Grafting Fruit Trees

After their discussion of the Dao, Nuwa, who had become a Quasi-Sage by severing her corpse, returned to cultivate in seclusion.

Fuxi, however, had yet to break through. He stayed behind to discuss the Dao of formations and restrictions with Nebula Daoist, only bidding farewell and leaving Nine Tripod Iron Fork Mountain after some time.

After Fuxi departed, Nebula Daoist came to the peach grove atop Eight Treasures Peak.

It was now the season when peaches ripened. The trees were laden with fist-sized peaches, most of which had already begun to blush red.

Yet on one peach tree, upon branches somewhat different from the peach tree itself, there grew two fruits resembling Ginseng Fruit. They were flushed red like peaches, though they were not as large as true Ginseng Fruit.

"The grafted Ginseng Fruit looks quite good. I just wonder how effective it is."

As he spoke, Nebula Daoist plucked one and took a crisp bite. It was crunchy and sweet, its flesh soft, tender, and juicy. The taste was beyond reproach.

As the flesh seemed to melt into his stomach and he sensed the power contained within, Nebula Daoist's eyes lit up slightly.

"As expected, it's better than the peaches in this grove. Of course, it's still far inferior to true Ginseng Fruit. But Ginseng Fruit yields far too little. If it can be grafted extensively onto peach trees, then the yield of this 'Ginseng Fruit' will be high!"

"My previous attempt to graft Vermilion Fruit failed. It should have been due to incompatible attributes." He then walked over to another peach tree. Seeing the visibly withered grafted twig upon it, Nebula Daoist pondered briefly before cutting off a small branch of Vermilion Fruit and beginning another grafting attempt on a different peach tree.

After cutting open the bark on a peach branch and embedding the Vermilion Fruit branch within to complete the graft, Nebula Daoist flipped his hand and took out the Life-Reaping Gourd.

Nebula Daoist poured a single drop of green liquid brimming with life force from the Life-Reaping Gourd, letting it fall onto the grafted section.

At once, the grafted area began to merge and grow together. The buds on the branch immediately sprouted new shoots at a visible speed, even swiftly flowering and bearing fruit.

"The effect is actually this good?" It was Nebula Daoist's first time using the life spiritual liquid within the Life-Reaping Gourd. Watching the Vermilion Fruit on the newly grown branch mature at a visible pace, he could not help feeling astonished.

A moment later, once the Vermilion Fruit had ripened, Nebula Daoist plucked the crystalline, peach-red fruit and popped it into his mouth. His eyes immediately lit up.

"It has the sweetness of a peach. The warm energy contained in its flesh no longer carries the blazing heat of Vermilion Fruit, yet it seems to blend together perfectly, containing the mystery of water and fire fusion. It tastes far better than either peaches or Vermilion Fruit."

"The Dao of grafting contains such mysteries of life. If not for Nuwa's guidance, I wouldn't have understood it so easily." Nebula Daoist murmured as he looked over the peach trees covering the mountain. "It seems I can try grafting more spiritual fruit trees. These spiritual fruits, more delicious and possessing even more mysterious and unique effects, will be one of a kind. In the future, they will surely be worth more than ordinary spiritual fruits."

Nebula Daoist quietly left Nine Tripod Iron Fork Mountain and soon arrived at an orchard not too far away.

Located in a mountain valley basin, the orchard was filled at a glance with all kinds of fruit trees. Some were large and some small, with leaves and bark in varying colors, as if it were a hodgepodge of every kind of fruit tree.

This was precisely Shi Mo's experimental orchard for fruit tree grafting. It contained the vast majority of fruit trees that could be found in the Primordial World.

Moreover, as the Earth-Core Fire Dragons searched in all directions, the variety of fruit trees here was still slowly increasing.

"Master!" As soon as Nebula Daoist arrived at the orchard, Golden Flame, who was responsible for tending it, hurried forward to greet him.

"How is it? I see that many of the fruit trees here have already been grafted. Have any especially high-quality fruits grown from the grafts?" Nebula Daoist asked.

Golden Flame hurriedly replied, "Master, I've tried quite a few grafts. Most succeeded, though some were very difficult to graft successfully, and some simply could not be made to succeed at all."

"Most of the grafted fruits have been of good quality. Some taste better, while others contain more energy or have better effects. There are also some especially excellent ones, and most of those were rather difficult to graft successfully." As Golden Flame spoke, he led Nebula Daoist to inspect the results of his grafting.

"Most grafted spiritual fruits only improve in quality to a limited extent. Their flavors merely become more varied, while their effects become more unusual." After examining them, Nebula Daoist gradually grasped some of the principles behind grafting spiritual fruit trees. "Those that are difficult to graft are usually of conflicting attributes. Yet once successfully grafted, the spiritual fruits they bear are often astonishingly high in quality, with even more unique effects."

"Screen them carefully. Select some of the better grafted spiritual fruit varieties and propagate them extensively." After roughly looking everything over, Nebula Daoist gave Golden Flame these instructions before adding, "As for those that are difficult to graft, leave them to me. When you transplant fruit trees, plant those that need to be grafted beside one another. I or my true body will personally handle the grafting. From now on, all fruit trees that can be grafted should be planted in alternating arrangements."

"Yes, Master," Golden Flame answered. Then he could not help adding, "Master, as we plant spiritual fruit trees over a large area, although many of the harvested spiritual fruits are stored in the underground spiritual veins, some are unsuitable for storage in the spiritual veins and cannot be kept for long. If they cannot be processed and sold quickly, they may spoil."

"Aren't we trading with the Wu Clan? Can't they be sold?" Nebula Daoist asked with a frown.

Golden Flame replied somewhat helplessly, "Master, they truly are difficult to sell. After all, spiritual fruits are not scarce in the Primordial World now. Even if the spiritual fruits we cultivate on a large scale are of somewhat better quality, they are still not as popular as millet and are not something the Wu Clan needs."

"Mm, that is true." Nebula Daoist nodded thoughtfully. "It seems my idea of studying grafted spiritual fruits was correct. They may only be interested in spiritual fruits that are high-quality and unlike anything they have tasted before."

"Try trading those grafted spiritual fruits with the Wu Clan and see how receptive they are," Nebula Daoist continued.

Golden Flame quickly said, "Actually, the Wu Clan does not seem to care too much about how spiritual fruits taste. They prefer spiritual fruits containing pure and abundant energy."

"Oh? Is that so? That is understandable." Nebula Daoist nodded thoughtfully. "Then plant more spiritual fruits that the Wu Clan particularly likes. Right, among the grafted spiritual fruits, there should be some that contain noticeably more energy, shouldn't there? Plant more of those."

"Alright, Master, I'll remember," Golden Flame said, nodding hurriedly.

Just as Nebula Daoist was about to say more, he suddenly sensed something and looked toward the east. His brows furrowed slightly, and a trace of surprise appeared on his face.

At the same time, on Qingqiu Plains in the east of the Primordial World, the wind swept across the wilderness, and vast fields of millet rolled like green waves.

On Qingqiu Mountain, not far from the millet fields, Shi Mo sat cross-legged beside a stream valley scattered with all kinds of jade stones, lecturing on the Dao. What he taught was simple and easy to understand.

Yet those listening were a group of foxes. They crouched upon the ground like children, listening with solemn attention.

As Shi Mo spoke with a smile, he suddenly sensed something and looked toward the eastern horizon. A streak of light shot toward him, transforming in the blink of an eye into an extraordinary middle-aged man in white robes.