Ruan Xiao curved his lips coldly; he definitely wasn’t going to let this matter slide easily.
Almer received the news and was equally furious at the actions of the Li family.
The original contract between the Li family and the military wasn’t exclusive to any particular legions.
The Li family, who had grown thanks to the military, now aimed to control several military legions, attempting to grab them by the throat to force a compromise.
Almer licked his sharp teeth, a chill glint in his golden eyes.
“Quite bold of them!”
Normally, he didn’t care about conflicts between the different legions as long as they remained united against external threats.
But if someone dared to try and control the legions, endangering the empire’s military might, they would be dealing with him personally.
Almer originally planned to seek out the Li family for a “conversation,” but then remembered that some of the old men from Dragon Island were on their way.
With a sinister smile, he sat back down; perhaps this time he wouldn’t have to handle things himself.
But… the little mascot wanted to go to the snowy mountains to find edelweiss?
The handsome young man rested his chin on his palm, half-squinting with a thoughtful expression.
He wondered if the old guys would arrive tomorrow.
Ruan Shu certainly wasn’t going to the snowy mountains alone. While Father Ruan, Grandpa Ruan, and Ruan Linzhan would stay back to manage things, the rest of the family would join her.
Actually, He Feng and Shui Shishi were eager to go along too—they wanted to see how exactly Ruan Shu tamed the mutated plants!
From what Marshal Ruan hinted, they knew that Shushu’s awakened bloodline ability was somewhat similar to the Li family’s wood element, but not exactly the same.
She could cultivate mutated plants, but the ones she produced had a pollution level of zero!
Among these was Little Kumquat, which she had cultivated, along with two other plants that could purify pollution from the air. These plants were incredibly gentle in temperament, suitable for anyone to care for!
The Ruan family even displayed these two mutated plants for everyone to see.
He Feng asked, “Is the pollution level really zero?”
Shui Shishi followed, “Are they really mutated plants? They look almost like regular plants.”
He Feng continued, “Can they actually purify air pollution?”
Shui Shishi added, “Did Shushu truly cultivate these?”
The two of them, seemingly on cue, took turns asking questions, one after the other.
The Ruan family was starting to get a bit overwhelmed.
Ruan Fengsi exclaimed, “Yes, it’s true! Why don’t you just try it yourselves if you don’t believe us?”
Ruan Xinglan, half-closing his eyes, wore a gentle smile.
“Unfortunately, only a few of Shushu’s plants mutated to a zero-pollution level. The rest are just ordinary plants; the success rate is still too low.”
Ruan Shu perked up her ears. Wait a minute… how come she didn’t know she had also grown ordinary plants?
The little one blinked but didn’t expose her brother’s fib. She simply sat there obediently, content to listen.
Ruan Xiao ruffled Ruan Shu’s small head.
“That’s what you call unfortunate?”
He Feng raised his voice, showing no doubt in Ruan Xinglan’s words. To him, the fact that they could cultivate zero-pollution mutated plants was already incredible. A low success rate was a minor issue—wasn’t that to be expected?
If every single plant they tried to cultivate turned out mutated, that would truly be miraculous!
Shui Shishi didn’t question it either. After all, even the Li family had failures when cultivating mutated plants.
But they could never have guessed that Shushu’s power was genuinely this miraculous.
Shui Shishi looked enviously at the little girl in Ruan Xiao’s arms. The awakened gift she had was almost too enviable.
“Shushu’s ability is truly remarkable. There has never been a power like this in the world.”
He Feng nodded in agreement. Indeed, even the Li family’s wood element control couldn’t achieve something like this.
If they had initially felt frustrated enough over the inhibitor issue to want to storm the Li family’s place, now they just felt like laughing.
What was the Li family compared to Shushu?
He Feng eyed the two mutated green plants on the table with longing. Ruan Shu was playing with them, and their interaction with her confirmed that they were indeed mutated plants!
And just as they’d been told, these plants were genuinely gentle, showing no signs of aggression toward them. Naturally, this made them want them even more.
“Ruan Xiao, we’ve been brothers for years now—do you sell these mutated plants?”
Ruan Xiao looked at him blankly. Who was his “brother”?
However, they’d brought out these two plants with the intent to sell them.
But they weren’t cheap; ultimately, they sold them for 80 million per plant.
He Feng and Shui Shishi both looked like they’d just scored a fantastic deal.
A plant that could purify airborne pollutants was essentially priceless. In an auction, not only would 80 million be a steal, but it could also fetch several hundred million.
Both of them felt very grateful to the Ruan family.
And, in unspoken agreement, they decided they’d keep this secret—even if the Ruan family didn’t ask them to.
After all, only Shushu could cultivate these mutated plants. Their planet alone had billions of people.
If this news leaked, would they still have any chance of getting one of Shushu’s plants?
So, they would keep this information under wraps, no matter what.
He Feng and Shui Shishi left with anger in their hearts, but their faces were lit with smiles as they departed.
Each cradled their new plant as if it were an ancestor, treating it with the utmost care.
After seeing off their two guests, the Marshal’s residence began discussions on their trip to the snowy mountains.
“There are a total of 781 regions on the main planet with mutated edelweiss in the snowy mountains. The largest of these is the Kost Group Snow Mountain, which also has the most edelweiss. However, there are many other mutated plants and exotic beasts on that mountain, some of which are extremely dangerous,” Ruan Xinglan explained, adjusting his glasses.
“Still, the amount of edelweiss on the main planet doesn’t compare to Snowfall Star. That’s where the largest base for edelweiss propagation exists.” He pulled up an image on his terminal, displaying an ice-blue planet, half of which was blanketed in snow and ice.
“While edelweiss is abundant there, the environment is harsh. The ice-type exotic beasts are powerful, with some reaching SS-class levels. There are also high-level mutated plants.”
Only the truly powerful—or the reckless—would dare venture there.
The Ruan family certainly had the strength to go, but not if they were bringing Ruan Shu along.
Ruan Fengsi concluded, “It’s too dangerous there. Let’s just search on the main planet.”
Ruan Shu tugged at her father’s sleeve, saying, “But Dad, you’ll need a lot of edelweiss!”
Each legion had at least tens of millions of people, with the Third Legion nearing a hundred million. The demand for inhibitors each year was astronomical, and so was the amount of money spent on them.
Ruan Shu worried that the amount of edelweiss they found on the main planet might not be enough.