Chapter 12: Saving the Natural Fairy

Li Zhangsheng pondered for a moment, grabbed a withered green bamboo, and pulled it out with a slight exertion of force; it was not that Li Zhangsheng possessed immense strength, but that its roots had completely withered, lacking even a shred of moisture.

"As expected, during the gestation process, the embryo of the natural fairy forcibly absorbs the plant essence within a certain range, causing these green bamboos to become its nourishment. This is also the reason why, apart from the green bamboo gestating the natural fairy, all the surrounding green bamboos have withered. The current situation is quite dire; if there isn't enough plant essence, this natural fairy will very likely die in the womb!"

At this thought, Li Zhangsheng's expression grew somewhat stern. The birth of a natural fairy is extremely demanding; its gestation process requires the absorption of a large amount of plant essence, and if the plant essence is insufficient, there is a possibility of a miscarriage.

Even if it is luckily born, it will very likely suffer from congenital deficiencies, and its dimensions and size will inevitably be inferior to a normal natural fairy.

Li Zhangsheng had once read a book about fairies that listed methods to save natural fairy embryos. There are many methods, the simplest of which is to fertilize the surrounding soil to enhance its nutrients and fertility, such as using plant ash, manure, pond mud, and so on.

However, this method requires quite a lot of time to slowly improve the soil quality, making it difficult to provide a large amount of plant essence in a short period; at most, it can only delay the trend.

"Since one way won't work, then I'll use three approaches at once!" Li Zhangsheng stroked his chin and quickly made a decision.

He first took out a pouch containing a pile of colorful Monster Cores; these were the Monster Cores he had accumulated over the years, all of which were Lower-rank Monster Cores.

Soon, Li Zhangsheng picked out the green Monster Cores representing the Wood Element. He was not wealthy and had only five Wood Element Monster Cores in total.

Wood Element Monster Cores are the energy source for Wood-type Fairies and contain a certain amount of plant essence depending on the grade of the Monster Core.

Without hesitation, Li Zhangsheng placed all these Wood Element Monster Cores against the roots of the green bamboo gestating the natural fairy.

Almost the moment they made contact, the five Wood Element Monster Cores underwent a change, faintly emitting a dark green luster as they were continuously absorbed by the green bamboo, eventually becoming nourishment for the natural fairy.

It was like a long drought meeting sweet rain; the natural fairy embryo absorbed them very quickly, causing these Wood Element Monster Cores to fade at a speed visible to the naked eye.

At this rate of absorption, the energy in these Wood Element Monster Cores would be completely exhausted in half a day at most.

"Not enough, far from enough! The energy contained in Lower-rank Monster Cores is too little!"

Li Zhangsheng shook his head, and after covering the Wood Element Monster Cores with soil, he immediately took Aixi and left the bamboo forest.

The Li Family Manor had over a thousand servants; although Li Zhangsheng did not have a personal maid, he did keep two menial servants under his command.

Under Li Zhangsheng's orders, the two servants, though full of confusion, obeyed implicitly and hurriedly dropped their chores to collect various fertilizers for Li Zhangsheng.

There was plenty of ready-made fertilizer in the manor; feces and plant ash were easy to collect, and while pond mud was a bit more troublesome to get, it did not stump them.

"Thank you for your hard work; these are rewards for you! Also, do not spread word of this matter, otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite. Have you all heard clearly?"

To avoid leaks and prevent being noticed by those with ulterior motives, Li Zhangsheng gave them rewards while simultaneously issuing a stern warning.

As a precaution, Li Zhangsheng did not have the servants apply the fertilizer, but instead hid the fertilizer in a corner of the small courtyard.

When the sky grew dim, Li Zhangsheng specially disguised himself, wearing servant's clothes, carrying fertilizer on a shoulder pole, and with Aixi's assistance, he avoided everyone's gaze along the way and snuck into the bamboo forest.

"Aixi, keep a good watch here. If you detect any movement, remember to use a roar to warn me!"

In the outer area of the bamboo forest, Li Zhangsheng specifically left Aixi behind. Given the value of a natural fairy, if it were discovered by others, it would very likely be snatched away.

Soon, Li Zhangsheng arrived at the depths of the bamboo forest. He put down the fertilizer and did not apply it immediately; using the dim moonlight, he pulled out all the withered green bamboos and transplanted some others from nearby.

This process seemed simple but was actually exceptionally troublesome, especially since he could not make too much noise to avoid attracting the patrols nearby.

Aixi hid on the outskirts of the bamboo forest, pricking up its ears, trying hard to listen to the surrounding movements, and was ready to warn Li Zhangsheng at any moment.

Time passed slowly, the moon set and the sun rose. After a night of hard work, the surrounding soil had been tidied up by Li Zhangsheng, and the transplanted green bamboos had also been fertilized by him, which could continuously provide nutrients for the natural fairy.

Whew~

After getting everything done, Li Zhangsheng sat on the ground with a thud. His body was covered in filth, and there were even a few scratches on his hands.

The pitch-black environment had made Li Zhangsheng suffer greatly.

But the results were undoubtedly gratifying. Under Li Zhangsheng's careful care, the upper part of the green bamboo gestating the natural fairy, which had originally been withered and yellow, had completely recovered, and the verdant bamboo stalk gave one a feeling of lush greenery.

After catching his breath, Li Zhangsheng projected his Mental Power to check the state of the natural fairy.

【Fairy Name】: Natural Fairy (Gestation Stage)

【Fairy Realm】: None

【Fairy Race】: Low-level Warrior

【Fairy Quality】: Unknown "The more plant essence absorbed, the greater the possibility of quality improvement"

【Fairy Bloodline】: Elemental Power (Unknown)

【Fairy Attribute】: Wood Element

【Fairy Status】: Healthy

【Fairy Weakness】: Fire Element

Compared to yesterday, the state of the natural fairy had changed from malnourished to healthy; as long as this was maintained, a healthy natural fairy would be gestated.

After withdrawing his Mental Power, Li Zhangsheng came before this green bamboo and pushed aside the covering soil, revealing the five Monster Cores that had almost completely turned white.

"So fast!" Li Zhangsheng sighed. Judging from the color of the Monster Cores, their energy was about to be depleted; he feared that before long, they would be completely exhausted.

"The more plant essence absorbed, the greater the possibility of quality improvement!"

Thinking of the content in the book, Li Zhangsheng could not help but hesitate. If it were just an ordinary natural fairy, he would not need to do anything more, but if he wanted to obtain a higher-quality natural fairy, he would have to pay with a large number of Wood Element Monster Cores.

Li Zhangsheng did not want to give up, but the natural fairy was a matter of great importance; if he wanted to buy or trade for a large number of Wood Element Monster Cores from others, he was afraid of being noticed by those with ulterior motives.

Most importantly, Li Zhangsheng's financial resources were limited; even if he used them all to purchase Wood Element Monster Cores, he feared it would be difficult to improve the quality of the natural fairy.

Of course, there was another way, which was to borrow. It was just that, firstly, he did not have many relatives or friends, and secondly, he had no suitable collateral in his hands. To borrow a large number of Wood Element Monster Cores without compensation, it seemed only his second uncle could do it.

Although his second uncle was relatively lazy and rarely participated in family affairs, his strength was very high, even comparable to a Clan Elder, and his personal wealth was naturally substantial.

After making his decision, Li Zhangsheng returned to the small courtyard and met Li Haoqiong.

By the pond in the small courtyard, Li Haoqiong sat on a low stool, his back leaning against a willow tree. He had his eyes closed, looking as if he were fast asleep.

Arriving before Li Haoqiong, Li Zhangsheng was full of vigilance and called out softly: "Second Uncle!"

"No matter who you are, I will never forgive anyone who disturbs my sleep!" Li Haoqiong stood up with narrowed eyes. His morning grumpiness was not ordinarily terrifying, and regardless of who was in front of him, he smashed a fist toward Li Zhangsheng's face.

"Don't hit the face when hitting a person!" Li Zhangsheng seemed to have anticipated this, hurriedly covering his face with his hands and squatting on the ground, welcoming a beating from Li Haoqiong.

After a long while, Li Haoqiong stopped his movements, turned to look at Li Zhangsheng with a dazed gaze, and revealed an expression of sudden realization.

"Oh, it's Zhangsheng!"

"So painful! I knew this would happen. Second Uncle, I have reason to believe that you are jealous that I grew up to be more handsome than you, wanting to ruin this handsome and compelling face of mine, pull my charm down to the same level as yours, and finally defeat me with your rich experience in picking up girls. I didn't expect you to be such a Second Uncle!"

Li Zhangsheng stood up holding his head; he had ten thousand reasons to believe that Li Haoqiong was jealous of his handsome face.

"Relax, relax, how could such a thing happen! Alright, looking at your expression, you must have something to ask me? Shh, don't say it yet, let me guess!"

Li Haoqiong waved his hands, putting on an 'I didn't mean it' act, then changed the subject as quickly as he could.

As for whether he meant it or not, only he himself knew.

"Second Uncle, don't change the subject!"

Li Zhangsheng did not speak, staring straight at Li Haoqiong, making him feel a sense of unease.

Ignoring Li Zhangsheng's complaint, Li Haoqiong switched to a joking tone and said: "I guess you found a nature spirit currently in gestation, and you're looking for me to borrow some resources to improve its quality?"

(End of chapter)