Exploded?

Plant Growth was released continuously as Wood-element energy particles poured in without pause.

The four-leaf clover began to take over the entire room on the second floor. The stems split from one into three, and three into nine, spreading in all directions like the tentacles of an octopus.

The leaves multiplied from four to eight, then sixteen. The silver patterns grew brighter and brighter, almost overflowing from the surface of the leaves.

There was no longer any place to step in the room.

The vine-like stems crawled all over the walls, wound around the ceiling, and even began to creep toward the windows.

If Ethan hadn't been in the habit of keeping all doors and windows closed, the four-leaf clover would likely have burst straight out of the villa.

The room became increasingly crowded. The vines began to intertwine and squeeze against each other, making creaking sounds. The silver patterns flickered in the darkness, illuminating the entire room like a starry night sky.

Ethan had been pushed to the doorway. He braced one hand against the doorframe while the other remained raised to continue casting Plant Growth.

"Just how big are you going to get, you little guy?"

The conscious ripple became even clearer, and he could even vaguely perceive some simple emotions.

"Happy... comfortable... more..."

Ethan rolled his eyes and continued the release.

Then, the four-leaf clover suddenly stopped growing.

Ethan's brow furrowed.

He could sense a certain change occurring in the state of the clover.

It was shrinking.

The vines that had spread throughout the room began to retract. The silver patterns faded from the leaves and converged toward the center of the stem.

All the energy was collapsing inward, like a nebula imploding.

Ethan let go of the doorframe and took a step back, standing in the hallway to watch this bizarre scene.

The vines retracted faster and smaller. From a giant that occupied the entire room, it shrank to the size of a wardrobe, then a washbasin, and finally into a fist-sized sphere.

The sphere floated in mid-air, emerald green throughout, with dazzling silver light flowing over its surface.

The stems, leaves, and roots of the four-leaf clover had all disappeared, leaving only this fist-sized emerald sphere.

Then, a cry erupted from within the sphere.

The sound wasn't loud, but it possessed an indescribable penetration, as if it had exploded directly in the depths of one's consciousness.

It was a sense of relief, as if some mission had been fulfilled.

In the next instant, the emerald sphere suddenly exploded.

Green light erupted from the center of the sphere. The brilliance was so piercing that Ethan had to squint.

The entire hallway was lit up as bright as day. Even the runic patterns on the walls were activated by the light, glowing with a faint blue shimmer.

The light lasted only for a moment before dissipating.

The four-leaf clover had completely vanished.

The vines were gone, the leaves were gone, and the roots were gone. The entire room on the second floor was empty, as if everything that had just happened was merely an illusion.

But something new lay on the floor.

A fingernail-sized crystal lay in the center of the room. It was emerald green, with faint silver patterns flowing on its surface.

Those patterns were identical to the ones on the clover's leaves, only reduced countless times, looking as exquisite as a piece of micro-carved art.

Ethan walked over and bent down to pick up the crystal.

It was slightly cool to the touch, warm and smooth like a polished gemstone.

"Uh, what's going on?"

Ethan turned it over several times and probed it with his mental power, but he still couldn't figure out what this thing was.

He put the crystal into his storage ring and pushed open the door to leave the villa.

...

Deep within the Teaching Area sat the Library.

Ethan had passed by here a few times before but had never entered.

The gray-black building occupied a vast area and stood three stories tall. The exterior walls were covered in dark green vines. The stems were as thick as an adult's arm, and the layers of leaves almost obscured most of the walls.

Two heavy stone doors stood wide open. A Spirit Bone Guard stood at the entrance, its empty eye sockets scanning the passing students.

As Ethan reached the door, the Spirit Bone Guard extended a skeletal hand to block him.

"Identity plaque."

Ethan took out his identity plaque and handed it over. The Spirit Bone Guard took it and pressed it into a groove on the doorframe. A faint blue light swept over it, and after a few breaths, the light dissipated.

"Enter."

Ethan took back his identity plaque and stepped through the doors.

The space inside the Library was even larger than it appeared from the outside.

The vaulted ceiling was high, at least four stories up. A massive crystal chandelier hung from the dome, emitting a soft white light.

Rows of bookshelves stood tall, all made of dark wood. Each shelf was twice the height of a man, filled with various books, scrolls, and crystals.

There weren't many people in the hall. They were scattered in small groups before various bookshelves. Some stood reading, while others sat cross-legged on the floor, holding crystals to their foreheads.

Ethan scanned the room and walked to the counter in the center of the hall.

Behind the counter sat a white-haired old man wearing a robe that had faded to gray. He was dozing over a thick ledger. Hearing footsteps, he didn't even lift his eyelids, only muttering vaguely, "What are you looking for?"

"Information."

Only then did the old man lift his eyelids. His cloudy eyes circled Ethan's face once.

"Freshman?"

"Yes."

"The first floor is free to browse. The second floor and above require magic stones. Specified categories are extra—one magic stone per search."

Ethan fished a magic stone out of his ring and placed it on the counter.

The old man glanced down, reached out to pull the magic stone toward him, and then pulled a palm-sized black stone tablet from under the counter, pushing it toward Ethan.

"Category."

"Plants. Specifically, mutations and products of supernatural plants."

The old man raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He simply pressed his hand onto the stone tablet.

The runes on the tablet's surface lit up. After a few breaths, lines of text and numbers appeared on it.

"Third floor, East District, seventh bookshelf. Go find it yourself."

Ethan nodded, turned, and headed for the stairs.

The Library's stairs were spiral, with dark red carpets on the stone steps that muffled his footsteps.

The foyer on the second floor was much smaller than the first, with only a few bookshelves, but people were standing in front of every one of them.

Ethan continued upward to the third floor.

The space on the third floor was much smaller than the first, with only a dozen or so bookshelves. Each shelf stood alone, spaced far apart.

The seventh bookshelf in the East District was against the wall. It held only a few books and a few crystals, covered in a thin layer of dust. Clearly, no one had touched them in a long time.

Ethan walked to the shelf and scanned the spines one by one.

《Common Supernatural Plant Illustrated Handbook》, 《Correlation Study of Wood-Element Energy Particles and Plant Mutation》, 《Compendium of Alchemy Material Mutation Instances》...

He pulled out the 《Compendium of Alchemy Material Mutation Instances》, opened the table of contents, and browsed quickly.

"Four-leaf clover... four-leaf clover..."

His finger slid down the contents and stopped on the words "Four-leaf Clover." He turned to the corresponding page, and his gaze fell upon those few lines of text.