Chapter 23: Chapter 23

Druids were a thrifty class, and all this money would eventually go into building up the territory. She’d have to think carefully about how to use it.

Seeing that it was getting dark and the Oak General Store was about to close, Mu Ying set the matter aside for now. She slung two bags of seeds for Grandpa Shaomu over her shoulder, scooped up Gun Gun, and hurried off to the store."

"Struggling up the wooden steps at the entrance of the general store, Mu Ying set the round, chubby little guy down on the floor. This fellow had put on more than a little weight—she could barely lift it with both hands now.

“Welcome to Oak General Store—eh? It’s you? Haven’t seen you in days.” Wu Yaya, sprawled lazily on the soft pillow behind the counter, perked up a bit when it saw Mu Ying. It had to admit, it missed the porridge this girl used to cook.

“Yeah, I went out for a bit. As soon as I got back, I came straight here. I can finally pay back the seeds I owe!” Mu Ying said with a smile. Soon, she’d be debt-free and might even be able to trade for more good stuff.

Wu Yaya shot her a sideways glance, clearly unimpressed. This girl was even stingier than it was—never buying anything, always coming to sell things instead. Still, for the sake of her cooking, it decided not to say anything. “You know the rules. Go on in yourself.”

Mu Ying nodded and pushed open the door to the lounge.

This time, she didn’t have to wait long before Shaomu came bustling out from his plantation. “Little Mu, you’re here! What good stuff did you bring this time?”

“It’s all here. I think I’ve got most of the common plants from this region, though not many of each kind.” Compared to last time, when she’d only brought a handful of vegetable seeds, Mu Ying was much more confident now, even a little excited.

“Oh? Then I’ll have to take a good look.”

“A cypress that bears round cones? Not bad, not bad!”

“Durian? The name sounds like a flower. Fruit tree? The rind is covered in sharp spikes, smells both foul and fragrant? What a strange plant…”

Shaomu picked up each seed, turning them over in his fingers and muttering to himself—sometimes surprised, sometimes sighing. Mu Ying watched as he identified each seed and its characteristics without a single mistake.

The names were translated from what they were called on Deep Blue Star, and the descriptions were spot on. There were plenty of seeds she herself couldn’t recognize.

Mu Ying was deeply impressed—this was what a true druid should be! She decided then and there to make learning plant identification a priority.

She sat there petting the round little guy on her lap for a long while before Shaomu finally snapped out of his seed-induced reverie. “I really love these seeds—there are way more than a hundred kinds. What should I give you in return?”

“Spells? No, no, you’ve got enough general spells already, and learning to identify plants will keep you busy for a long time. Special plants? There’ll be plenty growing on this planet soon, no need for that. A portable plantation? Too small to grow much, and besides, you’ve got your own territory…”

Mu Ying’s expression froze. There’s a saying about whether or not you should say something, but honestly, I’ll take any of those!

“Aha, I know!” Shaomu’s eyes lit up. He took off the cloth pouch at his waist, reached inside, rummaged around for a while, and finally pulled out a wooden token, tossing it to her.

Mu Ying curiously examined the token, which looked a bit like a lord’s insignia. On the front were the big characters “Trial,” and on the back, in small letters, “Multiverse Deep Blue Star.”

[You have obtained a Trial Challenger’s Token. Please integrate it into your Player’s Handbook.]

“A Trial Challenger’s Token?”

“That’s right. It’s extremely rare across the entire universe—each planet and plane only has a limited number. It’ll help you grow stronger much faster. I can’t say much more—you’ll have to explore it for yourself.” Shaomu exaggeratedly winked at her, as if trying to hint at something.

So mysterious. What’s stopping him from saying more?

Mu Ying thought for a moment, then pointed at the token. “Grandpa Shaomu, do you have a Player’s Handbook?”

Shaomu burst out laughing, and a book appeared before him. “Haha, alright, little one, off you go. This old man’s got some reading to do.”

Mu Ying glanced at the book—those big characters on the cover: what else could it be but “Player’s Handbook”?

What an interesting world!

She chose to integrate the token into her Player’s Handbook.

[Multiverse Trials page loaded. Please check it yourself.]

As the token vanished, her Player’s Handbook grew a bit thicker—now it had seven pages, the last one being the newly added Multiverse Trials.

On the page, she saw a pitch-black starry sky above a boundless lake. The water was crystal clear, like a mirror reflecting the whole cosmos, as if it contained another world within.

Countless universes floated above the lake, with threads extending from each universe into the water.

One universe rapidly zoomed in before her eyes, and the scene shifted to a planet at its edge. Mu Ying instantly recognized it as Deep Blue Star.

Within that universe, the thread split into even finer strands, each connecting to a different planet—one of which landed on Deep Blue Star.

[The Multiverse Trials begin here.]

As this line appeared, Mu Ying felt a strange sense of déjà vu—it was just like the opening cinematic of a video game.

[Important Notes]

[The Multiverse Trials are trials of the mind. Ensure your physical body is safe before entering.]

[If your trial character dies, you cannot re-enter that trial world.]

[Please draw your first trial world.]

[Draw successful.]

The entire page shifted, leaving only a few lines of information:

[Challenger: Mu Ying]

[Origin: Multiverse Deep Blue Star]

[Source Energy: 0] (Can be used to transfer things from the trial world to reality, including but not limited to items, equipment, resources, skills, etc.)

[Trial Worlds] (Free trial time: 1 hour/day)

[First: Block World]

[Second: Unlock conditions not met]

This Multiverse Trials felt to Mu Ying like a giant VR game platform with tons of different games. She could play for free for one hour a day, but if she wanted more time or new games, she’d have to pay—and the currency was Source Energy.

She didn’t know what Source Energy was yet, but it wasn’t the same as copper or silver coins. Still, being able to bring things from the game world into reality was pretty amazing.

Once she got home, she immediately tried to enter Block World.

First up was the character creation page, which scanned her physical data to build her avatar.

But what appeared was a pixelated block figure—completely unrecognizable as her. Above the blockhead was a bar, and on the side were various paid services.

[Adjust character appearance: 3 Source Energy]

[Choose starting location: 5 Source Energy]

[Choose character class: 5 Source Energy] (Due to the world’s special nature, this is currently unavailable.)

Mu Ying ignored all these pay-to-win options and jumped straight into the game.

In an instant, she became a block person, surrounded by a world made entirely of cubes.