The good thing about the Herbal Workshop was that you didn’t need [Alchemy] skills to produce potions there.The workshop itself came with racks for storing medicines, a drying table, and an alchemy table—so Yun Luohe planned to build one herself.Only, it was already too late today; any construction would have to wait until tomorrow.She was exhausted. After a quick wash, she lay down, set an alarm for eight o’clock the next morning, and went straight to sleep.——A few hours later, the alarm jolted her awake. She rubbed her bleary eyes. Her body still felt somewhat tired, but the thought of the newly finished Tofu Workshop made her get up at once to check it out.The Tofu Workshop had black seastone walls and a redwood roof, giving it a vintage style.Inside, it had integrated equipment for grinding soybeans, making tofu, and producing soy milk, along with various containers and wooden chests for soybean storage.All she had to do was put the soybeans into the machine, and it would run automatically, producing a steady, rhythmic rumble.In no time, fresh tofu and soy milk were ready.Yun Luohe picked up a piece of tofu and took a gentle bite. It was fresh, tender, and smooth—delicious.She tasted the soy milk next; the rich bean fragrance spread across her tongue.Yesterday, the pearl oyster had produced a preserved egg, and she planned to make preserved egg tofu.This cold dish was light on the stomach and refreshing—perfect for hot weather.The preparation was simple, but lacking some seasonings, Yun Luohe made a milder, modified version—just salt, minced garlic, and chopped chili.She chilled it in the refrigerator for ten minutes, then brought it out. The tofu trembled delicately, looking fresh and tasting excellent.[Congratulations, player, for successfully creating one of the summer heat-relief dishes: Preserved Egg Tofu][Reward: Soy Sauce Recipe ×1][Soy Sauce: A liquid seasoning that greatly enhances the flavor of food and stimulates the appetite.][How to make: Ferment soybeans, black beans, wheat, or bran with water and salt.]Soy sauce could also be made from soybeans, and the process wasn’t difficult.It seemed she’d need to plant more soybeans—future consumption would be high.But now there was no time to make soy sauce. Yun Luohe quickly mixed a salad, boiled a bowl of soup, filled her stomach, and began producing High-Temp Glass. She wanted to finish selecting the site and building the Herbal Workshop before heading out to the desert in the afternoon.There was no thunderstorm today, so she didn’t need to go diving for glowing jellyfish.She had made plenty of tofu, and Yun Luohe sent part of it and some soy milk to her friends to taste.She portioned out over a dozen servings and posted in the group chat, letting them collect it themselves.Roubao wasn’t fond of tofu; it had eaten dried fish in the morning.Yúntūn had only opened its eyes to speak to her briefly when she woke, then went back to sleep—probably still digesting sandworms. She decided not to take it to the desert this afternoon.She left both Yúntūn and Roubao at the reef. If Yúntūn recovered, it could still help out, while Roubao could take care of retrieving shells caught in the fishing nets. Some seaweed on the reef also needed harvesting.While producing High-Temp Glass, Yun Luohe handled other reef tasks.The temperature was rising, and every building needed proper sun protection. Now that she had built a livestock pen and was raising cattle, sheep, and pigs, they needed to be fed daily.The chickens and ducks had been producing well these past two days—at least eight chicken eggs and three duck eggs every day.The incubator was filling with eggs, and in a few days’ time, they would hatch into dozens of chicks.She also had eight ducks and five geese.When the chicks hatched, the current coops wouldn’t hold them all.The two porcupines she’d brought back from Lotus Island were still barely clinging to life—unlikely to survive. She planned to slaughter them later and turn them into dried meat.Their sharp quills could be made into weapons.The rabbits were doing well, though.One was already pregnant.Judging from its size and that it wasn’t a young doe—it had likely given birth before—it would probably produce at least six or seven kits.She fed it extra cabbage and carrots so it could eat its fill.While doing farm work, Yun Luohe kept an eye on the messages in the chat channel.Players were discussing yesterday’s thunderstorm and sharing desert experiences.Some had entered the desert early in the morning, while others preferred to go at night when it was cooler.“The desert at night isn’t hot, but it’s pitch black. Less dangerous, but finding resources is much harder. I pretty much wasted last night.”“Morning is better—not too hot, and plenty of bugs. I killed dozens of sandworms and got a lot of materials, but they’re tough-skinned and hard to kill.”“Be careful of desert scorpions—their venom is strong. I got stung yesterday and nearly died!”“Finally no thunderstorm today, but the heat’s back again. It never lets up. Still, not going to the desert feels like a waste.”Nothing particularly useful, so Yun Luohe was about to close the channel——but her instincts told her the desert—She opened the trading menu.She currently had four Desert Crystal Cores, unsure if it was enough.She listed the extra drinks from her fridge on the trading center, asking for Desert Crystal Cores, Desert Fragments, or Ice Crystal Stones in exchange.There were plenty of summer cooling drinks now, but hers had a unique effect.As a Lv.5 [Professional Chef], her food was several times more effective than what non-professional players made.Her Iced Mint Lemon Water restored 30 stamina and cooled the body for two hours per cup.Such strong drinks always got snapped up instantly.She’d been too busy lately to do much cooking, so she stored whatever she made—meaning it had been a while since she’d put food on the trading center.When she restocked, it always drew attention.All thirty bottles sold out in minutes.She traded them for two Desert Crystal Cores, five Desert Fragments, and one Ice Crystal Stone.——Soon, the High-Temp Glass was ready. Yun Luohe wandered the reef for a while before choosing a well-ventilated spot near the villa.The Herbal Workshop framework appeared, but it would take several hours to finish.It was already two in the afternoon. After a light meal, she asked in the team chat what time they planned to head out.Everyone agreed to wait until after four; the sun was too harsh right now.Given the daylight, it would stay bright until around nine, and the temperature between four and ten was manageable.With some time to spare, Yun Luohe began organizing what she’d take to the desert, also making extra drinks and tools.There were still many blueprints she hadn’t used before, but now with more materials, she might be able to craft them. She pulled them out to check.It was a tedious process——until she realized that placing a material chest next to the workbench and setting the blueprints on the bench made the craftable ones glow.This way, she didn’t need to check them one by one.Placing a blueprint for crafting also made the relevant material chest glow, showing exactly where the components were stored.She hadn’t noticed before, but better late than never.She pulled out three blueprints: [Cooling Air Conditioner Blueprint], [Seed Incubator Blueprint], and [Oil Press Blueprint].The Cooling Air Conditioner had been on hold due to a lack of insulation cotton, but the association had just collected some.The Oil Press was simple—mainly copper ore. She’d skipped it before to save copper for upgrades, but now that the reef was upgraded, she had forgotten about it.The Seed Incubator required High-Temp Glass, resin, Ice Crystal Stone, and hardwood chests.Once built, she could put plant fruits inside, and in one day they would yield seeds—no need for the tedious process of drying, soaking, and germinating.With the Oil Press, she could make coconut, corn, and soybean oil.Frying would taste much better, and she could try making deep-fried food.By the time she finished crafting, it was nearly time to go.From her last desert trip’s experience, she decided to bring more weapons and insecticide.To handle the heat, she filled dozens of cups with Cooling Mint Tea, stocked her condensate flasks with cooling drinks, and packed some heat-relief emergency potions.—At the desert, she quickly found the other teammates.This second meeting ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ was less awkward than yesterday.They’d agreed beforehand—the main goal today was to gather as many Desert Fragments as possible, to trade for the Oasis coordinates and head there tomorrow.That meant actively hunting sandworms and sand rats.The Tianji Pavilion had collected intelligence: sandworms clustered around saxaul trees, sand rats preferred red willow.There were also venomous scorpions and snakes, and at night, swarms of venomous mosquitoes.Scorpions and snakes usually appeared in sea buckthorn thickets, while finding mosquitoes meant water wasn’t far.Yesterday, the European Emperor Association had found a desert spring and a sandworm nest nearby. The spring had rich resources—but also high danger.Few dared stay long, and nobody would reveal spring coordinates. Tianji Pavilion had tried to buy them for a high price, but was refused.Still, there was more than one spring. Desert Fragments could be exchanged for spring coordinates, so there was no rush. Finding the Oasis came first.The first to reach it would score high.This desert event was a competition, after all, with final scoring.After a brief exchange, they headed deeper into the desert.They walked for an unknown distance before spotting saxaul trees.The group quickened their pace, eating a bit to restore stamina and water before the coming work and fights.Just as they reached the area, the ground shook violently.“Careful—sandworm!” Yun Luohe shouted.A massive sandworm burst from underground, its gaping maw lunging toward them.It was noticeably larger than yesterday’s.Could sandworms… level up?Startled, Yun Luohe immediately drew her bow, nocked an arrow, and fired—hitting her mark.Even so, the sandworm thrashed violently.Yang Mian swung his massive axe, striking hard until it was dead.Mu Zitang: “Why’s it suddenly this big?”Yun Luohe: “Probably the deeper we go toward the center, the greater the danger.”Yang Mian: “So the outskirts are just small fry, but deeper in it’s all big ones—maybe nests full of giants.”“Could be,” Yun Luohe said. They were all first-timers here.Qin Sisi: “If we get close to an animal nest, I should be able to sense it.”Her upgraded animal affinity could now detect gathering spots and estimate numbers.Yun Luohe could also use [Scanning Eye] for observation, giving early warnings for large sandworm groups.Cheng Xuening: “Even if they’re bigger, each kill still drops one Desert Fragment. Not bad.”“Let’s finish collecting the saxaul here, then move on.”Continuing forward, they encountered a group of venomous scorpions.The scorpions were agile, their stingers glinting coldly.Yun Luohe dodged skillfully with her dagger, striking decisively when she saw an opening.Working together, they wiped out the scorpions and collected more Desert Fragments.All fragments went to Yun Luohe.Around seven o’clock, with the sun still up, they stopped to rest. Yun Luohe shared her drinks and checked her bag.Loot: Saxaul ×89, Sea Buckthorn ×33, Cactus ×49, Desert Fragment ×54, Sandworm Glands ×91, Ice Crystal Stone Shard ×23, Sand Rat Hide ×19, Scorpion Venom ×88.Adding yesterday’s eighty-plus fragments, they were about sixty short of the 200 needed.There were only a little over two hours left in the desert today.If they couldn’t get enough fragments now, she could trade for some later and head for the Oasis tomorrow without delay.——At 8:40 p.m., just as they were about to head back, Qin Sisi spoke up again.“Not far ahead, there’s a huge group of sandworms underground. Do we want to check it out?”Yun Luohe: “How many?”Qin Sisi thought for a moment. “Definitely no fewer than five hundred.”Mu Zitang: “That’s not much. Yesterday’s groups had over a thousand.”Yun Luohe shook her head. “Not the same. Today’s are nothing like yesterday’s in size.”They’d already struggled with today’s—Five hundred giant sandworms was a terrifying number.Yang Mian: “But isn’t it said sandworm nests are under springs? Maybe there’s a spring up ahead.”Cheng Xuening: “Only twenty minutes left. We won’t get much even if we go. Better to come back tomorrow when we’re rested—this is the teleport spot anyway.”Yang Mian: “Maybe… but with twenty minutes left, going straight back feels wasteful. Let’s at least take a look. If it’s bad, we run.”Everyone turned to Yun Luohe—they wanted the captain to decide.

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