Farming Games are All About Grinding-Chapter 156 - 149: The Profession of Seeking Food Routes

[Purple Alfalfa]

[Sowing Time: Can be sown during spring, summer, and autumn]

[Maturity Time: 15 days to mature, and can be harvested every three days after maturity]

[Watering Interval: No watering needed]

[Fertilization Interval: Fertilize after each harvest]

[Notes: Purple Alfalfa is highly nutritious]

The description of Purple Alfalfa’s attributes was simpler and more straightforward than that of previous seeds.

Not sure if it was the uniqueness of the flower itself or the handiwork of the Flower Fairy.

Attributes like this were much easier to grasp compared to before.

After studying the attributes, Han Qiwu nodded in satisfaction. "Looks like it’ll be quite worry-free, perfectly inheriting the weed’s trait of not needing watering."

If not for this trait, he’d have no time for anything else every day.

He’d be running around with a watering can, constantly watering Purple Alfalfa seedlings.

This little surprise early in the morning put Han Qiwu in a fantastic mood.

Just as he was about to go back inside to make a wild vegetable seafood egg custard, Little Shui suddenly bolted out from the cave near the fish pond.

Under the sunlight, Little Shui’s fur shimmered faintly with a silver gloss, exuding an air of strength with every move. Its size and speed had clearly improved, its long tail swayed rhythmically, and its massive claws were taking shape.

[Your fishing pet: Little Shui has reached its growth phase and has learned the skills: "Preying on Fish" and "Preying on Shrimps."]

After seeing the system notification, Han Qiwu couldn’t help but feel like a proud dad.

No wonder Little Shui seemed so happy earlier—it had grown quite a bit larger!

So it’s all because it’s matured!

Han Qiwu pulled a few large yellow croakers out of his storage slot, held them out to Little Shui, and said, "Little Shui has grown up! Have some food to fill your belly first; I’ll bring you something even tastier later!"

"Ying ying!"

Little Shui nodded, rubbed against Han Qiwu’s pant leg affectionately, then happily started eating.

Han Qiwu crouched down and stroked Little Shui’s fur, which felt even nicer than before.

Recalling what he had seen earlier, Han Qiwu gently parted the fine fur on Little Shui’s back and carefully examined the color at its roots.

After a few minutes, he realized it wasn’t some optical illusion—Little Shui’s fur roots had genuinely started turning silver.

"What’s going on here? Don’t tell me eating croakers makes it grow croaker-colored fur?"

After a thorough check, Han Qiwu discovered that all of Little Shui’s fur roots were beginning to show silver streaks.

Imagining what Little Shui would look like as a silver-furred pet, Han Qiwu thought about it for a moment.

The result... doesn’t seem bad at all.

Alright then, next time I’ll try fishing some more croakers for it to eat!

As for now, Han Qiwu also had to figure out his own meal.

Back in the house, following the cookbook instructions, Han Qiwu quickly prepared a bowl of Wild Vegetable Seafood Egg Custard.

[Noodleweed Scallop Egg Custard (Common Quality)]

[+120 Stamina]

[+0 HP]

[Bonus Effect: +3 Foraging Levels for 3 hours]

[Notes: Actually, this isn’t a great combination.]

Han Qiwu: "..."

How is this not a good combination?!

It was clearly stated in your own recipe: [Any Wild Vegetable] and [Any Seafood].

Unconvinced, Han Qiwu took a sip.

*Cough, cough.*

While the taste was passable, it was noticeably inferior to the egg custard he’d made at Grandpa Chen’s house yesterday.

The flavor of noodleweed clashed with that of the scallops, and adding it seemed to have absorbed the egg’s rich aroma instead.

"Any?? This is clearly a trap," Han Qiwu muttered as he finished the egg custard anyway.

[You consumed Noodleweed Scallop Egg Custard. Foraging Level +3.]

[As a reward for reaching Foraging Level 5, you may select one specialization for profession advancement.]

[Professions: Junior Forester]

[Specialization – Nature’s Gift: Harvest 20% extra wood when logging.]

[Skill – Sapling Catalysis (Consume a portion of HP to accelerate sapling growth.)]

[Profession: Junior Mountain Spirit]

[Specialization – Instinct of the Mountain Spirit: Gain +1 additional harvest during foraging.]

[Skill – Call of the Mountain Spirit (While in mountain terrain, locate high-quality items at random.)]

[Additional professions unlock at higher levels.]

Here it comes, here it comes!

Professions unlocked at Foraging Level 5 all seemed intriguing.

The Junior Forester’s specialization suited its name, but the effect seemed a bit odd.

Why would a forester harvest more wood while logging?

Still, regardless of his gripe, this skill could help solve Han Qiwu’s current problem of a severe lack of wood.

Reading further, Han Qiwu finally understood the deeper meaning behind being a forester.

Ah, so it’s a "life-for-trees" deal.

Though Han Qiwu was a bit curious about how much HP would be consumed and what the effects would look like.

If feasible, swapping out other supplies for extra woodlands might be an option.

Thanks to Little Prince’s dedication, there was indeed a surplus of wild vegetables at home.

Onward with the research.

The second profession in the foraging series had an intriguing name.

Mountain Spirit?

What’s up with that?

Though the name felt a tad peculiar, its specialization was quite appealing to Han Qiwu.

An additional +1 harvest during foraging.

A seemingly simple specialization that could significantly boost his foraging yield.

Typically, he could only gain one item per foraging attempt; with this, it was practically doubling his haul.

The Mountain Spirit’s skill was also fascinating. High-quality items? Could it potentially show the locations of rare-grade items?

After careful comparison, Han Qiwu decided to choose the Junior Forester profession.

The reason was simple: the Mountain Spirit profession was more useful in a mountainous setting.

He’d save that for next month, when he’d go up the mountains with Aunt Hong Mei for some exploration.

For now, becoming a forester and chopping wood at home seemed far more comfortable!

[You have selected the profession: Junior Forester.]

[You have acquired Specialization – Nature’s Gift.]

[You have learned the skill: Sapling Catalysis.]

Hearing the system notification, Han Qiwu immediately grabbed an axe and rushed into the woods to start chopping away.

Foraging Level 6 really made a difference; chopping down trees was noticeably less effortful than before.

Soon, Han Qiwu triggered his first specialization bonus.

As he felled the tree in front of him, two extra pieces of wood suddenly appeared on the ground.

[You’ve been blessed by nature’s gift.]

"This feels amazing! If only I had a better axe, I could chop down 300 pieces in these three hours!" Han Qiwu said to himself, deep in thought as he continued chopping.

Still no sign of special copper... should he stick to the default axe and wait to upgrade?

After pondering for a while, Han Qiwu decided to stick with the default axe for one more week.

If he didn’t find special copper within the week, he’d just go ahead and upgrade.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Han Qiwu noticed his stamina was just about depleted.

Before eating some rations, he decided to test the power of the Sapling Catalysis skill.

After all, he’d be recovering HP anyway; might as well use it now!

To play it safe, Han Qiwu grabbed a sweet osmanthus sapling he hadn’t had time to plant last night and carefully held it.

Once it was in his hands, a skill button with an icon of a chibi sapling automatically appeared in his field of vision.

Clicking the button, he saw a system prompt appear before him.

[Please plant the sapling before using this skill.]

Alright then.

Han Qiwu planted the sapling nearby and clicked the skill button again.

Upon activating the skill, the osmanthus sapling before him began to rapidly grow taller, thicker, and sprouted lush green leaves from its branches.

Meanwhile, his HP started to drain quickly, like water gushing from an open faucet.

[Catalysis successful.]