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Chapter 28: Astra Vine
🕑 Added 2025-06-11 09:26:36 +0000 UTC"Holy moly," Ethan, as Wildvine, muttered to himself, his plant-like eyes wide. "There's such a long section of this thing embedded in the ground; no wonder we couldn't even begin to move it."
When he had traveled underground, he saw that below the giant rock from before, there was still a section at least a meter long that was "growing" deep into the earth, as if the rock itself were some kind of colossal, petrified plant. And at this moment, in the pitch-black cave beneath the rock, countless points of soft, ethereal starlight were floating in the air. The source of the light was a single, long vine, attached to the very bottom of that giant rock.
"This is an Aura plant?" he thought, his Wildvine senses tingling. "It seems even more powerful, more potent, than the Aura Bloom we found before."
In his current Wildvine form, Ethan could not only sense the immense psionic energy contained within the glowing plant but also its surprisingly powerful life force. Then, using the telepathic abilities of his form, he politely projected a thought towards the vine. "Excuse me, how would you prefer to be harvested?"
A clear, articulate thought, tinged with surprise, came back at him. <Are you… being polite?> Then another. <Who are you? What are you?>
Ethan blinked his central eye. "Huh?"
He hadn't expected this strange, glowing vine to actually possess such high intelligence. Ethan could clearly feel that the strong consciousness it was transmitting had already been translated by his Wildvine form into language he could understand. So, with a sense of grim honesty, he quickly replied, "I’m the person who is about to eat you."
The vine seemed to pause. <This strange plant-person is surprisingly honest.> <Go away! Go away! Leave me alone!>
Sensing the strong, fearful emotional fluctuations it was now transmitting, Ethan had originally intended to just go ahead and harvest it by force. But considering that this was a rare and sentient Aura plant, working on it without proper knowledge might damage its medicinal properties. So, he decided to go back and ask a professional – or the closest thing he had to one. Ethan drilled back to the surface and described the specific characteristics of that glowing vine to Seraphina.
Seraphina listened intently, then lowered her head and thought for a moment, her brow furrowed. "It grows in a dark and humid cave… it clings to a rock… and it emits points of starlight… Hmm… that's right," her eyes widened, "it must be an Astra Vine."
Ethan perked up. "Astra Vine?"
Seraphina nodded, her voice filled with excitement. "Yes. It has the ethereal beauty of an Earthly Star, or ‘Astra.’ It's said that in dark places, it will emit a soft glow just like that of the stars, which is very beautiful. If a large number of Astra Vines accumulate together in one place, they can even form a breathtaking landscape that looks like a miniature starry sky underground. However, the Astra Vine is an extremely precious and rare Aura plant, and this place is very remote. It's estimated that we are the only ones who could possibly find such a beautiful sight out here."
"What are the effects of this Aura plant?" Ethan asked eagerly.
"Very, very good," Seraphina replied. "The Astra Vine is a confirmed E-rank psionic plant. Generally speaking, a plant of that grade is for Rank Two psionicists to consume for major breakthroughs. However, its medicinal properties are known to be very gentle, so even a Rank One psionicist can use it, as long as the dosage is carefully managed. Based on your description, that Astra Vine is about ten centimeters long. For an E-rank plant like this, just a single three-centimeter piece is more than enough to help a Rank One, Level Seven psionicist break through the bottleneck to Level Eight."
Marcus’s jaw dropped. "Holy crap, this thingamajig is that good? This rock has been a temporary resting place for so many people over the years. Who knows how many have passed by, yet no one has ever discovered it."
Seraphina nodded. "There's no helping it. This Astra Vine is just too well hidden. Who would have ever thought that such a precious vine would grow underneath a giant rock that everyone just sits on? And besides, wood-type psionicists, who might have been able to sense it, don't have the specific means to communicate with ancient or sentient plants like Ethan can with his Wildvine form. And other hunters were already on edge, so they wouldn't have the spare energy or inclination to go and carefully inspect every single large rock they come across."
"Anyway," Ethan grinned, "we've definitely hit the jackpot this time. So, how should we harvest this vine without damaging it?"
Seraphina’s expression grew serious. "The Astra Vine is not like ordinary Aura plants. It's actually very precious and delicate. If a mistake is made during the harvesting process, its medicinal properties will be greatly reduced. Learning the proper technique is not something one can do in a short time."
"Does that mean we have to break the rock to get it?" Marcus asked. "No," Ethan said, shaking his head. "The Astra Vine is attached directly to the rock. If we move the rock, it's very likely we’ll snap the vine and ruin it." "Then what should we do?" Marcus asked, looking perplexed.
Ethan thought for a moment. "How about this? I can dig a new hole next to the rock, a tunnel leading into the cave, and have Seraphina drill in to harvest it directly."
Seraphina considered this. "That could work, but we must be extremely careful not to let any direct sunlight into the cave. The Astra Vine is famously very afraid of sunlight. If it's exposed to direct sunlight, even for a moment, it will wither and die almost immediately."
"When I do things," Ethan said with a confident smirk, "you can rest assured!" He immediately transformed back into Wildvine, drilled into the ground and, at a safe distance of five meters from the stone, began to dig an arched, downward-sloping tunnel towards the cave where the Astra Vine grew. This angle would ensure that no direct sunlight from above could shine into the dark cavern.
Then, once the tunnel was complete, he used a long, sturdy vine to wrap gently around Seraphina and carefully brought her down into the subterranean cave.
"This is… so beautiful!" Seraphina whispered, her eyes wide with wonder at the sight of the softly glowing vine illuminating the darkness.
"Yeah," Ethan’s Wildvine voice rustled, "and it must be very delicious, too. So, should this be eaten raw?"
Seraphina nodded. "That's right. Unless it's being professionally processed into a stable potion, eating it raw is the best way to maximize its medicinal properties."
A faint, indignant thought emanated from the vine. <Can you two please not discuss how to eat me right in front of my face! It’s rude!>
Ethan heard its words, but he pragmatically ignored them. Seraphina took out a special, low-intensity psionic flashlight from her pack and, using the soft light emitted from it to see, began the delicate collection work. The Astra Vine was indeed very difficult to collect, attached firmly to the rock. This one task took her a full, painstaking half an hour of careful cutting and prying.
Half an hour later, she finally finished. "It's done," Seraphina said, wiping the sweat from her forehead. "It's a pity my harvesting skills are still quite clumsy. If I were a professional psionic botanist, it wouldn't even take two minutes to get it down, roots and all, perfectly preserved."
"It's very good, Seraphina," Ethan reassured her. "Our academy doesn't even offer this kind of specialized course. This is something that is only taught at major universities. For you to be able to self-learn to this extent already, you're obviously very talented."
Seraphina smiled, pleased. "Thanks, Ethan. Okay, let's get out of here quickly. It's too dark and cramped in here."
Ethan brought her out of the tunnel, and they all arrived under the shade of a large tree. This way, they could avoid any direct sunlight hitting the freshly harvested Astra Vine. The three of them surrounded it in a circle, looking at their prize.
"How do we cut this thingamajig?" Marcus asked, peering at the glowing plant.
Seraphina pointed with her dagger. "The Astra Vine grows in segments. Each segment has a small, raised spot on it that's like a natural marker. As long as you connect these spots and cut along that line, you can preserve the maximum amount of its medicinal properties in each piece."
Ethan chuckled. "It even marked out the convenient eating portions for you? How considerate of it."
A final, tragic thought pulsed from the vine in Seraphina’s hand. <You just shut up! If you dare say that again, believe it or not, this old lady will self-destruct right here for you to see! No, wait, I'm about to be eaten and die anyway, boohoohoo. (╥_╥)>
Seraphina carefully inspected the bumps on the vine and, with precise cuts, divided it. Each main segment was exactly three centimeters long, and there was still a small section of one centimeter left over.
"Give the extra one centimeter to Seraphina," Ethan said immediately. "She worked hard for half an hour to get this thing for us."
Seraphina shook her head. "How can I do that? You were the one who found the item in the first place; I was just responsible for harvesting it."
"Don't refuse, Seraphina," Ethan insisted. "Harvesting it perfectly also took a lot of my energy to keep that tunnel stable. And even if I eat my whole share, I might not be able to digest it all in one go anyway. Just take it. Besides, with my abilities, I can still find more treasures like this in the future."
Marcus nodded. "That's right, Seraphina. When we find another rare Aura plant, we'll still need your professional help to harvest it. We can't let you do all that hard work for free."
Seraphina finally relented with a smile. "Since you all say so, then I'll reluctantly accept it." Given the close relationship between the three of them, there was no need to be overly fussy about these small things.
The three of them divided the Astra Vine. Ethan and Marcus each got a three-centimeter segment, and Seraphina got her own three-centimeter segment, plus the extra one-centimeter piece. Because Ethan had his special transformation method to digest the energy quickly, he decided to consume his share on the spot. He reverted to his original human form, rolled the three-centimeter Astra Vine segment into a small ball, and ate it like a pill. Then, without a moment's delay, he transformed back into Wildvine to begin processing the immense, gentle wave of psionic energy that was already beginning to spread through his system.
