Talent mutation

"They actually let you trade freely for basic materials," Tang Zhixue said, somewhat surprised. "That's different from novels and games."

In that case...

He then picked out ten good-quality white melons and traded the remaining thirty-two for 1,600 kilograms of stone.

Clatter!

The stones he had traded for appeared out of thin air, falling continuously onto the wooden floor.

"That's all?"

Tang Zhixue frowned deeply at the small pile of stones.

By his estimate, building a hundred-square-meter stone house would probably take over a hundred tonnes of stone.

After all, a basketball-sized stone weighed around twenty kilograms!

"If I want to gather over a hundred tonnes of stone, it'll probably take quite a while."

While trading just now, Tang Zhixue had already noticed that each successive trade took longer.

There were only a little over two hundred people left in the entire region now. Trading fifty kilograms of stone for one white melon clearly wasn't a deal many people could accept.

"Worst case, I'll just offer more."

Tang Zhixue wasn't troubled by this. He had anticipated it.

However, he only had ten white melons left now, so naturally, he wouldn't trade them away.

Instead, he split one open with his iron axe and took out the seeds inside.

"Oh, thirty-seven seeds! Looks like I'll have a bumper crop of white melons in a few days."

But when Tang Zhixue carried the freshly extracted white melon seeds outside to where he had originally planted the white melons, he frowned again.

Compared with the surrounding ground, the soil where the white melons had grown was somewhat grayish-white and crumbled easily between his fingers.

"Has it lost its nutrients?"

Tang Zhixue poked the grayish-white soil with a small stick. "So using plant vitality to accelerate plant growth consumes soil fertility too."

He turned to examine the soil beneath the other plants. It also showed signs of lost fertility, differing only in degree.

"I wonder if wood ash would work..."

Tang Zhixue returned to the house and opened the trading interface, hoping to see whether there were other ways to solve the soil fertility problem.

Wood ash might work, but he would definitely need other methods too. The nutrients wood ash could provide certainly wouldn't meet the needs of plants whose growth was rapidly accelerated, unless he let the plants grow slowly on their own.

"Wood, bamboo, seawater, small stones, sand... all basic stuff." Tang Zhixue flipped through several pages without finding anything satisfactory. "Everyone's keeping their good stuff to themselves."

How could Tang Zhixue not be tempted by seawater that could be boiled down to produce salt? But without a fireproof container, he could only give up for now.

Tang Zhixue suddenly stopped, a thoughtful look appearing on his face. "Now this is interesting."

[Item: Detailed Explanation of the Spirit Gathering Array]

[Grade: Tier 1]

[Price: Fifty kilograms of edible raw meat]

[Description: An array capable of gathering surrounding energy. Once set up, it can increase the energy density within its range tenfold.]

Seeing this reminded Tang Zhixue of the [spirit fields] mentioned in novels he had read before.

Those spirit fields basically used spiritual energy as fertilizer. As long as the spiritual energy was sufficiently concentrated, all kinds of spiritual plants could be grown.

I just don't know whether this spirit gathering array will work the way the novels describe...

Tang Zhixue wanted to buy the Detailed Explanation of the Spirit Gathering Array immediately, but the price successfully cooled his enthusiasm.

Never mind fifty kilograms-even five kilograms of edible raw meat would be a problem for him.

"What a shame."

Tang Zhixue shook his head and passed it over with some regret, continuing to browse the other items.

Fortunately, he soon discovered another new item.

[Item: Health-Nourishing Stake Manual]

[Grade: Tier 1]

[Price: Fifty liters of drinkable fresh water]

[Description: A body-tempering martial art that hones the skin, flesh, tendons, and bones, strengthening the body. Long-term practice can break through mortal limits and establish a solid physical foundation.]

"A martial arts manual?"

Tang Zhixue raised his eyebrows. "A body-tempering martial art, just like Blazing Tiger Fist."

After flipping through a few more pages, he reluctantly closed the trading interface.

There was nothing he could do. Although there were only a little over two hundred people in the entire region, there was certainly no shortage of good things listed. The only problem was that Tang Zhixue lacked what it took to pay for them.

Every last one of them was asking an exorbitant price, and Tang Zhixue didn't want to trade away the truly good things he had.

Leaving everything else aside, the Wood Spiritual Energy Crystals that could increase his shelter's energy would definitely buy those items if he put them up for trade.

But the problem was that Tang Zhixue needed the Wood Spiritual Energy Crystals himself, especially now that he had discovered the soil fertility issue.

"Wait, could I absorb a Wood Spiritual Energy Crystal?"

An idea suddenly occurred to Tang Zhixue. "Cultivation in novels requires absorbing spiritual energy, so this thing of mine..."

With that thought, he went straight outside and accelerated a Jade Flower to maturity, obtaining another Wood Spiritual Energy Crystal and several Jade Flower seeds at the cost of some vitality from the nearest trees and some soil fertility.

After putting away the Jade Flower seeds, Tang Zhixue picked up the newly formed Wood Spiritual Energy Crystal and held it before his eyes for a careful look.

"So how do I absorb it?"

After some thought, Tang Zhixue entered the martial arts training space holding the spiritual energy crystal and began practicing Blazing Tiger Fist just like that.

In those webnovels, absorbing spiritual energy from spirit stones required circulating a cultivation technique. If he wanted to absorb the energy in a Wood Spiritual Energy Crystal now, could he do it through the corresponding martial art?

That idea was what had led to the current scene.

However, after Tang Zhixue completed a full round of practice, the Wood Spiritual Energy Crystal in his hand hadn't changed in the slightest.

Tang Zhixue frowned. "Surely I don't have to swallow it?"

The Wood Spiritual Energy Crystal was only the size of an ordinary glass marble. If he really had to swallow it, it wasn't impossible.

But he worried that eating it might have adverse effects.

After agonizing over it for a long while, Tang Zhixue somewhat resignedly placed the crystal in his mouth and held it there.

He certainly wasn't going to swallow it. He could only try it this way.

Yet the moment the Wood Spiritual Energy Crystal entered his mouth, it dissolved into a pool of blue-green liquid and slid into his stomach.

"Holy shit! What's happening?!"

Tang Zhixue was startled, but a cool sensation immediately flowed into his mind.

However, that cool sensation only swept through his mind once before quickly disappearing.

Coming back to his senses, he immediately opened his personal panel.

[Name: Tang Zhixue]

[Grade: Tier 1]

[Talents: Vitality absorption, diligence makes up for lack of talent (50)]

[Skills: Blazing Tiger Fist · Beginner (35/100), Linked Pearl Archery · Beginner (1/100), Pure Heaven and Earth Divine Mantra · Proficient (3/200)]

"Why is there a number after it now?!"

Tang Zhixue fixed his gaze on the number after his diligence makes up for lack of talent talent and stared hard at it.