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It tasted like wild vegetable mush too, but its texture was much smoother, without so much of that bitter, choking edge. It even had a faint sweet aftertaste and was quite pleasant to drink.

Song Xiaozhu finished one serving and still wanted more.

Unfortunately, there was a daily limit, and she had to save some to drink with Qiu Shuyu that evening.

With the simple meal in her stomach, Song Xiaozhu felt much less unwell and had the energy to study this patch of weeds again-

Now, they were not just a medicinal herb patch, but a vegetable plot too.

Fertilizing was a must!

Song Xiaozhu took out the "fertilizer." This was her first time taking a proper look at the bag.

Unlike other items, it came with its own packaging after synthesis. Remembering that Shang Bao had been placed on the Workbench with his clothes on, Song Xiaozhu could not help shivering.

Don't think too hard about it. Don't think too hard!

The bag was grayish white, with a seal like that of a resealable bag that opened with a tug.

Song Xiaozhu thoroughly braced herself and pulled the bag open. A rotten stench hit her nose, and her heart lurched, afraid she would see something horrifying.

Fortunately, it contained grayish-white granules, a little like foam beads, only much heavier.

Once the bag was fully open, the smell grew even stronger...

On edge, Song Xiaozhu held her breath and began fertilizing in a decidedly crude fashion.

Crude compared to an expert, that was. Overall, she still had something of a method.

Song Xiaozhu had worked in the fields with her parents and knew there was an art to fertilizing too. In the current situation, it should be called "topdressing." Whether foxtail grass or wild vegetables, everything had already sprouted and even grown to a considerable size.

First, she pulled up some that were clearly mature and synthesized them into [Medicinal Raw Material] and simple meals, respectively.

In the blink of an eye, she had eight portions of [Medicinal Raw Material] and ten simple meals. The little boxes were running short of slots again.

Song Xiaozhu wanted to synthesize two more portions of [Medicinal Raw Material] before stopping for now.

There really was nowhere left to put them. The surplus "medicinal herbs" would just have to take in some extra fertilizer along with the rest.

The white mist dispersed. This time, the [Medicinal Raw Material] was actually different from before.

It was a blue capsule.

Song Xiaozhu blinked and picked it up...

There was no difference in shape, only in color...

Did this [Medicinal Raw Material] have subcategories too?

Song Xiaozhu put the blue capsule into a storage box. Sure enough, the two could not be stacked together.

The blue capsule took up a separate slot...

Song Xiaozhu's back teeth ached.

Two little boxes were nowhere near enough.

Unfortunately, not only was she restricted by her level, she was also so poor she did not have even one Quantum Coin.

Level up, level up!

Song Xiaozhu had never wanted to repair the Synthesizer so desperately.

Blue capsules appeared less frequently. After synthesizing ten portions of red [Medicinal Raw Material], Song Xiaozhu stopped.

There really was no room left. She still needed to stockpile more [Raw Wood Material] and [Raw Stone Material] to grind out tools.

After clearing away as many mature "medicinal herbs" and "wild vegetables" as possible, Song Xiaozhu loosened the soil a little with her simple hoe, then carefully spread the fertilizer evenly over it.

Actually, sprinkling the fertilizer on the surface would have been enough, but Song Xiaozhu was cautious and did not want to draw attention, so she loosened the soil slightly and buried the grayish-white granules just beneath the surface.

As for whether the fertilizer would "burn" the foxtail grass, the big and little thornheads, and the wild vegetables to death...

It probably wouldn't...

When it came to vitality, tenacity was written into all their genes.

Once she finished fertilizing, Song Xiaozhu panted lightly.

The fertilizer would not work that quickly. She would definitely come back to check tomorrow.

Song Xiaozhu had poured out the entire bag of fertilizer. Even the plastic bag holding it disintegrated between her fingertips at the last moment.

Watching the faint gray mist disperse, Song Xiaozhu's heart felt heavy.

Shang Bao was gone completely.

But this matter probably would not end so easily.

"Level-one 'Planter' achievement unlocked. Reward: 1 Quantum Coin."

Song Xiaozhu froze at the sudden notification.

What was going on?

She hadn't synthesized anything. How had she earned a new achievement?

"Planter"...

So the awakened really did have that profession.

The notification offered no further hints. After a little thought, Song Xiaozhu had a rough idea.

It was probably because of the fertilizing...

So unlocking achievements didn't depend entirely on

synthesis at the Workbench.

No, that wasn't right either...

The "fertilizer" had also been synthesized at the Workbench.

She just hadn't learned the corresponding recipe yet and had made it through Random Synthesis instead.

If "fertilizer" was related to "Planter"...

Then as she unlocked the Synthesizer's levels, there would probably be fertilizer-related recipes too.

In any case, she had gained another Quantum Coin.

Song Xiaozhu was in a wonderful mood!

As the sun sank westward and a dusky yellow spread across the horizon, Song Xiaozhu stopped working. She sat leaning against a large stump, opened the little boxes, and took stock of her haul.

Two stacks of [Raw Wood Material], three stacks of [Raw Stone Material], two stacks of red [Medicinal Raw Material], two blue [Medicinal Raw Material], and one stack of simple meals.

Song Xiaozhu had tried to work out a pattern in the recipes for blue and red [Medicinal Raw Material]. The result was... there was no pattern.

Even the exact same proportions of medicinal herbs could produce [Medicinal Raw Material] in either color. Blue [Medicinal Raw Material] was simply less likely to appear. Roughly speaking, she had to synthesize ten red [Medicinal Raw Material] before getting one blue [Medicinal Raw Material].

By the later stages of her work, Song Xiaozhu had also caught on.

Unlike [Raw Wood Material] and [Raw Stone Material], [Medicinal Raw Material] was much smaller. Even a stack of ten was only palm-sized. She simply took them out of the little boxes, found a large leaf to wrap them in, and carried them on her.

That freed up three slots at once.