Tang Yuan’s growth was incredibly fast, astonishing everyone with its almost daily transformation.
In just a month, its size doubled, and when standing, it was already as tall as Jiang Xuan.
This growth speed was truly terrifying.
Along with its size, its appetite also increased. If it hadn’t gradually learned to hunt small prey on its own, Jiang Xuan might not have been able to afford to feed it.
Meanwhile, its feathers had almost entirely turned purple, with only a blue ring around its neck, resembling a blue scarf.
With its sharp beak and sturdy claws, Tang Yuan already had the demeanor of a Fierce Bird.
The snakes that Tang Yuan caught were also getting bigger.
Even the venomous snakes that the tribe people avoided fearfully could only become food when they encountered Tang Yuan.
Its running speed was also getting faster and faster; the only pity was that its wings were not fully developed yet, so it couldn’t fly.
On September 15, Jiang Xuan, along with Da Jiao and several warriors, drained the pond where they were breeding fish fry.
In the spring, Jiang Xuan had placed many female fish in the pond, which laid numerous eggs and grew into fry.
After half a year, these fry had grown to the size of palms, swimming happily throughout the pond.
Jiang Xuan caught all these palm-sized fish, putting half into other ponds to continue raising, and the other half he carried to the stream to release them.
The reason for waiting until now to release the fish fry was that these fish usually only eat grass and grow relatively slowly. If released too early, they might become food for other carnivorous fish.
Now they had grown quite large, possessing a certain ability to protect themselves, so their survival rate in the waters would be higher.
Da Jiao looked at the lively fish in the rattan basket, reluctantly saying, "Chief, do we really have to release them?"
"Of course, didn’t I tell you? If we don’t release the fish fry and keep catching fish, there will be fewer and fewer fish in the river. Eventually, the river’s fish will be depleted."
Da Jiao understood the logic, but he had carefully nurtured these fish, watching them grow little by little, so he felt a bit reluctant.
Jiang Xuan was the first to pour a whole basket of fish into the stream, watching them swiftly swim to the deeper water until they disappeared.
"Go ahead and pour them out, these fish can’t stay out of water too long, or they’ll die."
At Jiang Xuan’s urging, Da Jiao and the warriors could only pour the baskets of fish into the stream, watching them swim away eagerly.
Some of these fish might live in the stream, while others might swim into the broader Feiyu River. In any case, from this moment on, they were free.
Jiang Xuan patted Da Jiao’s shoulder and said, "Don’t be reluctant. Trust me, these fish fry will bring us more harvests in the future."
Jiang Xuan picked up the empty rattan basket first and headed back, with Da Jiao and the warriors following him, returning to the farming area to continue working.
However, what they did just now, releasing fish into the stream, was seen by many people working nearby.
They didn’t understand it.
In their eyes, these fish were edible meat—how could they just pour meat into the stream?
However, since it was led by the chief, they didn’t dare to voice any objections, only whispered regrets privately.
After putting back the rattan baskets, Jiang Xuan walked into the fields to check on the red crystal rice, with Gan Song, the leader of the Planting Team working nearby, running over too.
With the arrival of autumn, the tips of the leaves of the red crystal rice plants gradually dried and turned golden, spreading to the entire plant.
The red crystal rice, in the shape of wheat ears, became full and translucent, resembling red crystals, very beautiful.
Jiang Xuan stood beneath the three or four meters tall red crystal rice plants, looking at the heavy red spikes, feeling quite cheerful.
Jiang Xuan contentedly said, "In another seven or eight days, these red crystal rice should be ripe."
Jiang Xuan had planted about fifty or sixty grains of red crystal rice, and when these plants matured, each one could yield several hundred pigeon egg-sized red crystal rice grains, with an astonishingly high yield.
If they sow the harvested red crystal rice next year, within a year, the Vine Tribe will have a true staple food available for everyone!
A bright smile appeared on Gan Song’s dark face. He had carefully tended to these red crystal rice plants all year, fertilizing, watering, loosening soil, and weeding, not knowing how much effort he had put in, and now finally, the harvest season had come.
Jiang Xuan then said, "Let’s go check the other places where red crystal rice is planted."
Previously, the Vine Tribe knew nothing about red crystal rice, so to be safe, Jiang Xuan planted them in different fields.
Some fields were drier, some were more humid, some were well-lit, while others had less sunlight.
Jiang Xuan and Gan Song walked through all the red crystal rice fields.
He found that the red crystal rice growing in moist soil and well-lit plains was the best, while those in dry, shady mountainous areas were the worst.
Jiang Xuan said, "It seems that these red crystal rice are best suited to grow on well-lit, moist soil plains. Keep a record of this and don’t plant them on the mountain land next year."
"Okay, I’ve got it," Gan Song replied.