NOVEL NEXT Chapter 170: Devil’s Teeth and Death Fruit
To sustain an army of three thousand, she needed abundant food supplies.
While the Western Continent excelled in animal husbandry, its agriculture lagged far behind. In this era, without machinery and fertilizers, farmers considered it a bumper harvest if they could yield three times the amount they sowed.
Take Siria for example - the wheat yield in suburban areas was only about 150 pounds per acre, and this was considered high-yielding wheat land. Most regions only produced about 100 pounds per acre.
In contrast, wheat yields in 21st century China could exceed 1,000 pounds per acre - more than ten times that of the Western Continent.
Agriculture here resembled 11th century Europe. Due to food shortages and inadequate meat preservation techniques, royal courts couldn't maintain large standing armies, having to rely on knights and mercenaries for warfare.
Like medieval France, where many of its nearly 10,000 knights were high-ranking ones who never saw battle.
In the Western Continent, even the West Sita Kingdom, the largest northern nation, had less than 10,000 professional soldiers. Including conscripted civilians, they could barely muster 50,000-60,000 troops.
With such low productivity and insufficient grain production, supporting 100-200 people might be manageable, but feeding 2,000-3,000 was challenging. This wasn't just about money - even with wealth, one couldn't buy that much grain.
For sustainable development and to avoid future vulnerabilities, she needed her own food source.
While Demon Island wasn't suitable for grazing, its volcanic weathered soil was perfect for farming. Once the islanders finished building their houses, land reclamation and farming would be next on the agenda.
The Misty Plains also needed preparation. If Dark Elves could build a city single-handedly, surely cultivating a few thousand acres of farmland wouldn't be too difficult?
Luo Wei silently repeated "reclamation" ten times in her mind, hoping the Dark Elves would understand her intention.
It would be a waste not to farm the fertile soil of the thousand-mile Misty Plains.
Actually, land reclamation was simple - just burn everything down. The challenge lay in farming itself.
Luo Wei always planned three steps ahead. If the reclaimed land wasn't continuously cultivated, it would quickly revert to wasteland, making all efforts futile.
Moreover, if grain yields couldn't be improved, farming wouldn't be worth the effort.
She needed to first select and breed superior grain varieties, create farming tools, and teach people about composting and fertilization. Scientific farming methods were essential for good harvests.
The backyard of Star Luo Residence needed expansion to accommodate two experimental fields.
As for grain varieties... Luo Wei really missed fragrant rice. The Western Continent had no rice paddies, and after half a year of eating barley, wheat, and oats, she felt like she was turning into a grain sprite!
Wild rice should be in this region. With patient searching, they might find some.
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Luo Wei looked around, but dense vegetation blocked her view. Finding wild rice here would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Wild rice preferred wet, marshy wastelands. This place was full of potholes, miasma, and insects - it could take years to find any.
The Misty Plains severely lacked workforce.
Luo Wei sighed. Just as she was about to push aside the man-high wild grass, she noticed light passing through her wrist.
Not just her wrist - her entire body began turning transparent, like an ice crystal melting in sunlight.
Luo Wei realized the dream was ending.
She tightly gripped her arrows and the handful of pepper she'd just gathered from the rainforest. As darkness enveloped her, her consciousness floated away.
"Dong—"
The bell rang, and Luo Wei opened her eyes to see the familiar castle ceiling.
The bed was warm, and when she moved her fingers, as expected, they were empty.
Things obtained in consciousness couldn't be brought back to the physical world.
Whether it was dream or reality, she could only wait for that message-carrying fantasy bird.
After getting up, Luo Wei looked in the mirror and was almost frightened by her appearance.
Last night's dream of bleeding from seven orifices was real - her face was covered in blood, with dried blood crusted under her eyes that flaked off when rubbed.
Fortunately, she checked the mirror first. If she had opened the door looking like this, she might have scared the mute old lady who brings water to death.
...
On the first day of the new semester, it was still Potions class.
Luo Wei arrived early at the potions classroom, taking a seat in the second-to-last row.
At eight o'clock, all students were present, and Professor Phil entered the classroom.
"Last semester, we studied spice preparation and external medicinal decoctions. This semester, we'll learn to identify basic magical plants and brew low-level potions."
Professor Phil distributed thick papyrus sheets with drawings of several common magical plants.
Magical plants were expensive, and the academy wasn't wealthy enough to provide actual specimens for every class, so they had to learn from illustrations.
"The first magical plant is called Death Fruit, a basic ingredient for brewing antidote potions."
Professor Phil picked up a flat white fruit from the lectern to show everyone.
"Death Fruit grows on rotting magical beast bones. It has grayish-white skin and is shaped like a flattened egg. July is the best time for harvesting. When ripe, the skin cracks and its magical elements dissipate."
Luo Wei looked at the white fruit in his hand, then at the illustrated description on the papyrus. Death Fruit? This was clearly just a button mushroom!
Button mushrooms were fungi, also called white mushrooms, that loved growing on sheep bones and droppings in grasslands. They made delicious soup and helped prevent constipation and obesity.
Calling it Death Fruit - the button mushroom family would die of anger if they knew.
"The second magical plant, Devil's Teeth, grows in the forests of the Magic Beast Mountains. It has slender leaves and root bulbs wrapped in light brown membrane, containing several milky white fang-shaped fruits inside. It has a strong odor and can be used to brew emetic potions."
Luo Wei: ...What the hell Devil's Teeth, this is clearly garlic!
They even called garlic's aroma a stench - no wonder they ate porridge as thin as watery gruel.
The Western Continent people were even more ridiculous than Europeans. Ancient Babylonians grew garlic thousands of years ago, while these people called garlic the devil's teeth.
"The third magical plant, Purple Grass, which I'm sure everyone recognizes, is used in brewing low-level healing potions. It has mild toxicity and causes hallucinations when eaten. It must be brewed together with Death Fruit to eliminate its toxicity."
Purple Grass was toxic? How come nothing happened when she ate it?
This potions class was becoming more bizarre by the minute.
After four hours of potions class, Luo Wei left the academy deep in thought.
Her mind was full of fragrant mushrooms and white garlic. No wonder she couldn't find her favorite foods outside - all these ingredients were in the Magic Beast Mountains.
Why hadn't she discovered them during her previous visit to the Magic Beast Mountains?
She'd almost forgotten - it was winter now, and these plants hadn't grown yet.
Luo Wei rode Yves's carriage back to Star Luo Residence. Just as she jumped down from the carriage, Troy emerged like a shadow behind her.
"Miss, we've caught that merchant. Would you like to interrogate him?"
Without realizing it, Troy had begun addressing her as "Miss" and using respectful language.
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