A huge thank you to Salt rose or topaz for the Kofis. Enjoy the bonus chapters!

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Qiyu couldn’t help but feel that Civil Engineering Brother seemed even more excited than he was.

He usually didn’t check friend requests or private messages, nor did he pay much attention to the zone chat, so naturally, he had no idea just how much some players hated the Temple of the Gods. 

Players like Civil Engineering Brother—who were pretty strong but hadn’t joined a guild and ranked near the top—were frequently harassed.

Others just turned a blind eye, or if they got fed up, they’d simply delete the friend request and block them. But because of his class, Civil Engineering Brother couldn’t just block every jerk he came across. 

He was already fed up to the point of no return.

The “Temple of the Gods” guild—to put it bluntly—relied most heavily on the motto, “My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens.” Out of the three major leaderboards, he dominated two of them single-handedly.

If it weren’t for a top-tier player suddenly rising to prominence, he could have dominated all three.

Now there was a chance to openly curb the Temple of the Gods’ arrogance. Plus, since he was already on good terms with the gaming powerhouse, Civil Engineering Brother was naturally raring to go.

In less than an hour, Civil Engineering Brother had completed the trade with Qiyu for 400 units of green-quality wood and 50 units of glass. He even haggled for the wood at the absolute minimum price and didn’t submit any goods in exchange.

【I Love Survival Game: Want to trade?】

【Civil Engineering Brother: Energy Tower! Do you have any energy towers to trade?】

【Civil Engineering Brother: With mutated creatures capable of invading the territory at any moment, we can never have too many buildings like this to protect the sanctuary.】

【I Love Survival Game: 4 energy towers.】 The Civil Engineering Brother was taken aback.

400 units of green-quality wood, plus 50 units of glass—that’s definitely not worth that much. 

Even the flame-pattern saber, which had just been upgraded to a fine-quality weapon, only traded for 4 energy towers. He asked cautiously:

【Civil Engineering Brother: Boss, isn’t that a bit too much?】

Qiyu asked him:

【I Love Survival Game: What were you thinking when you just traded me the wood and glass?】

【Civil Engineering Brother: It’s because I trust your character, Big Shot. You wouldn’t rip me off or let me lose out, right?】

【I Love Survival Game: Hmm, you’re right.】 Civil Engineering Brother thought about it for a moment, then slapped his forehead.

Whoa!

Seriously, Game Master—you don’t know how to say a single nice thing.

If it were him, upon receiving something so valuable, he’d surely spout some sappy line like “You give me a peach, I’ll repay you with jade”—and the other person would make the other person fall head over heels for him.

He’s gathered all the materials needed to upgrade the shelter.

【Do you want to upgrade the shelter?】

Qiyu: “Upgrade.”

A hazy mist appeared before his eyes.

The mist obscured his vision; Qiyu could see only the small patch of ground at his feet. He tried to move, but the mist, like some kind of barrier, blocked his path.

The entire process lasted about two minutes. Suddenly, the mist dissipated, and Qiyu’s vision cleared. The house had grown taller.

He had been standing in the living room of a small wooden cabin; now, the living room had become taller and wider.

Perhaps because the upgraded wood was red maple wood, the floor beneath his feet had turned a warm, sunlit red, and at the far end of his line of sight was a staircase winding upward.

His wooden cabin had transformed into a charming, vintage-style two-story house. 

Qiyu hurried up the stairs.

The upper floor was a vast room with a spacious bed in the center, surrounded by bright floor-to-ceiling windows. It was just… pretty much what he’d imagined?

Just now, as he was enveloped in the mist, all sorts of thoughts flashed through his mind, and he couldn’t help but wonder what the upgraded house would look like. 

All sorts of jumbled thoughts were running through his mind at the time: it should be a bit taller, able to withstand frequent rain, have good natural light, and ideally allow him to keep an eye on his territory at all times. 

As for what the shelter would actually look like, he hadn’t really given it much thought. He figured that as long as it was safe enough, that would be good enough.

The finished product seemed much nicer than he’d imagined.

【Congratulations to player “I Love Survival Game” on successfully upgrading their shelter. The system has detected that you are the first player on the server to upgrade a shelter and is awarding you 1 diamond chest.】

【Do you want to post a server-wide announcement? Note: Posting a server-wide announcement grants additional rewards.】

Was he really the first player to upgrade a shelter? See, he’d underestimated the value of the blueprint. 

“Post it,” Qiyu said without a moment’s hesitation.

【Congratulations to player “I Love Survival Game” on successfully upgrading their shelter to Level X. You have received a system reward of 1 diamond chest.】

Just as this announcement sounded, Dan Xingyu was in the middle of a one-on-one battle with a massive mutated python—one that looked exactly like the snake demon from a TV show he used to watch as a child. 

The longsword struck the inky-black snake scales, leaving only a faint white mark.

He took a few steps back, panting heavily, pulled a scroll from his backpack, tore it to shreds, and laughed loudly, “Big guy, I’ll come play with you again next time!” 

The enraged snake’s tail lashed out, sending sand flying; the little ant that had just disturbed its peaceful slumber was nowhere to be seen. 

Civil Engineering Brother was already delighted, though he hadn’t said so explicitly.

It wasn’t until that moment, when he heard the announcement:

【!】

“A shelter blueprint?”

【Dare Not Open My Eyes: A diamond chest… That’s incredible. I’ve never even seen a gold one—I’d love to see one for myself.】

Silence fell over the Temple of the Gods group chat. One person reacted: 

【I Am Domineering: Did he open the Shelter blueprint?】

【Little Old Me: No, it says it came from “Need A Little Money To Save Me”! I just checked his latest transaction—it was with “I Love Survival Game.”】

He immediately sent a private message to “Need A Little Money To Save Me,” only to discover he’d already been blocked by the other party. 

My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens. A private message was sent to “Little Old Me”:

【My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens: I told you to figure out a way to get the shelter blueprints—is this how you handle things?】

【My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens: You Good-for-Nothing!】

【Little Old Me: Boss, I’ve been looking for him every day. This guy won’t budge no matter what—he doesn’t give a damn about you or our Temple of the Gods. He must have sold it to “I Love Survival Game” on purpose. Who knows, maybe he and “I Love Survival Game” are in cahoots from the start.】

【Little Old Me: Boss, didn’t you say earlier that you had some really powerful items? Why don’t we give that guy a taste of his own medicine?】

【My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens: Is that kind of trash even worth wasting my items on?】

【My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens: Go ahead and say it—you’re a useless piece of trash! I’ve placed too much trust in you. Next time there’s a job like this, just tag along with Ba Dao and the others.】

Little Old Me’s eyes flashed.

Don’t let “My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens” ‘s aloof, god-like demeanor in public fool you—in private, in the small group chat, he’s a real chatterbox. He loves hearing people praise him and loves to show off; he can’t hide it at all when he gets a powerful item. 

The few people in the small group not only fawned over him day in and day out, but also figured out everything there was to know about “My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens.” 

What an idiot. 

Take, for example, this Tier Shelter blueprint in “Need A Little Money To Save Me”’s possession. 

After being rejected—since My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens—he, as the undisputed top-ranked player, couldn’t bring myself to swallow my pride, so he handed the matter over to Little Old Me.

The problem is, “Little Old Me” wants it too.

Right now, no one has heard anything about who unlocked the Level-Up Shelter blueprint—not even “My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens,” who’s usually one step ahead of the other players. 

Whoever gets it will have the chance to become the first player to upgrade their shelter. Based on the system’s past rewards, they’ll get at least one golden treasure chest.

Even “Little Old Me” didn’t dare go for it.

He knew that “My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens” possessed a very powerful item—one that seemed to curse players, bringing them catastrophic disaster. He feared that even if he managed to get his hands on it through underhanded means, the moment he dared to upgrade the shelter, “My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens” would know he had betrayed him.

Torn between these two options, he deliberately faked a “Need A Little Money To Save Me” situation.

Unexpectedly, when cornered, the other party cut off his supply at the source and sold the shelter blueprints.

“That’s for the best,” thought Little Old Me. “Maybe this will provoke ‘My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens’ into using that item on me, ‘I Love Survival Game.’ That way, one powerful item will be rendered useless, and the other will vanish entirely.”

As long as he takes his time, there will come a day when he can climb to the top of the leaderboard and look down on everyone else.

【Congratulations, player! You have received the bonus reward “Profession Certificate” x1.】

【Profession Certificate: Players unlock professions based on their own nature.】

Qiyu had assumed that this extra reward would be a treasure chest, just like the one he received from his trade with Duo Ju. Instead, it turned out to be a professional certificate. 

【Player’s innate skill “Farming: Mutation” detected. Unlock the “Farmer” class. Do you want to unlock it?】

【Farmer: You possess exceptional farming skills. The probability of your crops mutating is increased by 50%, and they have a chance to mutate immediately.】

After carefully reviewing the profession details, Qiyu felt that hesitating even for a second would be a disservice to his own talents. 【Player “I Love Survival Game” has unlocked the Farmer profession.】

【Detected that player “I Love Survival Game” has more than 10 plant species and more than 10 units of farmland in their territory. The “Farmer” class has been upgraded to “Farm Owner.”】

【Farmer: You possess exceptional cultivation skills. Within your territory, the mutation probability for all subjects is increased by 50%, and there is a chance for a secondary mutation to occur.】11

Qiyu looked at the differences between the descriptions for “Farmer” and “Farm Owner.” 

For farmers, this is easy to understand: “Crops Planted” refers to the seeds they plant themselves, such as gale grass and Climbing Vine. However, for the Farm Owner’s skill, “Crops Planted” becomes “Subjects.”

How are his subjects counted? 

Do resource points count? Do the honey crystal flowers and scent tracing grass he dug up from the Star Forest count? Or even the emerald bees he snatched along with the honey crystal flowers?

But the very next moment, he opened his personal panel, and this confusion was immediately cleared up.

Personal Panel:

Survival ID: I Love Survival Game

Class: Mage (Level ), Farm Owner

“Farm Owner” had been added after his class. 1

And on the Survival panel, a new “Farm Owner” section had also appeared.

Farm: Untitled.

Subjects: Golden Apple Sapling, mist star flower, Crimson Maple Grove, emerald crystal peach orchard, honey crystal flower, rainbow pumpkin, blood thorn vine, screaming lily of the valley, bright sunflower, scent tracing grass, irritable tomato, cucumber, watermelon, honeydew melon. 

All creatures are classified as “subjects.” 

Qiyu can now check the status of each “subject” with a single click, without having to walk up to the plants. Wait a minute. 

Did something just flash by just now?

Irritable tomato？

The tomato he planted last night seems to have mutated just now.

【Irritable tomato: A mutated plant. After undergoing a strange mutation, it seems to have lost its edibility and turned into a… weapon?】