Farming Games are All About Grinding

"The blue firebird may not be able to control flames, but its personality is pretty decent—certainly better than its useless father." Han Qiwu grew more satisfied with Little Blue the longer he looked, and on his way out, he used a branch to give the flesh-chicken a quick smack on the rear.

The spanked flesh-chicken: "????"

My daughter is excellent, so why are you hitting me?!

"Stop teaching your messed-up values to the chicks. If I catch a whiff of it, I'll find them a new stepdad. We've got birds in the house who could fill in," Han Qiwu grinned, gesturing toward Little Electric, who was over by the Hospital River engaging in a battle of wits and courage with an electric jellyfish.

The flesh-chicken followed Han Qiwu's gaze, then rolled its eyes.

That guy???

All it does is stay home playing with a lame jellyfish. Never once does it think about going out to find female birds to hang with!

"Splash!"

Just then, Little Shui leapt out of the Hospital River, fully satiated, looking like an aquatic sprite. Under the sunlight, its body sparkled brilliantly.

Han Qiwu caught Little Shui and glanced at its satiation value—it had shot back up to 99.

Looks like its satiation cap restored to 100 after the evolution completed.

"Had your fill, huh?" Han Qiwu patted Little Shui.

"Eep!"

Little Shui nodded eagerly, then pointed outside and slashed at the air with its paws.

What Han Qiwu didn't expect was that Little Shui's swipe produced a sharp sonic boom, the speed startlingly fast.

Evolution makes a difference indeed!

When will the Little Prince grow up a bit too?

Judging by how much it eats, it's no less than Little Shui—it may be vegetarian, but the pine nuts, peanuts, and honey it consumes are packed with energy.

"Go out and play if you want, but come back early," Han Qiwu called over the Little Prince, secured Little Shui onto it, then glanced at the flesh-chicken nearby. In a low voice, he added, "Don't let it eat the thatched roots today; make it pluck its own."

"Roar!"

"Eep!"

The Little Prince, now equipped with its little backpack, adeptly stretched its paw to grab the upside-down flesh-chicken, wobbling as it went out the door.

With his three pets off on their way, Han Qiwu began his own preparations for departure. Walking over to the storage box, he swiftly packed plenty of supplies.

Lava Mines! Here comes Daddy!

Left-hand Xiao Lai, right-hand Little Electric.

Charge! Charge! Charge!

While placing Little Electric in the bike basket, Han Qiwu noticed that there wasn't much left of its unmolted feathers; probably in a few days, all of them would turn a brilliant gold.

Judging by the bruised, pitch-black look of its skin, the electric jellyfish must've done quite a number on it.

"Who would've thought the electric jellyfish has the side effect of accelerating Little Electric's evolution?" Han Qiwu chuckled, hopping onto his bike and heading toward the mine cave.

Once inside the first level of the mines, Han Qiwu kept habit: he sent Xiao Lai and Little Electric, his trusty two miners, to dig for coal, while he carried five chicken legs and walked into the Explorer Guild.

Time to turn in my mission.

Tasty chicken legs for a pair of shoes.

What a deal!

Upon entering, Han Qiwu was surprised.

Sister Jin Tu and Egger were actually drinking together, with three neat rows of alcohol on the little table in front of them.

Rare sight indeed.

Seeing Han Qiwu walk over, Egger jubilantly hollered, "Hey, little bro! Fancy a drink? Join us!"

"Got anything that boosts fire resistance?" Han Qiwu asked casually, sitting himself down while pulling out the five chicken legs and handing them over.

Egger waved nonchalantly at Han Qiwu's question, "Of course."

He pulled out three bottles of alcohol, poured portions into a cocktail shaker, and furiously shook it for two minutes straight. After pouring the mixture out, he tossed in an ice cube.

"Give it a taste," he said.

[Sea Elf]

[Alcohol Content: 22.2]

[Effect: Fire Resistance +50 for one hour after consumption (Only the first weekly drink is effective)]

[Note: Sea Elf keeps the heat at bay for you]

Han Qiwu glanced at the stats and felt a surge of joy.

Egger is generous!

Without hesitation, Han Qiwu picked up the glass and downed it in one gulp.

Refreshing!

The icy liquor carried a faint saline tang, its taste delightful, reminiscent of the flavorful juices of an oyster.

[Fire Resistance +50 for one hour]

"Amazing! This drink is exquisite—worthy of the Great Bartender Egger!" Han Qiwu threw out a slew of compliments, then handed the five chicken legs to Sister Jin Tu and said, "Sister Jin Tu, I've collected the chicken legs. A couple might not be the freshest, but they're fine; better eat them soon."

"Not the freshest? Perfect! That's just how I like it!" Egger's eyes lit up, grabbing one of the legs for inspection while happily slapping Han Qiwu on the shoulder.

[Tasty Chicken Leg Mission Completed]

After completing the mission, Sister Jin Tu stashed the chicken legs, smiling as she said to Han Qiwu, "What kind of shoes do you want us to forge?"

"I'd prefer shoes with good heat insulation, ideally with a speed-boost skill, you know, for strategic retreating," Han Qiwu grinned.

"Strategic retreat? I like the phrasing," Egger chuckled, taking a big swig of his drink. "Speak of the devil, your Sister Jin Tu had already guessed you'd want such a pair and started forging a prototype. Give us an hour, and you'll have them ready."

"So fast?" Han Qiwu was pleasantly surprised. He had initially thought it would take a while to get the quest rewards. Giving it some thought, he added, "Thanks, Sister Jin Tu. Since I don't want to sit idle for an hour, I'll go ahead and make a freezing potion; I've got all the materials needed."

Sister Jin Tu nodded approvingly. That was her plan too, but before she could suggest it, Han Qiwu had brought it up himself.

Good!

Who wouldn't like a diligent and charismatic student like him?

The trio split up, Sister Jin Tu and Egger went to work on forging each shoe, while Han Qiwu headed to the potion room to start crafting the freezing potion.

The freezing potion required ingredients with ice effects: mushrooms, mint, and any type of nut.

This time, Han Qiwu brought ice mushrooms, mint, and pine nuts.

Just from the combination alone, the potion sounded like it'd taste rather good.

Taking out the recipe, Han Qiwu scanned through the process, took a deep breath, and got to work.

First, he steamed the ice mushrooms.

Steamed ice mushrooms resembled chilled jelly—translucent and shimmering. A slight nudge with the spoon caused them to quiver before disintegrating into a puddle.

The steamed mushrooms needed to be frozen whole again, making them easier to grind later.

While freezing the mushrooms, Han Qiwu quickly ground up the nuts into fine crumbs and tore the mint leaves into small pieces, placing everything into a container.

Next, he ground the frozen mushroom chunks into powder and added them to the container as well.

The final step—shake it up!

Five hundred shakes.

Turning on the counter, Han Qiwu grabbed the container and started shaking rapidly.

Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish!

Ten minutes later, Han Qiwu finally watched the counter hit zero.

"If I ever have to make a potion needing over a thousand shakes, wouldn't that kill me?" Han Qiwu put down the container, rested for a bit on the chair, and massaged his sore hand before pouring out the potion.

The crafted freezing potion resembled liquid ice—flowing like water but, upon touching the potion bottle, solidified into ice slush.

"Is this crushed ice slush?"