“Reunion, what is this place?”

“Welcome host, to an Ever-growing Meadow.”

“Okay, I’ll bite. What’s an Ever-growing Meadow?”

“It is a type of garden popular in the Nine Lands. As a cultivator goes higher in his cultivation, he will need access to rare plants and herbs. This is not easy as certain plants only grow in specific climates. So, Wood and Life cultivators usually create cultivation gardens to grow any kind of plants or herbs they need. Even if the soil and climate are totally wrong, any type of seed you plant in this meadow will … oh, now that’s an idea.”

Victor had taken out his Power Fruit.

“If I plant this fruit here, will it grow?”

“I’m not sure.” The system admitted. “By right, it should but one of the strange things about Power Fruits is that it doesn’t grow in the same spot.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It’s a quirk of the Power Fruit. A fruit that is found in one location will not be found there again. On the planet where they come from, that is common knowledge. In fact, there is an occupation on the Great Desert called Fruit Chasers. These chasers would usually go to secluded oasis in hope of finding Power Fruits, but they would avoid oases that had Power Fruits before as the odds of finding them there again are lower.”

“So, if I plant the fruit here, it will grow somewhere else on Nexus?”

“I believe so.”

“There goes that idea.” A scowl appeared on Victor and he put the fruit back into storage. When he heard of the power of the meadow, he had hoped to have a garden of Power Fruits that he could sell on the black market, but it was not to be.

“Although there may be a way to do this.” Reunion said.

“How?”

“Well, this island is cut off from the rest of Nexus. The mist surrounding the island makes it basically a world on it’s own. If you can make the fruit believes that this island is a world, then it should only grow on this island.”

“Can you make the explanation easier to understand?” Victor was confused and he didn’t mind admitting it.

“Let me put it this way. This island is not from Nexus, right? Right now, the rest of the world don’t even know this island exist because of the mist. So, you need to make this island a small ‘world’ that stands outside from the rest of Nexus.”

“You mean make this island a sub-dimension?”

“Not actually the way I would put it, but essentially yes. If the fruit believes this island is the only piece of land in a dimension, then it would only grow here. In theory.”

Victor scowled at the caveat at the end, but he understood where Reunion was coming from. Small sub-dimensions weren’t common, but they were hardly unheard of. Scholars had long believed that the dimension barriers around Nexus were weak, and that was the reason why portals and gaps keeping popping out throughout history. Some rare mages even made this their profession. These mages practiced a form of arcane magic called ‘dimensional magic’ and could hide locations from normal means of detection. Some powerful dimensional mages could even maintain gaps to other dimensions for a short period of time.

Before Victor went in, mages who specialized in dimensional magic were in hot demand in villain circles. Heroes were always on the lookout for villainous lairs, and villains were always willing to pay good money to dimensional mages to secure their workspace. He wondered if that had changed. Victor shook his head and turned away from that train of thought. There were a few big problems with Reunion’s suggestion.

“This island isn’t small. Hiring mages to enchant the whole island will take a lot of money.”

“Money you currently don’t have. That’s why I suggestion another method. You need to form a connection to the island. In fact…”

Main Task

Host Victor Volkov must form a connection to the island and become it’s master. This task has no time limit.

“What is this?” Victor asked as the misty lines of words appeared before him. As he asked, the lines disappeared into the air.

“Your new task. As I am more powerful now, I can give you long-term tasks to complete. This is your first one. Form a connection to the island and becomes it’s master.”

“And how in the name of Nexus am I supposed to do that?”

“Cultivation.” Reunion replied. “In the cultivation worlds, there are many masters who draw their power from specific locations. This is their home ground where they draw most of their power. It could be a mountain, a valley, or an island!”

“That still doesn’t tell me how to become the island’s master.”

The System sighed dramatically. “At this rate, I should be called the Teaching System. Look, qi is in all things. This island is from a cultivation world. It is filled with qi. You need to connect to the qi and make the island acknowledge you as part of it.”

“Once again; how?”

“Once again; cultivation! Start cultivating already.”

“You mean as long as I cultivate on island, it will acknowledge me as the master?”

“It’s not that simple. Why don’t you just start cultivating, and I will explain.”

Victor was tempted to give the system another comeback, but he realized further argument will get him nowhere. Besides, cultivating in this meadow may bring him benefits. Victor begun with some warm-up exercises, and Reunion began her explanation.

“Remember when you first start your cultivation, I told you that you need to feel the energy around you. It’s like that, only you need to feel the energy of the island. You need feel the spiritual power of this island, focus on it, and condensed that power into you.”

“You mean form a core from the energy of the island like what you are supposed to do with an elemental core?”

Victor asked as he activated The Iron Body technique. He then used The Bear’s Charge and rushed at a nearby tree. He threw a punch. Momentum carried his punch forward and Victor struck the tree with great force. A huge dent appeared on the trunk. Victor checked his hand and was glad to see that it wasn’t broken.