Chapter 736: Nutrient Source

Seeing the terrifyingly enormous wild paulownia on the screen, Lord Huo Lei sucked in a cold breath. Zhao Mu, Zhao Ze, Kuang Qingwei, Zhu Li, and the others all turned pale at the thought of what would happen if that thing grew inside their territory.

Tan Qi unconsciously scooted closer to Zhao Mu. Zhao Mu extended her one arm to hold her student close, gently patting her back as they watched the video together.

After the ten-minute-long video of clearing the wild paulownia finished playing, even Tang Huai fell uncharacteristically silent. Only then did everyone realize just how close they had come to a crisis that could have destroyed their entire territory.

Once again, this incident sobered the lords: even with walls, their territory still faced danger at every moment.

Xia Qing spoke, "Everyone saw it. When this high-risk wild paulownia is attacked, it blooms and bears fruit, attracting birds to peck at it and scattering seeds everywhere. That's why so many aggressive wild paulownias sprouted in our territory during this year's first Harmful Rain."

"This kind of aggressive wild paulownia evolves from low-risk to high-risk after going through Harmful Rain, taking over large stretches of forest and entire valleys." Seeing the heavy expressions on every face, Xia Qing began to rally them.

"Fortunately, the Safe Zone has already dispatched a task squad to eliminate the biggest risk. From now on, as long as we clear out the wild paulownias that sprout in our territory during Harmful Rain, and clear out those that sprout in nearby evolved forests after the rain, we won't have a major disaster."

Lord Huo Lei asked, "Xia Qing, can't your black blade cut through the paulownia's aerial roots and vines?"

Xia Qing explained, "If they're thinner than an arm, you can hack through them with effort, but it's less efficient than just pulling them out. Because after cutting them, you still have to dig out the parts buried in the soil and the tree roots."

Tang Huai sighed, "If this thing evolves for a few more years, it'll definitely break free of the soil and become a tree demon!"

Tang Heng pulled the topic back on track, "Based on my experience, after a Harmful-evolved wild paulownia sprouts, as long as your blade is sharp enough, two strong young men with plenty of stamina can clear it out root and all within fifteen minutes before it grows past two meters tall. So the key to dealing with the wild paulownia crisis is deploying enough manpower during Harmful Rain—patrolling the territory around the clock for three days, spotting them early, clearing them fast."

"Tang Heng hit the nail on the head." Xia Qing picked up the thread, "There's about a month until the second Harmful Rain, and the high-Yi-element spinach seeds will also mature during it. When that comes, every one of our territories will have to fight a tough battle. Everyone needs to be fully prepared—don't pin all your hopes of protecting your territory on outside rescue."

As for how each territory prepares, that's their own business.

"Understood!" Zhao Ze and Zhu Li replied in unison. Their two territories were the weakest in the alliance.

Meeting host Qi Fu announced the third agenda item, "The last thing today: Harmful Rain will last at least three days, and maintaining abundant stamina during it is the guarantee for handling the crisis. To that end, our alliance leader specially went to find Third Brother and secured an alliance benefit for everyone."

Only when every head had turned her way did Xia Qing take out a glass test tube filled with a colorless, transparent liquid from her medicine box.

Tang Huai, sitting directly across from Xia Qing, leaned forward, his eyes bulging wide. "This is… Yi-Element Stimulant?! Oh my god!"

Xia Qing…

Tang Heng reminded him, "Bro, Yi-Element Stimulant's public price is ten thousand points per tube. Even as an alliance benefit, it'd still be several thousand points."

Third Brother, such a reliable person, couldn't possibly be selling everyone such an expensive, scarce medicine. Besides, the side effects of Yi-Element Stimulant aren't something just anyone can handle.

True enough! Tang Huai gazed at Xia Qing eagerly, wordlessly urging her to speak faster.

"This medicine is called Nutrient Source, developed by Third Brother. Squeeze 15 milliliters of juice from high-Yi-element spinach leaves, drip one gram of Nutrient Source into it, and you get one tube of premium top-grade Nutrient Solution. The energy it contains is equivalent to that of 1.5 tubes of top-grade Nutrient Solution produced by Liehuo."

"I…"

Tang Huai, who was about to curse, was glared into silence by Yue Haiying, then remembered there were still children sitting at the table and quickly changed tack, "Holy crap, that's insane! Xia Qing, how many points is one tube of this Nutrient Source?"

Who wouldn't want such an outrageous medicine? Everyone held their breath, eyes wide, waiting to hear the alliance benefit price.

Xia Qing didn't play coy, she just stated the price directly, "Internal territory alliance price: 100 points per gram."

The allies exploded again upon hearing the price.

"How much?"

"100?!"

"That's way too cheap! Third Brother is the best."

"How can Third Brother be this amazing? How is his brain even wired?"

Of course—Third Brother is Blue Star's premium idol! The idol traded it to her at 80 points per gram, and to other allies at 100 points per gram. She was even the one who came up with the name Nutrient Source!

Xia Qing's face was calm, but inside she was over the moon.

Kuang Qingwei immediately worked out the math for everyone, "Right now the purchase price for high-Yi-element spinach is 400 points per jin. We squeeze out 15 milliliters of spinach juice, and 40 points' worth of spinach leaves is more than enough. That means we're using 140 points to buy top-grade Nutrient Solution worth 3,000 on the market!"

Although Yue Haiying hadn't joined the discussion, his breathing had quickened too. If Nutrient Source could be mass-produced, military casualties on external missions would drop dramatically, and military spending could be cut by a large margin.

Shi Du, who often went on missions, knew the value of top-grade nutrition all too well. "This Nutrient Solution doesn't just quickly replenish stamina, it can also alleviate or even repair bodily damage! Qing-jie, is this homemade Nutrient Solution also one tube per day?"

"One tube for evolved ones, half a tube or a third of a tube for ordinary people—that's enough to cover a full day's nutrition." Xia Qing added the drawbacks of this Nutrient Solution:

"Nutrient Source has to be stored at 0 to 10°C, and its shelf life is only two months. The Nutrient Solution made from it, stored at the same temperature, only has a 24-hour shelf life."

Yuan Yan spoke up, "We don't have a fridge, but we do have an ice cellar—we can store this medicine."

To extend the time food could be stored in their territory, last winter at the coldest point, the lords had all chopped plenty of river ice and stored it in cold cellars they'd dug in advance.

Zhao Mu also said, "A one-day shelf life is just right—we make it fresh and drink it fresh. Qing, how much can each territory buy?"

Such an outrageous medicine definitely wasn't available in unlimited supply.

Xia Qing answered, "Each territory is limited to 100 grams. Go back, discuss it, and report the amount you want to buy uniformly to Brother Qi."

"Buying, must buy!" Tang Huai slapped the table in excitement, "If Fire Phoenix finds out Territory Seven has such an outrageous medicine, she'll definitely be so angry she'll breathe fire."

Zhu Li, meanwhile, was looking forward to Li Si's reaction upon hearing the news, "If Fourth Sister were still here, she'd definitely propose a trade."

Kuang Qingwei said cheerfully, "She'd also fume and blame Third Brother for pricing it too low, saying it made her medicine with exclusive patent lose its competitive edge."