When he woke up, it was already daylight. Xu Xin looked at his calf and arm, wiping off the dried herbs completely. The scratches had disappeared entirely, as if he had never been injured at all.
"This really works quite well." Xu Xin exclaimed. Even the herbs in this world don't seem to have such rapid effects.
The sky had just brightened, and Xu Xin quickly got up to leave the cave. Despite being in the beginner protection period, he subconsciously felt a bit anxious about the cave and hurriedly fled from it.
Munching on an apple and eating some berries, Xu Xin returned to the creek and walked downstream again.
With a day's walk, the creek was no longer the small stream it first was but gradually widened to about a meter deep, and numerous fish and shrimp could be seen swimming, making Xu Xin a bit envious.
However, he didn't want to waste his energy on this; the urgent task now was to find fertile soil.
Throughout the journey, Xu Xin had only seen five patches of ordinary soil, while the rest were barren soil, making him feel very strange.
He had walked for so long without encountering fertile soil; it's basically impossible for other survivors without the creator's ability to find fertile soil just by feeling, or even ordinary soil unless they had the same ability as him.
Could it be that this world never intended for them to grow advanced treehouses?
Thinking about this, Xu Xin suddenly became interested.
If he found fertile soil and grew advanced treehouses, wouldn't that mean his starting point would be much higher than most people?
Strive to find fertile soil today. Xu Xin didn't want to camp out anymore; he wanted to live in a treehouse.
Continuing to walk, Xu Xin began to ponder the patterns of soil and these resources.
So far, he had only seen two colors, white and green. White resources are a level lower than green ones. The five patches of green ordinary soil he had seen were discovered after finding green plants because those green plants grew in ordinary soil.
But not all green plants grew in ordinary soil; they could also grow in barren soil.
This means that barren soil (white) is likely to grow white-level plants, but there's also a chance for green-level plants. Meanwhile, ordinary soil (green) currently has green plants growing on it.
It's possible that higher-level plants could also grow.
While he was pondering, suddenly, Xu Xin's vision was filled with broad green expanses, and his heart was filled with joy. Could it be...
He quickly ran forward and looked toward the place where the green light appeared, and he was overjoyed.
"It's a lake! I knew there would be a lake!" Xu Xin was so excited that he almost jumped.
The area around the lake is much flatter than around the creek, making it more suitable for settling down. Moreover, since there is a lake, the surrounding resources must be plentiful, and he might find a piece of fertile soil.
A thousand meters wasn't far, and Xu Xin quickly reached the edge of the lake. Looking at the rippled lake surface and finally the broad view, he took a long breath, feeling relaxed all over.
This lake is quite sizable, of course definitely not comparable to those formed by major rivers, but it is the size of a typical reservoir. The lake water was very clear, and the center seemed deep, but the shore was shallow, with various fish and shrimp swimming in the lake, alongside patches of reeds growing at the lake's edge, lily pads, and lotus flowers on the lake surface. If it weren't for the current situation, Xu Xin might have thought he was in a park.
[Reed (green): A plant growing by the lakeside, seemingly a raw material for some tool.]
[Lotus Root (green): A food that can be eaten raw or cooked.]
"Great stuff!" A raw material and a food, truly an ideal choice for settling down here. But around here, is there any fertile soil...
Xu Xin looked around and suddenly, a streak of blue appeared in his vision.
"Beautiful!" Xu Xin leapt up and rushed directly toward the blue light.
The blue shrub was only a few tens of meters from the lakeside.
[Large Red Berry (blue): A fruit that can be eaten directly, tastes sweet and sour, improves eyesight, and provides 2 hours of night vision ability upon consumption.]
"Whoa!" Xu Xin was startled again, "Blue-quality red berries with this kind of effect?"
However, this wasn't the main focus; Xu Xin slowly looked down...
[Fertile Soil (blue): A piece of fertile soil, rich in organic matter and other nutrients, is rare even in the jungle.]
"Nice!" Xu Xin excitedly clenched his fist.
Calming his emotions, Xu Xin didn't rush to plant but walked around the lake to see if there were other patches of fertile soil.
But to his disappointment, at least in this area around the lake, there seemed to be only this one patch of fertile soil. While there was a lot of ordinary soil, much more than by the creek side, practically half of the soil was ordinary soil. Looking out, the green accounted for almost as much as the white, and there were even specks of blue, plants that grew on ordinary soil.
His guess seemed correct: a certain level of soil not only grows plants of the same level but also has a certain probability of growing higher-level plants.
It appears that places lake's location are ideal areas for survivors to find suitable spots for planting treehouses. Although there's only one patch of fertile soil, ordinary soil (green) is everywhere, ensuring the lowest possible chance of growing a "short little treehouse."
After all, the name "short little treehouse" inherently sounds unsafe.
After exerting effort without much effect, Xu Xin didn't want to waste time anymore. He returned to the large blue red berry bush, first picking all the [Large Red Berries], totaling 32, and then he hesitated, trying not to dig out the shrub. Instead, he dug a little pit next to it and planted a walnut-sized treehouse seed.
After all, the patch of land measuring 1 meter by 1 meter still had half of it without any plants growing.
[Treehouse seed planted successfully, 2 hours remaining for growth]
[Wild plants growing in the soil have been automatically removed.]
The first notification made Xu Xin's eyes light up, but the second one made him feel deflated. As expected, it wasn't possible; it seems a piece of soil can only grow one plant.
The [Large Red Berry] shrub vanished without a trace, and a small seedling emerged from the soil, starting to grow rapidly before his eyes, taking only a minute to become a young sapling.
Xu Xin marveled at the spectacle; the growth speed was truly amazing.