Chapter 1094

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Protagonist:

Xu Zhangqing

Zhang Zaizhi looked to be in his eighties, but his actual age was certainly far greater.

He wore a gray long robe, standing out starkly among the Stewards dressed in splendid attire.

Yet his eyes were clear, his smile sincere — unlike those people just now, whose smiles hid ulterior motives.

Zhang Zaizhi walked up to Xu Zhangqing, cupped his fists, and said, "Xu Zhangqing, this old man has stayed in the Star Spirit Grass for over eight hundred years; I know every matter, top to bottom, of the Star Spirit Grass. Whatever you want to ask, feel free to ask."

"Whatever you want to ask, feel free to ask."

Eight hundred years?

Xu Zhangqing looked at him and couldn't help but ask, "Elder Zhang, are you the person who has stayed in this Star Spirit Grass the longest?"

Zhang Zaizhi smiled and nodded, "That batch of people who entered the Star Spirit Grass with me back then — some were promoted upward, some were transferred away, some exhausted their lifespans and failed to break through. Now, the only one still remaining here is indeed just me alone."

Now, the only one still remaining here is indeed just me alone.

Xu Zhangqing fell silent for an instant, then asked the question he had always wanted to ask: "What exactly is the difference between the spirit plant cultivation methods of the Beidou Star Domain and the Tianyuan Realm where I am?"

Hearing this question, a trace of comprehension flashed through Zhang Zaizhi's eyes.

He did not answer immediately, but walked to the White Jade Stone Table in the center of the great hall, and with a wave of his hand traced a gesture over the miniature map of Yu Heng Xing.

"Xu Zhangqing, this old man speaks directly; please don't take offense."

"The spirit plant methods on the Tianyuan Star Domain side — to put it nicely, they're called adapting to local conditions; to put it bluntly, they're primitive soil methods from the barbaric era."

"Barren Land, thin Spiritual Energy, shattered laws — the effort and heartblood spent to plant a single spirit rice stalk there exceeds that for planting a hundred stalks here."

"And from start to finish, it all has to rely on the planter's own ability to forcibly endure."

"Sprouting depends on the season, irrigation depends on water diversion, pest control depends on methods, and one even has to contend with all kinds of natural disasters and man-made calamities."

"After one planting cycle, whether the person is a cultivator or a farmer has already become indistinguishable."

He paused, pointing at those neatly arranged Spirit Field grids on the map: "But the Beidou Star Domain is different.

Everything here is preset in advance.

The Spiritual Light Shield wraps the entire Yu Heng Xing, the four seasons are constant, wind and rain are controllable, even the duration of daily sunlight is precise down to the space between breaths.

The Spirit Fields of the Star Spirit Grass — every plot is standard size, the Spiritual Power concentration in the soil is uniformly allocated by the Supreme Elder Hall, seeds are uniformly cultivated by the Tripod Hall, irrigation is uniformly executed by the Wind Thunder Hall.

The seeds' quality, type, size, even the vitality content of each and every seed — are almost exactly the same.

From sowing to harvest, the entire process almost never has any accidents."

As Zhang Zaizhi spoke, his palm pressed lightly on a certain area of the map.

Instantly, the Spirit Fields in that area lit up with green light, and immediately afterward rows of data emerged beside them.

"Look, this is last month's Spirit Field harvest statistics."

"Third Grade Spirit Field spirit rice output quality — all supreme grade."

"Fourth-Grade Spirit Field spirit rice output quality — all superior grade."

He withdrew his hand, turned his head to look at Xu Zhangqing: "In the Tianyuan Realm, a Spirit Field able to stably produce superior grade spirit rice — I'm afraid that would already be a top-tier spirit farmer.

But on Yu Heng Xing, superior grade is merely the passing line."

Hearing this, Xu Zhangqing's face remained impassive, but his heart stirred up shocking waves.

He finally understood.

The Tianyuan Realm's spirit plant methods, in essence, rely on an individual's ability and experience to contend against the uncertainty of the natural environment.

While the Beidou Star Domain fundamentally does not need to contend.

Here there are no natural disasters, no Spiritual Power fluctuations, no climate changes.

All uncertainties have been erased by the Daodao Zun with his Individual Strength.

The entire Yu Heng Xing is like a precisely operating gigantic Factory.

Twelve double-hours without cease, day after day producing spirit rice, spirit medicine, spirit materials.

Because there is a powerhouse like the Daodao Zun sitting in command, there will be absolutely no accidents.

No droughts or floods, no Spiritual Power disorder, no shattered laws.

Not a single one.

And this is the biggest difference between having a powerhouse sitting in command and not having one.

After Zhang Zaizhi waited for Xu Zhangqing to finish digesting this information, he then opened his mouth to ask: "Xu Zhangqing, anything else you want to know?"

Xu Zhangqing recovered from his shock, thought for a moment, and asked a very practical question: "There are no insect pests here at all?"

Back when he was in the Tianyuan Realm, insect pests were one of the most headache-inducing problems for all spirit farmers.

A single Spirit Devouring Insect burrowing into a Spirit Field could gnaw the field clean of a single grain within three days.

When he was a Formal Disciple at the Dongting Immortal Sect, he spent no small amount of effort on pest control alone.

Hearing this question, Zhang Zaizhi smiled: "Initially there indeed were, not just on Yu Heng Xing — the entire Beidou Star Domain has suffered very severe insect disasters.

The most severe time, a Devouring Spirit Mother Worm hid inside a batch of star meteorites and infiltrated, and in one go gnawed through the entire Spirit Field reserves of fourteen Shenghuo Xing."

Xu Zhangqing was stunned: "Devouring Spirit Mother Worm?"

"A Mother Worm comparable to the Nascent Soul stage."

Zhang Zaizhi's tone was very calm, as if recounting a trivial old story: "The Patrol Heaven Division at the time had no way to deal with it — kill the small ones and the big ones come, simply couldn't kill them all.

Mother Worm not eliminated, Insect Swarm not extinguished."

Xu Zhangqing pressed further: "What happened afterward?"

Zhang Zaizhi said: "Later, the Lord of the Great Dao made a trip to the Vacuum Homeland."

This place name, Xu Changqing had never heard of: "Vacuum Homeland?"

"The nest of the Ten Thousand Insect Mothers."

Zhang Zaizhi said this, his voice unconsciously lowering a few degrees: "That is a stretch of void outside the Floating World Four Domains, the place of origin of all Insect Race, where the Ten Thousand Insect Mother resides."

"What did Master go to do?"

"Had a chat."

"Chatted?"

"Specifically what they chatted about, no one knows."

"But since then, at least within the range of the Beidou Star Domain, no insect pest has appeared again."

"Not a single one!"

Xu Changqing was stunned.

Matters like insect pest, in the Tianyuan Realm, are a natural law that human power cannot eradicate.

No matter how powerful the Xiuxian Zhe, they can only destroy one wave after another, forever treating the symptoms but not the root cause.

But here, the Lord of the Great Dao directly went to find the source of the Insect Race, even chatted with their ruler for a while, and then the insect pest disappeared.

Xu Changqing was silent for several breaths, suddenly asked: "Could it be that there is no price?"

"There is."

Zhang Zaizhi looked at him, nodded and said: "Of the Star Souls produced by the Beidou Star Domain every year, a portion must be sent to the Vacuum Homeland."

"Every year, not a single time can be missing."

Xu Changqing fell silent again.

Indeed, behind any once-and-for-all solution, there is a huge price.

After a moment, he did not dig deeper into this topic, but continued asking along: "Elder Zhang, Yu Heng Xing produces so many resources, besides for their own use, do they also take them for transaction?"

Zhang Zaizhi gave an affirmative: "That is natural. Although the Beidou Star Domain is vast, the portion that can be digested is ultimately limited."

"The remaining things, a portion flows to the other two domains within the Floating World Four Domains, and another portion is sent to Yuan Chu."

Xu Changqing's eyebrow moved slightly: "Yuan Chu?"

Zhang Zaizhi reached out, pointing at the void outside the map of Yu Heng Xing: "Outside the Floating World Four Domains, besides the Vacuum Homeland just mentioned, there are also the Endless Star Domain and the Chaos Sea."

"The ruler of the Endless Star Domain is named Wan Jie Zhen Zhu."

"The ruler of the Chaos Sea is named Xian Xu Jun, whose true form is an Ancestor Giant Snake."

Xu Changqing silently recited these two names in his heart once.

Wan Jie Zhen Zhu.

Xian Xu Jun.

These two names, he had never seen in any classics before.

Xiuxian Zhe of the Tianyuan Realm spend their whole lives, knowing nothing more than this range of the Floating World Four Domains.

As for what lies outside the Four Domains, basically no one cares, and no one has the qualification to care.

Xu Changqing took a deep breath: "How do these two compare with Master?"

Zhang Zaizhi, hearing these words, his expression on his face became somewhat subtle, he hesitated for a moment, then carefully opened his mouth: "Xu Disciple, this kind of topic, this old man dares not recklessly discuss."

"I can only say, the Boundary Realm range of the Endless Star Domain and the Chaos Sea, added together, is more than three times larger than the Floating World Four Domains."

"Being able to do business with Beidou Xianfu, the depth of their foundation, you should be able to imagine."

After Xu Changqing heard this, he did not ask anymore.

The Lord of the Great Dao could possess Beidou Xianfu, could monopolize the resource allocation of the Floating World Four Domains.

Relied not only on cultivation.

But also on a top-level relationship network so vast it is suffocating.

Negotiating terms with the ruler of the Insect Race, conducting transactions with the True Lord of the Endless Star Domain, maintaining balance with the Ancestor Giant Snake of the Chaos Sea.

Every person on this network is a terrifying existence standing at the top.

He suddenly felt that his understanding of this cheap Master was currently far from enough!