Magic Farm 85
by CristaeChapter 85: The Purely Hungry Devilvine
Before solving the weather problem, Qi Yu didn’t want to take in any new residents for now.
Suddenly, the Screaming Lily began to shriek.
Qi Yu didn’t hesitate—he went outside at once.
Even with the Bright Sunflower illuminating the area, nighttime visibility was still no match for daylight, and the heavy rain further obscured his sight.
Qi Yu simply released his spiritual power, his invisible “domain” spreading out from him in silver threads, extending to every corner of his territory.
He saw them.
A small flock of rain swifts, using the downpour as cover, was about to reach the territory.
Qi Yu didn’t wait for the energy tower to act.
Several water arrows appeared out of thin air, each one piercing through several rain swifts in succession.
Before they even hit the ground, the rain swifts dissolved into white balls of light.
[Obtained Rain Swift Meat x8, Rain Swift Feathers x10, Level 1 Beast Crystal x1.]
[Successfully killed Level 1 Mutant Rain Swift x19. Event leaderboard unlocked. Points shop unlocked.]
Nineteen rain swifts, and only one beast crystal dropped?
Curious, Qi Yu opened the survival panel and saw a new swallow-shaped icon. He clicked it open.
There was a points leaderboard, already densely populated with rankings.
At the top was his own ID.
I Love Survival Games: 19 points.
That little flock had nineteen rain swifts, earning him nineteen points.
Qi Yu then opened the “Points Shop” in the lower right corner.
At first glance, his breath caught.
Tier 3 Shelter Blueprint: 120,000 points.
Tier 2 Shelter Blueprint: 60,000 points.
Shelter Protective Shield: 50,000 points.
…
Advanced Farmland: 5,000 points.
Intermediate Farmland: 2,000 points.
Basic Farmland: 1,000 points.
…
Basic Building Upgrade Blueprint: 1,000 points.
Basic Plant Seed Pack: 500 points.
Basic Potion Material Pack: 500 points.
Basic Forging Material Pack: 500 points.
…
Any Furniture Blind Box: 50 points.
Basic Food Blind Box: 50 points.
…
This event’s rewards were clearly geared toward improving shelters.
Qi Yu’s heart pounded as he stared at the Tier 3 Shelter Blueprint at the top.
For him, all the other upgrade materials for the shelter were easy to gather—except for the shelter upgrade blueprint.
He hadn’t found it in Gold Cavern City. He’d asked President Sean about it in a roundabout way, but the man had no idea what a “shelter” even was.
The Mage Association Shop had nothing relevant either.
He never imagined that this limited-time rain swift event would be where it finally appeared!
120,000 points—that meant 120,000 level 1 rain swifts.
If before, Qi Yu had thought this would be a hassle, now he only worried about one thing: Would there really be enough rain swifts in the Forest of Stars to kill?
Area Channel:
[Roach Smells Weird: Holy crap, so many good things in the points shop?!]
[The More You Grind, The Harder Life Gets: Just look at the points, honey—any good item is going to cost you your life.]
[Liver Emperor: In the survival game, when do we not have to risk our lives? At least in this event, risking your life gets you something decent. Let’s grind!]
[Chocolate Candy Ball: Good luck, bosses! We little guys will just sip the soup, maybe get a food pack or two and that’ll be enough.]
[Stray on the Roadside: Tier 3 Shelter Blueprint… There hasn’t been a server-wide announcement yet, right? Wonder which boss will get it first.]
[Roach Smells Weird: I’m betting on the game boss!]
[Grumpy Bro: I’ve been meaning to ask, @Roach Smells Weird, what’s the story behind your ID anyway?]
…
01 Survival Squad.
[Bugan Zhengkaiyan: Oh wow, a shelter upgrade blueprint—I finally have hope of upgrading my little wooden house!]
[Tu Mu Laoge: I just did some networking. All those guilds tried, but points can’t be transferred. That’s good news for us.]
[Bugan Zhengkaiyan: Nice one, bro.]
[Ningjing Zhiyuan: This event… the survival game really knows how to stir people up. Even an old guy like me feels my blood boiling at those rewards.]
[I Love Survival Games: Good luck, everyone.]
[Bugan Zhengkaiyan: Even the game boss has been summoned out? Haha, you too—go for it, try to be the first to get the Tier 3 Shelter Blueprint!]
[I Love Survival Games: Thanks, I’ll do my best.]
Bugan Zhengkaiyan nearly burst out laughing at such a prim and proper reply.
.
Exiting the area chat, Qi Yu reopened the event page.
He raised his eyebrows, noticing the points leaderboard had already changed.
First place was now an old acquaintance.
My Fate, Not Heaven’s: 89 points.
He’d already killed eighty-nine rain swifts?
Qi Yu: ?
He couldn’t help but look at his own shelter, his own territory.
Wasn’t it supposed to be that the more prosperous the territory, the more rain swifts you attracted?
Plus, his territory had so many mutant plants—the system had once reminded him that mutant plants would attract mutant creatures.
And the Fragrant Grass was now in full bloom, another plant known to attract mutant creatures.
Where were his beloved mutant rain swifts?
Qi Yu saw nothing, but the area channel was already abuzz with discussion about the new rankings:
[I’m Very Bossy: Just goes to show, no matter how strong a life profession is early on, when it comes to real combat, they’re still pretty weak.]
[Hundred Ghosts Against the Flow: Exactly. As the saying goes, my neighbor hoards food, I hoard guns—my neighbor is my pantry. No matter how well a life profession develops, in the end they’re just blood bags for others.]
[Grumpy Bro: Seriously, don’t you guys feel like clowns on stage? Every time you get a little edge, you start bragging and putting others down, then get slapped in the face, and repeat.]
[Grumpy Bro: Honestly, I’m curious—has the game boss ever even bothered to respond to you? Why do you hate him so much?]
Though no names were mentioned, among the top “life professions,” aside from “I Love Survival Games” the “farm owner” (the one the Pantheon guild hated most), who else could it be?
[I’m Very Bossy: Is I Love Survival Games your dad or something? Why are you so protective? Does your dad know how filial you are?]
[Grumpy Bro: If I could suck up to him, I wouldn’t mind! Too bad the boss is too mysterious.]
[I’m Very Bossy: ?]
[Roach Smells Weird: Ah, I want to recognize the game boss as my godfather too! Who wouldn’t want a powerful, sharp-tongued but soft-hearted, emotionally stable big daddy in this lonely survival game?]
[I’m Very Bossy: ?]
Need a Little Money to Survive was lurking, eating melon seeds, and really wanted to jump out and brag, “I’ve almost succeeded in sucking up!”
But last time, the Pantheon had left him with psychological trauma, so he could only secretly enjoy it by himself.
My Fate, Not Heaven’s, looked at the area channel discussion and snorted.
His profession was “Monster Hunter,” and he had a class skill that gave him a chance for double drops when killing mutant creatures.
In this points event, when the skill triggered, he got double points for rain swift kills.
He’d just gotten lucky—a flock of rain swifts had triggered double drops, and his points had shot to first place, leaving a big gap with the others.
He looked at the points shop, a confident smile on his face: This event was tailor-made for him. He’d like to see how a farm owner could compete with him this time.
The farm owner himself had no idea someone was competing with him again.
He was still puzzled as to why so few rain swifts were coming his way. No sooner had he thought this than the Screaming Lily in the fields began shrieking madly.
Qi Yu had already figured out some patterns: the Screaming Lily’s cries and their frequency correlated with the type of enemy approaching.
This time, it was clearly more urgent than before.
Something big was coming!
He instantly perked up, spreading his spiritual power.
In the darkness, a patch of gray-white “cloud” was speeding toward the territory.
The survival panel updated in sync: this batch of rain swifts included not just level 1s, but more than a dozen level 2s!
Qi Yu didn’t wait for the rain swifts to enter his territory, but unleashed dozens of water arrows in a barrage. Any that slipped through were finished off with more water arrows.
He used water arrows because, in this weather, water magic was more mana-efficient.
He also had another thought: in the resource zone, after swinging the Giantwood Heart staff all day, his attack attribute had increased by two.
That meant the body could increase its attributes through “training.”
So, magic should also be able to improve through practice and actual combat.
Rain swifts were numerous and not too strong—perfect targets for magic practice.
[Killed Level 1 Rain Swift x64, Level 2 Rain Swift x13. Obtained Rain Swift Meat x45, Rain Swift Feathers x60. Obtained Level 1 Beast Crystal x13, Level 2 Beast Crystal x3.]
This time, the loot was noticeably better.
Checking his points, I Love Survival Games now had 148—back to first place.
Qi Yu did some quick math: aside from the 1 point per level 1 rain swift, the 13 level 2 rain swifts gave him 65 points.
So, each level 2 mutant rain swift was worth 5 points.
Area Channel:
[Grumpy Bro: …See what I said?]
[I’m Very Bossy: Just lucky, that’s all. Who can’t kill rain swifts? This event just depends on whose shelter gets invaded by more.]
[Grumpy Bro: Makes sense, but you weren’t so rational a minute ago.]
[I’m Very Bossy: Grumpy Bro, you’d better hope you don’t fall into my hands!]
[Grumpy Bro: See, now you’re mad again.]
…
From the second wave of rain swifts onward, they kept coming in fits and starts, almost without pause.
About every half hour, another flock would appear.
Qi Yu kept watch until midnight, not letting the energy tower or mutant plants act—he killed all the rain swifts himself.
By then, his points had reached 1,600.
His backpack now held: Rain Swift Meat x849, Rain Swift Feathers x827, Level 1 Beast Crystal x203, Level 2 Beast Crystal x29.
Qi Yu stopped.
His mana was still plentiful—killing level 1 and 2 rain swifts didn’t require his full strength, and between waves, he could recover mana through cultivation. Overall, the consumption wasn’t great.
He didn’t plan to continue for now.
For one, he needed rest.
More importantly, ever since the rain swifts had appeared, a certain little creature in the territory had been crying out for food.
The Devilvine.
At first, Qi Yu hadn’t used Nature’s Whisper and was too absorbed in practicing magic and killing monsters to notice.
But by the third or fourth wave, a powerful emotion appeared in his spiritual domain—even without Nature’s Whisper.
“Hungry!”
“Want to eat…”
“Save some, save some…”
Qi Yu was startled and immediately cast Nature’s Whisper, only to be bombarded by a mind full of “hungry.”