Ophelia's trip to the trading market was highly rewarding.
She acquired nearly 200 prey animals (costing her 20 catties of rice), 150 animal skins (10 catties of rice), along with one Orange Crystal Stone (10 catties of rice) and ten Red Crystal Stones (10 catties of rice). She still had 150 catties of rice left. Since her spatial dimension had a warehouse where food wouldn't spoil, she could hold onto it and sell it gradually.
The journey from the trading market to the Snow Wolf Clan took an hour, but thanks to her good mood, Ophelia didn't feel tired at all.
Since Tyler couldn't carry the 200 prey animals and the animal skins all by himself, she hired two other male beastmen to help. The moment the four of them stepped into the Snow Wolf Clan's settlement with their massive haul, they drew countless stares. Ophelia paid them no mind, leading the group straight back to her stone house. She took out half a catty of rice and divided it between the two helpers as payment.
Both males were stunned by Ophelia's generosity.
"Little female, this is far too precious. We can't accept it," one of them said.
Ophelia chuckled. "It's just a bit of rice; it's nothing. I'll likely need your help plenty of times in the future. Just take it and don't stand on ceremony with me."
She hadn't chosen these two randomly; they also sold goods at the trading market. In the future, as her rice supply multiplied, a single trading market wouldn't be able to absorb it all. These two males sold nuts, pearls, and jade stones that were rare in the northern and southern regions. It was obvious they frequently traveled between the two areas. When the time came, she could use them to distribute her rice far and wide.
Hearing her reasoning, the two males didn't refuse any further.
"Little female, my name is Sail."
"I'm Lam. If you ever need help with anything from now on, just let us know."
"I'm Ophelia from the Golden Dragon Clan, and this is my Guardian, Tyler."
Hearing her publicly announce his status as her Guardian, Tyler's brown eyes instantly lit up. Previously, Princess Ophelia had always refused to acknowledge his position as her Guardian, even ordering him never to mention it in front of others. Now that the princess had recognized his status, did that mean he had a chance to become her...
While Ophelia continued exchanging pleasantries with the two males, she completely missed Tyler's deeply affectionate and hopeful gaze. It wasn't until the two males left that he spoke, his voice hoarse. "I... I'll go make lunch."
Ophelia returned to her stone house. She kept 50 prey animals outside and stored the remaining 150 into her spatial dimension. The 150 prey animals were exchanged for 150 points, while the 150 animal skins yielded 15,000 points. Since there were various types of prey, it averaged out to 100 points per skin.
It seemed animal skins were far more valuable than meat. If she had known, she would have kept the meat for food and only traded the skins for points.
She also noticed that the Crystal Stones she had earned couldn't be exchanged for points. However, they could be used to upgrade the spatial farmland—similar to inlaying gems into the soil—to reduce crop maturation time and improve yield quality. But this feature would only unlock once the land reached Level 10. Furthermore, the Crystal Stones needed to be synthesized and refined to remove impurities before they met the standard.
She could research the Crystal Stones when she had more time. Right now, the priority was upgrading her land and unlocking the one-click functions.
She spent 800 points to unlock the One-Click Harvest and One-Click Sowing functions, leaving her with 14,350 points.
[15,150 - 800 = 14,350]
With so many points on hand, she reviewed the farm dimension's upgrade mechanism. The more land she had, the more crops she could plant.
[Upgrade: Farm Dimension Level 1. Points required to reach Level 2: 5,000. Area expands to 150 square meters.]
[Points required to upgrade from Level 2 to Level 3: 9,000. Area expands to 200 square meters.]
[Points required to upgrade from Level 3 to Level 4: 25,000. Area expands to 250 square meters.]
The higher the level, the more points were required. Believing that nothing ventured, nothing gained, Ophelia went all in and upgraded the farm dimension directly to Level 3, doubling its area.
Level 2 Farm Dimension Reward: [Maturity Reminder Alarm].
Level 3 Farm Dimension Reward: [Automatic Re-Sowing Service].
This meant she no longer had to plant crops herself. As long as there were seeds in her inventory, the farm dimension would automatically sow them, creating a fully integrated system from sowing to harvesting.
[14,350 - 5,000 - 9,000 = 350 points]
She spent another 150 points to upgrade the warehouse. Previously, the Level 1 warehouse could hold 200 catties of grain; now, the Level 2 warehouse could hold 500 catties.
Farm Dimension: Level 3, Area: 200 square meters.
Points: 200
Warehouse: Level 2, Capacity: 500 catties, Current Storage: 150 catties of rice.
She used her remaining 200 points to buy five bags of seeds, filling up the newly expanded 100 square meters of land. This time, she chose millet. This easily digestible food was perfect for young females during their postpartum confinement period.
With that, all her points were completely spent.
Millet also had a maturation period of 36 hours. With the Maturity Reminder Alarm, she no longer needed to worry about missing the harvest. Now, all she had to do was work hard to earn points and buy more seed packs.
After upgrading the system, Ophelia sat in the house waiting for Tyler. However, two other males arrived first. Leading the pair was an elderly male whose silver-white hair had lost its luster, but his green eyes remained sharp and full of calculation. This was Soro, the retiring Clan Leader of the Snow Wolf Clan, Loki's father, Amy's grandfather, and Ophelia's nominal father-in-law.
Loki followed closely behind him, his face dark and his eyes practically spitting fire.
"Why are you here?" she asked. Just looking at Loki irritated her.
"What do you mean 'why are we here'? Don't forget that the place you're living in belongs to me," Loki snapped.
Ophelia crossed her arms over her chest and raised an eyebrow. "As long as you drip your blood on the Blood Crystal Stone and sever our mate bond, I can move back to the Golden Dragon Clan right now and never set foot in your Snow Wolf Clan again!"
"You..." Loki choked, unable to formulate a response.
Seeing the situation turning awkward, Soro, who had been silent until now, stepped forward. He put on a stern face and scolded, "Loki, watch your attitude." Then, turning to Ophelia, his expression instantly shifted to a pleasant smile. "Ophelia, I heard from Loki that you have a lot of rice on hand?"
The calculation in his eyes was overflowing and entirely unconcealed.
In her past life, she hadn't noticed this at all. Thinking back on it now, her pleasant "father-in-law" and the frequently emotionally abusive Loki were simply playing good cop, bad cop to keep her firmly under their control. In her previous life, she had genuinely believed Soro cared about her, treating him even better than she treated her own parents back in the Golden Dragon Clan. Whenever he asked for something, she would do everything in her power to get it; if she couldn't, she would beg her parents for it.
Suddenly, everything became clear to her. So Amy's ungrateful behavior wasn't unprompted—it was a hereditary trait passed down through the family line.
Ophelia raised an eyebrow. "And then?"
"What do you mean 'and then'? Since you have so much rice, why aren't you prioritizing your own clan instead of giving it to outsiders? Hand over all the rice you have to my father right now!" Seeing her indifferent demeanor, Loki's temper instantly flared.
His father had already promised him that if Ophelia could produce fifty catties of rice, his succession to the Clan Leader position would be set in stone. At this crucial moment, he absolutely couldn't let this stupid female drag him down!
Soro spoke softly. "Ophelia, three young females in the clan recently gave birth to cubs. This is exactly when they need rice the most. Could you take out some of your rice first for their postpartum meals?"
Ophelia smiled. "Of course I can. As long as you pay for it, I have as much rice as you want."
"About the payment..." Soro's smile froze.
Loki's expression darkened. "How can you be so selfish? Asking Father for payment? You're about to become the Clan Leader's wife. Isn't it only right for you to make some contributions to the Snow Wolf Clan?"
"The Clan Leader's wife? Weren't you saving that position for Miche? If you give it to me, what will she do?"
Loki's favoritism toward Miche had never been a secret in the clan. Everyone knew about it. The entire clan was watching Ophelia as a joke, guessing when they would finally break their mate bond.