I Start with a Mysterious Island-Chapter 59: Contentment Brings Happiness

"I wasn’t muttering anything. I was just thinking about how much I enjoyed the buffet today. Thanks for treating me. My treat next time," Lin Li, deciding to play it safe, said to Su Yue in all seriousness.

"Lin Li, let’s go check out that mall across the street! I haven’t bought any new clothes for the summer yet!" Su Yue said, pointing at the shopping mall on the other side of the road.

Lately, Lin Li had been hunting Mutant Beasts in the wilderness and had already ruined a pair of sneakers. The high-intensity exercise was really tough on them. "Alright. I was actually planning on buying a couple of new pairs of sneakers myself."

Afterward, Lin Li and Su Yue crossed the road and headed toward the bustling mall in the distance.

...

Dazzling neon lights shone with brilliant radiance, painting the city streets like a dream.

「Around nine in the evening.」

DING.

The elevator doors opened. Having spent several hours shopping with Su Yue at the mall, a weary-looking Lin Li stepped out of the elevator after returning to his apartment complex.

’Shopping with a woman is terrifying. If I had to choose between fighting Mutant Beasts in the wilderness and shopping with Su Yue, I’d rather fight Mutant Beasts.’

The weary Lin Li muttered to himself as he fished the keys to his apartment out of his pocket and unlocked the door.

CLICK.

THUD.

Back home, Lin Li first turned on the lights, then took off his shoes and placed them in the shoe cabinet before slipping on his house slippers and walking into the living room.

With a thought, two shopping bags appeared in his hands.

Looking at the two shopping bags he had retrieved from the Mysterious Small Island, Lin Li promptly took two shoeboxes out of them.

’These two pairs of sneakers cost nearly three thousand. So expensive!’

Lin Li hadn’t originally planned on buying such expensive sneakers, but a line from the saleswoman at the shoe store had convinced him.

"Sir, our sneakers are a favorite among Exotic Beast Hunters. Every Hunter who’s worn them says they’re great and perfectly suited for moving in the wild. They make chasing down Mutant Beasts incredibly fast."

’They were a bit pricey, but you get what you pay for. I tried them on in the store just now, and they really are comfortable...’ Lin Li muttered, then took the sneakers out of their boxes and placed them in the shoe cabinet by the entrance.

At the time, there had been a small incident when he bought the two pairs of sneakers: Su Yue had looked at Lin Li with a completely astonished expression.

Su Yue had initially thought Lin Li was just browsing in the pricey sneaker store, never expecting him to actually spend several thousand to buy two expensive pairs.

This was a bit out of character for Lin Li’s spending habits, as Su Yue knew he usually only bought sneakers in the two-to-three-hundred price range.

Of course, after paying for and buying the two expensive pairs of sneakers, Lin Li had also noticed the look of astonishment in Su Yue’s eyes.

He thought for a moment and realized why she had that expression.

So, he had said to her with a serious face, "These shoes are really comfortable. Wearing them will help me haul bricks better on the construction site." With that joke, he had successfully distracted her.

’It’s still early, no need to go to bed just yet. I’ll head to the Mysterious Small Island and harvest the radishes in the field first.’

Lin Li first glanced at the clock on the wall. Then, with a thought, a faint golden Spiritual Light flashed around his body, and he vanished from the living room.

...

In an unknown space, on a Mysterious Small Island shrouded in a vast white mist, a figure stood before a small tree about two meters tall, a look of utter confusion on his face.

After arriving on the Mysterious Small Island, Lin Li had gone to the Magical Little Tree to check on his treasure before heading to the fields to harvest his radishes. He wanted to see if it had grown any Magical Little Fruits.

In reality, the Magical Little Tree hadn’t grown any Magical Little Fruits. Lin Li then had a thought, wanting to check its current progress, but the result was completely unexpected.

’Seven percent?!!’

’That’s not right! Including the gray wolf Mutant Beast I took a chunk of meat from at noon, I’ve killed a total of fourteen Tier One Mutant Beasts. Logically, the progress should be at fourteen percent by now!’

Lin Li checked the progress again and again, the relevant information appearing in his mind repeatedly, but it always stayed at seven percent. The number didn’t change at all.

’Sigh... I was too optimistic. How could becoming a powerful Cultivator be so simple?

The Magical Little Tree absorbed the Flesh and Blood Essence of fourteen Tier One Mutant Beasts and converted it into seven percent progress. That means it takes two Tier One Mutant Beasts to provide one percent.

To reach one hundred percent this time, I’ll need two hundred Tier One Mutant Beasts—double the amount required before.’

Lin Li looked at the Magical Little Tree before him. By absorbing the Flesh and Blood Essence of Mutant Beasts, it had become lush and verdant, completely losing its initial malnourished appearance. He scratched his head and muttered to himself.

’Good thing the number only doubled. With my current Second Rank Initial Stage cultivation, it’ll still be easy to hunt two hundred Tier One Mutant Beasts, as long as I put in some more time.

I was so happy before, thinking that as my strength grew, reaching one hundred percent would get easier and easier. I imagined the Magical Little Tree would just be churning out those Magical Fruits.

Now it seems things aren’t as simple as I thought. In the future, the amount of Mutant Beast flesh and blood needed for the Magical Little Tree to produce a Magical Little Fruit will only increase.

Well, a person has to be content. Contentment brings happiness. So what if the number of Tier One Mutant Beasts I need to hunt has increased? I just need to spend more time, and I’ll get it done. A piece of cake.

Compared to other Cultivators who train painstakingly day after day, year after year, just to break through to a higher level, my method of hunting Mutant Beasts and eating Magical Little Fruits to quickly advance my cultivation is already like using a cheat code!’

After comforting himself and adjusting his mindset, Lin Li turned and headed for the patch of farmland he had cleared one hoe-strike at a time.

Inside the fifty-square-meter field grew rows of large, ripe daikon radishes, waiting to be harvested.

’Time to get to work,’ Lin Li muttered to himself, rolling up his sleeves and getting down to business in the field.

HEAVE.

The leaves of the daikon radishes in the field were especially lush. Lin Li grabbed a handful of leaves, leaned back slightly, and with a firm tug, pulled a radish from the ground.

HEAVE, HEAVE...

Repeating the process, he pulled one plump white daikon radish after another from the earth.

Compared to the time Lin Li had spent clearing the farmland with a hoe, the process of harvesting the radishes didn’t take long at all.

After working for nearly twenty minutes, a pile of about two hundred large daikon radishes, each weighing at least ten pounds, was stacked on the grass beside the field.

...