Chapter 159 (continued)
The Dwarf perched in the trees all craned their necks to look at the furry creatures charging towards them.
They quickly slid down the tree trunk, onto the ground, stretched their necks, and watched the furry creatures rushing towards them, even kicking up dust.
"Achoo!" The Dwarf rubbed his nose with his short, stubby fingers, before he could even complain.
Harper and the others had already rushed up to them, throwing the twigs they were carrying in front of the Dwarf.
"Oh, Goddess Wood, Pengman Wood, Liyafuman Wood— " The Dwarf examined each piece of wood the furry creatures had brought, quickly confirming, "They're all usable. You have good taste."
"Chirp!" Harper urged the Dwarf.
"Okay, okay, we'll get it done right away. But this amount of wood isn't enough. To make a perfect treehouse, you'll need at least fifty more, no, seventy more of the same kind of wood."
The furry creatures responded loudly, then turned and went into the forest to find timber.
Sylvan decided to stay with his giant eagle and live in the vicinity for an extended period of time.
After discussing it, Xie Juanhan and the others decided to build treehouses that were more in line with the living habits of Sylvan and the giant eagle.
So Xie Juanhan invited the Dwarf over again to build the unique treehouses of the Elf.
The Dwarf craftsmen do know how to build this, but Xie Juanhan and his group need to collect the materials themselves.
The Magic Forest has no shortage of materials. Although there has been a lot of rain recently and the soil is not dry enough, the Dwarf know all sorts of building magic.
A mere treehouse is nothing to them.
Especially when you have plenty of gold coins.
Xie Juanhan and Telingewei cut down trees, the furry creatures collected materials, Sylvan bought parts, and the Dwarf started building.
In less than half a month, a treehouse with three rooms was quietly completed in the Magic Forest.
Sylvan and the giant eagle stood beneath the treehouse.
Sylvan's eyes flickered as he gazed at the exquisite, Elf- style treehouse nestled among the branches.
"Chirp chirp!" The giant eagle cried out joyfully, nuzzling Sylvan with its head.
Sylvan opened his arms and embraced the giant eagle. "Yes, our treehouse."
Watching them embrace, Harper and the others huddled together, deeply moved, their bushy tails swaying gently behind them.
Sylvan and his giant eagle quickly moved into the cabin.
However, the giant eagle still played with Harper and the others every day.
The weather this year has been bad; since the beginning of spring, it seems we've been stuck in a long rainy season.
Even if it doesn't rain, the weather is mostly cloudy.
There's been too much rain and not much sunshine, so the mushrooms and berries in the forest haven't grown much.
Telingewei went into the forest to search himself, but only found a small number of mushrooms and berries.
Even if you could find them, the mushrooms and berries would taste very bland and not worth trying.
The food they gathered this year wasn't very tasty, but Xie Juanhan and his group still had crops they grew themselves and game they hunted.
Food is not a problem.
What troubled them were the Star Berry.
This month, the Star Berry have been sprouting small flower buds one after another.
If it were last year, these little flowers would have bloomed one after another in the sunshine.
There has been no sunshine this year, and the flower buds have remained a pale green color, showing no signs of maturity, let alone blooming.
Before the old flower buds have even opened, new flower buds have already sprouted, clustered together on the branches.
The excessive number of flower buds completely disrupted the normal growth rhythm of the Star Berry. Even though Xie Juanhan and Telingewei picked some of the buds and the Goblin tried their best to help regulate the situation, it was to no avail.
Xie Juanhan squatted in the field, picked a handful of flower buds and examined them in his palm.
The unripe Star Berry blossoms exude a green, untamed fragrance.
If this continues, they will wither completely before they can grow into Star Berry.
This year's Star Berry, if not a total loss, will likely be reduced by more than half, and the quality will also plummet.
Xie Juanhan looked up at the gloomy sky, where dark clouds stretched for miles with no sign of dissipating.
They are extremely wide in range and extremely thick.
Even Xie Juanhan, as a dragon, could not dispel the layers of dark clouds and let the sunlight shine down again.
Xie Juanhan and Telingewei are trying to find a way to save their crop this season.
Harper and the others are also trying to find a solution.
Even the Magic Wand Tree tried to shake its branches to awaken the Star Berry's instinct to bloom.
Unfortunately, they all failed.
The Goblin have been trying as well.
Even after multiple failures, these Goblin possess a stubbornness that won't give up until they hit a brick wall.
From what Xie Juanhan saw, they had already tried several times.
These include using Magic Power to stimulate the flowers of Star Berry, using small magic circles to gather light and heat, and using localized temperature increases to deceive Star Berry.
Unfortunately, none of them were very effective.
Even if some flowers were forced to bloom, they couldn't grow into Star Berry.
Controlling the weather was too difficult, Xie Juanhan tried using a magic circle.
The magic circle worked well; it did manage to make some of the flowers bloom.
However, magic circles have a fatal flaw: their usage cost is too high.
Their Star Berry are only level two, but the magic circle that can activate the flowers requires a level three Demonic Core to operate.
This is clearly not a worthwhile investment; the more they do, the more they'll likely lose.
Their family's Star Berry plantation is quite large, at least sixty acres.
It's clearly impractical to set up magic circles one by one over such a large area.
In the end, Xie Juanhan found inspiration in the magic books collected by the Elf.
The magic book indicated that magical creatures could release their Magic Power through Life Magic, thereby stimulating the Star Berry bloom.
"Life Magic." Xie Juanhan flipped through his magic book, rolled over on the bed, and asked Telingewei, "Are Harper and the others products created by Life Magic?"
Telingewei nodded.
Xie Juanhan immediately pointed to the Life Magic recorded in the magic encyclopedia and asked him, "Do you know Life Magic?"
Telingewei: "I'm more familiar with Annihilation Magic; Life Magic clashes with my attributes."
Xie Juanhan persisted. "Looking at the magic encyclopedia doesn't really give you any insight?"
Telingewei shook his head even more violently. "No."
"This is a bit tricky." Xie Juanhan rolled back. "The magic encyclopedia says that the higher the level of the creature, the more Life Magic it can unleash. I can give it a try, but it needs to be activated through dance, and I don't think I'm very coordinated."
Xie Juanhan was genuinely unfamiliar with dancing. Even when he was occasionally invited to magic balls, he could only dance the hunting dance that involved spinning around and those slow dances that weren't strictly regulated.
As for when he was in his hometown, to be honest, he only participated in military training by chance during team building activities, and he really didn't do any dancing.
Xie Juanhan looked at the magic encyclopedia.
Projections appeared on the paper, showing tiny magical figures with thin arms and legs dancing there.
Each action has specific requirements.
Xie Juanhan has recently become quite familiar with Space Magic and has also done a lot of math problems.
He could tell at a glance that this was not an ordinary dance, but rather a series of precise numbers translated into body language, which ultimately formed the dance.
In other words, this dance and the formation are the same thing; they must follow a specific trajectory to allow the emitted life fluctuations to combine and form a certain kind of Life Magic.
It's not romantic at all; in fact, it's incredibly boring.
Telingewei squatted down beside the bed, looking at Xie Juanhan: "Want to try? It's inconvenient during the day, we can try at night."
Xie Juanhan looked up. "You want to try it with me?"
"Of course," Telingewei said without hesitation, "How could I let you do such a difficult move alone?"
Xie Juanhan rolled over on the bed and nuzzled Telingewei with his head. "Shall we try it secretly?"
Having no other options, they had no choice but to try anything, even if it seemed hopeless.
Life Magic is primarily activated by the energy emitted from their activities and requires virtually no cost.
They can try as much as they want until they give up.
After making up their minds, the two dragons would wait until Harper and the others in the study were asleep each night before quietly going out to the Magic Forest to practice their magical dances.
This dance is indeed very difficult to learn, requiring the magical creatures' movements to form a precise array.
Xie Juanhan and Telingewei did not train very well.
Xie Juanhan's main problem lies in his stiff limbs, poor sense of rhythm, and difficulty in forming holistic thinking.
Telingewei seems to be inherently incompatible with Life Magic; when he dances, he always unconsciously avoids certain small movements, ultimately making it difficult for him to form true Life Magic.
Fortunately, both dragons are quite patient, especially when it comes to saving money.
After practicing for a while with some stumbles and setbacks, they noticed more and more flower buds falling in the Star Berry Field and finally decided to try it out in person.
On the very first day of their attempt, they were captured by Moli and the Goblin.
Xie Juanhan covered his eyes. "How are you all so perceptive? Even a familiar aura can alert you?"
Moli responded softly, "Awoo."
Xie Juanhan: "That's alright then. We're just planning to find a way to encourage the Star Berry to bloom. You guys go to sleep."
The Goblin: "Squeak?"
Xie Juanhan waved his hand. "No need for help, you all should rest."
After Xie Juanhan's persistent efforts, Moli and the Goblin finally managed to leave.
Nibote was a beat slow to react; the sleepy-eyed Griffin asked, its eyes full of confusion, "Meow?"
"Stop meowing, don't join in the fun." Xie Juanhan pushed the Griffin's rear end. "Go to sleep!"
Nibote, sensing Xie Juanhan's slight embarrassment and anger, quickly ran back to his den, howling!
Xie Juanhan looked at the Star Berry Field, now peaceful again, and took a deep breath. "Let's do it again."