His wish for an SS-rank seed actually lit up…

Jian Xingyi blinked.

SS-rank…!!

Jian Xingyi thought about his S-rank seeds.

High-satiety potatoes, 100% accurate lychees, temperature-changing ginger… and all sorts of foods with various effect bonuses—each one more impressive than the last. So what on earth could an SS-rank seed be?

Jian Xingyi didn’t dare to waste the Wish Bottle item recklessly, so he simply wished for an SS-rank seed.

【Player 【Xinghe】 successfully redeemed a Wish! The reward will be delivered within 15 minutes. Please remember to check your inbox!】

Yay!

Just as Jian Xingyi was about to log out to check his inbox, he noticed a red dot on his profile page.

Huh?

Jian Xingyi opened his profile page and saw that his Reputation Points had actually… leveled up?

What?

Reaching 100 unlocks Reputation Points, which can also be converted into Savior System experience points. His Reputation Points had previously been at 133, but after just one zombie surge, they had jumped to 200.

He’d been playing this game for so long and had sold quite a few items just to scrape together 130 points—how could a single zombie wave have added so many points out of nowhere?

Jian Xingyi instinctively clicked on the details.

【Player 【Xinghe】 sold 【Food】 and gained the trust of players in Zone 4. Reputation +20】

【Player 【Xinghe】 sold 【Pot Sprouts】 and gained the trust of players in Zone 4. Reputation +20】

【Player 【Xinghe】 gained the support of the entire guild. Reputation +10】

【Player 【Xinghe】 gained the support of over 20 T1 high-power players. Reputation +10】

【Player 【Xinghe】 has gained the support of more than 5 T0 high-power players. Reputation +10】

Jian Xingyi was dumbfounded.

Zone 4 likely referred to the four regions he could currently list: Peace Mountain, Volcano, Flag-Raising Mountain, and Snow Mountain.

For the last one, he thought about who the T0 high-power players were: the three on Grapevine Peak, the three on Snow Mountain… indeed, there were more than five.

Just as he had thought before, he only needed to focus on his own tasks; the rest… the system would handle it for him.

He hadn’t done anything special, but his reputation points had just gone up like that.

This is absolutely fantastic!

【200: The Savior can establish a 【Guild】. Guilds can conduct cross-region trading with no restrictions on players, amounts, or goods, and can use the 【Recruit】 member function.】

【300: The Savior can establish an 【Alliance】 and use the 【Recruit】 ally function.】

The features requiring the 400-point threshold haven’t been unlocked yet, but now that he’s reached 200, that means… he can create a guild?!

After Jian Xingyi clicked 【Guild】, he saw a new section open in his Savior System.

【Guild 【Inactive】】

【Level: 【Inactive】】

Jian Xingyi glanced at it and roughly understood: he now possessed the authority to create a guild, but it couldn’t operate yet because he only had the permission—he hadn’t officially established it.

There were quite a few requirements to create a guild, which Jian Xingyi could understand; after all, even in the real world, setting up an organization or association requires payment.

The system sent Jian Xingyi a guild handbook.

【The 5 Core Principles of the Guild】

1. Circulation: After establishment, guild members may freely trade goods with merchants upon the Guild President’s approval. Unlike the System Mall, this does not require quality inspections or price restrictions, nor is it subject to regional limitations.

2. Connection: 【Mall Trade Ports】 may be established in any region for goods trading, and guild members may freely teleport between these ports.

Jian Xingyi’s eyes lit up.

The lack of regional restrictions was exactly what he needed, and without the mall’s constraints, everything would be much more convenient. Those 【Mall Trade Ports】 were even more convenient—meaning he could set up his own teleportation anchors. Suppose he wanted to go somewhere in the future; he could simply spend a few dawn coins to establish a trade port and teleport there.

Otherwise, like now, going to Peaceful Mountain would involve such a long and arduous journey. Previously, he had even missed the fourth night of the Zombie Tide just to deliver items.

3. Resources: Can establish a personal marketplace with unlimited buying and selling; can incorporate large map regions into personal management.

Incorporate map regions into management…

Jian Xingyi glanced at the details.

Jian Xingyi was a bit puzzled. Once you stock up, you can set up your own marketplace, but where exactly do you get the stock from?

What does this mean?

Jian Xingyi didn’t understand, so he kept reading.

4. 【This feature unlocks at Level 2】

5. 【This feature unlocks at Level 2】

Alright then.

Jian Xingyi continued reading.

【Prerequisites for Creating a Guild: Security and Influence】

1. The Guild President’s reputation must exceed 200.

2. The Guild President must be a Level 5 Merchant and have unlocked 3 regions.

3. The guild must have more than 5 members with T1 combat power and more than 3 members with personal assets exceeding 50 million.

Jian Xingyi discovered that he had automatically become the Guild President. To establish the guild, he needed to recruit members. Since the guild’s level was still low, it could only have a maximum of 10 members.

These requirements weren’t a problem; he knew many influential figures now and could easily find people.

No wonder establishing a guild required reputation points—after all, if one hadn’t made a name for themselves, it wouldn’t feel right to form one.

Jian Xingyi continued reading.

【Prerequisites for Creating a Guild: Foundational Capital】

1. Guild funds must exceed 500 million.

2. The guild must have 500 available Grade B farmlands.

3. The guild must have 20 available Grade B livestock farms.

Jian Xingyi paused.

He opened the backend and calculated carefully.

As for the 500 million in funds, he currently had 350 million—a bit short, but he wasn’t too worried about that. A few more deals would do the trick, and if that didn’t work, he could always borrow some from Bai Jie.

As for the farmland and livestock farms…

His farmland holdings had been steadily increasing—for instance, they doubled after merging with Shanhai, and his merchant rank had granted him quite a bit, and…

Jian Xingyi listed them out.

There are 10 Grade B plots on the slopes of Peace Mountain.

There are 50 Grade B plots in the caves of the Flag-Raising Mountain ruins.

There are 20 Grade A plots in the Flag-Raising Mountain dungeon.

There are 10 Grade A plots outside the Snow Mountain Temple.

There are 65 Grade B plots near the air wall on Peace Mountain.

There are 100 Grade B plots in the volcanic farm inside the air wall of the Lava Volcano.

The “Wildfire” guild at Lava Volcano provided 5 B-grade plots.

He currently has 150 B-grade and 20 A-grade items at home.

That adds up to a total of 380 B-grade and 50 A-grade items.

In other words, that’s a total of 430 items, leaving him 70 short of 500.

Jian Xingyi thought to himself, “The problem… shouldn’t be too big.”

He could go out into the wild and look around some more; since he was heading to Peaceful Mountain anyway, he was bound to find some along the way.

As for the livestock farms, he couldn’t buy any outside right now; he had to max out the ones at home first. However, upon checking, he realized that once he upgraded the livestock area to level 20, that would also be the maximum buildable area for his homestead.

In other words, once he had 20 livestock zones, he wouldn’t just meet the guild’s requirements—he’d also be able to buy livestock farms from the market.

Hehe… the chickens at Volcano Farm are right within reach!

As for how to acquire them… expanding a livestock farm costs 50,000. To be honest, dawn coins aren’t a problem for Jian Xingyi right now, but… he doesn’t have enough essence points!

The initial livestock area created through expansion is Grade D, and upgrading it to Grade B requires 1,500 points—this is precisely why Jian Xingyi hasn’t expanded yet.

Currently, he has 2 dairy barns, 4 sheep pens, pig pens, and cattle pens, plus 1 loach pond—a total of 15, leaving him 5 short of 20.

The essence points required for those 5 are… 7,500.

His current Essence Points: 10.

“……”

Jian Xingyi thought to himself, so his next goal was crystal clear.

Jian Xingyi wrote the goal in the backend memo.

【Xingyi’s Goal: Reach Peaceful Mountain and Open the Letter】

Collect Grade B or higher fields 0/70

Collect Essence Points 10/7500

Funds Raised: 3.55/500 million

Guild Bond Points: 13,790/14,000

Spirit Battle Talisman Level: 3/5

Rifle: 8,900/10,000

Yay!

Having mostly organized everything, Jian Xingyi stretched.

Ding!

Ding!

Just then, two new messages arrived.

Jian Xingyi perked up. He had been feeling a bit worn out from processing so much information, but now he sat up straight.

Was this his SS-Rank Seed arriving?

【SS-Rank Seed x1 has been distributed! 【Click to view inventory】】

And there was another item.

【Zombie Tide Personal Special Reward Issued! Player 【Xinghe】 defeated 【General】, earning an S-Rank item! 【Click to view package】】

Huh??

How… how did he get credited for this, too?

Jian Xingyi thought for a moment. Could it be because the one who defeated the General was a Spirit, and since he summoned that Spirit…

Ah.

Alright!

No reason to turn down a reward, so Jian Xingyi happily clicked to accept it.

SS-rank seeds…

Open!!

The moment he opened it, Jian Xingyi was nearly blinded by a flash of nouveau riche gold that outshone even the S-rank’s golden glow.

【Variety: SS-rank Rice x30】

【Description: Feeds everyone.】

【Source: Savior’s Wishing Well】

Huh?

Huh?!!

Jian Xingyi’s eyes widened.

As one of the game’s starting seeds, he had plenty of rice—so much that he was practically overflowing with it. That’s why he usually gave these starting seeds, like rice, wheat, and carrots, to his guildmates.

After all, aside from discarding or combining them, giving them away was his only option; he couldn’t gift them to other players without having established a bond.

But this rice was clearly different from the initial seeds.

Jian Xingyi found it fascinating.

The initial seed was rice, and the SS-rank seed he’d fantasized about for so long was also rice. Perhaps this was… a return to basics?

Jian Xingyi looked at this seed and, for some reason, felt a warm glow in his heart.

He wasn’t quite sure what effect the rice would have once planted, since there were no stats or other details listed here, so he figured… he’d just have to plant it and see!

Jian Xingyi set aside three plots of land for the experiment.

Now that he no longer needed to grow snow lotus or potted sprouts, he suddenly had over a hundred extra plots of land. But he wasn’t holding back on using them—he’d just opened up a new area, Rainforest Mountain, which meant his food requirements had skyrocketed.

It wasn’t just food; as the number of breeding zones increased, so did the demand for feed, requiring even more land for growing fodder.

Even after accounting for these needs, Jian Xingyi wanted to stockpile extra food in his backpack—it was his trump card and source of security.

He wasn’t worried about being kicked out of the guild and losing access to the Synthesis Station; after all, the guild was practically his personal property. Still, stockpiling extra food never hurt—it protected both himself and others.

So he used the extra hundred or so plots of land to plant the seeds he had previously collected.

His primary seeds now were rice, wheat, daikon radishes, and carrots. These crops didn’t require high-quality soil, so he mostly planted them in lower-grade fields. After harvest, he sold them at low prices to help more people, and he also distributed the seeds to guild members.

He didn’t grow many A-grade seeds for seasonings or flavor enhancement either. These were mostly ingredients used to enhance taste and diversify recipes—namely, spring bamboo shoots and chili peppers. He also kept some green vines on hand—though he didn’t need to plant them yet, you never know when they might come in handy to save his life.

As for the S-grade seeds that followed, Jian Xingyi had planted them all on a large scale: watermelons, potatoes, lychees, ginger, coffee, and sugarcane—each one a valuable crop.

After reclassifying his planting areas and quantities, Jian Xingyi was about to go back to sleep when he suddenly sat up in a panic: he still had one final reward left to claim!

Jian Xingyi opened the final kill reward.

Just like the previous zombie tide, the kill reward was another pouch.

Now he had two pouches.

Jian Xingyi happily put them away. These wish bottles and pouches were all for survival—you never knew when they might come in handy—so he made sure to lock and encrypt them.

Only after taking care of all this did Jian Xingyi finally settle down to sleep with peace of mind.

Exhausted, he didn’t think much about it and simply collapsed, falling asleep in Shanhai’s arms.

In his sleep, Shanhai vaguely sensed a source of warmth—a familiar scent—and reached out to pull Jian Xingyi into his embrace.

Leaning against each other, the two fell into a long-awaited deep sleep.

……

……

After resting at the guild for two days, Jian Xingyi and Shanhai set out on their journey once more.

This time, their destination was Rainforest Mountain.

Jian Xingyi had already exhausted the resources in the other regions, and now that he had unlocked the Rainforest Mountain marketplace, he wanted to go take a look and get a better understanding of it.

I wonder what new resources Rainforest Mountain has to offer?

Even Shanhai wasn’t very familiar with this area; he’d only occasionally run dungeons there and had never truly explored it.

Before setting off, Jian Xingyi noticed that his rice hadn’t ripened yet, which was rather strange, since all his crops usually matured in two days—this was the first time he’d encountered seeds that took more than two days.

However, this didn’t stop him from listing his goods. Jian Xingyi conducted his first trade since the zombie tide. With no lychees and significantly less game meat, the price was a bit lower than during the previous zombie tide, but he still made 40 million.

Jian Xingyi was quite satisfied with these 40 million. Combined with his previous earnings, he now had 395 million—just three more transactions away from reaching 500 million.

The real challenges, however, lie in Essence Points and farmland.

Let’s see what the next map holds!

Jian Xingyi and Shanhai took the underground route, plunging straight down the cliff into the molten lava at the volcano’s core, then crossing the underground river of Flag-Raising Mountain and the Heart of the Snow Mountains.

After crossing the Heart of the Snow Mountains, they reached the underground of Rainforest Mountain—the Swamp Zone.

Jian Xingyi: “……”

Jian Xingyi thought this route was pretty intense.

In other words, his first time setting foot in Rainforest Mountain actually began in its most challenging area—the Swamp Zone.

If traveling above ground, it would take five days to reach Rainforest Mountain without sleeping or camping along the way. However, traveling underground takes only two days. Logically, the underground route is clearly better, but there are probably very few players in the entire server who would choose to go underground, nor would they put themselves in danger just to save time.

After all, few people can do what Shanhai does: simply slide down to the Earth’s core on a motorcycle, then traverse the underground as if it were the surface, completely ignoring the dangers and high-level monsters lurking below.

Jian Xingyi and Shanhai made their way through the Fire God’s Belly—which hadn’t erupted again yet, so there was nothing to loot—across the underground river, and through the snow-capped mountains. They even spent one night camping in the snowy mountains. Three days later, the two finally arrived at the underground rainforest.

Jian Xingyi took off his winter gear and looked around.

The terrain and landscape of the rainforest were indeed unlike any map they had encountered before. The trees of the tropical rainforest stood in dense, overlapping layers; the tall trees formed umbrella-like canopies that blocked out the light, while vines and ivy grew wildly. The ground, deprived of sunlight, was covered in swamps and ferns.

Not only did the trees grow haphazardly, but massive branches and roots sprawled everywhere, making it nearly impossible to move through. The deep and shallow swamps on the ground concealed every danger; even someone as slow-witted as Jian Xingyi could sense that this rainforest harbored far too many unseen threats.

After entering the rainforest, Jian Xingyi looked down.

The ground was sometimes shallow pools of accumulated silt, sometimes murky gray-green water choked with floating leaves, reeds, and weeds, and sometimes gray-green mud, through which one could faintly make out some unknown creatures swimming.

Jian Xingyi swallowed hard.

No wonder the rainforest is classified as a high-risk area…

Shanhai said, “Don’t worry, it’s only like this here. There aren’t that many swamps on the ground.”

Shanhai pulled out his spear and poked the ground, saying, “Follow me.”

“Oh…”

Shanhai used his spear to feel his way with one hand while holding Jian Xingyi’s hand with the other.

Jian Xingyi followed Shanhai step by step through the muddy terrain. One moment, half his foot was submerged in water; the next, his shoe sole sank into the mud, and he couldn’t pull it out. The experience was quite… peculiar.

Every now and then, Shanhai would sweep the water with his spear or suddenly thrust it forcefully into the mud, pulling it back up with the tip impaling an unidentified creature.

Jian Xingyi swallowed hard.

Shanhai asked, “Scared?”

If Jian Xingyi was truly afraid, he could carry him on his back, though that would be riskier—after all, if a large creature appeared, he wouldn’t be able to enter combat mode immediately.

Jian Xingyi shook his head. “No, no, it’s just…”

Jian Xingyi smiled and said, “I’m just glad you’re here. If I were alone, I’d have no idea where I’d end up.”

Shanhai paused, then chuckled softly, “That wouldn’t happen.”

“Huh? Why not?” Jian Xingyi blinked, his eyes sparkling as he waited for Shanhai to praise him.

Seeing Jian Xingyi like this—looking just like a little puppy—Shanhai felt a mischievous urge.

He said earnestly, “Bad students have more tools.”

“……”

“Hey!” Jian Xingyi tapped Shanhai on the shoulder.

But… he wasn’t wrong. Jian Xingyi thought to herself. Even though his combat power wasn’t high, he really did have a lot of weird and wonderful survival items.

The two continued onward, and along the way, Jian Xingyi kept using his skills.

【Harvest Successful, Absorbed 【Essence】 x14】

【Harvest Successful, Absorbed 【Essence】 x10】

【Harvest Successful, Absorbed 【Essence】 x12】

Jian Xingyi surmised that because this area was on a higher map level—especially since the rainforest swamp was a dangerous zone—the trees were of a higher level. However, since there appeared to be quite a few zombies and infected creatures nearby, the pollution level was also quite high. After weighing the pros and cons, the result was neither high nor low value.

In any case, this area was higher-level than the standard zones in the previous maps, and it had the advantage of being densely forested. The vegetation was so lush that Jian Xingyi felt dizzy and overwhelmed while gathering, his mind racing.

Jian Xingyi currently had only 10 essence points, still a long way from his goal of 7,500, so he didn’t want to let a single leaf go to waste.

Jian Xingyi asked, “Are we looking for the path up now? How much longer until we get to the top?”

Shanhai asked curiously, “Don’t you like it here?”

Jian Xingyi paused and began to think seriously.

If he were alone, he definitely wouldn’t like it. It was quiet and pitch-black, the vegetation was too dense, and he had no idea what was around him—his vision was severely limited. It was downright creepy.

But if Shanhai were here…

Jian Xingyi looked around.

Perhaps because the place was so dangerous and untamed, he felt as though he and Shanhai had fled together into a no-man ’s-land, as if they were at the edge of the world.

The unique charm of the rainforest created a special, mysterious atmosphere… dangerous yet beautiful.

Jian Xingyi looked down and said, “I like it—if you’re here.”

“Mm, me too,” Shanhai murmured. “Before we head up to the surface, I want to take you somewhere.”

“Oh?”

Jian Xingyi began to look forward to it.

The two walked for a while when Shanhai suddenly went on high alert. Before Jian Xingyi could even react, he saw Shanhai hurl his spear forward.

“Splash—!”

After a splash, Jian Xingyi saw Shanhai’s spear pin a crocodile to a tree trunk.

The crocodile glowed blue all over, its scales covered with sharp barbs; it looked even more terrifying and massive than a normal crocodile.

Shanhai raised an eyebrow. “Looks like we’re on the right track. To get where we’re going, we’ll have to pass through the crocodile zone.”

“Huh?”

Shanhai was deliberately trying to scare him. “To get to the surface, we’ll also have to go through the water python zone, the spider zone, and the piranha zone.”

“……”

Jian Xingyi’s mouth twitched. “Trying to scare me won’t work. I’m not the one fighting. If I get hurt, it’s your fault.”

Although Shanhai still wore a blank expression, Jian Xingyi felt that he seemed… even happier?

…How strange!

Just as Jian Xingyi was about to say something, Shanhai’s eyes suddenly hardened. He yanked Jian Xingyi behind him, swapping positions, then pulled out his rifle and fired three shots into the swamp.

By the time Jian Xingyi processed what had happened, three crocodile carcasses lay sprawled behind them.

These creatures had appeared out of nowhere and were high-level, so Shanhai couldn’t wait for Jian Xingyi to activate his skill to collect essence points and livestock zone resources. Jian Xingyi felt a pang of regret and disappointment.

The next moment, Shanhai suddenly grabbed Jian Xingyi’s wrist and barked, “Let’s go!”

……Huh?!

The next moment, Shanhai dragged Jian Xingyi forward. He turned to look back…

Oh my god!

Good news: Jian Xingyi had a source of essence points.

Bad news: the gunfire had attracted all the crocodiles in the vicinity. A swarm of them was crawling menacingly behind them, closing in!

Jian Xingyi collected essence points along the way as they ran, while Shanhai fired his gun to take out the crocodiles.

They didn’t know how long they’d been running when Shanhai drew his axe and swung it with superhuman force, felling a cork tree to block the crocodiles’ path. Only then were they able to stop.

Jian Xingyi bent over, leaning on his knees, panting heavily, his pants covered in mud.

Thrilling!

Jian Xingyi wiped the sweat from her brow just as Shanhai said, “We’re here.”

“Xingxing, look up.”

Jian Xingyi did as he was told.

“……!”