I get lost a couple of times and thanks to that it takes me a couple of hours to get close to the city center. At least, I assume that I am close since I finally spot a sign for a store dealing with plants. I don't feel like continuing to wander around to find another store, so I head inside.

  Just like the pet store, the plant store is bigger on the inside and the massive room is filled with plants. There doesn't seem to be any organization, the plants are spread everywhere. In fact, I could swear that I just saw several of the plants moving around.

  I end up having to send Maximus back to the soul palace because he tried to collect the plants. I should have known that was going to happen, but I didn't think about it. Once he is gone, I wander around looking for a counter or an employee.

  As I walk around, I am careful not to get too close to any of the plants. Who knows which ones might try to attack me, or spray some weird chemical on me. Eventually, one of the plants that looks like a tree turns to look at me as I walk by.

  Tree says "Welcome to my shop. What can I help you with?"

  In surprise, I turn to look at the tree only to see a woman's figure appear on the bark. The tree, like all the other plants, is mostly white and so is the figure. The only color is a flower in what is meant to be her hair, which is blue.

  "Oh, hello. Sorry, you surprised me. I am fairly new at all of this. I just got my first pet and it turns out to have an ability that allows it to collect plants. I am looking for information on said plants and a place to sell those that aren't useful to me."

  Treegirl says "Sure, follow me. Oh, you can relax, all the dangerous plants are kept on the second floor."

  I am expecting the tree to walk away, but instead the girl comes out of the tree and leads the way. Once she separates from the tree she looks like a human girl. A very beautiful, very sexy human girl.

  "Not to be rude, but are you a dryad?"

  Treegirl says "Oh? You know of my race?"

  "Only in the form of a legend, but that legend worries me a little. It is said that dryads seduce men and then use them as nutrients."

  Treegirl laughs and says "That is true, but we only do it to men who damage our forests. It is what they deserve. Besides, they die happy."

  "I bet they do! In that case, I hope you don't consider my pet collecting plants as damaging a forest."

  Treegirl says "I don't. Even if I did, it wasn't my forest. Besides, you aren't humanoid so we aren't compatible."

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  I am distracted by the view as I follow her and I almost make a huge mistake. Luckily, I catch myself just as I am about to shapeshift to prove her wrong. That is the kind of trouble I don't need, so I just quietly follow her to a counter.

  Treegirl says "Here, this book has all the plants that I am looking for and what I will pay for them. This one shows other plants, but those I am not interested in. If you come across any plants that aren't in either book, bring them to me and I will attempt to identify them."

  "Alright, thanks. I will probably be back after I sort through my soul palace and see what's there."

  Treegirl laughs and says "You really are a newbie, aren't you? Do you not know that you can enter the soul palace at will?"

  "Huh? I can? How?!"

  Treegirl smirks and says "Your soul palace is contained within your soul, right? Since you are in soul form right now, that means the palace is inside you. You can simply will yourself to enter it. When you exit it you will return to the same place you left from. This works in Soul City and any worlds where you don't need to build a physical body."

  "Really?! That's super useful! Hold on, let me try it."

  The dryad just laughs at me, but I am used to being laughed at by women so it doesn't bother me. I just have to think about it for a second and I find myself in my soul palace. The two books are still in my hand, so I start sorting through the pile of plants.

  First I separate all the plants into piles based on what they are, then I start identifying them. Unfortunately, the most numerous plants are listed in the book of plants she doesn't need. I only have a few plants that she is willing to buy, but one of them is a huge surprise.

  According to the description in the book, this plant creates pressure on the soul palace. It is not as much as a pet generates, but it also doesn't need any resources to grow. Maximus only found three of them, but that doesn't mean we can't find more.

  I figure that if I can get enough of them, it should be equivalent to having a second pet. As soon as I am done double checking to make sure it is the right plant, I clear a space and plant the three of them. Then, I finish going through and identifying all the remaining plants.

  Out of everything that Maximus gathered, there is only one plant that isn't in the books. It is the strange plant that tried to bite Maximus when he pulled it out of the ground. For now, I ignore it and gather up the plants that I want to sell and then exit the soul palace.

  Treegirl says "Welcome back. Easy, wasn't it? So, what do you have for me?"

  "Yes, it was. Thank you for telling me about that. Here are the ones that were in your list. By the way, does that mean the ones in the other book are worthless?"

  Treegirl says "No, not worthless. I just only deal with the more rare plants. As you can imagine, I have special abilities when it comes to plants. However, it is limited, so I prefer to only focus on special or rare plants."

  "That makes sense. Can you recommend a store where I can sell the others?"

  Treegirl says "Of course I can. Just be aware that since they are more common, they aren't as valuable."

  "That's fine. I just don't want them cluttering up my soul palace."

  Treegirl says "First, let me take a look at what you have here. Alright, I will give you seven thousand five hundred soul coins for these. Does that work for you?"

  "Yeah, that's great!"

  Soul Coins gained: 7,500

  Treegirl says "Now, most of the other plant stores will take those plants, but I am going to send you to a friend of mine. Although, I should warn you that she is a succubus. Is that a problem?"

  "A demon? I normally don't get along well with demons, but I can control myself. Besides, it's Soul City, I can't hurt her anyway."