108: Chapter 108: First Acquisition of the Base Goods, Two-Line Redemption

At the Outer Port's cold water layer concave reef.

By the time Lu Changyuan arrived, Lu Hu had been squatting in the water for nearly half an hour.

His pant legs were rolled up to his thighs, his hands were braced against the reef, and he was lying flat on the water surface, looking down.

Hearing footsteps behind him, he didn't even turn his head.

"Young Lord—look."

The mother shell was attached to a cold spring vent at the bottom of the concave reef.

When Lu Hu and the veterans had dived to find this cold spring three months ago, the mother shell was only the size of a palm, and its shell edge was grayish-white; attached to the reef, it didn't look like anything special.

Now, the mother shell had grown two sizes larger—its shell edge had changed from grayish-white to a very pale jade blue, and the shell surface had developed a translucent sheen thinner than paper.

A complete layer of cold marrow jade had congealed on the shell edge.

It was about half a finger thick.

The color was a very pale blue-white—like a thin layer of ice frozen on the surface of a stone on a winter morning, but without the brittleness of ice.

The surface of the cold marrow jade shimmered with a warm, soft light in the cold water, and the light refracted extremely fine natural patterns within the marrow layer—these were the growth rings left behind as the marrow substance deposited layer by layer over the cold spring vent.

The patterns were arranged evenly, with consistent spacing, like the side lines of book pages cut by an extremely fine knife, yet there were no cracks.

Lu Changyuan reached out and touched it.

It was extremely cold to the touch, but not piercing—just as Elder Tianji had said.

This cold was a gentle low temperature formed by the long-term erosion of deep-water cold springs; when used for refining cold-attribute Medicinal Pills or setting up cold-type array eyes, its quality was a grade higher than the artificially frozen cold crystals on the market.

"Elder Tianji said the first year would produce three to five layers, each as thin as translucent paper. This layer is at least three times as thick as paper."

Lu Hu's voice kept rising, "Three thousand Spirit Stones per layer—this layer is worth at least thirty-five hundred, and its quality is better than the vast majority of cold marrow jade on the market."

Lu Changyuan took out an extremely thin jade knife from his waist.

He carefully inserted the blade into the seam between the cold marrow jade layer and the mother shell's edge, slowly pushing it along the arc of the shell edge.

As the cold marrow jade peeled away from the shell, it made a very faint, crisp sound—when the marrow layer completely detached from the shell surface, the residual cold spring liquid at the bottom of the marrow substance was severed.

He held the entire piece of cold marrow jade in his palm.

It was half a finger thick and half a palm wide; looking at it against the sunlight on the water surface—it was translucent, blue-white, with internal patterns as even as silk.

On the edge of the mother shell, the spot where it had been peeled away was already secreting a very thin layer of transparent liquid—that was the base liquid for the next layer of cold marrow jade.

The mother shell had not suffered any damage from this peeling.

"Young Lord—how much shall we sell it for?"

Lu Changyuan shook his head.

"We aren't selling this piece."

He carefully placed the cold marrow jade into an empty jade box and closed the lid.

Then, he took out the label strip that Su Qingli had prepared in advance from his robe and wrote a line on it: 'cold marrow jade shell first production benchmark sample—mother shell in water for exactly three months, attached to cold spring vent, first layer peeling time: today. Quality: Exceeds estimates.'

"Put it in storage. From now on, use this piece as the quality reference for all cold marrow jade produced each year."

"If buyers want to lower the price—just bring this piece out for comparison. Same grade, same price; if the quality isn't as good as this piece, don't lower the grade."

Lu Hu was stunned for a moment, then grinned.

"Understood—don't sell the sample. We're selling the goods produced each year according to this standard."

"There is only one mother shell. There is only one first layer. If we sell it, it's gone."

Lu Changyuan closed the jade box, "Keep this piece as the quality baseline for Blue Moon Island's cold marrow—from now on, no matter how many layers are produced, every layer must reach the standard of this piece before it is allowed to leave storage."

That same afternoon.

In the thin soil area of the spirit fields.

The ears of the earth vein jade spike had turned yellow.

By the time Lu Changyuan arrived at the edge of the field, Su Qingli had already brought over a dozen spirit farmers to harvest the first experimental plot.

The plot was not large—about half a mu, the first batch of seeds sown three months ago.

The ears were not long, each about a palm long, with plump and firm grains, and the color was a very pale jade white.

Peeling open the husk, the earth vein jade spike grains inside were round and uniform, with a layer of natural waxy sheen on the surface.

Su Qingli straightened her back and spread a handful of earth vein jade spike grains in her palm.

"One mu—we just finished harvesting and weighing it. The net grain is enough for about thirty-eight people. Elder Tianji said one mu could support forty people—the actual measured data is two people short of the theoretical value."

"Count it as a deviation."

"Less than five percent. It's a normal first-season adaptive yield reduction."

Su Qingli put the earth vein jade spike grains in her hand into a cloth bag, "The first season was planted in the thin soil area—there's a lot of gravel and the soil layer is shallow."

"The roots of the earth vein jade spike burrow into the crevices of the gravel, absorbing less nutrients than in normal farmland."

"When we save seeds and expand planting next season, we'll till the gravel land three inches deeper and add a layer of decomposed seaweed fertilizer—the yield will be able to catch up to the theoretical value."

She squatted down and used her fingers to turn over the soil at the edge of the field.

Three months ago, this was grayish, gravelly thin soil—when Lu Changyuan personally stuffed the first handful of earth vein jade spike seeds into the soil, the ground was so hard that he had to dig with his fingers to make a small pit.

Now, the soil color in the same plot had deepened—from grayish-white to dark brown, the soil texture was loose, and one could feel a moist stickiness when squeezing it in the palm.

As the roots of the earth vein jade spike dug downwards, they were also improving the soil quality.

Elder Tianji had said that it would take three years to turn the thin soil into arable land—now it was only the first season, and the change in the soil was already visible to the naked eye.

"Currently, there are enough earth vein jade spike seeds to plant forty mu."

Su Qingli stood up and brushed the mud off her hands, "Once all forty mu are harvested, one season can provide rations for about fifteen hundred people."

"Blue Moon Island's current total population is about nine thousand—the grain self-sufficiency rate has been raised from less than forty percent to nearly sixty percent."

"How many mu are needed for complete self-sufficiency?"

"About two hundred and thirty mu. Based on the current seed-saving ratio—expand to eighty mu next season, then expand to one hundred and fifty mu the season after that; after three seasons, we can reach two hundred and thirty mu."

"By then, we won't need to buy grain from the outside anymore."

"Is the expansion rate of the seeds sufficient?"

"It is. After harvesting one mu of earth vein jade spike, the seed-saving ratio is about fifteen percent—meaning for every mu harvested, we get enough extra seeds to plant one and a half mu for the next season."

"The seeds saved from forty mu are enough to expand to sixty to eighty mu next season. As long as we save seeds every season and expand the fields every season—after three seasons, the seeds and the arable land will be in place simultaneously."

Lu Changyuan stood at the edge of the field, watching the harvested jade-white ears being carried in bundles onto the back baskets of pack beasts.

The sun was leaning west, and the light shining on the husks turned the pale gold into a deep gold.

The spirit farmers were lined up in the field, bent over—some cutting ears, some binding them, some transporting them; no one needed to direct them, they knew what to do on their own.

Six foundation materials.

What Elder Tianji said: 'You must wait day by day, nurture year by year.'

Three months ago, when he distributed the six foundation materials one by one, each one existed only in Elder Tianji's descriptions—the earth vein jade spike supporting forty people per mu, the cold marrow jade shell producing three to five layers per year, the Starlight Coral spreading thirty zhang in one year.

Those numbers sounded like distant promises in an account book.

Now, two of them had provided their first return on the same day.

The earth vein jade spike supported thirty-eight people per mu in the first season.

The first layer of the cold marrow jade shell exceeded estimates, with quality reaching the level of a benchmark sample.

He squatted down and grabbed a handful of earth vein jade spike grains from a cloth bag at the edge of the field.

The grains were slightly cool, and the waxy sheen on his fingertips shimmered with a very pale jade white.

He put one in his mouth and bit it open—the powder was fine, the sweetness was low, and it was filling. It was food that could keep people alive.

Su Qingli walked past him, holding an account book.

She wrote a line under today's date.

'Two items entered into storage today: cold marrow jade shell first production benchmark sample stored and sealed in a jade box. First season of forty mu of earth vein jade spike harvested—first mu measured net grain supports thirty-eight people, first season total production expected to support fifteen hundred people. As of today, Blue Moon Island's grain self-sufficiency rate has risen to fifty-seven percent.'

After writing, she flipped the account book back a page—to three months ago, the line she had written herself on the day the first batch of purification liquid was shipped out: 'Blue Moon Island no longer relies solely on windfall wealth to eat.'

Three months ago, they relied on the first payment for the purification liquid—three thousand nine hundred and fifteen Spirit Stones.

Three months later, in addition to the purification liquid, the cold marrow jade shell began to produce things that could be priced, and the earth vein jade spike began to produce food that could keep people alive.

Things were becoming more diverse. But everything was grown.

Night fell. The Lords Mansion accounting room.

Lu Changyuan finished checking today's entries one by one—the storage of the first layer sample of the cold marrow jade shell and the allocation of the earth vein jade spike seeds.

Su Qingli was nearby, organizing the production schedule for the third batch of purification liquid to be sent to Manager Wei the next day.

Outside the window, on the water surface of the port, the cold light of the Starlight Coral mother branch had spread out nearly seven zhang.

The communication console lit up.

Su Qingli walked over to answer it.

After reading it, her expression was not good.

"Jubao Pavilion has calmed down—but they've changed tactics."

She handed the communication talisman to Lu Changyuan, "They are checking our previous records of purchasing anti-magic supplies at Xingyan Outer Port, and have done a line-by-line comparison of every purchase order against our military supply consumption details."

"They aren't checking raw materials anymore—they are checking the discrepancy of the part that was 'bought in excess and not used up'."

"What did they find?"

"They found that the discrepancy is reasonable—the excess purification powder just happened to cover the consumption for the maintenance of Blue Moon Island's own defenses. They didn't find any loopholes."

Su Qingli flipped to the second page of the communication talisman, "But they haven't given up completely. Manager Zhou sent a private letter—not through the Logistics Department, but sent directly to the Outer Port Pier—the wording is much softer than last time."

Lu Changyuan took the private letter.

The letter was very short.

Manager Zhou's handwriting was neat, and the wording was business-like and straightforward.

'I offended you previously, please forgive me, Lord Lu. The market prospects for purification liquid are far beyond just the military path—Loose Cultivators in the Outer Sea, merchant caravans, and long-voyage spirit boats all need low-grade spirit liquid for detoxifying and purifying, and the total demand will not be smaller than the military's.'

'Jubao Pavilion is willing to act as an agent for the Outer Sea civilian channels at a price of forty Spirit Stones per bottle—no exclusive sale required, no formula required, only asking for one civilian agency line. The price is not as good as the military's, but the volume is high. If Lord Lu is interested, we can discuss it at any time.'

From forcing a price reduction for a buyout to begging for an agency.

From three-year exclusive sales to 'no formula required'. Jubao Pavilion's attitude had done a complete somersault in these three months—after the inquiries were rejected, they realized they had no cards left in their hand.

Lu Changyuan folded the private letter and handed it to Su Qingli.

"Don't respond yet. Wait until the three-month trial supply period expires and we have the military renewal contract in hand before discussing. Having a long-term contract in hand—the confidence is different when negotiating terms with anyone."

Su Qingli took it and flipped through it, then put it into the drawer for pending correspondence.

"Speaking of renewal—Manager Wei sent a message this afternoon. He's arriving tomorrow and wants to discuss the terms for a one-year long-term contract in advance. His asking price is two hundred bottles per month."

"Two hundred bottles—is there enough old sand?"

"Chen Mo says that according to the current growth rate of the thunder bamboo, after the old sand replacement cycle is shortened to once a month next month—it will be enough. But the formula needs to be adjusted for the first three batches."

"Then we'll talk tomorrow. Let's hear what he has to say first."

Su Qingli drew another circle on the account book calendar—tomorrow, Manager Wei renewal negotiation.

Outside the window, the sound of the receding tide rang out unhurriedly, and the cold light of the Starlight Coral flickered on the water surface.