Astral Cockroach

Banbu now genuinely regretted entrusting the Saint Bamboo's God-given Seed, such an important item, to Duzhu for nurturing. If it were him, he'd be on the verge of advancing to an L9 Mountain Lord, not far from becoming a County Lord.

Duzhu couldn't cultivate and could only grow step by step. Even with the best resources, it would still take roughly thirty to forty years to advance to County Lord.

The quality of the Saint Bamboo was already excellent; what it lacked was yield!

The Saint Bamboo fruit could only be divided into a maximum of 9 portions.

The trade caravan would get 4 portions, Autumn Maple County 2 portions, and Lizhu Peak also planned to keep one portion for themselves, to be shared among the mountain's members for a taste.

The remaining 2 portions would be sold to the Cockroach Tribe and the Mantis Tribe respectively.

Lizhu Peak would certainly have infrastructure projects in the future, so it was best to win over these two tribes who possessed earth and stone manipulation abilities.

After the annual Autumn Harvest celebration banquet, the mountaintop reservoir continued to be excavated. Winter arrived, and infrastructure construction proceeded in full swing.

… …

County Lord Feng Yang arrived from afar.

"Mountain Lord Banbu, how are those seeds from last time growing?"

"Not so good," Banbu knew that this one was here to collect her wages, and inquired, "County Lord Feng Yang, what about those seeds you brought back? How are they doing?"

County Lord Feng Yang sighed, "They're all intolerant to the cold. More than half of them froze to death in the first winter, and the survivors are all half-dead, with extremely poor growth."

County Lord Feng Yang shook her antennae and said, "The main reason is the climate, and to some extent, the soil quality. Our kingdom, residing north of the Jinjiang River, is not suitable for planting these seeds."

Banbu sighed in agreement, "Indeed, it's not suitable."

County Lord Feng Yang interjected, "However, Mountain Lord Banbu, I did help you find the seeds, so the remuneration…"

"Of course, you'll get your remuneration," Banbu readily agreed. County Lord Feng Yang had been busy in dangerous environments for more than two years, and had indeed collected many arbor seeds, so he couldn't deny her the wages.

The matter of collecting tree seeds from the Dragon Bamboo Continent was essentially a gamble. Crimson Crow Mountain gambled a hundred million, while Banbu took a small gamble of 200,000 Origin Stones, and that was only by hitching a ride, with Crimson Crow Mountain providing Origin Power food free of charge throughout the journey.

It wasn't a complete loss; at least Banbu knew that arbors from the tropical and near-tropical regions of the western Dragon Bamboo Continent couldn't be transplanted to Lizhu Peak. For future development, if he needed to find new, high-quality plant species, he would go directly to the north.

Banbu called back the workers on the mountain and took out 2 Origin Power Crystals to give to County Lord Feng Yang.

County Lord Feng Yang wasn't in a hurry to leave. She chatted with Banbu and, upon learning that Lizhu Peak was engaged in infrastructure construction, voluntarily stayed behind to help out for free, only leaving with the Cockroach Tribe at the end of the winter season.

… …

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, it was Banbu's 28th autumn, the Saint Bamboo fruit entering its ripening season.

All members of Lizhu Peak entered a state of alert.

The Black and White Flower Cockroach Tribe, the Mantis Tribe, and the Cockroach Tribe arrived in teams, arriving more than ten days early and waiting at the trading square at the foot of the mountain.

The Saint Bamboo fruit was of high quality, and a single one wasn't actually small. It was shaped like a plump, round dumpling, about 4 centimeters in diameter, and the cost of managing a single one was as high as 40 Origin Stones. Of course, the value of the Saint Bamboo fruit lay in its strengthening effect; after calculating, the selling price of a single one was seven or eight thousand, making the cost almost negligible.

Banbu also understood some business principles: when selling expensive items at sky-high prices, the packaging must be exquisite.

Using the culms of the Giant Dragon Bamboo, the thickest parts were cut to make bamboo barrels (cylinders). After drying, they were hooped at the bottom and mouth with colorful metal rings plated by the metal manipulation abilities of the Splendid Gold Hall Tribe, serving both as decoration and reinforcement. Banbu also carefully designed a colorful barrel lid with buckle closures.

Both the barrel lid and the barrel body were carved with bamboo patterns.

The exterior packaging was both gorgeous and naturally rustic, exquisite and beautiful yet exuding an air of grandeur.

Inside, there were 8 layers, each layer neatly arranged with 8 Saint Bamboo fruits, sealed with a carefully prepared amber fruit juice.

One barrel contained exactly one serving of 64 fruits. A County Lord-level warrior over 200 years old could extend their lifespan by about 50 years by consuming such a serving.

Imitating the style of Longevity County, the tribes at the foot of the mountain took turns going up the mountain to trade.

The Saint Bamboo fruit all ripened on the same day. On the day of harvest, 4 barrels were sold, and another 4 barrels were sent to the mountain peak's cold storage for preservation. The remaining 72 fruits were tasted by all the members of Lizhu Peak, and several fruits were sent to Iron Saber Mountain Range, Red Tangerine Mountain Range, Green Oak Mountain Range, Drooping Banyan County, and Crimson Firm County for a taste.

… …

… …

The appearance of the Dragon Bamboo mutant was a major accident.

For both bamboo species that could be crossbred to produce mutants was a first for Lizhu Peak, and there were many aspects that needed to be tested and examined.

Banbu personally took charge, bringing Cattail, Duzhu, Dragon Bamboo, Little Fire Bamboo, and Light Bamboo, and used the Dragon Bamboo mutant next to the pond to cultivate the Dragon Bamboo-1 original species.

The selection of high-quality Dragon Bamboo-1 seeds for sowing followed.

A total of three crossbreeding experiments were designed and carried out in the same year. To facilitate differentiation and comparison, the bamboo species obtained by crossing the earliest Ma Bamboo-1 seed with Dragon Bamboo was renamed "Giant Dragon 0".

In the first and second experiments, Dragon Bamboo-1 pollen was collected and used to pollinate ordinary Ma Bamboo and Ma Bamboo-1 seeds respectively. The pollination experiments were successful, and the resulting seeds were named "Giant Dragon 1" and "Giant Dragon 2".

The third experiment involved collecting pollen from Ma Bamboo-1 seeds and using it to pollinate Dragon Bamboo-1 seeds, with the resulting seeds named "Giant Dragon 3".

The resulting seeds were essentially all "Giant Dragon Bamboo", but there were also very small differences. Guanli, Xueli, and Danzhu were each allowed to nurture them into Life Seeds.

Once the Life Seeds were nurtured, they were first sent to Lizhu Peak for Baba to inspect.

It was almost exactly as Banbu had guessed.

The flowering and fruiting cycle of Giant Dragon 1 was also 4 years. After being nurtured into a Life Seed, the growth of the plant and the quality of the condensed fruit were not as good as Giant Dragon 0.

Giant Dragon 2 and Giant Dragon 3 were similar, but the overall quality of Giant Dragon 3 was not as good.

Giant Dragon 3 was very interesting. First, after being nurtured into a Life Seed, the plant growth was not as good as Giant Dragon 0. The average height of Giant Dragon 0 bamboo culms exceeded 70 meters, while the average height of Giant Dragon 3 bamboo culms could only reach 55 meters, a significant difference. The quality of the condensed bamboo fruit was correspondingly inferior.

But Giant Dragon 3 had one advantage: it flowered every year, and the fruit took 3 years to mature. This meant that on the same plant, you could see both bamboo flowers and fruit of different ages at the same time, which was equivalent to flowering and fruiting every year.

It was quite troublesome to manage, with high light and nutrient requirements. If outside Lizhu Peak, where natural Origin Power was insufficient, Origin Stones were often needed to supplement its Origin Power.

Giant Dragon 3 was a high-yield variety.

Giant Dragon 0 was a low-yield, high-quality variety.

Banbu planned to cultivate both bamboo species simultaneously, listing them as iconic plants of Lizhu Peak, for his own use and not for sale.

The produce of Giant Dragon 0 would be kept for himself.

The produce of Giant Dragon 3 could be sold to make money.

… …

A small warrior was born in Hongmi's territory, loved bamboo, was named "Fangzhu", and sent to Fire Bamboo Mountain to settle down.

A small warrior was also born in Xiangfei Peak, but unfortunately did not like bamboo, and remained living in Xiangfei Peak. Crimson Firm County would also send two small warriors, finally bringing the insect population of Jinping Mountain Range to 20.

The four little ones who came later were much luckier thanks to the foundation laid by their predecessors. As intermediate small warriors, they could choose top-quality bamboo species such as Giant Dragon Bamboo 0 and Giant Dragon Bamboo 3 as their Life Seeds. In the future, when they advanced to advanced warriors, they could also choose Saint Bamboo as their Life Seeds.

Banbu exchanged Violet Bamboo rice with Longevity County. They also had ordinary Longevity Peaches, Blood Peaches, Fire Peaches, Oil Peaches, and other high-quality tree species that bore fresh fruit in the summer to choose from.

Even without God-given Seeds, their territory income would be considerable and they would live relatively wealthy lives when they grew up in the future.

PS: Not enough manuscripts, can't explode today.