Gardener of Eden

Chapter 207: Chapter 207: Level 30

Returning to the tranquil grounds of Sunny Vale Manor after the bustling success of the flagship store, Rowan bypassed his bedroom and slipped straight into his private spatial domain.

Waiting for him on his work table were two heavily enchanted transport crates, lined with spirit-sealing silk and stamped with official wax emblems. One bore the silver-crane seal of the United Korean Federation, while the other was bound in gold-embroidered silk from the prestigious merchants of the Ding Dynasty.

Inside lay twelve pristine specimens of wild Asian ginseng.

In the outside world, true wild ginseng was notorious among alchemists and martial masters for being ridiculously difficult to cultivate. They were temperamental, slow-growing roots that required decades of untouched, high-altitude soil just to absorb enough ambient mana to form a single spiritual ring. A century-old wild ginseng root was considered a family heirloom capable of extending a grandmaster’s life or curing lethal internal poison.

Rowan carefully unboxed the pale, delicate roots, inspecting their fine, thread-like tendrils. In their current state, they were fragile, faint things—wild, unruly, and barely clinging to vitality after the long transport across continent borders.

”Let’s see how you like proper soil,” Rowan murmured with a relaxed grin.

Carrying the roots over to the central plot of his domain—where the soil pulsed with the golden-emerald glow of the Fragment of the Origin Earth Pulse—Rowan picked up the Hoe of the World-Tiller. With a few practiced, rhythmic digs, he prepared twelve deep, aerated soil beds, infusing the earth with a gentle, concentrated drip of high-vitality spring water.

He carefully buried each ginseng root, patting the rich, dark earth snug around their crowns.

The moment the wild roots touched Rowan’s domain soil, the magic began.

Within his spatial domain, the natural flow of time ran at a staggering 12x accelerated rate. A single day in the real world equaled nearly two weeks inside the domain. But when combined with Rowan’s passive earth-element buffs, the nutrient-dense soil, and the life-giving vitality pulsing through his domain, the growth rate didn’t just scale—it multiplied exponentially.

Where an ordinary cultivator would have to wait ten years for a wild ginseng root to mature into a low-grade medicinal herb, Rowan’s setup compressed a decade of natural growth into a mere matter of days.

As Rowan poured a wooden bucket of fresh mana-water over the plot, tiny, vibrant green shoots burst through the dark soil almost immediately. Delicate, five-leaved stems stretched toward the domain’s artificial sunlight, their roots instantly locking onto the concentrated earth energy beneath the surface.

Rowan leaned on his hoe, tipping his straw hat back as he watched the leaves shimmer with a dense, silvery mist.

In less than a month of real-world time, these twelve humble roots would mature into thousand-year-grade Celestial Wild Ginseng—a tier of medicinal herb so terrifyingly potent that even the supreme alchemists of the Ding Dynasty and the Federation had only ever read about them in ancient scrolls.

”Not bad,” Rowan chuckled quietly, wiping a stray speck of dirt off his cheek. ”If the Imperial Palace visit gets a bit intense, at least I’ll have some good tea to offer.” 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

***

Over the next two weeks, a quiet, deeply satisfying rhythm settled over Sunny Vale Manor. Away from the political noise of Sol Aethel and the lingering whispers of royal matchmaking, the trio immersed themselves completely in their crafts, turning the estate into a powerhouse of self-reliance and growth.

The sweet, medicinal aroma of simmering wild ginseng, vitality nectar, and condensed mana herbs drifted constantly from Seraphina’s newly expanded alchemy workshop. Working with Rowan’s ultra-high-vitality harvests, her concoctions possessed a purity that standard city alchemists couldn’t dream of replicating. Batch after batch of shimmering liquid turned into high-grade rejuvenation potions, soul-cleansing tonics, and attribute-boosting elixirs. Every failed brew became a lesson, and every perfected batch flooded her core with vast amounts of experience. With a soft, golden hum echoing through her cauldron, a system prompt chimed in her mind—Seraphina had reached Level 28.

Down at the estate’s forge, the steady, rhythmic clang-clang-clang of heavy steel on anvil echoed across the rolling hills from morning until midnight. Barney was in his absolute element. Using furnace embers fueled by dried vitality wood and working with rare ores brought in from Eden International’s trade lines, he pushed his blacksmithing skills to their absolute limit. Sparks showered the stone floor as he hammered, tempered, and quenched chestplates, reinforced shields, and fine blades, consistently producing pristine B-Grade equipment. The sheer durability and mana-conductivity of his creations caused his experience bar to surge, crowning his hard work as he too broke through to Level 28.

At the heart of it all was Rowan.

Whether under the open sky of Sunny Vale’s sprawling fields or deep inside his spatial domain, Rowan lived and breathed the earth. Within the domain, the accelerated 12x time flow turned his crop beds into a churning engine of life. The twelve wild Asian ginseng roots had blossomed into staggering, ancient-looking stalks, their fat, white taproots brimming with thick, golden veins of primordial mana. Alongside them, rows of celestial peaches, iron-bark root vegetables, and mana-drenched grains grew, matured, and were harvested in relentless, bountiful cycles.

As Rowan swung the Hoe of the World-Tiller to clear a freshly harvested plot of ancient ginseng, a sudden, heavy wave of pure earth mana erupted from the ground beneath his feet.

The Fragment of the Origin Earth Pulse chimed in resonant harmony with his soul. Golden-green light surged upward from the soil, wrapping around his body in a gentle, warm vortex. His breath caught in his chest as the boundaries of his spatial domain physically expanded outward by dozens of yards, the soil deepening and the artificial sky glowing brighter and clearer than ever before.

A clear, reverberating notification echoed in his consciousness:

[Level Up]

[ STATUS WINDOW ]

Name: Rowan Vance

Age: 16

Class: [Tier 3] Gardener of Eden (Transcendent)

Title: Blessed by Polaris

Affiliation: Imperial Suburbs (Civilian)

Level 30 (0 / 1,000,000 EXP)

[ STAT POOLS ]

Stamina Pool: 8,000/8,000

Mana Pool: 15,000/15,000

[ ATTRIBUTES ]

Vitality (VIT): 800

Strength (STR): 800

Agility (AGI): 800

Intelligence (INT): 1,500

Wisdom (WIS): 1,500

Unallocated Stat Points: 0

[ CLASS PERKS & PASSIVE TRAITS ]

[Passive Class Trait] Green Thumb (Grade I): Increases seed germination success rate by 15% and reduces minor environmental stress (moderate drought, slight soil acidity) on cultivated crops.

[Civilian Trait] Resilience: Slightly reduces fatigue accumulation during prolonged physical labor under poor conditions.

[Hidden Potential] Dormant Genius (Mind & Nature): Due to Legendary (L) growth affinity in Intelligence and Wisdom, skill learning speed for mental, ecological, and botanical concepts is exponentially heightened.

[Primordial Renovation]: Cleansed and rebuilt by cosmic life energy. All chronic infirmities are permanently cured.

[Breath of Eden - Lv. 8]: Passively accelerates growth, vitality, and evolutionary potential of surrounding life.

[Domain: The Virgin Soil]: Unlocks access to the Primordial Garden (20:1 Time Dilation).

[ EQUIPMENT & INVENTORY ]

Relics: Hoe of the World-Tiller, Vessel of the Eternal Tide

Pouch of Heirloom Seeds: Empty

Standard Suburban Clothing

Identification & Awakening Registration Tag: Civilian Class

Sol-Aethel Academy Student Pass (Honor Points: 0)

Rowan wiped a thin sheen of sweat from his forehead with his forearm, leaning heavily on his hoe as the lingering golden light settled deep into his chest. He could feel the sheer density of his own mana core—denser, richer, and far more anchored to the world’s natural ley lines than it had ever been.

Exiting the domain into the warm evening air of Sunny Vale, Rowan found Seraphina and Barney waiting on the porch, both looking refreshed, noticeably stronger, and wearing proud, exhausted smiles.

”Look who finally decided to come up for air,” Seraphina teased, holding up a crystal vial containing a glowing amber elixir that swirled with liquid ginseng mana. ”I just finished a batch of Grand Rejuvenation Brews. B-grade quality, no impurities.”

”And the new plow blades and alloy guards are finished,” Barney added, clapping his soot-stained hands together with a gruff laugh. ”B-Grade gear across the board. We could supply a high-tier guild raid group by ourselves now.”

Rowan looked between his two companions, his eyes warming under the brim of his straw hat. A soft, relaxed laugh escaped his lips.

”Level 28 for both of you, huh?” Rowan said, stepping onto the porch and pulling three wooden cups from the shelf. ”Looks like we’re all growing up fast. Let’s celebrate—tomorrow, we’ll need every bit of this strength.”