Chapter 487
by fanqienovelChapter 487: First Round Harvest
Confronting such numbers of Black Crystal magical beasts, Midi couldn’t possibly eliminate them all.
Most times, he simply avoided beast-infested areas while advancing.
"Hm?"
Mid-journey, Midi suddenly detected intense vibrations unrelated to magic or draconic aura—pulses resonating with the Black Dragon Remnant Token within him.
He cautiously followed the tremor’s source.
The sight soon surprised him slightly.
Upon a barren hill stood an imposing tree.
Unlike the red-black trees of Black Crystal Forest, this pure black specimen emitted waves from its crown.
A Black Crystal Tree!
A single Black Crystal Flower yielded 400-500 Black Flame Coins. This massive tree’s leaves alone surpassed hundreds of flowers, let alone its trunk.
How many coins could harvesting it produce?
With few such trees, he might directly exchange for the "Beginner True Dragon Body Refinement Technique."
Even Midi now felt 1 million Black Flame Coins seemed trivial.
Yet since Black Crystal Vines had poisonous snake guards, this conspicuous hilltop tree couldn’t lack protectors.
Midi’s psychic sweep revealed a lurking beast nearby.
"Purple Gold Scorpion!" Midi’s eyes narrowed.
The Death Scorpion family specially marked this creature as dangerous.
While Steel War Scorpions ruled Terrorclaw Scorpions, Purple Gold Scorpions—crystal-devouring subspecies unique to Crystal Dragon Fortress—possessed greater defensive power and ferocity than their Steel War counterparts.
If Steel War Scorpions dominated the Shaded Realm, Purple Gold Scorpions unquestionably ruled this underground Dragon Tower.
Their shell defense rivaled Secret Silver Golems.
Yet retreat never crossed Midi’s mind.
The True Dragon Body Refinement Method was his guaranteed hit—so were the million coins.
Facing this treasure tree’s guardian, he’d never withdraw.
When hard clashes became necessary, Midi acted without hesitation.
Still, he wouldn’t recklessly engage today—these twelve hours were for scouting. Maintaining army-style discipline, he’d combine all resources for swift elimination.
Midi retreated stealthily, mapping the hill’s terrain without alerting the scorpion.
After thorough exploration, he departed.
This deep Black Crystal Forest penetration took eight hours. Though returning faster, avoiding Heavenly Dragon Strike near Dragon God Temple required four hours regardless.
Twelve hours vanished like breath on wind.
About several dozen kilometers from the Dragon God Temple, Midi soon spotted Zaknavan’s trail.
Zaknavan had set up a small base on easily defensible high ground, placing two "Honey Pots" deep inside.
Eleven Worker Bees periodically visited to deposit harvested Black Crystals into the containers.
A simple harvesting base had formed naturally within twelve hours.
Upon entering, Midi immediately checked his internal Black Dragon Remnant Token.
No Worker Bees were lost.
But their twelve-hour haul proved modest—only 3,500 Black Flame Coins worth of crystals.
To his surprise, roughly 10% of these coins had been retained by the Worker Bees themselves.
Being mindless alchemical automatons, they couldn’t embezzle resources. Midi soon realized they consumed Black Crystals as fuel.
Additional deductions included their group’s survival costs—200 coins for four people over twelve hours.
After expenses, the net harvest barely reached 3,000 coins.
Each Worker Bee averaged 300 coins (about three Black Crystal Grasses) in twelve hours—decent for the rare-growth Crystal Forest, but painfully slow here in the Black Crystal Forest.
At this rate—3,000 daily—reaching a million coins would take a year. By then, the Death’s Pursuit Order would’ve already drawn level-70 demons to devour him long before he could exchange for the True Dragon Body Refinement Method.
The bottleneck was clearly low Black Crystal plant density. To boost yields, they needed to relocate Worker Bees to richer zones.
When Mason and Risen returned with scouted data, the team combined east, west, and north reports to map the surrounding 100-kilometer area.
Black Crystal plants thinned near the Dragon God Temple but didn’t infinitely increase with distance. Beyond a certain range, density plateaued at Black Crystal Flower concentrations.
True abundance required proximity to Black Crystal Trees. Within 10-20 kilometers of these landmarks, Black Crystal Flowers and Vines blanketed the terrain.
Securing a Black Crystal Tree zone meant eliminating its guardian magical beast. Three targets existed:
1. North: A massive tree guarded by the formidable Purple Gold Scorpion.
2. Smaller trees guarded by a Metal Tiger and Two-headed Serpent elsewhere.
"We’ll attack the Two-headed Serpent first," Midi decided. Though the scorpion’s territory offered greater riches, his 11 Worker Bees (expandable to 17 with recent earnings) couldn’t manage such volume.
After a five-hour rest, they exchanged 3,000 coins for six new Worker Bees and mobilized.
The ten-meter Two-headed Serpent wielded complementary elemental skills from its twin heads. Midi’s Black Iron Dragon Flame effortlessly nullified its flames and venom attacks while his three allies struck vital points.
Within minutes, they secured the eastern Black Crystal Tree zone, deploying Honey Pots and establishing a new base. When Worker Bees ignored the central tree, Midi wasn’t surprised.
"Specialized gear must harvest Black Crystal Trees. For now, gather the surrounding Flowers and Vines."
The 17 Worker Bees swarmed into the thriving forest.