Pillar of Yita

Seems like the ID was called ”Tomorrow.”

He opened that channel and checked; sure enough, he found the other party’s ID there. Fang Hong thought for a moment and set his own status to invisible, so the other party wouldn’t recognize him. Because both team and party channels have a certain range limit—if you see a name suddenly light up, most of the time it means that person has appeared nearby.

And right at that moment, Fang Hong suddenly sensed a familiar feeling. He turned around and felt that presence descend onto an oak tree not far away. The next second, a voice in his mind came from that oak tree:

”My human friends, thank you immensely for being willing to stay and guard the Heart of Chongshan with us, and at the same time to protect this land, and thank you for the bravery and nobility you showed in this combat.”

”This time I invited you to this place in order to give you some meager gifts. They’re not even a ten-thousandth of what you contributed, but they are a token and blessing from this forest.”

That rumbling voice roared in everyone’s mind world; its owner was that Heart of Tree, Lord Moenyalit.

Everyone present couldn’t help glancing at each other.

But among all of them, only Mei stepped forward. She said solemnly, ”Mr. Heart of Tree, we didn’t stay here for the sake of payment, so please take these gifts back.”

Her words made everyone turn to look over here, each face carrying a different sort of expression. How to put it—felt a bit like something out of a fairy tale.

Fang Hong almost choked. He’d long known this Miss Knight was a bit ”unique,” but he hadn’t expected her to be this stiff, couldn’t tell if she was too deep in character or just hopelessly by-the-book. Fortunately the Heart of Tree understood people better than this Miss Knight; he merely gave a smile:

”Of course this can’t be considered a trade at all, Miss Mei, it is a gift.”

Miss Knight opened her small mouth, wanting to say more, but Fang Hong and Alice hurriedly dragged her to the side, lest she incur public wrath. Mei was still a bit aggrieved and said in a somewhat cute tone, ”Mr. Ade, Miss Alice, why are you stopping me?”

Alice couldn’t help but be amused and said to her, ”Miss Mei, in our country we have an old saying: good begets good. Upright actions should receive reward, so that more people will understand what is right and wrong, and follow by example.”

Mei blinked: ”But upholding justice is supposed to be taken for granted...”

Alice slapped her forehead: ”Let me tell you a story.”

So Fang Hong watched Miss Nightingale pull the Papalar girl off to the side to tell her a fable, and couldn’t help asking the big Catfolk next to him, a bit speechless, ”Why do I feel like Miss Mei is more like a Native than you are, Mr. Reed?”

”Natives aren’t that stiff,” Reed laughed heartily. ”That’s what you’d call a stereotype.”

Fang Hong thought about it and realized that was true; whether it was Miss Tata or Hilveld, they both seemed to know more than he did.

By this time Moenyalit had already called that Magic Guided Conductor up first. The reward the Magic Guided Conductor received was a seed. The seed was emitting a faint green glow in his palm, clearly no ordinary item, but since Fang Hong was quite far away, he couldn’t figure out what exactly it was for.

However, seeds as magic items generally have only a few uses: one is as rare Magic Potion Studies or alchemy materials; another is seeds that grow into functional plants, like Assassin Vines, Guarding Shrubs, etc.; and then there’s the category of精-type plants, which are the most precious—for example, Dryads, Dwarf Tree People. Some of them can grow into highly capable assistants, becoming an adventurer’s right hand; others can grow into loyal guardians. Like having a Tree People in your Adventure Group, or even a Tree People Elder—tell me that wouldn’t look impressive?

That Magic Guided Conductor’s face clearly showed a look of delight, and then he carefully, almost reverently put it away. Watching this scene, Fang Hong felt as curious as if a little cat were scratching in his heart. Judging by how he treasured it, it was most likely a精-type plant. Honestly, the Seven Seas Traveler was really lacking this sort of精-type plant—Miss Atira’s Magic Potion Room just happened to need an assistant with natural abilities.

Although精-type plants take a long time to cultivate, once they mature they can be counted among the very best assistants in Magic Potion Studies.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t theirs. He could only watch as that Magic Guided Conductor stowed the seed away and then left this place. But with that, he—or rather not just him, everyone present, aside from Mei—couldn’t help looking forward to their own gifts.

Next, the Heart of Tree started calling names one by one. Everyone who went up received a gift of considerable value. Some were plant materials—for example, Fang Hong even saw a World Tree Leaf. That thing can restore Starlight, albeit just a pitiful little bit, but in this world any magic items that can restore Starlight are worth their weight in gold.

The one who got the World Tree Leaf looked like they’d been hit by a giant pie from the sky: first a dumbfounded expression, then wild joy as they left with this ”little gift.” This was probably the most expensive item among all the gifts, but the others weren’t much inferior in comparison. At the very least, Fang Hong saw Unicorn horns twice—that’s rare stuff too.