Farming Games are All About Grinding

"No need to see me off, no need to see me off. I can manage on my own!" Han Qiwu waved cheerfully to the enthusiastic monkeys behind him.

The Monkey King finally relented and called the troop to a halt. With some reluctance, he waved them back while popping a peanut into his mouth.

After walking a few hundred meters, Han Qiwu adjusted his direction and headed towards the tea's location. Looking at the lush vegetation along the road, he couldn't help but think, "This mountain is quite interesting. I should bring Mr. Tang here for a trip someday."

The monkeys here seemed more well-behaved than those on Emei Mountain. It appeared the Monkey King was quite sensible.

After climbing for another half an hour, Han Qiwu finally reached the vicinity of the glimmering spot.

"So high up—what kind of tea could this be?"

After advancing a few dozen steps, Han Qiwu finally saw rows of deep green wild tea trees.

Thanks to the highly suitable climate here, these tea trees grew exceptionally vigorous. Approaching them, Han Qiwu noticed the tea leaves were flat and narrow, tapering at both ends, resembling bamboo leaves, with a rich greenish-blue hue.

"Is this... Bamboo Leaf Green?" Han Qiwu was a bit surprised. He had seen Bamboo Leaf Green tea plantations on Emei Mountain before. Judging by their current appearance, these wild teas were no less exquisite.

Truly a fine product.

Bamboo Leaf Green belongs to the category of green tea. Typically, it features one bud and one leaf or one bud and two leaves, with a distinctive appearance.

Putting on gloves, Han Qiwu discovered that only part of the buds and leaves of these Bamboo Leaf Green tea trees glowed faintly with the system's light. Moreover, the light's color was quite dim.

Experimentally, he plucked a leaf and found he couldn't view its attributes yet.

From past experience, he figured the system attributes would only appear once he gathered a sufficient quantity.

So, let's start harvesting.

As he picked, Han Qiwu realized that the standard for superior Bamboo Leaf Green required plucking single buds shaped like cucumber seeds, uniform in size—no hollow buds, and no reddish-purple tea buds.

After picking over twenty leaves, the attributes for Bamboo Leaf Green finally appeared.

[Wild Bamboo Leaf Green Bud]

[Stamina +50]

[HP +50]

[Special Effect - Heat Dispelling: Bamboo Leaf Green can quench thirst, clear heat, and eliminate summer heat]

[Note: Best enjoyed as a hot drink]

"Just in time for summer. I'll go home and see how it tastes." Han Qiwu nodded with satisfaction and resumed harvesting.

Half an hour later, Han Qiwu stared helplessly at the seven portions of Bamboo Leaf Green buds in his storage slot.

The efficiency was too low.

So this is how troublesome tea harvesting can be?

From one tea tree, he could only gather a small amount before having to move on to the next one. Furthermore, he had to pinch the buds with his fingernails, which was both tiresome for his hands and a strain on his back.

Gazing at the endless expanse of wild Bamboo Leaf Green, Han Qiwu felt a faint headache creeping in.

How long is this going to take?

"Maybe I should call those monkeys back to help with the picking?" Han Qiwu mused curiously.

The cost wouldn't be much—just a few handfuls of peanuts.

But then he thought about the monkeys' dirty little paws and decided against it.

The quality of Bamboo Leaf Green they plucked would undoubtedly drop.

Wait a second.

Besides monkeys, didn't he have another helper?

Thinking of this, he removed the [Mantis Blade Arm] that he had obtained earlier from the mine shaft from his inventory.

As soon as the fiery red Mantis Blade Arm was taken out, it caused a rustling of grass leaves in the surrounding area. Looking towards the noise, he saw hundreds of mantises, varying in size and all grass-green in color, raise their heads.

"The mantises' blade arms are sharp enough—perfect for tea harvesting," Han Qiwu thought with delight as he clicked 'Use' on the Mantis Blade Arm in his hands.

Upon activating the command, a visible red glow emanated from the Mantis Blade Arm and instantly spread to the mantises within fifty meters around him.

[Please issue the corresponding directive. You may demonstrate personally.]

Following the system's prompt, Han Qiwu demonstrated the process of harvesting Bamboo Leaf Green several times in a row.

After completing the demonstration, the mantises imbued with the red glow began climbing the tea trees and got to work one after another.

"Swish swish swish"

A harvesting symphony echoed across the hillside.

Observing for a while, Han Qiwu noticed the mantises were far more efficient at picking tea leaves than himself. Moreover, the radius of the Mantis Blade Arm was so vast that he had more mantises at his disposal than he could use.

Seeing this, he decided to split the mantises into two groups—one for harvesting and the other for delivery—then sat down on a nearby tree stump to leisurely enjoy some strawberries.

Admiring the blue skies and appreciating the white clouds.

Such comfort.

Three hours later, all the mature leaves on the Bamboo Leaf Green tea trees had been gathered into Han Qiwu's storage slot.

Total harvest: [Wild Bamboo Leaf Green Bud] ×88.

Definitely enough for this summer's tea.

After the time ran out, the red glow gradually faded from the mantises, and they dispersed in all directions.

"Thanks for the hard work, everyone!" Han Qiwu waved to the mantises.

He originally wanted to prepare some food for them but realized, after checking, that they were not vegetarians.

So he let that idea go.

Time to head home.

This mountain trip turned out quite rewarding.

Next time he encounters Fire Mantises, he'll definitely clear another batch—mantises are just too convenient for tea harvesting.

For ordinary folks, descending a mountain is harder than climbing, but for Han Qiwu, going downhill was much easier.

Rolling up his pant legs, he took a deep breath and launched himself downhill in a leap.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh"

Startling countless birds throughout the forest.

Once at the foot of the mountain, Han Qiwu, full of energy, retrieved his little horse from his Mount Ring.

The horse he summoned nosed around a few times before happily chewing on wild oats.

"Take it slow, no need to rush."

While the horse munched on grass, Han Qiwu pulled out the tea leaf roasting machine's recipe to take a look.

[Tea Leaf Roasting Machine]

[Materials required: [Wood] ×50, [Stone] ×20, [Iron Ingot] ×5]

[Note: It can perfectly roast tea leaves.]

"Why doesn't crafting the materials require charcoal? How does it generate heat for tea roasting? Could it work like a furnace where you add fuel during use?" Han Qiwu puzzled over the material requirements.

After crafting extensively, he had become familiar with such mechanics.

"If that's the case, I might as well try crafting the tea leaf roasting machine using Flame Iron Ingots—might save some charcoal that way."

Once the horse had its fill, Han Qiwu mounted it.

"Hyah!"

The passage of time is deeply tied to one's mood, and for a satisfied Han Qiwu, the journey home felt unusually swift.

Reaching his house, Han Qiwu released the horse's reins, letting it gallop off freely to the stable.

As for himself, he was too eager to wait and immediately set to gathering materials for the tea leaf roasting machine, handing them to the system for crafting.

[Tea Leaf Roasting Machine in progress—estimated completion time: 2 hours]

After preparing the tea leaf roasting machine, Han Qiwu headed to the kitchen to boil two pots of water—one for cooking noodles, the other for boiling Monkey Wine ingredients.

You can't deny it; oil-slicked noodles are incredibly addictive. As soon as he stepped into the kitchen, he recalled the flavor and couldn't resist making a big bowl to fully enjoy.

"It's a shame I haven't planted garlic at home yet. A mouthful of noodles with a bite of garlic would be unbeatable," Han Qiwu thought while kneading dough.