"Master, come and see! Did she succeed?"
"Oh? Phantom, you have that much confidence in her?"
"Of course! She's the smartest of all the little elves! She's the one who figured out how they could reproduce by using herself as a test subject."
Lin Yu was shocked. "She's that amazing? The little elves can reproduce now?"
"Of course, Master."
"If it weren't for her, the little elves would probably still be clustered around the World Tree. Not like now, where you can basically find them on every large tree in the territory."
"Is our territory that big?" Lin Yu asked, surprised. When he left, the territory was 35 square kilometers. If it had continued to expand by 10% daily like in the first phase, it would be bigger than the Milky Way by now. So, he figured the territory's expansion must have paused during the rest period.
"Of course, Master. Haven't you seen it?"
"No rush, it's not going anywhere. I'll go take a look later. For now, let's check on this 'smartest little elf.' I hope she didn't just 'research' herself out of existence."
With a flicker, Lin Yu appeared beside the emerald-like fruit. It was huge, as tall as a person, and crystal clear. Inside, a small figure could be seen curled up.
He lightly touched the fruit, and a line of information entered his mind.
[Name]: Unripe Elf Fruit
[Description]: Evolved from a little elf with the full support of the World Tree. Upon maturation, it will give birth to an Elf Hero of at least Legendary grade. Time remaining until maturation: 2976 days.
Good news: The smartest little elf had succeeded. She had evolved. The day the fruit ripened would be the day she became a hero. And she was guaranteed to be at least a purple-tier Legendary, much stronger than Phantom.
Bad news: The growth time was too long. By the time she emerged, the second phase would be long over.
"Phantom, she succeeded. When the fruit ripens, your wife's friend will emerge as a hero."
"That's wonderful, Master."
"I'll go tell my wife right away."
With that, Phantom eagerly leaped from the tree trunk.
"Hey—" Lin Yu reached out, but Phantom had already landed on the ground and vanished into the distance as a black shadow.
'I was going to say, it's still a long, long time until she matures...'
'Oh well, I'll figure something out...'
Lin Yu remembered the World Tree's territory trait, "Rapid Growth." He wondered if it would work on the Elf Fruit.
No sooner said than done. Lin Yu spent 10 Gold Coins and used "Rapid Growth" on the Elf Fruit.
A rosy light flashed, and the figure inside the Elf Fruit seemed to grow a little larger.
Lin Yu rubbed his eyes and checked the Elf Fruit's data, uncertain.
...Time remaining until maturation: 298 days.
'Oho, it works.'
But 298 days was still too long. Lin Yu decided to use it again.
The second time he used "Rapid Growth" on the Elf Fruit, Lin Yu spent 100 Gold Coins.
The figure inside the Elf Fruit grew even larger.
...Time remaining until maturation: 30 days.
The third time he used "Rapid Growth," Lin Yu spent 1,000 Gold Coins.
...Time remaining until maturation: 3 days.
A fourth time...
'Forget it. Too expensive. I can't afford it, I can't afford it.'
Gold Coins remaining: 12,223.
He needed the remaining Gold Coins to unlock new plants after upgrading [Dave Smith's Secret Garden].
'That was a close one. I almost clicked it. Ten Thousand Gold Coins to turn three days into seven hours is just not worth it.'
'I'll just wait. Three days isn't that long!'
[Name]: Elf Fruit Nearing Maturation
[Description]: Evolved from a little elf with the full support of the World Tree. Upon maturation, it will give birth to an Elf Hero of at least Legendary grade. Time remaining until maturation: 3 days. (Complete growth now?)
"Huh? Why can I complete it instantly?"
Lin Yu was surprised to find a new line of small text after the Elf Fruit's description. He curiously clicked on it.
[This month is the Month of Construction]
[Rewarding every lord with Time Acceleration Scroll I (1 day) x100]
[Rewarding every lord with Time Acceleration Scroll II (2 days) x10]
[Rewarding every lord with Time Acceleration Scroll III (3 days) x5]
[Rewarding every lord with Time Acceleration Scroll IV (5 days) x1]
[All lords, please seize the opportunity to build up your territories. The Prosperity Ranking is now active. The top 10,000 lords this month will receive abundant rewards.]
Lin Yu had a flash of insight. Without hesitation, he used a Time Acceleration Scroll III on the Elf Fruit.
With a "POP!", an opening appeared at the bottom of the Elf Fruit. A beautiful girl tumbled out and began to fall. Lin Yu quickly caught her.
The girl had long, green hair, pointed ears, and delicate features.
Her naked body was covered in a transparent, viscous liquid that gave off a fresh fragrance. Just smelling it was incredibly invigorating. She was a true, unparalleled beauty.
As a "Great Mage" who had been single for over 50 years, including his past life, this was the first time Lin Yu had ever touched a woman's body.
Even though the girl was an elf evolved from one of the little elves in his territory, he was still flustered.
However, he suppressed the urge to immediately put her down and carried her toward a wider section of the branch.
But the sensations from his hands still made his imagination run wild.
"Haaah~"
Just as Lin Yu's mind was wandering, the girl softly opened her mouth, yawned, and slowly opened her eyes.
"Ah! My Lord!!"
Seeing Lin Yu, the girl threw herself into his arms, knocking him back against the tree trunk.
"Whoa! Hey! No, don't hug me! Let go!"
Lin Yu became incredibly flustered, his face flushing bright red.
"Ah!?"
Hearing Lin Yu's words, the girl looked wronged. She stood up and crouched down amidst the nearby branches.
Lin Yu quickly got to his feet and straightened his wrinkled shirt and pants.
Just then, he heard soft sobs from beside him.
Lin Yu cautiously walked over to the girl.
"Sob... sob... sob..."
"My Lord doesn't like me!!"
"My Lord used to hold me before!"
"Now he won't hold me anymore!"
Hearing the girl's murmuring complaints, Lin Yu felt an inexplicable sense of guilt and quickly tried to comfort her. "No, it's not that I don't like you."
"My Lord, you don't dislike me?" The girl turned to look at Lin Yu.
"I don't, I don't."
Looking into her pure eyes, Lin Yu mentally slapped himself twice. 'How could I make a girl like this feel disliked?'
"Then, My Lord, can you hug me?"
Hearing this, Lin Yu immediately recalled the feeling from before. His face turned red again as he frantically waved his hands.
"No, no! You're not wearing any clothes. You have to put on some clothes first, then I can hug you."
"Clothes? What are those?" the girl asked, blinking her big, beautiful eyes.
"It's this stuff I'm wearing," Lin Yu said, tugging on his own clothes.
"But we've never worn clothes before!" the girl asked, puzzled.
It was then that Lin Yu truly realized the girl wasn't human. She looked very much like one, but she was an elf, evolved from a little elf of his territory.