Published: March 11, 2025
CHAPTER 54: A Small Seedling
Although the castle had been thoroughly cleaned, it didn't feel damp at all. This was mainly due to the effectiveness of water magic. Merlin, an eighth-level grand mage, had perfect control over water magic. The water only removed the dirt from the castle without leaving much moisture behind. The entire castle looked as if it had been wiped down with a cloth; if it weren’t for the age of the building, it might have been shining by now.
However, Zhao Hai had no time to pay attention to these details. After Merlin finished cleaning the castle, Zhao Hai immediately took out some living supplies, including commonly used items in the castle and corn stalks, along with the field kitchen materials for the slaves. After all, they needed to live.
Once these items were out, Zhao Hai left Meg and the others to organize the castle and took Merlin to the canyon. They wanted to see if the canyon had also transformed into a site like the Black Earth Wilderness.
For the safety of the castle, Galen decided to place a lookout on Iron Mountain to monitor the movements in the Corpse Swamp. Right now, the magical beasts and undead beings had just retreated, and they needed to be cautious. Who knew if those creatures would come back around?
Galen also wanted to check the piece of land Zhao Hai had discovered. If it had not been destroyed, they would have a good granary.
Merlin used water magic to take the two directly to the canyon. Zhao Hai felt quite uneasy, knowing that the condition of the canyon likely wouldn’t be much better than outside. When he first visited the canyon, it had been filled with black soil, not much different from the outside.
As soon as they entered the canyon, Zhao Hai's mind buzzed; things were just as he had feared—the improved land had reverted to its original state.
After a long sigh, Zhao Hai carefully examined the land. Upon closer inspection, he noticed something strange: there were no footprints on the ground, meaning no magical beasts had come here. How could the land have changed like this?
Zhao Hai looked at the land in confusion, while Galen sighed, saying, "It seems this is a place for the flying magical beasts to excrete toxins. There aren't any footprints here, but there are many black spots on the canyon walls. Those must be the toxins expelled by the flying magical beasts."
Hearing Galen's words, Zhao Hai looked toward the canyon walls and indeed saw many black spots, confirming Galen's observation that the flying magical beasts were the ones expelling toxins here.
Zhao Hai felt frustrated. It was strange that the beasts from the Corpse Swamp had such odd habits. Why were the flying beasts and terrestrial beasts not using the same place for their excretions? Were they competing over toilet space, even in the wild?
At that moment, Merlin, who had been wandering around on the land, suddenly exclaimed with excitement, "Young master, come look!"
Zhao Hai and Galen were taken aback, unsure of what had excited Merlin. They quickly walked over, and when they saw what was in front of her, they were both stunned.
What Merlin was looking at was not anything special, just a small seedling—a newly sprouted corn seedling.
This small seedling was rather unremarkable, but they had to remember that the land here had turned into black soil. In such circumstances, for these seedlings to still be growing was odd.
Both of them stared blankly at the seedling. Zhao Hai, perplexed, asked, "What's going on? The land has changed like this, how can it still grow?"
Merlin and Galen didn’t know how to respond; they were just as puzzled. Zhao Hai, unconvinced, dug around the small seedling and discovered that the black soil was only a thin layer on the surface. The roots of the seedling were still embedded in good soil and were well-established, which was why these seedlings could still grow.
Zhao Hai was taken aback by this revelation. He stared intently at the roots of the small seedling, and his mind raced with thoughts.