I asked Chen Wei to stay behind while I prepared for the trip. I needed to make sure my stronghold would be safe even without me manning it. I also needed to make sure I wouldn’t die while adventuring with her.

“How would you rate yourself among the other humans, power-wise?” I asked.

“I’m powerful compared to most people, but I don’t know the exact ratio.” According to her, the humans on this planet were weak compared the monsters in this forest.

It was just that the fifteen meter long centipede and the other monsters here were too terrifying. Its armor was practically unbreakable and it was impossible to escape once caught in its jaws. I couldn’t help but wonder how the militaries from my old world would fare against it. Probably not well, considering the centipede's literally otherworldly strength, armor, and speed. I didn’t think the military had anything that could pierce its shell.

And I had to protect my stronghold against creatures even stronger than that. If I were here, I could easily take control of the plants and repel invaders.

But the could not be said if I were not here. A smart intruder could evade all the sentry mode Twentytacle Traps. A strong intruder could slowly tear down my defenses.

I spent nearly a month building up layer after layer of even more powerful plants, all the while waiting to get to level five. During the months, I occasionally asked Chen Wei about this world, although I didn’t learn much. I had to be careful about not revealing I wasn’t from this world, and (despite all her respect) she got frustrated while explaining things.

You have leveled up. You may choose one of these two options:

+4 mana regeneration per minute

+4000 max mana

You have also gained half your mana back! Good luck in your future endeavours!

I chose mana regeneration.

You have leveled up. You may choose one of these two options:

+5 mana regeneration per minute

+5000 max mana

You have also gained half your mana back! Good luck in your future endeavours!

I chose to have a higher maximum mana. A higher maximum mana meant I could create bigger plants and release more power at once, which would be helpful in a fight, not that I was planning on getting into any.

Vincent the Cultivator

Lv5

Max MP : 7000

Regen : 10MP/min

Control Lv9

Meld Lv MAX

Improve Lv9

Program Lv3

Fulffpile Lv5

Vines Lv17

Boney Ginseng Lv5

Protect Lv8

Distract Lv4

Meaty Ginseng Lv6

Skinny Ginseng Lv5

Calories Lv7

Twentytacle Trap Lv13

Poison Spike Lv11

Explosive Bulb Lv11

Night Day Flower Lv7

Strings Lv3

Blade Lv8

Six Petal Goldflower Lv3

Pluto Flytrap Lv6

Prison Pineapple Lv5

Glowing Pineapple Lv6

Sticky Vines Lv2

Helium Plant Lv1

Vines skyrocketed to level seventeen, which wasn’t much of a surprise to me. I spent a huge amount of mana on vines. I was a little heartbroken at parting with so much mana.

A couple large vines lie in a web-like formation above my garden. They were spaced out far enough from each other for plenty of sunlight to shine through. “Hey, Chen Wei!”

“Yes,” she ran out of her room and up in front of me.

I smiled, “I’m ready to leave, you?”

“Of course,” she responded, “I’ve been ready since the beginning.”

“Perfect, let’s go.” We walked out of the garden together.

A flood of vines I had created before dropped onto the web of larger vines already covering my garden. The larger vines supported the sea of smaller ones, forming a clump of vines that hid my garden.

The clump of vines did look a little out of place, but nobody would be able to see my garden through this camouflage. On top of that, mixed into the vines were random little traps. The first layer of traps were relatively harmless, but the ones after that attacked with deadly force. Just this should be a sufficient deterrent. But if some stupid animal was bent on getting in, there were far deadlier traps awaiting in the garden itself.

I set all of this up with Chen Wei being none the wiser. All of this was done right under her nose, even the traps inside the garden. After the garden was fully covered up, I looked back and concentrated on the connection between me and my plants. Monstrous plants rose out of the ground and entered sentry mode.

“Aight,” I dropped two seeds to the ground. One turned into a Twentytacle Trap, the other became a Protect attached to the top of the trap. It was identical to the other carriage, but this one was smaller so I didn’t need to expend as much mana to move it. “Let’s go.”