Max Level Return—I'll Protect That Fragile One

”I’m an intern, here for my internship in town.” With a sleight of hand, Xu Xingguang produced a sparkling ruby in her palm.

Seeing the gemstone, the eyes of several girls in the crowd lit up.

In the resource-scarce Divine Martial Realm, pure natural gemstones often ended up in the hands of those powerful families. Ordinary people might only be able to afford one when they got married.

And the ones they could buy, in terms of size or quality, were hard to compare with the diamond in Xu Xingguang’s hand.

”Sisters, how about making a trade with me?”

The young ones exchanged glances, all tempted.

A moment later, Xu Xingguang obtained a hoverboard, a supermarket discount card, a low-level fragrance sachet storage bag, and a handheld smart notebook.

She rode the hoverboard to the medicine building, submitted her documents to the staff, and received her work permit—

Field Administrator No. 18.

Riding the hoverboard, she crossed over two mountain peaks to reach Field No. 18. It was a barren wasteland, covered with wild grass, with not a single medicinal herb in sight.

She opened her work manual, read it carefully, and confirmed her job duties—

Manage the herb field, regularly remove pests and weeds, harvest the herbs on time, and maintain an acceptance rate of eighty percent for the herbs.

Closing the work manual, Xu Xingguang took off her cap and looked at the wasteland ahead, a question mark slowly forming in her mind.

Dare I ask, where are the herbs?

Xu Xingguang walked to the gatehouse and knocked on the door.

The elderly woman sleeping on a small bed frowned, sat up, and impatiently opened the door. Her cloudy blue-gray eyes scanned Xu Xingguang up and down before asking, ”What is it?”

”Granny, is this Field No. 18?”

”Who are you calling granny?” The old woman had a foul temper and a harsh tone, ”Call me Granny Nan.”

”Granny Nan?” Xu Xingguang felt it strange, wondering why someone would have such a name.

Seeing the old lady’s displeased expression, Xu Xingguang quickly corrected herself, ”Granny Man.” The name Granny Man didn’t sound good, and she thought it was important to respect the elderly.

The old lady frowned, feeling something was not right.

Granny Nan pointed at the sign hanging on the gate next to the gatehouse, telling Xu Xingguang, ”Can’t you read those big words?”

Xu Xingguang stared at the characters that looked like Ghost Talisman symbols on the sign, genuinely not recognizing them.

But she wisely said nothing.

Handing her work permit to Granny Nan, Xu Xingguang said, ”From now on, I’ll be interning at Field No. 18 until the herbs mature.”

Granny Nan took a careful look at the work permit and then sneered, ”You’ve got someone trying to trip you up.” She poured herself a cup of pitch-black tea, took a sip, and said, ”This mountain is known as a dead mountain. No matter what herb you plant here, it will inexplicably wither within a month.”

She glanced playfully at Xu Xingguang and said bluntly, ”You could spend your entire life in Field No. 18 and still not complete your internship task.”

Despite hearing this, Xu Xingguang wasn’t surprised at all.

She had anticipated this situation long ago.

”I must get Elder Tan Nan’s stamp and letter of recommendation to go to Medicine King City for studies. By the rules, only upon completing my internship task am I eligible to meet Elder Tan Nan.” Still calm, Xu Xingguang asked Granny Nan, ”Granny Man, is there another way for me to meet Elder Tan Nan and receive her approval and letter of recommendation?”

Granny Nan, sipping her tea leisurely, said, ”Elder Tan Nan is the Peak Master of Cattle Hump. Do you think you can meet him whenever you want? Honestly, just complete your internship task and then go see him.”

Xu Xingguang frowned. ”I see.”

She opened the door and entered the herb field, not coming out for the entire afternoon.

At seven in the evening, Granny Nan opened the gatehouse’s loudspeaker, bellowing, ”Finished for the day! Closing the gate!”

She turned off the loudspeaker and began packing up to leave.

As someone lacking ambition, Granny Nan was always punctual, never wasting a single minute before and after work. Just as she was about to leave with her cloth bag, she saw the gate to the herb field open, and a slender figure emerged.

Granny Nan glanced at her and then left.

Early the next morning, Granny Nan sat on a small stool at the gatehouse entrance, sipping her black tea. Halfway through her drink, she saw the same young girl from yesterday approaching again.

She landed her hoverboard at the entrance of the herb field iron gate and took out a pile of farming tools from the low-level fragrance sachet storage bag.