novelraw Chapter 562 - 382: Master Artist
Chapter 562 - 382: Master Artist
Xu Xin returned to the treehouse.
Although it was already dark, it was still early.
This time couldn’t be wasted.
So, he entered the art room and began creating art.
You can never have too many artworks to increase the decor.
Sitting at the workbench, he picked up the carving knife.
Because there was no mental boost today, his creative process wasn’t as clear-headed as last time.
He instantly became immersed.
The hand holding the carving knife moved swiftly.
Beside him, one green-grade carving after another emerged.
The time spent creating always seemed to fly by.
He didn’t know how long had passed when suddenly a prompt sounded in his ear, awakening him from his immersive state.
[Art proficiency achieved, artist level upgraded to advanced level.]
Hmm?!
Finally!
His artist level had finally increased!
Before, his artist level was beginner.
Under the influence of the deep-water pearl (blue) given by Qin Yunlong, it had advanced by one level to advanced, but creating blue-grade art was still difficult.
At least five hours of full concentration were needed to produce a blue-grade crystal.
For him, this time was too extravagant.
In five hours, he could create hundreds of green-grade artworks.
Although his own green-grade artworks were saturated and no longer increased decor, they could provide up to a thousand points of decor to others.
So, during this time, he had been making green-grade artworks, which could provide decor for others and also increase his own proficiency.
And now, he had finally leveled up.
He immediately clicked on the [Artist] option.
Artist level: Proficient.
Wow, proficient!
Now, he had reached the advanced level, and with the help of the deep-water pearl, his level was directly elevated to the next level, proficient.
That really sounds strong!
The deep-water pearl is really a good thing!
Although he got it early, and it is only a blue-grade resource, for now, only the Qin Yunlong brothers can dive into hundred-meter deep waters to obtain such resources.
Speaking of which, a proficient artist should be able to quickly create blue-grade artworks, right?
He took out the blue-grade crystal semi-finished product he had carved twice before.
To call it a semi-finished product is flattering; it had at most completed one-fifth of the progress, barely even a blank.
He immediately picked up the carving knife and started processing the blue-grade crystal.
In an instant, he entered the state, and his thoughts became absorbed.
On the carving and painting tool table, the blue-grade crystal gradually took on the form of a woman.
This time he was carving Li Wenxi, which was the initial form set during the last carving.
The first blue-grade crystal, of course, was to be kept for himself, and naturally, it had to be carved according to his preferences.
The knife in his hand stopped, and he gently blew away the crystal shavings on the statue.
The statue of Li Wenxi, lazily lying on the bed in pajamas, with a slightly enticing posture, was completed.
Because of dedication, the statue’s completion was high, and it looked exactly like a miniature version of Li Wenxi.
[Detected placement of human female white crystal statue (blue) in the treehouse, decor +50, current treehouse decor: 731]
A blue-grade crystal statue added 50 points to decor.
It’s quite good.
At least it exceeded his expectations.
Because he had previously bought a blue-grade decor item in the mall, which looked a bit like a whirlpool in a toilet.
That blue-grade stone sculpture only added 30 points to decor.
He thought blue-grade carving would be around 30 points too.
Unexpectedly, it was 50 points.
Consider it a pleasant surprise.
With his 20% boost, he had an extra 60 points of decor available.
After considering, he allocated all these 60 points to the art room.
He wanted to improve his art creation ability.
This is called sharpening the knife doesn’t delay the work of chopping wood.
Moreover, the boosts in the alchemy room and production room were already considerable.
And now, he also had a luck boost, and in the future, he could make choices in the history boost.
The success rate was already sufficient.
He glanced at the general decor and function areas.
Decor: 731
Bedroom: 1%
Art Room: 200%
Growing House: 50%
Alchemy Room: 380%
Production Room: 100%
Pretty good.
He glanced at the time; it was already past nine in the evening.
This blue-grade carving had taken less than an hour to complete.
With the boost this time, the speed was enhanced once more.
Creating a blue-grade artwork might only take thirty or forty minutes now!
Nice!
How about green-grade then?
He immediately picked up the carving knife and began to try.
After less than a minute, looking at the completed statue in his hand, Xu Xin showed a very satisfied expression.
It took just a few tens of seconds to make a green-grade statue.
Now, it was truly possible to mass-produce.
Also, there were quite a few beasts in the jungle, and Ji Chaoyang’s "trophies" provided an endless source for decorative objects.
He and Ji Chaoyang together could completely meet all the green-grade needs of the explorers!
Not bad, artistic ability had finally improved.
At this moment, his watch vibrated.
It was Lou Fei’Er calling.
"Boss, are you in the treehouse? I saw your light on."
Boss?
It’s the first time she called me ’boss’.
That sounds a bit awkward.
"I’m here, what’s up?" Xu Xin asked.
"Eight more people have arrived under the treehouse, now they’re all around me, should I..."
Oh... there are people around, no wonder she called me ’boss’.
"I’ll head down now."
"Oh oh, okay."
As Xu Xin walked out of the art room, Keke was sprawled across the armrest of the sofa, sound asleep, influenced by it, Silver King Mimi had also dozed off on the floor.
Even that peculiar egg was lying motionless in a corner.
Xu Xin swung down from the treehouse.
Wen Guixin had called him in the group chat because not only there, but nine more people had also appeared on her side.
Counting them all, along with the previous arrivals, over ninety people had come, nearing a hundred.
And they had sent out about a hundred and twenty sets of resources in total.
Which meant most of the people had arrived.
This was expected, since only half the time had passed; those who came were relatively close, while the ones farther away hesitated.
So, the nearby people had all arrived, while only twenty to thirty of the distant ones dared to come, and were still on the way.
This was quite normal.
As he got off the treehouse, he saw several heads peeking out of Lou Fei’Er’s window, looking this way.
He walked straight into Lou Fei’Er’s treehouse.
These people, like the ones before, were very excited. Xu Xin chatted with them briefly and explained the situation.
"Um, boss..." Lou Fei’Er raised her hand timidly, "Can I keep two people here? Ma Hongwei has five people on his side already, so I..."
Initially, Ma Hongwei had only kept two people, but he also went to Wen Guixin’s and brought three more over, so now he had five parasitic treehouses planted around his place.
Although it’s Xu Xin who actually controlled them.
Speaking of which, could the control rights of those parasitic treehouses be passed to Ma Hongwei?
"Why do you want to keep two?" Xu Xin glanced at her.
"I... you see, I usually go out with you, right? So there always needs to be someone at home..." she argued with reason.
Mainly because Ma Hongwei had his lackeys, but she didn’t. It felt somewhat inappropriate.
Several people around her also chimed in.
For them, staying near Lou Fei’Er was equivalent to staying near Xu Xin.
They were eager to stay.
"Keep two; where do you plan to keep them? Around this treehouse?" Xu Xin pointed at the short treehouse.
"Ah this..." Lou Fei’Er was momentarily at a loss for words.
Right, this was only temporary; her actual treehouse hadn’t been transplanted yet.
Of course, Xu Xin disagreed.
The position of the treehouse Lou Fei’Er was living in was within a hundred meters of his treehouse.
This area, he had designated as his private territory, not allowing others to parasitize long-term.
This region, once the winter was over, was to be cultivated, possibly even farmed.
There were also things like the Red Mist Flower Cottage...
This area protected by the plant heart was of great use to him.
Moreover, he planned to plant a few ownerless short treehouses here.
He would change the ownership of these ownerless treehouses to the explorers, linking the dispersed parts of their organization through the parasitic treehouses.
As for other survivors, forget it.
Even later, if other survivors with special abilities were defeated, he wanted them to stay farther away like Ma Hongwei.
Besides, being too close, if a catastrophe happened, could lead to total annihilation.
The main treehouse should be separated from parasitic organisms, surrounded by parasitic treehouses protecting its position, which was more fitting.
After all, as long as the main treehouse lived, even if parasitic trees were destroyed, they could regenerate.
So, it’s not that Lou Fei’Er couldn’t keep people; it’s just that her current location wasn’t suitable.
If she wanted people, she could have them stay planted farther away first, then transplant to that area once she had her treehouse relocated.
"I..." Xu Xin’s explanation made Lou Fei’Er hesitate for a moment before she shook her head, "On second thought, let’s not."
And then she pondered privately.
Not wanting people nearby?
Would that mean that once her treehouse was transplanted, she’d have to live very far away?
How could that work!
From any standpoint, she didn’t want to live far away like Ma Hongwei!
Even just a few hundred meters was unacceptable.
Hmm... When it’s possible, I’ll secretly transplant my treehouse!
As for lackeys, forget it.
She turned to the eight people present: "Staying nearby would be too dangerous for you."
Xu Xin nodded as well.
Indeed, his treehouse vicinity was fraught with danger.
Even Ma Hongwei had died once under the giant anaconda.
Too risky.
It’s also one of the reasons he wasn’t willing to keep people around.
He wasn’t entirely sure he could protect them.
Other people’s treehouses, though their defenses weren’t as strong as his, were relatively safer.
Hearing from Xu Xin himself that he couldn’t guarantee their safety, these people exchanged glances, somewhat disappointed.
To them, Xu Xin was nearly a godly figure, so they didn’t believe Xu Xin couldn’t protect them.
Their expressions assumed Xu Xin was actually rejecting them.
Finally, Lou Fei’Er couldn’t bear it and offered an explanation.
She informed them of the giant anaconda, over a hundred meters long, residing not more than a hundred meters from here in the lake.
Their eyes widened instantly, each letting out an exclamation.
"Over... over a hundred meters?"
"Oh, giant monster!"
Suddenly, staying no longer seemed appealing.
Xu Xin made wristbands for them and led them to Wen Guixin’s treehouse.
Arriving there, Xu Xin immediately sensed the difference from before.
A wide circle of lush parasitic treehouses had emerged!
Wen Guixin selected planting locations for the parasitic treehouses completely differently from him.
Almost all parasitic treehouses were within fifty meters of her treehouse.
The fifty-meter range was the attack range of her plant heart.
Xu Xin had a purple-grade treehouse, so the plant heart at the treehouse root was stronger, affecting a hundred meters. Wen Guixin had only fifty meters.
Judging by the situation, she likely wanted to use the protection ability of her plant heart to safeguard all survivors who came here.
Seeing Xu Xin, her eyes lit up: "Xu Xin, you finally came over."