The next day, as soon as dawn broke, Mu Ying left Anping Driving School and once again chose to set out alone.
Before noon, she had arrived at the northern part of Qingshan Town; up next was the expressway leading directly to Coastal City.
Looking down from a small hill beside the road, wandering zombies could be seen everywhere on the wide expressway, evidently not a good place to go.
From the northern part of Qingshan Town to the seed market in the Southern Suburbs of Coastal City was still a long way to go, she only remembered the scenery along the expressway.
Worried about taking the wrong path, she kept to the woods next to the expressway, where she could see the road.
The woods were her home turf; even if she encountered a zombie, she could use her skills to move swiftly through the forest, easily shaking off the stiff and sluggish undead.
Besides, she came across many different plants, and her Professional Experience soared.
[Profession: Druid Level 2 (128/300)]
Of these, only 56 points were Slaughter Experience, the rest was all from caring for plants along the way and organizing natural power.
By now, she had firmly secured the first place on the level leaderboard, and had left the second place far behind.
In contrast to the level leaderboard, she could only hover at the bottom of the combat leaderboard.
Although many people reached their kill experience cap when leveling up, that did not stop them from killing zombies to accumulate combat achievements.
Unlike Mu Ying who would avoid zombies if she could, such a person was truly an oddity.
She had territory to earn money from; professional cultivation was also exceptionally convenient; so she didn't pay much attention to the meager income from killing zombies.
After all, Mana Value depleted quickly and recovered slowly. She was already tangled up with all sorts of plants and if she frequently killed zombies, who knows when she would arrive at the seed market.
Even so, it still took her three days of wandering through the forest to reach the Southern Suburbs.
The Southern Suburbs were home to the agricultural market, seed market, and logistics center, with several large farms and orchards nearby.
Now there was an orchard standing between her and the seed market.
Mu Ying had visited this orchard during a high school field trip; it was full of a wide variety of fruit, with just about every fruit that could be grown around Coastal City present in some quantity.
To the current Mu Ying, all these trees were treasures, none of which were to be found in the wild; she wished she could move them all to her territory.
This time of year, a great many fruits were ripe, so the number of people, or rather zombies, who would come to the orchard to pick fruit was likely considerable.
Mu Ying led Old Yellow Bull into the orchard with great caution and saw several zombies gathered under a few peach trees ahead; about half of them were short, seemingly children in life.
She had developed a set of methods that worked well for her when it came to killing zombies, and it wasn't long before she had dispatched these few.
Once she could no longer see any zombies in sight, Mu Ying eagerly approached a barren old peach tree in the orchard.
The old peach tree was adorned with red ribbons; it was a Wishing Tree, the star attraction of the orchard.
Mu Ying remembered the story of the tree very well.
Supposedly, this tree was a true ancient tree, having lived for hundreds of years, and each year it bore many peaches, crisp and sweet. It was because of this tree that the orchard owner bought the surrounding land to build the orchard.
Regrettably, after the orchard was established, despite the owner's meticulous care, the tree bore fewer and fewer fruits, and the flavor became increasingly bitter; later on, it turned into a Wishing Tree, with a ten-dollar ribbon more expensive than the peaches themselves.
Mu Ying's Perception penetrated into the tree, and the dense natural power unfolded before her. This was the most substantial natural power she had ever seen, its color deep and flow slow, giving off an oppressive feeling, especially at the spots where ribbons were tied.
Understanding where the problem lay, Mu Ying began to untie the red ribbons bit by bit.
Perhaps wanting their wishes to hold firm, these ribbons were tied exceptionally tight. People themselves disliked restraint, let alone trees.
She busied herself on this tree for a whole day until she had all the ribbons undone.
Considering how precious and rare such an old tree was, Mu Ying decided to pour all of today's Recovery Spring on this tree.
[You've completed a round of professional cultivation and obtained a Spiritual Peach ×1, Professional Experience ×10]
"Spiritual Peach?" Mu Ying looked curiously at the tree, only to see a green light emerging on the branch in front of her. The light grew larger and eventually turned into a peach the size of a palm, its sweet fragrance rushing into her nostrils, stimulating her salivary glands.
She reached out to pluck the peach and appraise it.
[Spiritual Peach]
[Quality: Blue Rare]
[Effect: Consumption increases Constitution by +1, repeated use ineffective]
[Note: The old tree has a spirit, and the spiritual fruit is only given to those with fate]
Mu Ying, having read the information, decisively ignored Yuan Gungun's and Old Yellow Bull's longing eyes and the suspicious liquid at the corners of their mouths, and bit into the Spiritual Peach.
She felt a burst of deliciousness spreading from her mouth to her chest and then to her stomach, leaving behind an endless aftertaste of fruity aroma, only to find her hand empty, not even a peach core remaining.
"This Spiritual Peach is too magical," Mu Ying finally understood what Zhu Bajie felt when eating the ginseng fruit— it felt as if it was over before it even started, driving her crazy.
She checked her attribute panel.
"[Life Value: 170/170]
...
[Attributes: Strength 8, Constitution 10+1, Agility 11, Intelligence 12, Perception 16, Charm 11]
..."
Her Constitution increased, and consequently, her Life Value also went up by 10 points—a great profit!
"Too kind, thank you!"
Mu Ying patted the old peach tree happily. She loved this generous tree that knew to repay kindness, just like nature itself, which neither likes to take advantage nor to treat unfairly those who are kind to it.
The familiar feeling came from her wrist, and Mu Ying looked at her wrist with surprise and joy.
[Natural Bracelet]
[Quality: Orange Myth]
[Effect 1: Recovery Spring: omitted]
[Effect 2: Feedback Claw: As the loyal protector of natural power, by protecting nature, you have come to understand the way of nature's feedback. You may borrow a trace of this natural feedback power and attach it to your hand, using the Feedback Claw to obtain materials without harming plants or animals.]
[Note: Mythical Equipment whose full power has yet to be revealed, which can only be wielded by its recognized Master]
Today's joyful events were particularly numerous as the Natural Bracelet unexpectedly unlocked its second function. Mu Ying seriously suspected that compared to the Wishing Tree, the old peach tree is more suited to be called the Lucky Tree.
She extended her Magic Claw toward the old peach tree, and intuitively, she felt a bunch of peach blossoms, a peach branch, and a peach core. After thinking it over, she chose the peach core.
The peach cores from the old peach tree should be of good quality, right?
Mu Ying carefully stored the peach core in her backpack.
A tree can only be "shorn" once, and compared to the peach blossoms that only serve decorative purposes and the peach branches of unknown use, the peach cores were easier to preserve.
However, the peach cores from the other peach trees were obviously smaller than those from the old peach tree, making the old peach tree's cores seem extraordinary.
Previously, she regretted not being able to take away so many fruit trees, but with the Feedback Claw, she finally had a way. She could also harvest some seeds from many plants that weren't in the fruit-bearing period.
Compared to branches and saplings, seeds were indeed easier to preserve and carry.