Chapter 16: Completion of the Ecosystem

Lu Zhiyu drove alone to Shennongjia, Muyu Town. Although this was not the peak season for traveling, the town was bustling with people from all walks of life. There were people distributing leaflets, as well as shops holding various events to attract customers. There were many performances at night as well.

After enjoying himself, Lu Zhiyu settled into a hotel. He went up to the mountains the following day. He had chosen a less traveled path, so that he could select different kinds of plants, animals, and materials for Maria's World. This would complete the selection of animal and plant species in Maria's World as well as its ecosystem.

Lu Zhiyu had tried to put a mouse into Maria's World, into one of its five different continents. By this time, the seeds of the plants that he had sowed had spread across the entire world.

The air seemed to be much fresher than what Lu Zhiyu had imagined, and the mouse lived comfortably. There were even types of algae that Lu Zhiyu had never seen before growing in the sea. These plants had all grown naturally on their own.

Lu Zhiyu had introduced large amounts of different species of fish, as well as stray dogs and cats into Maria's World. There was already a small group being formed. However, the cats and dogs had turned feral. The fish had proliferated in the ocean. As Lu Zhiyu had sealed up the Zero-dimensional channel, the creatures did not share the same conditions as the insects, so they evolved under normal conditions.

Lu Zhiyu had been a little obsessed with Maria's World recently. He had manically purchased seeds of different plants. He would also take with him species of bugs, birds or animals he had never seen before in order to enrich the diversity of living things in Maria's World. Lu Zhiyu left it for nature to decide if they would survive or not. It was survival of the fittest.

Lu Zhiyu did not wish to allow every race in Maria's World to share the zero-dimension channel or freely pass through the authority he had over that space to extract the energy within the zero-dimension space. At the very least, he wanted to prevent the creatures from drawing on that energy without him allowing it.

His intention was to release control of the Zero-dimensional channel gradually in the future via his own methods. He did not want a repeat of how the insects freely used the energy for their own developments.

Shennongjia was a world cultural heritage site. When they first applied for the title, its success hinged upon having a lot of natural resources, such as animals and plants. To Lu Zhiyu, this was a massive treasure trove.

There were 11 types of vegetation distributed around Shennongjia. It was one of the three largest distribution centers for seed-bearing plants in China. Empirical research had confirmed that there were at least 3,767 vascular plant species in Shennongjia, 590 temperate plant genres, 205 local species, two unique genus, and 1793 species unique to China.

Many rare animal species had also been preserved in the ecosystem. In fact, it had been recorded that there were more than 600 vertebrate animal species, including 92 types of mammals, 399 bird species, 55 types of fish, 53 types of reptiles and 37 types of amphibians!

Its mountainous terrain had even become the habitat of some endangered species. It had been recorded that there were more than 1,300 golden snub-nosed monkeys, leopards, white cranes, white snakes, great bustards, giant salamanders, and more found in this place. In total, there are 67 types of wild animals that were under the protection of the country.

This place was also a haven to different types of insects. Currently, 4,365 species had been found.

As Lu Zhiyu moved along, he collected the resources that he needed with the help of his mind power and strong physique. He had collected grasshoppers, different types of snakes, monkeys and Asiatic black bears. He had no idea if it was legal or not, or if what he was doing was immoral, but since no one was watching, he couldn't care less.

It was nice to be able to move around freely and fearlessly in the forest, especially when one had a strong physique. Walking freely in the forest like that had never crossed Lu Zhiyu's mind. He would not be able to do so under his previous poor health condition. Moreover, without his mind power to anticipate danger, his constantly uptight nerves would have made him very fatigued. After all, Shennongjia was not a safe place and was filled with danger.

Without the help of his mind power to explore the area, Lu Zhiyu would not have been able to find the animals and plants species that he needed so quickly. He had also found a few old ginseng gatherings, as well as some rare herbs, which he carefully tucked away.

Along the way, Lu Zhiyu continued to migrate the various uprooted plants. He also found traces of wild animal species as he continued on the journey. He followed the trails, found them, then put them into Maria's World.

After Lu Zhiyu dug up the nest of moles and tossed them into Maria's world, he saw the footprints of a bear on a path nearby. Some of its fur had fallen to the ground and Lu Zhiyu was surprised to see that it was white in color.

Hey, what have we found here? An adult albino bear that has lost its way. Let's try to catch it!

An albino bear can give us...

Lu Zhiyu laughed out loud as he was thinking to himself. These past few days, he had caught many animals from Shennongjia.

He had run after these ferocious animals, like tigers, leopards, and bobcats, with the Scroll of the World in his hands. He did not even spare the monkeys. Even a bear would pose no threat to him, so Lu Zhiyu was in high spirits!

Lu Zhiyu used his mind power to explore the footprints and collect information about the bear. According to his estimates, the bear most likely had been here half a day ago and should still be around here somewhere. Indeed, after tracking it for some time, Lu Zhiyu finally found the albino bear in an uphill area of the forest.

An albino bear was a rare albino species of the Asiatic black bear. There were less than 10 existing in the whole world. It was very different from the polar bear. Its fur was not as white, in fact, it was highlighted with a little brown.

As Lu Zhiyu watched the albino bear, he realized that it seemed to be pregnant. It was probably grumpy at the moment.

It would be easily agitated should Lu Zhiyu approach it. The ears of the bear were standing upright, attached to its rather big head, its tail was hiding between its butt, making it look quite cute. However, when it turned around, its ferocious expression and sharp teeth showed that it was not to be messed with.

But Lu Zhiyu was no ordinary man. He dashed out toward the albino bear with his Scroll of the World. The bear was shocked at first, then became enraged.

It stood up and roared furiously at Lu Zhiyu. The sound of its roar filled the entire forest, alarming the birds and animals. Leaves even fell down onto the ground.

Lu Zhiyu did not hold back. He aimed the Scroll of the World at the albino bear and absorbed it inside the scroll. He threw the albino bear near the Asiatic black bears that he had captured earlier.

After all, Lu Zhiyu could not miss this opportunity to capture a pregnant bear! It was like a "buy one, get one free" type of thing!