Protect Our Clan Leader

"Exactly, exactly!" Wang Tank also chimed in with a babyish voice in the criticism queue, "A shield that's impatient isn't a good shield, that was what you taught me back then, remember? Master, I suggest demoting An Quan to second in command and let me be the main shield."

"Tank, you little rascal, after all my years of care and teaching, you dare betray me at the critical moment!" Liu Anquan was quite angry, "Is this impatience? I'm just probing to see if the Family Head is as steady as ever. The result is clear; thanks to my years of diligent instruction, the Family Head's safety awareness is solid and seamless."

The old and young precious shields orbited around Wang Shouzhe while verbally sparring with each other, making quite a ruckus. The Dao Artifact Shield [Heaven-shocking Shield] on the side listened with complex emotions.

Originally, as the National-Treasure Talisman of the Yan Kingdom, the Heaven-shocking Shield held a revered position, enjoying national worship and care. Unexpectedly, once captured, it ended up in the hands of the Wang family head.

He was anxious about what kind of character his new owner would be.

Who would've thought it'd be such an oddball?

Is he, the mighty Heaven-shocking Shield, going to start his retirement early this life?

Amidst the squabbling of the two divine artifact shields, the siege battle against the foreign Demon Vine was also declared finished.

No matter how strong a lion, it can't withstand an attack from a group of experts. Under the brutal beatings, it tried to escape several times but failed, leaving it in pieces, floating aimlessly on the sea surface.

The Azure Dragon and Dragon Whale clans, along with Wang family's ironclad fleet, were accustomed to cleaning up after battles. Seeing the fight concluded, they diligently began the salvage operation without needing orders. Meanwhile, the warming-up elites headed back to the cabin to play mahjong.

Wang Shouzhe, the vice commander of the instance, had nothing much to do, so he casually pulled Longyan Ancestor for some tea and chat, and deep conversations with Junior Sister Green Fern, hoping she might recall some things from the Divine Martial Dynasty Era.

Unexpectedly, Junior Sister Green Fern, who recovered some memories, was no different than before.

The Demonic Plant Honored One is essentially a tech-nut from the Divine Martial Dynasty Era, oblivious to worldly affairs, only focused on research. The memories Green Fern recalled were either speculation or experimentation, or combat against foreign demons.

Even when stacked, a tech-nut's memory just becomes a more formidable tech-nut.

The only difference might be, back when Green Fern rambled about biochemical technology with Wang Shouzhe, he barely understood some bits, but now he was completely baffled.

Time gradually passed.

As salvage went on, the broken remains of the Demon Vine filled the fleet's cabins.

These were top materials from a Level Twelve foreign plant, normally unobtainable even if Emperor Xiu and Wu Dao were stripped bare, enough for Wang Clan Research Institute to start several research projects, resulting in a period of elation.

That's the advantage of raiding a ruin with the army, no need to handle the loot yourself.

"Great grandfather."

Vice legion commander Wang Anxin, released from the Hidden Armament Tower, joined the salvage team too.

Clutching a heap of colorful crystal stones, he ran over to Wang Shouzhe to inquire, "These were found in the Demon Vine core, can you research their uses? Also, here's the core of the Demon Vine, how should it be handled?"

Wang Shouzhe shot him a glare.

Are you deliberately teasing me? I'm not a tech expert, what can I research?

"Demon Vine core?"

Junior Sister Green Fern, however, was very interested, telekinetically lifted the football-sized elliptical magic plant core, her eyes gleaming: "I thought the Energy-devouring Demon Vine experiment was a total bust, didn't expect there's a seed left. That's great, I can start over with the experiment."

Again?

Every time Wang Shouzhe heard Junior Sister Green Fern say "experiment," he felt his head buzzing painfully.

He quickly snatched the Demon Vine core, "Junior Sister, you should rest well now, I'll take care of cultivating plants."

After some thought, Junior Sister Green Fern reluctantly nodded, "Alright, although your cultural level is rather poor, your bloodline talent is more suitable for cultivating the Energy-devouring Demon Vine than mine. Why don't I have a quality bloodline like yours? That bloodline in your hands is such a waste, like a flower planted in..."

"Junior Sister, what is this Energy-devouring Demon Vine exactly? Without understanding, I dare not cultivate it." Wang Shouzhe, veins popping on his forehead, hastily stopped her bluntness.

"It's a Demon Vine I discovered during an exotic exploration," Junior Sister Green Fern explained, "Its greatest feature is its love for absorbing energy, and it converts absorbed energy into crystals. It devours everything, spiritual energy, demonic energy, spirit veins, various bio-energies... I once took samples and cultivated a series of vines, the most successful being the Bloodthirsty Vines."

"Bloodthirsty Vines?" Wang Shouzhe suddenly remembered his marginalized 'pet,' "Bloodthirsty Vines seem to have been recognized by the Divine Martial Dynasty? How come you got wanted then?"

"Yeah, I initially worked for that old dog Saint Emperor, specializing in various spirit plant research. Wait, why am I calling him an old dog?" Junior Sister Green Fern looked puzzled, "It's strange, how was I wanted? As an honest tech-nut, being wanted is obviously that old geezer Saint Emperor's fault."

Wang Shouzhe twitched his lips.

If you were wanted by the Saint Emperor, you must have done something earth-shattering.

Enough, enough~ The historical gap is just too severe, many things from back then are buried in the river of history, pursuing the past now is pointless, better spend more effort, and get along with her well, maybe fix her world views.

"Would cultivating it pose any issues?" Wang Shouzhe hesitantly eyed the Demon Vine core.

"There won't be issues," Junior Sister Green Fern confidently assured, "It's a half-step True Demon Plant, under normal conditions it can grow to Peak Level Twelve, with luck it might break through to Level Thirteen. It's actually quite sentient, might have gone weird from captivity for too long."

"Now its body is destroyed, consciousness totally collapsed, even if regrown it'll be blank like a baby's memory, how it's educated entirely depends on you."

The last sentence moved Wang Shouzhe.

Our family has quality clan schools, cultivating world views shouldn't be hard, right?

It's just that Wang Shouzhe's Life-bound Spirit Plant spot is already taken by Li Xian, can't establish another contract.

Then let's just treat it as an ordinary spirit plant and cultivate it.

With that thought, Wang Shouzhe infused a bit of life origin energy into the Demon Vine core.

Soon, the fist-sized Demon Vine core emitted green halos.

Before long, a small dark green vine carefully emerged from the core, curiously 'observing' its surroundings.

Upon detecting the continuous flow of life origin energy from Wang Shouzhe's palm, it suddenly darted forward, tightly wrapped around Wang Shouzhe's slender fingers.

Even those tiny leaves at the top clung closely to Wang Shouzhe's fingers, rubbing back and forth, looking as if it was about to drool.

At this moment, it's as if a few big words were written on its head: Delicious! Snuggle!

Wang Shouzhe also felt a sense of affinity, like adding another child in his life.

Is this the half-step True Demon Plant?

Such adorable appearance, it's impossible to connect it with the previous ugly form.

"Let's name it." Wang Shouzhe pondered for a while and decided, "We'll call it Wang Zongteng, I'll give it some lessons first, then off to the clan school after returning."

"Yeeyaa yeeyaa." The newly-named [Wang Zongteng] happily wriggled its body, acting spoiled in Wang Shouzhe's palm.

...