13: Chapter 13 Blood Crystal Wheat

After stepping out of the spatial cultivation chamber, Zhou An walked into the automatic bathroom and took a satisfying hot shower.

Drying his hair, he changed into comfortable cotton pajamas and dove headfirst into the soft covers of his recovery bed.

Now that he had a farm, how could he not have seeds?

Zhou An opened the trading system. For the past few days, he had been focusing on bulk basic supplies, paying little attention to daily necessities and niche items.

He entered the keyword "seeds."

The items that popped up were few and far between, and most were just shriveled wild grass seeds with outrageously high prices, often costing dozens of units of metal materials.

"Why are there so few sellers?" Zhou An frowned.

He looked into the reason why.

It turned out that in this game, crops did not produce seeds; they could seemingly only be obtained from the wild, treasure chests, or special talents.

Furthermore, it was only the first week of the game. Ninety-nine percent of people were still worrying about what to eat today, and no one had the leisure or inclination to engage in agriculture. With no soil and no clean water, anyone who bought seeds was a sucker.

"Since no one is selling, I'll take the initiative to buy."

Zhou An switched to the [Regional Public Channel] and directly posted a pinned, high-reward bounty:

[Wanted: All types of edible plant seeds, including wheat, rice, vegetables, fruits, etc. Buying in bulk! Payment can be made in high-purity aviation fuel or Tier 2 metal. Interested parties, private message me with your price.]

The four words "fuel payment" were practically a nuclear-level temptation in the current regional channel.

Almost the instant the message was sent, his private message channel "beeped."

[Private Message]

Li Muzi: "Big Boss! I have seeds! Are you really paying with fuel?!"

Zhou An raised an eyebrow; the response speed was too fast, as if she had been guarding the channel the whole time.

Zhou An: "What kind of stock do you have? Give me a price."

The other party seemed very excited and sent over a long list.

Li Muzi: "I currently have 3,000 [Wheat Seeds (White)] and 5 [Dwarf Mutant Apple Tree Saplings (Green)]! If you're serious about wanting them... what price can you give?"

Green, excellent quality? Zhou An's eyes lit up. Seeds with a built-in quality prefix like this were definitely far superior to ordinary seeds in terms of yield and growth cycle.

Zhou An: "Since you came to me, you must have a bottom price in mind. Go ahead and say it, don't make me haggle."

The other side was silent for a few seconds, seemingly going through an intense internal struggle.

Li Muzi: "Big Boss... 10 units of fuel. Do you think that's okay?"

"10 units?"

Zhou An: "Are you sure? Although I'm not short on fuel, I don't want to take advantage of anyone."

Li Muzi: "Yes, yes, I'm sure! I'll initiate the trade right away! If you're willing to buy, you're saving my life! Especially those 5 saplings, they account for 8 units of fuel in value; the wheat seeds are actually just a bonus..."

The other party impatiently initiated the trade request. Zhou An didn't hesitate to put up the 10 units of aviation fuel.

Light flashed.

[Ding! Trade successful.]

[Obtained: Wheat Seeds (White) x 3,000, Dwarf Mutant Apple Tree Saplings (Green) x 5.]

Looking at the bags of plump seeds and the verdant saplings that had appeared in his inventory, Zhou An even felt a sense of unreality.

"This is too cheap..."

However, after completing the trade, Li Muzi's attitude became extremely fawning and enthusiastic.

Li Muzi: "Thank you, Big Boss! This is the most I've earned in the past few days! If you need seeds or other plant seedlings in the future, please remember to contact me! I'll have stock anytime, plenty of supply!"

Zhou An found it increasingly strange. Plenty of supply? Could this kid have discovered a seed bank in the sky? And at such a cheap price, she still felt like she had made a killing?

Zhou An: "Your price is much lower than I imagined. And how do you have so many seeds in your hands? As far as I know, the ways to get seeds right now are pitifully few."

Seeing Zhou An's question, Li Muzi poured out her grievances.

Li Muzi: "Big Boss, you don't know! It's not that I'm selling cheaply, it's that I really can't sell them for a good price! The regional prices are all in chaos right now!"

Li Muzi: "You've heard of the [Four Seas Chamber of Commerce], right? That alliance of ten thousand profiteers. The higher-ups in their guild must have awakened some perverted [Wealth-type Talent], and they've been frantically sweeping the market these past few days! Basic wood, iron sheets, and even food have all been forcibly marked up by nearly 20% by them!"

Zhou An narrowed his eyes. He had seen the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce on the settlement leaderboard; they were ranked second in material assets, so they were definitely something to be reckoned with.

Li Muzi: "Bulk commodities are monopolized, which means everyone has no spare cash to buy niche items. Moreover, the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce seems to have a large-scale planting module, and now in the entire region, only they have a large demand for seeds. Other solo players don't even have soil, so who would buy seeds?"

Li Muzi: "For the past few days, the people from the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce have been suppressing my prices! They know that I have no other buyers besides them. For a single green sapling, they only want to give 0.1 units of fuel! Those vampires!"

Seeing this, Zhou An understood. Monopolizing the buyer's market and forcibly suppressing prices—the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce was bullying solo players. If he hadn't suddenly intervened with a high-price bounty, this batch of goods from Li Muzi would have been gobbled up by the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce at a low price sooner or later.

Zhou An: "Then how are you able to continuously get seeds?"

Li Muzi: "Hehe... Big Boss, to tell you the truth. Although I don't have any combat-related talents, I awakened an agricultural-type talent at the start. As long as you give me a piece of a plant's root or a leaf, I can use a small amount of water and sunlight to forcibly cultivate and spawn a large number of lower-level seeds in the system panel! These 3,000 wheat seeds are what I spawned over a few days using a handful of ordinary wheat grains I got from opening a chest earlier."

Zhou An thought to himself. This was absolutely a top-tier logistics talent! In this high-altitude world where one could starve to death at any moment, someone with this kind of talent, given a stable environment and sufficient resources, could become an inexhaustible agricultural arsenal!

Zhou An: "Your talent is very valuable. How about this: from now on, I will take all the seeds, saplings, and even tissue cultures of rare medicinal herbs of green quality or higher that you cultivate."

Zhou An: "As for the price, I'll keep it the same. I will pay you with fuel, Tier 2 metal, or even finished clean water."

The other side was silent for a long time. Separated by the cold system screen, Zhou An felt as if he could hear Li Muzi's heavy breathing.

Li Muzi: "Big Boss... a-are you serious?! Can you handle that much by yourself?!"

Zhou An: "Don't worry. Happy to do business?"

Li Muzi: "Happy to do business! From now on, I, Li Muzi, am your exclusive supplier!"

Closing the chat window, the smile on Zhou An's face grew wider.

Zhou An sat on the soft recovery bed, looking at the heavy bags of seeds in his hands.

"Materials can be upgraded, treasure chests can be upgraded, there's no reason seeds can't be upgraded."

He tried aiming the system crosshair at those 3,000 [Wheat Seeds].

[System Prompt: Ordinary-grade seeds detected. Proceed with tier upgrade?]

[Upgrade Formula: The seed structure is complex and the life force is fragile; the upgrade ratio is 10:1.]

"10 to 1? That's so much more expensive than materials and treasure chests." Zhou An frowned. But on second thought, seeds were things that, once planted, provided a continuous output; they were strategic supplies, so it was reasonable for them to be a bit more expensive.

"Combine them all!"

Colorful light flashed violently in the bedroom. The 3,000 ordinary seeds instantly dissolved and reorganized in the light, turning into 300 green [Potent Vitality Wheat].

Zhou An did not stop. He stared at those 300 green seeds and then immediately performed two more upgrades.

The 300 green seeds were crazily compressed amidst flashes of dazzling purple light. Finally, the light receded, and only 3 seeds the size of a fingernail, glowing with a purplish-red hue like crystal, remained in his palm.

[Obtained: blood crystal spirit wheat seeds (Purple) x 3]

Growth Cycle: 14 days to mature (enters production period after maturity, lasting for three months). Yield: After maturity, each plant can produce one jin of spirit rice per day. Characteristics: Long-term consumption can permanently and slowly increase the human body's blood and physical constitution limits, and enhance resistance to extreme environments. System Evaluation: "It is a treasure above the clouds. Want to obtain an extraordinary physique? First, fill your stomach."

Growth Cost: This spirit plant has a high consumption rate; each plant requires 1 liter of pure water for irrigation daily, and also requires additional electricity to maintain lighting.

"Epic grade!" Zhou An's pupils constricted. This was food that could directly improve one's physical constitution.

However, when he saw the growth cost, his face couldn't help but twitch.

One liter of water per plant per day? Three plants meant three liters! His current [Green Shade Water Purifier] produced 500ml per hour, which was at most 12 liters of pure water a day. Although he currently had several hundred liters of water stored in his warehouse, which seemed like a lot, if this type of spirit plant were to be grown on a large scale later, or if he planted other things, his current water production would be a drop in the bucket.

"How many supplies can one liter of water be exchanged for? This isn't farming, this is drinking my blood."

Zhou An complained, but his actions were not slow at all. He got up and walked toward the bedroom wall, reached out to touch the magic cube pattern, and a pale green portal opened quietly.

Entering the [spatial cultivation chamber], he chose the three planting slots in the very center where the spiritual energy was the most concentrated and carefully planted the three purplish-red treasures.

[Automatic irrigation system locked: Deducting 3 liters of pure water from inventory reserves daily.]

[Environment simulation activated: 50% growth acceleration in effect.]

Looking at the glowing green light rising from the planting slots, Zhou An also planted those 5 apple saplings in the corner.

"Although it burns resources now, this investment is absolutely worth it. With the nourishment of the spirit rice, my Tier 2 constitution might just be able to break through directly to Tier 3."