Chapter 546: Nourishing Strength for Survival

After dinner, Xia Qing took Er Gou for a few laps around the territory. When they got back, she finished another round of physical training before settling in to watch the strength evolution training videos Yan Long had given her.

Yan Long hadn’t just sent a single video, but a whole series. There were tips on strength training, key points for strength-based evolvers, things to watch out for, and advice on nutrition—all the essentials.

Yang Jin had managed to find some of this info too, but what Yan Long shared came straight from the Military’s special training library, making it much more professional and comprehensive.

Er Gou lay calmly beside Xia Qing, dozing off not long after the video started. Old Goat wasn’t interested in watching either, but Xia Qing wouldn’t let him off so easily. “Old Goat, you’re a strength evolver too! You need to study with us. We’ve got to be as driven as Crippled Wolf—keep improving ourselves…”

Thinking back on tonight’s surprisingly tasty tree leaves, Old Goat grudgingly put up with Xia Qing clinging to his leg, even if he wasn’t happy about it. He squinted his eyes and flopped down next to her, chewing quietly while tolerating the noise.

“High-quality protein, carbohydrates, healthy fats, and clean water…”

Xia Qing read aloud the four key nutrients strength evolvers were supposed to focus on according to the video. She had clean water covered, but what foods could supply the other three? She pulled up the info packet Yang Jin had sold her.

Magnetic Sense was a newly discovered ability, so research on it was still in its infancy and she couldn’t find much. But she soon dug up plenty of material on the other three evolution types.

After some reading, Xia Qing came to a conclusion: she needed to raise chickens, rabbits, and fish well; forage for Green Lantern nuts; hunt high-level evolved Green Lantern prey; and, most importantly, farm diligently. All these foods were vital sources of nutrients to support her strength evolution.

Among staple crops, four Green Lantern varieties—soybeans, peanuts, rice, wheat, and corn—were crucial for quality protein and carbohydrates.

Her field currently held half an acre of Green Lantern wheat. If things went well, she’d be eating her own freshly-milled Green Lantern flour by the end of the year.

In her food storage she had 6.8 jin of Green Lantern rice seeds and 40 jin of premium Yellow Lantern rice seeds. Next month she’d send these out to the Hidden Valley for sprouting.

She had 3,950 Green Lantern soybean seeds—a portion gained by trading eggs with Li Si, the rest as compensation from Territory Nine when their tamed beasts trespassed into Section Three. With nearly four thousand seeds, even if only a third survived to flowering and set pods, by autumn she’d be eating her own Green Lantern soybeans.

As for Green Lantern corn, besides the six jin of Y-3 Green Lantern seeds she got from trading with Tan Junjie, she’d also found nine promising, optimizable corn plants in her Yellow Lantern field this year, producing six Green Lantern cobs. If the weather held, those seeds would be enough to keep her fed.

Then there were the nuts. Section Three had Green Lantern chestnut and Chinese Torreya trees, and Hill Fifty boasted a Green Lantern pine—all steady sources of nuts.

According to Yang Jin, there was a huge walnut tree on Hill Sixty, right in the Wolf Pack’s turf. But with wolves guarding it, he couldn’t check its quality.

Yang Jin hadn’t been able to test it, but Xia Qing guessed it was likely Yellow Lantern grade. After all, the walnuts Crippled Wolf sometimes brought her as a ‘gift’ were always Yellow Lantern quality.

Once Xia Qing mentally ran through all the food stored in both underground storage rooms and growing within her territory—the Green Lantern and Yellow Lantern foods she could harvest—she finally felt completely at ease.

She stretched and glanced over, only to discover both her companions had fallen asleep.

Xia Qing went upstairs and took out the precious pesticide she’d traded for from Idol earlier today. After measuring out 1 milliliter and downing it herself, she immediately drank a big glass of water.

No doubt about it, this stuff had to be extracted from coptis root. It was bitter as hell!

She took another milliliter from a different bottle, prepped the water basin, then went downstairs, pried open Er Gou’s mouth, and squirted the medicine in with a syringe. “Drink up, Er Gou.”

Er Gou was already used to being given medicine by Xia Qing. He didn’t resist at all. After the dose, she told him to drink and he obediently lowered his head, lapping up a couple sips of water.

“Hey, Er Gou, doesn’t your medicine taste bitter?” Xia Qing asked, puzzled.

Er Gou looked at her, water droplets clinging to his lips, and grinned happily.

Xia Qing chuckled and wiped his mouth. “Alright, time for bed. Stay alert for any unusual sounds in the territory tonight—if something’s off, wake me up.”

Then she turned to explain to Old Goat, who was watching her through barely-open eyes. “This medicine repairs internal organ damage. Er Gou’s organs were hurt by parasites and need fixing; I’ve eaten enough random things myself that I could use some healing, too. But you don’t need it, Old Goat—your body’s fine.”

Raised in the Evolved Forest and having survived a rampage during Devastation Rain, Old Goat still maintained Green Lantern quality. Xia Qing really did envy that sturdy constitution.

After Xia Qing finished, Old Goat probably didn’t understand every word. Still, he knew she wouldn’t force-feed him and quickly shut his eyes to sleep.

Xia Qing put more wood in the fireplace, checked every camera across the territory and on Hill Fifty with her phone, and, after confirming everything was calm, reminded Er Gou to keep a lookout before heading upstairs to bed.

Cuddled up under her warm blanket, Xia Qing didn’t know if it was just psychological, but her body felt incredibly comfortable, as if the medicine was really healing the battered insides ravaged by ten years of disaster.

“This really is amazing.”

The Devastationweed, barely the size of a fist, had sprouted two flower stalks each over ten centimeters long from its clustered leaves. Every stalk had seven tiny white blooms at its tip. Because both the leaves and stems were colorless and transparent, the fourteen blossoms appeared to float in midair.

Yang Jin shone his flashlight over the little flowers, marveling again. “Xia Qing, you’re really incredible.”

Xia Qing, crouched beside him, lifted her chin just a bit. No need to say it—she already knew she was awesome!

Yang Jin inspected the Devastationweed’s growing conditions and noticed something new. “Did you just put down those gravel pieces under the Devastationweed?”

“Yeah, that’s nutrient soil made by mixing Yi Stone pellets and high Evolution Element content soil.” The Yi Stone pellets weren’t just made from stones gathered from the Hidden Valley’s pool, but also included worn-out stones taken from the food storage, fridge, and accessories previously worn by Xia Qing, Old Goat, and Er Gou.

Yang Jin nodded in understanding. “I’ll bring the used Yi Stones over next time, so you can use them for making nutrient soil for these Devastationweed seeds.”

Now that’s what you call understanding and being a true comrade!

Xia Qing nodded back. “Thanks for the help, Captain Yang.”

“It’s nothing at all. We’re partners in this venture,” Yang Jin stammered, his face heating up again as he fixed his gaze on the Devastationweed, not daring to look at Xia Qing.

Xia Qing, totally absorbed in the Devastationweed and missing the way Yang Jin’s ears flushed, started, “Captain Yang, there’s something I wanted to discuss with you…”