Chapter 686: Chapter 57: The Territory’s New Extraordinary Agricultural Achievements and Vigorous Development (Part 3)

He is currently making an active effort, hoping he too can break through to the Divine Chosen level under Su Li’s guidance. After all, it was with Su Li’s help that Dietrich, that Medical Knight, successfully broke through to become Divinely Chosen!

Frankly, when the Knights of the Sun Goddess broke through in the past, Vandar didn’t feel much about it.

He always thought that Knights and the Cultivators of their Church were on two separate paths. Knights breaking through while in battle was only natural and had little to do with the Cultivators. He wasn’t envious; he believed that as long as he progressed steadily, that would suffice.

However, the Medical Knights frequently came into contact with the Cultivators of the Dawn Church. Typically, childbirths in the city were handled by the believers of the Shalya Church, while in rural and suburban areas, it was done by Reya’s followers. These two churches would even unite to enter impoverished communities to provide aid and cleanse plagues.

It can be said that there is a significant overlap between these two churches, so when the Shepherd Leader of Shalya directly advanced to the Divine Chosen level, while Vandar remained at the Champion level, it deeply stimulated the entire Dawn Church.

Their Church believes in hope, thinking that as long as one consistently works hard with their hands, life will improve.

Therefore, led by Vandar, all the Cultivators in the Church became especially proactive, and the Moonlight Cabbage became one of their achievements.

Vandar continued to introduce, "Moonlight Cabbage has been planted under the slopes of the Maiden’s Ring, replacing some lawns and ornamental plants, as Moonlight Cabbage itself is extremely beautiful."

"This extraordinary plant has low soil fertility requirements, mainly accumulating energy through the lunar phase cycle. Over-fertilizing and magically accelerating its growth in the short term will instead lead to reduced yield. That is why it’s called an extraordinary plant; unlike ordinary grains, it cannot be catalyzed."

"Its economic value primarily lies in three areas: First, it can directly heal civilians; second, it can be used to manufacture basic potions; third, it serves as extraordinary food for Knights. We have already planted three acres of it, and we expect a bountiful harvest in the autumn. This will greatly relieve the grain pressure on the Territory, potentially making us a true frontier granary. It allows us to spare a large amount of grain for external sale and improve the living standards of ordinary people in the Territory."

Su Li slowly nodded, thinking that when it comes to farming, everyone should be able to benefit from his development. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Once there are enough extraordinary plants, the demand for ordinary grain will decrease.

But as the Lord, he also had another concern, which was "when I’m shivering in my single layer, I wish it were colder to make charcoal expensive," referring to the problem of "grain being cheap is harmful to farmers." If there is an over-abundance of harvests, and the civilians of the Territory can’t sell their grain at a good price, many might go bankrupt and fall into slavery.

Su Li then asked, "With a large amount of extraordinary grain replacing ordinary cereals, will the civilians be affected?"

Vandar was quite open-minded about this aspect and said, "But having an abundant grain harvest and highly developed agriculture is the prerequisite for freeing up hands and developing industry. These ordinary farmers and serfs can transition to become masons or artisans, and go to plant Stone Skin Pumpkins."

"This Stone Skin Pumpkin, with its rough granite-like surface, produces a metallic clinking sound when struck. Its flesh is so hard that it needs iron tools to cut it and will only crack open once mature. It is not a food but an economic crop. Once ground into powder, it can be stored as a strategic reserve. Whenever we need to conduct engineering works outside, build outposts, barracks, or even walls, it is extremely convenient, enhancing wall hardness by at least 30%."

"With these Stone Skin Pumpkins, we can engage in large-scale construction across the Territory in the latter half of the year, quickly building walls around various outposts, farms, and villages. Even if it’s just a layer of stone skin powder applied to a hedge fence, it can make it as hard as a wooden wall. If the village carpenters and masons work harder to build a wooden wall around the village and apply this stone skin powder, it can be made to function as a stone wall to resist the threat of many Beastmen."

"In this way, tragedies like the one that occurred in Green Vine Village last cycle can be greatly mitigated."

The tragedy of Green Vine Village is indeed a sad story.

Green Vine Village is a village near the western interior of the Blood Pine Forest, adjacent to the Corruption Rift, a canyon corroded by chaotic energy. When elves were still on this old continent, they established a colony here, with the village center dominated by a thousand-year-old Green Crown Oak whose roots deeply penetrated the ground, into a dwarven ruin, and surrounded by a Thorn Vine Barrier, maintained monthly with sacrifices of village blood.

The civilians from the Hesse Territory came here under the encouragement of the pioneering order, establishing a village of about 75 people, consisting of 60% humans, 30% dwarf miners, and 10% Wandering Knights and Adventurers.

Most people believe in the Dawn Goddess, but some also hold faith in the elves’ Hunting God, Kunos.

As a result, three of the Hunters were beguiled by the Beastman Black Horn Clan while on an outing. The Beastman Shaman drugged them, leading them to intentionally stop irrigating the Thorn Vine with blood, which created a defensive loophole, allowing the Beastmen to overrun the village, which was then tragically plundered.

Most importantly, Su Li also did not receive any intelligence warnings.

This truly is a regrettable event, but it also implies that with the development of the Hesse Territory, it has become burdensome to manage these scattered small villages effectively.