Chapter 11: plant seeds

Considering that she looked quite pleasing to the eye, Xu Xin felt he should reveal some information to her: "Go dig up some soil around the treehouse and place it on the identification platform. Check the soil's level. The soil here has levels too, but we can't see the names or distinguish the grades."

"Is soil also a resource?" Li Wenxi suddenly stood up from the bed, her chest facing the screen. She then sat back down and eagerly asked, "What have you discovered?"

Xu Xin told Li Wenxi about his observations regarding the soil and plants. As Li Wenxi listened, her expression grew increasingly fascinating, and her eyes even filled with admiration for an expert.

"Xu Xin, no, I mean, expert, you're so strong! Take me under your wing!" Li Wenxi even performed a grand bow to him on the bed.

Xu Xin looked at the pretty young woman in front of him, who was exaggeratedly bowing to him, with a mix of amusement and exasperation. He said, "You believe me just like that? Won't you verify it?"

"Verify what?" Li Wenxi carelessly sat back on the edge of the bed. "I don't seem to have any blue plants around me, and you have no reason to lie to me, right?"

"I feel like you'd count money for someone even if they sold you out," Xu Xin couldn't help but quip.

"How can you talk like that!" Just a moment ago he was an expert, and now he's 'you'. Li Wenxi widened her almond eyes at him, "Are you really deceiving me?!"

"What benefit would I get from deceiving you?" Xu Xin rolled his eyes at her in annoyance. He understood now that this girl was truly naive, probably from a wealthy family and overprotected, the kind who thinks everyone around her is good. It was fortunate that she was trading with Xu Xin, who had abundant resources and special abilities, and didn't need to cheat others to survive. Otherwise, she could really have been taken advantage of.

"Hmm…"

"Alright, enough chat, it's time to get to work," Xu Xin stood up. He put the stone pickaxe aside for now, as he wanted to create an upgraded version of the stone hoe. After all, the tree had been cut down, but the stump remained, and he needed to clear it first.

Besides, he remembered that the stone hoe had a certain probability of obtaining seeds.

"I don't want to work. I moved stones all day yesterday, and my whole body aches," Li Wenxi pursed her lips. She had gotten a bit addicted to chatting.

For her, these two days had been a lonely state of feeling that her future was uncertain and that her life was not in her own control. Apart from mining, she didn't know what else to do. Now that she had found someone to talk to, and most importantly, a handsome guy! This made her reluctant to end the video call.

"Today is the last day of the newbie protection period. Who knows what weird things might pop up tomorrow? We should take back as many stones as we can while we still have today," Xu Xin immediately persuaded her. How could they waste this last day?

"Hmm… alright!" Although her limbs were sore, what Xu Xin said made sense. Moreover, after chatting for so long, the pressure that had built up over these two days had basically been released. Since there was work to be done now, they couldn't stop. As a young woman who could persist with fitness, her self-discipline was stronger than most people's.

"Then… let's chat again tonight." The pretty young woman even seemed a bit reluctant to end the call.

"Sure, we'll chat tonight." With that, Xu Xin hung up the video call.

He picked up a stone block (blue) and directly crafted a stone hoe.

[Improved Stone Hoe (green): Can dig up soil-type materials of blue level and below, with a 50% chance of obtaining seeds from plants growing in that soil. Durability 200]

The probability had changed from extremely small to 50%, amazing!

Xu Xin picked up the stone axe and stone hoe and came down from the treehouse to continue working.

The improved stone hoe only needed one strike to dig out the tree stump from the soil.

[Obtained Ordinary Soil (green)*1, Wood (green)*1, Poplar Seed*1]

The tree stump directly turned into a piece of wood, and he even got a seed!

Xu Xin picked out the seed from the soil.

[Poplar Seed: Can be planted in soil, takes only ten days to grow into a harvestable poplar tree.]

Speaking of which, aren't poplar seeds just poplar fluff? Anyway, never mind that.

Xu Xin turned the seed over in his hand. This seed, like the treehouse seed, also had no level, and his identification ability couldn't see the seed's color. Xu Xin pondered, figuring that the level of the poplar tree that grows probably only depends on the fertility of the soil.

The dug-up land directly became a hole. Xu Xin filled the soil back in and continued digging.

Before long, Xu Xin had harvested over 20 poplar seeds and more than 40 pieces of wood. However, he didn't replant the seeds in their original spots, instead turning the area under the treehouse into a flat, open space. After all, having to choose a spot without trees every time he went up was too troublesome, and this open area could be used to place some facilities or plant some low-growing crops in the future.

Xu Xin first put these wood pieces up, then spent half a day cutting trees in other locations and planting seeds in those cleared spots. Sustainable development!

Soon, the sun had risen to its zenith, marking noon of the third day. Xu Xin looked at the wood that had filled the first floor with satisfaction and nodded.

Wiping his sweat, he decided to have lunch first, then explore some new areas in the afternoon. He had to make good use of the last half-day of the protection period.

Before that, he wanted to take a bath in the lake first. His body felt sticky and uncomfortable.

After bathing, he also washed his clothes. It was the height of midsummer noon, with the sun at its most intense, so he hung his clothes by the window. They would dry in less than ten minutes.

Although the window outside was filled with dense banyan leaves, sunlight could still easily penetrate through the leaves into the room, as if the leaves were transparent.

Eating fruit, Xu Xin opened a packet of bread. He needed to replenish his energy well for the afternoon exploration. As he ate, he started looking at the chat lobby.

"Does anyone have water? I'm dying of thirst…"

"Why is there nothing but trees in this damn place?"

"Aren't there small streams all around? Don't you know to walk around and look?"

"Who knows where there are streams? If I walk too far, I won't even know where my treehouse is, I won't be able to get home!"

"Why did I choose to plant my treehouse here in the first place?"

"Are there any experts by the streams who can share some water? It's not like your water is worth much anyway!"

While Xu Xin and Li Wenxi were discussing blue-quality resources, there were still many people who couldn't even ensure their most basic water resources.

But Xu Xin didn't want to help them. To give them water, he'd have to carry it up, put it in containers for them. He didn't even want to do the first step of carrying the water up, it would waste too much time. The last half day of the newbie protection period couldn't be wasted on such things.

As for containers, it wasn't that they couldn't be made. The crafting list included things like wooden barrels, basins, and bowls, which didn't need a crafting table and could be made with wood (white). After the newbie protection period ended, once he made a backpack that could carry water resources freely, he might casually share some with them. But now, asking him to be a porter was impossible. This kind of thing should be left for those do-gooders to show off. If he did it, wouldn't he be stealing their thunder?

Water resources seemed scarce, but in reality, for survivors who found water sources, their water resources were basically infinite. So water resources couldn't be exchanged for anything good, at most white-quality items. Those who couldn't find water sources probably only had white-quality items too. Spending all that effort to transport water resources just to exchange for white-quality items, only a fool would do that.