Chapter 225
Su Ci became interested as soon as he heard Mu Yuncheng’s words.
He sat up straight, looked at Mu Yuncheng, and asked, “More than ten thousand?”
Mu Yuncheng nervously clasped his hands together. Hearing Su Ci’s question, he nodded quickly. “Yes.”
“Tell me in detail,” Su Ci said.
Seeing that Su Ci was not repulsed but instead looked genuinely intrigued, Mu Yuncheng felt a surge of excitement and began explaining.
“The Wood Clan owns three small planets. On Mupapa Star alone, there are about five thousand clansmen. Previously, Elder Mu Qing settled on this planet. The other two small planets together house more than three thousand additional clansmen.”
These small planets were originally abandoned resource planets. Once their resources were depleted, they were deemed useless and were set to be discarded as waste planets. However, the Wood Clan was able to purchase them at extremely low prices.
They then transformed the planets, eventually turning them into the prosperous and wealthy agricultural worlds they are today. The S-class fruits and vegetables produced on these planets are renowned across the interstellar realm, bringing immense wealth to the Wood Clan.
However, the primary reason the Wood Clan acquired these planets was to provide a safe haven for their clansmen who had undergone ancestral regression.
When a Wood Clan child’s plant bloodline begins to awaken, they and their family are relocated to these planets in advance. Once they fully regress into plants, they remain on the planets permanently.
This ensures their safety, allows them to receive proper care, and makes it easier for their loved ones to watch over them.
Most Wood Clan parents choose to stay beside their children even after they have transformed into seedlings. While the planets do have skilled planting masters from the clan, nothing compares to personally tending to one’s own child.
As a result, the three small planets that were gradually acquired have grown increasingly prosperous over the years.
Since perennial plants generally have a longer lifespan than humans, even though the probability of awakening a plant bloodline is low, the passage of time has led to a significant number of such individuals surviving.
Aside from those on the three small planets, there are also Wood Clan members scattered across various interstellar nations due to different circumstances. A rough estimate suggests that their total number certainly exceeds ten thousand.
“Please allow the Wood Clan to return to our mother planet! We will do everything in our power to make amends for the harm that humanity has done to you and to our home planet. We will restore this world to its former prosperity!”
After explaining everything, Mu Yuncheng intended to kneel before Su Ci, just as Mu Qing had done before. Seeing this, Mu Bao quickly followed his lead.
However, Su Ci did not allow them to kneel.
He disliked such excessive formalities of the human race. If he agreed to something, there was no need to kneel—he would approve it regardless. And if he disagreed, would kneeling really change his mind?
Noticing Su Ci’s displeasure, Mu Yuncheng quickly pulled his son up and stood to the side somewhat nervously, awaiting Su Ci’s judgment.
Under his anxious gaze, Su Ci gave a slight nod and spoke words that to Mu Yuncheng sounded like celestial music: “Alright, bring them over. I will arrange a place for the Wood Clan.”
Hearing this, Mu Yuncheng was so overjoyed that he nearly jumped in excitement.
Of course, when his gaze met Su Ci’s calm and steady eyes, he forced himself to remain composed. He had to appear mature and stable to earn the trust of the Spirit of the Earth.
“Thank you so much for your generosity! We will keep our promise—we will never allow anyone to harm the mother planet again!”
“Next, I will begin transferring our clansmen back to the mother planet. Due to the distance, even the first group will take at least four months to arrive at the earliest.”
At this, Mu Yuncheng couldn’t help but feel a bit melancholic.
Interstellar transportation had always been a major headache. A single trip could take several months or even a year or two. If too much time was spent traveling through space, one would soon realize how much of their life had been consumed.
This was one of the main reasons why the Wood Clan chose to purchase planets and settle down.
Though the interstellar realm was vast, beautiful, and mysterious, enticing people to explore, the reality was that for most individuals, their actual living space was quite limited.
Even to fully traverse one’s own home planet might take a lifetime, let alone the boundless cosmos.
Recalling the desolate and lifeless landscapes he had seen, Mu Yuncheng felt a deep sense of responsibility. There was still so much to do for their mother planet—this would be his lifelong mission!
But…
At this rate, just transferring all the clansmen to the mother planet could take several years.
After all, there were over ten thousand trees, including a significant number of ancient ones. Figuring out how to maintain their vitality over months-long interstellar journeys was already a massive challenge.
Each one of them was a clansman—if any were lost during the transfer, Mu Yuncheng would never forgive himself.
Moreover, how many living trees could a single spaceship carry at one time? Transferring such a large number would require multiple trips.
The time cost alone for all these journeys was immeasurable.
Mu Yuncheng couldn’t help but sigh, “If only we could just teleport directly between planets.”
However, current teleportation technology only worked over very short distances. Even the teleportation he used that morning—from the plains to the nursery—had already exceeded the range of the devices he had used before.
Applying it to interplanetary travel was still far beyond reach.
Of course, Mu Yuncheng was just voicing a casual thought. He knew that breakthroughs in such technology wouldn’t happen overnight, and he didn’t expect any major advancements within just a few years.
But what he didn’t expect was that after he spoke, the young man sitting on the sofa actually furrowed his brows in thought. Then, Su Ci said, “We can give it a try.”
Mu Yuncheng froze. “Huh?”
“Not sure if it’ll work, but there’s no harm in trying,” Su Ci said.
He genuinely didn’t know whether a teleportation array could function across interstellar distances. Ever since regaining his memories, he hadn’t left Earth Star, and he had never used teleportation in space before.
But if an experiment proved successful, it would be incredibly useful.
Earth Star had limited resources—it was necessary to bring in supplies from other planets. If too much time was spent on interstellar travel, it simply wasn’t cost-effective.
For instance, Li Sinian had mentioned to him that a friend’s family was also dealing with children suffering from berserkization. After getting Su Ci’s permission, they had set out on a journey to Earth Star.
Now, several months had passed, and they were still en route. The efficiency was undeniably low.
Moreover…
The children at the nursery would eventually grow up. Though they had all promised to stay and farm for him, could he, who was once trapped here with no way to leave, really bear to see them spend their entire lives bound to Earth Star?
If teleportation devices were available, they would have the freedom to travel between planets, and he wouldn’t have to worry about them leaving and never returning.
And he himself could also venture out when the time was right.
Perhaps it was because he had separated the most rational part of his soul to suppress the seal, but Su Ci could feel that he had become much more emotional than before.
He couldn’t control it, so he might as well go with the flow.
“I’ll go make preparations. I’ll inform you once it’s ready,” Su Ci said.
Although Mu Yuncheng still didn’t fully understand, since Su Ci had made up his mind, he simply agreed.
It wasn’t until he had bid farewell and stepped out of the room that he suddenly remembered—there was another matter he needed to discuss with Su Ci: Should the existence of the mother planet be publicly revealed?
Before entering hibernation, Elder Mu Qing had solemnly entrusted him with the task of restoring the mother planet’s rightful name. However, the reaction from the people at Base 24 upon hearing the news had made Mu Yuncheng hesitate.
He couldn’t guarantee that all humans cared about the mother planet as much as the Wood Clan did, nor could he provide irrefutable evidence to support their claim.
Just persuading the soldiers at Base 24 had already been so difficult. The thought of convincing historians, who loved quoting ancient records, made Mu Yuncheng’s headache.
So perhaps… it would be best to wait until the ancestors arrived before making a decision.
After all, Elder Mu Qing’s goal was to restore the mother planet’s rightful name—humanity had turned their home into a prison planet for criminals, which was utterly unacceptable. He could focus on that angle.
Restoring its name could start with establishing an officially recognized interstellar designation for the mother planet.
Having made up his mind, Mu Yuncheng followed Su Ci’s instructions and took his son to the greenlands to find the two cultivation specialists, Zhuang Shisong and Wei Ming.
Since Mu Bao’s arm had undergone partial plant transformation without affecting his daily activities, Su Ci had decided not to suppress his bloodline power for the time being. Instead, he sent him to the two cultivators to begin learning the legacy of a Spiritual Botanist.
Who could be more suited to becoming a Spiritual Botanist than a child born with a plant bloodline?
After autumn set in, the number of plants along the riverbank had significantly decreased. However, thanks to the greenhouse at the nursery, the greenery here remained largely unaffected.
When Mu Yuncheng arrived, Wei Ming was nowhere to be seen—only Zhuang Shisong was there, watering the plants and recording their growth.
Upon spotting Mu Yuncheng and his son, Zhuang Shisong’s eyes lit up. He had just heard the news from Cen Liang yesterday—this was the Wood Clan, a people with a plant bloodline!
As Zhuang Shisong eagerly pulled Mu Yuncheng into conversation, little Mu Bao, standing beside his father, had his attention completely drawn to the greenery around him.
Autumn had stunted the growth of ordinary plants, but spiritual plants were unaffected.
The two Starlink Fruit Vines, known for their vigorous growth, were still in full bloom. Their vines and leaves were lush and vibrant, radiating an energy that made anyone who saw them feel instantly at ease.
Mu Bao squinted his eyes and smiled. Then, his gaze shifted to a corner of the greenery—he had been hearing faint sounds from that direction ever since they arrived.
Taking advantage of the adults’ distraction, he toddled toward the corner, his little legs moving steadily forward.
“Come here! Come here!”
Mu Bao curiously examined the two small trees in front of him. He quickly recognized them—they were pear trees, just about his height, only slightly shorter.
From one of the trees, he could sense a wave of pure joy, like bursts of delighted laughter.
“Come on! Come on! Grow—grow—grow!”
The little pear tree swayed its branches and leaves excitedly, as if cheering him on.
“Grow—grow—grow—!”
Then, Mu Bao felt something strange. Looking up, he suddenly realized… his hair had turned into green vines again!
Not only that, but the usually slow-growing tiny leaves on the vines were now sprouting rapidly at an astonishing speed.
“Hee hee hee—Grow! Grow! Grow!”
“Grow! Grow! Grow!”
As the voice continued to chant, Mu Bao’s head quickly became covered in green leaves, making him look like he had a tiny tree canopy growing on top of him from a distance.
Just as he was about to burst into tears in frustration, the other small pear tree beside him—one that had been sound asleep—seemed to have been woken up by all the noise.
Mu Bao heard a lazy, drowsy voice mumble:
“No growing… Sleep… Sleep, sleep…”
And then, just like that, the rapid growth of leaves on his head suddenly came to a halt.
