Chapter 85: Earning Money Twice from One Deal

Lord Nai Ge Li Si was, of course, only saying that—if it dared to chew up "all" the saplings, Seeing Ange could hang it up and then have the angelic skeleton give it a Searing Light Blast.

Next came the negotiation phase, but the Elven Queen dropped a bombshell: "Someone has already sold us a World Tree sapling, and he gained the friendship of the elves. Yours is the second one, so…."

Though the rest was left unsaid, Lord Nai Ge Li Si still understood what she meant—didn't she just want to drive the price down? Who was it that sold the elves a World Tree sapling? Lord Nai Ge Li Si had a bad premonition.

"Who sold us the sapling? Sorry, I can't reveal information about my friend," Gai La De said.

"Just tell me the other party's race," Lord Nai Ge Li Si said.

Upon learning the other party was a goblin, Lord Nai Ge Li Si roared inwardly: Goblin! Goblin! Just as I thought—goblin! Damn that silver coin, he beat me to it! Isn't he afraid of being caught, having his memory searched, and exposing us?

No, he wouldn't be—after all, he has a soul link with Seeing Ange and can request Seeing Ange's protection for his soul at any time.

Good grief, worthy of the goblin merchant—every angle considered. He deserves to have grabbed first place. Lord Nai Ge Li Si had to admit it.

The first sale was snatched away, so he couldn't ask for a high price. Lord Nai Ge Li Si probed: "Then for the second World Tree sapling, what price are you willing to offer?"

……

While Lord Nai Ge Li Si was haggling with the Elven Queen, Seeing Ange casually reached his hand into the Palace of Rest, tilling the fields on his farm, one hand drifting through the air—utterly bizarre.

To him, the Elven Queen, the World Tree, the friendship of the elves, believers, Soul Flames—all were trivial. A tree could be planted, and once grown, could be eaten—that was enough.

His life was no different from when he was in the Palace of Rest: sow, water, fertilize, pollinate, harvest. The Quick-Die Aura just sped up the whole process.

Even without the aura, "normal" farming didn't seem bad either.

If a bard were to write his biography, it would probably only be: farm, mediate, farm, mediate, beat up little zombies, farm, mediate, farm…—poor bard.

Every seed was precisely sown in its corresponding spot, straight and orderly—even in fields without ridges, one could see a perfectly straight line, as precise as when he harvested.

After sowing the seeds, Seeing Ange's hand moved to the edge of the field, cast Pollination, scooped up the soil on the ground and scattered it over the field, quickly covering it with a thin layer, then watered it.

The entire sequence flowed like water, brimming with an extreme sense of precision and smoothness.

This plot was already fully planted. The drifting hand floated along, moving to another plot, where the crops had already sprouted—little tender tips breaking through the soil, a carpet of small green dots covering the surrounding earth, neat and pleasing to the eye. Time to water them.

As it drifted along, Seeing Ange suddenly stopped, tilted his head—he seemed to have heard something.

After thinking for a moment, Seeing Ange's consciousness entered the Palace of Rest, manifesting his phantom form within.

The farm was still as quiet as ever, the wind still as gentle, no different from the past thousand-plus years. But tilting his head to listen, Seeing Ange seemed to hear some sound.

Grow——

Grow——long——

Grow——long——long——

Pop!

A sound like something being squeezed through. Seeing Ange followed the sensation and saw that a sprout had just pushed out its first pair of cotyledons.

Seeing Ange drifted over for a look and discovered it was actually a World Tree.

Back then, to test the most suitable environment for the World Tree to grow, Seeing Ange had tossed one into the Palace of Rest. The next day he found it wilting, so he pretty much left it alone. He hadn't expected that after so many days of neglect, it had actually pushed out its cotyledons?

Could those "sounds" from earlier have been emitted by this little sapling?

Those weren't actually sounds, but a kind of faint information—like the wails of wraiths, all unconscious information. Only this was the first time he could feel it so clearly.

Seeing Ange squatted down, hugging his knees, and observed.

Dry——

It was indeed information emitted by the little sapling. Seeing Ange felt it was saying the ground was too dry—because he was observing it, he had even forgotten to water it.

After giving it a round of watering first, Seeing Ange began watering the surrounding crops. Curiosity aside, vegetables still need to be planted, right?

Grow——long——grow——long.

After being watered, the information emitted by the little sapling grew clearer. It "grew" with all its might for a long while, but nothing changed. Yet turning his head, he saw the sprouts that had just been watered had all uniformly grown a section taller, revealing their first cotyledons.

Seeing Ange tilted his head, as if understanding. The little sapling's so-called "growing" meant making the nearby crops "grow." Looking at the moisture beneath its feet, it was wetter than the surrounding plots—the water just poured hadn't been absorbed by it. So its "dry" wasn't its own dryness, but the other crops' "dryness."

So this tree probably didn't need water or nutrients—the "growth" of other crops was its nourishment.

The World Trees outside were the same, except this one could emit some information, which made Seeing Ange all the more certain. It seemed ordinary planting methods wouldn't work for this tree.

Grow——long, grow——long, grow——long——, not growing….

Just as Seeing Ange was lost in thought, the information emitted by the little sapling grew stronger and stronger, startling him awake. Besides the "grow" information, there was also a hint of disappointment mixed in.

Where wasn't it growing? The surrounding plants were thriving, full of vigorous life—indeed much better than when the sapling wasn't there.

Seeing Ange looked around and finally discovered the only thing not growing was himself. The little sapling's disappointment also seemed directed at him.

Seeing Ange tilted his head, thought of an idea, turned his back, detached his own right hand, gripped it with his left, and slowly extended it out.

Long——long——long——! The little sapling indeed emitted a burst of very enthusiastic information.

Dummy! Seeing Ange stamped it in his heart.

He found a flowerpot, dug up the little sapling and transplanted it into the pot. Since it didn't need water or soil, planting it required a different method.

He carried the little sapling to the center of the area, set it on the ground, then stomped a footprint beside it.

Countless crops scrambled to grow. Crops that had only just put out cotyledons quickly grew true leaves, stems and foliage, spread out, bloomed….

Grow——grow——long——long——long——pop——.

The little sapling emitted cheerful and enthusiastic information, its two little cotyledons fluttering in the wind. Finally, with a sound like something being "squeezed through," the sapling, now a section taller, pushed out its first pair of true leaves.

Long——long——long——, this made it even more delighted.

He dug out the footprint, dragged his scythe and dashed off, harvested the mature crops, came back and calculated—huh? This time the aura only cost fifteen hundred Soul Flames?

Was it because of the little sapling that Soul Flames were saved? Seeing Ange picked up the flowerpot from the ground, looking at it curiously. Was it really this useful?

The little sapling, having grown true leaves, earnestly twisted its true leaves around to face Seeing Ange: Grow——long——grow——long——not growing….?

Useful it was, but too dumb—dumber than the little zombies.

The little sapling needed to spur other plants to grow in order to grow itself, so it was best suited to staying with Seeing Ange.

He took it out of the Palace of Rest, held it in his left hand—got in the way—switched to the right hand—still in the way. After some thought, Seeing Ange balanced the flowerpot on his head.

The bottom of the flowerpot had a slight indentation that fit his helmet perfectly. Once placed, it was a flawless fit—it wouldn't fall off even without vigorous shaking.

At a thought, the armored wraith on his body extended a strap from its back to frame the flowerpot. Now it was fine—no matter how hard he shook, it wouldn't fall off.

"One tree sapling for 500,000 magic crystals? What joke are you cracking? This is a World Tree sapling, not a cabbage. Your asking price shows not a shred of sincerity."

Inside the teleportation array, the haggling between Lord Nai Ge and Gai La De had also entered a white-hot stage.

"But we already have one tree sapling, after all. We can't have the second one cost more than the first, can we? Those operating franchises, permits, tax exemptions and the like—you don't want those either. The friend who sold us the first sapling really liked those certification documents; we offered him money and he didn't even want it," Gai La De said, troubled.

"I'm not going to your elven nation to do business—what would I do with that stuff? You elves have so many good things, trade them for good stuff. For example, seeds of the elf bean—one bite and you're full—Moon Wells, Life Essence, Forest Soul, Druid's Heart, or little sprites specialized in pollination and dew-collecting—any of those will do," Lord Nai Ge said.

Gai La De was silent for quite a while before asking in a solemn tone: "Who exactly are you? How do you know about these things?"

Lord Nai Ge was startled—didn't anyone else know? He had asked the World Tree back in the day. Could all of these be elven secrets?

He hurriedly made amends: "I asked the God of Knowledge."

"The God of Knowledge?" Not expecting such an answer, Gai La De on the other end was also dumbfounded—she didn't know who the God of Knowledge was.

After asking around, she finally inquired: "Is that the dopey brass dragon? Is it still alive?"

"You—" Lord Nai Ge exploded on the spot. What dopey? You're the dopey one, your whole family is dopey—is that even something a person says?

He wished he could teleport over right then and smash the other party's dog head, but then he remembered the other party was a Dragon Slayer. Lord Nai Ge thought it over and decided to let it go, muttering softly: "Considering you're still young, I won't bother with you."

"The God of Knowledge is certainly still alive. Its all-knowing self told me that the elves have plenty of valuable things and absolutely the ability to cover the cultivation cost of a World Tree sapling. It's also because we believe in the elves' strength that we spent enormous manpower and resources cultivating the sapling—otherwise we would have dug it up long ago. Do you want it or not? Make a sincere offer, or I'll just dig it up."

Lord Nai Ge thought resentfully: Dare to call me dopey? Let's see who's dopey.

Hearing that it might be dug up, Gai La De panicked and hurriedly said: "Let's talk this over nicely, let's talk this over nicely. We've got plenty of good stuff, plenty."

After a final round of discussion, the elves traded 500,000 magic crystals, one elf bean seed, and two Moon Wells for one World Tree sapling.

After settling on this exchange price, Gai La De felt it was a bit of a loss, because compared to the first sapling, the value exchanged this time was clearly much higher.

Although Silver Coin really liked those qualification and permit certificates, they were essentially just a few pieces of paper—even if obtained, effort was still needed to manage and operate them to turn a profit.

But this time's items were different. The 500,000 magic crystals in hard cash were one thing, but the elf bean seed was the most valuable.

It was a high-energy food. The elf beans it grew were only thumb-sized, yet they could provide a living person with a full day's nutritional needs and a sufficient sense of fullness—one bean could supply a day's worth of food. It was simply a strategic-grade logistical supply divine artifact.

Because of these elf beans, the elves had never had logistical worries. Even on expeditions thousands of kilometers away, each person could carry several hundred days' worth of rations on their person—finishing the fight and returning home to resupply was no problem.

Next were the Moon Wells. What Silver Coin took away was only fifty liters of moon spring water, but what Lord Nai Ge was taking were two wells that produced moon spring water.

"Damn that God of Knowledge, leaking so many of our elven secrets—next time I run into it I'll kill it, and while I'm at it I'll swap out my own title. God-Slayer sounds better than Dragon Slayer," Gai La De said through gritted teeth.

Both sides swore oaths and began the exchange. The small sapling was fine—it didn't take up much space. The two Moon Wells took up the most room. The current teleportation array could only transport one at a time, and there was also a risk.

A Moon Well was bigger than a person. What if what came through the teleportation wasn't a Moon Well, but the Dragon Slayer?

To prevent any accidents, Lord Nai Ge called both Loser and the Angel Skeleton back.

As soon as the Angel Skeleton and the Little Zombie returned, they immediately went to find Seeing Ange, scurrying over, reaching out to poke at the flowerpot on his head.

Seeing Ange swatted its hand away.

The Angel Skeleton and the Little Zombie realized this wasn't something to be touched and obediently withdrew their hands, but their curiosity didn't wane. The Angel Skeleton flapped its wings and flew up, curiously examining the little sapling inside.

The little sapling was startled by the big face suddenly appearing in front of it. Its two true leaves twisted over and gestured, sending out an enthusiastic message: Grow—hard—grow—hard—.

The Angel Skeleton observed for a while, then suddenly turned its head to glance at the Little Zombie beside it, which kept bouncing up and down—jumping once, glancing at the flowerpot once. Confirming they were the same type, it lost interest in the little sapling and flew away.

Only the Little Zombie remained, bouncing up and down. So the little sapling twisted its true leaves over toward it and gestured, then sent out a bewildered message: Things here don't grow—.

The exchange went smoothly. The elves didn't take the opportunity to launch a surprise attack on them. After receiving everything, Lord Nai Ge also teleported the sapling over, and both sides settled the transaction in full.

Relieved, Lord Nai Ge turned his head, then discovered Ange's brand-new look.

"Who gave you this new look? Why are you balancing a flowerpot on your head?" Flying closer for a look, there was actually a sapling inside.

"What kind of sapling is this? Huh? It's alive? I feel like it's saying something, doesn't it? This is—a World Tree sapling? It's awakened its consciousness?" Lord Nai Ge grew more and more shocked as he spoke, finally crying out in astonishment.

Seeing Ange nodded, and the flowerpot and the sapling inside bobbed along with his movement.

Lord Nai Ge sucked in a cold breath: "Oh heavens, I was just saying a tree without consciousness doesn't qualify to be called a World Tree. Well now, this one qualifies."

Just as he finished speaking, Lord Nai Ge thought of something, turned his head toward the teleportation array, and said excitedly: "Now that we have a real World Tree, we can sell those big trees to the elves—earn money twice from one deal."

PS: I originally planned to update ten chapters in a row. I overestimated myself. I'll flip over and continue being a salted fish.