Basement Completed

Chapter 18: Basement Completed

By the time the sun set, Liu Li and his three brothers had mostly cleared away the ruins of the thatched cottage and made plans for the new one.

The four Liu brothers did not intend to eat at Li Xuan's courtyard, so Li Xuan took out several large rye breads and gave them to Liu Li and the others for dinner.

After seeing Liu Li off, Bai Wen returned with a cart full of greenish bricks.

"Xuan Ge'er, three hundred bricks for one large rye bread. Does that sound good?" Bai Wen asked Li Xuan after entering the courtyard and wiping the sweat from his face.

"Of course. I'll have to trouble you for the next few days, Brother Bai Wen. This is your payment." Li Xuan handed Bai Wen two pork floss buns, then went to unload the bricks from the cart and stack them by the wall.

"Thank you, Xuan Ge'er!" Bai Wen did not stand on ceremony. He scooped up a handful of water from the lotus vat and ate his bread with it.

After a while, Bai Wen finished eating, and Li Xuan had moved all two hundred or so bricks to the corner.

"Xuan Ge'er, I'll head back first. I'll come move more bricks tomorrow!" Bai Wen clasped his hands toward Li Xuan before leaving the courtyard on his own.

After watching Bai Wen leave, Li Xuan found a spot by the wall, opened the shop, bought a boxed meal and bottled water, and ate and drank.

Once he was full, Li Xuan spread some thatch beneath himself and prepared to sleep.

It was midsummer, after all, so spending a night outside was no big deal.

Three days later, at noon.

Li Xuan handed the last few pots of flower seedlings to Bai Wen.

"Brother Bai Wen, these are the last pots of seedlings. This year's final batch of seeds that needed cultivating has already been delivered," Li Xuan said with a smile.

"Don't worry, Xuan Ge'er. I'll make sure they're delivered safely!" Bai Wen smiled at Li Xuan, then pushed his cart out of the courtyard.

Li Xuan sorted out the containers in the courtyard that had been used to cultivate flower seedlings, then headed down to the basement.

"Xuan Ge'er, the basement should be finished today. Then we'll move on to the thatched cottage. The four of us can finish it in a day," Liu Li said with a smile as he hurried over to Li Xuan.

"You've worked hard these past few days, Uncle Liu," Li Xuan said with a smile.

"Not at all, not at all. I'll get back to work." Liu Li went back to work after speaking.

Seeing that there was nothing suitable for him to do, Li Xuan returned to the surface.

The flower slaves' seedlings had all been cultivated, but Li Xuan had yet to cultivate the seedlings he needed to turn in himself. With nothing else to do, he took a bag of seeds from a Void Pearl, selected some rare but less useful seeds, and began cultivating them. Once cultivated, they would yield new seeds.

Li Xuan remained busy until sunset. He placed all one hundred seeds in his hands into seedling containers, then went to the backyard, cut off a branch from a Dark Domain Ghost Orchid, and planted it in a flowerpot.

These were seeds that Chrysanthemum Douluo had taken special interest in. Li Xuan could not possibly show Chrysanthemum Douluo the century-old Dark Domain Ghost Orchid in his backyard. Otherwise, Chrysanthemum Douluo would surely find a way to interrogate his secret out of him.

At that moment, Liu Li came up from underground and walked over to Li Xuan.

"Xuan Ge'er, the basement is complete. Let it air out for a day or two, and it'll be ready to live in," Liu Li said with a smile.

"Understood. Thank you, Uncle Liu. This is your dinner for today and breakfast for tomorrow." Li Xuan took a bag full of large rye bread from nearby and handed it to Liu Li.

Liu Li did not stand on ceremony. He thanked Li Xuan and left the courtyard.

As for Bai Wen, after delivering the last batch of flower seedlings, Li Xuan gave him half a day off to go home and rest.

Li Xuan's courtyard was now especially flat, with no sign of anything unusual on the surface.

His basement lay more than three meters underground and was covered by a layer of soil, making it impossible to notice from the outside.

After finding a concealed little door and opening it, Li Xuan walked down the stairs.

At the same time, he raised his hand, and a golden fireball of Burning Heart Clarifying Spirit Flame appeared in his palm.

The place was instantly illuminated.

At the bottom of the stairs, he entered the basement.

The basement covered only a little over sixty square meters and stood three meters high, with four pillars in the middle supporting the ceiling.

A table stood in the center of the basement, with two chairs around it. Though the table and chairs were somewhat worn, Li Xuan had spent a considerable sum buying them from others.

A large wooden board hung on one wall, with several chunks of black charcoal beside it.

Li Xuan moved the table and chairs aside, then thrust both hands forward. Fierce flames burst forth, scorching the walls with blazing heat.

The moisture within the surrounding walls rapidly evaporated, while the high temperature made the walls more firmly bonded.

Soon, the floor, ceiling, and all four walls had been dried, and the room became pleasantly warm.

Li Xuan suddenly remembered something and ran out of the basement.

He took a large flowerpot, filled it with soil, watered it, then transplanted the Starfire Vine from the backyard into it.

Li Xuan had never expected that the Starfire Vine would one day serve as a daylight lamp.

After carrying the flowerpot into the basement, Li Xuan took out the Little Green Bottle, diluted it in a clay pot, and poured it all onto the Starfire Vine.

The Starfire Vine, which had only just sprouted, instantly became a thick vine ten meters long. More than a dozen yellow fruits resembling tomatoes hung from it.

As the Starfire Vine absorbed the surrounding Soul Power, those yellow fruits gradually began emitting a gentle glow.

A few minutes later, the entire basement was as bright as day!

"A century-old Starfire Vine provides more than enough light." Li Xuan smiled.

"System, help me settle today's points."

[Beginning today's point settlement...]

[Soul Power Level 16, gained 16 points!]

[Sub-profession "Herb Farmer" Level 4, gained 4 points!]

[...]

[No other bonus criteria detected... No additional points gained. Total points gained: 20.]

"So sub-profession levels can also add points. Looks like I should find more plants with short growth cycles in the future and grind my sub-profession level. I just wonder when I'll get a second sub-profession." Li Xuan curled his lip.

Then he took three Void Pearls from his robe.

Over the past few days, Li Xuan had not had anything especially urgent to cultivate, so he had given all the Green Spirit Liquid to the Void Grass. It had borne three Void Pearls, increasing his storage space somewhat.

Including the Void Pearl he already had, Li Xuan now possessed four Void Pearls.

Li Xuan used thatch to braid a cord, wove the four Void Pearls into it, and tied it around his wrist.

After yawning, Li Xuan lay on the pile of thatch and soon fell asleep.

Dear readers, Mondays are hard. Wishing everyone happiness every day!

(End of Chapter)