Wizard: Starting from Escape from the Thorn Garden

First, he processed the sludge, carefully removing the larger plant roots and stones mixed in with it using a bone knife. Then, he filtered out the impurities with a fine-mesh metal sieve, obtaining a relatively fine black slurry.

He poured the bat droppings into a mortar and pestle, added a small amount of clean water (one of his precious reserves), and ground them vigorously into a thick paste.

The slime of the cemetery worms has a peculiar, gelatinous state with a faint grayish-white fluorescent glow.

The primordial seed precisely indicated the proportions and mixing order in his consciousness.

He took out a portion of the prepared sludge, added two portions of ground bat guano paste, and then carefully dripped in three drops of graveyard worm slime. The moment the slime was added to the mixture, an indescribable odor, a mixture of decay, ammonia, a sweet, fishy smell, and some strange life force, suddenly burst forth and filled the entire small cave.

Chen Lin almost vomited, but he forced himself to hold it in and used a bone stick to stir rapidly at the specific frequency and direction provided by the Seed of Origin.

As the mixture was stirred, it gradually became homogeneous, and its color changed to a deep, glossy dark green.

The Seed of Origin indicates: [Matrix prepared, needs to be activated by injecting host blood].

Without hesitation, Chen Lin cut his finger and dripped a few drops of bright red blood into the dark green substrate!

The blood was absorbed by the matrix instantly, like a pebble thrown into water. Then, the entire mixture seemed to come alive, with tiny bubbles appearing on the surface, emitting a faint but pure silver light that carried the breath of life!

Chen Lin immediately and carefully removed the deteriorated moonspot moss from the ceramic jar on the windowsill. Its pseudoroots were already somewhat withered and yellowed.

He immersed the roots of the moonshine moss into the prepared dark green substrate. The core of the Seed of Origin trembled slightly, and an invisible energy wave enveloped the moonshine moss and the substrate.

Visibly, the silvery light in the substrate spreads upwards along the pseudoroots of the moonspot moss like living water!

The faint fluorescence on the surface of the deteriorated moonshoe moss became bright and pure at an astonishing speed, and the rhizoids became full and strong, greedily absorbing the nutrients in the substrate and that strange life energy.

The moss, which was originally grayish-green, gradually developed a warm, jade-like silvery-white luster!

The entire process lasted nearly an hour. When Chen Lin stopped activating the Seed of Origin, the pottery jar on the windowsill had been completely renewed.

Inside, there was no longer a dying, degraded moss, but clusters of optimized moonlight moss radiating a soft, pure silver glow!

Their light, like the cool moonlight, not only illuminated the cave but also pushed back the glowing blue, corrosive moss on the walls. The nauseating sweet and fishy smell in the air was also diluted by a faint, refreshing scent of grass and trees.

[Optimization complete: Moonlight Moss (Original Enhancement Type)]

【Characteristics: High-concentration life/purification energy carrier, with significant suppressive and purifying effects on dark/corrosive/mental pollution energy】

[Saving the core elements of symbiosis]

Chen Lin let out a long sigh, leaning wearily against the cold stone wall. Looking at the warm, silvery light, a glimmer of hope shone in his eyes. Ella's antidote was half complete!

Solving the Moonlight Moss problem was merely getting through Ella's immediate crisis. A larger, looming cloud constantly loomed over Chen Lin's mind—how could he break through to the third-level apprentice level within six months?

Is it a typical Ivy League fusion and advancement route?

Chen Lin sneered inwardly.

That is the most basic and common route, which requires a large amount of the strictly controlled standard fusion potion allocated by the academy and the guidance of mentors.

Given his bottom-ranking position and virtually zero resource allocation, it's impossible for him to obtain sufficient support.

The remnants of Derek's faction will never allow him to advance smoothly.

"We must find another way!" A hint of madness and determination flashed in Chen Lin's eyes.

"I must fuse with an even stronger magical plant! The power of the Seed of Origin is my greatest asset!"

His gaze involuntarily fell upon the emerald-green snake-patterned vine in the iron cage in the corner, and... the terrifying existence that Ella had mentioned—the Bloodthirsty Vine that would devour Derek's right hand tomorrow!

Bloodvine, one of the symbols of the Thorn Garden, is a deadly enchanted plant that twines around the academy's black iron fence.

It is more ferocious and bloodthirsty than the snake vine, and contains far greater power.

Ordinary apprentices, let alone those who integrate with it, might even be in mortal danger if they got close. It is a tool used by Dean Vivian to punish losers and intimidate others.

However! The life force and dark energy contained in the Bloodthirsty Vine far exceed those of the Ivy.

Once the fusion is successful, the resulting power boost could very well allow him to break through to the third-level apprentice level, or even higher! This is a shortcut that cannot be compared to the conventional route.

His experience of subduing the snake vine with his bare hands today gave him great confidence.

The Seed of Origin can not only analyze its weaknesses, but also purify its spiritual pollution, and establish initial communication and suppression!

Although the Bloodthirsty Vine is stronger, it is still a demonic plant at its core! The core ability of the Seed of Origin is absolute control over plants! Perhaps its ability to devour evil thoughts can also affect the Bloodthirsty Vine's berserk bloodlust?

The newly optimized Moonlight Moss, with its powerful purifying effect, is a perfect tool to suppress the Bloodthirsty Vine's violent and bloodthirsty nature and dark energy! This provides him with a crucial safety net.

Derek's right hand is about to be devoured. This is a golden opportunity!

As the executor, perhaps... Ella could tamper with things? She doesn't need a whole mature Bloodthirsty Vine, just a few core vine fragments or seeds!

Moreover, the risk may be lower if it occurs during the period of weakness after the Blood-Eating Vine has consumed the food.

With conventional roads blocked, the six-month deadline felt like a death sentence.

It's all or nothing!

Although fusing with the Bloodthirsty Vine is a perilous endeavor, if successful, it will not only guarantee advancement but also grant the power to protect oneself and even launch a counterattack!

This is his only chance to escape his fate of being at the bottom and truly establish himself in the thorn garden!

Once the thought took hold, it grew wildly in Chen Lin's heart like a vine. Fear and excitement intertwined, and the desire for power overwhelmed his instinctive retreat.

"Done!" Chen Lin clenched his fist, his knuckles turning white from the force.

With the objective clear, action was immediately taken.

Preparations for fusing with the Bloodthirsty Vine must be carried out simultaneously and cannot be delayed.

First, we need to strengthen the snake vine cage. Our future "roommate" will be the blood-eating vine, and we must ensure that it cannot escape.

The iron cage in the corner was clearly not enough.

Chen Lin collected all the usable metal scraps in the cave—broken daggers, rusted gears, and discarded metal chains.

Using the runic knowledge he gleaned from the Seed of Origin, combined with physical reinforcement, he added a thicker, slightly energy-fluid metal fence around the original iron cage using a weak fire spell to melt and reinforce the metal.

He also replaced the lock on the iron cage with a more complex mechanism that required specific techniques to open.

The Primal Seed suppresses and purifies the Snake Vine through contact with fresh blood.

Chen Lin speculated that establishing a blood connection would also be necessary to initially tame or communicate with the Blood-Eating Vine fragments.

At the bottom of the reinforced iron cage, he placed a shallow stone basin carved from a single piece of obsidian.

He used bone needles to carve intricate patterns on the inner wall of the stone basin, imitating the core structure of the seed of origin.

He cut his arm and let the warm blood flow into the stone basin until it covered the bottom with a thin layer.

The power of the Seed of Origin guided his spiritual power and life energy to flow into his blood, causing it to flow slowly through the patterns of the stone basin, emitting a faint dark golden light.

[Blood Feeding Basin: A primary symbiotic contract field constructed with the host's essence and blood, which can slowly assimilate the target's mental imprint].

Next, the Moonstripe Barrier is set up; the optimized Moonstripe is the last line of defense.

Chen Lin took out the moonshine moss from the two ceramic jars and carefully transplanted it into the crack in the stone wall directly above the iron cage.

Driven by the seed of origin, the pseudoroots of the moonshine moss extend downwards, like silver threads, weaving into a net of light covering the iron cage.

A soft, pure silver light cascaded down, enveloping the entire iron cage area. If the demonic plant within went out of control, this silver light would become a barrier to suppress its violent instincts.

To prepare for a possible backlash, Chen Lin used the remaining optimized moonshine moss matrix—a mixture of blood, rotten mud, and other remnants—added a small amount of his own blood and a drop of snake vine venom to neutralize its berserk factors, and concocted a small bottle of viscous, dark green liquid that emitted strange life fluctuations.

This is an emergency calming agent; it can be poured on the rampaging magical plants if necessary to buy time.

Next is communicating with Ella, which is the most crucial and also the most dangerous part.

Tomorrow, when Ella is on her feeding mission, she will be the only one who will have access to the Bloodvine and potentially obtain its core fragments.

Chen Lin needed her help. He carefully considered his words and leverage. Besides promising to help her solve the iron-corrosion fungus problem, he needed to offer something additional that could move this cold teaching assistant.

He recalled a secondary piece of information about iron-corroding fungi that the Seed of Origin had deciphered: the fungi exhibited a transient addictive dependence on high-purity life energy.

This might... serve as bait, a foundation and bridge for cooperation between him and Ella.

When Chen Lin finished all the preparations, the glowing blue corrosive moss on the cave walls had been completely suppressed by the pure silver light above the windowsill and iron cage.

The entire cave was filled with a peculiar atmosphere, a mixture of the crispness of vegetation, a faint smell of blood, and the scent of earth.

The iron cage was reinforced, the blood-feeding basin shimmered with a faint light, the moonlight moss barrier flowed quietly, and a bottle of dark green soothing medicine was placed within easy reach.

Chen Lin was exhausted, but his eyes were unusually bright, filled with a desperate madness and a glimmer of hope for the future.

He gazed toward the iron cage, as if he could already see the ferocious fragments of the Bloodthirsty Vine struggling and roaring within it.

"Come on... let the storm rage on!" he murmured, his voice ringing out clearly in the silent cave.

Tonight, he will face Ella and make that almost insane request.

The life-or-death gamble involving the fusion of the Bloodthirsty Vine is about to officially begin.

In the deep, moss-covered corridor, the glowing blue light intertwined with the warm silver radiance, reflecting the flame of ambition burning in the young wizard's eyes.