Once Tian Jing had fetched the matches from by the stove and left the yard with a basket on her back.
Only then did Ding Aihua hesitantly walk in. She really hadn't meant to eavesdrop; Jing's voice was quite loud. "Dad, Mom."
Ding Aihua's voice startled Grandpa Tian and Grandma Tian, who had been left reeling from the scolding. Grandma Tian dared not speak and merely looked at Grandpa Tian.
"Sigh~" Grandpa Tian let out a long sigh. "Tell everyone to stop provoking her. Don't end up losing more than you gain. She's right; it's only been a few days. Let's see her off properly."
Grandpa Tian knew that the rift was irreparable and that it was best not to stir up more trouble. He actually agreed with another of Tian Jing's statements: mistaking pearls for fish eyes.
Indeed! The old Tian Jing had been unremarkable, but comparing her now to everyone in the Tian family, the difference was like night and day.
When interacting with Director Qi, she displayed the charming innocence of a young girl, and when confronting them, she showed the disdain of a superior who saw through everything.
At this moment, Grandpa Tian no longer suspected that a restless spirit had possessed Tian Jing's body. Instead, he believed that a powerful soul, once possessing strength and authority, had entered her.
Meanwhile, Tian Jing was heading towards the back mountain, unaware that Grandpa Tian's guess was close to the truth. Even if he knew, what did it matter? It would only make Grandpa Tian and Grandma Tian more fearful, allowing her to wait at ease for the arrival of the original host's fate in her previous life.
When she accepted all of the original host's memories, she had found them quite messy. However, in such a short time, she had changed her mind. In this era where everything was so restricted, there seemed to be many areas and skills she could utilize.
Especially with her new powers, she wasn't afraid of any trouble.
Moreover, in the original host's memories, her maternal grandfather had doted on her dearly, leaving all his hidden wealth to her. If she shied away, wouldn't that wealth fall into someone else's hands?
Now, she had the ability to protect the original host's fortune, and the original host's resentment and unwillingness could also be released.
Therefore, she was no longer resistant to her own background. Her new powers could even destroy plants from a distance!
Heh heh, she could torment her biological father's family to no end. She could make them cry and beg for mercy just by using their imaginations.
Little girl Tian Jing, your revenge, I will repay it for you.
Thinking this, her body felt significantly lighter. It was likely some lingering obsessions from the original host. Rest assured! With powers in hand, the world is mine.
Her footsteps light, she entered the depths of the back mountain, where tall, dense trees were everywhere.
Tian Jing found a clearing, threw down her basket, and sat cross-legged. Closing her eyes, she felt the energy of the surrounding plants. As her powers activated, plant energy surged into her body like a frenzy.
Carefully sensing this energy, she discovered it was much purer than the energy in the apocalypse. This discovery thrilled her immensely. She might be able to compress and refine this energy to upgrade her powers.
She acted on her thoughts. Lost in cultivation, Tian Jing was unaware that the wild grass beneath her was slowly growing taller and thicker, its color changing from light green to dark green, and then to a deep emerald.
Having barely managed to raise her powers to level two mid-stage, the plant energy absorbed into her body could no longer be compressed. Only then did Tian Jing cease her cultivation.
In this world without zombies or mutated plant cores, to upgrade her powers, one needed opportunity or a miracle.
She regretted once more that she hadn't opened her powers carefully last night. At least, she should have snuck out of the Tian family and opened them in this back mountain; otherwise, her powers might have been a level higher.
Thinking of her new powers' ability to remotely absorb plant energy, she opened her eyes, wanting to see if the wild fruit tree she had specifically directed her energy extraction towards was withering.
However, what met her eyes was a patch of deep emerald. Tian Jing shot to her feet. Hadn't she been sitting in a clearing? How had she moved?
After standing up, she realized she hadn't moved. Instead, within a one-square-meter area around her, the sparse wild grass had grown into thick branches over a meter tall.
She reached out to touch these branches, feeling pure wood element energy within them. Wood element energy, a more advanced energy than ordinary plant energy, was essential for her to upgrade her powers.
She pulled one up and circulated her powers. The plant energy that had been immobile within her body was immediately activated and began to move again.
Wonderful!
Excited, Tian Jing efficiently pulled up these hundreds of thick branches, intending to continue cultivating.
Suddenly, a question occurred to her: how did these thick branches form?
If she could find the method of their formation, wouldn't she have a continuous supply of wood element energy? She wouldn't need to spend time and effort compressing ordinary plant energy.
She looked down at her feet. Not a single wild grass could be found there anymore. She found another small patch of grass, sat down with the branches, and began to cultivate, while also dedicating part of her attention to observing the wild grass around her.
Upon closer observation, she discovered the reason for the branches' formation. It turned out that when she absorbed plant energy out of thin air, and her own powers circulated, the wild grass clinging to her body, in this back-and-forth, in and out, was passively rotated along with her energy circulation.
Simply put, there was a passive energy exchange between the wild grass and her powers.
Like human breathing, it absorbed the advanced energy circulating with Tian Jing's powers and exhaled its own low-level energy. The wild grass mutated, and with each absorption and exhalation, it mutated further. In such a cycle, it transformed into thick branches possessing pure wood element energy.
This wood element energy entered her body, condensing the energy that had previously been immobile. This filled her with joy, and she accelerated her absorption of this wood element energy.
After all the ordinary plant energy in her body had transformed into wood element energy, although her power level hadn't increased, she had found a new direction for cultivation, making Tian Jing very happy.
Heh heh, from now on, she could produce wood element energy herself, without wasting time compressing ordinary plant energy. Just now, when her body was saturated, she had felt incredibly stifled.
She pulled up the hundreds of thick branches that had reappeared around her body and continued to absorb.
This time, she directly absorbed wood element energy and did not remotely extract other plant energy. No mutated plants similar to the thick branches appeared around her.
These mutated plants were created by her.
Creation? Energy exchange?
Thinking of something, Tian Jing immediately ran to the wild fruit tree that she had previously directed energy extraction towards and was now on the verge of withering. She placed her hand on the trunk, channeling wood element energy. After the tree regained its vitality, she absorbed the tree's low-level energy, compressed it within her body, and then returned it to the wild fruit tree.
Soon, white petals bloomed on the tree.
She continued the energy exchange, and after the tree bore unripe fruits, Tian Jing recognized it as a wild apricot tree. It was only when the apricots turned yellow that Tian Jing withdrew her hand, ceasing the energy exchange.