Astral Cockroach

Banbu obtained a portion of the qualification to participate in the exchange within their circle through the Peach-fruit Cockroach King, using Nine-Leaf Red Lotus seeds or Sacred Bamboo fruit to exchange for elemental Origin Power foods of equivalent value.

After waiting for two months in Changsheng County, he successfully obtained three portions of Fire-oil Pine cones and three portions of Fire-oil Tung fruits. In a few years, there will be three more portions of Flame-crown Pear fruits exchanged from the Cockroach tribe.

Good things come in pairs. Just as Banbu was bringing the exchanged items back to Li Bamboo Peak, it happened that Scarlet Crow Mountain had successfully exchanged for Divine-grade Spruce pine cones from Spruce County, and they sent Banbu a portion.

Both Divine-grade Fire-oil Pine cones and Fire-oil Tung fruits can accelerate growth and greatly enhance fire elemental abilities. Spruce pine cones strengthen the Origin Power patterns of the carapace, mainly increasing the amount of Origin Power that can be accommodated, which enhances the explosiveness and sustainability of elemental abilities.

Banbu had also eaten Fire-scale Pine cones and Nine-Leaf Red Lotus seeds. With the strengthening of multiple Divine-grade Origin Power foods, how strong would the burst of fire abilities be?

Banbu himself wasn't quite sure. Next time he went to Scarlet Crow Mountain, passing by the coast, he could try it out at sea.

… …

Using the Iron Birch wreckage on Tata had some effect, but it wasn't quite ideal.

Being stuck in between was most troubling for insects.

Red Rice didn't dare to act rashly.

Banbu returned to Li Bamboo Peak, personally examined the situation, carefully considered it, and instructed Big Head to give Tata another 300 bags of wreckage in the late spring and early summer of the following year to continue observing.

On the Dragon Bamboo Continent side, the laying of steel rails had passed through the Central Region and entered the flat Western Region, greatly reducing the difficulty of the work.

White Bamboo successfully advanced to County Lord and continued to stay and work. Next, Ma Bamboo and the other 5 Bamboo Rat warriors would gradually advance to County Lord. They hadn't eaten the Heart of Origin, and after advancing to County Lord, they would no longer be able to move freely in an environment without Origin Power, so they would return to Li Bamboo Peak.

Currently, there was also plenty of work waiting for them in Li Bamboo County.

A new reservoir lake was being opened on the northeast side of the lake where the Nine-Leaf Red Lotus resided. Excavation had been underway for 2 winter seasons and was nearing completion this winter. The Bamboo Rat warriors would need to return to use their earth and stone abilities to reinforce the dikes and drainage channels.

The rice paddies managed by Red Rice needed to have ditches dug to divert water from the river channels, which also required the Bamboo Rat warriors to use their earth and stone abilities for reinforcement.

Turtle Shell Peak was about to undergo large-scale development of Turtle Shell Vine plantations. Vine plants needed to have supports erected for climbing, preferably metal supports.

Mining and smelting iron was the work that the Bamboo Rat warriors were best at, and Banbu left it all to Ma Bamboo and the others.

There was also the vineyard that was about to be developed, which also required metal support structures, and the amount of work was not small.

… …

The complexity of grape cultivation and breeding far exceeded that of rice and bamboo.

Banbu brought Red Rice, Red Millet, Dragon Bamboo, and Crown Pear with him, and Fragrant Cattail led a team of bees to follow along to investigate.

Baba, who had been hiding in the Snow Pear Cave, was also secretly brought out. The Sheep Milk Grape and Sheep Fat Grape leaves that Banbu had requested when leaving Sheep Milk Peak were handed over to Baba for scanning, recording relevant genetic information, and analysis and deduction would become relatively simple.

… …

Another small warrior who planted grapes was added, bringing the total to 5. They were named Jiang Qing, Cao Qing, Han Qing, and Shuang Qing, corresponding to four native varieties of green-fruit grapes. Among them, Jiang Qing was the oldest, so the mountain where they lived was officially named "Jiang Qing Mountain".

The fifth small warrior was named "Milk". In the future, if Li Bamboo County cultivated "Sheep Milk Grapes" themselves, it wouldn't be called "Sheep Milk", but "Milk". If there was a sixth small warrior who liked grapes, they would be named "Sheep Fat", and the corresponding "Sheep Fat Grapes" would also be renamed "Cow Fat Grapes".

Cows and sheep are both herbivores, and cows are taller and stronger than sheep. These two rather shameless names were actually thought up by the usually honest Big Head.

5 warriors, 5 grape nurseries, 5 varieties.

Each variety had 10,000 seeds, and sowing had been going on for nearly a year. After screening, an average of 3,000 seedlings were retained in each nursery. There was a significant difference in the growth rate of different varieties. The slow ones had seedlings with an average height of about 10 centimeters, while the fast ones had seedlings with an average height of over 20 centimeters.

The young seedlings still needed to be cultivated in the nursery for another year and screened again, with only 1 to 2 thousand seedlings of each variety ultimately remaining.

Next, 5 planting plots would need to be opened up and sown separately.

Depending on the variety, the fast-growing ones could start flowering and bearing fruit in 3 years, while the slowest-growing ones would take 7 years.

… …

The group arrived at Jiang Qing Mountain, and sensing the movement, Jiang Qing led Milk, who was still an L8 intermediate small warrior, to greet them.

"County Lord Banbu! County Lord Red Rice…" Jiang Qing greeted them in turn.

Red Rice asked, "Have Cao Qing and the other three gone into the jungle to look for God-given seeds?"

Jiang Qing replied, "Yes, during the autumn and winter leisure time, everyone goes out to try their luck. I stayed behind to take care of the small warrior Milk."

Red Rice flicked his antennae and beckoned, "You two little fellows, follow along. Banbu is here to teach you how to plant grapes."

Banbu said, "First, take me to see the seedlings of the White Jade, Yunzhen, and Changqing varieties."

"Yes," Jiang Qing replied.

The nursery was on the mountain, not far from Jiang Qing's dwelling cave.

The small warrior Milk was very enthusiastic, rushing ahead and introducing, "This is the White Jade grape, this is the Yunzhen grape. This Changqing grape, its leaves do not wither in winter."

Banbu loosened his claws.

Baba took off on her own, landed in front of the nursery, and began scanning, detecting, and collecting genetic data for analysis and calculation.

It seemed there was a discovery.

After checking the White Jade, Yunzhen, and Changqing, they continued to inspect the Ge Si and Crystal grapes planted in the other two nurseries.

"Grapes are a special kind of plant, with a relatively high demand for calcium. The soil in the nursery is deficient in calcium, and the growth of the plants is not very good."

Jiang Qing and Milk didn't understand human language and looked blankly at Banbu, then at Red Rice.

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"I've compared it carefully, and the soil here is similar to that of Purple Crystal County!" Banbu asked, "What's the solution?"

Baba said, "It's very simple. When you usually hunt, seal the leftover animal bones in a crucible and burn them at high temperature to obtain organic calcium fertilizer. In the spring, crush it, mix it with swamp water, swamp residue, and a small amount of wood ash, and irrigate it."

"Understood." Banbu turned his head and told Jiang Qing and Milk about Baba's discovery.

Baba continued, "Banbu, it's easy to crossbreed Sheep Milk grapes, but it's very troublesome to breed Sheep Fat grapes."

"Changqing grapes have developed root systems and thick branches, but they grow slowly. It serves as a rootstock in the breeding process."

"Yunzhen grape seedlings have slender branches and poor root development. They must be grafted onto Changqing grapes by collecting scions."

"White Jade grapes can also be grafted onto Changqing grapes, but if you don't want the trouble, you don't have to graft them."

Banbu asked, "So, Sheep Fat grapes are actually formed by crossbreeding Yunzhen and White Jade varieties?"

"Yes." Baba said, "Overall, White Jade grapes are clearly of better quality. As the mother plant, collect pollen from Yunzhen grapes and pollinate the White Jade grapes."

Banbu asked, "Is grafting necessary? I heard that Changqing grapes take 7 years to grow."

"Yunzhen grapes must be grafted." Baba said, "Calcium supplementation and grafting are both very necessary. Good growing conditions allow the plants to grow healthily and ensure the excellence of the genetic genes."

Baba then said, "Ge Si grapes are also rootstock. Collect Crystal grape scions and graft them onto Ge Si grapes."

"Hybridization, grafting, fertilization, pruning, etc. are all detailed techniques. The process is cumbersome, but none of them are important matters. Learn patiently… Banbu, these stupid cockroach warriors won't be able to learn it, right?"

Banbu said, "First, let Crown Pear and Dragon Bamboo stay, and Red Millet should also listen in for a while. You teach the three of them first, and then they will teach the other warriors in the future."

"Crown Pear is about the same." Baba muttered, then continued, "First, you need to cultivate high-quality Sheep Milk grapes. Double-line hybridization is very simple, and the resulting seeds will directly have normal reproductive capabilities. It can be considered the sixth grape derivative."

"Cross Sheep Milk grapes with Crystal grapes, first using the Crystal grapes as the mother plant, collecting Sheep Milk grape pollen, and pollinating the Crystal grapes."

"It doesn't directly produce the Sheep Fat grapes you want. Their hybrid is not a high-quality variety. On the contrary, the gene sequence is chaotic and extremely unstable. The first generation will be a variety of inferior mutant species."

"Subsequent cultivation is very troublesome. First, you need to screen out seeds with reproductive capabilities from a massive number of inferior mutant species."

Banbu nodded his antennae, indicating that he was listening, and at the same time, he defaulted to Baba doing this screening work.

Baba continued, "Cultivate the first-generation mutant species to obtain the second-generation seeds and sow them. The second-generation genes tend to be stable. Cultivate them to maturity, collect pollen, and then pollinate the Sheep Milk grapes again. There is about a one in fifteen billion chance of producing the Sheep Fat grapes you want. The intermediate process involves more than just probability issues…"

"The entire breeding process uses Purple Crystal and Sheep Milk as mother plants. Plant hybridization not only involves gene inheritance but also cytoplasmic inheritance. Sheep Fat grapes exhibit a crystalline, pure white jade-like color and a strong fruity aroma, which combines the cytoplasmic characteristics of the two plants."

When Banbu first heard the Purple Crystal Tree Spirit's introduction, he immediately guessed some of it and didn't find it novel. At the time, he was surprised, but it was nothing more than marveling at the Purple Stem Beetle tribe's ability to come up with such a complex breeding method.

Red Rice and Crown Pear were still racking their brains to think about the principles involved.

Red Millet, Dragon Bamboo, and Fragrant Cattail were already stunned, at a loss and not knowing what was being said.

Jiang Qing and Milk didn't understand what Baba was saying in the first place, but instead appeared as calm as Banbu, and even a little expectant.