Although he could kill zombies with his wood spikes and vine bindings, large-scale zombie killing like Xu Nuo was indeed challenging. Though he didn't say it out loud, he had been privately searching for stronger attack methods.
This was why, after seeing Green Vine's killing power, he had been more actively researching the connection between himself and Green Vine, looking to see if the sudden spiritual energy in his dantian could bring him surprises. If he could quickly cultivate into a high-tier wood ability user and control two high-tier mutated plants to assist in combat, it could address his combat weakness.
After sharing his thoughts, Meng Shan noticed that Park Su was lost in thought and hadn't responded, which made him feel somewhat dejected. It seemed he wouldn't be able to secure such strong support to join him. But he hadn't had high hopes to begin with, so he just gave a bitter smile and said, "I'm really tired and would like to go back to rest for a bit. You don't mind, do you?"
Park Su snapped back to reality, nodded, and said, "Thank you for being so candid with me. Go rest." Then he turned to go back, thinking he should discuss this with Xu Nuo later. Maybe they needed to leave earlier. Since this place was no longer safe, it was better to go out and seek opportunities.
Even though Xu Nuo might not need these opportunities, Park Su certainly did. Wasn't Xu Nuo willing to travel with him? So, while Xu Nuo hadn't grown tired of him, he should accumulate more goodwill, hoping to become the most solid accessory on Xu Nuo's "big thigh," which would give him more confidence in his bright future!
He had also come to realize that while Xu Nuo wasn't fond of speaking or socializing, he was undoubtedly much smarter than himself. So, Park Su hadn't even thought of scheming against him; how Xu Nuo chose to act was up to him. After all, deceiving one's own support was akin to playing with fire.
What Park Su hadn't expected was that when he returned home, Xu Nuo was already sitting in the living room waiting for him. Park Su felt somewhat embarrassed and looked at Xu Nuo, "I just thought you might not need my help, so I went to do something else."
Xu Nuo looked at him with a half-smile, "Doing those unpaid favors again."
Park Su was a bit embarrassed by his words and just chuckled. But then, he thought this might be a good opportunity to persuade Xu Nuo, so instead of leaving, he approached Xu Nuo, "Although I didn't get any material benefits, I obtained useful information." Xu Nuo, upon hearing this, understood that Park Su wanted to share this message with him. He didn't say anything, just used his gaze to indicate for Park Su to continue. Park Su naturally picked up on this cue and said eagerly, "I heard that the S base is about to be established, and this place isn't that safe anymore. So, I was thinking, maybe we could set out earlier towards the S base. If we become one of the first to enter the base, we might get some favorable policies."
Although he appeared very enthusiastic, he wasn't confident. From what he knew of Xu Nuo's past life, Xu Nuo probably wouldn't care much for the base's favorable policies.
As expected, Xu Nuo's expression didn't change at all upon hearing this news; he just looked at him straight and asked, "So you don't want to go to the B City base anymore? And you don't want to wait another month?"
Park Su, of course, couldn't tell Xu Nuo that his original target was indeed the B City base, but he had planned to wait a month for smaller bases along the way to provide him with supplies and also to collect more crystal nuclei for his cultivation.
Clearly, his thinking was flawed. How could he know for sure that B base and S base would definitely have smaller bases established along the way? And how did he know the S base would be established in a month? If he wanted to collect crystal nuclei, why couldn't he do so on the road?
However, he thought about potentially relying on this man for his future ambitions. Although they had spent about ten days together, their relationship had only slightly improved recently and couldn't be considered good, especially with Xu Nuo's perpetually cold demeanor. If it weren't for Xu Nuo's handsome face, Park Su might not even want to see him.
Therefore, he couldn't reveal all his private thoughts or true intentions, only expressing them indirectly, "I definitely want to go to the B City base; my mother is there. But I also don't want to bring her to me or go to her only to give her a life worse than she has now.
So, at least let me have a place to live or the ability to protect her and provide her with a better life before I go to her. I think that would be better."
Xu Nuo understood his meaning but didn't say much more. This was Park Su's personal matter, and how he decided was up to him. Xu Nuo only needed to ensure that his debt of gratitude was repaid before leaving, so he nodded and asked, "When do you plan to leave?"
Hearing Xu Nuo say this, Park Su knew there was hope. He immediately looked at Xu Nuo with sparkling eyes and asked, "So, you're willing to go with me?"
Xu Nuo found his eager expression amusing and flicked Park Su's forehead, "Don't forget you still owe me. You can't just abandon me like that."
Park Su's face immediately lit up with a smile, "Great, I'll make sure to prepare some good food for you. As for leaving, how about in a few days? Do you need to get anything ready?"
Xu Nuo pondered for a moment. He did need to increase the variety of talismans he had, not knowing what dangers they might encounter on the road. Being prepared was wise, so he said, "Give me five days. I need to organize some things." Park Su naturally had no objections. For him, Xu Nuo's willingness to travel with him without any additional conditions was an unexpected boon. He was now quite grateful for the debt Xu Nuo mentioned.
He nodded immediately, "Alright, I'll gather more supplies these next couple of days." At this point, he hesitated, looking at Xu Nuo, "Um, those spatial rings you have are just sitting empty. Could I borrow them to store supplies? After all, food and supplies are for both of us on the road. If I prepare more, wouldn't it improve our quality of life?"
Seeing Park Su's cautious expression, Xu Nuo found it amusing. He had never intended to deny Park Su the use of the spatial rings. Since he had shared the secret, he intended for it to be used. As Park Su said, rather than letting them sit empty, they might as well use them to collect more supplies and improve their quality of life.
Without a word, Xu Nuo took out several of the crafted small spatial rings from his own and placed them on the nearby dining table, "Since you're borrowing my rings, make sure they're put to good use. Remember to stock up on meat when storing supplies. I'm tired of eating vegetables all the time."
Park Su had been prepared to wheedle, plead, and even resort to shameless tactics, but he hadn't expected Xu Nuo to be so forthcoming.
He was momentarily taken aback, and only when Xu Nuo was about to go upstairs did he respond with joy, "You really gave them to me?"
Xu Nuo, naturally not in the mood for further explanation, left only his silhouette for Park Su, "I'm lending them to you, not giving them. Don't forget you still owe me a lot, and you can't repay it yet, so don't overthink it. Go make dinner; I'm waiting to eat."
With that, he went straight back to his room without looking back. If he was going to bring Park Su along and protect him, he needed to prepare plenty of talismans. It was a good opportunity to tighten up his Taoist skills, which had become lax recently.
As soon as Xu Nuo's door closed, Park Su excitedly ran around the living room with the spatial rings, then generously prepared a sumptuous dinner for Xu Nuo and personally delivered it upstairs.
After dinner, Park Su returned to his room, happily stowing away the empty spatial rings before beginning to absorb the energy from the crystal nuclei.
He had noticed that the energy he absorbed had a lot of impurities. In his past life, he could have utilized this energy, but it would have taken more effort. However, compared to solely relying on the wood energy from the air for cultivation, it was still less laborious.
But having discovered a more convenient method by chance, he didn't want to waste the opportunity. Thus, he summoned Green Vine to absorb the crystal nuclei with him.
Green Vine was naturally thrilled and began absorbing energy with all her might, and Park Su indeed found that the wood energy he absorbed through Green Vine was much purer.
Although it seemed he would receive less energy because Green Vine was absorbing some, the energy was more refined. After a brief hesitation, he decided to let Green Vine absorb the energy from the nuclei while he absorbed wood abilities through her.
Green Vine was overjoyed for three reasons. One, absorbing the energy from the nuclei made her feel very comfortable. Two, being absorbed by Park Su after absorbing the energy didn't cause her any discomfort, unlike when she had overabsorbed wood energy from the energy stones, which caused her pain. Three, she had been collecting crystal nuclei for Park Su but hadn't dared to touch them herself, so now that she had the green light, she was eager to get started.
So, both Park Su and Green Vine found this session of cultivation extremely satisfying, and they ended up spending the entire night in meditation. They were so focused that they didn't notice the rapid depletion of the crystal nuclei or the faint green light of life energy from the wood abilities that had started to emanate around them.