like miscommunication. Neo quickly learned everything about seed cultivation, extraction, and minor convergence without any errors.
Still unsatisfied, Neo asked Spine for more details about the four sacred patterns that constituted minor convergence. He hadn’t expected that after ten thousand years, Spine had only grasped the basics of these sacred patterns. If he could delve deeper, maybe he could use them to verify the content of the Senggolas shamanic texts—what if it was an opportunity?

Spirit plants are generally difficult to approach at first, but once trust is established, they tend to be quite honest and straightforward, with no secrets. Ji explained the whole process in detail, and with that, a lifetime of insights truly came to light…

Time always seems to fly when focused on something. After finishing the conversation with Ji, Neo glanced at the hourglass—it was already past five in the morning. He had no intention of sleeping either. He went outside to check the sentries and the camp, washed himself with snowwater, then returned to his tent to continue his craftwork. Now it wasn’t making boots, but rather crafting intricate devices.

The loss of armor caused Neo some distress. Not to mention other things, its practicality was crucial—especially armors and greaves, which held the key to tactical advantages in battle. While the opponent thought those sharp blades posed a threat, the real threat—“armored combat”—was already beginning to show its fangs. So while other components could wait, armors and greaves had to be replenished first. The intricate parts of these armors and greaves relied more on crafting than forging, and that’s exactly what Neo was doing now.

Day eight. It was already mid-Snow Moon. In previous years, at this time, Edrith would experience its second or third round of heavy snowfall. People would start preparing for the grand New Year festival. The Manmoris family would traditionally organize a winter hunt, providing not only entertainment but also plenty of meat for the festival…

This year, the snow had become a disaster. Early in the morning, just as dawn broke, the snow was falling heavily again.

“Gather!” Barrit’s voice wasn’t very loud, but it was strong.

All the members gathered in the open space in front of the main tent, then followed Barrit to do military exercises. This was a new addition starting today. Everyone worked hard and seriously—not out of high awareness, but because the tasks that followed the exercises were tough, and poor performance would mean suffering.

“Take off your clothes!” The men took off their cotton garments, leaving only their underwear, and rubbed their bodies with snow. They worked in pairs, helping each other scrub their backs. Neo supervised them with a small steel bar.

“Sss!”
“Oh!”
“Ahh…”

There was a chorus of groans and cries.

As he walked around supervising, Neo said, “We all know that exercising in the cold can make us sick. So why do we still have to strip down and rub our bodies with snow after exercising?”

“I’ll tell you why. First, it strengthens the body. Second, it toughens the skin. Third, it boosts resistance to colds and frostbite. In short: I advance, the enemy retreats!”

I advance, the enemy retreats—conquer or be conquered!

“We are carnivores! We are conquerors! Say it loudly with me!”

“We are carnivores! We are conquerors!”

“Are you women? Speak louder!” Neo snapped.

“We are carnivores! We are conquerors!”

“It’s not loud enough! Shout louder! If you don’t try hard, you’ll watch others have breakfast!”

“We are carnivores! We are conquerors!” The members shouted until their faces turned red and their throats swelled.

“Good, do it again!”

“We are carnivores! We are conquerors!” Once more, there was a loud roar, some even losing their voices from shouting too hard.

“That’s it! Do it again!” …

Military drills plus snow baths don’t involve much physical exertion. Many team members were surprised afterward, saying, “It doesn’t seem that cold today, huh?”
During breakfast, Nio asked casually, “It’s too hot in summer. Do you take cold baths or hot baths?”
“Cold baths! Preferably in a pond. It’s unforgettable—I remember staying in there and not wanting to come out!” one team member said.
The teammate next to him replied, “That requires certain conditions. Can you really stay in a pond all day without coming out?”
Another team member said, “Normally, we take hot baths. Cold baths feel comfortable at first, but the heat comes back quickly!”
“Right, right!” The team members weren’t ignorant; they understood such basic life knowledge, and many agreed with this view.
“Well, take hot baths when it’s hot to cool down, and cold baths when it’s cold to warm up. The principle is that simple. The people of North Kalid even swim in ice-covered lakes in winter—it’s similar in nature.”
“Oh, I see…” The team members now understood.
Nio added, “Of course, this requires certain prerequisites—having a solid physical foundation. Also, warm-up exercises are essential beforehand; otherwise, you’ll end up with cramps. From now on, I won’t have to remind you about the importance of warm-ups. If any kid gets cramps because they didn’t warm up properly, let’s all look down on him.”
“Hehe…” The team members laughed, but they all remembered the importance of warm-ups firmly.
After breakfast, Nio personally led the team on their way to Wald Village, surrounded by the frozen Thorns Forest. There should still be some supplies to scavenged, and in Nio’s plan, the corpses of the Wald villagers were also very important items…