Farming Games are All About Grinding

"Ding's words are absolutely right." Aunt Ding laughed, ignoring Han Qiwu's refusal. She went out directly and loaded two full baskets of vegetables into Han Qiwu's car, smiling as she said, "Aunt Ding doesn't have much good stuff for you, but these are all organic. Once you finish, come back to load up some more!"

"Thank you, Aunt Ding," Han Qiwu hurriedly expressed his gratitude.

Luckily he came here riding a little electric scooter; otherwise, he suspected Aunt Ding might have stuffed a whole car trunk full of vegetables for him.

Such enthusiasm!

After playing with Ding for a while longer, Han Qiwu made up an excuse about having something at home and rode off from the Ding family.

Those three bottles of milk should be enough for Ding to drink for several days.

Since he was carrying two basketfuls of veggies, it wasn't convenient to head directly to the Mist Forest.

What if the vegetables got pecked by birds? That would be a loss.

After dropping the vegetables off at home, Han Qiwu picked up Xiao Lai and was just about to call Xiao Dian to join him when he suddenly heard a tragic bird screech.

Looking in the direction of the sound, he saw Xiao Dian, feathers all puffed up, furiously glaring at the electric jellyfish floating on the surface of the Hospital River. In its rage, it shot a bolt of electricity into the water.

Yet, because of the large surface area of the Hospital River, the bolt had no impact if it didn't hit the jellyfish directly.

No ripples at all.

"Blop blop blop."

The jellyfish in the water was quite pleased with itself, waving its tentacles as it floated up and sneakily zapping Xiao Dian again.

"Zzzzt."

With messy, fried feathers and a foil-like hairstyle, Xiao Dian had become the flashiest bird in the house.

Fashionable.

"Xiao Dian, do you want to get stronger? Come with me!" Han Qiwu extended a soul-stirring invitation to Xiao Dian.

"Chirp chirp!!"

Xiao Dian flew to Han Qiwu's shoulder, throwing one last furious glance at the river water before turning away and flying off.

I'm going to get stronger!

Han Qiwu chuckled to himself as he took Xiao Dian and Xiao Lai toward the Mist Forest.

Today, he planned to explore the area to the right of the cobblestone path, aiming to uncover the whole region within two days and move onto the next stage.

"If the lake surface is wide enough, maybe I can catch a Dragon Blood Fish from the area to the right of the cobblestone path," Han Qiwu pondered aloud while sending Xiao Dian out. "If I don't hear the sound of water on the right later, I'll just head left to the place I fished last time and check it out."

No way I'll return empty-handed!

The remaining capacity of the Hospital River at home is still more than enough.

Flying through the mist, Xiao Dian was full of energy, flapping its wings as it searched for trees everywhere.

It had a strong sense of urgency. Both the Little Prince and Little Shui at home had already eaten mist fruits, and although they hadn't yet mastered mist skills, Xiao Dian couldn't afford to let its guard down!

It must eat more mist fruits! Strive to master mist skills early!

When that happens, dealing with that pesky jellyfish will be no problem.

No way it can zap me in the mist!

Dreaming of the blissful days of taking revenge on the electric jellyfish, Xiao Dian laughed foolishly.

"Thwack."

A rough black spherical object flew through the air, landing squarely on Xiao Dian's face.

"Chirp chirp!!"

Furious, Xiao Dian glanced at the mysterious object before charging in its direction.

Han Qiwu saw the whole scene unfold and quickly ran over, noticing that the object seemed familiar.

When he got closer, his eyes lit up, and he bent down to pick it up from the nearby tree trunk.

[Unripe Mist Pine Cone]

[Can be peeled and eaten when ripe]

Unripe Mist Pine Cone?

Han Qiwu knew pine cones contained pine nuts inside.

Could it be that this time he might get some nuts?

There's hope yet for the freezing potion.

"Strange, what's using this thing to pelt Xiao Dian?" Han Qiwu pocketed the unripe Mist Pine Cone, carrying Xiao Lai as he took large strides toward the direction of its origin.

Thirty meters ahead, Xiao Dian, narrowly dodging several more pine cones, had already found the culprit.

It was a large squirrel covered in soft tawny fur perched on the tree!

This squirrel was about thirty centimeters long, with remarkably robust limbs. Upon closer inspection, you could even make out the beginnings of some muscle definition.

"Chirp chirp!"

Without a second word, Xiao Dian shot a bolt of lightning toward the squirrel.

"Zzzzt."

The squirrel nimbly dodged to the side, avoiding the bolt, but couldn't evade the splinters brought on by the lightning strike, leaving its face smudged with black soot.

Its face darkened.

"Squeak squeak!"

Infuriated, the squirrel let out a cry, dug out a large pine cone from beneath itself, and leapt into the air, hurling it straight at Xiao Dian's head.

"Thump."

The large pine cone smacked Xiao Dian's head, leaving behind a visibly swollen bump.

"Squeak squeak!"

The squirrel burst out in laughter, pleased that the silly bird was hit, then swiftly started running away.

By this point, Han Qiwu had already arrived. Seeing the scene, he nodded lightly and remarked, "Ah, so it's a big squirrel."

He pulled out his ice slingshot, loaded a small pebble, and fired it at the squirrel.

"Whoosh."

The pebble grazed the fur on the squirrel's back.

"Squeak squeak!"

Angry, the squirrel pulled out another large pine cone and hurled it. This pine cone was more cracked and larger than the ones before.

Han Qiwu smiled faintly, raising his hand swiftly to catch the unusually large pine cone.

[Mist Pine Cone]

[Can be peeled and eaten]

[Stamina Points +120]

[Health Points +60]

[Note: Mist Pine Cones are rare and will vanish upon landing]

Finally!

A ripe Mist Pine Cone!

This brings hope back for the freezing potion.

The only question now is how many pine nuts are inside this one cone.

To be safe, it's best to gather more cones.

"Xiao Lai! Slow it down!"

Upon hearing the command, Xiao Lai puffed up its cheeks and spat out a burst of green poison it had been saving up. Inspired by the mist skill, it modified its poison skill, releasing the venom in midair to break into ten droplets forming a net that slowed the squirrel down.

"Hand over the pine cones!" Han Qiwu loaded another pebble onto the ice slingshot and took aim.

"Whoosh."

This shot hit the squirrel square on the tail, with enough force to almost knock it off the branch.

"Squeak squeak squeak squeak!"

Outraged, the squirrel stopped running, using its claws to dig into the tree bark for a moment before turning back, now holding a heap of pine cones. Brimming with ferocity, it began flinging them at Han Qiwu.

Squirrel Gatling!

"Whish whish whish whish."

Scanning the array of pine cones flying toward him, Han Qiwu calmly picked out six ripe ones, quickly blocking them one by one.

As for the unripe cones, just as the note indicated, they vanished upon touching the ground, ensuring they couldn't be picked up.

"Let's do another round!" Han Qiwu cheered as he raised his ice slingshot. Despite the size of the pine cones, as long as they didn't hit his face, they didn't hurt much.

"Squeak squeak!"

Enraged, the squirrel, which had never suffered such a loss before, was truly furious!

How despicable!

Here comes my barrage of pine cones!

Seconds later, Han Qiwu smiled, picking out five more ripe cones from the volley.

This squirrel sure is generous, practically gifting them to me.