Manifestation - Such a Casual Seed. Part 1

"So... we really had a past life?"

Yu Zhen looked at Yin Yan, his heart inexplicably starting to race, as if he were anticipating something, yet also fearing something.

But Yin Yan's expression became guarded. He averted his gaze and said as he turned to go upstairs, "Since we've already been reincarnated, we should sever our past ties and cherish the present. Yu Zhen, it's time for you to cultivate."

The cool voice disappeared around the corner of the stairs. Yu Zhen tilted his head back and stared blankly for a while. He suddenly found the scene somewhat familiar, as if on some day in the past, he had also stood far away like this, watching Yin Yan's back disappear from sight. They had drifted further and further apart; the other party knew everything, while he was completely lost.

"Meow~" Xu Wu suddenly jumped out and skillfully climbed onto him.

Yu Zhen snapped back to reality and quickly wrapped his arms around it, reflexively rubbing its little head. He asked, "Xiao Wu, do we really have past lives?"

Xu Wu rolled over in his arms, looking at him foolishly.

"...Forget it." Yu Zhen scratched its little belly, a smile returning to his face. He said, "Grandpa used to say that in life, the greatest fortune is to be blissfully ignorant. I don't even remember anything before I was six, so why should I dwell on some past life? Come on, I'll continue teaching you how to plant flowers."

He hadn't checked the Revolving Vessel for three days, and the lotus flowers inside gave him another big surprise.

The lotuses, which had originally occupied only a small area in the middle of the pond, had now fully branched out and grown, covering the entire water surface. Large lotus flowers were in full bloom. The fragrance of the lotuses within the Revolving Vessel was so thick it almost seemed to condense into water, yet it wasn't overwhelming at all. Instead, it made one feel refreshed and relaxed.

According to Yin Yan, the Bodhi Lotus was a very willful plant. If the opportunity was right, its flowers would bloom for a hundred years without wilting. If the opportunity didn't arise, you could raise it for a hundred years and it wouldn't even form a single bud. If flowering was already this difficult, growing a Lotus Seed Pod was even harder. If it didn't meet a fated person, even if you drowned it with Merit, it still wouldn't grow a single lotus seed for you!

In short, Yu Zhen was very lucky. The Bodhi Lotus liked him a lot, so much that it only took a tiny bit of his Merit before generously growing a large Lotus Seed Pod for him.

But luck was finite. When Yu Zhen tried to infuse the lotus with Merit again, the flower only swayed its stem to express its joy, showing no signs of growing another Lotus Seed Pod.

"As expected, one shouldn't be greedy."

Yu Zhen withdrew his Merit, stroked the delightfully blooming lotus, and didn't force the issue. He then went over to check the spot where he had buried the orchid seeds. Seeing no signs of sprouting, he sighed with regret. Ultimately unwilling to give up, he got some Boundless Water, and without diluting it, dripped a single drop onto the soil.

"You have to try your best to survive. You can do it."

Patting the soil again, he stood up and looked at the empty patch in the Revolving Vessel. Thinking of his equally empty bank account, he let out a long breath. He walked out of the Revolving Vessel, glanced upstairs, hesitated for a moment, and then raised his voice to shout, "Yin Yan, I'm going out to buy some flower seeds. I'll be back in a bit!"

After waiting for a while with no response from upstairs, he pursed his lips, put on his coat and scarf. He was about to put Xu Wu down and leave it at home, but Xu Wu deftly drilled into his coat pocket and refused to leave.

His mood lifted slightly. He rubbed Xu Wu's head and said, "Alright, I'll take you out to play."

Xu Wu affectionately rubbed against his hand and let out an obedient meow.

Shangdu Community was located in the center of a business district, with a comprehensive shopping mall right next to it. Yu Zhen used his phone's navigation to walk over. He found a place selling flowers and plants and bought some rose seedlings. After some thought, he also bought some fast-growing flower seeds and other common varieties.

The Revolving Vessel, Xirang, and Boundless Water—when these three things were combined, they not only greatly shortened the growing time for flowers and plants but also allowed them to grow freely without being picky about their environment.

He wasn't sure what the limits of the Revolving Vessel were yet, so he planned to plant a little of every kind of flower to test it out.

After buying the seeds, he wandered around the nearby flower shops, observing the common types of flowers in B City and inquiring about the market prices. He returned to the apartment only after he had a rough idea.

When he returned, Yin Yan was still upstairs and hadn't come down. Not knowing what he was doing, Yu Zhen hesitated but decided not to go up and disturb him. He just raised his voice to announce his return and then walked into the Revolving Vessel to start planting.

When he got busy, he forgot about everything else. He had bought a lot of seeds, and the Boundless Water was too potent. By the time he finished sowing the seeds and planting all the sprouted seedlings one by one, it was already dark outside. The lights in the living room and kitchen were on, and the aroma of food filled the room.

"Wash your hands and eat."

Yin Yan came out with a dish, his expression still calm, as if the conversation about their past lives had never happened between them.

Yu Zhen looked at his face, which appeared somewhat gentle under the warm light. He was stunned for a moment before snapping out of it. He responded and walked towards the bathroom. While washing his hands, he saw his own reflection in the mirror, his face smudged with dirt again, and inexplicably started to laugh.

'This is good enough. Don't ask, don't think. Just being alive is hard enough. Having someone by my side is already very lucky.'

Dinner was fragrant, and Yu Zhen ate happily, generously praising Yin Yan's cooking skills as he ate.

"If you like it, I'll make it for you again tomorrow. We can stay here for the next two days. I've already told Mom." Yin Yan accepted the praise calmly and naturally reached out to place a piece of food in his bowl.

Rabbit meat. He liked rabbit meat the most, preferably mildly spicy, as it went well with rice.

There was clearly no rabbit meat in the fridge before, so Yin Yan must have gone out in the afternoon to buy these ingredients.

Yu Zhen glanced at Yin Yan's still expressionless face, poked at the spicy diced rabbit in his bowl, and his mood inexplicably improved. He grew bolder and said, "You must be much older than me. It doesn't seem right for me to call you by your full name. How about I call you something else?"

Yin Yan's chopsticks paused, and he looked up at him.

"You take such good care of me, just like a father. Why don't I—"

Yin Yan stood up and left, walking quickly upstairs without even finishing his meal.

"Eh???"

Yu Zhen was dumbfounded, his smile frozen.

'He- he can't take a joke? He actually just ran off?'

Knock, knock.

Yu Zhen knocked on the closed door. Adopting an obedient, apologetic posture, he coaxed, "I'm sorry, I said the wrong thing. Come out and finish your dinner, it's going to get cold."

Click. The door opened immediately.

Yu Zhen, who had thought it would take a long time to coax Yin Yan given his personality, was stunned for a moment. He looked up to meet the eyes of Yin Yan, who had appeared in the doorway. Just as the corners of his mouth moved to form a placating smile, Yin Yan suddenly extended a hand in front of him, interrupting the words he was about to say.

"The Lotus Seed Pod."

"What?"

Yin Yan didn't speak, just looked at him.

Yu Zhen relented. He called for Xu Wu and had it take out the Lotus Seed Pod. As he handed it over, he said, "If you wanted to eat it, you could have just gotten it from Xiao Wu. You didn't have to ask me specifically..."

Yin Yan took the Lotus Seed Pod, peeled it open in front of him, took out all the lotus seeds, and placed them in a Brocade Pouch. Then he held out his hand to him again. "Xu Wu said you also collected the lotus petals."

"..."

'Xu Wu, you little traitor!'

Yu Zhen continued to take things out, explaining, "Mom said she liked the scent, so I was thinking if I could use these petals to make a bottle of perfume for her."

"You know how to make perfume?" Yin Yan asked as he took the petals.

"Only the simplest kind of botanical perfume making. I learned it in college; it's not that hard, actually." Yu Zhen explained. Halfway through handing over the petals, he pulled them back a little and cautiously requested, "Can you leave half for me? Just half. If that's not possible, a third is also fine..."

His tone and expression could be described as utterly submissive.

Yin Yan snatched them all and asked, "Are you very afraid of me?"

Yu Zhen's eyes widened as he stared at his hands. He swallowed back the insult that rose to his throat and shook his head against his will.

'It's not fear, it's... it's a kind of respectful restraint one has when facing an elder. Yes, it's respect, not fear.'

"I don't believe you." Yin Yan put away all the petals and seeds, pushed a wooden box into his hands, and gripped the doorknob again. He said, "Although the Bodhi Lotus can bring temporary good fortune to ordinary people, it will shorten their lifespan. I'll keep these for you for now. I'll return them to you after you've formally entered the Dao."

After saying that, he closed the door. He was clearly angry again.

Yu Zhen: "..."

The wooden box Yin Yan gave him contained seeds. There were five in total, each one different. Yu Zhen observed them for a long time but couldn't identify what kind of plant seeds they were.

"They couldn't be some kind of treasure from the Cultivation World, could they?"

He rolled the largest seed between his fingers, and out of curiosity, fed it a bit of Merit.

Pop.

The seed immediately cracked open and a small sprout emerged.

"..." 'Such a casual seed.'

Yu Zhen didn't dare to mess around anymore. He quickly put away the other four seeds, planted the sprouted little seed in a ceramic pot, watered it with a bit of Boundless Water, and then moved it next to the small pond, placing it beside the lotus flowers.

"Grow up healthy."

Yu Zhen touched the small sprout peeking out of the Xirang. He stood up and glanced at the expanse of tender green within the Revolving Vessel. A sense of fatherly pride suddenly swelled in his heart, and he said in a loud voice, "You all have to grow up healthy too."

In the bedroom on the second floor, Yin Yan watched the scene in the Revolving Vessel through Xu Wu's eyes. The corner of his mouth twitched up, but then he remembered Yu Zhen's "father" comment, and his mouth flattened. He couldn't help but let out a low reprimand: "You wretched disciple."

That night, the two slept in separate rooms. Yu Zhen found it surprisingly hard to get used to and tossed and turned for a while before finally falling asleep.

The next morning, the first thing he did after waking up was rush to the Revolving Vessel. He was so stunned by the riot of color inside that he was rendered speechless.

As far as the eye could see, there were flowers in perfect bloom. The roses near the pond were especially enchanting, so vibrant and full of color that it seemed red juice would flow out if you pinched them.

His face filled with joy. He ran inside, looking at this and that, lingering as he moved about. He eagerly took out his phone, wanting to contact the flower shop owner he used to work with to ask if he had a shop in B City and if he wanted to buy flowers. But just as his finger landed on the contact number, he suddenly thought of something and pulled his hand back.

'N-no, I can't.'

Looking at these perfectly bloomed flowers, he realized a devastating fact.

These flowers were all blooming beautifully and would surely fetch a good price. But flower shops usually bought flowers that were only half-open, mostly still in bud. Flowers that were fully bloomed like these would start to wilt before they could even be sold; they wouldn't last long at all.

The flowers were lovely, but they didn't meet market standards.

What should he do now... He was a bit lost. The flowers had bloomed too quickly. On such short notice, he really couldn't find a place to sell them.

"Bu Chen owns a star-rated hotel. With the year-end festivities approaching, the hotel is hosting more and more annual meetings and banquets. They need a lot of fresh flowers to decorate the venues. You can sell these flowers to him; they can be used the same day."

Yin Yan had appeared by the side of the Revolving Vessel at some point, holding a newly bought phone in his hand. He asked, "Do you need me to contact him for you?"

Yu Zhen turned his head and looked at him blankly. He then rushed over, both happy and embarrassed, and replied, "If you could... Thank you! Sorry to trouble you!"

"I want to eat a meal cooked by you," Yin Yan requested.

"I'll cook, I'll cook! I'll take care of today's meals." Yu Zhen nodded vigorously, his eyes sparkling like a puppy that had just seen a bone.