Interstellar Farming: I Make Potions and Climb to the Top

Ning Xuan didn’t know why Fang Qian was telling her all this. She could only offer token sympathy for his complaints. But when Nine-tailed pulled forty or fifty wolf pelts from his enormous backpack, Fang Qian was stunned.

"Commander Fang, these are from Gale Wolves, a species already cataloged on the New Star Body. We hunted a total of fifty-three. Does your trading center accept these pelts? Can they help us accumulate Merit Points?" Nine-tailed asked.

Fang Qian took a few excited steps forward. "So many! Where did you hunt these Gale Wolves? Can you tell me the exact location?"

Nine-tailed was startled by his reaction and subconsciously pointed north. "It’s in an area about fifteen kilometers north of here. There’s a small stream nearby, the terrain is flat, and it’s surrounded by vast grasslands."

"So it really was that pack... Are you—are you all uninjured?" Fang Qian had initially found it unbelievable, but then he saw Yun Han and Lin Mo. ’With those two around,’ he thought, ’wiping out a wolf pack probably isn’t such a difficult task after all.’

"We’re fine. So, do you accept these pelts?" Nine-tailed glanced at Ning Xuan before asking again.

Fang Qian suddenly burst out laughing. "Accept them? Of course, we’ll accept them! Miss Ning, I won’t hide this from you. The wolf pack you wiped out has attacked our supply point many times at night. We even sent out a hundred-man battalion to try and exterminate them. But, as you’ve seen, we lost over a dozen soldiers one after another and still couldn’t completely eliminate the pack. We launched three large-scale extermination missions and only managed to kill a total of 34 Gale Wolves. Yet, your small group of a dozen or so people killed 53 in one go, and without a single scratch. With your level of strength, you could sweep through any of the hazardous zones marked on the map."

Fang Qian looked at Yun Han with admiration. In his mind, Yun Han must have been the main force behind exterminating the wolf pack.

Yun Han naturally understood the meaning in Fang Qian’s gaze. He shook his head, pointed to Qinghe, and said, "I didn’t make a move. He was the main force."

Nine-tailed was a Half-beastman with a demon fox bloodline, his defining trait being a pair of fox ears. To avoid attracting attention, he always wore a hat to cover them when he was out.

Di Youlin was a Half-beastman with a Fire Phoenix Bloodline, his mark a pair of wings. As long as he didn’t spread them, they were unnoticeable under the large cloak he usually wore.

Qinghe was a Half-beastman with a Red Dragon bloodline, his traits being the Dragon Scales on his limbs, chest, and abdomen. As long as he wore clothes and bracers, his Half-beastman features weren’t visible.

Lan Xin was a Half-beastman with a Spiritual Flood Dragon bloodline, her traits also being scales on her limbs, chest, and abdomen, along with a head of aqua-blue hair. However, Spirit Controllers could also be influenced by their Companion Spirits and develop different hair colors, so one couldn’t judge someone as a Half-beastman based on hair color alone.

Feeling everyone’s eyes on him, Qinghe silently retreated behind Lin Mo.

Fang Qian gave Ning Xuan a solemn military salute. "On behalf of all the soldiers of the Second Legion Seventh Supply Point, I thank you, Miss Ning. You’ve truly solved a huge problem for us. These wolf pelts... we’ll convert them into Merit Points at the highest possible rate. By the way, what about the wolf carcasses?" Seeing the fresh bloodstains still on the pelts, and considering the wolf pack’s territory wasn’t far from the supply point, Fang Qian deduced that Ning Xuan’s group hadn’t killed the pack long ago.

"There were too many to carry, so we buried them on the spot. If you need them, Commander Fang, you can send people to retrieve them," Ning Xuan said.

"These Gale Wolves are also mutated Mutant Beasts. Their flesh and blood contain energy. If you all don’t want them, I’ll send my men to collect them," Fang Qian said excitedly.

"We don’t need them. Feel free to send your men, Commander Fang," Ning Xuan said magnanimously.

Fang Qian originally had over eight hundred people under his command. Over the past three months, they had suffered successive losses of more than one hundred, leaving only about six hundred. However, feeding these six hundred people daily was a major problem. They had already found and nearly exhausted all the supplies the Military Department had airdropped in this region. From now on, they would have to rely on their own abilities to find food.

However, there were three major hazardous zones nearby that severely restricted their range of activity. One of them was the Stream Grassland occupied by the Gale Wolf pack.

Therefore, Fang Qian was overjoyed to learn that the wolf pack had been dealt with. It meant their range of activity had expanded. An expanded range meant they could search for more resources and find more resource points.

Fang Qian ordered Xu Tao to take some men to the Stream Grassland to drag back the wolf carcasses and, while they were at it, to explore the area.

"Commander Fang, we’ve drawn a map of the 100-kilometer area from our landing point to here..." Before Ning Xuan could finish, Fang Qian’s eyes lit up as he looked over.

"I can upload it to the terminal for you immediately! Uploading a 500-kilometer map qualifies you for the Deep Exploration Award," Fang Qian said eagerly.

On a grand scale, uploading the map would accelerate the exploration of the New Star Body, but in practical terms, it provided a great convenience for official forces like theirs stationed nearby.

"This giant sequoia spore forest is where we first landed. The giant sequoia wood there is very strange and dangerous. It’s best not to explore it rashly," Ning Xuan said, her finger tracing across the drawn map to a spot near the edge.

"In this area, there’s a cliff. Its steep rock face is riddled with holes that look like they were formed by natural erosion. In reality, they’re the burrows of a colonial insect species. These insects can spit a corrosive venom, so it’s best not to get close."

She then pointed to another area. "This is a patch of shrubland where many sweet and sour berries grow. There are no dangerous creatures around there."

Ning Xuan pointed to the map and gave Fang Qian a general overview of several marked locations. As for his more detailed questions, she had Lin Mo answer them.

After seeing the map successfully uploaded, Ning Xuan announced that she was going to rest.

Fang Qian enthusiastically invited Ning Xuan to dinner, insisting that he had to prepare a proper welcome banquet for her.

Looking at Fang Qian’s very sincere smile, Ning Xuan had Lin Mo, Yun Han, Wang Yue, Wang Teng, and Zhang Nan attend the welcome banquet in her stead.

She, along with Lan Xin, Nine-tailed, Di Youlin, and Qinghe, went to rest in the rooms Fang Qian had arranged for them.

Back in her room, Nine-tailed immediately prepared dinner for Ning Xuan. He knew her tastes: roasted Crystal Horned Deer, juice squeezed from golden berries, and a serving of wild vegetable balls. After eating, Ning Xuan began to meditate and cultivate. She gathered the energy in her blood, attempting to summon her Companion Spirit, the Little Red Bird.

However, the energy particles in her blood would gather and scatter, stubbornly refusing to coalesce into the shape of the Little Red Bird.

Ever since landing in this strange new world, Ning Xuan could feel that its rules exerted a suppressive effect on Companion Spirits.

The higher the Level of the Companion Spirit, the more pronounced the suppression.