Chapter 229

Inside Su Jing's storage space, pale green spiritual energy, like flowing mist, enveloped the entire area.

She stood at the edge of the herb cultivation area, her fingertips glowing with a rich mineral energy, and gently lifted the manganese crystal support on the ground—

Three thick manganese crystal pillars instantly rose from the ground, arranged in a triangle, and their tops automatically connected to form an arc-shaped frame, expanding the original 300-cubic-meter planting area in all directions.

"Expand to 500 cubic meters, inject spiritual spring water, and lay a layer of nutrient soil."

She gave an order to the No. 4 robot beside her, while simultaneously activating her spatial abilities and drawing upon the spiritual spring water source deep within the space.

The robot responded immediately, its robotic arm manipulating the pipes to introduce clear spring water into the newly expanded area, automatically stopping when the water level reached 10 centimeters.

Subsequently, a nutrient soil mixture of spirit herb humus, monster excrement, and manganese crystal powder was taken out from the space's "resource storage area" and evenly spread on the water surface to form a soft and fertile soil layer.

Su Jing raised her hand to activate her wood-type ability (an auxiliary ability she had awakened after absorbing the spiritual energy of the spiritual herbs). The pale green spiritual energy seeped into the soil through her fingertips, activating the spiritual energy in the soil and making it more suitable for the growth of the spiritual herbs.

Next came the transplanting of the spiritual herbs. She selected the most vigorous seedlings of the thousand-year-old spiritual herbs from the original planting area, carefully dug them out with her spiritual power to avoid damaging the root system, and then transplanted them into the new soil layer, with each spiritual herb spaced 50 centimeters apart, arranged neatly.

All 400 spirit fruit plants have been transplanted. In the newly expanded area, 100 newly cultivated spirit herb seedlings have also been planted. These seedlings were grown by soaking the previous spirit herb seeds in spirit spring water, and their survival rate is extremely high.

Su Jing used her spiritual power to condense a thin layer of ice at the base of each spiritual herb, slowly releasing moisture to keep the soil moist without washing away the roots. Her movements were precise and efficient.

Just as the spirit herb planting area was finished, three adult spirit deer slowly walked over. They lowered their heads and nibbled on the companion grass at the edge of the planting area, the spiritual luster of their antlers echoing the spiritual energy of the spirit herbs.

Looking at their docile appearance, Su Jing turned and walked towards the breeding area on the west side of the space—originally there was only a grassland here, but now she wanted to add breeding here to improve the space's ecology.

She raised her hand and waved it towards the center of the grass. Her mineral powers condensed into a half-meter-high manganese crystal fence, forming an independent breeding enclosure. The fence had ventilation holes, which were both safe and did not hinder the flow of spiritual energy.

"Release the lambs."

Su Jing gave the order to robot number 5.

The robot took out 10 snow-white lambs from the space's "breeding and storage area." These lambs were rescued by her from the apocalyptic ruins and had been fed with spiritual spring water and tender spiritual herbs. Now they had grown into half-grown lambs, with strong bodies and smooth fur.

As soon as the lambs were put into the pen, they eagerly lowered their heads to graze on the spiritual herbs on the ground. Their droppings fell into the soil and were instantly decomposed by the spiritual energy in the soil, turning into natural fertilizer and forming a preliminary nutrient cycle with the spiritual herb planting area.

The deer seemed curious about these new companions. The male deer cautiously walked to the fence, looked at the lambs for a moment, and seeing that they were not aggressive, turned around and returned to the herb planting area to continue grazing on the companion grass.

Looking at this harmonious scene, Su Jing nodded in satisfaction and turned to walk towards the freshwater lake on the north side of the space. The lake was originally only 100 square meters, but now, with the continuous inflow of spiritual spring water, it has expanded to 200 square meters. The lake water is crystal clear, and you can clearly see the fish swimming at the bottom of the lake.

These fish were freshwater fish eggs collected before the polar night. They hatched and grew under the nourishment of the spring water and have now multiplied to hundreds. Their sizes range from the size of a finger to half a meter in length. The species include carp, grass carp, and crucian carp. They swim freely in the lake and graze on the aquatic plants growing on the lake bottom.

Su Jing activated her water-based superpower, a faint blue light emanating from her fingertips. She gently touched the lake surface, and ripples instantly spread across the water. Spiritual energy spread along the ripples, accelerating the growth of aquatic plants and providing more food for the fish.

In the silt at the bottom of the lake, fish excrement mixes with the spiritual spring water to form nutrient-rich silt. She plans to excavate this silt later to use as supplementary fertilizer for the spiritual herb planting area, forming a complete ecological cycle of "spiritual herbs → sheep manure/fish manure → soil/silt → spiritual herbs".

After finishing with the planting and breeding areas, Su Jing turned and headed towards the monster area on the east side of the space—where several low-level monsters she had tamed were imprisoned, including three second-level Ice Fang Beasts and two third-level Rock Armor Beasts (cubs). They were all rescued when she hunted high-level monsters before, and their personalities were relatively docile, so they would not attack on their own initiative.

At this moment, Little Jin was squatting outside the fence of the monster area, holding a simple recording board made of manganese crystal in his little paws. He dipped the tips of his paws into the spiritual spring water and was drawing something on it.

"Su Jing! You're here!" Xiao Jin jumped up immediately when he saw her, holding up his record board. "I've already recorded the monster status for today: The Ice Fang Beast ate 3 kilograms of spirit herbs and is in very good condition;

The Rock Armor Beast cub drank the spirit spring water and grew new rock armor!

On the record board, the shape of the monster was drawn with crooked lines, and simple numbers were marked next to it. Although rough, it was clear and easy to understand.

Su Jing took the record board, looked at it carefully, and nodded, saying, "Well done. From today onwards, the monster area will be under your management—record their food intake and condition every day, clean their droppings regularly, wash the fence with spiritual spring water, and tell me immediately if there are any abnormalities."

She had previously discovered that Xiao Jin's perception ability could not only detect the aura of demonic beasts, but also establish a weak mental connection with low-level demonic beasts, accurately judging their emotions and health conditions, making her the best candidate to manage the demonic beast area.

"Mission accomplished!"

Xiao Jin excitedly saluted, then turned and jumped into the fence of the monster area (the fence had a special passage that only Xiao Jin could pass through), and began to feed the Ice Fang Beast spirit herbs.

It divided the spirit herbs into equal portions and placed them in the feeding trough in front of the monster. It would also gently stroke the head of the Ice Fang Beast with its little paws. The Ice Fang Beast obediently rubbed against its paws, showing no trace of its previous ferocity.

The rock armored beast cubs surrounded Xiao Jin, rubbing their little heads against its legs. Xiao Jin smiled as it poured the spiritual spring water into their drinking trough and watched them drink happily.

Su Jing stood outside the fence, watching Xiao Jin's busy figure, her heart filled with satisfaction.

The space has now formed a stable ecological cycle: the spiritual herb planting area provides spiritual herbs and fruits, the spiritual herbs feed sheep and demon beasts, and the spiritual fruits are used to extract spiritual essence for Su Jing's cultivation.

The dung of sheep and monsters, as well as the withered branches and leaves of spiritual herbs, are decomposed and used as fertilizer for the soil.

Wastewater from the spirit field flows into a freshwater lake, nourishing aquatic plants, which in turn feed fish. The fish's excrement and the silt at the bottom of the lake then nourish the spirit field in turn.

The spiritual energy within the space continuously circulates and intensifies in this cycle, filling the entire space with vitality.

She walked to the core protective area at the center of the space and checked the energy fluctuations of the natural core array—

The 37 mineral cores, 20 plant cores, and 43 beast cores remain neatly arranged, with stable energy flow and a 100% connection to the Earth's magnetic field. The repair energy is continuously connected to the Earth through space, nourishing the external ecosystem.

Su Jing raised her hand and injected a wisp of spiritual energy. The light screen of the core array flickered slightly, responding to her energy. Everything was normal.

In the days that followed, Su Jing would spend two hours each day tending to the space: using spiritual energy to stimulate the growth of spiritual herbs in the early morning and checking the growth of the seedlings.

In the morning, we replenished the sheep and fish with spring water and feed, and cleaned the breeding area and freshwater lake of impurities.

In the afternoon, I assisted Xiao Jin in checking the condition of the monsters, reinforcing the fences, and cleaning up the monster droppings in the monster area; in the evening, I transported the collected sheep droppings, fish droppings, and silt to the spirit herb planting area to be used as fertilizer.

Xiao Jin gradually became proficient in managing the monster area. He could not only accurately record the status of each monster, but also judge their health status based on changes in their appetite. He could even soothe occasionally irritable monsters through mental connection, becoming Su Jing's capable assistant.

As the ecological cycle stabilizes, the concentration of spiritual energy within the space increases.

The growth rate of spiritual herbs has accelerated; spiritual fruits that originally took a month to mature can now be harvested in just 20 days.

The 10 sheep have grown rapidly and are now adults, with increasingly smooth wool and meat that exudes a subtle spiritual quality.

The number of fish in the freshwater lake has exceeded a thousand. The aquatic plants at the bottom of the lake are lush and abundant. The lake water is so clear that you can even see small fish fry swimming among the aquatic plants.

The Ice Fang Beast and Rock Armor Beast cubs in the Monster Zone have grown considerably and their attack power has increased, but they remain docile towards Su Jing and Xiao Jin, becoming the "guardians" of the space.

Su Jing's cultivation was also progressing steadily. The gentle energy released by the core array, combined with the rich spiritual energy and essence of spiritual fruits in the space, made the spiritual power in her dantian increasingly robust. The barrier at the peak of the first level of Foundation Establishment was beginning to loosen. Her lightning-type ability had successfully broken through to the fourth level, and her ice-type ability had reached the mid-fourth level. Although her wood-type auxiliary ability was not high-level, it could precisely control plant growth, greatly contributing to the space's ecology.

That evening, Su Jing was checking the growth of the new seedlings in the spirit herb planting area when she suddenly sensed a slight energy fluctuation coming from deep within the space—

This was neither the energy of the core array nor the spiritual energy of the space itself, but a strange yet majestic energy that seeped in through the connection between the space and the outside world.

A thought struck her, and she looked up toward the entrance to the space, her fingertips unconsciously gathering lightning-based abilities to prepare for defense.

At the same time, Little Jin, who had been perched on her shoulder, suddenly raised its head, its little ears twitching rapidly: "Su Jing! A very strong energy has come in! It's not a demon beast, nor is it Earth's energy, it seems... to come from a very, very far place!" Its voice carried a hint of curiosity, but no fear whatsoever, clearly indicating that this energy was not malicious.

Su Jing did not lower her guard, but slowly walked towards the entrance of the space, extending her perception to its limit, trying to capture the source of this energy.

Just then, the communicator on her wrist suddenly lit up automatically. There were no private messages or channel information on the screen, only a pale golden light flashing, indicating that an important system notification was coming soon.