Chapter 149: The Woodland Association’s Inspection
After handing over that batch of perfect quality wheat, Xilutiya was arranged by association staff to stay directly in a high-end room within the association. This room was generally used to entertain distinguished guests and had been vacant recently, making it perfect for her short stay.
The cloth and decorations in the room featured large areas of deep blue paired with small amounts of cold white, creating an atmosphere like a midnight starry sky. Various furnishings were also exceptionally high-end and exquisite, with a set of beautiful iris blue porcelain ware tea set placed on the table.
Sitting by the small round table in the room, Xilutiya used the tea leaves provided on the table to brew a pot of orange-red tea liquid, then slowly savored it.
‘Xu Feng Black Tea’（ Rare）: Picked from the buds and leaves of Xu Feng Season tea trees, refined through typical processes such as withering, rolling, fermentation, and drying. It can soothe fatigue, boost spirits, and replenish vitality.
Although she rarely drank tea, during her months at the Camel Building, she discovered that tea was always in short supply among students.
This was because long-term use of meditation methods for training kept the mind constantly tense and in a state of fatigue. If not properly rested, continuing to use meditation methods would instead damage mental consciousness.
She had previously been busy with gardener matters, hadn’t practiced meditation methods much, and hadn’t engaged in intense combat, with spell-based abilities used infrequently, so she had no demand for tea.
In the future, she could plant tea trees to make money. High-quality tea leaves were even more in demand than food. After all, eating less food was no big issue, but failing to relieve mental fatigue in time would delay learning progress and reduce combat effectiveness.
After resting and sleeping in this room, the next day.
Not long after waking up in the morning, Xilutiya received a notice that an important figure wanted to see her.
Several association maids came to her room, helped her tidy her dress and hair, then simply tied a bow on the back of Xilutiya’s hair. This added a touch of cuteness, combined with the maiden’s beauty, without seeming too childish, creating a perfectly balanced impression.
Following the maids to the association’s third-floor living room, where the floor was covered with deep purple carpet, the leading maid gestured for her to knock and enter when Xilutiya arrived at the room.
“Hello.” After knocking twice, she pushed open the unlocked door and walked in.
In the spacious living room stood a large dark hardwood long table, with chairs currently empty. Only a man with deep red hair stood with his back to her by the window, wearing a bright yellow wizard coat in a color like autumn leaves.
Hearing the maiden’s footsteps entering, he turned around, revealing a face that wasn’t aged, looking around 40 years old. But as a Transcendent, his true age was hard to discern.
“Hello, I am Xilutiya.”
“Hello, sit down first.” His tone was casual, but even so, it carried an unquestionable authority.
This wizard in the bright yellow coat had strength around ‘Fifth Order’. Even getting a little closer gave Xilutiya a powerful sense of oppression.
This feeling was like riding a small cart on the road when a large truck fully loaded with goods slowly passes by your side. The truck’s shadow blocks most of the light, its body heat brushes the skin, stirring a slight fear in the heart. Even if the other party isn’t targeting you, a slight change or mistake could crush the roadside you without noticing and drive on.
The opponent’s Nature was also ‘Emerald Honey’. As he approached Xilutiya, she felt her Fate Card trembling slightly, as if it could be twisted and bent at any moment.
At this point, the other party seemed to notice the situation, so he stopped, and the invisible pressure from his body slowly decreased, eventually settling into calm.
In this state, Xilutiya finally caught her breath and relaxed a bit.
No wonder Teacher Heide said that a gap in Nature Phase Order, once exceeding three, would bring terrifying suppression.
“I am one of the representatives in charge of the Golden Plain station here, and the ‘Four Seasons Alliance’ branch Guild Leader stationed here. You can call me ‘Kuran Deqiu’.” He pulled out a chair and sat across from Xilutiya.
“Hello, Mister Kuran Deqiu.” Xilutiya nodded.
“I heard about your situation yesterday and reviewed your various records from arriving in the Woodland. I found you have considerable ties to the ‘Four Seasons Alliance’.”
“The founder of ‘Sunflower Hut’, ‘Frandel Lin’, was my senior male student during his apprentice days and taught me many courses. Recalling that time is quite warm.” He nodded slightly, then continued.
“Although Senior Male Student Frandel Lin has now left the ‘Four Seasons Alliance’, the ‘Sunflower Hut’ he founded still has much cooperation with us and can be seen as an external organization of the ‘Four Seasons Alliance’.”
“Since your former teacher was a member of ‘Sunflower Hut’, she should have told you about related matters.”
“Yes, Mister Kuran Deqiu.” The maiden nodded.
“Teacher told me about some situations in the Woodland and said that if I couldn’t achieve results in the Woodland, she would recommend me to an external organization of the ‘Four Seasons Alliance’ for study in the future.”
“Oh, is that so.” Hearing this, he looked at the table and smiled.
“It seems your teacher underestimated you. Of course, it might also be not wanting to give you too much pressure.”
“Since there’s this connection, I can treat you as half a junior. I wonder if you’d be willing to study at the ‘Four Seasons Alliance’ for a while.”
Xilutiya understood that this was an invitation to join the Four Seasons Alliance.
“I have a very favorable impression of the ‘Four Seasons Alliance’, but I’ve just advanced recently and don’t yet know what obligations I’d have to take on, so I’d like to understand beforehand.” She didn’t agree or refuse immediately.
“You’re currently at Second Order. This period can be said to have the minimal obligations and be the most relaxed phase.” He thought briefly and answered.
“Generally, Second Order apprentices receive limited benefits from the organization, so it doesn’t demand much.”
“Many responsibilities and obligations are only assigned after stepping into Third Order. For example, as the Guild Leader and representative of the organization’s Golden Plain branch, I must ensure the output of this area doesn’t fall below a certain standard, with part of the products supplied to the Woodland Association and another part to the ‘Four Seasons Alliance’.”
“Additionally, as one of the heads of ‘Golden Plain’, we also have the obligation to cultivate talent. If done well, not only we individuals but the organization behind us can gain greater influence in the Woodland.”
“You may not understand what form of organization the ‘Woodland’ is, after all, things apprentices contact are very limited.”
“I can now tell you some details: the ‘Woodland’ is actually a military and economic alliance formed by major Transcendent schools in the Southern Continent after multiple great wars and final mutual compromise.”
“We need the ‘Woodland’ organization to coordinate various forces, jointly develop Shadow World resources, and prevent Shadow World disaster feedback from affecting the present world continent.”
“On the other hand, we must unite to confront the ‘Mage Alliance’ from the continent’s center. It is also a union of many organizations, though most are mages.”
“In Southern Continent countries, you basically won’t see the mage profession, at most just hear of it, but they are indeed powerful, especially after stepping into Third Order.”
“You’ll learn the specifics gradually later. After explaining the overall situation, you should understand the environment you’re in and the responsibilities you need to bear.”
“If your achievements check out without issue, the ‘Woodland Association’ will allocate massive resources to you afterward and gradually assign you duties to train your various abilities.”
“If you can shoulder these responsibilities, your path ahead will be smooth, becoming a leading figure among this batch of students, a mainstay pillar of the future ‘Woodland’, enjoying great power in Southern Continent countries.” He showed this bright future to the maiden.
Unfortunately, this silver-haired maiden wasn’t the type enthusiastic about power, and she temporarily didn’t want to get involved in such competition.
“I understand. I’ll fulfill my own responsibilities, but please allow me some freedom. My personality prefers quiet environments over noisy places.”
“That’s natural. Since you’ve shown your talent and strength, you deserve others’ respect.” He pinched his beard and smiled.
“Afterward, we won’t disturb you much; you just need to complete some simple tasks on time.”
With serious matters done, they then chatted idly about life details, such as how he embarked on the gardener path back then, the difficulties in early Woodland life, thoughts and experiences at the time, etc. These resonated much with Xilutiya’s current situation and let the maiden learn many Woodland common knowledge and conditions.
About two hours later, the conversation ended. Afterward, a group of knights in white armor rode out from White Stone Fortress. Under their escort, the horse carriage carrying Xilutiya and this Guild Leader sped steadily toward that valley.
Inspecting the valley farm took nearly five days. During this, Xilutiya meticulously demonstrated her cultivation process and various traces left in the valley, such as remains of ‘Dark Blood Sapworm’ corpses.
“Alfalfa…… so that’s the reason.”
Actually, Kuran Deqiu roughly understood Xilutiya’s biggest difference from other students on the second day. The key lay in fattening alfalfa, which provided massive favorable conditions for wheat growth.
As for soil pollution, he believed Xilutiya first used ‘Brilliant Moon’ clear spring to clean it, then grew alfalfa that rooted deep underground, absorbing subsequent spreading ‘Twisted’ pollution and isolating it below ground.
‘Brilliant Moon’ Nature can purify ‘Twisted’; this isn’t a secret. In fact, some stations do this, but ‘Brilliant Moon’ Nature Transcendents are ultimately rare, and most gardeners can’t afford them. Even if hired, pollution would return in less than a month, as Second Order Transcendents’ purification ability is limited and can’t fully remove ‘Twisted’ pollution.
Under these various factors, this cleanup method wasn’t promoted. After all, to some gardeners, using ‘Foundation Stone Powder’ to isolate pollution spread was enough; whether ‘Brilliant Moon’ purification or ‘Blazing Sun’ incineration, they were similar means.
After viewing Xilutiya’s results this time, this branch Guild Leader nodded slightly.
In his view, isolating pollution was just a cost issue, not the focus. After all, there was so much unpolluted surface land, yet no one produced transcendent results. This maiden truly grew ordinary crops on a large scale to the ‘perfect’ level.
Compared to this, pollution handling methods were minor details.
Achieving far beyond Third Order gardeners at Second Order, this strength and talent were truly shocking. Over the following days, Kuran Deqiu grew increasingly appreciative of this maiden.
The accompanying ‘Four Seasons Alliance’ gardeners had some doubts at first, but after fully inspecting the valley farm, they gradually fell silent.
Even though Xilutiya hadn’t stepped into Third Order yet, to them, it was merely a matter of time accumulation.
‘Unexpectedly, we can really see such a genius new star appear in Golden Plain.’ They whispered in discussion. Being peers, they better understood just how far Xilutiya had come in the gardener field.
“Let’s head back; it’s time to discuss future matters with those few.” Five days later, the satisfied Kuran Deqiu led the group back again.
This time, Golden Plain’s upper echelons were prepared to properly report the matter to headquarters.
