Chapter 15: Chapter 15

Mu Ying glanced back—whoa, that many? Were all the zombies in the forest park here now?

She rushed home to grab her hoe. By the time she returned, everyone was already lined up along the camp’s edge.

Wielding her hoe, Mu Ying joined the line. After casting Shillelagh, the hoe—which was usually a bit heavy for her—felt light as a feather. She swung it with practiced ease, each strike leaving afterimages and splitting zombie heads wherever she went.

[You have killed Zombie ×1. Gained 1 kill experience, 3 copper coins.]

[You have killed Zombie ×1. Gained 1 kill experience, 3 copper coins.]

…

[You have killed Zombie ×1. You have reached the kill experience cap for your current level. No further kill experience gained. Gained 3 copper coins.]

Once she realized she’d hit her kill experience cap, Mu Ying stopped. There weren’t many zombies left anyway.

Since no one had picked up the loot yet, zombie corpses piled up in front, blocking the scattered zombies in the back. Mu Ying used Entangle to bind and drag them to the gate, making it easier for others to finish them off.

During the loot distribution, Liu Luoluo sidled up to her and whispered, “Yingying-jie, mind telling me your Strength stat? I swear I won’t tell anyone! Did you see the look on those guys’ faces? After today, no one’s going to say you’re all level and no combat power! Haha!”

“Just the other day you were calling me ‘Mu-meimei,’ then ‘Mu Ying,’ and now it’s ‘Jie’?” Mu Ying replied, half-amused, half-exasperated.

Liu Luoluo remembered how, when they first met, she’d tried to take advantage of Mu Ying by teaming up with her. She mentally lit a candle for her past self.

High schoolers these days were something else. Who would have thought that this seemingly frail, half-a-head-shorter girl could split zombie heads so cleanly?

It was broad daylight, and Liu Luoluo had a front-row seat. The impact was unforgettable.

She was now determined to stick close to Mu Ying—no way was she ever calling her “little sister” again!

Mu Ying didn’t mind her persistence. Counting her previous life, being called “Jie” wasn’t so strange.

But none of that mattered now. What mattered was—she was about to level up!

[Class: Druid LV1 (94/100)]

Just 6 more class experience points to level up! Unfortunately, she was almost out of mana and didn’t dare leave the camp for now. She’d have to find another way—there wasn’t much left to gain from the camp’s trees, either."

"Mu Ying’s obsessive-compulsive tendencies kicked in—she just wanted to quickly make up that last bit of experience she was missing.

She hurried back to her treehouse, restored her mana as fast as possible, then packed up the saplings by the door and loaded them into the bamboo basket on the old ox’s back.

Leading the old ox outside, she took the same route as yesterday.

Maybe all the nearby zombies had already been lured away by that midday commotion, because Mu Ying didn’t encounter any danger on the road—she was even faster than yesterday.

Once out of the forest, she first stopped by the elderly couple’s house from yesterday, grabbed a big bag of rice, and pulled up some vegetables from their field.

She didn’t even go far—just found a relatively flat patch of wasteland by the gravel road, dug some holes, and planted the saplings one by one.

The only trouble was watering them.

Mu Ying searched the house but couldn’t find any running water.

There was just an empty hole above the sink, which looked like it used to have a pipe. Maybe the water supply system had vanished, just like the cell phones.

She only found half a barrel of water in the kitchen, which was just enough for a few saplings. “Looks like I really need to learn Water Creation soon!”

To make sure the saplings survived, she added some Spring of Restoration water, and finally used Nature Sense to adjust the natural energy around the saplings.

[You have completed a professional practice. Gained 1 profession experience.]

[You have completed a professional practice. Gained 2 profession experience.]

[You have completed a professional practice. Gained 2 profession experience.]

[You have completed a professional practice. Gained 2 profession experience. You have reached the level 1 experience cap, with 1 experience point overflowing.]

[You have met the requirements to level up. Please prepare to upgrade as soon as possible.]

Planting trees really paid off—Mu Ying’s experience bar filled up quickly. Any extra experience couldn’t be stored, and leveling up didn’t seem to be instantaneous.

She suppressed the urge to level up right away. Better to play it safe and wait until she was back at camp.

Even though she couldn’t gain any more experience, Mu Ying still planted all the saplings she had. Protecting nature wasn’t just about leveling up—she truly loved the natural world and wanted to make it better.

On the way back, she also gathered some branches. Once home, she used druidic tricks to help them take root and sprout, keeping them temporarily by her door.

She quickly sorted out the saplings she’d set aside earlier, bundled them with the rice she’d gathered today, and delivered them to Oak General Store.

This time, Wu Yaya took the goods directly, so she didn’t see Grandpa Shaum, but at least she’d paid off part of her debt for that rare spell.

With her last task done, Mu Ying dashed home, scrambled up to her treehouse, and disappeared inside.

“Hey, do you think she’s rushing back to level up? I saw her progress is at 100% on the leaderboard!”

“Definitely. So jealous—druids are amazing!”

“Pfft, is it the druid that’s amazing? It’s her that’s amazing! Otherwise, out of the two leaderboards, each with a hundred people, how come she’s the only druid on there?”

“True. She’s first on the level leaderboard, and after that zombie wave at noon, she’s on the combat power board too. Her rank is low, but with the way she fights zombies, if she spent more time on it, she’d be way higher…”

Mu Ying was oblivious to the chatter outside. She was surrounded by the power of nature, completely immersed in it.

[Bathed in the power of nature, you have become a level 2 druid.]

[Due to your druid level, you have gained the class skill: Woodland Stride.]

[Due to your druid level, your HP has increased to 160.]

[Due to your druid level, your mana has increased to 80.]

[No new spells unlocked at this level.]

Leveling up to 2 didn’t bring huge changes—besides a new class skill, only her HP and mana increased a bit. But during the upgrade, her connection to nature was clearer than ever, drawing her even closer to the natural world.

Woodland Stride allowed druids to move at normal speed through thorny plants, dense undergrowth, or similar terrain without taking any damage—a skill that made forest travel much easier.

No new higher-level spells unlocked, which actually made Mu Ying breathe a sigh of relief. She still had a bunch of 0-level and 1st-level spells to learn. If she got a whole new batch now, she’d be stuck in the nightmare of never catching up.

Once the aftereffects of leveling up faded, Mu Ying opened her player manual to check her status panel.

[Name: Mu Ying]

[Race: Half-Elf]

[Class: Druid Lv2 (0/300)]