Shennong Dao Master
Chapter 406 - 34: What? How Much Did He Plant? (5K)_3

Chapter 406: Chapter 34: What? How Much Did He Plant? (5K)_3

"I never expected that the boy I casually brought out from Gucheng back then would become so powerful now." Chen Shijie looked at the scene, recalling the time when he first met Zhao Xing during the Minor Heat assessment.

At that time, Zhao Xing faced the small "grain-eating bird disaster" assessment, and all he could do was use the repeating grass man to drive them away.

He even had to compete with other officials for a bundle of dry grass.

How many years had it been since then?

Now, he could change the Heavenly Time in this barren land of Southern Barbarians and lead the cultivation of fifth-order Earth Fire Lotuses.

"Beginning of Summer boosts Minor Heat, and Minor Heat then integrates into Great Heat."

"The fusion of the Seasonal Order allows the full power of the Three Dog Days to be unleashed."

Chen Shijie felt deeply emotional.

Xia Jing and Guan Junyang were also on this ship. Instead of running to see Dong He farming, they came to cheer for Zhao Xing.

"Impressive." Guan Junyang sighed, "His Heavenly Time Technique is worlds apart from the Ten Suns Grotto Heaven; even Shi Yong might not be able to compare to him."

Shi Yong was once the top genius of the Heavenly Time Institute, but now Guan Junyang felt that Zhao Xing had enough ability to surpass Shi Yong.

...

The spells of the Self Sect didn’t actually require such favorable Heavenly Time and Earth Advantage conditions.

But the Earth Fire Lotus was quite special.

To say it was fragile, it grew in magma.

To say it was hardy, a slight change in the environment and it would die on you.

Moreover, this time there was a need for large-scale spell casting, so Zhao Xing had to take good care of the Earth Fire Lotus.

"Instant Primordial!"

Zhao Xing waved his hand, and points of starlight appeared, falling into the lotus pond.

The five hundred ministers of agriculture who had learned the [Five Elements Observation] identification technique all watched this scene with wide eyes.

Because in their microscopic vision, the sky rained meteors.

Numerous meteors were crashing toward the lotus pond area.

But most people could only see the outer appearance; once the meteors entered the Earth Fire Lotus, they could hardly detect anything.

Only a few seventh-rank ministers of agriculture who practiced the "Yin Yang Self Scripture" and sixth-rank ministers of agriculture like Chen Shijie could observe it.

"The Self Method is truly profound." Chen Shijie looked for a while and then gave up on observing because he couldn’t understand much.

The high-order spells of the Self Sect, even after using several fifth-tier Preaching Paintings, might not be learnable.

It was well known that the entry threshold for the Self Sect was at least fifth-rank.

That is to say, the mainstream belief was that only after reaching fifth-rank could one study the spells of the Self Sect effectively.

Among the millions of ministers of agriculture in the Five Great Grotto Heavens, there were only thirty to fifty seventh-rank practitioners who knew high-order Self Sect spells.

Even if you included the sixth-rank practitioners, the number wouldn’t exceed two hundred.

Under the gaze of Chen Shijie and Guan Junyang, the fourth-order lotus pond, where the mature Earth Fire Lotuses were growing, suddenly began to grow again for some unknown reason.

Experts could see the subtleties, but now even these experts couldn’t grasp the intricacies of the Self Sect.

They only knew that many fourth-order Earth Fire Lotuses in that lotus pond were breaking their growth limits, growing again, and transforming into fifth-order lotuses.

After the first thirty minutes, fifty fifth-order Earth Fire Lotuses had emerged, producing fifth-order lotus seeds.

At this moment, Zhao Xing felt the Primordial Energy decreasing.

Many lotuses in the pond were withering because there were too many, and the pond couldn’t support so many Earth Fire Lotuses at once.

"Rise!"

Seeing this, Wang Ji immediately organized the mechanical masters of the Engineering Department to float the second guiding array foundation.

Thousands of black cylinders surfaced from the underground; these were the foundations they had just placed.

Wang Ji activated both the Earth Fire and Earth Element guiding arrays.

Its principle was like the water pumps that people used to draw well water at home, except that this array guided Earth Vein Yuan Qi.

As Wang Ji operated, Zhao Xing felt Yuan Qi pouring into his body, and the withering number of fourth-order Earth Fire Lotuses decreased, while the number of fifth-order lotuses kept increasing.

After a short rest, Zhao Xing cast the spell again.

And so it went, repeating in cycles.

After the fourth thirty minutes, the number of fifth-order Earth Fire Lotuses had surpassed five hundred plants!

The fiery red lotuses blossomed, and the central lotus pods resembled a flame, with deeper red crystalline light flickering within the flame.

Those were the seeds of the fifth-order Earth Fire Lotus.

"It’s done, it’s done!" Guan Junyang clenched his fists excitedly. "The leaves of these fifth-order Earth Fire Lotuses can be used to make fire protection robes."

"These lotus seeds are also capable of growing into fifth-order lotuses. If given to others for replanting, we can soon achieve exponential growth of fifth-order Earth Fire Lotuses."

"It’s not that simple," Chen Shijie said. "With conventional replanting, after three cycles, the lotuses degrade. For Earth Fire Lotuses, careful cultivation means they might degrade after only two cycles."

The descendants of plant life always seemed to weaken to a lower tier. In ancient times, towering trees were everywhere; now, they were rare.

"Even so, it won’t be long before we can equip the whole army with fifth-order fire protection robes." Xia Jing rubbed his hands excitedly.

"Mr. Chen, everything seems fine with Zhao Xing here; I’ll go check on Dong He."

"At your pleasure, Princely Heir." Chen Shijie nodded.

...

Xia Jing enthusiastically piloted the flying boat to the north of the volcano, where Dong He was also casting a spell.

However, he was using the Strong Foundation Skill, which was entirely different from Zhao Xing’s method.

Dong He wore a supreme fifth-order fire protection robe, floating in the magma river.

Many Earth Fire Lotuses hovered around Dong He, drifting as he cast his spell. The lotus pond began to rotate.

The lotus flowers orbited Dong He while simultaneously creating vortices beneath them.

Countless strands of Primordial Energy gathered in the fourth-order lotuses. With Dong He’s breathing, the entire lotus pond seemed to be breathing as well.

Xia Jing landed the flying boat and quietly asked Dong He’s aide, "Jin Ming" "Mr. Jin, how many are there now?"

The aide, Jin Ming, also a seventh-rank minister of agriculture, saw Xia Jing’s inquiry and proudly replied, "Princely Heir, Mr. Dong has already cultivated a hundred fifth-order Earth Fire Lotuses!"

Xia Jing nodded, smiling; this rate was not slow.

Jin Ming saw Xia Jing smiling but not praising his superior and immediately said, "I wonder about the progress of the Princely Heir’s good brother now?"

"It’s not that I meddle; we came to the Divine Might Army not to help the poor. If they can’t keep up with the progress, it would be a great drawback for our Xuanjia Army."

"The Princely Heir should rely more on our own Minister of Agriculture Camp talents."

The implication was that Xia Jing seemed to value the outsider Zhao Xing too highly in this cooperation and should rely more on their own Minister of Agriculture Camp.

Xia Jing flashed a big white smile and extended his palm: "My brother’s cultivation isn’t much, just five hundred plants."

"That’s not bad." Jin Ming nodded, then looked back in shock: "What? How many did you say he grew?"