The weather in early spring was still cold, and the ice and snow on the ground had not completely melted. The cold wind that blew from time to time seemed to have a penetrating power. It could penetrate through thick clothes like steel needles, making people shiver from time to time.
But now it was the season for golden vines to sow. The farmers wrapped themselves as thickly as possible, and then waved their hoes to dig up the frozen soil. They put the golden vines seeds that had been soaked in water containing magic into the small holes dug one by one. There was no need to cover them with soil, because the most important thing for the golden vines to germinate was sunlight.
In a place where the climate was relatively warm, even a child could do it. But it was different in the northwest. The soil in early spring was slightly thawing. It was not as hard as stone as it was in winter, but it was still quite solid. Those who did not have enough strength would often have to dig a shallow hole and place the golden vine seeds in it. The farmers were so busy that they could not plant much in an hour.
Fortunately, the most difficult part of the golden vines' growth process was sowing. It was a very powerful plant in itself, and its ability to adapt to its environment was extraordinary. After it was planted, it would sprout, and as long as one remembered to replenish it with magical energy every day, it would grow steadily. There was no need to worry at all.
Ordinary crops needed to be plowed, fertilized, watered, weeded, and caught insects. These golden vines basically did not need to be used. Its strong roots could penetrate deep into the frozen soil to absorb enough nutrients and water. Sunlight could provide it with sufficient nutrition. In the Ashes Forest, there were no weeds or pests that could survive. If it did not need to replenish magic energy, it could even learn from farmers in many places. After sowing the seeds, they did not need to worry about them at all and just waited for the autumn harvest.
However, the golden vines also had huge shortcomings. The first reason was its low yield. The yield of this plant was pitifully low. One mu of land could only produce about 60 kilograms. The second reason was that the growth process required the supply of magic energy. Therefore, ordinary people could not grow it by themselves. The last reason was that the taste was terrible. It was even worse than coarse rye. It tasted like sand and was slightly astringent. Other than some special dishes, only the truly poor would eat it as a staple food.
In fact, the merchants bought the golden vines mainly because they could refine them through magic arrays to obtain the magic essence that contained sunlight energy. As for the residue after refining, it could at least be used as animal feed. Pigs and cows were not picky eaters.
Sui looked at the busy farmers and secretly shook his head.
The golden vines were really not a suitable crop. Even rye was much better than it.
Rye was a common crop in cold areas. Although it required more manpower than the golden vines, its yield and taste were much better. If the farmers worked hard, the soil was fertile, and the climate was not bad, it was very common to harvest 100 pounds per mu. Rye could be ground into flour to make the famous coarse rye cake, and mixed with some white flour to make bread. Not only did poor people like to eat it, but also ordinary middle-class people could make it as a staple food.
However … if he wanted to plant rye, the soil quality requirements were much higher than that of the golden vines. It wasn't that there was a high requirement for fertility or a difference in cold resistance. The main reason was that the resistance to negative energy pollution was much weaker than that of the golden vines, and their growth cycle didn't completely overlap with the golden vines, so even if they wanted to breed together, it was impossible.
Because of this, the Rye Town had become the granary of the northwest. Its agriculture and trade were developed, and it was prosperous enough to support an elite army.
Sui Xiong hoped that the Pyroxene Town could develop, so it was natural to start with agriculture so that the people in the town could at least be self-sufficient in food. Even if they could not, it was not a bad thing to produce more food.
But producing more food meant opening up more farmland, which meant increasing the scale of the purification circle.
The purification circle was a kind of magic circle that relied on the belief system of the gods to operate. The population of the Pyroxene Town determined the degree of faith it could provide, and this degree of faith determined the scale and number of temples it could supply. Without enough temple support, the shrines placed in the center of the purification circle were nothing more than decorations.
This was a question of which came first, the chicken or the egg. For those villages, the church that controlled the whole village could promote the deepening of faith through coercive means. In other words, it could increase the rate of people's faith production. But that was not what Sui Xiong wanted. He really did not think that a society that could not even allow freedom of thought could make progress.
So he could only change his mind.
The initial idea was, of course, to dig open space and cultivate special mushrooms that could absorb negative energy. This method had been used in the Void Mask Amusement Park, and it proved to be effective and reliable. But there was another problem with this method. It was impossible for mortals to hollow out the ground and plant special mushrooms on a large scale. Even experienced adventurers could not bear that kind of labor. After all, the concentration of negative energy underground was completely different from that on the ground!
Progress could not be made by falling from the sky, nor could it be given by the gods. If it was not made by people's own efforts, it would not have the value of widespread promotion, and Sui Xiong's idea could not be verified.
So he considered another idea — the reason why the Ashes Woods had such strong negative energy was because of the remains of the ancient god buried in the depths of the ground. If he tried to take away the corpse of the ancient god, and with large-scale purification, he might be able to completely remove the negative energy in the entire Ashes Forest and make it an ordinary cold forest.
This was an earth-shattering project. It was extremely difficult and would have a great impact. The most important thing was that Sui Xiong had not yet been able to find out the origin of the ancient god who had died here. This made him dare not to act rashly.
A God who was able to continuously emit strong negative energy even after an unknown number of years had passed and even pollute this vast forest was simply unimaginably powerful. How dangerous would his corpse be? How many powerful gods would be jealous if he took it out? What should he do after taking it out? These were all big problems.
Sui Xiong had already asked Javier, who was good at making money and making money, to help him inquire about it. Javier was a great connoisseur of eating, drinking, and having fun. He always appeared in various celebrations, so he had a good relationship with all kinds of gods, except for gods like pain and plague. Whether it was the old-fashioned Lawful Faction, the fierce and ruthless Evil Faction, or the Chaotic Faction with strange ideas, he could talk to them all. At least three-quarters of the gods in the Pantheon temple had had meals and chatted with him. He was really a super player.
Although there had been no progress for the time being, Sui Xiong believed that sooner or later Javier would find out the origin of the ancient god who had died under the Ashes Forest.
At that time, he would call his friends and make big news!
But that day was still far away. It might take fifty years, a hundred years, or even longer. He, who had an endless life, could wait slowly, but ordinary people could not wait that long.
So … he still had to think of some other way …
For more than half a month, Sui Xiong wandered around Pyroxene Town. He observed the lives of the people, saw what they lacked, and wondered how to improve their living standards. He racked his brains.
If he had not had no hair now, perhaps he would have lost a lot of hair in the past half a month, making his head look like a Mediterranean man.
His meditation finally paid off. One day, when he was hiding in the mine and watching the miners working hard, he finally had an inspiration.
A few hours later, he found Felix and took out a design drawing.
"… What a huge project!" Felix exclaimed in admiration as he studied the blueprint carefully.
This was indeed a big project. Sui Xiong planned to dig four oblique tunnels outside Pyroxene Town and plant special mushrooms in the tunnels. The underground temperature was high enough for special mushrooms to grow, and as the mushrooms grew and multiplied, the concentration of negative energy around them would decrease. At this time, a deeper tunnel could be dug nearby, and special mushrooms could be planted in a deeper position. The previous special mushrooms would be harvested and the magic essence of negative energy would be extracted … In this cycle, it was equivalent to artificially creating a mineral vein of negative energy essence outside Pyroxene Town.
Over time, when the underground mineral vein in this area was deep enough, it could be developed horizontally, and special mushroom planting areas would be arranged underground, forming a huge "underground mining area."
From a technical point of view, this idea was not difficult, but it would take a lot of manpower. However, the planting of golden vines did not take much manpower, and there were many skilled miners in Pyroxene Town, so it should be easy.
It was just that the investment in this "artificial mineral vein" was relatively large, and it would take a long time from the start of construction to the beginning of harvest. If there was not enough financial resources, there was no way to support this plan.
And even if the artificial mineral vein was successful, the special mushrooms containing a lot of negative energy could be continuously harvested. The harvesting process was also a certain degree of danger, and the special mushrooms obtained could not be refined by ordinary people. This, in turn, required high-level Mages, as well as sufficient magical manpower.
Fortunately, for Pyroxene Town, which was already building a magic school, these were not problems.
"This is a good plan. As long as there is sufficient support of magic manpower, the entire Ashes Forest can be transformed into a huge negative energy mineral vein," Felix commented. "I think … Your Majesty, you have really found a way to revitalize this black forest of death!"
Sui Xiong scratched his head with his tentacles and smiled happily.
Although he could not solve the food problem, with a reliable source of revenue, the revival of Pyroxene Town would be able to get on the right track faster!
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