I Grow Crops with a System

It seemed everyone recognized Raul’s worth.

Ethan looked at Raul and shrugged. ”My mission is complete, so it’s time for me to go.”

”You’re leaving so soon?” Lachipi asked reluctantly.

”Although I’d love to stay a bit longer, you all must be very busy right now,” Ethan replied.

”Mhm... it’s a bit hard to just watch you leave like this...”

”I still have things to do, and my farm has been neglected for a long time...”

”I see... Then alright, but remember, the Ape Beastmen will always be your friends, you are welcome to return anytime.”

Lachipi made a solemn promise to Ethan: no matter what happened in the future, the Ape Beastmen would always support him and protect him without hesitation.

He extended his hand, and Ethan shook it firmly. ”Thank you very much.”

Ethan bid farewell to the reluctant Ape Beastmen and rode on horseback to the foot of a mountain that was not far from Jake’s wooden cabin, they entered a concealed valley and saw a small entrance hidden deep within.

The entrance looked just like a natural cave from the outside, but upon stepping inside, one could clearly see traces of artificial excavation on the walls and ceiling.

Jake introduced the place as they walked inside. ”I guess this place was built a very long time ago by those humans who worshipped the spirits.”

”To be precise, it should have been built by humans together with another race.”

”Do you see those pillars over there? Their architectural style is completely different from human architecture,” Jake said, pointing at the pillars that lined the corridor.

”Another race? Do you mean beastmen?” Ethan asked.

”No, it should be elves.”

”Ruins built through the collaboration of humans and elves? That is truly incredible.” Zharok was also very intrigued by this discovery and looked around with curiosity, studying the pillars and carvings.

They walked down a long flight of stairs that emitted a soft glow, at the very bottom, they saw a massive stone door blocking their path.

”This is it, look at the patterns on the stone door, only someone who has received the spirits’ permission can open this door, and the method to obtain the spirits’ permission is to hold a Spirit Ritual,” Jake explained.

”I see, then let’s begin.”

Ethan had some food left over from when he held the Spirit Ritual at the Hill of Spirits earlier, he placed the leftover food and the pottery on the altar and conducted the ceremony once more.

Rumble! Rumble!

The altar emitted a dazzling light, and the tightly shut stone door slowly opened.

”Hah! My guess was right after all! The Spirit Ritual is indeed the key to opening this ruin!” Jake stomped his feet in excitement.

Seeing his hypothesis confirmed, he was overjoyed, he couldn’t wait any longer and picked up a luminous pearl, then walked right through the stone door.

The soft light gradually intensified, illuminating the interior of the ruins, Ethan also picked up the Scythe of Gaia just in case and followed him in.

The interior of the ruins was much cleaner than he had imagined, Jake looked at this ancient ruin that had slumbered here for countless years, completely amazed by how tidy everything was.

Zharok, on the other hand, was carefully observing the patterns on the walls, he tilted his head in confusion. ”Is this... a spirit graveyard?”

”It should be, Spirits age as well, when they are about to perish, they come here and bury their bodies,” Jake explained.

”Spirits die too?” Ethan asked in surprise. He had never considered that possibility.

”In this world, only gods can live forever, meow,” Pearl said.

That was truly hard to believe, Ethan looked around the interior of the ruins and saw an altar-like structure sitting at the far end of the chamber, he pointed at it and said, ”There seems to be something over there.”

”Is there? Let’s go take a look, by the way, be careful — these kinds of ancient places usually have traps set up.”

They advanced cautiously, but to their surprise, they didn’t encounter a single trap along the way.

”...”

”My mistake, my mistake, don’t mind that.” Jake smiled awkwardly, then walked up to the altar and began to inspect it very carefully.

Ethan wandered around the area nearby and discovered an inconspicuous little gemstone lying on the ground.

”What is this?” Ethan asked.

”This is... a magic stone, and it’s an empty magic stone, things like these are very common in ancient ruins, it’s practically worthless,” Jake explained.

”Is that so? But since it appeared in a place like this, shouldn’t it actually be very important...” Ethan said.

”If it had ancient magic sealed inside, it might hold a bit of value... But it hasn’t been injected with mana for a very long time, so the magic that was once inside should have long since vanished, from the perspective of historical research, it has absolutely no value.”

After checking the altar thoroughly and finding nothing special, Jake was somewhat disappointed, he casually explained the item in Ethan’s hand, then lost all interest in it, afterward, he went off to explore other areas of the ruins together with Zharok.

”What exactly is a magic stone?” Ethan asked Pearl curiously.

”Meow, a magic stone is a special stone that can store magic inside it, meow, for example, if you inject the Frost spell and mana into this magic stone, it will turn into a magic stone that can continuously release the Frost spell, meow,” Pearl explained.

”I see... Mr. Jake! Can I take this magic stone?!” Ethan called out.

”Take it!” Jake, who was busy studying the patterns on the wall together with Zharok, answered without even looking up.

Pearl jumped onto Ethan’s shoulder, patted his back with its tail, and asked curiously, ”Why do you want an empty magic stone, meow?”

”I want to make a refrigerator,” Ethan said with a smile.

’A refrigerator wouldn’t just improve our quality of life — it could also extend the preservation time of our crops, it would be an absolute essential for both home and travel, since I actually have the chance right now to make one, of course I have to try.’

Ethan picked up the magic stone and tucked it away carefully.

”This trip has been incredibly rewarding, meow,” Pearl said from the side.

”Yeah, this trip really wasn’t bad at all,” Ethan agreed with a smile.

He had acquired the skill to freely control flame temperatures, ice magic, and now, a magic stone for building a refrigerator, beyond that, he had also obtained the seeds of many tropical crops and the seed of the World Tree.

To gain so many wonderful things in a single trip, it was truly a worthwhile journey.

”Then are we done with everything we needed to do here, meow?” Pearl asked.

”Mhm... you could say that.”

His initial goal had been to obtain the seeds of tropical crops, and now that goal was accomplished, there was no longer any reason to stay in the southern region.