The newly collected meteorites were thrown into the root system beneath the Spiritual Root Mother Tree, but there was no reaction. The meteorites seemed to be digested by something, slowly turning into a pool of liquid, which was then absorbed into the Mother Tree's body.
As the material was absorbed by the mother tree, the entire mother tree began to change.
New branches began to sprout from the once bare tree trunk, adorning the entire tree with countless green foliage.
Fewer and fewer meteorites were dropped, and the leaves on the tree grew larger and larger, completely obscuring the interior of the tree.
When the leaves grew to be as tall as two people, they gradually stopped growing and instead, small buds began to emerge from between the branches and leaves.
The bud showed no sign of blooming; instead, after emerging, it began to grow larger and larger, eventually reaching the size of a fist, and the entire bud turned golden in color.
The bud, which had been hidden tightly, cracked open, and from the crack, a crystal-clear fruit peeked out.
Li Xingkong reached out and plucked one, then used his Divine Sense to examine it.
There's no problem; the fruit that grows is no different from the Spiritual Root Seed he refined himself.
While he was investigating, countless buds sprouted all over the tree, and one by one they began to produce fruit.
With the help of spells and formations, the mother tree produced fruit very quickly.
It could even be said that, as long as there is a sufficient supply of raw materials and a large number of people to harvest the fruit in a timely manner, the production speed of this mother tree is not much slower than that of an assembly line.
However, the mother tree had only just been constructed, and there weren't many people available to be assigned from the Divine Land in the rush. So, Li Xingkong took over the first harvest.
When the mother tree was nearly laden with fruit, Li Xingkong stretched out a hand in its direction, and the Space Bag tied to his waist opened.
Then, a suction force extended from Li Xingkong's hand towards the mother tree, drawing down all the fruits that had already formed on the tree. These fruits then coalesced into a golden torrent, surging into Li Xingkong's Space Bag.
When harvesting, Li Xingkong also made a rough estimate of the amount of fruit harvested in this batch.
It must be said that a tree of such a large size can produce a considerable number of fruits, nearly a million.
If we consider this number, to popularize Spiritual Root among the entire cultivation community, the mother tree would need to produce over 2,000 more cycles of cultivation. After all, the number of people in Divine Land qualified to cultivate has already exceeded 2 billion, which is no small number.
It seems this mother tree won't stop causing trouble, and a large portion of the asteroids in the Kuiper Belt will likely be plundered as well.
However, this thing was made for human use, so it can't really be considered a waste.
After collecting the Spiritual Root, Li Xingkong contacted Old Tang.
"The first batch of Spiritual Root has been created. Just have a few people go to my Space Bag's beacon warehouse to see them."
"By the way, let's send a few people to keep an eye on this mother tree that produces Spiritual Root, lest it be damaged by some random things in space."
Li Xingkong's efficiency was indeed remarkable; the first batch of Spiritual Root was produced in less than two weeks since he left Earthly Capital.
"No problem, I'll take the Spiritual Root out first. As for sending someone... we'll need to have a meeting to discuss that. Why don't you wait there for a bit, and once we've decided on someone, we can just send them over from your Space Bag."
Although Old Tang has a high degree of autonomy, the people in the Earthly Capital are still a little uneasy about sending people to maintain the safety of the Spiritual Root Mother Tree. After all, there are many researchers here, but not enough warriors who can fight in space.
We still need to ask the military for a few more people.
Li Xingkong naturally didn't foolishly wait in front of the Spiritual Root Mother Tree. It would take some time for Old Tang and the others to confirm the personnel, so he could make another trip and bring back more materials.
Just as Li Xingkong began gathering materials in the asteroid belt again, he sensed that people were entering the warehouse opposite his Space Bag.
A whole platoon of people, after entering the area where the Space Bag was located, did not take immediate action, but instead stood quietly in several rows, waiting for instructions from their superiors.
"Reporting, under orders from higher command, we are here to receive the supplies."
The monk leading the group shouted a few times at the empty warehouse, and then a reply came from somewhere inside the warehouse...
"Okay, these are the things you need to take."
Li Xingkong scanned the warehouse containing the Space Bag with his Divine Sense, marking all the Spiritual Root Seed.
In the eyes of those monks, the things that needed to be moved emitted clear indicators, while those that didn't need to be moved didn't react at all.
"Action!"
With Li Xingkong's permission, they immediately dispersed and collected all the Spiritual Root Seed that Li Xingkong had marked, putting them into woven bags.
Space-related items are still a luxury for Divine Land at present; there are basically no extras available for them to use as transportation tools.
With so many cultivators acting simultaneously, all the Spiritual Root in Li Xingkong Space Bag were quickly dragged out. As for where they would be taken, Li Xingkong didn't know. He guessed they would be taken to some military region to begin another large-scale experiment.
While they were moving things, another group of people came in, and this group of cultivators was clearly dressed differently from the ones who were moving things.
They were bulging from head to toe, indicating they were carrying a lot of things, and some were even holding bags in their hands.
People who don't know better might think they're tourists.
Li Xingkong recognized them immediately from their attire; these were the cultivators who had come to guard the Spiritual Root Mother Tree.
Before they could say anything more, Li Xingkong opened a spatial portal and pulled them out.
Having emerged from the portal and arrived directly in space, these individuals were clearly in poor condition.
Fortunately, they were adaptable and soon had a general idea of their physical condition.
Several spells were cast on him one after another, and he felt much better immediately.
"What a huge tree!"
One of the cultivators who had recovered looked at the enormous object beside him and let out a sigh.
After the others recovered, they also began to stare at the giant tree.
"This tree is what you need to protect. Try your best to prevent space debris and meteorites from hitting it."
Li Xingkong pointed to the Spiritual Root Mother Tree and explained to the group what they needed to do.
In fact, given the giant tree's current defenses, it doesn't need anyone to maintain it. The main purpose of these people is simply to provide the giant tree with nutrients.