Chapter 51: Sowing

Nie Fan swam ever quicker, ignoring the Eelbeasts spawning nearby and shot up to the surface like a missile.

He continued accelerating until he eventually reached a stunning speed. His size after casting Sealmorph was not huge and he could switch directions agilely, a freedom of movement that he found delightful.

At the same time, the Eelbeasts attempted to surround him from both sides when they noticed him, although Nie Fan would dart past them even before they could encircle and intercept him.

They tried to chase him, only to be left further and further away.

After slipping past the Eelbeasts up front over several close shaves, the surrounding light became brighter.

Nonetheless, Nie Fan only breathed a sigh of relief after breaching the surface and swiftly getting onshore. When the Eelbeasts reached the surface too, they squawked unusually when they found Nie Fan and loitered for a bit before helplessly diving underwater once more.

Phew.

He got what he wanted without trouble.

There was excitement in Nie Fan’s face even as he glanced at the box in his bag.

After ensuring that there was no one around him, he took out the box, undid its buckle and opened it carefully. Although the box did not appear to be airtight, with a red leather lining its interior that kept it very dry and stopped any water from streaming in. At its center was five cloth bags and one Skill Tome with cyan-covers, which was exactly as it described in the information he has.

He proceeded to check it.

[Sowing Novice: Production skill, Rare skill, plants various herbs and trees. Druids learning this skill would gain an additional 20% harvest and 20% growth rate, as well as another additional 30% harvest and 30% growth rate if the Druid majors in Plant-type, and less chance of crop death for Rare plants.]

Players’ daily consumption of herbs would always exceed the number of herbs they gathered from the wild. That was why a production skill must be obtained to supply herbs for the markets.

It was a great skill for earning money, not to mention that the Skill Tome for Sowing was the rarest of all production skills, with barely any places yielding it under Level 60.

Still, having Sowing alone meant nothing because you would also need a place to plant your crops. On the other hand, there was the problem of growth success if the herbs were planted in the wild, and eventually any yield would be taken away before you could harvest them. And then there was also the seeds of herbs that needed to be collected.

Nie Fan had solutions to all of those problems: he could buy a small plantation near the village which would cost just above fifty thousand bronze coins, and he also had another idea on how to get the money for it. He would be able to get his hands on the herb seeds too, just as he did not have to use too much of his strength after buying the plantation since hiring an NPC to manage it would be enough.

It was Nie Fan’s own idea to become a farm owner since the market has a high demand on herbs, which in turn made planting herb at once one of the most profitable work and the most hassle-free. Furthermore, there were certain rare herbs that could never be harvested from the wild in the later stages of the game and could only be planted, which meant that it wouldn’t be unusual for a single shrub to sell for thousands of gold coins.

That being said, not everyone who could get their hands on the Sowing Skill Tome like Nie Fan would necessarily be a Druid majoring in Plant-type, just as they might not be able to afford a plantation even if there were. And in the off-chance that they do, they might not get their hands of bulks of herb seeds, nor would they be aware of certain unique sowing techniques even if they did—which is why Nie Fan’s conditions were rich and gifted in comparison.

In fact, the five cloth bags in the box were full of seeds, with one of them being Coagulus seeds—the herb which stops bleeding. And although it was just a small bag, there were over several dozen thousand seeds inside, meaning that a few thousand would survive even if the survival rate was just 10%. In the other bags, three contained common herbs, while the last bag was full of a variety of different seeds: some were rice-sized, others as big as almonds. All were unique, and harder to plant successfully than normal seeds, although they would fetch a handsome price if they survived.

Either way, those seeds are going to last Nie Fan some time, and he could think of something when he used up all of them.

After Nie Fan learned Sowing, he put away the five bags of seeds and patted his bag in satisfaction. He had a plan in mind even if he did not have the time to buy a plantation yet, and since rushing only ever complicates things, he should take things step by step.

Anything could wait after he steadily leveled up.

Finding a spot where the Windwalking Polyps spawned quicker, Nie Fan began to grind, first by casting Black Oil and Mini Fireball combos to slay some of the Polyps and piling up corpses, before casting Toxic Miasma after making sure that no one was around. It may not be as quick as the village defense of Tajit, but it was an acceptable rate of leveling, and he could even afford to train his melee skills such as Smite.

His EXP was rising steadily when Nie Fan received a message from Xue Yu.

“Nie Fan, Suyue and I are level twenty-two now!” Xue Yu announced cheerfully. Although following Nie Fan in leveling was quick, they felt immense pressure since they could not keep holding Nie Fan back given how powerful he was. As such, both Suyue and Xuyue had worked hard in their leveling, even improving rapidly in technique.

“That’s quick,” Nie Fan replied. “You both should head to Tajit and get some equipment, and I’ve also sent you some on the mail so do check and confirm it. After that, recruit two party members: one Warrior and one Mage. They should be around level twenty-five, and not too weak in terms of equipment and skill. But remember to inform them at the start that they would be heading out to the Heartlands of the Wood Nymphs’s Forest, and see if they are brave enough.”

“When are we leaving?” Xue Yu asked, a little excited at the prospect of going to the Heartlands of the Wood Nymphs’s Forest.

Nie Fan checked his current level: Level 24, 67%.

“Wait until I reach level twenty-five and we’ll move out.” He replied.

“Level twenty-five? What level are you now?” Xue Yu asked in surprise. He remembered that Nie Fan was only Level 21 when they parted ways, and it would already have been impressive even if he had quickly risen to Level 23. Moreover, the progress through each level required exponential rates of EXP, and leveling would be slower the higher the player level.

So what level was Nie Fan now? How long would it take for him to reach Level 25?

“Sixty-seven percent at level twenty-four, so it would be soon. When you guys are ready, we can leave.” Nie Fan said, thinking that Xue Yu was urging him to hurry up.

Xue Yu felt that he could vomit blood from what Nie Fan said. It took him half a day to level up twice, and he was even under the impression that he had done so quickly since most players would only level up once per day after reaching Level 20. To his surprise, Nie Fan’s leveling was so abnormal that he had pulled away from them by two levels in a brief moment, setting a gap of three levels between them now.

“You freak. You’re killing us with that leveling of yours. Fine, we’ll return to the village first—you hurry back when you reach level twenty-five.” Xue Yu was left in slight disbelief of Nie Fan’s rapid leveling, but he and Lin Suyue were already turning back to the village despite what he said.

Nie Fan smiled. Xue Yu would eventually understand why his leveling was so fast when he witnesses his Toxic Miasma.