Killing Dao Fruit
Chapter 285 - 282: Peng Xuan Grotto Heaven, Hybrid Pioneer

Chapter 285: Chapter 282: Peng Xuan Grotto Heaven, Hybrid Pioneer

Dai State, East Mountain Taishan.

North of Qianfeng County, Monkey Date Collection.

Ooo ooo ooo...

In the luxuriant persimmon forest, a piercingly cold gust of wind whirled up, and a black dot suddenly appeared in mid-air.

This dot swiftly expanded amidst the "hurrah hurrah" sound of the San Tu River, turning into a dark gateway with mottled copper bells at the eaves—the Ghost Gate.

The gate opened wide, and stepping out was Xu Zhenzhi, still dressed as a traveler. Looking at the familiar scenery, he exclaimed,

"Brother Wang, we’ve arrived, this is the place.

I, Old Xu, travel frequently all year round, but it’s been some days since I’ve come back here."

Behind him, the Ghost Gate shrunk back into a tall youth clad in black, who was none other than Wang Yuan, who had opened his Abyssal Dharma Body to hasten their journey.

He looked around curiously; apart from a not-so-large town nearby, all he could see were towering persimmon trees.

The persimmon forest stretched all the way up to Mount Taishan.

"Brother Xu, shouldn’t the Mountain Temple of the Nine Soldiers be at the summit of Mount Taishan? This seems to be just the foot of the mountain."

If there was anything special about this place, it was the shrine built with green bricks and green tiles in front of the two men.

In front of the shrine, incense candles that hadn’t burned out were placed, with wisps of green smoke curling up, permeated with a hint of incense fire energy.

Standing behind the shrine was a giant persimmon tree.

The tree was at least eight or nine stories tall, its trunk as sturdy as an iron pillar, requiring two people to embrace it just to barely get their arms around it.

The magical thing was that although it was only February, the tree was already laden with fruit.

The branches weighed down by persimmons hung very low, within reach if one just raised their hand.

Meanwhile, the upper branches had flowers and leaves, with fruits that varied in size, some large, some small, some green, some red.

It was as if all four seasons had converged on this one persimmon tree.

Covered in red silk, along with the red and green persimmons amidst the branches and the swirling incense, the tree looked as if it was ablaze with fire, a truly spectacular sight.

"This is the local Earth God—Duke Shi. Because he had rendered great service to this village in his lifetime, after death, his soul possessed this large persimmon tree and was venerated by the villagers as an Earth God.

He is also the gatekeeper of the Mountain Temple of the Nine Soldiers. This entire persimmon forest is his eyes and ears, and his power is extraordinary."

Wang Yuan focused his gaze and indeed saw a dazzling yellow divine light shining several meters around the persimmon tree.

Pure Earth Gods, like Magicians, have Imperial Decrees of Red, Yellow, Green, and Purple, each corresponding to the four realms of the Magician’s cultivation.

No wonder he belongs to the Nine Soldiers; even a gatekeeper turned out to be a Yellow-Decree God.

Xu Zhenzhi also gave Wang Yuan a rough explanation of Duke Shi’s background.

Since they might need to come and go frequently in the future, it never hurts to know a bit more about the influential gatekeeper of the new workplace.

This place is called "Monkey Date Collection" because a long time ago, wild monkey dates grew everywhere here.

Though they also belong to the persimmon family, the fruits are very small and taste sour, with little use.

It just so happened that Duke Shi, who had been a county magistrate outside for a lifetime, retired and returned to his hometown.

Seeing the hardships of the younger villagers’ lives, with not many means to make a living, he sought the technique of grafting persimmon trees onto monkey date rootstock from a senior of the Nine Soldiers.

Years later, the local persimmon trees indeed yielded a bumper harvest.

Dried persimmons could be used as a supplement to the food supply; they could be used to make syrup, vinegar, wine, and even extract persimmon lacquer.

Not only did it save the lives of countless villagers, but it was also quite profitable, and the villagers revered him immensely.

Most importantly, persimmon trees, once planted, can be harvested for a hundred years and live for up to 300 years. After persimmon trees were planted all around the surrounding mountains and forests, it also benefited the future generations.

Wang Yuan nodded to himself and followed Xu Zhenzhi in offering incense to Duke Shi.

From this Monkey Date Collection, it was evident that the Nine Soldiers had always been researching strategies to increase food production.

Wang Yuan’s plans were still on paper, whereas the Nine Soldiers might have been putting their strategies into practice for many years.

If a way could be found to significantly increase the production of staple foods, it would surely enhance the strength of the Dragon Qi Prohibition in Red County Shenzhou by several times.

Perhaps it could even become the turning point from defense to offense for Red County Shenzhou!

Just as Wang Yuan was still in thought, Xu Zhenzhi had already circled the giant persimmon tree three times to the left and three times to the right, before shouting loud,

"Open!"

Instantly, a white jade gateway leaped out of the thick trunk of the persimmon tree.

Xu Zhenzhi pulled Wang Yuan through the gate.

After the jade light flashed, the two found themselves amid an immense sea of clouds, with distant green mountains faintly visible as if they were floating immortal mountains.

The mist dispersed into colors, the sun and moon shimmered.

Thousands of ancient cypresses, wet with rain, painted the mountains green. Countless tall bamboos, shrouded in mist, stretched along the path in deep color. Occasionally, the call of a crane rang out, and every now and then, a lucky phoenix was seen soaring. Upon closer inspection of this blessed land, it was indeed more magnificent than heaven itself.

Seeing such a grand scene, Wang Yuan almost wondered if he had arrived at the Heavenly Palace.

Pleased to see the amazement on Wang Yuan’s face, Xu Zhenzhi laughed heartily and patted his shoulder.

"How about it? This is the East Mountain Taishan Cave, ranked among the top three of the thirty-six Grotto Heavens. It’s a world unto itself, with a circuit of a thousand miles, also known as: Penglai Xuan Grotto Heaven.

"It is also one of the best treasures in the whole world."

Wang Yuan naturally knew that there were thirty-six Grotto Heavens and seventy-two Blessed Lands in the heaven and earth, which are the acupoints of Heaven and Earth’s Spiritual Mechanism, where a mustard seed turns into a universe unto itself.

As soon as Qiankun was partitioned, and the pure and turbid began to separate, they merged into rivers, and coalesced into mountains; some matched with the stars, while others concealed Grotto Heavens.

He had once seen the Beimang Mountain Blessed Land, one of the seventy-two Blessed Lands, with his own eyes.

After being harmed by the Yili King, compared to the East Mountain Taishan Cave, which is also among the top-tier Grotto Heavens, the difference was immeasurable.

This was a truly legendary cultivator’s treasure land.

When Wang Yuan came back to his senses,

he realized that two young men dressed as ancient people with pale faces tinged with red and wearing high-sleeve hats had been waiting for a long time. They bowed and then gestured for them to follow.

"Once we descend the mountain here, it’s the territory of the ’Cave Heaven Agricultural Research Institute.’

Uncle Lei has recently developed quite a few new crops, and to avoid accidental harm, we Lin Qin brothers will guide the two Taoist fellows."

"Crops? Accidental harm?"

While Wang Yuan was still confused by these two unrelated terms,

Xu Zhenzhi had already scurried to their side like a monkey, urging them incessantly:

"Quick, quick, quick, lead us out of here! Don’t let me see that guy Lei Mingyuan!"

Although he did not understand why Xu Zhenzhi, a Yellow Seal Mage, would be so nervous, Wang Yuan did not act recklessly and immediately followed closely.

As he walked and listened to Xu Zhenzhi’s introduction, Wang Yuan also roughly understood what the "Agricultural Research Institute" was about.

Transforming the world with Daoist Skill also requires the help of "Heavenly Spirit Qi" to display mana, and in essence, it is also a kind of pollution, with the source just being the magician himself.

Starting from True Qi to the mana of Mages, the higher the realm, the stronger the pollution.

Thus, the influence Daoist Skill has on crops will remain indefinitely, eventually affecting the consumers.

The biggest problem is that even if high-yield crops are developed, various side effects will occur.

Especially the person in charge of this experimental field under their feet, Lei Mingyuan, who comes from the Poison God Path in the south, is also the senior fellow disciple of the Miao Girl Bai Mo from the Imperial Dragon Guard.

His Lifebound Poison, the Red Line Poison, is not skilled in fighting, and he himself only loves to do various researches.

According to Xu Zhenzhi, Lei Mingyuan firmly believes that all things in the world can be used for poison and is obsessed with the hybridization arts of "Human Poison," "Beast Poison," "Plant Poison," and so on.

In the end, the Poison God Path could no longer tolerate him and expelled him from the sect.

After many years of wandering, he joined the "Nine Soldiers" and became a researcher in the logistics department,

continuing to propagate his philosophy.

Soon they reached the first of the peculiar plants.

The fruit looked somewhat like an eggplant, but was twisted into the shape of a human face, half purple and half white, one side crying and the other smiling.

The young guide explained:

"This is the Double-Faced Fruit, half sweet and half sour, with an extremely fresh taste. It can bear fruit all year round and has a decent yield.

However, if someone short and plump eats it, they will become tall and thin; but if someone tall and skinny eats it, they will become short and plump;

Men who eat it will turn into women, and women who eat it will turn into men."

Wang Yuan nodded stiffly:

"I see, it’s like an enhanced version of the Leopard Embryo Strengthening Pill."

Next, there was a large patch of pink-coloured plants with an indescribable shape, which caused both men and women to get pregnant after eating them, but the reward was a little mushroom person—the "Human Mushroom."

It is said that the original research goal was to rapidly increase the population.

Then there was a tree covered with large white steamed buns, which seemed to have a high yield, the "Steamed Bun Tree."

Unfortunately, whether old or young, man or woman, after eating from it, they would gradually grow huge "white steamed buns" on their chests; the more they ate, the bigger they grew...

Wang Yuan looked at these bizarre hybrid plants and couldn’t help but ask the two young men with curiosity:

"Are the two brothers also employed by the ’Cave Heaven Agricultural Research Institute’? The research at your institute is quite eye-opening.

May I know what projects you two are working on?"

The two brothers, who had been expressionless from the start, only now showed a hint of frustration on their faces and said in unison after exchanging glances:

"Being researched!"

"Uh..."

It finally dawned on Wang Yuan. Didn’t "Lin Qin" mean apple tree in the north?

He couldn’t help but feel a twinge of sympathy for these two fellows.

For them to have survived completely intact in such a dangerous place was no small feat, and who knew what their own bodies had been transformed into.

Just then, an exuberant shout came from the woods not far away:

"Old Xu?! You’re back?

Have you finished all those ’Beauties’ Bananas’ that can turn your right hand into a beautiful woman?

Come on, I’ve still got some saved for you here!"