Chapter 2792: Ten Million Years of Output Value

After observing for about half an hour on the first Floating Island, Xia Duo immediately went to the second Floating Island. This island was similar in size to the previous one, and the number of Incubation Boxes was also about the same, both around one million.

This Wind Elemental Plane has a total of six Floating Islands, which means there are about six million Incubation Boxes, and the fixed incubation cycle for the Incubation Boxes is one to three years.

This allows for a simple estimation of the basic production capacity of this Element Ranch, which is about six million every three years, or two million per year.

Of course, this is under ideal conditions; considering the success rate at the Incubation Box stage, a significant proportion of elements will take longer than three years to be born.

And even for Primary Elements that reach the minimum harvesting standard, it is not one hundred percent certain that Elemental Essence can be harvested, so the ratio must be heavily discounted.

Using the various indicators Xia Duo negotiated with the Mairide Family to estimate (a Primary Elemental Essence yield rate of about ten percent), the annual production of this Elemental Plane's Element Ranch should be 60,000 Primary Elemental Essences.

But it is not limited to producing only Primary Elemental Essence; the longer the incubation time, the higher the proportion of Elemental Essence that can be produced, and the higher the quality. Correspondingly, the requirements for related technology and craftsmanship are also higher.

The most basic, of course, is the 60,000 Primary Elemental Essences. Based on the price of Primary Elemental Essence that Xia Duo previously traded with the Mairide Family, the annual output value of this ranch is 18 million Gold Coins.

Of course, this includes costs; after deducting costs, what remains might not match the scale of such an Element Ranch!

If one does not want to pay too much in costs, then reduce the cultivation intensity and extend the cultivation time; then the cost would mostly just be the maintenance cost of the Incubation Boxes.

However, the normal growth speed of Elemental Creatures is too slow. Either allow them to devour each other, or active feeding is required. The former might cause the elements to develop violent Wisdom, and the production efficiency is far inferior to active feeding.

The only drawback of the latter is that it requires spending more money.

Considering the time that can be saved, Xia Duo is more inclined toward active feeding, but producing only Primary Elemental Essence is far from enough for him; it would be best to be able to produce Advanced Elemental Essence.

Because from a longer-term perspective, the cost of both producing and consuming Advanced Elemental Essence is lower than others.

Xia Duo introduced the Element Ranch and produces Elemental Essence to prepare for future Spirit Automation, so he naturally needs to consider costs.

But the elemental breeding technology he can obtain from the Mairide Family only goes up to Intermediate Elements at most; the Mairide Family is unwilling to sell Advanced Element breeding technology.

Not to mention the Element Elders that are difficult to achieve through domestication; the technical gap is still quite large.

Of course, this does not mean that an Intermediate Element Ranch cannot produce Advanced Elemental Essence; it is actually a matter of scale of production.

If an Advanced Ranch can stably raise Advanced Elements and stably produce Advanced Elemental Essence.

Then an Intermediate Ranch has limited conditions and cannot raise Advanced Elements on a large scale. Although they are all free-range, the breeding process is actually controlled by the Element Elders.

Transferring technology, besides the part requiring labor, is to a large extent transferring the Element Elders who have mastered the corresponding technology.

As for the ratio of elements harvesting Elemental Essence, regardless of the specifications of the ranch, the harvesting ratio is relatively consistent; the ratio of Advanced Elements harvesting Elemental Essence is about seventy to eighty percent.

Intermediate is forty to fifty percent, and Primary is only ten percent.

……

After visiting the Floating Islands, Xia Duo followed Talafu along the elemental breeding process to the next stop of the Element Ranch, which is the grazing area where the Element Elders are located.

While moving within the Wild Wind Field, Xia Duo noticed that there were some miniature wind elements wandering freely around the two of them. They had just come out of the Incubation Boxes and, summoned by the Element Elder, were also heading to the next stop.

And at the end of the wind field, Xia Duo saw from afar a huge wind vortex. According to Talafu's introduction, that was one of the Element Elders of this ranch.

The miniature wind elements that have just come out of the Incubation Boxes will first head toward the vicinity of the Element Elder, or more accurately, merge into the Wild Wind Domain controlled by the Element Elder, and continue to grow in the domain for a period of time.

Just then, the giant wind vortex suddenly began to move. Talafu hurriedly reminded Xia Duo to keep up, "A Qizi is about to head to the feeding point, let's follow and take a look!"

"Mm."

Xia Duo responded and slightly increased his speed. The Element Elder named A Qizi was also moving within the Wild Wind Field; without using Spellcasting Haste, his speed was far faster than the two humans.

A wind field can be regarded as a kind of aerial highway; it is actually for the convenience of Elemental Creatures, or other creatures with Wind Element Control abilities, to move quickly within it.

Generally speaking, Element Elders can construct Wind Channel, but to maintain them for a long time requires investing resources for construction; it belongs to a type of special infrastructure.

Previously, when Talafu traveled between the South and the Northland, and migrated water vapor from the Northland to the South, he used Wind Channel.

Now, although Xia Duo himself did not use Spellcasting Haste, Talafu took the initiative to lead Xia Duo forward at a faster speed. This is a professional rapid movement method of Wind Channel, and it is also one of the technologies that need to be transferred in the agreement that Xia Duo and the Mairide Family are about to sign.

……

Following behind the Wind Element Elder A Qizi, Xia Duo and his companion would occasionally run head-on into miniature wind elements that had detached from A Qizi's Wild Wind Domain; some would directly collide and disintegrate, which was equivalent to death.

Some were luckier and survived, and like Xia Duo and his companion, continued to chase in the direction A Qizi was moving.

After crossing almost half of the Plane, A Qizi finally stopped. There was not a single Floating Island in sight, only the vast, raging, and endless airflow.

"A Qizi has already summoned the nearby Primary Elements while on the way; the next step is feeding."

Accompanied by Talafu's introduction, the "body" of the Element Elder A Qizi suddenly accelerated its rotation. The airflow in the outer circle soon disintegrated and dissipated as a result, but what was exchanged for it was lightning and thunder on the main body.

Moreover, those lightning bolts were precisely controlled by A Qizi; almost every time a few lightning bolts intersected, little specks would fall.

Soon, A Qizi's body looked as if countless sequins had been thrown into it, sparkling as it rotated.

"Those are the Elemental Gem being fed, right?" Xia Duo suddenly spoke.

"Yes, those are all Elemental Gem. Most of them are of the wind element attribute, but there are also other attributes. During the feeding process, A Qizi will convert the gems of other attributes into the wind attribute, while simultaneously cutting the larger gems into small pieces."

Just as Talafu finished speaking, the rotation speed of A Qizi's body slowed down slightly, and the body also grew larger. At the same time, those released Elemental Gem instead detached from A Qizi's body and scattered in all directions.

The next moment, the raging wind nearby instantly came alive, like boiling water. Countless Primary Elements began to frantically chase after the gemstone fragments scattered from A Qizi's body.

Seeing this scene, Xia Duo couldn't help but think of the scene when he was back in his hometown feeding koi in the park; scatter a handful of bait, and those koi accustomed to human feeding would surge frantically, turning the water surface into a pot of boiling fish soup.