Chapter 380 - 352: 4-Week Island Settlement (2/3)
Two days later, the fruit tree was successfully transplanted into the Treasure Garden.
The tree was located at the eastern base of a hillock inside the Treasure Garden. Its crown was as dense as a cloud, nearly touching the very top of the Home’s space.
Because it had grown in a cave, constrained by its environment, the trunk had long since bent, its branches drooping low.
As the last bit of soil was backfilled into the pit, the branches swayed gently.
It was as if it were greeting them.
Qin Ziwu followed his older brother to the sacrificial entrance of the Abyssal Ruins, carrying a large basket of Sea Pear Fruits.
Qin Ziwen took a Sea Pear Fruit from the basket and tossed it into the sacrificial entrance.
There was a soft plop as the fruit sank to the bottom of the pool.
Before it could fall all the way to the city below, it disintegrated into a wisp of white light in midair.
[You have obtained two wisps of Law Essence.]
’Only two wisps?’ Qin Ziwen mused. ’That’s even less than a Level 1 Marvel.’
’This is an Extraordinary Fruit, after all.’
However, the tree could bear at least several hundred fruits at a time. If he sacrificed them all, he would get several hundred wisps.
If the fruit’s maturation cycle was short, it would be a stable source for producing Law Essence.
"You try it too," Qin Ziwen said, letting his younger brother take a Sea Pear Fruit from the bamboo basket to sacrifice.
"Me?" Qin Ziwu looked a little excited. He chuckled, picked up a fruit, and walked to the altar’s edge. He peeked over; the deep water reflected nothing. He released the fruit, and the Sea Pear Fruit vanished into the water.
"How was it?" Qin Ziwen asked, looking at his brother and noticing the astonishment on his face.
’He must have received some feedback,’ he thought.
At almost the same moment, Qin Ziwen received a prompt from the Abyssal Ruins, asking him how much of a "tax" to levy on other sacrificers. The collected tax would be used to upgrade the Abyssal Ruins.
Following a plan he had decided on beforehand, Qin Ziwen set a universal rate of 50%.
[Growth Progress +1]
[Current Growth Progress: 1/100,000]
One wisp of Law Essence equaled one point of growth progress. For the Abyssal Ruins to upgrade to Level 2, it needed a full one hundred thousand points. It was a long way to go.
And this was just for an upgrade from a Level 1 to a Level 2 structure. The amount of growth needed for subsequent levels was unimaginable.
’No wonder that restaurant was open to the public. That mysterious restaurant probably has some kind of taxation method unknown to outsiders.’
After obtaining his own wonder, Qin Ziwen subconsciously started thinking from the restaurant owner’s perspective.
He tried to divine the hidden meaning behind the owner’s behavior by looking at it from their point of view.
This could serve as a reference for him.
"Bro, I feel like I got a little stronger, but it’s not very noticeable."
"What can you tell from just one fruit? Take this whole basket and sacrifice them all."
"Let me sacrifice them all!?" Qin Ziwu was astonished. He and his brother had packed these fruits themselves—there were a full hundred of them in the basket.
"Why not? There are more in the warehouse. You go ahead and use these first," Qin Ziwen urged his brother.
Then, with Qin Ziwen as a witness, Qin Ziwu sacrificed the fruits one by one.
Before his eyes, the fruits his brother tossed into the water melted in midair. Then, they mysteriously reappeared on the rooftops of the city below, with the hundred or so Sea Pear Fruits forming a small, pyramid-shaped pile. These fruits, which had clearly been sacrificed, had ultimately reappeared in a miraculous way.
Qin Ziwen found this interesting. He guessed it might have something to do with the Abyssal Ruins’ growth progress.
Then there was the giant egg floating above the underwater city. Every time a sacrifice fell, the egg acted like a filter. It seemed to take a taste first, then spit out the excess, like a piece of sugarcane that had been squeezed dry.
"Bro, I feel like... my strength has doubled," Qin Ziwu murmured, staring at his hands in disbelief.
"It doesn’t just feel like it. It has doubled." Qin Ziwen narrowed his eyes. "Get used to it. This boost shouldn’t just be to your strength; it’s an all-around upgrade, including your speed, stamina, and other attributes."
Qin Ziwu tested it out and confirmed his brother was right. The boost was indeed all-around.
It was as if his entire body had been completely transformed, upgraded from its very foundation.
Qin Ziwu looked back at the Abyssal Ruins, his eyes filled with profound shock. ’This structure is insane!’
At some point, Mogu had appeared behind Qin Ziwu. It had witnessed Qin Ziwu’s transformation firsthand, its eyes filled with shock.
The speed of this improvement—the ability to grow indefinitely as long as there were enough resources—reminded it of a similar structure it had once visited.
Qin Ziwen turned to Mogu. "I’m curious, how does it work at that restaurant? Do you provide your own ingredients and have them cook for you?"
"That’s right. After getting a ticket to the restaurant, you can go inside to eat," Mogu said. "You have to prepare the ingredients yourself. You can prepare ingredients for multiple meals at once, and there’s no limit to the number of meals, but you must finish eating within two hours. Also, preparing the meals takes time."
"I see." ’The two-hour time limit was probably a rule the restaurant added later on,’ Qin Ziwen thought.
’After all, my Abyssal Ruins doesn’t have any limits on sacrifices; it accepts all comers.’
Afterward, Qin Ziwen took another one hundred forty-nine fruits from the warehouse. He gave one hundred of them to Mogu to sacrifice.
The other forty-nine were for his own use.
When the last fruit was thrown into the Abyssal Ruins,
a warm current rose within his body.
[Law Body·Level 2 (1/500)]
Qin Ziwen took a moment to adapt to his newly doubled and enhanced body. He wasn’t particularly excited, since he wasn’t a combat unit.
He was the core of the Home. His strength was mainly for self-preservation; he wouldn’t resort to violence unless absolutely necessary.
After noon that day, the rain gradually subsided.
With the sky clearing up after the rain, the Qin Alliance resumed its work.
First, they had to rebuild the offshore platform. But, having learned from the experience of it being destroyed by the storm, the new platform was designed to be simple and easy to dismantle.
Second, the fishing boats resumed their salvage work, and ferries transported members to the surrounding islands to gather resources and hunt.
Amidst this orderly development, the fourth full week on the Island map quietly passed.
[You have successfully survived for four weeks on the Gobi Desert and Island maps. Current day on the Island map: Day 30. You have collected a large amount of materials, hunted a small number of Extraordinary Beasts, built ships... Comprehensive Score: 1571]
[Rewards Obtained: [Function Card] Level 1 Guild x1, [Expansion Card] Height Expansion Card (Large) x1, [Expansion Card] Blank Expansion Card (Large) x1, [Task Card] Home Task Generation Card x1, [Resource Card] Nan Bamboo Forest x1, [Duplication Card] Ordinary Resource Copy Card x5]
The rewards for the fourth week weren’t that great; there was even an ordinary Resource Card.
The score had dropped this time mainly because most of the tasks on the Hunting Celestial List had been completed. Furthermore, due to the heavy rain, a lot of work in the Home had come to a halt, and the amount of resources acquired was significantly less than the previous week.
The fact that the score was still over a thousand was primarily thanks to having hunted a good number of Extraordinary Beasts.
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