A transparent rectangle hovered in the air in front of me, displaying a System notification.

[Quest Available: Paradise Earth Primordial Origin Dream Soul Path]

Below that message were buttons labeled [Accept] and [Reject].

Instead of choosing a button, I mentally clicked on the quest name which brought up the quest information screen.

[Paradise Earth Primordial Origin Dream Soul Path:

An epic quest that will answer all your questions about the meaning behind your life in Adventure Incarnate.

Build a three-story Bell Tower and ring the bells 108 times every morning and night for 108 days.

Time Remaining: 108 days]

Though I couldn’t remember the specifics, 108 was a special number in numerology that represented spiritual enlightenment or something similar.

The requirements seemed easy enough to do, but it was classified as an epic quest since it took so long to finish, and building the tower cost a whopping 108 million gold coins. Though the description of the reward was unclear to me, the fact that completing the quest cost a prodigious amount of time and money meant that I should receive an equally epic prize at the end of it.

I accepted the quest, switched off the System display, and turned my attention to the breakfast table. It was an hour after dawn on the first day of the spring planting season, and I had been browsing the available quests while waiting for my apprentices to join me.

My household staff bustled around me in the outer courtyard of the house, a square open space surrounded on all four sides by low buildings in the Chinese style. Two trees, one a pine, and the other a plum, were on the west and east sides. My housekeeper, Fengying, had bought a few plants in large pots that were considered lucky, with names like jade fern, money plant, peace lily, heartleaf, and so forth. They added a nice splash of color and vibrancy to the courtyard.

“Have they woken up yet?” I asked my maid, Yinuo.

“No, my lady. Should I send their maids to their rooms?” she asked.

“Give them another hour and tell the others they can start the ritual whenever they want. In the meantime, I think I’ll take a walk around the farm.”

Before going outside, I tied my hair up in a high ponytail and changed into more practical cotton pants and a short robe. Sturdy black work boots completed the outfit. Yinuo offered to accompany me, but I turned her down since I wanted to enjoy the peaceful quiet of a solitary walk.

Outside, I paused for a moment to take in the beauty of the clear blue sky and the forest that surrounded the farm. In the nearby field, I could see smoke from the incense burners my most senior household staff were using as they held the yearly ritual to thank the gods for the end of winter and the start of spring.

It wasn't necessary for me to join them since I was an outsider to this land, but I still bowed in their direction to show my respect.

Then, with my puppet, Mr. Bear, in my pocket, I headed straight to my pet golden slime’s house. Cutie was already awake and excited to see me. She bounced around as I refilled her water bowl and added more flowerpots to her food supply.

I picked her up and squeezed her, enjoying the feel of her elastic skin. Then I shook her gently, making her wobble like a bowl full of jelly. “Who’s a little cutie slime? You are, yes you!”

“Chuuuuu!” said Cutie. The slime tendril on top of her head formed a heart shape.

“Let’s go for walkies!” I put her down and she bounced beside me as I made my way north of the main house where we had planted an orchard last year.

The morning air was pleasantly cool, and the weak sunlight streamed through the branches and newly sprouted leaves of the trees, gilding everything in a soft golden light and making lacy patterns on the ground.

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Each type of fruit tree was grouped together. Right now, the smallest fruit trees were only knee-high while the fastest-growing ones were well past my waist. They weren’t much to look at yet, but I looked forward to when they would be in full bloom next year.

In the middle of the orchard space was the [Insectary Garden], full of lovely spring flowers and buzzing with insects.

[Insectary Garden:

A special garden that attracts pollinators and beneficial predator bugs that eat aphids, thrips, white flies, and other pests. Tough native plants that have flowers bloom for a long time and are full of readily available nectar are the foundation of this valuable part of the farm that boosts yields and improves the quality of crops. Using the Insectary Seed Mix will ensure that flowers will be in bloom all year round.

More than one Insectary Garden can be planted on the farm.]

It was a delightful sight, and I was on my knees inhaling the sweet scent of the flowers when I finally heard my apprentices’ footsteps. I straightened up and waved at them. “Good morning, you sleepyheads!”

Lari, Kharli, and Mo, all wearing simple cotton work clothes and looking slightly the worse for wear because of staying up until the early morning after the New Year’s party yesterday, waved back at me.

We exchanged greetings and while we were chatting, Cutie got bored, so I let her bounce off southward. The people on the farm were used to my pet monster by now and would leave her alone or play with her if they felt like it.

Kharli sighed and said, “Teacher, my energy bar didn’t fill up all the way!”

“Me, too,” said Lari.

Mo nodded. “Mine is really low today, too.”

“It can’t be helped. Let’s take it easy today.” I gestured at the surrounding orchard. “We can start with planting creeping grasses on the pathways.”

Lari looked around and scratched his head. “Maybe we could drink some [Kola-Kola Soda] to replenish our energy?”

I thought it over for a while before saying, “The chef says the soda is unhealthy if we drink too much of it. I can give you a bottle if you really want it, but I think it would be better to let your energy bar refill itself naturally.”

Lari discussed it with the others and the three of them collectively decided to have some soda.

When they were done drinking, I handed them packets of [Evergreen Walkway Seed Mix].

[Fragrant Evergreen Walkway Seed Mix:

A mixture of seeds that include chamomile, creeping thyme, and resilient, low-growing grasses that give a small boost to soil health. Once planted, it thrives effortlessly, drawing from the earth's energies to sustain itself even with minimal rainfall and no fertilizers. It’s perfect for creating green paths that are delightful to walk on. With every step, a sweet fragrance will fill the air around you. These seeds will grow into plants that will suppress weeds by outgrowing them and will also help keep the soil from washing away.]

“I think planting grass will be much better than paving the paths with stone tiles,” I said. “And it will look prettier for sure!”

Mo yawned. Her eyes were a bit puffy and had dark circles underneath them. She said, “[Chamomile] flowers are edible, too.”

“So is [Thyme]! The other grasses could also be useful,” said Kharli. In contrast to the other two, she looked quite chipper today, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm and a wide smile lighting up her face.

“That sounds good.” Lari opened a seed packet and inspected the contents. Of my three apprentices, he looked the worst, which was only to be expected since I knew he had stayed up all night partying with the staff instead of getting a few hours’ sleep like the girls.

Everyone already knew what to do, so we scattered and each did one small section of the orchard area. Since it was our first time, and I wasn’t exactly sure if the benefits of the green walkways exceeded the amount of energy we were going to use on it, this season we were only going to sow a few of the shorter paths with the seed mix.

Using the hoe from the System toolbelt, I tilled three tiles with one downward swing. The paths were winding, and the System only worked in straight lines, squares, or rectangles. Therefore, I had to till a few squares at a time.

I had lost count of how many times I had done this, but I never got tired of how the soil magically turned itself over with one swing of my hoe.

Though the seed mix’s item description said that fertilizer wasn’t needed, I still used [Mysterious Goo] on the ground to enrich it with more nutrients.

Then I filled my seed dispenser with the seeds. All I had to do was wave it over the area and the seeds flew out of the tool and embedded themselves in the soil.

The last step was to take out a watering can and water the seeds.

Each activity depleted my energy bar, which was half empty by the time I finished. When I worked, I didn’t feel tired until my energy was almost fully depleted, which was nice.

I hummed to myself as I cordoned off the newly planted walkway with ropes that I tied to the nearest trees. It wouldn’t do for people to trample all over my hard work!

Having finished the first task of the day, the kids and I went to a field near the river south of the main house.

“[Potato] time!” I said as I distributed the seeds.

[Rice] was our main crop, but we would also plant a few other hardy vegetables like [Potatoes] that would store and travel well. They would be needed to supply the armies that were gathering to deal with the Demon Boss.

I checked the event timer.

[System Announcement: World Boss Event

Prepare for the coming of the Demon Monarch.

Countdown: 146 Days]

I put the event out of my mind and concentrated on planting [Potatoes].

There was plenty of time to tackle that little problem.