Astral Cockroach

The growth of the Wild Cliff Cypress God-Given Seed after being stimulated isn't immediately obvious. You might not even see much change within a day. However, if you check back after two or three days, you'll notice significant growth.

Banbu assigned the spring farming tasks to other members on the mountain, while he stayed beside the Cliff Cypress God-Given Seed, constantly observing it.

The demand for Origin Stones was minimal, only needing about 10 or so per day.

The demand for water and nutrients was higher, especially water, requiring constant watering.

Could it be that the strange energy was boosting the plant's photosynthetic efficiency?

Spring is rainy.

Despite several consecutive days of overcast and rainy weather, the plant continued to grow steadily.

"It's some kind of high-level energy that can be directly utilized by plants!" Banbu concluded, reaching a meaningless conclusion.

When Banbu was human, he wasn't a scientist, and his knowledge of science and technology was abysmal. He had neither the ability nor the interest to delve deeper.

All that's needed is a definitive conclusion based on appearances: benign stimulation, harmless to the plant.

That's enough!

After a month, that strange energy was exhausted, equivalent to 10 years of growth. Silently, the Cliff Cypress God-Given Seed reached a height of nearly 10 meters!

Mountain Lord Hua Cypress brought the Scale Leaf Princess from Crimson Firmament County again to carry out the second stimulation.

…

Oil Tea left Limu Peak hurriedly after resting for half a month.

Red Rice had just advanced to L2 Advanced Warrior, Belly Bamboo was already L9 Intermediate Warrior, and Red Bean was now L6 Intermediate Warrior. They were gradually becoming sensible and starting to work.

If things got too busy, they could ask the Advanced Warriors stationed down the mountain for help, paying them with a few Origin Stones as compensation.

Plots of nurseries were opened up, and various seeds were successfully sown.

The only trouble was that Cattail was now growing into an L9 Intermediate Warrior, controlling nearly 100,000 bees. He was about to advance to Advanced Warrior, and the swarm size would increase then. The nearby trees had all been knocked down by Big Bear's Iron Sand Palm, so food was a problem.

…

The 20 Seven-Colored Cold Bamboo plants transplanted to the mountain finally escaped their near-death state and displayed vigorous vitality this spring. If they developed naturally, they would produce a large number of bamboo shoots this autumn.

But they were unlucky, falling into Banbu's hands.

Banbu transplanted them to the foot of the mountain, deciding to conduct the first hybridization experiment this year.

The experiment to find the original Ghost-Thread Bamboo was still at a standstill.

…

Bamboo breeding couldn't just focus on the existing few bamboo species that flowered and fruited every year.

Banbu planned to take advantage of this year's dry season to stimulate most of the bamboo species on the mountain to flower and bear seeds. Next year, he would continue to open up bamboo forests at the foot of the mountain, expand the planting scale, and also try to obtain new "aberrant species."

The probability of bamboo gene mutation is about one in 100,000. After all, it's a herbaceous plant, so the probability is actually quite high. The breeding and selection work continued, and there would always be a chance to obtain the required "aberrant species."

The workload was large and the procedure complicated, but Banbu was confident that the future was bright.

…

"Is Mountain Lord Banbu there? I'm from the Chonglou Merchant Caravan!"

It was only the beginning of March, but the Chonglou Merchant Caravan had already arrived.

The mental power came from the south. This year, they didn't follow Princess Huangjing and detour.

"I'm here!"

Banbu responded with his mental power and began to move the goods for sale out of the cave.

Mountain Lords Huangwen, Bairong, and Hepi quickly landed at the entrance of the cave, helping to move things down the mountain.

The three of them guarded Limu Peak all year round. Banbu paid them 1,000 Origin Stones as compensation, and the Crimson Firmament Roach King would take out some Crimson Firmament fruits as compensation. They also had warriors helping to manage their territory, with a fixed output. All in all, their annual income wasn't low, and they lived a very comfortable life.

They were also active in their work, especially Bairong, who carried two silk bags and rushed straight down the mountain.

After packing up, Banbu greeted Datou and was about to go down the mountain.

Bairong flew back again.

"Banbu, something seems to have happened to the merchant caravan."

"They weren't robbed, were they?" Banbu was shocked, flapped his wings, and flew down the mountain.

Before landing, he first deployed his mental power to scan the area.

The Chonglou Merchant Caravan and the Yuzhu Merchant Caravan were traveling together.

Luo Shi of the Chonglou Merchant Caravan was injured, one of his hind legs bitten off, with tooth marks still visible.

Only Luo Shi was injured, the goods seemed to be intact.

Banbu was relieved.

"Mountain Lord Chonglou, Mountain Lord Yuzhu, what's going on…?"

"Damn wolf pack!" Yuzhu cursed angrily, explaining: "We were attacked by a large group of Black Wolf Warriors, and Luo Shi was injured!"

Chonglou said: "It was an ambush! Cunning wolf pack!"

Banbu asked: "No loss of goods, right?"

"No."

Chonglou said: "Two Mountain Lord-level Forest Wolf Warriors. They obviously didn't understand the power of our Iridescent Flame Spider tribe and failed. But they were also cunning, realizing that things were not going their way and immediately retreated."

Yuzhu added: "And a full 22 Advanced Warrior-level Forest Wolf Warriors, all ran away. Banbu, it's been two years, hasn't your territory calmed down yet?"

Because of Luo Shi's injuries, Mountain Lord Chonglou was somewhat agitated and asked: "Banbu, don't the Crimson Roach tribe's other mountains send warriors to help you clear up the troubles in your territory?"

Banbu said: "We discovered this group of Black Wolf Warriors long ago. They have been wandering back and forth between Jinping and Cliff Cypress Mountains, their whereabouts unpredictable, making it difficult to deal with!"

"It's a threat!" Mountain Lord Chonglou said: "Find a way to clear them out as soon as possible, otherwise it will be difficult for our merchant caravans to come here."

The merchant caravans carry the entire family fortune accumulated over a lifetime on their backs. If they are robbed, it's worse than death.

Banbu could understand Chonglou and the others' feelings and assured them: "Mountain Lord Chonglou, Mountain Lord Yuzhu, rest assured, this group of Black Wolves won't survive this year!"

"Banbu, how was last year's harvest? No problems with fruit harvesting, right?"

Chonglou and Yuzhu didn't want to dwell on it any longer and changed the subject.

"Of course not."

Banbu greeted: "Mountain Lord Chonglou, let's trade first. This year, I need to purchase more Origin Power food. You can make a small fortune, which can be considered compensation for Luo Shi's loss."

The two sides began to trade.

The quantity and price of the goods for sale remained unchanged.

The only change was that the number of Rain Bamboo seeds increased to 5,000.

Banbu appropriately increased the goods he purchased to compensate the Chonglou Merchant Caravan, but it wasn't a loss. There's no such thing as too much Origin Power food, which can be used to improve the overall strength of the members on the mountain.

"Mountain Lord Chonglou, calculating the time, shouldn't the Southwest Region be experiencing a drought soon?"

"Mountain Lord Banbu, you may be disappointed. The Southwest Region has had favorable weather for the past two years… We'll see how it goes this year."

The trade was completed.

According to the rules, they began to chat.

Chonglou asked: "Banbu, how is the Ghost-Thread Bamboo breeding going?"

"I was just about to ask about this."

Banbu asked: "Mountain Lord Chonglou, is the merchant caravan that found the Ghost-Thread Bamboo in your tribe still around?"

Chonglou said: "Yes, the Wormwood Spider King is famous. His merchant caravan travels between the Myriad Kingdoms Continent and the Myriad Races Continent, doing high-profit business. This year, I also inquired about bamboo species news from him, entrusting him to help you and the Crimson Crow Ghost King find bamboo species."

Banbu said: "Then I have to trouble you to help inquire about the bamboo species that were still growing in the place where the Ghost-Thread Bamboo was found back then. Under natural conditions, generally speaking, not too many types of bamboo grow together. The Wormwood Spider King should still remember, right?"

"He remembers, I've heard of it."

Chonglou said: "Back then, the Wormwood Spider King also obtained many Gray Bamboo seeds, which are even rarer than Purple Bamboo, and sold them for a lot of Origin Stones."

"The Crimson Crow Ghost King has a large number of them planted. They suspect that the Ghost-Thread Bamboo is a variant of the Gray Bamboo and are waiting for the next drought to try to obtain the original species according to your method."

"Gray Bamboo!" Banbu was excited for a moment, then disappointed, sighing: "Then I can only hope that the Southwest Region has a drought soon."

"The growth of life-bound plants cannot be separated from water. Drought is not a good thing."

Mountain Lord Chonglou was somewhat speechless, then said: "The Southwest Region has a small drought every three to five years and a major drought every twenty to thirty years. Calculating the time, it's almost time."

Banbu added: "Mountain Lord Chonglou, I still have to trouble you to help inquire with the Wormwood Spider King about the bamboo species that were growing in the place where the Ghost-Thread Bamboo was found, besides the Gray Bamboo."

"I know this."

Yuzhu rushed to answer: "Banbu, I am also helping you inquire about bamboo species news from the Wormwood Spider King, and I have also entrusted their merchant caravan to help collect rare bamboo species."

"The Wormwood Spider King likes me very much. He just told me that a small patch of Man Bamboo was also growing in the place where the Ghost-Thread Bamboo was found, and he also harvested dozens of seeds, which were eventually all sent to the Crimson Crow Ghost King."

"…"

Banbu said: "It seems I can only wait."

It can basically be determined that the Ghost-Thread Bamboo is an aberrant form of hybridization between Gray Bamboo and Man Bamboo.