This was the first time Li Chengyi saw his sister cry, from childhood to adulthood.
He stood in the kitchen, holding a cup of filled water, watching Li Chengjiu trembling all over, crying helplessly and confusedly.
"Okay, I'm going back now. It's all right," Marian said, gently patting Li Chengjiu's back.
"Everything will be fine...."
She let go of Li Chengjiu, sighed, and turned to walk toward the door.
As she passed the kitchen, she gave Li Chengyi a slight smile.
Bang.
The security door closed with a dull thud.
Li Chengyi held the water, realizing he no longer needed to bring it over.
He watched Li Chengjiu stand in place, crying convulsively, and drank the water in his glass in one gulp.
As for the person that was Li Chengjiu, capricious, overbearing, self-righteous, disregarding their parents and ignoring home, only knowing to demand from her family.
Both his predecessor and he himself had a very poor impression of her.
So even though he saw her cry, he felt nothing. Perhaps the recent conversation could easily lead one to speculate that Li Chengjiu had some hidden secrets, but given his knowledge of his sister, he knew that any secrets would definitely not be anything good or positive.
On the contrary, the evil intent that had suddenly filled him was completely inexplicable.
He knew when he went outside to ask Song Ran for help beating up some thugs, he only got a few points of evil thoughts at a time.
But just now, in a few short seconds, the evil thoughts had surged from 89% to 100%!
This terrifying speed was something he had never imagined before, only experienced when he had first encountered Meng Dongdong.
But at that time, Meng Dongdong was driven by desperation in a blind spot, harboring strong and intense murderous intent toward him. Then, after he had killed her, he absorbed it in the end.
But this time, Li Chengyi felt like he had won lying down.
'After evil thoughts arise, they must be directly eliminated to be absorbed. So does it mean, in that tiny bit of time just now, someone had developed strong evil thoughts towards me which then inexplicably vanished completely??'
Li Chengyi set down the cup, walked out of the kitchen, passed by Li Chengjiu, and sat at the dining table to continue eating his breakfast.
He suspected, perhaps, the source of the evil thoughts was Marian he had just seen.
Harboring evil thoughts toward him and then, possibly due to some change of mind, rapidly disappearing.
This was very likely.
Thinking about the recent changes, Li Chengyi methodically peeled the egg shell and bit into the egg.
'Regardless, the first evolution of the Wisteria Floral Dress has finally been completed, and next, it should be the second evolution. Perhaps...'
No matter where the evil thoughts came from, since he absorbed them to completion, that was enough, and the best outcome!
The next step was to complete the second evolution and unlock the new Divine Flower Position.
'The evolution is complete, the Floral Dress is enhanced, the Flower Language Technique is enhanced.'
Suddenly, new information flowed into Li Chengyi's mind, and the Evil Flower on the back of his right hand began to emit a faint purple light.
Belonging to the second slot, right next to the Wisteria slot, one of the twelve subdivisions also began to shine with a new purple-black light.
'Completed one evolution to unlock a new Divine Flower Position. There will be no enhancement in the second evolution, only the addition of the ability to integrate external armor.'
'The second Divine Flower Position is unlocking...'
'Unlocked, please choose a new flower to fill the position.'
Li Chengyi was about to peel the second egg when his hand suddenly stopped.
He had thought that only after two evolutions, reaching the ultimate, could he unlock the new Divine Flower Position.
But the purpose of the second evolution was just to integrate external armor.
Bang.
The sound of the door closing heavily pulled Li Chengyi out of his musings.
He snapped back to reality and realized that he was the only one at home now; his sister Li Chengjiu had already left the house, and he didn't know what she was out to do.
He didn't care. Instead, he was filled with anticipation for the new Divine Flower Position.
He was eager to decide what kind of flower to place in the second position and what kind of Flower Language Ability he could receive.
Moments passed, and Li Chengyi's mind raced through a vast amount of Flower Language Abilities he had collected from previous trials.
He quickly finished the second egg, swallowing the biscuit with milk in a few gulps, stood up swiftly, grabbed his charging cable and power bank, and hurried out the door.
Entering the elevator, he hailed a taxi and headed straight for the nearest botanical garden.
Twenty minutes later, at the entrance of Wanhe Botanical Garden.
Li Chengyi pushed open the car door, stepped out to pay the taxi fare with his phone, and looked up at the large entrance of the botanical garden.
Wanhe Botanical Garden was written in gilded characters, standing out and the ground was covered with gray-white square stone bricks.
The botanical garden, like a zoo, had a ticket booth at the entrance.
The gate was a two-story trapezoidal stone structure. On the bottom right, two simple white railings and a ticket-selling lady together made up a fast-track entrance.
Li Chengyi glanced over and saw there were already more than ten people queuing at the entrance, waiting to get in.
He hurried forward a few steps, looked inside from the fast-track entrance; he could see a long, winding white path stretching far ahead.
The path was about five meters wide, with bands of flowers planted by human hands on both sides, filled with seasonal blossoms like pansies and small chrysanthemums.
At a glance, a dense array of yellow, red, purple, and white blooms fluttered in the breeze, a feast for the eyes.
Li Chengyi suppressed the anticipation in his heart, kept his expression calm and composed, and hurried toward the express pathway.
Following the queue, about five minutes later, it was his turn.
Behind two aunts snapping photos together, he received a visitor's guide booklet and a map of the botanical garden.
"This way, this way, friends from Group 3, please come over here," the young tour guide under a large tree on the right side of the entryway shouted through a megaphone.
"Uncles and aunties of Group 3, gather over here, if you need to use the restroom, please go now since it might be some distance before we encounter the next one once we're inside."
As the guide shouted, he distributed armbands to the gathering people.
Li Chengyi didn't follow behind but instead crossed past the small travel group from the side, walking forward along the flower beds bordering the right side of the path.
Mostly, the flower bed contained pansies and chrysanthemums of various colors.
He had touched pansies before.
But the varieties before him seemed different, and, holding onto the hope that he might encounter a new variant, Li Chengyi reached out his "claws" and gently touched the petals of a cluster of yellow pansies.
'Yellow Pansy: Cold-hardy, prefers cool weather and sunlight; the length of daylight greatly affects blooming. Medicinally, it can disinfect and treat acne, pimples, allergies, etc. Blooming period: April to July.'
'Flower Language: Mixed Emotions (Activate Flower Language to receive a two-sided coin; flip it into the air, catch it in your palm, and a head up will bestow good fortune for a set time, while a tail up will impart bad luck for a set time.)'
'Floral Dress collection degree: 1%, number of possible evolutions: 1.'
A completely useless ability.
Li Chengyi withdrew his hand, sighing inwardly.
The ability he most desired for the time being was the Gladiolus Flower Language. He had sought after many flowers, most of which dealt with love and romance, offering him no use.
Only a few like Gladiolus had the rare Flower Language of 'firmness.'
Just as implied by the word, it could substantially enhance the robustness of his body and spirit for a short period, preventing him from being destroyed or shaken by external forces.
This was a technique that could be very useful if applied well. Li Chengyi wasn't worried about anything else; his only concern was whether the enhancement from this 'firmness' Flower Language would be significant.
Looking away, Li Chengyi continued onward, following the botanical garden paths deeper into the interior.
The whole park was extensive, with distant views of a small lake, hillsides, and wooden bridges.
It indeed had the makings of a sightseeing hotspot.
However, perhaps due to funding issues, many of the garden's basic facilities had aged, and no one had repaired the decrepit corners.
As he walked, Li Chengyi touched here and there. Although he had touched many of the flowers before, to prevent missing a variant by mistake, he methodically felt each one.
This resulted in everyone else who had entered the garden with him having already disappeared, while he was still taking a few steps, pausing to touch, dawdling along, and hadn't even completed the flower-lined path at the entrance.
Although he had encountered many of the same flowers, Li Chengyi still took pleasure in the process.
Soon, a small flower with white petals and orange-yellow stamens caught his attention.
Among the artificially planted flowers in the flower bed, some weeds had still grown.
Among these weeds, there bloomed flowers that looked very much like chrysanthemums.
Li Chengyi hadn't noticed at first until, while touching the pansies, he pushed the flowers aside and suddenly saw the hidden blooming plants underneath.
He thought they were chrysanthemums, and since he had felt many chrysanthemums before, but in order not to miss any possibilities, he still reached out to touch them.
After all, there was no harm in trying.
'Spring Fleabane: A herbaceous plant of the daisy family, young plants can act as green fertilizer; the brewed leaves are diuretic. It has an extremely strong vitality, under suitable conditions, seeds can sprout in three days; in optimal temperatures, seedlings can be seen within two days.
The blooming period is March to May; the flowers close at night, and the blooming can last for a month or a month and a half.'
'Flower Language: Go with the flow (Passive ability, quickly adapts one's constitution based on the environment, becoming more suited to it and drawing stronger vitality from it. Adaptation time: two days)'
'Floral Dress collection degree: 1%, number of possible evolutions: unknown.'
Go with the flow??
Li Chengyi's heart skipped a beat.
This was his first encounter with such a Flower Language, being able to adapt to the surrounding environment within two days and obtaining stronger vitality from it?
What did this 'vitality' include?
He was quite curious.
Judging by the Spring Fleabane's vitality, with seeds planted in soil, sprouts could grow in just two days, which was indeed impressive.
'However, it is already July, past the blooming period; these little flowers are probably just leftovers that haven't withered due to the temperature.'
He was somewhat tempted; such formidable adaptability could provide him with some self-preservation ability in any blind spot environment.
Although the time required was a bit long—two days—he wondered if it could be evolved further?
Moreover, wearing the Floral Dress could also enhance one's Flower Language Ability...
'According to the information, not all environments within blind spots are harmless commons ones; some pose great dangers upon entry—lack of air, high pressure, high radiation, etc. Without sufficient and timely preparation in these harsh environments... at that time, the Spring Fleabane's Flower Language could play a significant role.'
What a pity...
Li Chengyi withdrew his hand, feeling a twinge of regret. Had he not been preoccupied with training to cope with the Grecius Parking Garage, he might not have overlooked these exceptionally capable flowers.
He remembered that until recently, these Spring Fleabane plants could be seen everywhere on the roadside in great numbers. If he could choose a Second Divine Flower Position and make it his primary flower, perhaps...
Alas, there are not so many what-ifs in the world.