Chapter 172: Win-Win
As soon as Ning Xiyue entered her space, she immediately picked up the Lingzhi mushroom to study it.
Unfortunately, the spore powder on the Lingzhi had been destroyed by the snow that had once pressed on it — not a single bit remained, all trapped in ice and snow.
But Ning Xiyue didn’t care about the damaged spores; as long as the Lingzhi itself was intact, that was enough.
What she was focused on was how to turn this single Lingzhi into a whole field of them.
The newly expanded Black Soil plantation area was still empty — it would be a waste not to use it.
[Host, the Lingzhi entry in your encyclopedia has been unlocked. You can open it and take a look!]
System waved its little claws in midair, giving a warm reminder.
“That’s right, check the encyclopedia.”
Ning Xiyue grabbed the Lingzhi and ran to the study.
She picked up the herbal encyclopedia and flipped to the Lingzhi page.
The Lingzhi totem had been unlocked.
Lingzhi primarily had the effects of replenishing qi and calming the mind, relieving cough, and soothing asthma.
Opening the totem, Ning Xiyue saw formulas using Lingzhi to treat insomnia, chronic fatigue, coughs with phlegm, and more.
But these were not her goal. She scrolled further and finally found the technical methods for cultivating Lingzhi spores.
“This is it.”
Ning Xiyue immediately clicked the link and entered the Host Training Study Room to begin learning Lingzhi spore cultivation and planting techniques.
Every different class came with a different version of Teacher System Turtle.
Today was no exception.
For this lesson, Teacher Turtle was dressed as an elderly prime minister turtle.
Wearing a purple official hat and matching purple robe, a blue gem on the shell, stroking the long white beard attached to his chin, slowly shaking his head as he spoke:
“Students, today’s lesson is on the cultivation techniques for Lingzhi spores and Lingzhi planting techniques. Please pay close attention.”
Ning Xiyue had long since gotten used to seeing Teacher Turtle in different costumes for each class. She accepted this small quirk.
Now, Ning Xiyue could focus completely on the lesson without distractions.
“Having explained the basics of selecting and breeding superior spores, we now begin with mother spore production. First, the preparation of the culture medium.”
Ning Xiyue picked up the study tool on the desk for preparing culture medium and began following the teacher to mix the PDA medium.
Once the medium was ready, she started learning how to isolate and cultivate the spores.
First: tissue separation.
The complete Lingzhi was cut in half by Ning Xiyue, and she carefully removed the yellow-white growth tissue from under the mushroom cap as the source for cultivation.
She studied with utmost seriousness, determined to master the technique thoroughly.
During practice, she used a simulated Lingzhi, so she didn’t have to worry about damaging it. But in her space, she only had the one Lingzhi her brother had collected — she couldn’t afford to fail.
So Ning Xiyue paid unprecedented attention, memorizing every step, every word of the teacher, imprinting it in her mind.
The cultivation time was accelerated with high-tech tools at the push of a button.
After finishing the lesson, Ning Xiyue entered the practice exercises, repeating the steps until she successfully cultivated the spores and achieved a score of ninety, then stopped.
[Ding! Congratulations, host. Lingzhi spore cultivation and planting technique has achieved a score of ninety for the first time. Reward: a Lingzhi Spore Cultivation Room. Time flows synchronized with the study room and has been placed in your space.]
Perfect timing!
Having a cultivation room with hundredfold time speed was ideal — now, cultivating more spores wouldn’t take much time at all.
Ning Xiyue exited the simulation room and returned to her space.
The cultivation room now stood next to the study, right beside it.
Entering her study with the hundredfold time speed, she took out the Lingzhi her second brother had picked, looked at it carefully, and finally made up her mind to cultivate the spores.
She brought the Lingzhi to the cultivation room, which was equipped with all necessary devices.
“Sorry, second brother. I’ll give you a piece back once I’m done.”
Ning Xiyue began following the steps she had learned, carefully proceeding step by step.
Whenever a step required time to take effect, she left the cultivation room and waited in the Mustard Seed Space, letting time work.
With the 100:1 time flow, ten days in the cultivation room passed in just 2 minutes and 4 seconds in the Mustard Seed Space.
This time-speed discrepancy allowed her to save a tremendous amount of time.
The spores were successfully cultivated, and transferring them to planting units took no more than half an hour.
In the end, Ning Xiyue successfully produced spores that could plant a full field, using minimal time.
The cultivation room provided special bags for planting spores, and Ning Xiyue happily selected the bagged method, ready for inoculation and mushroom growth.
Cultivating Lingzhi had been the most mentally exhausting skill she had learned so far — the most steps, the most precautions. No wonder Lingzhi was so expensive.
After finishing in the cultivation room, Ning Xiyue turned to work on the black soil in her space. This was easier — she only needed to control it with her mind.
Using mental control outside was simpler and much faster.
Building frames, opening beds, bagging, covering soil, and management were all done with her mind. Now, all she had to do was wait for the mushrooms to grow.
After finishing, Ning Xiyue relaxed: “Phew… finally reached this step. This is way too difficult.”
Truly, making big money was never easy.
System flew to her side, eyes rolling in excitement as it looked at the Lingzhi greenhouse:
[Host, after harvesting, you can return the Lingzhi to me. The system will pay 1.2 times the current world price for wild Lingzhi.]
“Anything less than double? I won’t sell.” Ning Xiyue glanced at the excited System and said without hesitation.
This cultivation had exhausted her. The process was so complicated that if she didn’t sell it at a premium, it wouldn’t feel worthwhile.
Hearing this, System rubbed its chin thoughtfully and calculated.
Once these Lingzhi grew, they were essentially wild. Selling them to either the modern or ancient systems would be very profitable. Especially in technologically backward ancient worlds, the value would multiply even more — tens of times the investment.
Not bad.
System extended its little claw toward Ning Xiyue: [Host, deal.]
“Okay, deal.” Ning Xiyue placed her hand on System’s claw, sealing the contract.
She didn’t care why System agreed so readily. She wasn’t losing anything — it was a win-win.
The agreement was done; now it was just a matter of harvesting and delivery. With the Black Soil accelerating growth, waiting wouldn’t take long.
“I want to see how long a Lingzhi that normally takes six months to mature would take on the Black Soil,” Ning Xiyue said, using her mind to check the growth and manage the mushrooms.
System watched with her, keenly interested — these Lingzhi could later be exchanged for energy elsewhere.
[Host, almost ready. Half a day and they’ll mature. Tomorrow morning you can harvest and trade. I’ll wake you in time — we mustn’t miss the optimal harvest period, when the medicinal potency is highest.]
“Alright, you keep watch while I sleep.”
Without waiting for System’s response, Ning Xiyue went to sleep — free labor at her disposal? Why not use it.
