Chapter 290 - 274: Saving the Pest-Infested Tea Tree

Chapter 290: Chapter 274: Saving the Pest-Infested Tea Tree

A game instance has finally generated again.

What’s more, the mission reward was a full 1,000 catties of top-quality West Lake Longjing Tea.

West Lake Longjing is the cream of the crop among Longjing Teas. And top-quality West Lake Longjing is undoubtedly the best of the best.

Besides being an ingredient for Longjing Shrimp, this tea would also make a fantastic gift for any tea lover, who would be absolutely delighted.

This game instance was just too exciting.

So, Li You didn’t hesitate and chose to enter the game instance immediately.

"Entering game instance. Countdown initiated..."

As the countdown finished, Li You entered the game instance.

He was in the same spot, only Ye Shengge was gone, and his own body had shrunk countless times over.

Li You was already used to all of this.

He quickly opened his Storage Pavilion and equipped all his gear.

’This time, I’m facing three types of monsters. I have to be extra careful.’

Tea Aphids, Tea Tussock Moths, and Tea Black Moth Larvae. These three were all common pests for tea trees.

’Killing thirty of each is basically just pest control for the tea trees.’

Right now, he had three pieces of green-tier equipment: the Celestial Beetle Cocoon Clothing, the Snake Scale Sword, and the Bee King’s Helmet.

His stats were:

"Qi and Blood: 550

Attack: 16

Defense: 32

Agility: 14."

’Not bad. Now to see what the stats of my three opponents are.’

Soon, the first type of monster appeared.

It was dark brown all over, with dark yellow antennae.

’This must be the Tea Aphid.’

This type of pest likes to gather on the undersides of new, tender leaves or on the young stems of tea trees to feed, and they reproduce very quickly.

’I have to kill every single one of these pests I see.’

’Let’s see its stats.’

"Monster: Tea Aphid

Qi and Blood: 200

Attack: 5

Defense: 20

Agility: 5."

’Low attack, high defense, and its overall stats are quite a bit lower than mine.’

’This kind of monster is a low threat to me, which is just how I like it.’

So, he brandished his Snake Scale Sword and charged right in.

The Tea Aphid sensed the danger, but instead of fleeing, it bared its fangs and met the attack.

But there was a large gap in strength between it and Li You.

Li You mowed them down, quickly dispatching five.

Just then, another type of monster appeared.

It had a slender, yellowish-brown body, covered all over with yellow poisonous hairs of varying lengths.

’It’s a Tea Tussock Moth. One of the main pests for tea trees.’

It ate everything: the buds, leaves, bark, flowers, and even the young fruit of the tea tree.

Plus, its body was covered in poisonous hairs. If they touched human skin, they would cause redness, swelling, intense pain, and itching.

’This is another bug I’ve got to kill on sight.’

’Let’s see its stats.’

"Monster: Tea Tussock Moth

Qi and Blood: 300

Attack: 12

Defense: 8

Agility: 5."

’As expected of a creature with poisonous hairs, its attack is much higher than the Tea Aphid’s. I’d better not get hit by this thing.’

’But its defense is low, so if I hit it, the damage will be massive.’

’So, it shouldn’t be too hard for me to handle.’

’But with two types of monsters appearing at once, things are getting a little tricky.’

’I hope the third type shows up later.’

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as he wished, and the third type of monster appeared soon after.

This one also had a slender body, with a brown head and a black body. It also had poisonous hairs, just fewer than the Tea Tussock Moth’s.

But if they touched human skin, they would still cause redness, swelling, pain, and itching.

’This is the Tea Black Moth Larva, another one of the tea tree’s main pests. It likes to chew on tea leaves and can devour all of a tree’s leaves and new shoots.’

’Another one I have to kill on sight.’

’Let’s see its stats.’

"Monster: Tea Black Moth Larva

Qi and Blood: 350

Attack: 13

Defense: 10

Agility: 6."

’All its stats are higher than the Tea Tussock Moth’s. Luckily, its defense is still pretty low compared to my attack.’

’Otherwise, even facing this one pest alone would have been tricky for me.’

’But now, even with its low defense, all three types of monsters are here at once, attacking simultaneously, each with its own unique attack style.’

’This is going to be a problem.’

’This mission is a lot harder than I first thought. I didn’t expect all three monster types to show up at once.’

’I thought the next type would only appear after I’d killed off the first.’

’I have to go all out now. Otherwise, I might actually fail this mission.’

However, this also made Li You inexplicably more excited.

’Alright, let’s have a real battle.’

Li You resumed the fight, which proved to be full of close calls.

However, pleasant surprises also kept appearing.

Items started to drop.

"Item Drop: Tea Saplings (Large) x20."

"Item Drop: Soursop Tree Seedlings (Large) x2."

"Item Drop: Superior-quality Two-blade Pork x500 catties (Ingredient)."

"Item Drop: Earth Fertilizer x1000 catties (Effective on all fruits, vegetables, and trees)."

"..."

The constant item drop notifications made Li You incredibly excited, and his combat power surged.

The battle was dangerous, but the rewards were immense.

’Twenty tea saplings! Can’t I clear some land and build another Tea Garden with these?’

’And these are tea trees dropped by the system. The tea leaves I harvest from them in the future will definitely be the absolute best quality.’

’Just thinking about it is exciting.’

The two Soursop Tree Seedlings were just as exciting.

Since he had decided to plant a Soursop Tree, Li You had been wondering where he could even get Soursop Tree Seedlings.

’I probably can’t buy this kind of seedling anywhere in the real Xingshui City; I’d likely have to order it online.’

Li You had been planning to look online tonight.

’I can’t believe two of them just dropped for me.’

’The ones dropped by the system are bound to be way better than anything I could buy online.’

’If I bought them online, the survival rate might only be fifty percent. But with these two, it’s almost guaranteed to be one hundred percent.’

’What a great surprise!’

The same went for the Earth Fertilizer. He had fruit tree fertilizer before, but that only worked on fruit trees. This Earth Fertilizer, however, could be used on all kinds of fruits, vegetables, and trees.

’This means I can use it on the vegetables in my garden and on the tea trees I’m about to plant.’

’What a fantastic surprise!’

The battle continued, and items kept dropping. Besides the Two-blade Pork, a good amount of other ingredients that Li You needed also dropped.

Finally, when Li You’s Qi and Blood had dropped to less than 50 points, a system notification appeared:

"Congratulations, Host, you have successfully killed thirty each of the Tea Aphids, Tea Tussock Moths, and Tea Black Moth Larvae. Mission complete.

Mission Reward Acquired: 1,000 catties of West Lake Longjing Tea (Quality: Superior).

Exiting current game instance. One-minute countdown initiated..."

Li You gasped for breath. It was finally over.

’Good, I managed to complete the mission, even if it was a close call.’

Not only did he get 1,000 catties of superior-quality West Lake Longjing Tea, but he also saved the tea tree in front of him.

Since Li You had eliminated the three types of pests in the game instance, they would also disappear from the real-world tea tree.

With its three main pests gone, the tea tree was naturally saved.

This made Li You very happy and gave him a great sense of accomplishment.

...