Standing in the Spirit Field, Chu Ning carefully observed the two rows of Iron Stem Orchids near the Golden Essence Fruit.
Finally, he confirmed his hypothesis.
The row of Iron Stem Orchids close to the Golden Essence Fruit had fruits that were mostly tinged with a golden yellow.
The row further in had only a small portion with similar golden yellow.
Even further in, only one or two scattered plants had such changes.
It was indeed very likely that hybrid mutation had occurred.
Upon reaching this conclusion, Chu Ning felt a mix of emotions.
In fact, when planting Spirit Plants, especially on a large scale, it was often the case that different Spirit Plants would be planted separately.
These twenty acres of Spirit Field were indeed separated from other fields.
However, within these twenty acres, they weren’t separated.
Last season, Chu Ning planted Golden Essence Fruit and Purple Crystal Bamboo, and the two Spirit Plants didn’t have any impact on each other.
For a moment, Chu Ning overlooked this detail.
To be precise, he didn’t entirely overlook it.
Regarding the cultivation of Golden Essence Fruit, Chu Ning was well aware that there was no mention of any potential impact with Iron Blue Fruit Flower.
Chu Ning surmised that the main reason was that Iron Stem Orchid and Iron Blue Orchid Fruit were not previously found in the Cyan Gorge Mountain Range.
Therefore, the records kept by the Cyan Creek Sect were also unaware that the two Spirit Fruits might affect each other.
At this moment, looking at these two rows of Iron Stem Orchids, Chu Ning furrowed his brow slightly, caught in a dilemma.
If he kept them, he wasn’t sure whether such a hybrid was good or bad.
[And] whether these Iron Blue Orchid Fruits could grow normally, and if they did, whether they could be used for Body Tempering.
If not keeping them means destroying those Iron Blue Orchid Fruits and replanting them.
It would mean that nearly two and a half months of effort would be wasted.
"Forget it, I’ll take a gamble."
Gritting his teeth, Chu Ning decided to keep all these Iron Blue Orchid Fruits.
Rather than waste two and a half months, he might as well give it a try.
If this Mutated Spirit Fruit could finally grow, he would see what it would look like.
If not, [it wouldn’t be a big deal] to waste another three months at most.
After all, it’s only two rows, while the rest are basically normal.
Thinking this way, Chu Ning simply stopped paying attention to whether the Iron Blue Orchid Fruits were hybrid mutations, and instead, cultivated them according to the usual method.
Subsequently, Chu Ning also began to probe these different Iron Blue Orchid Fruits from multiple angles.
After some experiments, Chu Ning discovered that the Spirit Qi absorption rate of these two rows of Iron Blue Orchid Fruits was noticeably faster.
With his Cyan Wood Spring Blossom Skill, his casting frequency could be increased by thirty percent, and they could still absorb it.
He further noticed that this batch of Iron Blue Orchid Fruits seemed to require more water.
If he didn’t perform the Ganlin Technique every two days, the surface of the Spirit Fruits would appear slightly shriveled.
Naturally, Chu Ning wouldn’t be stingy with his spells and accordingly increased the frequency of their use.
To his slight surprise, since bearing fruit, these two rows of hybrid mutated Iron Spirit Fruits were growing notably faster than the regular ones.
After he increased his spell casting frequency, this batch of Iron Blue Orchid Fruits grew to be half again as large as the others.
At the same time, as time went on,
the brown color of their peels gradually faded, and the original golden yellow mixed within began to deepen continuously.
If this trend continued by the time they were fully mature, it’s very likely that these Golden Orchid Fruits wouldn’t be brown.
Instead, like the Golden Essence Fruits, they would turn golden yellow.
Two months later, in the Spirit Field.
Chu Ning began to harvest the Golden Essence Fruits with a Jade Box in hand.
After they bore fruit once, the time for Golden Essence Fruits to grow again seemed slightly shortened.
The period from fruit picking to regrowth and flowering was over a month.
It only took four months from flowering to maturity this time.
Naturally, Chu Ning planned to sell all these Golden Essence Fruits to Gu Xiaoqing.
Due to the increasing number of Qi Refining Late Stage Cultivators in the Market, Gu Xiaoqing had begun selling Spiritual Essence Pills.
These Golden Essence Fruits were also a crucial ingredient for Spiritual Essence Pills.
However, unlike the Gathering Essence Pill, Spiritual Essence Pill refinement required other more advanced materials.
At this moment, Chu Ning picked all the Golden Essence Fruits and stored them away properly.
Then he went among the rows of Iron Blue Orchid Fruits and performed the Cyan Wood Spring Blossom Skill.
When the casting was done, Chu Ning walked to the row closest to the Golden Essence Fruits.
"Can these still be called Iron Blue Orchid Fruits? How about Golden Orchid Fruits?"
Looking at the two rows of now golden-yellow Iron Blue Orchid Fruits, Chu Ning smiled and shook his head.
Then he sat down cross-legged and started to cultivate the Cyan Wood Evergreen Technique.
These two rows of Iron Blue Orchid Fruits, due to faster Spirit Qi absorption, benefited from the enhanced cultivation speed of the Cyan Wood Spring Blossom Skill as well.
For two or three months, Chu Ning mainly cultivated the Cyan Wood Evergreen Technique in this Spirit Field.
After finishing cultivating, Chu Ning naturally glanced at his cultivation proficiency.
[Cyan Wood Evergreen Technique (Yellow Tier Lower Grade), Third Layer (500/2100)]
[Nine Derivations Body Refining Technique, Volume One, Unbreakable Tendons 313/1500]
[Refining Spirit Technique, First Layer 780/1000]
"About a month more, and I should enter the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining!" Chu Ning revealed a slight smile.
It had been nearly five months since he reached the Qi Refining Late Stage.
During these five months, for nearly a month at the start, Chu Ning steadily built his foundation using the Cyan Wood Spring Blossom Skill.
After purchasing Spiritual Essence Pills from Wind Gorge Square, Chu Ning then started rapid cultivation using them.
However, Chu Ning wasn’t overly reckless; after consuming the pills for a few days, he generally took a short break.