Tianjing City is a megacity where the esports industry has swallowed up everything. Lin Yuanzhou rents a rundown miniature-garden nursery in the greenbelt, only for his neighbors to laugh at him: “Can growing flowers really make more money than gaming?” He awakens the legacy of Shennong and discovers that he can make dead wood bloom and weeds grow into prized specimens. But the price is horrifying: every time he accelerates a plant's growth, his cells age faster, and his hair turns white while he's still in his early twenties. Worse still, to cleanse soil polluted by factories, he has to organize dragon dances, folk celebrations, and earth-worship rituals, all of which city dwellers dismiss as ridiculous “feudal superstition.” When a wealthy esports team owner flashes a black card and says, “I'll give you five million for this twisted old juniper,” Lin Yuanzhou shakes his head. “It's not for sale. Unless you bring the whole team to my earth-worship ceremony.” The news sends shockwaves through the city: a country-bred Shennong is challenging the esports world's capitalist games with folk rituals. But the backlash from his inherited power is growing worse, competitors are hiring online mobs to flood him with bad reviews, and someone has even uncovered his secret. How much longer can his prematurely aging body hold out?
