Chapter 120: Chapter 120

With his raspy voice, he managed to explain the specialty shop situation, urging his teammate to hurry over and buy some vegetables, while he went to notify the others.

By the time he finished spreading the word and ran back to the shop, there was already a long line at the door.

The line was moving quickly, and everyone who came out was chewing on something, faces lit up with the joy of scoring a great deal.

In less than an hour, all the regular specialties were sold out. The latecomers could only get a mint candy to sweeten their mouths, watching enviously as others excitedly swapped or shared their portions of vegetables, some even tearing up in frustration.

But soon, those with candy in their mouths found a new sense of superiority over those who didn’t even get a freebie, smacking their lips and boasting loudly in their hoarse voices.

“Wow, it’s so sweet! My throat feels so much better!”

“The Lord herself made these! They’re super tasty. I’m saving half for later.”

“I couldn’t even speak just now, but after eating this candy, I’m much better. Listen—can you hear my voice?”

“Enough already! Hey, you up front, I’ll buy your leftover half. Name your price!”

“Oh, why didn’t you say so earlier? I just popped it in my mouth by accident. Want me to spit it out for you?”

“Get lost!”

...

With the vegetables sold out, the only things left on the shelf behind the counter were two items that caught the players’ attention.

“What’s that?” Liu Luoluo, who hadn’t managed to snag one of the Lord’s handmade candies and had to split half with her boyfriend Si Qing, puffed out her cheeks and asked.

“These are special products from the territory,” Professor Du explained calmly. “This is a seed of the Binding Vine, cultivated by the Lord herself. It’s a mutated plant—once grown, it can guard your home. It obeys whoever plants it. There’s one growing outside the Lord’s little courtyard halfway down the stone path, protecting travelers. The new residents who arrived yesterday should know about it.”

“I do! It’s amazing! Last night, a giant vicious dog tried to ambush us, but those vines took care of it!” Shen Hao said loudly.

“I remember him—he just arrived last night, said he went to the same high school as the Lord.”

“That’s awesome!”

“How much is it?” Liu Luoluo asked. From the sound of it, the Binding Vine was alive? As a priest, if you asked her what ability she envied most from other spellcasters, druid animal companions and mage familiars would definitely be on the list.

“One gold coin per seed, guaranteed to grow,” Professor Du said, looking at them expectantly, and watched as everyone’s faces turned uniformly shocked.

“That expensive?”

“Are you sure that’s right?”

“100 copper coins to a silver, 100 silver to a gold, that’s... 10,000 copper coins for one! I can’t afford it, no way.”

Professor Du shook her head. “These special products are all made by our Lord herself. They can’t be mass-produced, and there isn’t much stock, so the price is a bit high. Please be rational and consider whether you really need it.”

“What about those bottles and jars?” Liu Luoluo tried to tear her gaze away from the seeds.

“That’s hair dye potion. It can dye your hair any color you want,” Professor Du said, pulling out a handful of colored hair samples (generously donated by Yuan Gungun and the wolf pack). “These are the dyed samples, with prices marked.”

“These are made by the Lord, too?” Liu Luoluo asked in surprise.

Professor Du nodded.

Liu Luoluo’s sharp eyes spotted a familiar dark green among the hair samples. Could it be that the Lord’s own hair was dyed with this potion?

She wasn’t the only one thinking this—many others were having the same suspicion.

If the dark green hair dye potion wasn’t so expensive, someone would probably have bought one to try already.

In reality, that lock of dark green hair was from Mu Ying herself, deliberately placed there to mislead people. She hadn’t actually managed to make a dark green hair dye potion yet.

If, by the time everyone had more money, Mu Ying still couldn’t make the dark green dye, she’d just quietly remove that sample and say she couldn’t find the right ingredients."

"Players from the Spirit Dragon Gorge camp spent an entire night gathering information about the area around Qingshan Village and learned that the territory was extremely safe.

Aside from those who wanted to try their luck at the Quarry Camp, most of the others had already decided before going to bed last night to use the same trick as before—pitching their tents outside the territory gates to save on the entrance fee.

Even after being warned that the territory’s expansion might push their tents away, they didn’t care. After all, the main advantage of living in a tent was its mobility.

After spending a night there, with discounted groceries in one hand and mint candies in the other, they declared that they were now firmly rooted in Qingshan Village and wouldn’t leave no matter what.

If they could get discounted groceries every day, what did the entrance fee matter? Back at Spirit Dragon Gorge, they could never eat such a variety of dishes so often.

The morning bustle at the territory’s specialty shop had nothing to do with Mu Ying. With such a large territory, she much preferred tending to her plants and practicing her abilities over managing the place.

So she left the Quarry Camp, Breeding Camp, and the specialty shop to others to manage, only overseeing the general direction herself, which didn’t take much of her time.

Her experience bar for Level 4 was already full—it was time for the much-anticipated level-up.

Compared to even-numbered levels, odd-numbered levels were even more exciting, as they unlocked higher-tier spells.

Recalling the changes in the surrounding plants during her last level-up, Mu Ying decided to level up at the spot where she’d planted the Gantias tree root.

Strictly speaking, it no longer had much to do with the Gantias Demon Tree. The dark energy within it had completely dissipated, leaving only a faint trace of natural power.

Buried in the soil by Mu Ying for over a month, it hadn’t sprouted, but after being steeped in magic and plant spells day after day, it had absorbed her magical energy.

Mu Ying could sense that once the root compensated for its lack of natural power, it would finally sprout.

She hoped that the natural blessing from her level-up would help the root along.

Lying on the grass beside the root, she closed her eyes and communed with the power of nature, conveying her wish and her plea for advancement.

Nature’s power surged around her like a spring, enveloping her. After a while, as if finally noticing her concern for the tree root, nature begrudgingly sent a wisp of energy over, rather perfunctorily stuffing it into the root.

[You have been blessed by nature and become a Level 5 Druid.]

[Based on your Druid level, you have gained the class skill: Nature’s Recovery.]

[Based on your Druid level, your class skill Wild Shape has unlocked a new form.]

[Based on your Druid level, your HP has increased to 400.]

[Based on your Druid level, your MP has increased to 130.]

[Based on your Druid level, your Level 3 Druid spell list is now unlocked.]

As the aftereffects of leveling up faded, Mu Ying felt incredibly refreshed—she was stronger again.

While experiencing the changes in her body, she opened her player manual and, as expected, saw a long string of notifications, each recording her new gains from leveling up.

At Level 5, she had only gained one new class skill, Nature’s Recovery, while Wild Shape had been upgraded from its previous version.

[Nature’s Recovery: Your bond with nature has deepened. In areas rich with natural energy, your mana regeneration rate is increased.]