Chapter 30: Plant Growth Catalyst

As he returned to his house, James pondered the tasks ahead.

He first entered the trading market and exchanged 200ml of spring water for 1000 units of ordinary wood and 200 units of good-quality wood.

He placed all of it in his workshop to be made into charcoal.

While waiting, he prepared dinner: pods and steaks, along with a dish of boiled Qingyue algae. He cooked more Qingyue algae than usual, using two-thirds of it to make three dishes, which he shared with Nancy and Luke.

Nancy, holding the dish in her hands, thought it was just ordinary vegetables for vitamins and thought to herself, "James's menu is so diverse, with meat, beans, and vegetables!"

She casually took a bite and soon after, her face turned red. Qingyue algae, being a good-quality plant, contained a strong energy from its spirit energy, providing rapid body energy.

Even James didn't eat it too quickly, needing time to digest. Nancy, with a weaker constitution, felt even more bloated after eating.

"What's going on?!" Nancy, holding her stomach and sweating profusely, was clearly overwhelmed from eating too much too fast. She quickly sent a message to James through the "Fog Survival Handbook."

Nancy: "James, is the dish you sent edible? Why do I feel uncomfortable after eating it?"

James, surprised, replied: "I felt fine after eating. What happened to you?"

Nancy: "I feel very full in my stomach, but I only ate a little more than half."

James, with a twitch of his mouth, realized she wasn't used to good-quality food.

He reassured her: "Don't worry, it's good-quality food, so it's quite energy-rich. You should eat it slowly. If you eat too much at once, just exercise a bit, and you'll digest it."

Reading the reply, Nancy felt a bit embarrassed, realizing she had made a faux pas, having never eaten good-quality food before, nor seen many good-quality items.

She had only once found a bronze resource box, which contained items for winter warmth, but never other good-quality items.

"Embarrassing!" Nancy, after some exercise, collapsed on the floor of the shelter, drenched in sweat, her fair skin flushed.

Feeling the abundant energy in her body and touching her firmer skin, she couldn't help but marvel, "So this is good-quality food, with such amazing effects. It must be very expensive! My old classmate is really generous."

Unaware of Nancy's thoughts, James, after finishing his meal, began his physical training, drinking the remaining 100ml of spring water to maximize his physical fitness.

As he absorbed the energy from the food and water, he felt his strength increase significantly, and his constitution became stronger.

Previously, he felt cold in temperatures of five or six degrees, but after these days of exercise, even temperatures below zero were bearable, indicating a clear improvement in his physical fitness.

James estimated that his current strength was comparable to that of ordinary wild beasts.

At that moment, he received a notification from the "Fog Survival Handbook." It was a message from Nancy, thanking him for the Qingyue algae and saying it tasted good. James simply replied, "You're welcome. Improving your physical fitness will make it easier to get through the cold wave." 

Nancy then mentioned she had opened a good-quality item from a wooden resource box, which she thought might be useful for him as she had no use for it. She sent the item information along with the message.

James initially thought it was just a regular good-quality item and didn't pay much attention. But when he saw the item information, his eyes widened in surprise.

It was a [Growth Catalyst Liquid (Good Quality)] with the following description: 

- Function: Catalyzes the growth rate of plants.

- Effect on ordinary-grade plants: 100%

- Effect on good-quality plants: 80%

- Effect on excellent-grade plants: 20%

- Description: A magical formula used as a plant growth catalyst, speeding up plant maturation.

Nancy added, "I don't need this, but you're growing crops, right?"

"Useful! Incredibly useful!" James couldn't contain his excitement. It was like finding a treasure. He never expected his old classmate to find such a practical item in a wooden resource box.

With the growth catalyst, James knew his crops had the chance to grow and yield quickly. He enthusiastically replied, "This is very useful for me. Tell me what you need in return."

Nancy generously responded, "It's a gift. You've given me good-quality food, consider this my way of repaying you."

James, feeling extremely grateful for this exchange, offered, "Alright, I'll take care of your meals for the next seven days."

Nancy replied jokingly, "Then I'll rely on my boss for a while!"

"No problem!" James agreed without hesitation, overjoyed at the exchange.

Playing with the growth catalyst, James began to think about how to use it effectively.

He considered the Crystal Rice, Winter Wheat, and Guardian Thorns he was currently cultivating.

Considering the catalyst's effectiveness on different grades of plants, he decided to exclude the excellent-grade Crystal Rice.

He chose a balanced approach – using half of the catalyst on some Winter Wheat seeds.

After applying the liquid, he witnessed a miraculous scene. The seeds that absorbed the catalyst rapidly went through germination, growth, flowering, and fruiting in just a few minutes.

Each pit now had more than one Winter Wheat plant, and they didn't seem to be affected by the close proximity.

This resulted in dozens of plants growing in the small resource box, each filled with large grains of wheat. The wheat grains were as big as thumbs, and the wheat ears were heavy and full.

James realized he might have used too much of the catalyst, causing the wheat to mature almost instantly.

He estimated the bottle could catalyze 30-50 plants, but he had used half of it at once, leading to an overdose of nutrients and premature maturation of the wheat.

Regretting the wastage, James quickly harvested the mature wheat and immediately planted new seeds, hoping to make up for the lost opportunity.