“God Has No Form” sent him the 260 units of blue-quality stone materials he was missing. 

【I Love Gaming: Thank you, God Has No Form.】 

【God Has No Form: No need to thank me. Post a server-wide announcement to show off your skills.】 

Qiyu opened his character panel, went to the Shelter Upgrade page, and submitted the required items and materials one by one: 

Level 3 Shelter Blueprint 1/1, already owned.

Blue-quality wood 1000/1000, requirement met. 

Blue-quality stone materials 600/600, requirement met. 

Magic crystals 100/100, requirement met.

Additionally, Basic Structures ×5 and Mutant/Magical Plants ×5 were requirements that had long since been met.

【Do you want to upgrade the shelter?】

Qiyu: “Upgrade.”

A familiar white mist enveloped Qiyu.

【This shelter upgrade will take some time; please wait patiently.】

Qiyu was surprised; he remembered that during the previous two shelter upgrades, a wisp of white mist had simply enveloped him, and it was over in no time.

Does a Level 3 shelter actually take longer?

Could there be some major change? He felt a sense of anticipation welling up inside him.

The white mist restricted his range of movement. He was confined—or perhaps protected—within this small area, and had no way of knowing what was happening outside. 

Qiyu knew what he could do. This area seemed to be completely cut off from the outside world—he could barely even sense magical elements—so practicing his cultivation seemed like a good option.

Fortunately, his backpack still worked, so he simply pulled out *Fundamentals of Magic Circles* and flipped through it to see if he could attend a virtual class. After all, once the shelter upgrade was complete, he’d be notified.

As he turned the page, his consciousness flickered, and he was pulled into the world of the textbook. There was Magister Karen, as always.

“Welcome to my Magic Circles course, child,” Professor Karen said with a kind smile. 

Qiyu stared at him for a few moments, feeling a bit uneasy, but obediently said, “Hello, Teacher Karen.” 

Fortunately, the teacher didn’t say anything else out of the blue: “Let’s continue with where we left off.”

Qiyu felt that the pace of this class seemed a bit faster than the last one. For much of the material, Master Karen would explain it once, and after making sure he understood, he would ask him to repeat it.

Moreover, there were some parts covered in the textbook that Master Karen skipped over entirely.

Qiyu pointed to a section in the book with a puzzled look: “We haven’t covered this yet.” 

“Oh, that stuff.” They exchanged a glance, and he brushed it off nonchalantly. “It’s useless. You don’t need to learn that.” 

Qiyu：？

He asked quietly, “Did you write this into the syllabus yourself? I paid 150,000 gold coins for this.” He emphasized the pronunciation of “150,000” gold coins.

Magister Karen: “……” 

He had to explain it to Qiyu: “You’re a genius, Qiyu. You have to understand that some things ordinary people need to learn, but geniuses simply must.” 

Qiyu finally understood where that strange feeling in his heart had come from.

During previous classes, Teacher Karen had seemed like a machine running on a pre-programmed routine.

“He” taught him according to the pre-designed curriculum; although Qiyu could ask questions about topics he understood, the answers seemed to be limited to a certain scope. Interaction beyond the curriculum was virtually nonexistent.

Qiyu, who already had some understanding of magic, could roughly guess that this “teacher” was likely an illusion projected by mental energy.

That’s true. 150,000 gold coins can buy a course from a magister, but there’s absolutely no way a magister himself would come to teach you in person. 

After all, mages are really expensive. Qiyu had already learned this the hard way. But today’s class felt completely different.

He felt as if he were truly face-to-face with a magister, receiving proper instruction.

“You…”

The magister seemed to sense his confusion but cut him off: “In class, we shouldn’t discuss irrelevant matters.” 

He looked at Qiyu gently: “Do you want to learn how to inscribe magic arrays onto objects? I’ll teach you.” 

“……”

I’ve hit the jackpot, Qiyu thought to himself. 

Although he didn’t ask outright, the magister didn’t confirm it either.

But he was certain—this really was a genuine lesson, wasn’t it? 

Could it be that what Magister Karen hadn’t finished asking last time was exactly what he’d guessed—that he’d recognized his talent and wanted to pass on his legacy to him?

“Calm your mind.” Clearly, the magister across from him had noticed his distraction.

Qiyu immediately banished his wild thoughts from his mind and began to immerse himself in his studies.

He didn’t know how much time had passed.

“All right, that’s it for today’s lesson.”

Qiyu stepped back from the world of knowledge, his eyes bright and full of curiosity, his mind brimming with the new skills he had just learned. As he looked at Magister Karen, he finally recalled what had happened earlier.

His teacher simply sighed softly: “See you in the next class.” 

Just as Qiyu was about to ask a question, his mind flickered, and his consciousness had already returned to his body.

He held *Fundamentals of Magic Circles* in his arms; its pages were already closed. At that very moment, the mist began to dissipate.

Before Qiyu could even feel any regret, he was stunned by the scene before him. 

This…

It was already dark outside.

He remembered that he had leveled up in the living room on the first floor of the shelter.

But now, his feet rested on smooth wooden floors, and as far as the eye could see, the living room was filled with furniture—whether it was the wall lamps, the dining table, the chairs, the recliner, or the fireplace—everything had changed beyond recognition.

As a child, Qiyu had attended school at the base alongside the others, but his education was limited to the point where he was practically illiterate; the elegant adjectives were merely spoken.

Individually, they were simple, but when placed together, they formed a harmonious whole.

The soft glow from the sconces bathed the room, making the entire house feel peaceful and gentle.

Anyway, it looked great!

Most importantly, he looked toward the window.

The living room in his previous small house also had a window—a very bright glass window—and through it, he could see part of the property. 

Now, the simple glass windows have been transformed into elegant stained-glass windows, and it seems as though vines or tree leaves are hanging down from outside. 

These are dots—dots seen through the window from his perspective: a black sky, a curtain of drizzling rain, and… perhaps the treetops in the distance, illuminated by the bright sunflowers?

This viewpoint is definitely at ground level.

He hurried to the window, pushed it open, leaned out to look, and froze. His little building was so far above the ground—at least twenty-plus meters high. 

He saw a very, very large tree.

His new house was nestled among the tree’s branches and leaves in a strange yet harmonious way. 

The tree was incredibly lush, its canopy like a giant umbrella; even with his head sticking out the window, the heavy rain could still break through the layers of tree leaves and drip onto his head. 

Looking down from this height, he gazed upon his domain from a completely new perspective. “My domain has become so much bigger!” 

Amid his bewilderment lay a sense of novelty and excitement.

Qiyu walked around the new house once and found the paths leading up and down. 

The path leading upward was a wooden staircase rising from inside the house; the path leading downward was a slope. 

As he entered the house, he saw a beautiful staircase. 

Winding around the tree trunk in spiraling layers, the handrail was adorned with beautiful vines and small flowers. All of this was truly novel to Qiyu.

Step by step, he slowly made his way up the tree trunk; the heavy rain was completely blocked out by the tree, and everything seemed like a fantastical dream. 

His feet touched the ground.

He tilted his head back and looked at his new home from this vantage point.

Only then did it dawn on him: even though it was already nighttime, why didn’t he feel his vision was limited? The entire tree, including the little house in its branches, was glowing with a soft, gentle light. 

Having his feet firmly on the ground gave him a sense of reality, and he finally snapped out of his awe, tapping his request panel. As soon as he did, a message popped up from the game.

【Congratulations to player “I Love Survival Game” on successfully upgrading their shelter. The system has detected that you are the first player on the entire server to upgrade to a Level 3 shelter. As a reward, the system grants 1 Diamond Chest.】

【Do you wish to post a server-wide announcement? Note: Server-wide announcements grant additional rewards.】

Of course, he chose to post the announcement.

By now, he was very familiar with this process.

After selecting the announcement, Qiyu noticed that God Has No Form had sent him several messages.

It must have been because this level-up took longer than expected. God Has No Form, who knew full well that he had already gathered all the materials needed to upgrade the sanctuary, was puzzled by the delay in seeing the announcement.

【God Has No Form: What’s going on? Haven’t you upgraded yet?】

【God Has No Form: Are you missing something?】

After a while, it must have gotten dark and been time for dinner.

【God Has No Form: Shall we chat now?】

Perhaps fearing that Qiyu might be busy with something important and not wanting to disturb him, God Has No Form didn’t use the communication orb. It was already 7:00 p.m.

【I Love Survival Game: The Level 3 Shelter upgrade is taking a while. I was in class just now and didn’t see the message.】

He had just finished typing that when a golden announcement popped up on his interface. 

【Congratulations to player “I Love Survival Game” on successfully upgrading to Level 3 Shelter. You have received a System Reward: diamond chest x1.】

A message from God Has No Form appeared shortly after:

【God Has No Form: Saw it.】

【God Has No Form: Congratulations, congratulations.】

【Congratulations to the player on receiving the server-wide announcement bonus: 1 x Farmer Class Skill Book (Purple).】

A small booklet appeared in Qiyu’s hand—presumably the reward he had just received.

【Do you want to activate the skill book?】

A purple-quality skill book?

Qiyu didn’t activate it right away; instead, he set it aside with the diamond chest he’d just received from leveling up.

He’d handle them together later.

【I Love Gaming: God Has No Form—will you accept the communication orb now?】

【I Love Gaming: I’m really excited right now and want to talk to you.】

【God Has No Form: I get it, I get it. You just struck it rich and want to show off to your poor buddies, right? Go ahead, go ahead—I’m all set!】

Qiyu dialed the communication orb.

The call connected almost immediately.

Qiyu’s first words were a greeting: “Good evening, Dan Xingyu.”

He really is dead serious.

He muttered this to himself, but his mouth had already honestly replied, “Good evening, Qiyu.”

After the greeting, Qiyu explained earnestly, “It’s not showing off—it’s sharing my joy.” 

Dan Xingyu cleared his throat: “…Uh-huh, I get it.”

Only then did Qiyu say cheerfully, “I’ve upgraded to Level 3 Shelter, so my territory has gotten so much bigger. I can plant all the trees I’ve dug up, and I can put up more energy towers, too.”

“And my house.”

He said, “My house has turned into a really huge tree. It glows from the inside—it’s so beautiful!”