Chapter 8: Mother, I’m Sleepy

The scene after the fire was a wasteland of ash and char, but Yu Yan led Yun Duo’er through it undisturbed. The acrid stench of burnt flesh could not dampen her mood. One, two, three... Yu Yan picked up six bloodthirsty vine elemental seeds. In truth, given the expanse of the forest she had incinerated, it was impossible that only six seeds had dropped.

Elemental seeds not yet absorbed or refined are fragile things. Never mind such a raging fire—even a careless squeeze would rupture their protective membrane, causing the delicate seed within to disperse into the world and transform into the purest spiritual energy, nourishing all things. In this regard, seeds are inferior to blood crystals.

Once a blood crystal drops, it is stubbornly persistent, refusing to dissipate unless absorbed by an animal or plant. That is why, though those strengthened by seeds and those by blood crystals are of comparable strength, the seed users are considered rarer and more precious.

Yu Yan’s six seeds meant that at least a dozen had dropped in this forest. This was why, when she first entered the instance, she had not chosen to burn the bloodthirsty vines but had painstakingly chopped them down one by one herself. She could not be sure that the fire would leave even a single intact seed for her.

Fortunately, the results far exceeded her expectations.

Nine whole bloodthirsty vine seeds—Yu Yan was thoroughly satisfied. Even if she could not secure the recognition of the spirit vine as she hoped, with these seeds in hand, she could wait a few months until the instance world formed its barter markets and trade for whatever she desired.

“Mom, what’s this?”

Yun Duo’er’s surprised voice caught Yu Yan’s attention. She looked up—

All things possess spirit.

This is the unspoken rule the instance world abides by. Yu Yan had frightened the bloodthirsty vine forest, slaughtered and burned enough to instill dread in the vines; their instinct for self-preservation prevented them from provoking Yu Yan and her daughter any further. Yun Duo’er had wandered to the edge of the scorched area, and wherever she went, the vines retreated!

As if Yun Duo’er were a plague, the slightest proximity spelled disaster for them.

Amidst the mass of shrinking vines, a tiny bloodthirsty vine, trembling, struggled to crawl outward. Its jade-like, translucent body was dotted with tiny golden specks, and at its tip were two tender green leaves—adorable, unmistakably her Little Green. Yu Yan was overjoyed; in three years of the instance world, she and Little Green had developed a deep camaraderie.

Though Little Green could not speak and rarely understood her meaning, countless nights of longing for her daughter and family had been spent with only it for company.

Why could Yu Yan recognize Little Green among so many seedlings?

She had seen several bloodthirsty vine seedlings for sale in the market—expensive beyond her means, but looking cost nothing. None had golden specks like Little Green.

“Little Green!”

Yu Yan stepped forward but stopped two paces away.

“Mom, it seems to like me?”

Yun Duo’er, incredulous, tentatively held out her hand. Little Green shrank back shyly, then decisively crawled onto her palm. The sharp spines on its golden spots extended, carefully piercing Yun Duo’er’s veins. “Ah!” Yun Duo’er yelped, but she could not bring herself to shake it off.

Perhaps, in her subconscious, she sensed that Little Green would not harm her?

Blood flowed through the translucent vine, quickly turning its meter-long body crimson.

“It doesn’t hurt!”

Yun Duo’er poked at Little Green curiously. “Mom, it says it wants to stay with me from now on. Can I keep it?”

“Of course.” Yu Yan stroked her daughter’s pale cheek tenderly and placed a red date in her mouth. For a vine to recognize its master, it must absorb a great deal of blood; for some time, Yun Duo’er would remain in a state of blood loss.

Yet, compared to the benefits Little Green would bring her, this loss was entirely acceptable.

“Mom, it’s so cute—I want to give it a name.” Yun Duo’er’s cheeks puffed as she chewed the date. “Let’s call it Golden Spirit. Do you think that’s good?”

No!

It’s clearly called Little Green, and now you’ve stolen your mother’s spirit vine and want to change its name? Yu Yan was frustrated, but facing her daughter’s bright eyes, she reluctantly replied, “Alright, from now on it will be called Golden Spirit.”

“Golden Spirit, Golden Spirit? Hehe!” Yun Duo’er joyfully poked the two little leaves at the tip of the vine. “Golden Spirit is your formal name, and I’ll call you Goldie as your nickname, do you like it?” Goldie shamelessly wiggled its body, wrapping itself around Yun Duo’er’s wrist.

The two green leaves shook, as if quite satisfied with the name.

Yu Yan: “……”

She remembered naming it Little Green in her past life—its response had been nothing like this.

The two leaves turned away, as if sulking. What could Yu Yan say? Perhaps Golden Spirit truly fit her daughter better; in her previous life, it had settled for her only as a second choice. At least the treasure stayed within the family—Golden Spirit was still her own vine in this life.

Yu Yan let go of her concerns.

Lingering so long in the bloodthirsty vine instance had already caused her much distress.

The adaptation period for an instance lasts only three days—she needed to make the most of the remaining time and sweep through the surrounding A-rank instances. Once the adaptation period ended, it would no longer be so easy to obtain treasures from high-level instances.

“Mom, I’m sleepy.”

Just as they exited the instance, Yu Yan was preparing to rush to the next high-level instance—she remembered there was a Waterlight Butterfly instance nearby their home.

Yu Yan was eager for the rewards of an A-rank instance.

But Yun Duo’er rubbed her eyes and clung to Yu Yan.

Yu Yan paused; it was understandable. She had returned home yesterday after six o’clock, had dinner, absorbed the Illusion Lotus, then spent the night gathering supplies before entering the bloodthirsty vine instance at dawn.

Yun Duo’er was just a child—she had to be exhausted from staying awake so long.

Yu Yan felt a pang of guilt, but there was no choice.

She carefully carried Yun Duo’er on her back, secured her with rope, and set off for their next destination.

If she dared to stop for her daughter’s comfort now, it would only lead to a life of exhaustion and separation in the future.

After these three days, if she wanted to find a plant elemental seed or blood crystal above the Earth rank for her daughter, it would be impossible. At least, with her current strength, entering an S-rank instance was unthinkable—it would not be courage, but courting death.

As for instances below S-rank, it’s not that Earth-rank seeds couldn’t drop, but the odds were minuscule—one in ten thousand. Yu Yan dared not hope for such luck. Even if fortune smiled upon her, how could she slay ten thousand instance monsters? They were not foolish enough to line up for her.

By then, whether she could obtain a seed or blood crystal would depend entirely on luck.