Chapter 73: Finalizing the Work

Next was deciding the allocation of personnel for the trip. Those too weak would be useless even if they went. Species like the Storm Demon Wolf, which require specific combat environments, could serve as mounts, but under normal circumstances, they should stay behind to guard the True Body.

Xiong Da had experience with human society, making him the first choice, so he would definitely accompany them. Moreover, his special ability was quite useful. Although Zhai Guangyi wasn’t entirely clear on its specific effects and hadn’t seen Xiong Da use it, just hearing the name ‘Submission’ suggested it was no ordinary Skill—likely very helpful for negotiations.

While Xiong Da was quite willing, Xiong Er wasn’t very keen on interacting with humans. Zhai Guangyi wondered when this cheerful young fellow had turned into a socially anxious little sister, but he had no intention of forcing her. If she didn’t want to go, she could stay here and guard the place.

Xiong Er had recently taken on a new task: handling education. Although most of the books she could Manifest weren’t very practical, she did have the foundational cultural subjects from Elementary School to High School, and those textbooks could be Manifested.

However, these weren’t needed for now. Once a school was built in the future, organized learning could begin.

To Zhai Guangyi’s surprise, Xiong Er could also Manifest agricultural books like Postpartum Care for Sows, Farmland Quality Construction and Management, and The Complete Agricultural Settings Collection of Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin.

Usually, seeing Xiong Er always reading those unsavory books, Zhai Guangyi hadn’t held much hope for her. But this was an unexpected gain. When he asked her why she’d read such books in her free time, she explained:

When she played Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin, that hardcore farming game, it actually required considering the entire agricultural process in detail.

Starting from seed selection, you had to stir mud and salt in a bucket to float and remove low-quality rice grains. However, over-removing would reduce the harvest. After selection, the chosen seeds were scattered in seedling boxes until they grew into sprouts ready for planting.

When planting, you also had to consider spacing—too close or too far apart would adversely affect rice growth.

There was also fertilizer adjustment and mixing, using a plow to harvest the rice, draining water before harvesting to make drying on racks easier, followed by sun-drying, threshing, milling, and so on—the level of detail was astonishing.

To master this game, Xiong Er had read numerous agriculture-related books and even searched for guides on agricultural bureau websites.

This degree of effort amazed Zhai Guangyi. If she had worked this hard in High School, her grades wouldn’t have been so poor. Now, she couldn’t even Manifest some Elementary School math textbooks.

But agriculture alone was fine—it was exactly what Zhai Guangyi and the others needed now. Properly imparting this knowledge to the Wyvern-kin and others would improve food production.

Currently, Zhai Guangyi had quite a few Followers. Providing each with one Satiety Fruit, plus daily expenses for other fruits—especially Healing Fruit and healing Magic, which were used very frequently—meant the overall daily consumption was around 20,000 Magic Power.

If the number of people increased further, his 80,000 Magic Power points might not be enough. The recovery effect from Photosynthesis was also somewhat insufficient—ultimately, the Skill Level was too low, but he was also very short on Skill Points.

If farming and animal husbandry could solve the food problem, Zhai Guangyi could save a lot of unnecessary magic power usage and preserve enough magic power for unexpected needs.

Xiong Er would stay here, acting as the Minister of Agriculture, guiding the Sub-Humans in their agricultural work.

Qiqi, due to her ancestors’ history, was extremely fearful of humans and naturally could only remain in the forest, continuing her patrol duties.

Feicui now only showed concern for the Spirit King Tree, as if the other Forest Elves were worthless trash to him. He even seemed to look down on mixed-blood Forest Elves. If Zhai Guangyi’s Elven Body weren’t a Primordial Spirit, Feicui probably wouldn’t have cared much either.

Zhai Guangyi was very pleased that Feicui, this Demigod, was willing to stay here and protect his True Body. Who wouldn’t love a free bodyguard, especially one that came as a lucky find?

In front of the Spirit King Tree, Feicui acted like an obsessive admirer, asking daily if the Lord Divine Tree had any needs. He would actively fetch water from the river to irrigate Zhai Guangyi’s True Body, clean the surrounding dust, or take care of the Spirit Trees planted in the soil.

Feicui would also proactively hunt Magical Beasts and use Magic Crystals to nourish them. Without his care, those Spirit Fruits wouldn’t have sprouted so quickly.

However, Zhai Guangyi simply ignored him. Since he acted cold and aloof toward his Elven Body, Zhai Guangyi would act the same toward him with his True Body—neither responding nor acknowledging, letting him busy himself as he pleased.

Relying solely on Zhai Guangyi and Xiong Da was certainly not enough; they needed a powerful combat unit, and that was Xiong Batian. Zhai Guangyi had full confidence in her strength. He had managed to survive until today entirely thanks to Xiong Batian’s painstaking care, raising him through thick and thin.

As for Xiong Batian leaving the forest, Zhai Guangyi had some concerns about the safety of his True Body, especially since that guy Hong Ren was hiding somewhere in the forest.

But the Forest Elves were equally important. They were not only crucial Followers but also Skill Points for Zhai Guangyi as he walked his path. They all needed to be brought back safely, making Xiong Batian’s presence absolutely necessary.

Since he was worried about Hong Ren and his group causing trouble, he might as well bring them along. After all, Zhai Guangyi had already decided to join them. Since he was showing sincerity, it was only fair to see theirs as well.

After discussing with Xiong Da and Xiong Er for the entire afternoon and finalizing many details, Zhai Guangyi handed the Jade Dragon Magic Array in his possession to Xiong Er for use.

After all, if his Elven Body left his True Body, it would be difficult for his True Body to communicate clearly with Xiong Er and the others. Their perception of his True Body was akin to an all-powerful deity.

He had already built up such a lofty status and couldn’t lower it by revealing his identity. Since he had piled on the prestige, he had to keep up the act.

That night, Zhai Guangyi didn’t hesitate. He took out the Black Magic Mirror given by Hong Ren. Previously, Zhai Guangyi had kept it wrapped in a layer of magic isolation. With his Spirit Magic reaching level 7, he had barely achieved a certain level of mastery over space.

Preventing the Magic Mirror from observing the outside world normally was something he could manage.

As soon as he held the Magic Mirror in his hand, the mirror’s surface began to ripple like the surface of a lake, and a voice came from within.

“Honored Primordial Spirit, how have you considered our proposal to join the Demon King’s Army?”

The voice was Hong Ren’s rough baritone. Honestly, Zhai Guangyi really felt he wasn’t quite suitable as an interviewer—it was too awkward. The impression Hong Ren gave Zhai Guangyi was that of a simple warrior; this stiff way of speaking was so strange, and he wondered if it was something learned from the Transmigrator.

“I can agree to join your Demon King’s Army, but I think the compensation in the contract is still too little—it needs to be increased a bit more. Also, there’s one more condition: help me bring the Forest Elves imprisoned in Banwang City back to the Forest unharmed and intact.”

Actually, the terms offered by the Demon King were already quite good; even Zhai Guangyi himself felt they were somewhat high. But he just wanted to test the limits of the Demon King and his group. If it really wasn’t possible, he would simply back down and know when to stop.

As a result, Hong Ren didn’t hesitate for even a second; without a second thought, he agreed to all of Zhai Guangyi’s demands.