Birch Worm

The birch tree might be nurturing a Spirit Worm. The sudden happiness left Russell feeling immense pressure as well.

Spirit Worms born in the wild were not unheard of, but they were exceedingly rare.

The reason was not that wild plants and mushrooms could not draw strength from the earth. Rather, the earth's power was ultimately too sparse. Without the support of a Spirit Worm of the same origin, it was extraordinarily difficult for plants and mushrooms to absorb nutrients on their own and successfully nurture a Spirit Worm.

More often than not, the insufficient supply of earth power would result in a miscarriage.

"Can this tree... nurture a Birch Worm?"

Watching the dim glow emanating from the trunk, Russell racked his brain for memories from the original owner of this body, trying to find a way to help the birch tree.

From the knowledge the original owner had learned, Spirit Worms had been known to humanity for at least four thousand years.

People had become quite proficient at using Spirit Worms to cultivate magical herbs.

They had also developed a mature set of methods for using magical herbs in turn to cultivate new Spirit Worms.

But how to improve the nurturing of wild Spirit Worms remained a great unsolved mystery. They did not even know how to search for wild Spirit Worms. After all, plants and mushrooms nurturing Spirit Worms was entirely random, with no fixed pattern to follow.

Tonight, Russell had encountered the stoutest birch tree, and it happened to be nurturing a Spirit Worm. That did not mean the stoutest and tallest birch trees would necessarily nurture Spirit Worms.

And even if one did, that did not mean it would certainly succeed.

Perhaps a shorter, more slender birch tree could nurture a Spirit Worm, with a higher chance of success than a stout, towering birch tree.

So methods such as fertilizing, watering, weeding, and pest control had no effect on nurturing Spirit Worms.

Otherwise, with humanity's thousands of years of farming history, they would have cultivated countless crop and fruit tree Spirit Worms long ago and happily farmed away.

"Snowflake, do you have a way?" Unable to find a solution, Russell could only idly ask the Little Dream Dragon.

He had not expected an answer.

Yet the next moment, the Little Dream Dragon turned and shot Russell a sidelong glance, snorting two streams of hot air from its nostrils with utter disdain.

Then—

It turned back toward the birch trunk, opened its tiny mouth full of dragon teeth, and exhaled a breath of Dragon Breath even thinner than smoke.

Then something miraculous happened.

The birch tree's extremely dim glow, strengthened by the Dragon Breath, actually became warm and mellow as though it had come alive. It also developed the rhythm of breathing, its light flickering between bright and dim, growing a little brighter with every flicker.

"Caw caw!" Having finished, the Little Dream Dragon turned its head back again and gave Russell a slanted look.

Russell could not be certain what exactly the Little Dream Dragon's Dragon Breath had done to the birch tree, or how it had stimulated the magic within. But that did not stop him from guessing that this breath of Dragon Breath was absolutely vital to the nurturing of the Spirit Worm.

"Nicely done, Snowflake!" He vigorously rubbed the Little Dream Dragon's big head.

"Caw!"

The Little Dream Dragon shook its head, directly knocking Russell off, then flapped its wings and left his side.

It was tired.

"Just one breath of Dragon Breath..." Russell only had time for half a thought before his awareness darkened and sank into chaos.

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

A rooster from a distant serf household let out a resounding crow.

Inside the tent, Russell stretched an arm out of his sleeping bag and gave his whole body a long, satisfying stretch, welcoming the wonderful morning.

"Ever since I got Snowflake, I haven't had a bad night's sleep." He pulled out the pocket watch he carried with him from beneath his sleeping bag pillow and checked the time. It was six thirty in the morning.

He lifted the tent flap.

Sunlight had already spread evenly through the birch grove.

Knight Retainer Jack, still somewhat groggy, was leaning against a birch tree, his head bobbing like a chicken pecking grain. Hearing the movement, he suddenly jolted awake.

"Ah, my lord."

"Go wash your face at the manor annex, have some breakfast, then get a proper sleep." Russell expanded his chest and gave the order.

"This subordinate isn't tired." Jack spoke nonsense with bloodshot eyes.

Russell merely repeated calmly, "Go."

Jack immediately bowed and withdrew. "Yes!"

Left alone, Russell carefully observed the birch tree. Since the part nurturing the Spirit Worm was more than three meters above the ground, he could not see anything clearly from beneath it. Still, he had a strong feeling that this Birch Worm would definitely be successfully nurtured.

"A fourth Spirit Worm... I never expected to have a fourth Spirit Worm so soon!" After looking up for a while, Russell's heart grew hotter and hotter.

This was only his second night at Wuyou Snake Manor.

If he camped in a different place every night and opened the Dark Dreamscape in different locations, would that mean he could have the Little Dream Dragon breathe Dragon Breath upon every wild Spirit Worm potentially being nurtured throughout the territory, allowing them all to be successfully born?

"Excellent!"

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became.

Until Butler Morris arrived with two male servants and a maid, bringing him washing supplies and breakfast.

"My lord, are you going to continue standing guard here?"

"I plan to watch over the Worm Grass." Russell gave a casual reply. His territory, his rules—there was no need to explain himself to anyone.

With the servants attending him, he brushed his teeth, washed his face with the clear water of the Glimmering River, and ate a simple breakfast.

After lingering beside the birch tree for a while longer and confirming that he could see no abnormalities, he handed the Worm Grass over to the arriving serf technician to tend, then went to inspect the other Worm Grass.

The Monochoria Worm Grass and Dill Worm Grass had both taken root, greedily drawing power from beneath the earth.

Nearby, serfs who planted wheat and broad beans had already begun harvesting the still-unripe green shoots under the direction of the serf overseer.

Once the harvest was complete, it would be time to sow Monochoria and Dill.

"The weather gets better by the day, my lord. Once the Ice Age ends comes the warm season. Planting the magical herbs now means they'll grow quickly, without delaying the harvest at all." Old Hans hunched his back as he sidled up to Russell.

"You've planted magical herbs before?"

"I used to grow them in town. Come to think of it, Old Hans here was once a serf technician too. Later, Baron Lord sent me to Wuyou Snake Manor as foreman, and I had to set magical herb cultivation aside." Reminiscing about the past, Old Hans unconsciously reached toward his waist.

A well-seasoned pipe hung there.

There were no cigarettes or cigars here. If people wanted to smoke, they either used pipes or simply chewed tobacco leaves dry.

Remembering something, Old Hans hurriedly hung the pipe back. "Sorry, my lord, I nearly gave in to my tobacco craving."

"It's all right. Smoke if you want." Russell spoke casually.

He did not consider a serf smoking in front of him an affront to his noble authority, though he did not enjoy smoking himself.

He did not like secondhand smoke either.

But this was the wilderness, so he would not inhale much secondhand smoke. Besides, with Battle Aura nourishing the body, even smoking all day would not cause lung cancer—knights possessing Battle Aura almost never fell ill. Battle Aura was more miraculous than any panacea.

In the end, Old Hans did not dare light his pipe in front of Russell, merely doing his utmost to curry favor with him.

As Russell inspected the field ridges, he asked, "Old Hans, you've lived at Wuyou Snake Manor for so long. What do you think needs to be solved first if we want to develop Wuyou Snake Manor?"