Hundred-Year-Old Tree

Ling Qing's hometown was in Lu Province, a place with a flourishing culture, where people's fondness for these two plants could be said to be ingrained in their bones.

There was a saying: "No garlic, no feast; no scallions, no fragrance." It described the people of Lu Province's love for them.

Ling Qing, however, was an exception. It was not that he disliked them; he simply did not love them to that extent.

His mother, for example, liked to eat pancakes rolled around raw scallions, sometimes adding a chopstickful of shredded pickles, though more often than not she ate them plain.

He could not do that. Though he liked the aroma of stir-fried scallions and garlic, he only enjoyed the flavor; whether raw or cooked, he never swallowed them.

Besides, living alone, he did not cook at all. He had only bought them to earn experience.

After returning to his rental, Ling Qing found a plastic foot-washing basin with a crack in it and poured in the soil he had dug up from the riverbank.

Scallions and garlic had extremely high survival rates and could live simply by being placed in water.

Still, to accommodate the plants' natural habits, Ling Qing had brought back some soil.

He planted the bundle of scallions sparsely in the middle of the basin and arranged a ring of garlic bulbs around them.

Then he filled two bowls with water and sprinkled it evenly inside, moistening the soil.

With a thought, he summoned the projection of the Book of Nature. Although its traits had yet to activate because he had not created a physical Spellbook,

after two days of practice, Ling Qing could already successfully cast 0-level cantrips.

In particular, he had spent those two days specifically practicing Sprout, which stimulated seeds, so that he could earn experience smoothly.

"Su."

After Ling Qing clearly spoke a single syllable, the Natural Force within him followed the guidance of his finger and enveloped the plastic basin before him.

In an instant, the slightly wilted, yellowing scallions, which had been uprooted from the soil, began vigorously drawing in the water and nutrients within the earth, becoming lush and green.

The garlic bulbs scattered around them pushed apart their white, scale-like skins, revealing pale yellow shoots.

"Character has completed a Druid's daily cultivation. You have gained a slight insight into the Way of Nature—plants, and obtained 10 points of general experience."

"Character has completed a Druid's basic cultivation. Your maximum Natural Force has permanently increased by 1 point (5/6)."

The moment the spell's effect dissipated, two successive messages appeared before Ling Qing.

A stirring of life arose in his heart, surging without end.

Though weak, it possessed tremendous staying power, carrying an unyielding resilience.

Not only that, the Natural Force circulating within him was incomparably lively. Compared with the energy he had gained by sorting through the flowers, grasses, and trees along the riverbank before, it seemed far more agile.

"As expected, whether human or plant, newly born life is always more spiritual."

After sensing the difference between the two energies for a while, Ling Qing waited until they had blended into one and could no longer be distinguished, then turned his attention to the general experience he had gained.

General experience: 10 points.

"Ten experience points? I wonder whether it is because of the quantity or something else. How exactly was this number calculated?"

Comparing the number of scallions and garlic plants in the plastic basin with the amount of experience he had received, Ling Qing tried to find a connection between them, but could not reach any conclusion.

"Forget it. With my 11 points of Intelligence, I really can't figure anything out. I should just enjoy this gift from nature."

Unable to discern any pattern, Ling Qing temporarily gave up. He lowered his head to look at the scallions that had regained their vitality and the garlic that had taken root and sprouted.

He continued to sense the vigor of life and the liveliness of new growth.

For the current Ling Qing, ten experience points had no decisive effect.

Aside from raising character and general skill levels, general experience could also be used to accelerate the development of new spells.

Class skills were innate abilities of a Druid. They mostly improved alongside increases in class level and Perception.

Spells, on the other hand, required one's own spellcasting ability.

But advancing from level 1 to level 2 required 1,000 experience points. This little experience was nowhere near enough.

As for upgrading skills, Ling Qing first needed to gain entry into them before he could improve them.

His only general skill was still some distance away from beginner proficiency, and in any case, this tiny amount of experience could hardly do anything.

With that in mind, Ling Qing glanced once more at the scallions and garlic shoots in the plastic basin, then placed it somewhere that received sunlight for long periods.

He picked up his keys and phone, pushed open the door, and went out.

After casually grabbing a meal on the road, he returned to the riverbank and took a stroll along it to aid his digestion.

In the past, he would usually just order takeout to bring back, eat while scrolling through his phone, and go straight to sleep whenever he felt tired.

He generally stayed up until around two or three in the morning.

But now, not only was he curious about the newly acquired energy, even the nature of being a Druid urged him to spend more time outdoors and come into greater contact with nature.

As he strolled to digest his food, Ling Qing kept searching on his phone for places where he could obtain the bark, branches, and leaves of a hundred-year-old tree.

After all, the traits related to the Book of Nature were still waiting for him to activate them by crafting a Spellbook.

Although 0-level cantrips did not consume materials, quite a few level 1 spells required components.

If he wanted to practice them, collecting materials would already be troublesome enough. Without the Book of Nature's bonus, he would also need to spend far more time practicing before becoming proficient.

After the food in his stomach had mostly digested, Ling Qing leisurely performed a round of Five Animal Frolics. After communicating with plants to replenish his Natural Force, he slowly wandered back to his rental once more.

After several days of searching, Ling Qing finally found a lead online. A friend whose hometown was deep in the mountains was willing to collect the materials and mail them to him.

It was not that Ling Qing could not find a hundred-year-old tree. It was simply that in modern times, trees over a hundred years old could already be called ancient trees.

Especially in the city, most large trees of that age were located in scenic areas. He could only look at them; stripping bark or breaking off branches was probably impossible.

"Ding-dong!"

Ling Qing took out his phone and read the text message. After waiting several days, the items had finally arrived.

After exchanging a few more words with that newly acquainted friend, he saw that it was time to get off work. After clocking out, he turned and left directly.

In the lobby on the first floor, he saw the delivered package: a large cardboard box.

He picked up the not particularly heavy box, rode his electric scooter, and headed straight for his rental.

After returning to the rental, Ling Qing did not even glance at the numerous plants arranged inside and outside the room. He eagerly opened the box.

Picking up a piece of bark with a rough surface, he used Natural Force to sense it. It had indeed reached the hundred-year standard.

"It's done."

Ling Qing softly said in delight as he poured everything out.

He sorted out several pieces of bark and branches of varying sizes, then stacked the remaining leaves neatly one by one.

It was a ginkgo tree, and its leaves were not large.

Though he did not know what the finished Spellbook would look like, he decided to make it first and worry about the rest later.