Magic Farm 91

Chapter 91: The Golden Apple Sapling Sprouts

He hadn’t slept well last night.

When Qi Yu woke up in the morning, he sat on the edge of the bed, a little dazed.

It seemed as though he had been scolded in a dream, though he couldn’t be sure—he had forgotten everything.

He yawned, bleary-eyed, staring at the rain outside the window. When his little house had been upgraded, the glass windows had come with curtains, but Qi Yu rarely bothered to draw them.

After a moment to collect himself, he climbed out of bed.

While washing up, he discovered his hair was sticking out in all directions.

At first, his hair had grown at an alarming rate, and since Qi Yu wasn’t used to trimming it himself every day, after a few days of cutting it short, it had obediently stopped growing.

After finishing his morning routine and spending some effort to tame his unruly hair, Qi Yu went downstairs.

The moment he stepped outside, he was greeted by a ground covered in white light.

Collect all.

By now, he couldn’t even be bothered to check the survival panel’s notifications anymore—he knew there would be plenty of swiftlet meat, plenty of feathers, and plenty of beast crystal stones.

The backpack would tally everything automatically.

He opened the leaderboard.

First place on the points leaderboard: “I Love Survival Games,” 87,660 points.

Second place: “Reaching for the Moon in the Ninth Heaven,” 33,108 points.

Third place: “My Fate Is Mine, Not Heaven’s,” 25,000 points.

Fourth place: “Grind King,” 19,888 points.

…

Ninth place: “Tranquility Brings Distance,” 13,657 points.

Tenth place: “Brother Civil Engineer,” 13,445 points.

…

Seventeenth place: “Afraid to Open My Eyes,” 11,030 points.

It seemed the players further down the list had fought hard through the night.

The 01 Squad was already expressing concern for Qi Yu’s health.

[Afraid to Open My Eyes: The game master is already miles ahead at the top of the leaderboard. There’s really no need to push so hard at night.]

[Tranquility Brings Distance: Indeed, this survival game looks like a long campaign. You still need to take care of your health.]

They all knew Qi Yu had an energy tower for defense, but racking up over ten thousand points in a single night was clearly not normal.

They assumed Qi Yu had also used a potion to attract mutated creatures and had spent the night grinding points without rest.

[I Love Survival Games: I didn’t stay up all night. I have my own methods.]

[Brother Civil Engineer: That’s good, we get it. The strength of the top player on the power ranking, right? Haha.]

[I Love Survival Games: You all don’t seem very motivated to chase points?]

Logically speaking, everyone in the group had energy towers. As long as their territories were secure, and they could hunt outside without worry, their rankings should be even higher.

Besides, those two siblings had already privately asked him to reserve blueprints for level-three shelters, yet none of the three in the group had approached him.

[Tranquility Brings Distance: Are you saying you want an old man like me to compete desperately with you young people?]

[Brother Civil Engineer: Are you saying you want a businessman like me to fight tooth and nail with a bunch of combat professionals?]

[Afraid to Open My Eyes: Are you saying you want a potion-mixer like me to compete with a bunch of combat professionals?]

The three replied in perfect unison.

[Brother Civil Engineer: Hey, as far as our group’s reputation goes, having you, the game master, is enough. You should try to get the level-three shelter blueprint as soon as possible and be the first in the server to upgrade your shelter. Let us bask in your glory.]

The small group had previously analyzed and discussed what seemed to be an unspoken but very real rule in the survival game.

Whenever someone obtained something for the first time, or was the first to upgrade their shelter, it was as if some kind of seal had been unlocked, and similar resources would become more plentiful for others.

Take the positioning teleport scroll, for example.

Ever since the first player obtained one, others had started to get them as well.

The same was true for the level-two shelter blueprint. For a long time, only “Need a Bit of Money to Save the Day” had managed to get one during the newbie period.

But ever since Qi Yu had acquired it and successfully upgraded to a level-two shelter, others in the region had started to obtain the blueprint through various means.

And judging from their global rankings, it seemed players in other regions had started to get the blueprints as well.

Now, both Tranquility Brings Distance and Brother Civil Engineer in the group had upgraded.

Afraid to Open My Eyes hadn’t yet, but he’d be able to buy one when the time came.

For this swiftlet points event, while not many could reach the 120,000 points needed for the level-three shelter blueprint, the 60,000 points required for the level-two blueprint was still within reach if one put in the effort.

After a brief chat, Qi Yu replenished the energy for the energy tower and the alchemical automaton that had worked through the night.

The plants, however, didn’t need any.

In fact, the demon vine had grown another full circle, and now nearly covered two-thirds of the fence.

Ever since the swiftlets had arrived, the children never complained of hunger again.

Qi Yu went to check on the screaming lily-of-the-valley that had been mutating overnight, only to find that its evolution was taking unexpectedly long and still hadn’t finished.

What surprised Qi Yu, though, was that the seven-colored flower had bloomed.

Or perhaps it couldn’t quite be called blooming—it had opened… one-seventh of a flower?

At the very center of the beautiful plant, a tiny bud had appeared.

A single pink petal had gently unfurled.

[Seven-Colored Flower: Its mood has finally improved a little. The seven-colored flower has grown one of its petals.]

Qi Yu could finally see what effect this mysterious and temperamental magical plant possessed.

[Seven-Colored Flower’s Pink Petal: In the seven-colored flower’s understanding, pink represents luck and happiness. Seeing the pink petal might mean your luck will be better today.]

Hmm???

As everyone knew, the survival panel never lied.

So, this moody, temperamental seven-colored flower could actually increase luck?

Was it really that powerful?

Qi Yu thought to himself that it was a pity—if only he could open a few high-level treasure chests today.

When he reached the advanced farmland beside the goddess statue, he was greeted by his second surprise of the day.

The golden apple sapling had emerged from the earth!

Ever since he’d planted it, the seed had shown no signs of life. If not for the constant sense of vitality he could feel from it, Qi Yu would have doubted whether it even existed anymore.

Who would have thought that the long-dormant golden apple sapling would finally sprout?

Qi Yu turned to look at the seven-colored flower. Could this, too, be a stroke of luck?

He crouched down to observe carefully.

The golden apple sapling had only just broken the surface, barely as tall as a finger above the soil, with two round leaves perched atop its slender shoot.

Its entire body gleamed with the color of gold, emanating a soft, gentle light. Even in this gloomy, rainy weather, it sparkled, living up to its name as the “golden apple tree.”

[Golden Apple Sapling: Sprouting. The sacred tree of the Goddess of Nature.]

The survival panel didn’t say what effect it had.

But Qi Yu realized something. Activating Nature’s Whispers, he saw “happy,” “excited,” and “joyful” emotions radiating from all the plants.

And, in every plant’s status bar, the words “thriving growth” had appeared.

Hmm?

Wait a minute?

All the plants?

Qi Yu sprang to his feet and hurried to the base of the black tree.

[A mysterious ancient tree that appeared by chance. Status: Dormant.]

Wait, wait a second—

Qi Yu reached out and laid his hand on the black trunk, letting his magic flow from his palm, carefully sensing the entire tree.

Damn it!

He withdrew his hand, staring at the tree in disbelief.

When he’d brought it back yesterday, he had been absolutely certain that this tree had long since lost all traces of life.

The survival panel had said as much—it had died ages ago.

But just now, faint as it was—so faint as to be almost undetectable—Qi Yu, as a mage who had studied life magic, had unmistakably sensed from this tree a thread of vitality, as weak as a candle flame about to be snuffed out.

This barely perceptible spark of life, if found in any living being, would mean it was on the verge of death.

But if it appeared in something that had long since died?

Then perhaps—it was on the verge of coming back to life?

Qi Yu stared blankly at the tree, then turned to look at the tiny golden apple sapling in the field.

Could it be that the goddess’s sacred tree was truly this powerful?

Just sprouting, and it could revive dead plants?

He recalled something and walked to another area.

As soon as he arrived, he saw specks of green dotting the soil.

Qi Yu: Wow, it really did come back to life.

Here, he had placed a kind of magical plant he’d brought back from his exploration of the Forest of Stars.

Withered black-veined moss—the survival panel described it as a symbiotic magical plant that could make the land more fertile.

He had brought it back on a whim, thinking that since there was space on his territory, and the plant could enhance the land’s vitality, perhaps even in its withered state it might have some special effect.

He had forgotten all about it once he got busy.

Now, it had revived on its own.

Qi Yu guessed that the little black-veined moss had regained its vitality under the influence of the golden apple sapling’s power.

A massive being like the black tree might require more strength, which was why it was still dormant, slowly recovering.

He still had five more trees like it in his backpack.

And, if nothing else, there was still a whole grove of ancient trees at the place he’d discovered yesterday.

Qi Yu was struck by a sudden, whimsical idea—why not just dig them all up and bring them back?

He wondered what quality those ancient trees might be. If he managed to revive them and plant them, would chopping them down yield high-quality wood?

No matter what, the effect of the golden apple sapling was truly astonishing.

He cast a blessing spell on the golden apple sapling, then remembered that this was the sacred tree of the Goddess of Nature.

With utmost reverence, Qi Yu bowed in gratitude to the goddess. “Praise be to the great and merciful Goddess of Nature.”

After praising the goddess, he turned his gaze to the seven-colored flower.

Now, he couldn’t tell whether it was the seven-colored flower’s luck that had allowed the golden apple sapling to break through the soil, or if the sapling’s sprouting had lifted the seven-colored flower’s mood.

Either way, whichever it was, it was a blessing for the territory and for himself as its lord.

In high spirits, Qi Yu walked to the back of the little building.

The newly acquired blue resource point—the small lake—was here.

The small lake was exceptionally beautiful. Its surface was like a clear blue-green mirror, the white sand at the bottom visible at a glance. In the lake grew some extraordinarily lovely aquatic flowers and plants—no wonder it was certified as “exquisite” by the survival game.

At a spot near the shore, a pale yellow parasol stood quietly, shading a wooden lounge chair, a bucket, and a fishing rod.

None of these items had originally belonged to the territory; it was clear they came as part of the lake.

How thoughtful.

Qi Yu walked over and circled the lake, observing it. Aside from its beauty, he couldn’t discern anything else special about it.

He then approached the items, and this time, the survival panel provided information.

[Parasol: An essential tool for fishing. It shields you from wind and rain, and protects against the blazing sun.]

[Lounge Chair: A comfortable seat. Effect: Calms the mind and focuses the spirit.]

[Fishing Rod: The small lake’s matching equipment. Using it, you may catch any kind of reward.]

[Bucket: Place to store your spoils.]