Farming Games are All About Grinding-Chapter 567 - 554: The Misty Sunflower

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh."

Han Qiwu climbed to the middle section of the tree trunk with ease, using both hands and feet. Just as he was about to climb higher, he suddenly felt a void under his right hand.

He looked down.

Oh, dear.

A large portion of the tree trunk had been hollowed out by a big squirrel, and it was packed full of pinecones!

"Such an ecological disaster!"

Han Qiwu reached into the pile of pinecones and quickly started collecting them.

"Clatter, clatter."

The pinecones inside the hollow rapidly dwindled.

In under two minutes, Han Qiwu’s storage grid now held 86 units of [Foggy Pinecones].

He decided to leave the remaining pinecones at the deepest part of the hollow.

"Gotta leave it some capital to work with, plus the airflow inside the hollow is better now, less likely to go moldy. Leaving a few behind won’t hurt."

"Later, squirrel!"

Sliding down the tree trunk, Han Qiwu smiled faintly and started heading along the cobblestone path toward the second stage area.

At that moment, the big squirrel, carrying two large pinecones back home, felt a strange sense of foreboding.

What’s going on?

Why does this feel so off?

This unnervingly familiar feeling!

Oh no!

It dashed home with the two pinecones, only to freeze in shock and faint on the spot.

If only it hadn’t reached out with that paw back then!

Are all humans this petty?

Meanwhile, Han Qiwu was in rather high spirits upon arriving in the second area. He thought to himself that when he had time, he might try taming the big squirrel and letting it taste something other than pinecones.

How could it not get tired of eating pinecones all the time?

Returning to the spot where he’d last encountered the Black Night Wolves, Han Qiwu pulled out a torch. Finding a grove of dead trees nearby, he brought out his axe and swung it forcefully.

"Clang!"

To his surprise, the single swing not only felled the tree he was aiming at but also brought down two more dead trees behind it.

[Wood]×3.

"Interesting, so that’s how it works?" Han Qiwu checked his stamina, noticing the consumption was the same as a single swing.

At this rate, the efficiency of cutting down dead trees had gone way up!

Time to chop away!

Finding the right angles, each swing would yield three to five pieces of wood. The amount of wood in his storage grid began to rise rapidly.

After chopping for over twenty minutes, he cleared the entire patch of dead trees.

Wiping off his sweat, Han Qiwu was just about to scout the location of other dead tree patches when he looked up and noticed several pairs of red glowing dots in the surrounding darkness. These dots, roughly at waist-height, swayed slightly up and down from time to time.

A pack of Black Night Wolves had encircled him.

"Let me count." Han Qiwu bent low with his torch, turned his head, and counted thirteen Black Night Wolves in total.

"Not too many. Just enough to grind my Ice Sword!"

Of course, despite his bold words, a big fireball was still necessary.

He launched a fireball toward three wolves on his left and quickly tossed his torch to the right. Pivoting, he thrust his sword toward two sneaky Black Night Wolves lunging at him from behind.

[Violent Strike]

[Ice Phoenix Wings]

With his attack and movement speeds doubled, he was faster than the Black Night Wolves.

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh."

In just three minutes, the thirteen Black Night Wolves were reduced to twelve portions of Black Night Wolf Meat.

"Even in death, they don’t contribute much," Han Qiwu grumbled as he pulled out a fresh torch and continued walking deeper.

After walking several dozen steps, he spotted a two-meter-tall sunflower by the roadside. However, this sunflower was gray in color, as if drained of all life and hue, standing desolately and lifelessly.

"So, this is the Mist Sunflower, huh?" Han Qiwu took out two portions of Black Night Wolf Meat and tossed them under the sunflower.

No reaction.

Han Qiwu pondered for a moment. Since it’s fertilizer, could it be necessary to dig a hole?

Worth a try.

After digging a hole, he placed the two portions of meat near the sunflower’s roots and refilled the soil.

In the instant he finished filling the hole, a bright, tender green glow emerged from the sunflower’s stem near its roots. The glow climbed upward, illuminating the sunflower’s head in a vibrant yellow at the top.

"Fwoosh!"

The sunflower’s head emitted a circular burst of sunlight, instantly dispelling the surrounding darkness and driving away the lurking Black Night Wolves.

Not only that, but the dead trees within the sunlight’s range began to undergo transformation, sprouting fresh buds and growing thirty to forty centimeters taller.

"This light sure packs a punch!" Han Qiwu quickly found a nearby budding tree, climbed up, and looked back at the sunflower’s head.

If only he could get some sunflower seeds out of it.

When the sunflowers at home grew, releasing this sunlight at night would make those saplings grow like crazy!

Unfortunately, the flower head was empty for now.

Not giving up, he carefully inspected it again and finally noticed a tiny white seedling the size of a pinky nail slowly sprouting in the center.

"Could it be that these Black Night Wolf meats can ripen sunflower seeds?" Han Qiwu was struck by the idea. Jumping down, he buried the remaining Black Night Wolf Meat beneath the sunflower.

After absorbing the darkness-infused energy, the sunflower’s emitted light grew even stronger! The white sprout in the center of the flower head started to expand.

"The sunflower seeds I used to eat were, at most, thumb-sized. These Black Night Wolf meats should be enough, right?" Han Qiwu muttered as he observed the changes. He then took out his axe and began chopping at the nearby growing dead trees.

Each swing felt the same, but now, every felled tree yielded twice the wood!

Each dead tree provided two pieces of wood!

"This sunflower—no, this Mist Sunflower’s light is insane!" Han Qiwu’s excitement grew as he looked forward to the tiny white sprout’s maturation.

After inspecting the surrounding eighty-something budding trees within the light’s range, Han Qiwu looked up again. The sunflower seed had grown to thumb-size.

Still no system notification, and it was continuing to grow.

Looks like he would need more fertilizer at this rate.

Han Qiwu put away his axe and drew his Ice Sword, venturing deeper into the darkness to fight.

Was it just his imagination, or was the Mist Sunflower sentient? Its flower head seemed to slowly turn toward the direction of Han Qiwu’s battle. Any Black Night Wolf caught in its light would freeze in place for a few seconds.

Overjoyed by this discovery, Han Qiwu stabbed away with even greater enthusiasm.

After about half an hour, he successfully collected over thirty portions of fertilizer and buried them one by one beneath the Mist Sunflower.

Ten minutes later, a pale yellow, fist-sized fruit formed on the flower head, shimmering with a milky glow.

Leaping up, Han Qiwu plucked the fruit. The moment he did, the sunflower’s colors faded away.

A gust of wind blew, and the sunflower crumbled into ash and vanished.

Looking down, he saw a line of attributes appear on the pale yellow fruit.

[Mist Sunflower Seed]

[Planting Season: All year round]

[Fertilizer Needed: [Black Night Wolf Meat]×10]

[Effect - Glow: The light emitted by the Mist Sunflower can promote tree growth at night and slightly enhance crop growth.]

[Note: Sunshine! Endless vitality!]