Chapter 1097: Chapter 603: Sand Control (Additional Chapter for 8000 monthly votes) Chapter 1097: Chapter 603: Sand Control (Additional Chapter for 8000 monthly votes) “In the coming years, you will start by sowing the Spirit Grass with the most tenacious vitality on The Barren, first to stabilize the soil and water, and to restore soil fertility.”
Chen Mobai’s command was naturally met with unconditional obedience and implementation from E Yun’s side.
The recovery of the Eastern Desolation Plateau wasn’t something that could be achieved overnight. Chen Mobai chose a plant known as Qingluo Grass for the initial preparations.
This Spirit Grass could only absorb a trace of weak Spiritual Energy, and was considered Lower-grade Rank-1; for Cultivators, this thing was utterly useless, not even worth trampling on by the roadside.
However, Chen Mobai indeed saw the great potential of this Qingluo Grass.
It was capable of preserving soil and water, required minimal environmental conditions, and after being sown, it could grow rapidly in three cycles a year. Moreover, because it contained Spiritual Energy, once grown, it could become feed for many Spirit Beasts.
If left unharvested to decay, it could even improve the soil, so that after a few years, the land that was once barren and infertile could be used to grow Spirit Rice Melon Fruit and the like.
Of course, in addition to Qingluo Grass, Chen Mobai also selectively cultivated several other Spirit Plants that were easy to raise.
He had E Yun sow them in stages across the Eastern Desolation Plateau to establish diversity.
Once these Spirit Plants were sowed, they could grow rapidly as long as there was soil and water available.
However, a lack of water was also a major issue on the Eastern Desolation Plateau.
Because it was separated from Sky Country, the project of diverting water from Yun Meng Ze to irrigate Rock Country was too large, so for the time being, they could only have E Yun hire Cultivators from Northern Abyss City with Spirit Stones to regularly carry out the Rainfall Technique over each plot of land where seeds had been sown.
Of course, these were only temporary solutions.
Therefore, Chen Mobai had Zhuo Ming use the All Things Spiritual Communication Divine Skills to find some places rich in underground water resources, and then he used his powerful techniques to open up the strata, causing these water sources to emerge.
Besides these, there was another abundant source of water.
That was the high mountains and snow mountains in Frost Country that towered into the clouds, endless and constant, shrouded in a vast expanse of fog all year round, regardless of spring, summer, fall or winter.
The melted snow from these snow mountains flowed down to form beautiful, sapphire-like gigantic lakes on the surface of Frost Country, extremely rich in water resources.
Frost Country bordered Rock Country and Rainbow Country closely. If it could be taken down, with the active intervention of Cultivators, they could divert the Snow Mountain Water to irrigate the plateau and desert, solving the water problem.
However, since Zhuo Ming discovered many underground water resources and the development of the Eastern Desolation Plateau was just at the beginning stage, the current water demand was temporarily adequate, and Chen Mobai wasn’t in a hurry.
But dealing with the Snow-blowing Palace had quietly moved up a notch in Chen Mobai’s list of priorities.
After sorting things out in Northern Abyss City, Chen Mobai took Jiang Zongheng and Zhuo Ming with him and left.
Originally, he only planned to bring Zhuo Ming, to go around the Eastern Desolation Plateau and check the future site of her merits.
However, after the incident with Han Zhiling, he found that his disciple Jiang Zongheng was still at the stage of forming his initial beliefs and needed proper guidance, so he simply took him along as well.
To read ten thousand books is like traveling ten thousand miles.
He took Jiang Zongheng and Zhuo Ming out of Rock Country and first went to the borderlands, to where Rainbow Country was located.
“Jiang Shidi, Zhuo Shimei, this is Spirit Shuttle Grass, resilient to drought and cold, with well-developed roots, and it’s also one of the few Spirit Plants that can grow in the desert.”
Town Guard Yan Yuanhao introduced to Jiang Zongheng and Zhuo Ming a plant that was knee-high, with a deep yellow color, and tough slender features.
When Chen Mobai first came to inspect Rainbow Country, although he didn’t initiate an overall strategy to combat desertification, he instructed Yan Yuanhao to find some Spirit Plants that could grow in the desert to plant along the border with the Boundless Sand Sea, forming a protective barrier to prevent further incursion of the sand sea.
Yan Yuanhao had only received this task from Chen Mobai for the past few years, so he devoted himself entirely to building the desert defense line.
Six years later, relying on the perseverance and resilience of a Body Refining Cultivator, he had constructed the defense line in the region with the densest population, and in about four more years, it would be possible to completely separate Rainbow Country from the Boundless Sand Sea.
The last time Chen Mobai came to Rainbow Country, he often encountered sandstorms that covered the sky. Although they still occurred now, it was no longer the kind of situation where one couldn’t see their own hands in front of them, and where breathing meant inhaling dust.
“For accomplishing this task, you already have great merits,” said Chen Mobai
Chen Mobai didn’t expect that the matter he casually instructed six years ago had been taken by Yan Yuanhao as a task to be executed nonstop.
“It is my duty to fulfill the Sect Leader’s command,” said Yan Yuanhao with an even tone, his skin tanned to a dark bronze.
It was at this moment that Chen Mobai remembered him.
With such a tenacious character, the young man could be cultivated with focus in the future.
“I’m going to take Zong Heng and Ming’er to take a look at the Boundless Sand Sea; you come along as well,” said Chen Mobai.
With that said, a trace of joy appeared on Yan Yuanhao’s face, and he immediately hopped onto the rainbow-colored clouds.
The party of four flew over the Spirit Shuttle Grass defense barrier and entered into a vast world of earthy yellow desolation.
Jiang Zongheng was doing alright; after all, he taught in Rock Country, and a fair number of Cultivators from Rainbow Country visited Northern Abyss City to exchange goods, so the winds and sands here could occasionally drift over there.
But Zhuo Ming, who had grown up in the inland plains, had never seen such a desolate and silent expanse as the Boundless Desert.
At this moment, a massive sandstorm blew over, and Chen Mobai halted his flight, transforming the “Red Misty Cloud Silk” into a light shield, effortlessly enduring wave after wave with his formidable power.
It was unclear how long the sky remained darkened by the storm, but when the sandstorm subsided, Zhuo Ming saw the countless whitened bones revealed beneath the swept sands, and her complexion turned somewhat unnatural.
“This is the state of the Boundless Sand Sea. Ming’er, you can consider this challenge as one for a lifetime,” Chen Mobai said.
After having his disciple witness the task firsthand, Chen Mobai activated the “Red Misty Cloud Silk” to change direction, ready to leave.
“Master, may I go down and touch the ground?” Zhuo Ming suddenly asked.
Chen Mobai naturally agreed and descended with the three of them onto the sandy surface.
Jiang Zongheng and Yan Yuanhao weren’t particularly affected, but Zhuo Ming shuddered the moment her feet touched the sand.
With trembling hands, she bent down and pressed them onto the sand, which under the sunlight, shimmered with a golden luster as fine as pearls. However, through All Things Spiritual Communication, Zhuo Ming saw a vision of darkness, desolation, and deathly silence, and… the crying earth!
It was a terminal illness of the land!
If not managed properly, in the near future, this Boundless Sand Sea would swallow the entire Eastern Desolation, East Land, and even the Tianhe Realm.
By then, it would truly be a terminal crisis, the end of the Dharma.
Separated by the desert’s isolation, Zhuo Ming’s ability to commune with the land was extremely difficult, barely able to hear the faint cries of the ground’s pulse and the hopeless groans of an entity waiting to die…
“Master, I must heal this desert,” Zhuo Ming declared, her face pale as she severed the connection with All Things Spiritual Communication. Having this divine skill for so many years, it was the first time she had felt the earth’s despair.
It was also at this moment that she truly understood the painstaking intentions behind Chen Mobai’s efforts to combat desertification.
It was not just for merit but to save the entire Eastern Desolation, and even the Tianhe Realm!
“This will be a very challenging task, and we might even fail,” Chen Mobai cautioned. The vastness of the Boundless Sand Sea was such that even Nascent Soul Cultivators could not cross it. If Zhuo Ming wished to make the desert disappear, the difficulty was several orders higher than his own endeavor to unify the Eastern Desolation.
“If I cannot do it, I will take disciples to carry on this will. My disciples will also take on disciples. Generation after generation, as long as we never give up, there will be a successful day,” Zhuo Ming said with a resolute face. Upon hearing her words, Yan Yuanhao and Jiang Zongheng were deeply moved, sensing the vast determination to change the world in her statement.
Talent looked at the petite girl, dressed very simply like a village girl, as if seeing Zhuo Ming for the first time. His eyes were full of amazement.
No wonder she was the Sect Leader’s most beloved disciple!
“To continue through endless generations requires a peaceful era free from enemies’ interference. Let me do this, creating a peaceful world for my disciple Ming’er to fulfill the mission of healing the sands,” Chen Mobai said with a hearty laugh, his words radiating an ambition far surpassing Zhuo Ming’s.
Jiang Zongheng and Yan Yuanhao, upon hearing this, couldn’t help but feel their blood boil with inspiration.
Multicolored clouds rose from beneath Chen Mobai’s feet as he laughed, carrying them away from the Boundless Sand Sea.
“Yan Shizhi, you’ve done well these years. Continue in the same way. After the defense belts, try expanding into shelterbelts and experimenting with taller Spirit Plants that are resistant to cold and drought…”
Before leaving the Rainbow Country, Chen Mobai affirmed Yan Yuanhao’s achievements and then gave some sand control guidelines for him to persist with.
Containing the encroachment of the Boundless Sand Sea for the time being meant that without the threat of sandstorms, the restoration of soil in the Gao Huang Plateau no longer had worries to contend with.
In the end, Chen Mobai even took the initiative to ask Yan Yuanhao if he had any cultivation questions. Although he wasn’t a Body Refining Cultivator, he was, after all, at Core Formation and might be able to offer some answers.
This was a pleasant surprise for Yan Yuanhao.
Caught off guard, he pondered for a moment before recalling the difficulties he faced in his usual cultivation.
Cultivating an Earth Spiritual Body, Chen Mobai used the Formless Puppet to simulate and effortlessly resolved Yan Yuanhao’s issues, even pointing out the deviations in his cultivation practices.
“You veered off the foundational path, but it’s not your fault. After all, most Foundation Establishment practitioners in our Sect rely on self-enlightenment through cultivation techniques.”
In the Eastern Desolation, most cultivators must learn on their own, and those who fail to do so perish along the way.
Thus, disciples like Zhuo Ming and Jiang Zongheng, who had the fortune to study under the esteemed Chen Mobai, were the envy of many Foundation Establishment practitioners within the Divine Wood Sect.
After receiving guidance from Chen Mobai, Yan Yuanhao tried operating his Earth Spiritual Body’s cultivation process again and found it indeed smoother than before, with his efficiency of absorbing spiritual energy increasing by thirty percent.
“In ten years, you’ll be able to break through to the late phase of Foundation Establishment,” Chen Mobai said in his final remark, leaving Yan Yuanhao thrilled. He had been stuck at the peak of the Foundation Establishment middle stage for thirty years and had almost lost hope in advancing, hence dedicating his energy and time to sand control.
Unexpectedly, it was this task that brought him to the Sect Leader’s attention.
In the future, he resolved to work even harder on controlling the sands!
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