Why is my territory in a 2D anime art style?

Chapter 171 The Aftermath of the Strange Tales

"Pinghu is now safe and sound. The three city lords returned empty-handed?"

Sui An was stunned. He hadn't expected that after two days, this would be the only outcome.

Was such a big commotion back then really just a random accident?

Wang Zhen took a sip of water from the kettle, sat on the back of the cart, and continued speaking.

"After on-site investigation by the leaders of the guards of the three city lords, the official conclusion was that a one-way rift appeared that day, causing many powerful source beasts to emerge, which even destroyed the original ecology of Pinghu, and many source beasts suffered."

"How do you explain that the giant ice crocodile chased the Black Wolf Gang for twenty kilometers?!"

Sui An dismissed it with disdain. He believed that the three city lords must have discovered something else, but were simply unwilling to say it.

But if it were me, I definitely wouldn't say it either.

"Who knows? After all, they're just city lords, not the old world government. They won't care too much about other people's lives."

o

Wang Zhen simply shrugged, clearly knowing this was just a vague excuse. He pointed to the truck bed.

Piles and piles of bags.

"Your Dream-Eating Butterflies have finally been traded. The 5 tons of scattered Dream-Eating Butterflies had almost no Dream Dust left, and they were all damaged, so they were only sold for 5200 Originium."

"1523 complete Dream Eater Butterflies, including Originium, were sold for 57874 Originium. This was because Captain Zheng deliberately held back the sale and didn't sell it on the spot. Instead, he called GG for you in advance and sold it through auction. Otherwise, it would have been at least 2% less."

"Adding the 8500 yuan from selling those four ounces of Dream Dust, you earned 7 yuan this night. Although it seems less than before, it's still not bad!"

"Plus that big guy costing 5400 Originium, now I don't even dare to go alone when I deliver money to you; I have to go with Captain Zheng."

"7!" Sui An's eyes lit up. He was worried that he wouldn't earn much money. Normally, he wouldn't care, but now that the purple blueprints were available for a limited time, the more the better!

Even if you don't use it all yourself, you can still exchange it for the blueprints or materials needed for building gold structures.

With only half a month left until the blueprint library closes on March 9th, and I only have one last rift left to open.

He could choose to activate it five or even six times, but he didn't want to. He had already gained enough and there was no need to take such a risk. He could simply develop steadily.

Although the Ice Source Crocodile proved that it had the strength to kill a level 6 Source Beast, this thing could still summon a high-level Source Beast that was above its level.

Although the person Captain Zheng mentioned only appeared with a high-level source beast on the sixth attempt, what if...?

Given how often I encounter unexpected events, the probability of me running into a high-level source beast on my fifth try is probably not zero. I should just try to get through the next four times without any problems.

The next few months went well for me; no one hindered me, and no one coveted me. Everything was moving in a positive direction.

Those who had conflicts with him have been eliminated, and the only remaining potential connections with him, such as Crescent City and the Zhao family, seem to have faded into obscurity.

Wang Zhen waved his hand, sitting on the truck bed, unwilling to move: "There are too many source stones, I'm too lazy to unload them. You can get in and take them yourself; your territory core is convenient!"

Sui An didn't care. He flipped over and climbed into the truck bed, starting to open the bags one by one and put the source stones inside into the core of his territory.

Seeing that Sui An had finished tidying up, Wang Zhen pointed to the three red wooden boxes in the corner.

"By the way, those three boxes contain the Dawn Grass, the Earth Sleep Flower, and the Golden-Violet Seed you requested, respectively."

son. "

「400枚黎明草的种子880块源石、400枚地眠花是1360块，800枚金纹紫罗兰4160块，一共花了6400块源石，这些基础的种子可比你要的乱七八糟的材料好买多了。」

"You bought everything? Thank you so much!"

Sui An's eyes lit up. Ye Pingping said that the condition of his transplanted Energy-Devouring Giant Tree had stabilized and its root system had begun to grow again, indicating that the transplant was not a big problem. He planned to transplant all of them today.

These seeds arrived just in time. Once the mushroom house containing the Energy-Devouring Giant Wood is planted, Sui An can transfer it into the Expedition Fortress, and the last necessary item will be completed.

The Expedition Fortress is finally almost ready for use!

Aside from Dawn Grass and Ground Sleep Flower, the Golden-Violet was the new Source Plant they discussed planting near the Source-Quenching Fruit Tree.

Unlike the previous two types of level 2 green quality source plants, this one is a level 3 green quality source plant. It is one of the main materials for low-level green quality power-enhancing potions and is also a very common basic source plant.

Sui An raised his head and shouted at the guards who were practicing boxing in the courtyard.

"Zhao Tong, Zhao Tong! Three people come and carry these three boxes to the Ye family twins!"

Seeing Sui An's delighted smile, Wang Zhen asked softly, "Are those two brothers usable?"

"It works!" Sui An nodded, but seemingly feeling his statement wasn't quite accurate enough, he added, "And it works well!"

These past few days, the two have basically been living in the Mushroom House. Sui An has already given them instructions about the Energy-Devouring Giant Tree, so they are only keeping an eye on the progress.

However, they took incredibly good care of the five Quenching Source Fruit Trees that had already been transplanted, checking them thoroughly with every handful of soil, for fear that some insect eggs might be hiding inside.

They have also been using energy sources to power the fruit trees.

Just two days after being transplanted, the new building, combined with their energy source, has clearly grown even faster.

"Really?" Wang Zhen was somewhat surprised by Sui An's high praise.

"Be honest, law-abiding, diligent, and respectful to your parents!"

Sui An recounted his observations over the past few days with great familiarity, even lowering his voice: "They used my mushroom house for three days, and they still haven't discovered that special function. It's mainly based on a bit of curiosity."

"No, they're almost too honest."

"If what you said is true, then it's indeed excellent; you've found a real talent!"

Wang Zhen said with a smile, "Their cousin Ye Fan is different. He's very shrewd. Maybe it's because they grew up in different environments. After all, their parents are ordinary people."

Zhao Tong led the two men over, wiped his sweat, smiled and nodded to Wang Zhen, then turned to Sui An: "Boss, are these the three red boxes?"

Sui An turned around and pointed to the location: "Yes, those are the three boxes."

"Tell the two brothers that these are seeds prepared for them, and ask them to finish planting the other sapling as soon as possible. When they need to transplant the saplings later, you can help carry them."

"Alright!" Zhao Tong nodded, and each of them carried a box down.

Once the people had walked a little distance away, Wang Zhen nodded and asked, "Are you finding these people easy to use?"

"It's alright. There's been no cheating or trickery, and we haven't found anyone hiding Originium or loot."

"The first batch of people who came to erhu practiced harder, while the second batch were more lax. As for cultivation, it depends on their own will. If they don't want to work hard, I can't be bothered. Just don't let them interfere with my work."

"Erhu's judgment is pretty good. After all, he wouldn't contact a truly hopeless person among his friends. The second batch is mostly recruited from the community, so naturally the quality will vary."

Wang Zhen stood up, patted his pants, and said, "Alright, enough joking around. I should go now. You get back to work!"

"Okay, be careful!"

After Wang Zhen left, Sui An returned to the mushroom house.

The Ye brothers had already opened the box containing the Dawn Grass and were squatting on the ground with hoes, starting to dig a hole.

"Are the seeds okay? I don't know anything about this."

Ye An'an looked up: "No problem, we've checked!"

Sui An watched the two of them digging holes and planting seeds, seemingly without any complicated procedures, and asked again, "Are there any requirements for planting these? Or should I call a few people over to help you?"

Both brothers looked up at Sui An this time, and finally, the younger brother, Ye An'an, stammered, "Let us do it ourselves. Farming is our job!"

"So there's nothing special we need to be careful about?"

Sui An didn't bother arguing with them at all; he understood their thoughts all too well.

But I'm in a hurry. I can't wait to finish it all today, have it sprout successfully tomorrow, and put it into the secret realm the day after.

He really wanted to see that thing; he'd been holding it in for so long, and if he kept holding it in any longer, things would get messed up.

"Okay, I'll call a few people over to help you. You can set an example later, and that's settled!"

He turned and walked out, and soon returned with Hu Zi, Er Hu, Fang Si, and a few others.

"Come on, let's change your work and start farming!"

"So you're worried we're getting tired of digging, huh!" Erhu laughed angrily, standing on the ground with his hands on his hips. "I knew calling me wouldn't bring anything good!"

Despite the talk, their actions did not stop.

It was much faster for six people to plant together. Eight hundred seeds were planted according to the positions drawn on the ground by the twins.

The area available for planting in this mushroom house is about 1,000 square meters, but the seeds of these energy plants are quite sparse, probably because the competition for nutrients is too fierce and they cannot be planted too densely.

Then, they scooped up the nutrient solution prepared by the twins from the large wooden bucket and watered them all, quickly completing the planting process.

Just as the twins said, it's really simple!

Sui An, holding a water ladle and standing upright in the middle of the ground, suddenly asked, "How long will it take for these two things to sprout and grow into seedlings?"

"Under normal circumstances, it will sprout in about five days, and in about ten days it will grow into a seedling about three inches long and then emerge from the ground."

This time it was Ye Pingping who answered, and she answered very quickly, without hesitation.

Sui An frowned, feeling that things were progressing too slowly, and quickly asked again, "Can't this process be accelerated using source energy?"

"No, it will take about twenty days for the seedlings to stabilize before we can start using source energy to stimulate their growth!"

"It's going to take this long?" Sui An was somewhat disappointed. This didn't mean that the fortress he had been looking forward to was going to be delayed.

"Yes!"

The erhu player, standing nearby, seemed curious. He looked at the twins and asked, "Dawn Grass shouldn't bear fruit, right? How long does it take to reach the stage where it's ready for harvesting?"

"In the wild, the stems and leaves of the dawn grass will grow to about two feet in about three months. At this time, it will stop growing and begin to accumulate nutrients. The green leaves will slowly turn into light gold. Once it has turned completely light gold, it can be cut down as a medicinal herb. The time from planting to this point is about nine months."

As Ye Pingping continued to explain, his speech gradually became calmer, no longer hesitant or stuttering, and he seemed to be thinking almost without any thought process.

"If it is for breeding purposes, continue to cultivate it. Flower buds will start to grow in the tenth month, and it will bloom and bear fruit in the eleventh month. The fruit below the flower will mature in about twelve months. The seeds are inside the fruit, and the original plant will die at the same time."

"If you don't breed them, the plants won't die after harvesting. Instead, they will grow new stems and leaves from the original roots. It takes about seven months for the second growth cycle to reach maturity. This cycle can continue for about four cycles before the roots wither. At that point, you will need to replant them."

Sui An scratched his head, feeling a sense of déjà vu: "This sounds like chives~"

"It really does look like it!" Erhu thought so too.

In the old days, land was limited, but families would always have some flowerpots to grow vegetables that could be harvested repeatedly, such as chives.

However, it is not unfamiliar to everyone.

"It really does look very similar!" came the expert's approval.

"And what about this flower? Is it the same process?" Erhu pointed to another place.

This still didn't stump Ye Pingping, and he spoke even more fluently: "What the ground-sleeping flower needs are its petals. It takes about nine months from sprouting to flowering. Once the petals have fully opened and turned pink, it's time to harvest them. Once harvested, they won't bear fruit and therefore won't be used for breeding."

"If you need to breed it, you can't pick the flowers, and it's an annual plant. Whether you breed it or not, it only has a one-year lifespan."

"A year?"

Erhu seemed to have found the blind spot, and he quickly asked, "If the flower is eaten by the source beast, then this one will be gone, and won't it become increasingly rare in the wild?"

Seemingly unprepared for such a tricky angle, Ye Pingping scratched his head, seemingly stumped by the question, but his younger brother quickly added to the explanation.

"The petals of the Earth Sleep Flower contain a mild source energy toxin. If ingested directly, it will slow down the flow of source energy, and in severe cases, it can even cause paralysis. Therefore, few source beasts in the wild will eat the flower directly. When alchemists use it as a medicinal material, they also need to remove this toxin first."

"Awesome!"

When someone gives a thumbs-up to someone who is erhu, people naturally and subconsciously admire those who are knowledgeable or professional, especially their peers.

The two brothers scratched their heads somewhat embarrassedly, as if it was the first time they had been praised so directly.

This little incident instantly changed the two brothers' image in the territory, since everyone knew they were part of the transport team.

It's a relationship, but it's just a relationship between a squad leader.

This is a bit awkward. No one dislikes Zheng Xifeng's younger sister and brother because they are both level 4 professionals. Even if this level was achieved through being fed by their family, it is still level 4.

These two brothers are just ordinary squad leaders, not even considered outstanding in the territory, so people would subconsciously look down on them.

Especially since the two of them are not talkative and are somewhat aloof, they are naturally easily looked down upon by others.

Looking at the damp craters on the ground, Sui An asked softly, "Once they grow into seedlings, there shouldn't be any major problems, right? Are there any special things we need to pay attention to?"

"Yes, just fertilize it frequently, or you can directly water it with the blood of the source beast, but not with the flesh. Their root system is very weak and cannot directly decompose and absorb the flesh of the source beast, unless there is a special method to digest the flesh of the source beast in the soil."

Ye Pingping added a sentence, and then fell silent.

Sui An immediately understood. They should wait until the seedlings sprouted before transferring them. It would be embarrassing if they transferred them and found that none of them had sprouted.

"Haste makes waste."

"Okay, then I'll leave this to you!"

After planting two hundred seeds, the twins transplanted the remaining two energy-devouring giant trees in the afternoon.

These three energy-devouring giant trees were planted on December 11th last year, and it has been more than two months since then, on February 25th today. Sui An couldn't wait to activate the [Plant Protection Association] mode.

This mode allows Sui An to obtain more seeds of the Energy-Devouring Giant Tree when transforming into a Treant.

However, it is only effective if the current energy source plant's growth cycle is not more than halfway complete.

The Energy-Eating Giant Tree takes 6 months to mature.

In other words, the level 2 planting base was not very effective. It was almost following the maximum growth time, and it barely exceeded half the time, which is 3 months.

As expected, the specified building mode was successfully completed, which means that it did not go through a normal growth cycle.

Sui An was still quite worried that if it exceeded three months, it would mean that his plan to expand the tree people would be delayed for half a year.

However, this means that the growth time of their seedlings may not be shortened, and they will have to wait until they have fully grown into seedlings before they are safe.

After dealing with the mushroom house, Sui An finally re-entered the secret realm with his companions.

The underground cavern had changed somewhat from what he had seen before, with huge pits everywhere left behind after the crystal ore had been mined.

This is the consequence of the secret realm being pulled into the territory.

They used to come here to mine only once every ten days, but now they've been coming here to mine for more than ten days.

Aunt Zhao and the others were quite persistent, truly treating themselves as miners, spending a good portion of their time in the secret realm every day. If it weren't for the fact that the secret realm wasn't very safe, and that Sui An had a special stage for young girls, they would have all moved into the secret realm to cultivate.

The energy concentration here is unmatched, even by the current Mushroom House.

After all, the energy concentration of the territory is already at a certain level, and even if it can be increased to the upper limit of 50%, it will still be limited.

At this moment, Sui An also understood why the city lord had trained so many mid-to-high-level professionals. If there were a secret realm with a similar high concentration of source energy as his own, wouldn't cultivation be much faster?

Zhao Feng even tested it and found that, with the addition of some low-level source energy potions, the recovery speed she received here was almost no less than that of the Girls' Stage.

If a high-level professional were to enter, they might be able to overtake them, since high-level professionals absorb source energy much faster than the speed at which the girl on stage delivers source energy into her body. It's hard to say.

"Is it really hollowed out?" Sui An looked around the underground cave with a flashlight.

"Yes, that's it. We've already dug the edges to a depth of 3 meters, and there's definitely nothing below!"

Zhao Feng nodded; they had made great gains during this period.

They dug out an estimated 100,000 jin of dark crystal iron ore. If the ore hadn't become relatively scarce later on, the actual amount would have been even greater, given the remaining deep rock layers.

Even if the value of 100,000 jin of dark crystal iron is calculated based on its raw ore, it is approximately equivalent to 50,000 source stones. This money will be paid by Zhao Feng and Er.

Hu, Fang Si, Ye Tengyang, Wang Hu, and Wang Zhen split up.

Of course, it wasn't split equally. Wang Zhen hadn't been around much, but Sui An still let them give him a small share, not much, about 5% of the total value, or about 2500 source stones.

The remaining majority naturally belong to these intermediate professionals.

This sum of money was a considerable amount for the group. Zhao Feng even upgraded to a level 5 blue greatsword, a top-tier weapon specifically designed to enhance strength, which was much stronger than the original one.

Fang Si must have bought some supplementary medicine to strengthen his body. He's been training extra every night lately. It seems he's never had this much money before, and now he's starting to indulge in taking medicine.

Erhu was also replaced with a level 4 blue wind attribute weapon, which increases the speed of attack and sharpness, since the armor was already readily available from the He family.

Sui An had said he didn't want the dividend, but he gave the ore to Zheng Qiuyu for refining, paying her a processing fee of 3 source stones. In the end, Sui An actually made a little money.

100 jin of raw ore sells for 50 Originium, but the Dark Crystal Iron refined from 100 jin of raw ore can normally be sold for a premium of two or three Originium. If someone is in a hurry, a premium of ten or so Originium is also normal.

However, Sui An has an alchemy workshop, and the 15% reduction in final materials is not just for show.

相当于同样100斤原矿，从原来的1份暗晶铁变成了1.18份了，价值约从52块变成了61.4块。

So the final selling price on the market didn't change, but Sui An made a profit, Zheng Qiuyu made a profit, and the miners didn't lose money either.

Who lost out?

Sui An couldn't solve this math problem, and he was too lazy to do it.

Sui An pointed upwards: "Since there are no more mines here, come with me. Let's go upstairs and find a good location for my Yinghua ore mine!"

The group arrived on the ground. After Sui An's spirit talismans had cleansed the area multiple times, there was probably no shadow lizard to be seen within a five-kilometer radius.

Every time the spirit talisman was about to expire, Sui An would come to clean it up. Since he didn't dare to go too far for fear of encountering the giant source beast that Zhao Feng and the others had seen the first time, he could only clean it up nearby, which resulted in the absence of any beasts in the area.

Everyone turned to look at the hillside, and found that the hillside above was not all steep cliffs and peaks.

The area where Lu Ling discovered Yinghua Stone was a relatively gentle area on the outer side, about 80 or 90 meters wide.

Sui An picked up a twig and drew a huge circle in that area.

"These next few days, while you're mining, could you help me dig around this area and level it out a bit?"

"Is there some reason for digging like this?" Erhu was a little confused and felt that Sui An's way of thinking was strange.

Sui An chuckled and joked, "No particular explanation, it'll just make it easier for me to move the territory in later!"

Erhu scoffed, utterly disbelieving: "Dream on! How could you possibly move your territory here!"

The others laughed and shook their heads. Only Erhu would join in the joke; the elders wouldn't.

"Even if you wanted to move your territory, there's no room up here. It would be more suitable to put it on the grasslands below!"

"Unless your territory shrinks—"

But as Erhu was talking, he suddenly remembered information he had almost forgotten, and he looked at Sui An with a stammering voice.

"Your... what's that thing of yours... isn't for this purpose, is it?"

"you guess!"