Magic Farm 94
by CristaeChapter 94: Level-Three Shelter, Treehouse
Shen Ben Wuxiang sent over the 260 units of blue-quality stone he was missing.
[I Love Survival Games: Thank you, Shen Ben Wuxiang.]
[Shen Ben Wuxiang: Don’t thank me yet—let’s see a server-wide announcement and show off your strength.]
Qi Yu opened his personal panel, navigated to the shelter upgrade page, and submitted the required items and materials one by one:
Level-three shelter blueprint 1/1, acquired.
Blue-quality wood 1000/1000, fulfilled.
Blue-quality stone 600/600, fulfilled.
Magic crystal stones 100/100, fulfilled.
The other requirements—five basic buildings, five mutated/magical plants—had long since been met.
[Upgrade shelter?]
Qi Yu said, “Upgrade.”
The familiar white mist enveloped him.
[This shelter upgrade will take some time. Please be patient.]
Qi Yu was surprised. He remembered that the previous two shelter upgrades had simply enveloped him in white mist, and were finished quickly.
So the level-three upgrade actually required a longer process?
Could there be a major transformation? He felt a surge of anticipation.
The white mist restricted his range of movement. He was confined to this small area—perhaps protected within it—and he could sense nothing of the outside world.
Qi Yu didn’t know what he could do; this space seemed to cut off everything, even the magical elements were hard to sense, so cultivating didn’t seem like a good option.
Fortunately, his backpack still worked. He simply took out the Basic Principles of Magic Circles and opened it, thinking he might as well attend a lesson.
After all, the shelter would notify him when the upgrade was complete.
As he turned the pages, his consciousness blurred, and he was drawn into the world of the textbook.
It was the familiar Magister Karen.
“Welcome to my magic circle class, child.” Teacher Karen smiled with gentle kindness.
Qi Yu stared at him for a moment, feeling a bit odd, but obediently greeted, “Hello, Teacher Karen.”
Thankfully, the other didn’t say anything unnecessary: “Let’s continue with our previous lessons.”
Qi Yu felt the pace of this lesson seemed faster than the last.
Much of the content, once Karen confirmed he understood, was not repeated.
And some sections recorded in the book, Teacher Karen skipped over entirely.
Qi Yu pointed at a section on the tree and asked in confusion, “We haven’t learned this part yet.”
“Oh, those things.” The other glanced at it, dismissive. “They’re not useful. You don’t need to learn that.”
Qi Yu: ?
He whispered, “Didn’t you write this into the course yourself? I paid 150,000 gold coins for this.”
He emphasized the “150,000.”
Magister Karen: “…”
He had to explain, “You’re a genius, Qi Yu. You must understand, some things ordinary people need to learn, but a genius doesn’t.”
Qi Yu finally understood where that strange feeling in his heart had come from.
In previous lessons, Teacher Karen had seemed like a programmed machine.
“He” taught according to a designed curriculum. Although you could ask questions if you didn’t understand, the answers always seemed to fall within certain limits.
Any interaction beyond the course was basically nonexistent.
Now that Qi Yu understood more about magic, he could guess that this “teacher” was likely a projection created by spiritual power.
Of course, 150,000 gold coins could buy a magister’s course, but there was no way it could buy a real magister’s personal instruction.
After all, mages were truly expensive—Qi Yu knew this well.
But today’s lesson felt completely different.
He felt as if he were truly face-to-face with a magister, receiving personal guidance.
“You—”
The magister seemed to see his doubts, but interrupted him: “No unnecessary talk in class.”
He looked at Qi Yu kindly. “Didn’t you want to learn how to engrave magic circles onto objects? Let me teach you.”
“…”
This was a windfall. Qi Yu was delighted.
Though he didn’t ask, and the other didn’t admit it, he was certain—this was a real, live lesson, wasn’t it?
Could it be that last time, as he’d guessed, Magister Karen had taken a liking to his talent and wanted to leave him a legacy?
“Focus.” Clearly, the magister noticed his wandering mind.
Qi Yu immediately pushed aside his wild thoughts and immersed himself in the lesson.
He didn’t know how much time had passed.
“All right, that’s all for today’s lesson.”
Qi Yu pulled himself out of the world of knowledge, his eyes bright, his mind brimming with curiosity and the new skills he’d just acquired.
Looking at Magister Karen, he remembered what had happened before.
He looked at the other with anticipation.
But the magister only sighed softly: “See you next lesson.”
Before Qi Yu could ask, his consciousness flickered, and he was back in his body.
Basic Principles of Magic Circles was clutched in his arms, its pages closed.
At that moment, the mist dispersed as well.
Qi Yu had no time to regret not receiving a legacy—he was stunned by the scene before him.
Was this… my little house?
It was already dark outside.
He remembered he’d started the upgrade in the first-floor living room of his shelter.
But now, his feet stood on smooth wooden flooring, and everywhere he looked, every piece of furniture in the living room—wall lamps, dining table, chairs, beanbag sofa, even the fireplace—had changed.
When he was young, Qi Yu had attended school at the base with the others, but only enough to be considered literate—he couldn’t come up with any elegant adjectives.
He only felt that although the furniture looked different, together they were perfectly unified and harmonious.
The soft glow of the wall lamps spread gently across the room, making the whole house feel tranquil and warm.
In any case, it looked wonderful!
Most importantly, he looked toward the window.
The old living room had windows too—bright glass panes through which he could see part of his territory.
Now, the simple glass windows had become elegant stained glass, with what seemed to be vines or leaves hanging down outside.
But that wasn’t the point. The point was that through the window, his view was of a black sky, a curtain of rain, and… perhaps, far-off treetops illuminated by the bright sunflowers?
This perspective was definitely not from ground level.
He hurried to the window, pushed it open, and leaned out, stunned.
His little house was far above the ground—at least twenty meters high.
He saw a huge, towering tree.
His new home, in a strange yet harmonious way, was nestled among the branches and leaves of this giant tree.
The tree was so lush, its crown like a giant umbrella. Even with his head sticking out the window, the heavy rain couldn’t penetrate the layers of leaves to wet him.
Looking down from this height, he had a completely new perspective on his territory.
My territory has become so vast!
After his initial daze came novelty and excitement.
Qi Yu circled his new house, finding ways to go up and down.
The way up was a wooden staircase inside the house; down was a door.
Opening the door, he saw a long, winding staircase.
It spiraled around the trunk of the tree, layer after layer, the handrails decorated with beautiful vines and small flowers.
All of this was so new to Qi Yu.
Step by step, he slowly descended along the trunk. The heavy rain was completely blocked by the tree, and everything felt like a fantastical dream.
His feet finally touched the ground.
He looked up, seeing his new house from this angle.
Only then did he realize—though it was already night, he didn’t feel his vision was limited at all.
The whole tree, including the little house in its branches, glowed with a gentle, soft light.
Standing firmly on the ground brought him back to reality; finally, he snapped out of his astonishment and opened his survival panel.
Immediately, a message from the survival game popped up.
[Congratulations to player “I Love Survival Games” for successfully upgrading their shelter. Detected as the first player on the server to upgrade to a level-three shelter. System reward: Diamond Treasure Chest x1.]
[Would you like to activate a server-wide announcement? Note: Server-wide announcements grant extra rewards.]
Of course he chose to announce it.
He was already very familiar with this process.
After selecting “announce,” Qi Yu saw that Shen Ben Wuxiang had sent him several messages.
It seemed that, since the upgrade had taken so long, Shen Ben Wuxiang—knowing he’d gathered all the necessary materials—was puzzled by the lack of announcement.
[Shen Ben Wuxiang: What’s up? Haven’t upgraded yet?]
[Shen Ben Wuxiang: Missing something?]
After a while, probably around dinnertime:
[Shen Ben Wuxiang: Not convenient to chat right now?]
But perhaps worried Qi Yu was really busy, he hadn’t used the communication orb.
It was already seven in the evening.
[I Love Survival Games: The level-three shelter upgrade took a while. I went to class and missed your messages.]
As soon as he sent that, a golden, sparkling announcement popped up on the survival panel.
[Congratulations to player “I Love Survival Games” for successfully upgrading to a level-three shelter. System reward: Diamond Treasure Chest x1.]
Shen Ben Wuxiang’s message followed:
[Shen Ben Wuxiang: Saw it.]
[Shen Ben Wuxiang: Congratulations, congratulations.]
[Congratulations! You have received an extra reward for the server-wide announcement: Farm Owner Profession Skill Book x1 (Purple).]
A booklet appeared in Qi Yu’s hand—this must be the reward he’d just received.
[Would you like to activate the skill book?]
A purple-quality skill book?
Qi Yu didn’t open it right away, placing it together with the diamond treasure chest he’d just earned.
He’d open them both later.
[I Love Survival Games: Shen Ben Wuxiang, can you take a call now?]
[I Love Survival Games: I’m really happy right now, and want to talk to you.]
[Shen Ben Wuxiang: I get it, I get it. Struck it rich and want to show off to your poor buddy, right? Come on, I’m ready!]
Qi Yu activated the communication orb.
The other side picked up quickly.
Qi Yu’s first words were a greeting: “Good evening, Dan Xingyu.”
He really was so earnest.
Thinking this to himself, he replied honestly, “Good evening, Qi Yu.”
After the greeting, Qi Yu explained seriously, “It’s not showing off—it’s sharing my joy.”
Dan Xingyu coughed. “…Mm, I understand.”
Only then did Qi Yu say cheerfully, “Now that I’ve upgraded to a level-three shelter, my territory is so much bigger. I can plant all the trees I dug up, and set up more energy towers.”
“And my house—”
He said, “My house turned into a huge tree, growing up in the branches. It glows, and it’s so beautiful!”