The Inn (Part 2)

Lying on the wolf pelt, Romon sorted through his memories for the second time.

At his call, a faint tiny point of light suddenly appeared before him again, rapidly expanding into a translucent data panel. The panel floated in his field of vision with a faint glow as a mass of data appeared before Qian Ming.

Name: Romon (Qian Pinji)

Life Race: Human

Life Attributes: Strength 10 (10), Agility 15 (10), Constitution 10 (10), Intelligence 13 (10), Perception 15 (10), Charisma 15 (10)

For normal adult men, 10 was the standard. Every additional point meant 10% more.

Agility was at 15, which meant his reaction speed was about 1.6 times faster than that of an ordinary person. His constitution and strength had only barely passed the mark. Intelligence at 13 was quite good; in a typical modern intelligence test, where the average IQ was 100, 13 points would mean 133. About five people out of a hundred reached that level. It was not genius-level, but it was respectable.

His perception had actually reached 15, exceptionally high. His charisma was also 15. This body belonged to a handsome young man!

Romon let out a breath of relief, but then something suddenly occurred to him, making his whole body tremble.

Back on Earth, he had already discovered some of Shennong Horn's mysteries. Plants could be grown inside it, but it had no special effects. Moreover, there had been a number on the Shennong Horn: 1500.

To break through, a new plant unrecorded by the Shennong Horn had to be brought inside. But new plants were incredibly difficult to find. In the end, he had relied on genetically modified plant seeds, which could count as new seeds, to achieve a breakthrough.

But in this world, there should be seeds the Shennong Horn did not recognize everywhere!

At that thought, Romon could no longer lie still. He hurriedly climbed to his feet.

He pushed open the door and saw that it was night outside, with stars scattered across the sky. Normally, most households would already be asleep, but today was the Harvest Festival, so a few homes still lit their precious oil lamps.

"Anyone there?" Romon gently knocked on his neighbor's door.

The door creaked open, and a wrinkled head poked out from behind it. "Oh, it's Romon!"

The person who opened the door was a stoop-backed woman. She was Sister Jenny. Though she already looked like an old woman, she was actually no more than forty-five. Such was the toll of a hard life. "What does little Romon need?"

"Sister Jenny, I'd like to borrow a small shovel!" Romon gave the excuse he had prepared in advance. "I'm going to clear a patch of land out back tomorrow!"

"Wait a moment!" Sister Jenny had been his neighbor for more than a decade, so she went to fetch one without hesitation. Yet after seeing him take it, she paused briefly before saying, "Little Romon, be careful too. Things have been a little unsettled outside town lately. Don't wander around in the woods."

A year ago, a middle-aged druid had come to the outskirts of town. With the baron lord's permission, he had settled in the forest outside town and, at the baron's invitation, selected several young people to receive druid training.

Ever since then, Romon had often gone into the forest alone.

"Oh? When has anywhere been peaceful lately?" Romon asked. "But what exactly happened?"

"Apparently, those short green-skinned Goblins killed someone," the woman said. "Not long ago, my husband saw a notice on the town chief's bulletin board. The lord has put up a bounty for it."

Romon wanted to ask more, but she clearly did not know much either. He only heard that fresh scalps were required as proof.

Romon had no choice but to leave. In the night, he could faintly make out soldiers on patrol atop the arrow towers along the distant stone wall, and he did not dare go near.

To guard against beasts outside town or dangerous drifters, the gates were closed at night and soldiers stationed to defend them. Anyone who climbed the walls without permission would be killed without exception.

Romon did not need to leave town for the moment. Following his memories, he found an inconspicuous spot beside the Temple. There was a clump of grass there, and with autumn approaching, some of it had already begun to wither yellow.

As long as seeds not recorded by the space were planted into a patch, meeting the minimum standard of being able to reproduce generation after generation, the space would change.

The requirement for reproducing generation after generation was not high, but it still required twenty or thirty plants.

It was autumn now. Finding such plants was not difficult, but neither was it easy. This grass was a type of medicinal herb, and there happened to be a large clump here.

Romon carefully dug them up, taking all twenty-odd plants. After making sure no one was around, he hid in a corner and loosened his hand. The grass vanished into thin air.

At the same time, the Shennong Horn mark on his body flashed once.

The moment Romon focused his mind on the space, he found it illuminated. A message appeared: "New plant species discovered. Please name it."

"Nightmoon Grass!" Romon answered without hesitation. That was its name in this world, according to his memories.

At once, the entire space brightened.

Romon was not surprised. He had encountered this on Earth before. He planted all those plants in the ground and fetched spring water to irrigate them.

After finishing the planting, Romon returned to himself, filled with indescribable joy.

After the Nightmoon Grass had been planted, a faint green light appeared. That was the recorded data. It was blank for now, but after some time, it would become a description of their condition and medicinal properties.

Letting out a breath, Romon looked over his space.

Golden radiance filled everything beneath the sky. It came from a Light Orb hanging dozens of meters overhead, while a fragrance even fresher than rain permeated the air.

The entire sky was veiled in a beautiful halo. Below lay fields carrying the scent of earth, divided in half by a stream. The stream was only twenty meters long, yet its current was swift. Its water was slightly cool but crystal clear, with several fish swimming within it.

Dozens of fruit trees grew in the fields on both sides of the stream, along with a small patch of wheat. The scenery truly resembled a painting, with a faint mist carrying a fresh fragrance curling through the entire space.

Between the fruit trees, flowers and medicinal herbs grew in abundance, all of them exceptionally lush.

Because of the last upgrade, the space had expanded to two mu, leaving another large stretch of empty land.

"Bluegrass, Dark Orchid, Trueleaf, Halfvine Flower, Butterfly Flower!" Each time he named one, data and uses for that herb automatically appeared above it. If he examined them closely, he could even see detailed analyses of their medicinal properties below.

I may not be a genius or have Unforgettable Memory, but with the Shennong Horn, I have nothing to fear. Romon prepared to run an experiment. "Virtual Hornflower seed!"

A seed immediately floated in the air, allowing Romon to inspect it from any angle.

"I'll plant it." A small shovel appeared in Romon's hand as he dug a little hole. "Twenty centimeters into the soil, with four portions of water."

"Advance time in the virtual area!"

The seed germinated, green leaves sprouted, and the main stalk thickened. Gradually, a mature Hornflower covered in green leaves began to emerge.

Throughout the process, Romon watched intently, his breathing steady. From time to time, he seized the right moment to pause the flow of time, then carefully stepped forward to water it, loosen the soil, weed it, and continuously obtain different results.

"Increase soil looseness by three percent, light exposure by five percent, and air humidity by two percent. Again!" Once one cycle was complete, he began another.

If anyone had seen him, they would have noticed that every movement he made during sowing and cultivation was smooth and natural, without the slightest hesitation, as if he had years of experience growing plants.

The Shennong Horn would not analyze things on its own, which was what he regretted most. But once something was completed, everything would be recorded. That was what the previous records were for: through repeated virtual planting, he could adjust conditions to the most suitable soil and climate.

The newly planted Nightmoon Grass would not work yet, but it would in three days. Without question, this was an invaluable tool for studying medicinal herb cultivation.

"Hmm, there really are so many special plants!" Romon opened his eyes and could not help sighing. Then he moved to another spot and passed through the back gate.

Under the moonlight, everything was clearly visible. Romon gazed with deep appreciation at the beautiful scenery nearby, as though it belonged to a fairy tale.

This was the gentle slope behind the Temple. A road ran below it, but it had clearly gone unused for a long time, with weeds growing across it.

It was September. Protected by the Temple, the cobblestone path was surrounded by hardy green grass sprouting from the Rifts between the stones. Flowers and herbs grew everywhere. Seeds from the medicinal garden were sometimes carried by the wind to more distant places, so many medicinal herbs could actually be found here.

Romon calmed down and leisurely admired the beauty before him. Then he found another new species, called Moonlight Flower. He actually found more than a hundred Moonlight Flowers behind the Temple and transplanted them one by one into the Shennong Horn Space as well.

Next came a plant called the Eight-Vine Creeper, of which he found more than a dozen.

Just as he was about to put more new plant species into the space, a message suddenly came from it: "At this level, this space can only accept three new plant species. Add more after the next upgrade!"

The message startled Romon, then he smiled silently. So that was how it was!

Back on Earth, he had been unable to find new plant species, so he had never discovered this restriction. But he had found it in this world.

In other words, the space probably had two main requirements. The first was naturally to grow enough plants to accumulate power. The second was to obtain new plant species in order to upgrade.

Both the number of plants and the number of new plant species were limited. Only through continuous expansion could those limits increase.

Having figured that out, Romon felt no regret. Now, he was preparing to examine his druid abilities.

Looking carefully, he saw a green core rotating within his body, but he had no idea how to use it. After staring blankly for a moment, Romon slapped his thigh. "I'll go see Master Jefa tomorrow. He should know what to do."

That thought brought another serious problem to mind—his enormous debt!

After Master Jefa arrived in the baron's territory, he had tested a group of children. Romon had been found to possess exceptionally outstanding perception and an affinity for nature, making it possible for him to become a druid.

Romon owed fifty silver coins because he had accepted druid training. Including the money he had been talked into borrowing from the Adventurers' Guild, he now owed a hundred and fifty silver coins.

It might not sound like much, but in truth, it was by no means a small sum.

In terms of purchasing power, a hundred silver coins were worth one square chi of linen cloth, or a cow.

Furthermore, according to the town's customs, the debt was essentially usury, increasing by ten percent every month. If he could not repay it within seven months, once it became a debt of two hundred silver coins, Romon would be stripped of his personal freedom under the social system.

As for the assets Romon currently possessed, he had only ninety-eight copper coins. Thinking of this, Romon could not help but smile bitterly. Unable to think of any solution for the moment, he brooded for a while before returning to his room to sleep.