Starting Off Survival With A Small Treehouse

Chapter 13 - 13: Another Fertile Land

”Itʼs fertile soil!” Xu Xin was instantly excited; after all this time, this is only the second time heʼs seen fertile soil (blue), apart from the soil he used for planting his treehouse initially. With this soil, he can cultivate blue-quality plants himself!

Picking up his axe, he first chopped down this high-grade poplar tree, obtaining five units of lumber (blue).

[Lumber (blue): When crafting tools requiring wood, using one piece can greatly increase the toolʼs durability. Using one piece during furniture crafting improves the furnitureʼs grade.]

Blue-grade lumber is surprisingly good for enhancing tool durability and upgrading furniture!

No wonder he couldnʼt find high-grade furniture, only white-grade furniture crafting recipes—it turns out high-grade materials are needed!

Xu Xin looked at the improved stone axe (green) in his hand, now with half its durability remaining, and felt a bit heartache for the blue stones heʼd used.

Shaking his head and putting these thoughts aside, he picked up the improved stone shovel and began digging into the soil.

[Obtained fertile soil (blue) *1, lumber (blue) *1, poplar seeds *1]

The blue stump still yielded ordinary seeds, further confirming Xu Xinʼs previous suspicions.

After several trips, he transported all the ingredients, lumber, and soil back. Around the treehouse, he found a patch of barren soil, dug it out, and filled it with fertile soil.

Looking at the fertile soil on the ground, Xu Xin nodded in satisfaction. This was todayʼs greatest gain; with this soil, he could continuously produce blue-quality lumber or ingredients.

”What should I plant first?”

Xu Xin remembered there was another high-grade poplar tree earlier, and he quickly went to chop it down and dug out the stump, giving him 12 units of lumber (blue).

”If I plant an apple tree, harvest apples, and then chop the tree down, can I get both blue-quality ingredients and lumber?” Xu Xin calculated. He didnʼt have apple tree seeds in hand, but there were plenty of apple trees (green) in this resource area; he could dig for seeds.

Moreover, he hadnʼt seen blue-quality apples yet, which would definitely be food with new functions.

The more he thought about it, the more sense it made, so Xu Xin first tried chopping down an apple tree. Sure enough, he obtained lumber (green) *5 and dug out the apple tree stump. This time, Lady Luck didnʼt favor him, and he didnʼt get apple tree seeds. No matter, he could only chop another apple tree.

[Apple tree seeds: Can be planted in soil and grow into an apple tree in five days, bearing fruit in another five days.]

Xu Xin had also tried obtaining seeds from apples heʼd eaten before; though he got seeds, there was no system prompt, meaning the seeds obtained from fruit were ordinary seeds. They might be plantable, but how long would it take for a regular apple tree to grow and bear fruit? Xu Xin didnʼt have the leisure for cultivating an ordinary apple tree.

These dug-out seeds, with system enhancements, only take ten days to bear fruit.

Xu Xin planted this apple tree seed in the fertile soil (blue), and the seed slowly sprouted at a visibly observable speed.

[Apple tree sapling (blue): Will grow into an apple tree in five days; prior to maturity, itʼs extremely fragile—stepping on it is a big no-no!]

Itʼs done! Let it grow slowly.

Xu Xin returned to the treehouse with materials, placing lumber resources on the first floor and food resources on the desk on the third floor. He then tried listing the dug-out barren soil on the trading platform, but the platform indicated that soil was a privately bound resource and couldnʼt be traded.

A bit regrettable, Xu Xin had whimsically thought about whether he could dig out green soil to sell, considering itʼs abundant all around him, but it turns out he couldnʼt.

Forget it; letʼs see what blue materials are available now.

[Large Red Berry (blue)], the ingredient granting two hours of night vision capability—itʼs something Xu Xin had experienced before. Unlike illumination tools, the night vision ability allows his nighttime vision to be as good as daytime.

[Superior Mushroom (blue)], something that slightly increases intellect permanently after consumption. Mushrooms canʼt be eaten raw; once he crafts a grill, Xu Xin plans to roast these over 20 mushrooms first, as increasing permanent attributes is always beneficial.

[Orange (blue)], an excellent item for invigorating the mind without side effects, keeping the mind highly energized for an hour and refreshing afterwards as if having had a deep sleep.

[Stone (blue)], an excellent item that greatly enhances tool efficiency.

[Lumber (blue)], an excellent item that greatly enhances tool durability, and also upgrades furniture grades.

[Iron Ore (blue)], although Xu Xin doesnʼt have any, heʼs seen it from Li Wenxi, an excellent item for smelting iron blocks (blue).

Currently, food items provide temporary or permanent boosts, while material items significantly enhance the functionality of crafted tools.

No time to lose, letʼs craft those items that can be made on the synthesis table first.

Xu Xin tapped the screen to initiate a video call with Li Wenxi.

The call connected within seconds, and the video showed Li Wenxi looking much cleaner than before; Xu Xin even saw the fireplace behind her on the wall.

”Are you done with your work?” The beautiful girl sat on the bed with a delighted face.

”Youʼve crafted a fireplace?” Xu Xin was a bit surprised, thinking its priority shouldnʼt be high.

”More than just the fireplace; Iʼve also crafted the furnace grill! There was so much material that it was annoying to look at, so I used some.”

”Did you keep my share?”

”How could I forget you? Iʼve got tons of stones, and only used a small portion; and if thereʼs not enough, I can just dig more!” The beautiful girl, seeing Xu Xin doubting her, got a bit displeased, planted her hands on her hips, and said.

Well, sheʼs quite the little rich woman!

”Look at this.” Xu Xin held the lumber (blue) up before him so Li Wenxi could see.

”Whatʼs this?” The beautiful girl was puzzled.

This time, Xu Xin realized that without an appraisal, she couldnʼt see the itemʼs grade, so he sent her the description of the lumber (blue).

”This! This is the blue material for upgrading furniture!” Li Wenxiʼs eyes widened, and her body jolted forward, accompanied by squeaking sounds from the bed beneath her.

”Exactly! I still have a lot of green lumber. You have plenty of stones, right? Letʼs trade; I need to hurry and craft those things.”

”Oh, okay!”

Xu Xin exchanged 200 pieces of lumber (green) with Li Wenxi for 200 pieces of stone (green), first crafting the basic furnace and placing it on the second floor of the treehouse.

During crafting, Xu Xin tried to see if he could add one stone (blue) to enhance the furnace efficiency. Unfortunately, it didnʼt work, which makes sense—itʼs a bit far-fetched to expect adding one stone (blue) to enhance the efficiency of a furnace requiring a total of 100 stones.