Chapter 40: Chapter 40

“Same here!”

“Look, that one’s shot up again!”

“Isn’t that a peanut plant? Can you even grow peanuts this season?”

“Mu Ying’s a druid—she can sense the power of nature. If she says it’s fine, it must be fine.”

Gradually, even after the seeds ran out, people were reluctant to leave. They gathered around the little gardens, watching the seedlings. Every visible sign of growth drew a crowd.

In the whole territory, only Mu Ying and Zheng Jing were druids.

The two of them worked together to check on the newly planted seedlings.

Mu Ying would first sense each plant, then go deeper, smoothing out the flow of natural energy within them.

Zheng Jing was much slower. She had to check each plant several times and, since her senses were less refined, she could only spot obvious problems.

Mu Ying made sure to let Zheng Jing go first, otherwise if Mu Ying had already tended to a plant, Zheng Jing wouldn’t be able to do anything.

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

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

...

Even though Mu Ying hadn’t done all the planting herself, she still gained a lot—maybe even more than when she trained alone.

[Profession: Druid Lv3 (21/600)]

Back in her treehouse, Mu Ying took off her raincoat and hat, collapsed onto the carpet, and finally let her tense expression relax. “Hahaha!”

The sudden laughter startled Gun Gun, who froze mid-bite. What’s gotten into my owner now? Oh well, I’ll just eat my bread.

“Gun Gun, doing a good deed once in a while actually feels pretty nice,” Mu Ying murmured, burying her face in Gun Gun’s soft fur.

After a moment, as if remembering something, she added, “But moderation is key—and caution, too. I really don’t want to get bitten for my kindness.”"

"In the afternoon, Mu Ying continued practicing Barkskin in her treehouse.

“Sigh, second-circle spells are really tough!”

She couldn’t help but complain as she practiced. She’d already spent half of yesterday working on this spell, but her progress was minimal—she just couldn’t get it to affect her whole body quickly.

Even after casting, her skin’s hardness still didn’t meet her expectations.

And every time she cast a second-circle spell, it cost her 10 mana points—and that’s only if she controlled her technique well. Otherwise, she’d waste even more mana.

With her current mana pool, she could only cast Barkskin ten times at most. Practicing at high frequency just wasn’t possible.

After running out of mana yet again, Mu Ying decided to enter the Trial World for a look around. She was still thinking about the house-like structure she’d spotted yesterday.

With enough food, weapons, and a single bed packed, Mu Ying left the mountain where she’d been living for days.

She hurried along a stream that flowed toward the oak forest.

Before sunset, Mu Ying finally saw the scene she’d glimpsed yesterday in the distance.

She hadn’t been mistaken—it was a village.

Unfortunately, it was getting dark, so Mu Ying took out her single bed and went to sleep.

[Your Trial World character Mu Ying has survived 1 day in the Block World. Gained: 1 Origin Power.]

When she opened her eyes again, the setting sun had become a rising one. Mu Ying got up, packed away her bed, gripped her stone sword, and approached the village.

Outside the village were vast fields of wheat and pasture, already ripe but left unharvested.

The tall watchtower at the village entrance was unmanned.

The houses inside were smaller than she’d imagined, and through the windows, she could see their simple interiors.

Blocky villagers wandered in and out of their homes, as if they’d just woken up.

Surprisingly, Mu Ying’s presence—a living, breathing stranger—didn’t attract any attention.

They showed no intention of attacking her, and talking to them got no response. It was as if they lived in a world of their own.

If it weren’t for the words “Ordinary Villager” floating above their heads, Mu Ying might have thought they were some other kind of zombie.

After all, they were all just clumps of colored pixels, not much different in shape from the undead.

Mu Ying observed for a while but couldn’t figure out what they were doing, wandering in and out of their houses.

She decided to approach a villager living alone and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Ah!”

[Ordinary Villager]

[Possession: Wheat Seeds]

[Desire: Bread]

[Trade: Exchange 2 Bread for 20 Wheat Seeds?]

Mu Ying was startled by the villager’s odd cry, but then noticed a new dialogue box. “So you can trade?”

She quickly declined, and the villager went back to wandering around his house.

She already had a huge wheat field of her own. Every harvest, she’d get double the wheat seeds for two days, and her cave’s chest was full of them. No need to trade.

Now her interest was piqued. She went around poking villagers to see if anyone had something good.

The ordinary villagers wanted all sorts of things—meat, apples, eggs, wool, leather, and so on—but most of what they had didn’t interest Mu Ying.

Either she didn’t need it, or she could get it herself.

“Huh? This villager looks different.”

Unlike the others, this one carried a bow and arrows.

Mu Ying tapped him.

[Hunter]

[Possessions: Wooden Bow, Arrows, Crosshair]