Several of the close friends on Qi Yu’s contact list received a gift. 

[God Has No Form: What’s this?] 1

The others discussed it directly in the group chat:

[Need a Little Money to Save Me: Wow, what a huge bouquet! Is this today’s gift from the game’s top player?]

[I Love Survival Game: Yeah, my territory has turned into a huge garden—it looks great. I’ll pick some to send to you guys.]

【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: Flowers blooming in this weather—is this the power of a farmer?】

【I Love Survival Game: No.】

Only then did Qi Yu realize that, aside from God Has No Form, no one else knew he had two professions. Duo Ju knew, and God Has No Form knew.

That didn’t seem quite fair to them. 

【I Love Survival Game: I have another class—I’m a “Mage.” I recently learned how to cast a constant-temperature magic array. If you need it, I can draw one for you.】

Temperatures in Server 01 are dropping steadily. If it gets any colder, even with his enhanced physical constitution, he’ll probably start to feel uncomfortable.

As for his friend’s situation, among his friends there’s even a 70-year-old man. 

[Need A Little Money To Save Me:? You just casually dropped a bomb like that! Dual classes? The classic novel protagonist template!]

【Dare Not Open My Eyes: Is he one of those insanely powerful mages from the “Four Illusions” novels?】

【Civil Engineering Brother: No wonder—when we first met, you asked me to buy you those notes on crafting magic scrolls.】

【Tranquility Yields Transcendence: That’s really impressive.】

He left the group chat, then replied to “God Has No Form.”

【I Love Survival Game: My territory has turned into a huge garden—here are some flowers for you.】

【God Has No Form: Is this just for me, or did you send them to other friends too?】

Qi Yu:?

【I Love Survival Game: Everyone got some.】

【God Has No Form: Hmph, I knew it—if they hadn’t left any leftovers, they wouldn’t have given them to me.】 

Qi Yu looked bewildered and answered honestly: 

【I Love Survival Game: I didn’t let anyone else pick them—I sent them all directly.】

Dan Xingyu hugged the flowers and laughed so hard he was doubled over.

【God Has No Form: Sorry, I was just joking.】

【God Has No Form: Here, take a look at my shelter. (Pic) (Pic)】

A majestic and magnificent palace stands in the golden desert, with a dazzling golden sun as its backdrop.

【God Has No Form: I’m totally baffled—a Level 3 shelter that turned my makeshift stone cave into a cultural relic preservation site.】

【I Love Survival Game: Your shelter is so cool—I love it.】

So gorgeous and golden. 

【God Has No Form: Based on my taste, I prefer something a bit darker. Something with tall steps, torches burning on either side, and a throne carved with thorn patterns or some kind of rose crest.】

Qi Yu let his imagination run wild for a moment, but he still preferred the golden one. 

【I Love Survival Game: Well, good luck with that. Maybe when you upgrade the shelter next time, your wish will come true.】After delivering the gift, Qi Yu walked over to the grove of ancient black trees.

The spring breeze brought by the growth of the golden apple sapling not only transformed the entire domain into a vast, vibrant garden but also brought about a significant change: these ancient trees.

The ancient tree, which had originally been entirely pitch-black, now had a trunk that, starting from the ground up, had taken on the color of a normal tree.

The weathered, rough bark bore witness to the incredibly long ages these ancient trees had endured.

Qi Yu scanned the area with his magic and discovered that it wasn’t just the trunks—to be precise, these ancient trees had changed from pitch black to the color of ordinary trees, starting from their root systems deep underground.

The information on the Survival Panel had finally been updated.

[Ancient War Tree: Status, Reviving.] 

Qi Yu: Huh?

Earlier, in an effort to figure out what these massive black trees were, he’d pored over his magical plant compendium for quite some time but hadn’t found a matching species. As for the War Ancient Trees, he knew a little—he’d come across relevant information while looking up Black-veined Moss.

[Black-striped Moss: A magical plant associated with the Giant Treefolk.]

The War Ancient Tree is a type of Giant Tree Folk. 

Giant Tree Folk possess both a tree form and a human form. 

In their tree form, they are no different from ordinary plants.

In their living form, facial features emerge from their trunks, their root systems become legs, and their branches and leaves serve as arms. 

Giant Tree Folk are a living race, not magical plants, so the Magical Plant Compendium does not contain very complete information about them.

Qi Yu knew only in general terms that the Giant Tree Folk had once been allies of the elves, but as the elves withdrew from the world, this race had also rarely been seen in the outside world.

Upon learning that these ancient black trees were actually Giant Treefolk, Qi Yu’s gaze toward them grew much warmer. His Giant Tree Heart Magic Staff had been crafted by the Giant Treefolk. 

Qi Yu cast a blessing spell on them, followed by a growth spell:

“I hope you’ll successfully revive soon.”

After doing this, Qi Yu hurried toward the refuge.

Ever since he learned that the entire tree was a complete magical array, Qi Yu had left a sliver of his mental energy there.

This way, he could immediately sense any activity within the entire magical array—including the treehouse it surrounded.

Just a moment ago, he had detected a faint, unusual magical fluctuation. The source… came from his bedroom in the treehouse.

A vague suspicion began to form in Qi Yu’s mind: there weren’t many things in his bedroom capable of triggering magical fluctuations. The only possible culprit was the mysterious message in a bottle—elusive, appearing and disappearing without a trace.

Come to think of it, this time, the message in a bottle had been drifting for longer than usual. 

Walking over to the latticed window, sure enough, a glass bottle lay quietly in the treasure chest filled with clear water. 

A hint of anticipation welled up in Qi Yu’s heart: What would the message in a bottle bring him this time? A new friend? A new map? Or some other unknown surprise? 

He fished the bottle out of the water and pulled out the tiny rolled-up piece of paper.

[You’ve received a request from a desperate grandmother living on the Winter Ice Plains. She’s hoping a powerful hero will come and drive away the evil beasts for her.]

[Bonus Quest: Help the helpless grandmother and her grandchild repair their dilapidated house.]

The Winter Ice Plains? 

Another place I’ve never heard of. Qi Yu looked out the window.

The only downside is that this commission conflicts with Rain Swift’s schedule. 

However, he’d already obtained the valuable Level 3 Shelter blueprint from the Points Store, and besides, since Rain Swift no longer dared to enter the territory, he could only earn a little over 10,000 points each day from hunting. 

That shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

Besides, driving away beasts and repairing houses doesn’t sound too difficult. Maybe he’ll be able to finish it quickly.

[Accept the commission?]

10-minute countdown.

Qi Yu didn’t accept it right away.

The Winter Ice Plains—it sounded like a very cold place.

He stuffed all the wood stored in the warehouse into his spatial ring—what if he happened to run into a guildmaster like Chairman Sean? He’d better make five hundred sets of Earthfire Dragon thermal gear to bring along.

He checked his backpack—he had enough food.

After weighing everything down, he changed into a thermal underwear set. He’d originally planned to put on a leather jacket, but after a moment’s hesitation, he opted for a down jacket made from swiftlet feathers instead. The swiftlet feathers were pure white, so the garment they made was also white.

Qi Yu took a look at himself: a white down jacket on top and black hiking pants on the bottom. Looking at it this way, it did seem a bit more pleasing to the eye than the dark red leather jacket, didn’t it?

But once he slips on his mage’s robe, it doesn’t really matter what he’s wearing underneath.  Before setting out, check one more time to make sure everything is in order in the territory and that the energy tower still has plenty of power. 

Qi Yu selected “Accept Quest.”

Soon, his friend’s wilderness wagon clattered into view. Qi Yu climbed aboard, feeling the familiar gentle sway.

This time, he paid special attention to the carriage’s movements and noticed that the clopping sounds were exceptionally regular; from start to finish, the frequency of each step seemed identical.

As he got off, a thought struck him, and he pulled an energy orb, a Level 1 magic crystal, and a beast crystal from his backpack.

He laid them out in the palm of his hand: “Do you guys want to eat these?”

The three horse heads leaned in, and one of them snatched up an item.

The remaining one was a step slower and looked around in confusion. 

Qi Yu found them adorable, so he took out another beast crystal and held it out to it: “Go ahead, eat it.” 

Sure enough, he hadn’t guessed wrong—these four “beasts” weren’t flesh-and-blood creatures, but alchemical beings. 

Alchemy—it’s so much fun. 

After bidding farewell to the carriage, Qi Yu finally took a look at the new map.

[Current Location: Winter Ice Plains]

[Weather: Blizzard, -76°C to -63°C, Wind Force 6.]

Qi Yu could feel the icy chill in the air.

The Earthfire Dragon thermal underwear continued to radiate warmth, while the Guardian Mage’s robe kept the wind and snow completely at bay. The blizzard reduced his field of vision to a blank white expanse, but fortunately, his mental faculties remained unaffected.

His high Agility stat, combined with the properties of the Emerald Boots, allowed him to tread lightly across the snow without worrying about sinking into the deep drifts. 

His mental senses detected a house more than 800 meters ahead. Qi Yu headed in that direction.

As he neared the house, he heard the sound of muffled sobbing coming from inside. 

“Who’s there?” a hoarse, wary voice rang out, and the sobbing stopped abruptly.

Qi Yu stopped in his tracks: “I’ve been hired to drive away a beast for an elderly woman and repair her house.”

It was quiet inside for a moment, then rustling sounds soon followed.

The door creaked open from the inside.

Qi Yu looked down and saw a frightened little face. Beneath a mop of messy brown curls were a pair of astonishingly large gray eyes that, at first glance, seemed to take up nearly half the child’s face. 

A scruffy child wrapped in a heavy blanket. Qi Yu bent down and stepped inside.

It was a small house, half above ground and half below.

The furnishings were clearly quite old; every corner was tidy, yet the place felt somewhat cluttered. It seemed as though the owner who had once kept it in order had recently passed away.

A gray-haired woman was half-reclining on the sofa; the air carried a scent of blood mixed with medicinal herbs. 

When the elderly woman saw Qi Yu’s attire and the magic wand in his hand, her wary expression softened, as if she’d let out a sigh of relief. But a moment later, she grew tense again.

“Are you a mage, sir?” she asked, somewhat uneasily. “I can’t afford the fee to hire a mage.”

Qi Yu reassured her, “There’s no need to worry. I’m here on a commission, and someone has already paid the fee.” 

Being able to unlock new maps and explore a different side of this world was, for him, a great reward in itself. The child pulled over a chair and invited him to sit down. 

He ran over to a worn wooden cabinet taller than he was to fetch a bowl. Not far away, a fireplace was burning, and next to it stood a small stove with a fire blazing beneath it; a kettle hung above it, bubbling away and billowing white steam.

Soon, he returned carrying a bowl of tea.

“Please have a cup of hot water,” he said softly. 

Qi Yu took it and looked at the woman who had been silently observing everything: “Could you please explain the details of the commission?”