【Twilight Watcher: There’s one more point. Even a top-ranked player like the game’s number one can offer something as valuable as “Martial Arts” in a semi-charitable, semi-commercial exchange for “Ice and Snow.” By partnering with the number one player from another region, one plus one is definitely greater than two—they can pull off a deal that spans the entire server. But I’m just an ordinary player; I don’t have any unique, high-quality items to offer, so I probably can’t pull off any big deals.】

This player seems like the cautious, conservative type.

But when you think about what he said carefully, it actually makes sense.

【Reaching for the Moon in the Heavens: @Twilight Watcher, can teleportation arrays be sold? 】

The moment he actually asked that question, “Reaching for the Moon in the Heavens” already had a vague hunch. 

【Twilight Watcher: No, if I could sell it, I would’ve listed it on the trading board ages ago—at least I could’ve traded it for some good stuff.】

【The More I Involution The Bitterer My Life Becomes: But it’s such a shame to let such a great item go to waste. Why don’t we add each other as friends and discuss how to use it privately? 】

【Twilight Watcher: I understand where everyone is coming from—just now, more than one top-ranked player on the leaderboard sent me a friend request. But I’ll stick to my original stance: unless I can fully guarantee my own safety, I won’t rashly activate a teleportation array. Of course, I’m not the only one who thinks this way; that teammate of ours still hasn’t set up a teleportation array to this day.】 

【Twilight Watcher: Plus, until the teleportation array is set up, I have no way to contact him, so I can’t discuss it with him or make a pact.】

【Little Old Me: So, it’s really lucky for top players to be matched with friends as teammates.】

【Liver Emperor: It’s not just about trust—it’s confidence in one’s own strength. With the skills of a top player, there’s absolutely no need to worry about the other side having any malicious intentions, right?】

After discussing the trade, Qiyu left the zone chat.

He watched as Dan Xingyu packed snow into his backpack while feeding the “Mature Trash Can.”

After eating the snow, the trash can gradually began to regurgitate some things.

A large pile of “round ice beads.” Thumb-sized ice beads, crystal clear and very beautiful.

Qiyu and Dan Xingyu studied them for a while before finally deciding to thread them onto a string. They could hang them on the gate of their territory’s fence to serve as a small ice curtain—in this weather, they certainly wouldn’t melt.

In addition to the large pile of ice beads, there were a few scattered coins. 

It was clear that, judging by the trash can, “ice and snow” weren’t very popular food items here; the conversion rate was far lower than that of the dead branches and decaying leaves Qiyu had collected earlier.

Before they knew it, the entire day had flown by.

At five o’clock, the two returned to their estate. 

The butler had already prepared dinner.

Hot milk and a bowl of hearty stew for each of them—a medley of various ingredients simmered together with nourishing herbs, leaving a faintly sweet aftertaste on the tip of the tongue. 

After dinner, the butler suggested that Qiyu take a bath: “You’ve spent the whole day out in the cold; you need to drive out the chill.”

He then turned his gaze to Dan Xingyu: “Mr. ‘God Has No Form,’ you…”

Dan Xingyu immediately stood at attention: “Ah, I’m about to take my leave!”

He waved to Qiyu: “I’m heading home now. See you next time!”

Qiyu sensed that, for some reason, he seemed a little afraid of the butler, and nodded in puzzlement: “All right, see you next time.”

Just as he was about to follow the butler’s advice and take a shower, he suddenly sensed some commotion coming from outside the estate.

He extended his mental energy and saw a group of… little people who looked somewhat familiar.

They were barely larger than a human thumb, with small, translucent wings growing from their backs; when they flapped their wings, tiny specks of light would fall from their bodies. 

These were the little people he had seen in Aegnor’s mental realm.

Qiyu stepped outside.

A group of little people, wearing tiny dresses that looked like flower petals, were shivering in the snow. 

Upon seeing Qiyu, the leader of the group—who wore a flower crown on her head—said in a soft, delicate voice, “Excuse me, are you the lord of this land?” 

Qiyu nodded.

“We are plant sprites living in the Star Forest,” she said. “It suddenly started snowing in the Star Forest, and the ground where we live has been buried in snow—we’ve run out of food.”

“We’ve been wandering all this way, and here we’ve felt a sense of peace and warmth.”

“Esteemed Lord, would you be willing to take us in?”

A message immediately popped up on Qiyu’s character panel:

【A group of wandering plant sprites detected. Recruit?】

Qiyu thought of the Legendary Recruitment Scroll he’d opened earlier.

But… where was the Legend? 

Looking at this group of “little ones”—about the size of emerald bees—he couldn’t say he wasn’t completely disappointed. 

He had originally thought that the Legendary Recruitment Scroll would summon a super-powerful Legendary warrior.

But little ones are little ones. There must be a reason for this survival game mechanic. 

He selected “Confirm.”

And said, “Come on in.”

A group of glowing little figures lined up, fluttering their tiny wings as they flew into his territory.

Soon after, Qiyu heard a chorus of exclamations:

“Oh my gosh, this territory is so beautiful!”

“There are flowers everywhere—it’s even prettier than our old home.”

“Those are mist star flowers—there are actually mist star flowers here!”

“What is this? Why do I feel so happy just being near it?”

“……”

Although these little fairies talked a lot, perhaps because their voices were so soft, they didn’t come across as noisy. 

While listening to their exclamations, Qiyu checked the latest territory module. 

Under “Territory Residents,” there were now 18 new members.

They were the plant sprites that had just wandered here—18 in total.

Qiyu clicked on them to see their species—plant sprites are born from specific types of plants.

For example, in this small group, the one leading the group is a bluebell sprite. 

Of the 18 sprites, the one with the lowest loyalty to him is 75; the survival panel notes that they are “very grateful” and “feel a sense of warmth toward the lord.”

The highest was that of the bluebell leader, at 85.

After reviewing the loyalty levels, further down were the innate abilities of the plant sprites.

【Plant Sprites: A special group born from plants. They excel at communicating with plants and caring for them diligently. Under their care, plants have a low probability of improving their quality.】

Qiyu: Huh! 

Improve quality? Is that what that means? 

For example, from green quality to blue quality, or from blue quality to purple quality? 

If that’s true, then their impact might be even greater than that of ordinary legendary powerhouses.

As he pondered this, the Bluebell Sprites spotted the statue of the Goddess of Nature and seemed to finally recognize what that golden sapling—which shone with a golden glow and which they adored so much—actually was. 

“It’s the Golden Apple Tree!”

Qiyu heard a chorus of exclamations, and then all the plant sprites took flight, singing in perfect unison.

Their song seemed to follow a special rhythm, without specific lyrics or words.

Qiyu couldn’t understand it, but after sensing it with his spiritual energy for a moment, he concluded it must be some form of praise.

Considering the place where these little spirits lived, they must be praising the Goddess of Nature, right?

Then he saw a series of notifications.

【Your subjects’ favorability has increased; current favorability has reached the maximum.】

【Your subjects’ favorability has increased; current favorability has reached the maximum.】

……

Once the favor reached its maximum, Qiyu saw the plant sprites’ hidden talent.

【Hidden Talent: Plants cared for by plant sprites will have a higher chance of giving birth to “Spirits.”】

“Spirits” are the precursors to the little plant sprites. 

Completely baffled, Qiyu watched as this group of little plant sprites successfully charmed their way into his favor—and even granted him a hidden skill as a bonus. 

It was about to get dark, so he interrupted the sprites, who were reluctantly circling the goddess statue, and asked them, “Do you need a place to stay? And what do you eat?” 

He remembered that just a moment ago, they’d said they’d lost their home and their food, and had wandered here. 

“Thank you for your concern, Lord.” The bluebell sprite lifted the hem of her skirt and curtsied in thanks. “We are sprites born of nature; sleeping among flowers and green grass is the greatest happiness of all.”

“As for food, a few drops of morning dew are enough to keep us from feeling hungry all day.”

Qiyu: Got it—no need to feed them, no need to house them; they’re very easy to care for.

Plus, this tiny little one who can even curtsy so gracefully—it really does look quite adorable. 

He said, “Well then, go rest now. It’ll be dark soon—” 

His words suddenly trailed off.

The Bluebell Sprite noticed that the Lord—whose natural aura had made it feel at home from the very first meeting—now had a bright, excited look in his eyes.

It heard the crisp jingle of bells coming from outside the domain.

A message popped up on Qiyu’s survival panel:

【A wandering merchant has been detected approaching.】

But his spiritual sense had already detected his friend’s arrival even before the message appeared. 

Qiyu quickly walked to the gate of the domain. 

A light and graceful figure trod through the snow, arriving right at the gate of the domain.

“Long time no see, Mr. Game.” The kitten waved a paw at him. 

“You’re finally here, Duo Ju.” Qiyu was much more straightforward than the kitten; he happily expressed how much he’d missed it. “I’ve been waiting for you for so long.” 

He reached out and took a furry paw in his hand, shook it, and without letting go, naturally led the wandering merchant into the territory: “Come on in, come on in.”

Duo Ju tilted its head in confusion: Huh? When Mr. Human and I last met, he didn’t seem quite this lively, did he?

However, as it stepped into the territory and took in the scene before it, the golden maneki-neko no longer had time to dwell on this minor puzzlement. 

It gaped, staring at this enormous garden. 

The wandering merchant was far more worldly than the plant sprites! It instantly recognized the vast expanses of ancient war trees still in the process of revival over there, and its gaze precisely landed on the golden apple saplings and seven-colored flowers at the goddess statue’s feet.

Then it glanced at the plant sprites that hadn’t had time to leave yet.

Afterward, the big, round cat fixed its gaze at the center of the territory—that exquisite and quaint treehouse. 

Turning its head, the cat protested loudly, “Mr. Game, and you said you weren’t an elf!”

Qiyu: ??? 

He meekly defended himself: “But I really am not a spirit, Duo Ju. Look, I don’t even have pointy ears.”

Duo Ju leaned in, puzzled, examining him from every angle, still feeling perplexed.

“Duo Ju has only ever seen elves so favored by the Goddess of Nature,” the wandering merchant said, scratching his head, knocking his fuzzy hat down. 

Just then, the sky darkened in an instant. 

The bright radiance of the sunflower illuminated the territory.

Qiyu was a little nervous: “Duo Ju, it’s getting dark. At night…”

Duo Ju tucked his paws under his chest smugly: “I picked this exact moment on purpose, meow!” 

“In theory, wandering merchants shouldn’t stay in the territory for too long, but wandering kitties do need to rest at night, don’t they?”