Chapter 99: The Birth of a Flower Spirit
Hua Mi was thrilled.
Initially not holding much hope, yet unexpectedly, it happened!
This was what they called a reverse flag.
Regarding Flower Spirits...
Generally, the rarer the flower, the easier it is for a Flower Spirit to be born.
This is because rare flowers often contain pure magical elements—or rather, in this world, the more pure the magical elements within a flower, the rarer it is.
The purer the magical elements, the higher the probability of a Flower Spirit being born.
Some even contain certain rare magical elements—perhaps influencing the Flower Spirit to develop a unique ability.
But that alone isn't enough; the rarity of the flower is merely a prerequisite.
Careful nurturing is also required.
The grown flower needs to reach a certain quality.
And once a Flower Spirit is born, it brings great benefits to the entire area.
Hua Mi immediately went to the flower field with Xiao Zi and walked straight to the mother plant nurturing the Flower Spirit, bending down to observe.
This one was planted relatively late and had just bloomed.
Compared to the ordinary flower buds nearby, it was noticeably larger, with a more vibrant and full color, faint streams of light revolving around the bud.
Mental energy delved inside, sensing a pure power swirling within.
Hua Mi was moved for a moment.
There was an inexplicable joy akin to becoming a parent.
All the hard work over this period seemed worthwhile—although upon reflection, it seemed like most of the work was done by the Pseudo-Flower Spirits...
The Pseudo-Flower Spirits were also filled with anticipation for the impending arrival of the little one.
And so, a few more days passed.
Today was the day the flower would fully bloom.
Hua Mi didn't go back to sleep that night, staying up to watch over the flower field, eagerly anticipating the birth of the Flower Spirit, like an old father waiting outside a delivery room.
The Seven Little Ones, despite being sleepy, wanted to witness the birth of the Flower Spirit themselves.
The flower's petals had fully unfurled in every direction, resembling solidified flames.
The mesmerizing multicolored lights flowed around without any pattern.
It was around midnight.
The pistil suddenly split open from the middle into four petals, gently unfurling like flower petals.
Revealing a small platform formed by the stigma below.
Seemingly triggering some resonance, the Mother Plant in this area began to move without wind.
Upon the stigma, the dazzling lights gradually dissipated.
Only a tiny figure sat hugging her legs on the platform.
She was even smaller than the Pseudo-Flower Spirits, easily held between two fingers.
Her hair wasn't as long as the Pseudo-Flower Spirits', only reaching her neck and slightly curled inwards at the ends, giving a more fixed appearance lacking the ethereal feel of the Pseudo-Flower Spirits.
Unlike the colorful Pseudo-Flower Spirits, her entire body, including her hair, was pristine white, pure as if without a flaw.
The color reminded Hua Mi of the flame seed in the Fire Mother Shrine.
Under the astonished gazes of Hua Mi and the Pseudo-Flower Spirits, the wings behind the Flower Spirit fluttered slightly. Then, she raised her head, stretched her two slender arms lazily, opened her eyes, and innocently surveyed the world.
"Wow! So cute!" exclaimed the Seven Little Ones, immediately crowding around the newly born Flower Spirit, inspecting her from top to bottom.
The Flower Spirit, like the Pseudo-Flower Spirits, belonged to the spirit class and could naturally communicate through telepathy.
So, they didn't need verbal communication to understand each other's thoughts.
This made Hua Mi feel like an outsider.
But the Seven Little Ones' enthusiasm seemed to startle her.
The little Flower Spirit soared up, breaking out of their encirclement.
"You guys calm down..." Hua Mi reminded.
The Seven Little Ones, overwhelmed by this new member, couldn't heed the advice and swarmed around once more.
The Flower Spirit frowned slightly, and her hair suddenly "whooshed" into a pale blaze.
Centered around her, a circle of pale flames expanded with a bang.
The Seven Little Ones cried out and dodged.
The others were fine.
But Xiao Huang was relatively unlucky, her clothes caught fire, and the ice crystals and snowflakes adorning them melted.
She screamed in panic, smoke billowing around her, scattering through the room.
The friends hurried to put out the fire.
After a commotion, the scene finally quieted down.
Xiao Huang, holding her bottom, dared not approach the little Flower Spirit again.
Though her flame magic was weak, it was more than enough to handle the Seven Little Ones.
Seeing them back away, the flames on the Flower Spirit's head gradually extinguished, returning to her original white hair.
Despite her delicate appearance, she had quite the fiery temper.
The Flower Spirit warily observed the Seven Little Ones gathered not far away, then redirected her gaze towards Hua Mi.
Her eyes were filled with curiosity.
Hua Mi smiled kindly at her. "Welcome to this world."
To talk about the functions of a Flower Spirit...
Of course, it was her innate flower magic.
Firstly, her presence liberated the Seven Little Ones from this area.
One stronger than seven—
She specialized, while the Seven Little Ones had diverse abilities.
As a result, they had more time to do other things, diverting their energy to other fields, greatly boosting productivity.
Secondly, not only could she make the Gifted Flower Field grow better with higher quality, but more importantly, she could sustain perpetual bloom.
In other words, as long as this Flower Spirit lived, the Mother Plant's blessing would perpetually thrive, periodically entering a honey flow phase without needing to re-breed and cultivate, significantly shortening the honey production cycle.
It was conceivable that with the improvement in floral quality, the quality of honey would also rise.
Apart from the taste, it would likely reflect in the efficacy of the honey.
If honey produced without a Flower Spirit was considered first-rate, then the honey produced with a Flower Spirit could at least be rated as special-grade.
Using the world's system of categorizing magical medicines, it would probably be the distinction between basic potions and intermediate to advanced potions.
Additionally, Hua Mi noticed that this little white Flower Spirit possessed some attacking capability.
This type of fire-based attack magic was likely due to the rare magical elements within the flower, bestowing her unique talents.
However, expecting her to aid in battle was unrealistic; she was too fragile and could easily be killed by the enemy, requiring care instead.
In the shadows of the Pseudo-Flower Spirits, the little Flower Spirit naturally had a favorable impression of Hua Mi.
After driving away the Pseudo-Flower Spirits with fire, she fluttered her wings and flew into the pocket of his black robe, yawned, and curled up to sleep inside.
This left the Seven Little Ones envious yet disheartened.
Although they never truly possessed her, it felt like losing her countless times...
Painful.
Too painful.
...
In the days that followed, the Seven Little Ones continuously extended goodwill towards her. With Hua Mi mediating, the relationship between the two sides finally improved somewhat.
However, the little Flower Spirit still maintained a certain distance from them, never fully blending in.
Ironically
, she was exceptionally dependent on Hua Mi.
Though she was just a Flower Spirit, she didn't seem to particularly enjoy nurturing flowers—the Pseudo-Flower Spirits were more passionate about it.
It always felt like their names were mixed up.
During the day, the little Flower Spirit preferred being with Hua Mi, often staying close to him, whether he was reading, tending to the flower field, or practicing bee control.
Whenever Hua Mi looked up, he could easily find her somewhere.
She had created a "Mother Plant's Blessing outfit" using flower magic that suited her well.
She didn't speak much, mostly observing quietly and accompanying—but sometimes humming a tune.
On the other hand, during these days, Hua Mi tirelessly practiced bee control, pushing his concentration to the limit at this stage.
But when he attempted to explore the information recorded inside the Meditation Orb, he found it impossible to access.
It seemed that he needed to reach at least "Bee Power Level Five" to forcibly access it.
That wasn't an urgent matter.
...
The harsh cold of the ice period continued.
Numerous places in the forest were covered in ice crystals.
At a glance, it seemed like being in a fairy tale's ice kingdom.
One stormy afternoon.
Outside, the wind howled like wailing ghosts and howling wolves.
The beehives in the Gifted Flower Field area were all filled up.
And the brewing was complete.
It was time to open the boxes.