Beanie Bears Fruit

"Shut up!" Emperor Tuoba Hong suddenly burst out in anger. "You're a noble consort, yet you're so irrationally jealous and out of control. You've completely disgraced me!"

"Your Majesty..." Consort Penelope called out, utterly humiliated.

"Go back to your Zixi Palace!"

Consort Penelope bit her lip, shot a hateful glare at Grace, then turned and left...

Grace gave Tuoba Hong a slight smile, then headed home, hauling two full carts of Soulstone Ore.

She'd already made it clear to Tuoba Hong that she'd pick out the highest-grade Soulstone Ore to feed her spirit pet, Beanie.

Tuoba Hong said she could take whatever she wanted.

If she needed more, she could just ask him privately...

Among the Soulstone Ore she took, there were twenty-seven pieces of Celestial Spirit Jade. They weren't very big, but all together weighed over a hundred catties.

Celestial Spirit Jade really is rare—even after mining an entire vein, she only got a little over a hundred catties!

The rest were all Earth-grade and Mystic-grade.

Grace fed all the Celestial Spirit Jade and Earth-grade Spirit Jade to Beanie.

Grace turned her head and saw Cutie Pie with a piece of waterweed stuck on its head, silently staring at her.

"Cutie Pie, why are you all wet?" Grace picked it up, removed the waterweed, and gently dried it off with a handkerchief.

But there were still some differences.

Like that little bean tendril.

None of the other spirit trees Grace had seen had anything like that.

Another half month went by, and to Grace's surprise, it actually bore a fruit!

It looked just like a tiny gourd, round and chubby.

Cutie Pie was curled up on the tree, staring at that gourd.

Normally, spirit trees don't bloom or bear fruit.

Evan Xiao had never seen a First Spirit Tree actually produce a gourd before!

And this First Spirit Tree itself didn't have a trace of Dragon Aura left.

Grace watched them helplessly.

Just what kind of existence was this thing?

Plus, the place it appeared was especially odd.

It was at Ray's Burial Ground...

......

"Did I do something wrong?" This was Rona Zhu speaking: "I told her to fight the Wood Family. The Woods are the strongest clan in Vermilion Bird Nation! If we anger them, they'll definitely get rid of Grace Lawrence!"

But the bean tendril thought he was trying to hurt the gourd, so it grabbed him and tossed him straight into the lake.

Then Grace couldn't hear anything else.

The Antler Serpent quietly slithered ashore and made its way to Grace, who was busy weeding in the Herb Patch.

Grace turned her head and saw Cutie Pie with a piece of waterweed stuck on its head, silently staring at her.

"Cutie Pie, why are you all wet?" Grace picked it up, removed the waterweed, and gently dried it off with a handkerchief.

The Antler Serpent glanced happily at Beanie.

Seeing this, Beanie wasn't having it. Its bean tendril curled into the shape of an Antler Serpent and lunged at the gourd.

Then it morphed into a child's face, looking like it was about to cry.

Grace looked helplessly at the Antler Serpent in her hands.

Cutie Pie shook its head.

So she said to Beanie, "Beanie, Cutie Pie won't hurt you, you can relax!"

Beanie wouldn't let it go, using its bean tendril to wrap around Cutie Pie, trying to toss it into the lake.

Cutie Pie bit down on the bean tendril.

The bean tendril immediately froze, not daring to move.

Grace watched them helplessly.

Just then, she suddenly heard a voice coming from her bracelet.

"Smack!"—it sounded like a slap.

Then, a strange woman's voice rang out: "Who told you to act on your own?"

The voice had a metallic buzz, its tone completely distorted—there was no way to tell who it was.

"Did I do something wrong?" This was Rona Zhu speaking: "I told her to fight the Wood Family. The Woods are the strongest clan in Vermilion Bird Nation! If we anger them, they'll definitely get rid of Grace Lawrence!"

"Who said to get rid of—wait!" The woman's voice suddenly cried, "Wait!"

Then Grace couldn't hear anything else.