Chapter 131 - 99: Planting the Golden Ancient Tree, Newcomer at the Tavern

Chapter 131: Chapter 99: Planting the Golden Ancient Tree, Newcomer at the Tavern

A few minutes later, a voice message arrived from Xia Wanyin.

"Shen Xing, it’s a good thing you asked. Otherwise, there would have been a problem!"

"A problem?" Shen Xing asked, confused.

"Yeah," Xia Wanyin replied. "You can’t just plant that kind of Ancient Tree Seed carelessly."

"First, you need to choose a spot close to a Campfire, no more than 100 meters away, to ensure it has enough warmth."

"Once you’ve chosen the spot, you have to water the seed with your own blood to activate the Life Force within it before burying it in the soil."

"After that, you need to periodically water it with water rich in Life Force. Moon Well Water or Flame Heart Spring Water will both work."

She had sent a 60-second-long voice message, saying everything in one go.

After listening, Shen Xing was quite surprised. ’I can’t believe planting this Ancient Tree Seed has so many requirements.’

’It’s a good thing I asked. Otherwise, I might have just planted it cluelessly and wasted this precious seed.’

"I understand. Thanks."

"You’re welcome." Xia Wanyin sent a sticker and added, "Oh, right, there was a version update today, and a bunch of new resource points spawned."

"I even found a medium-sized Lumberyard and a quarry near my territory!"

"Once the leaderboard event is over, I’ll come over and help you activate the resource points around your area, too."

Shen Xing was silent for a moment before replying, "Alright, I’ll have to trouble you then."

After closing his phone, Shen Xing thought to himself, ’I can’t keep troubling Xia Wanyin like this.’

’After all, I keep asking her for information and for help activating resource points, but it seems I haven’t given her anything in return.’

’Maybe... I could give her some Rare-Quality Moonlight Bread when she comes over?’

’I’ll figure it out later. For now, I should focus on planting this seed.’

With that thought, Shen Xing put his glasses back on, and his view switched back to the village.

Next, he went to the spot he had chosen earlier and took a shovel out of his inventory.

He called a Beastman over and had him dig a hole nearly half a meter deep.

Then, he tossed the glittering golden seed into the hole.

’Next comes the most crucial step: watering the seed with my blood to activate its Life Force.’

Shen Xing held out his left palm, gripped a dagger in his right hand, and gently pressed it against his skin.

’Alright folks, today I’m gonna show you a trick: cutting my own hand!’

As he thought this, he swiped hard with the dagger, feeling a sharp sting.

However, the scene he had imagined—of split skin and dripping blood—did not happen.

There was only a white line on his palm.

’Huh? I didn’t break through my own defense?’

Shen Xing was stunned for a moment, then he realized what had happened.

’I’m a Level 8 Lord, after all. Leveling up gave me a significant boost.’

’On top of that, the earlier sacrifice and the Silver Holy Fruit had stacked my Constitution all the way to 73 points.’

’An ordinary blade can’t even do much damage to me anymore.’

’Looks like I need to use more force.’

Shen Xing gripped the blade tightly, then jerked his right hand away.

"Hiss!"

An excruciating pain shot through his palm, and blood gushed out from between his fingers.

He gritted his teeth against the pain, quickly moved his hand over the seed, and squeezed the blood out drop by drop, letting it all fall onto it.

As Shen Xing’s blood continued to water it, the oval-shaped seed seemed to undergo a subtle change.

The patterns on its surface seemed to activate, emitting a faint golden glow.

From the edges of the seed, dense roots began to sprout, extending into the surrounding soil.

Seeing this, Shen Xing quickly had someone bring half a cart of red soil to bury the entire seed.

He then took out a full two liters of Moon Well Water and poured it over the soil.

With that, the initial work for the seed was complete.

Meanwhile, the wound on his palm had already stopped bleeding and was beginning to slowly heal.

’Good. Now I just need to send someone to water it with one or two liters of Moon Well Water every 3 to 5 days, and then I can wait for it to sprout.’

This type of ancient tree had an extremely long growth cycle, easily taking hundreds or even thousands of years.

Moreover, this was a Golden Ancient Tree Seed that no one had ever obtained before.

Shen Xing estimated that if he let it grow naturally, the seed might not even sprout by the time he died of old age.

However, he had also looked it up and knew there were items in the Land of Mist that could accelerate a seed’s growth.

So there was still hope he could see a Golden Ancient Tree standing in his territory within his lifetime.

’Next, I’ll just wait for Hellish Roar and the others to return, then I can sort through the other rewards.’

Shen Xing wheeled himself over, preparing to absorb a few Soul Stones.

Just then, he noticed a strong tremor coming from the territory’s tavern.

Immediately after, a beam of white light descended from the sky and entered the tavern.

’Is this... the tavern recruited someone new?!’

Shen Xing felt a surge of excitement. He hadn’t been holding out much hope, so he was surprised it actually worked.

However, the newcomers recruited by the tavern were all natives of this world, and their quality varied wildly.

It was possible to recruit an ordinary Slave Laborer, a wandering swordsman with extraordinary skills, or even a legendary Kemonomimi!

It was just like pulling cards in a mobile game, with rarities ranging from R to SSR.

’Have to admit, this feeling of opening a blind box is pretty exciting.’

As Shen Xing watched with anticipation, the tavern door was slowly pushed open.

The first thing to emerge from inside was a massive head.

Messy, center-parted long hair fell naturally, and a single, huge eye that took up nearly a third of its face rolled around, surveying the surroundings.

Next, it bent down, its enormous body struggling to squeeze through the doorway.

A moment later, a Cyclops over five meters tall, wearing a tattered animal-hide vest and holding a long-handled iron hammer, stood before Shen Xing.

Shen Xing’s fantasy shattered.

’Give me back my Kemonomimi, dammit!’

Nearby, a red-haired figure approached silently, her right hand resting on the hilt of her sword as she warily watched the massive creature.

"Hmm, so this is the territory that’s recruiting?"

The Cyclops looked around and commented in a gruff voice, "Doesn’t look half bad. It’s got walls, houses... much better than the dump of a village I was in before."

Then, his gaze fell upon the human in the wheelchair before him.

"Oh! By the Mother of All-Seeing, you’re the Lord of this territory?" he asked tentatively.

Shen Xing nodded slightly.

"My goodness, it’s a human kid in a wheelchair. You’re not even as tall as a Dwarf."

The Cyclops looked completely astonished, then quickly added, "By the way, don’t get me wrong. I’m not discriminating against disabled people. I’m discriminating against those Dwarves."

Shen Xing’s mouth twitched. ’What in the world have I just recruited?’

"Getting back to business, are you short on hands in your territory? I can help," the Cyclops said, leaning in closer.

"My territory is indeed recruiting right now." Shen Xing paused, then said in a serious tone, "But before that, you need to introduce yourself and tell me what you can do."

"You’re right, I should introduce myself first." The Cyclops nodded. "My name is Logan, Logan the Stonebreaker. I’m an intermediate Blacksmith and can forge Blue or Green-Quality equipment."

"My forging skills are no worse than those Dwarves. As long as you’re willing to feed me, I’ll work for you."

’A Blacksmith?’

Shen Xing’s heart stirred. His territory already had a Blacksmith Shop; it was just missing a Blacksmith.

’And he’s an intermediate Blacksmith, no less—a rare talent indeed.’

’To use the mobile game analogy, he’s basically an SR-rank pull.’

’But something about this feels off.’

’An intermediate Blacksmith is someone even Extraordinary Level Lords would be fighting over.’

’Even in the major Royal Cities of this world, Blacksmiths are a highly sought-after profession.’

’So how did this guy end up in such a sorry state, and why is he willing to settle for the territory of a mere Apprentice Level Lord like me?’

"Are you hiding something from me?" Shen Xing stared directly at him. "If you don’t tell me the truth, I won’t hire you."

The Cyclops looked surprised, seemingly not expecting this Lord’s perception to be so Sharp.

After a moment, he nodded. "Alright, I have to admit, there is something I didn’t mention."

"A group of Dwarves is hunting me. I fled all the way here to escape them."

Hearing this, Shen Xing thought, ’I knew it. This guy is trouble.’

"Hunting you? Why?" he asked calmly, his expression unchanging.

"I don’t know. Maybe because I stole their business in the city."

The Cyclops named Logan pursed his lips. "But you can rest assured, I’ll stay put in the territory. I won’t run around outside or cause you any trouble."

"Besides, the Black Iron Giant City where those Dwarves are from is hundreds of kilometers away. I’ve been on the run for weeks; they won’t find me here."

Shen Xing considered this for a moment. ’This guy probably isn’t telling the whole story. Those Dwarves wouldn’t be hunting him for no reason.’

’However, he had recently been studying the geography of the Mist Continent on the forums, especially the area around Videng Royal City.’

’That Black Iron Giant City was indeed several hundred kilometers away from his location, so the Cyclops wasn’t lying about that.’

’With such a great distance, and in the dense fog, the chances of those Dwarves finding this place were slim.’

’If the worst happens and his enemies do show up, I can just throw this guy out to fend for himself.’

"Alright. From this day forward, you are the first Blacksmith of my territory."

Having made his decision, Shen Xing sent a recruitment invitation to the Cyclops.

[Recruitment successful! Intermediate Blacksmith: Logan the Stonebreaker has joined your territory!]

...

"Haha, thank you, my wheelchair-bound Lord."

Logan let out a hearty laugh, then looked at him expectantly. "By the way, do you have any food? I’ve been starving for three or four days. I can barely walk anymore."

Shen Xing thought for a moment, took out two pieces of Moonlight Bread, and handed them over.

"It smells so good, and it looks delicious!"

Logan took the two pieces of bread, placed them in his wide palm, and took a deep sniff, almost drooling.

Compared to his size, the two pieces of bread looked tiny. He tossed them into his mouth like a handful of beans.

"This bread is truly delicious. I can taste the moonlight."

He licked his lips, his single eye squinting slightly as he asked with a look of pure longing, "Honorable Lord, may I please have some more?"

Shen Xing looked up. "There’s more bread, but first, I need to test your skills."