"Brother You, over here!"

In a corner of the Floating Islands, Li Ke was standing there, waving his hand from a distance at Lin You.

Beside him was the Tier Nine Guard they met last time, and a stall.

Lin You came up to Li Ke, looking curiously at the stall.

"Are you... setting up a stall here?"

The Crown Prince of the Xiangyue Empire, setting up a stall in a place like this?

"Hehe, I saw them setting up stalls and found it interesting, so I wanted to try it myself."

Li Ke laughed cheekily, his face full of mischievous expressions.

Alright then.

It seems he’s just experiencing life.

The life of a rich heir is always so unpretentious and simple.

Lin You truly didn’t know how to tease him anymore.

"By the way, Brother You, why did you suddenly ask to borrow Magic Energy from me? Are you really in short supply now?" Li Ke asked curiously.

"Yes, a few days ago there was an accident, and I lost quite a few species."

"A few days ago?" Li Ke was stunned for a moment, "I remember a few days ago, there seemed to be a powerful creature breaking its seal and escaping from the Mechanical Empire, is that the accident you’re talking about?"

"You know about this too?" Lin You asked, slightly surprised.

"Of course I know." Li Ke puffed out his chest proudly, "There’s nothing under the sky that I, Li Ke, don’t know about."

After saying this, he recalled something and suddenly looked at Lin You suspiciously:

"Now that you mention it, I remember hearing my mother say there was also a Tier Eight Lord present at the time, who discovered the location of the seal. That person wouldn’t be you, Brother You, would it?"

"You guessed right."

Lin You shrugged helplessly; he really wished that person wasn’t him.

That way, he wouldn’t have suffered such heavy losses and wouldn’t have to scrounge around for money everywhere.

Upon hearing his answer, Li Ke looked at him as if he was a monster.

Even the Tier Nine Lord beside him showed a trace of astonishment on his face.

After a long while.

Li Ke finally extended a thumb, "Impressive!"

Clearly, he didn’t know what else to say.

As the Emperor’s Son, he naturally received the news about the upheaval in the Mechanical Empire first-hand and was aware of how terrifying the escaped entity was.

His mother had even warned him several times to stay away from such things if possible.

To have survived under such a creature’s hands.

This was not something an ordinary Tier Eight Lord could accomplish.

He couldn’t help but admire Lin You even more.

After hesitating for a moment, he finally leaned in and whispered, "Brother You, be cautious when you go to the Demon Plane anytime soon. I’ve heard that after that thing escaped, both the Eternal Realm and the Demon Origin Realm have started making moves."

"Over a hundred realms are closely connected with them, seemingly plotting something, though it’s unclear if it’s related to that escaped entity."

"Is there really such a thing?" Lin You was secretly shocked.

Had this news come from someone else, he might not have believed it.

But Li Ke was different.

Though he usually seems carefree and unreliable, he doesn’t joke around at crucial moments.

Which means, this is indeed true!

After annihilating the Eternal Realm, do the Eternal Realm and Demon Origin Realm intend to execute another grand scheme?

If so, he needs to start preparing and enhancing his power as soon as possible.

Just like that.

After inquiring about some relevant news.

Lin You didn’t waste any more time, taking the 400 million Magic Energy from the transaction with Li Ke, left the Holy Sanctuary, and teleported back to his territory.

Li Ke was indeed generous.

He initially thought borrowing 200 million would be quite good, but unexpectedly, Li Ke directly transferred 400 million to him.

The Imperial Crown Prince indeed had deep pockets.

Now he owed a favor, and must urgently earn back the Magic Energy to repay it. He didn’t like the feeling of being in debt.

Quickly.

Lin You returned to the World Tree.

Glancing at the 550 million Magic Energy in his bag, he felt a significant boost in confidence and began recruiting Tier Eight Deceitful Willow for his Mutation enterprise.

[Tier Eight Species Mutation requires 25,000 Magic Energy, do you wish to mutate?]

"Mutate."

[Please select which Skills and Attributes to retain.]

"Retain Deceitful Transformation, random attributes."

...

With each response falling, within the territory, bursts of light began to illuminate.

Over a hundred Symbiotic Moss, the workload was indeed enormous.

To successfully mutate one.

It could take at least a hundred tries, at most two hundred tries.

In the middle of it, he even went for lunch and took a break, then continued mutating.

It was only by the afternoon that he finally completed the mutation of 153 Symbiotic Moss.

Including those that were left before, it totaled exactly 300.

Combined with the Four-leaf Clover Species he had mutated this morning, his elite troop was finally crafted.

"Not a bad stroke of luck."

Lin You looked at the Magic Energy; a total of 544 million was spent, leaving 6 million funds remaining.

Much better than anticipated.

In addition to the 10 million budget of Yellow Sand City, it was more than enough to fill the remaining thirty-plus species slots.

With this in mind, he summoned the only Life Elemental Spirit to his side for mutation.

Currently, the Mechanical Pulse Secret Treasure that extends Skill duration is only applied to this one species, which feels too wasteful.

So he intends to mutate the Life Elemental Spirit into other species without Secret Treasure, maximizing the Treasure Effect.

Moreover, the Life Elemental Spirit, having accumulated experience over this period, was already elevated to Tier Eight using Territory Essence, so there’s no concern about insufficient Level.

Swish!

A flash of light.

The light body of the Life Elemental Spirit rapidly transformed.

Luck was on his side; after just three mutations, he succeeded in producing an advanced form of the Radiant Sunflower.

[Name: Radiant Sunflower (Ordinary)]

[Race: Plant]

[Level: Tier Eight (327/5000)]

[Power: 1818]

[Constitution: 1920]

[Agility: 1833]

[Spirit: 1965]

[Skills: Life Curtain, Photosynthesis, Focal Length of the Sun, Scorching Sun]

[Introduction: A plant highly attuned to sunlight, capable of unleashing immense combat power and support abilities under solar exposure.]

Perfect, Radiant Sunflower doesn’t yet have a Treasure Effect.

Now the Mechanical Pulse can be allocated to the Sunflower branch.

This way, it can increase the duration of the Life Curtain and extend the existence of the Little Sun, a win-win situation.

Just the attributes are a bit low.

After all, it’s just over three hundred experience points.

Once the experience reaches higher values, the average attribute should break through 2000 points.

Equipped with Symbiotic Moss, it’s a formidable force.

Next.

There’s only one thing left.

That’s the eighth Royal Family!

"What skill should be used for mutation?"

Lin You’s gaze kept roaming over the recruitment interface, feeling somewhat hesitant.

Now the mutated ability allows retaining designated skills, so his direction in creating Royal Family has become much clearer.

Moreover, there’s only one Royal Family position for now, so he must carefully decide which skill to use as the base.

If a mutated skill could appear, that would be ideal.

Be it ranged or melee, defense or group battles, even extreme offense or large-scale attacks, he seems to have them all.

Is there anything missing?

"That’s right."

Suddenly, Lin You thought of something and couldn’t help but look at the Demon Emperor Dragon and Demon Queen Dragon circling around the World Tree.

Indeed.

It’s the speed type.

He doesn’t yet have a speed-type Royal Species!

For the Plant Type, speed and fire are undoubtedly the weakest links.

Although the Demon Emperor Dragon’s travel speed is already outstanding, it lacks that light and ghostly deterrence.

He needs something that can deliver a surprising victory with peak speed at crucial moments!

Thinking of this, Lin You didn’t hesitate any longer and quickly shifted the recruitment interface to Tier Four Species.

The Demon Emperor Dragon’s Shadow Skill was comprehended at Tier Four.

Using Tier Four Species for mutation is most suitable, and also most cost-effective.

After all, he still has the Experience Treasure Pearl, upgrading isn’t much of a challenge for him.

Soon, he found the species he desired.

[Would you like to consume 250 Magic Energy to recruit "Wood Spirit Dragon"?]

"Yes!"

The Tier Four Plant Dragon, named Wood Spirit Dragon.

Considered the predecessor of the initial Wood Demon Dragon.

And as Lin You’s voice fell, a petite mini Green Dragon also appeared, only reaching the height of his waist.

Lin You only briefly assessed it before proceeding with the mutation.

[Tier Four Species mutation requires consuming 250 Magic Energy, would you like to mutate?]

"Mutate."

[Please choose skills and attributes to retain.]

"Retain Rapid Shadow, attributes random."

As the voice fell, the Wood Spirit Dragon’s body was quickly enveloped in light, starting to transform rapidly.

When the light dissipated, its form had undergone a revolutionary change.

[Mutation successful, current species: Iron Turtle Tree]

Iron Turtle Tree, the Tier Four form of Thorn Shield Profound Turtle.

Not of much use, continue the mutation.

Lin You’s mutation this time had a purposeful objective, so common species would be directly skipped by him.

The light of mutation began shining under the World Tree incessantly.

Finally.

After more than two hundred mutations, a different prompt appeared.

[Mutation successful, current species: Lion’s Roar Grass]

[Skill "Rapid Shadow" triggered mutation, changed to "Instant Shadow"]

[Instant Shadow (Active): Speed increased by 100%, and the next attack ignores enemy defense, lasts for 10 seconds.]

Hmm?

An assassination-type skill?

There’s actually such a skill in Plant Type?

Lin You was utterly puzzled, being the lord who had seen the most Plant Type species, he couldn’t quite imagine which species could match with this skill.

Considering mutation abilities don’t produce Rare Species.

Furthermore, the branches mutated from Demon Emperor Dragon are very limited.

Except for several most common species, they’re essentially the predecessors of Thorn Shield Profound Turtle and Blade Shadow Lion.

If it mutated into a Blade Shadow Lion King Race, it would be acceptable.

He didn’t think further, proceeding to mutate the Lion’s Roar Grass, the predecessor of the Blade Shadow Lion.

The skill naturally retained the mutated skill Instant Shadow.

Swish!

Light flashed.

A brand new plant appeared before him.

Lin You was stunned.

The mutated skill unexpectedly resulted in a new species.

A plant he was very familiar with, yet very rare, a predatory plant!

[Name: Venus Flytrap (Ordinary)]

[Race: Plant]

[Level: Tier Four (0/100)]

[Power: 77]

[Constitution: 88]

[Agility: 90]

[Spirit: 84]

[Skills: Instant Shadow, Hunter (increases attack against Insect Type enemies by 25%), Acid Rain (sprays a large amount of acid, causing intense corrosive damage to enemies in the forward range and reduces enemy defense by 10%.)]

[Introduction: A unique carnivorous plant with a natural restraining ability against insects.]