After Becoming the Pope’s Disciple - Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Red Radiance

“All things have a spirit. Exotic beasts and plants have far more powerful vitality than the sand and paper used for your practice, but the methods of applying mental strength lead to the same destination.” Old Tao intercepted a section of vine and demonstrated the process meticulously several times.

“This String Ivy—if you can heal it, its owner will pay you 200 Star Coins.” Old Tao said this, clearly intending to pass the business specifically to Ye Shaoqing.

At 200 Star Coins per common plant, he would have to complete ten of them and ensure total success for every single one. The difficulty was certainly not small.

Ye Shaoqing, however, remained unfazed. He simply nodded and said, “I will do my best.”

If Old Tao knew the calculations running through this kid’s head, he would have spat in his face. Completing the treatment of ten common plants in a single day? Never mind a beginner; even for someone like himself who had been immersed in this trade for years, the only outcome would be dying from mental exhaustion!

After Old Tao left the greenhouse, Ye Shaoqing was left alone to slowly begin his attempt at performing Healing Magic on the String Ivy.

Very quickly, he woke up from his blind optimism and realized how naive he had been.

Even though he believed he had mastered the techniques of utilizing mental strength, the moment he put theory into practice for the first time, he realized it was an almost impossible task.

A massive amount of mental strength surged from his fingers toward the diseased root of the String Ivy, searching for the enemy entrenched there. Like a menacing army, it fought a frantic battle against the bacteria to seize territory. As the commander of this army, Ye Shaoqing had to monitor every corner of the battlefield at all times, providing support instantly without a moment of laxity.

As time passed, the battle reached a fever pitch. Beads of sweat as large as beans rolled down Ye Shaoqing’s forehead; in an instant, his shirt front and back were soaked, clinging clammily to his skin.

Bouts of dizziness struck repeatedly. It wasn’t until his vision was blurred by sweat that the life-and-death war finally signaled a retreat. He felt as if he had just been fished out of water, his body hollowed out and drained of strength.

Ye Shaoqing sat on the floor to rest for a while before barely managing to stand up. He knew that, for now, it was impossible to perform the magic a second time.

The String Ivy on the rack had completely recovered its healthy hue. Its tentacles twisted back and forth in the air with great excitement, as if it wanted to rush forward and give its savior a warm embrace. However, under Ye Shaoqing’s cold and disgusted gaze, it eventually retreated, shrinking back onto the rack and coiled itself up like a dejected mosquito coil.

Ye Shaoqing felt no satisfaction from the 200 Star Coins he had earned. Instead, he furrowed his brows, seriously pondering how to handle the remaining 1800.

The treatment of the String Ivy left him deeply puzzled. When he had caused the Bodhi Lotus to bloom, there hadn’t been such a massive drain. More strangely, the grade of the Bodhi Lotus was clearly much higher than that of the String Ivy. If there were a mirror present, he would have seen that from start to finish, his pupils had remained dark and heavy, with no abnormality.

Ye Shaoqing walked out of the greenhouse with the healthy String Ivy. Old Tao looked up from behind the half-man-high flowerpot, his mouth twitching as he looked at him with an expression of pure numbness.

“Good thing I didn’t underestimate this kid this time, otherwise I’d be losing face again,” Old Tao muttered. He pointed to a lunch box on the table and said, “For you. It’s getting late; just eat dinner here.”

It was already dark!

Stars flickered in the night sky. The large bird in front of the shop was fast asleep in its cage. Ye Shaoqing’s gaze darkened—after tonight, the two-day limit would be up.

He absentmindedly picked at the food in his bowl while Old Tao continued to hover around the flower, making occasional attempts that all proved futile.

“What flower is this?” Ye Shaoqing asked.

Old Tao said, “This is the famous Red Radiance. Every mature flower produces a fruit. It is said that after eating it, one can hang onto life even after sustaining a fatal injury. This pot is a Twin-Flower Red Radiance, a rare variety.”

He turned his head. His young apprentice’s eyes were sparkling, staring with a fiery intensity. Old Tao said crossly, “Even I have no certainty of healing it. You nearly died of exhaustion just treating a String Ivy; in your current state, you want to set your sights on this? You truly don’t know the heights of the heavens!”

The String Ivy on the table wriggled slightly, as if protesting the shop owner’s disdain.

The Red Radiance remained motionless in the pot, treating everything around it as air, its stalks held high with disregard.

At some point, Ye Shaoqing had approached the flowerpot to examine it closely. The two flowers grew from a single stem; the petals were curled and wilted, their color pale as if the pigment had been washed away by water, leaving only a thin, uneven layer of pink. Scattered in the soil were several fallen leaves and withered petals.

“Is it also infected with a disease?” Ye Shaoqing looked down at its roots; there seemed to be no abnormality.

Old Tao shook his head and let out a regretful sigh. “No. To encourage it to bloom a third flower and upgrade its grade, its owner went through great trouble to obtain Spring Soil, which is claimed to be the most fertile planting soil in the world. He transplanted it, but unexpectedly, the plant couldn’t acclimate. Not only did the hope of a grade-up fail, but even the original two flowers are about to wither.”

Ye Shaoqing asked curiously, “In that case, can’t it be transplanted back into the previous soil?”

Old Tao rolled his eyes. “Do you think transplanting is easy? This Red Radiance is already at its last breath. Any more meddling and it will likely die instantly.”

Ye Shaoqing realized that the people of this world had a very broad and respectful definition of life. Even non-intelligent species were treated with equality. Old Tao never viewed them as broken objects, but as patients. This was likely one of the reasons the Holy See was so deeply rooted in people’s hearts.

Ye Shaoqing said, “Is there no other way?”

Wrinkles accumulated on Old Tao’s face as he knitted his brows. He pondered for a moment and said, “If we prune one flower to reduce the nutrient demand, there might still be hope…”

Ye Shaoqing said, “Could the owner accept such a loss?”

Old Tao gave a bitter smile. “That’s why it’s so tricky. If there were a better way, I wouldn’t want to use ‘amputation.’ But it’s better than both withering together.”

As if the Red Radiance understood its fate, the two flowers huddled together, rustling against each other in great reluctance.

Ye Shaoqing had already grown accustomed to the “sentient” nature of species here. Seeing the life-and-death parting of the two flowers, he actually felt a trace of pity.

He suddenly asked, “Compared to the Bodhi Lotus, which grade is higher?”

Old Tao looked at him in surprise and said, “Both belong to the rare category. It specifically depends on the number of blooms. A plant with five or more flowers can be classified as ‘precious’.”

Ye Shaoqing thought to himself: Wen Qingze’s Bodhi Lotus only had one flower, no wonder it was called the lowest grade. The Twin-Flower Red Radiance’s value is even higher; if I can heal it, the rent issue would be solved…

“Can you let me try?” Ye Shaoqing asked seriously.

Old Tao’s expression became solemn. He stared into his eyes and said in a heavy voice, “Young man, I have to give you the harsh truth first. The Red Radiance is not a common plant like the String Ivy. If you fail, it will die, and the cost of its death is not something you can afford. Furthermore, your mental strength hasn’t recovered; overusing it will only lead to the exhaustion of your sea of consciousness.”

Ye Shaoqing smiled faintly. “How will we know if we don’t try? With you watching personally, Shopkeeper, even if my mental strength fails, you have the ability to stop me in time. Besides, for such a beautiful flower, you wouldn’t have the heart to prune one, would you?”

Old Tao still shook his head. “No, it’s too dangerous.”

Ye Shaoqing thought for a moment and said, “Actually, it’s true that Wen Qingze’s letter said I saved a Bodhi Lotus. And it was restored from a bud to its full-bloom state.”

Old Tao’s eyes bulged. “Don’t lie to me!”

“Those are Wen Qingze’s words.”

Old Tao stared at him with great conflict. After a long time, he finally gritted his teeth. “If it weren’t for the fact that I can’t think of any other way, I would absolutely not let you try! You brat are overestimating yourself—don’t blame me for not warning you if you die!”

Ye Shaoqing’s eyes were as bright as stars. His expression was calm, and his tone held an unprecedented firmness. “Don’t worry.”

Old Tao seemed infected by the other man’s confidence. The suspicion and unease on his face eased slightly. He focused his full attention, ready to intervene at any moment.

Ye Shaoqing appeared composed, but in reality, he didn’t even have a ten percent certainty.

He was well aware of the state of his sea of consciousness. If he performed Healing Magic step-by-step, it would absolutely fail. The only hope lay in the “Holy Light” Old Tao had mentioned.

He suspected that what had made the Bodhi Lotus bloom wasn’t his mental strength, but another power. Otherwise, to achieve such an effect, he would have had to sleep for three days and three nights afterward just to compensate for the mental exhaustion.

In reality, aside from feeling dizzy at the time, he had no side effects.

He would try his luck; surely a transmigrator should have some special treatment. If it didn’t work—well, he’d worry about that then.

The problem now was: how to trigger that thing?

He reached out his hand flatly, covering the two haggard flowers. Holy Light, oh Holy Light, please, show me some face!

Expelling all negative effects, restoring all vitality…

Thinking of Old Tao’s words, the form of that Sacred Scepter abruptly surfaced in Ye Shaoqing’s mind. Involuntarily, he was captivated by the ten thousand rays of radiance it emitted. It was the mysterious power that had brought him to this different world, possessing a golden staff body and a gem embedded at the top that contained infinite power, as dazzling and soul-stirring as the sun.

In an instant, Ye Shaoqing felt his perspective suddenly yanked upward. From a high-altitude viewpoint, he watched coldly as a bystander; aside from observing, he could do nothing, let alone control his own body.

Fortunately, this eerie situation only lasted for a blink of an eye; he almost thought it was just an illusion. By the time he came back to his senses, everything was already over.

Old Tao was staring at him with wide eyes. Ye Shaoqing raised an eyebrow and waved his fingers in front of the man’s eyes, saying, “Shopkeeper, are you alright?”

“Your eyes…” Old Tao pointed at him, looking at him like he was a monster, shocked and confused, his speech becoming clumsy. “Strange… how are they black again? They clearly turned golden just now!”

“My eyes turned golden?” Ye Shaoqing’s expression changed, but he nonchalantly bent down to pick up the reading glasses that had fallen on the floor. “You must have seen wrong; even your glasses fell off.”

“Am I really so old and bleary-eyed to that extent?” Old Tao muttered suspiciously to himself. He put on his reading glasses and suddenly let out a scream!

“The Red Radiance—!”

Support After Becoming the Pope’s Disciple