Chapter 11: Chapter 11

“Didn’t I already heal you?”

“Your healing barely did anything! My HP isn’t even full!”

A group of people were crowded at the camp gate, arguing loudly, but all of them stood firmly within the camp’s boundaries. It was clear they were just venting—no one was actually going to start a fight.

Mu Ying quietly led the old ox past them, secretly delighted. So many new faces! She could probably earn a good amount of copper coins today!

“Hey, wait, Mu Ying! You tell us—there’s nothing wrong with fighting monsters at the camp gate, right? We learned it from you!” Liu Luoluo grabbed Mu Ying and shouted.

“…”

Mu Ying pried her hand off. “Of course there’s nothing wrong with fighting monsters at the camp gate, but only if you’re not getting in other people’s way. Otherwise, why do you think I didn’t lure zombies over here today?”

Honestly, she found professional training much easier than fighting zombies. After all, she was a peace-loving, low-offense druid.

Everyone knew that where there were more people, there’d be more zombies, but she had no desire to join the crowd—she simply didn’t have the ability to take on a horde head-on.

Looking at the druid spell list, even first-level spells weren’t strong enough. Until she reached level 3 and learned second-level spells, there was no point even thinking about going out and slaughtering zombies en masse.

Still, as long as she played it safe, a druid could fight, tank, and heal—survival wasn’t hard.

On the way back, just by attuning herself to a few different types of trees, she’d gained 10 points of class experience. Today, she’d only gotten 5 points of kill experience from slaying 5 zombies. The former was easy and comfortable; the latter required caution and nerves. The comparison made her choice obvious.

Of course, combat skills couldn’t be neglected. Mu Ying figured she could practice her spells on a few zombies each day, but there was no need to grind levels like in a game.

If everyone relied solely on killing monsters, each person would need to kill at least 50 zombies to max out their kill experience quota.

But every failed login only produced two zombies. With so many people leveling up, there just weren’t enough zombies to go around.

Plus, as the attribute panel indicated, at level 2, kill experience could only account for up to 50% of the total. That meant class experience was far more important.

Thinking of this, Mu Ying reminded everyone, “You should really study your class descriptions. Professional training is important! Don’t just blindly copy the game’s grind-to-level-up routine.”

“Professional training? What’s that?”

Mu Ying’s words left them stunned.

Since these people were all potential residents of her territory, Mu Ying kindly explained, “Haven’t you noticed that you actually have to learn your skills and spells before you can use them? It’s not like in games where you just pick them up instantly. I don’t know the details for other classes, but I’ll use myself as an example.”

“For instance, I’m a druid. Druids are divine spellcasters whose power comes from nature. So if I want more power, I have to protect nature—in simple terms, build a good relationship with it. That’s why I get close to plants and take care of them. If my actions are effective, I gain class experience.”

“So that’s why you were watering trees this morning?” Cheng Wei suddenly understood. “Is druid training really that easy? With such a big forest here, it must be a breeze for you!”

“Not really. Only effective actions count. If a tree doesn’t need water, watering it is pointless. How you train depends on your own understanding.” Mu Ying had figured out some patterns, but couldn’t guarantee they’d work for others. Besides, she had the Spring of Restoration—if others just copied her, they’d be wasting their time.

Mu Ying’s words made everyone reflect. The argument stopped, and they all flipped open their adventure manuals to check the class descriptions they’d previously ignored.

Unfortunately, none of them were druids, so they couldn’t compare notes with her.

Mu Ying took the opportunity to slip away with the old ox.

She tied the old ox to the trunk supporting her treehouse, then carried the contents of the bamboo baskets inside.

Next, she grabbed her hoe and, with the old ox in tow, went to Crescent Lake to dig a basket of mud and pick up some stones.

Back at the treehouse, she used the stones to mark out a square area about two square meters on the platform outside the door, then filled it with thick soil.

This spot was elevated, within the treehouse’s protected area. Without permission, no one else could climb up the wooden ladder, making it perfect for growing a few things.

She planted the branches she’d brought back in the soil, used druidic tricks to help them take root, and watered them with water mixed with Spring of Restoration to ensure their survival.

These would be her saplings for future tree-planting trips.

After all that, Mu Ying picked out a few seeds of each type she’d collected today, wrapped them up, and headed to Oak General Store.

“Welcome to Oak General Store… I’m the clerk, Wu Yaya… For adventure supplies, please check the product catalog at the counter. If you want to sell plant seeds or seedlings, go to the back room and look for Old Shaum.”

Wu Yaya lay on a cushion, and when it heard someone come in, it listlessly recited its greeting.

After a whole day of business, sales were still zero. Lots of people came to gawk, but few actually bought anything. Some even called it an NPC and tried to get benefits from it.

As a perfectly normal bird, Wu Yaya believed that stinginess was a basic virtue. Give out benefits? The people on this planet must be a bit crazy.

“I’d like to sell some plant seeds,” Mu Ying said, amused by the lively raven. Its movements and expressions were so animated that she had to resist the urge to pet it, settling instead for stroking the round fluffball in her arms.

“They’re not just random weeds you dug up, or branches you snapped off?” Wu Yaya asked suspiciously. Plenty of people had tried to make money today by pulling up grass and breaking off twigs—stuff you could find anywhere in camp. Wu Yaya’s owner had already secretly collected all of those.

“Nope,” Mu Ying replied, taking out the seeds and placing them on the counter.

Wu Yaya poked at them with its claw. “Not bad, still fresh. Old Shaum should be interested. Go through that door and find him.”

Mu Ying nodded and walked over to the door by the rest area, pushing it open to go inside."

"Inside was just a reception room, only slightly larger than the one outside, and completely empty. At the far end of the room, there was another door.

A lively, vibrant melody drifted out from behind that door. Through the crack, tiny spores on the green moss seemed to dance gently to the music.

It seemed the musician had sensed someone’s arrival, for the music trailed off, lingering in the air. After a moment, the door slowly opened, and an elderly man stepped out, holding a strange double-reed woodwind instrument.

He fixed his gaze on Muying, his calm, deep-set eyes suddenly rippling with interest. He asked, “Little girl, what did you think of the tune I just played?”

Muying tore her gaze away from the door, curiosity bubbling inside her. Had she just seen grass growing thickly on the floor behind that door?

She answered the old man’s question almost instinctively, “The moss in there seemed to really enjoy it.”

The old man’s face crinkled into a delighted smile. “Haha! Well said! That tune was meant for them, after all. Come, little girl, have a seat. Let’s have a nice chat. Oh, and by the way, you can call me Shaum.”

“You know, it’s not easy to find a territory that meets my standards. Most people, as soon as they arrive, convert all the plants in their domain into energy or materials. Even druids often don’t understand the true meaning of their profession at first. But you—you went out of your way to set rules to protect these trees. You must have a natural affinity for nature. You really love it, don’t you?”

“Huh? You’re half-elf, too. Even I can’t quite see where your bloodline comes from. No wonder, no wonder!”

Shaum stroked his long beard, studying Muying with amazement.

“Grandpa Shaum, isn’t the elf bloodline something from the Doomsday Game?” Muying had long suspected there was something odd about her half-elf heritage.

“I can’t say too much, but everything you have now is real and truly yours,” Shaum said with a mischievous wink.

Muying understood—this meant one of her parents must have been an elf.

She and Shi Yin—one a half-elf, the other a mixed-blood time-space werewolf—were both born near the Greenhill Forest, even though Deep Blue Star was supposed to have only one intelligent species: humans. She wondered if there was some deeper connection.

“Alright, enough thinking. Let’s see those seeds you brought! Your world is quite special—I’m really looking forward to this,” Shaum said, rubbing his hands together with anticipation.

Maybe it was because Grandpa Shaum gave off such a warm, elder-like feeling, and they were both druids, so she felt both close and respectful. Even though she was here to sell things, she couldn’t help but feel like a student having her homework checked by a senior.

“Let me guess—this is rice, cabbage, this one’s tomato, that’s corn, chili pepper…” Shaum looked over the seeds one by one, naming each variety offhand. “These, these… I’ve never seen before!”