Chapter 362 - 360: Filthy Blood Spiritual Soil
As the light faded, the Black Soil before Duane had lost its dark color, transforming completely into brown earth.
He scooped up a handful and rubbed it between his fingers. With just a little pressure, the brown granules instantly turned to dust.
He then poured some water into his cupped hand and added a pinch of the brown earth. It dissolved in an instant, turning the once-clear water a murky brown.
A delighted smile spread across Duane’s face.
This was the transformed Filthy Blood Spiritual Soil, a fertilizer as effective as Fertile Soil.
’His work for the day could finally come to a successful end!’
"According to the attribute panel’s description of Filthy Blood Spiritual Soil, one mu of land requires about thirty jin."
Duane looked at the transformed Spiritual Soil and estimated he had about 300 jin, enough for ten mu of land.
However, the total cultivated area of Black Forest Island and Silver Jade Territory was now close to 100,000 mu. If they were to plant early rice on 50,000 mu this spring, fertilizing it all would require 1,500,000 jin of Filthy Blood Spiritual Soil.
This was a staggering amount. To put it in perspective, even with modern twenty-ton dump trucks, it would take at least thirty-eight of them to haul it all in a single trip.
The road from Broken Wave City to the Secret Realm had not yet been built, making it difficult for even Mammoths to traverse. They could only rely on manual labor or single-horse transport, which was obviously inefficient.
Still, there was a way to solve this problem in the initial phase.
Duane’s Void Space was currently thirty cubic meters. If he filled it entirely with Black Soil, he could carry 80,000 jin at once. Just a dozen or so trips would do the trick.
’So, the main task now is to dig up the soil.’
A plan formed in Duane’s mind.
He stored the Array’s base in his Void Space and woke the dozing Ryo. "I’m leaving. You should go to sleep."
Ryo rubbed his eyes and said groggily, "My lord, you’re going back this late? Why don’t you just stay and sleep here with me?"
Duane rolled his eyes. "And why would I sleep with a little imp like you?"
He mounted his horse and rode away from the Blacksmith Shop.
By the time he returned to the castle, washed up, and entered their room, Natalia had already fallen asleep at her desk, a book resting beneath her.
Duane glanced at it. It was the ledger of births and deaths in the Territory, recorded by Liss, the Population Registrar.
Duane had offered suggestions for improving the newborn survival rate early on, but as the numbers improved year after year, he hadn’t paid it much mind.
However, judging from Liss’s year-end report, the population growth rate on Black Forest Island had held steady at around eighteen per thousand for the past two years—meaning an increase of eighteen people for every thousand residents each year.
Given Black Forest Island’s current population, the annual increase was approaching the one-thousand mark, signaling a period of rapid growth.
This was undoubtedly related to policies encouraging childbirth and reducing taxes.
"Mm... you’re back?" Natalia woke with a start, rubbing her drowsy eyes.
"You should have gone to bed if you were tired. There was no need to wait for me." Duane stooped down and lifted her into his arms.
Natalia explained, "I just got tired from reading. I wasn’t waiting for you on purpose. By the way, how did the Magic Array turn out?"
Duane set her down on the bed and grinned smugly. "What do you think? Of course it was a success!"
"That’s wonderful!" she beamed.
After they had spent some time together, Natalia snuggled in Duane’s arms and sighed. "I can’t believe I just got here, and you already have to leave again."
She wasn’t used to this kind of life yet.
Duane didn’t want to leave either, of course, but the business in the Starfall Islands was too important.
Besides, the dust hadn’t settled yet in Sharp Stone Territory, and since Lune didn’t know Selena and Brison, it would be difficult for them to get in touch.
To ensure everything went smoothly, he needed to go there himself and build a bridge between the two parties.
"I’ll try to come back as soon as I can to be with you."
Natalia smiled. "Your work comes first. Don’t worry about me. Mmm... I won’t be bored here. I still have so much to learn and take care of!"
"Perfect. I actually need your help with a few things."
Natalia had just arrived, and as his partner, Duane naturally wanted to bolster her authority.
"What is it? Just tell me."
Duane said, "Now that the Magic Array is complete, the next step is to transform the Black Soil in the Secret Realm into Filthy Blood Spiritual Soil. I’ve calculated that for fifty thousand mu of rice paddies this spring, we’ll need 1.5 million jin of the Spiritual Soil."
"That much?!"
Natalia was taken aback. "Are you asking me to arrange for people to dig up the soil?"
"You can just have Julian and the others handle that. What I need your help with is announcing how to use the Spiritual Soil, determining the tax rates for fertilized land, and setting the price for the Spiritual Soil for the late rice harvest in the second half of the year."
Duane then explained these three tasks to Natalia in detail.
"Thirty jin of Spiritual Soil per mu will be enough. It should be applied anytime between the tillering stage—after the seedlings recover from transplanting—and the heading stage."
"The tillering stage? I don’t understand."
Natalia furrowed her brow and quickly asked for clarification.
Duane chuckled. Natalia was a count’s daughter, after all; it was perfectly normal for her to be unfamiliar with such things.
The only reason he knew was because of the knowledge he’d gained from leveling up his Basic Planting skill.
"After the rice seedlings are transplanted, they go through five stages: the recovery stage, the tillering stage, the jointing and booting stage, the heading and flowering stage, and finally, the ripening stage."
"The tillering stage is when the plant rapidly grows new shoots from its base. This determines the final number of grain heads and usually occurs between seven and thirty days after transplanting."
He was about to explain further, but Natalia cut him off.
"Wait!"
She rolled out of bed, not even bothering to put on clothes, and hurried to the desk to grab a pen and paper. Her long, silver hair cascaded to her waist, making the view of her back breathtakingly beautiful.
"Okay, go ahead. I’ll take notes." She returned to the edge of the bed and sat down, looking like an eager student.
Duane averted his gaze and proceeded to explain all the stages of rice cultivation.
Natalia finally understood. "Only thirty jin of Spiritual Soil per mu? How are you supposed to spread such a small amount? Should we mix it with sand?"
If you tried to spread it by hand, it would be impossible to control the amount; a few handfuls would use up most of it.
Duane hadn’t considered that problem. After a moment’s thought, he said, "Mixing it with sand is one option, but diluting it with water would be even better."
He took the pen and paper from Natalia and sketched a watering can.
"We can have Riesen the carpenter make these to make the job easier. If there’s not enough time, they can just use water ladles."
Natalia studied the drawing intently and praised him, "You’re amazing. You can come up with new inventions and just sketch them out on the spot."
Duane grinned. "You seem to be telling me I’m ’amazing’ a lot lately."
It took Natalia a moment to understand his meaning. When she did, she pouted. "We’re being serious right now!"
"Do you have any suggestions for the tax rate and the price of the Spiritual Soil?" she asked, changing the subject.
Duane refocused his thoughts. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "For the first harvest of the year, we’ll distribute the Spiritual Soil to the tenants for free. The requirement will be that they keep 250 jin of their harvest per mu and turn in the rest."
Based on the previous average yield of 350 jin per mu, most people would only end up with 227.5 jin after taxes.
Letting them keep 250 jin was already more than they were used to.
"For the second harvest, they can purchase the Spiritual Soil. The grain tax can be collected at the usual rate."
Seeing the results from the first harvest, the tenants would naturally be willing to spend money on a special fertilizer like the Spiritual Soil.
After all, if the yield per mu reached 800 jin, they would get to keep 520 jin—more than double their previous take-home harvest.
Of course, that’s not accounting for the cost of purchasing the Spiritual Soil.
"I haven’t decided on a price. You can discuss it with Ralph and Julian. Just let me know what you all decide."
"Very well, my lord. As you wish!" Natalia said, respectfully mimicking the manner of a servant.
Duane pulled her into his embrace. "I’ll teach you two more types of Magic. You can then teach them to Constance and the other two Level 1 Mages. Just tell them you came across the spells by chance."
After his Basic Planting skill reached Perfection, Duane had obtained two new types of Magic: Life Siphon and Bountiful Dew.
The former was a Level 1 Magic that could drain the Life Force from weeds.
The latter was a Level 2 Magic that could slightly increase crop yields with repeated use.
With Duane’s power as a Level 7 Mage, one casting of Bountiful Dew could cover seven or eight hundred mu.
Although Natalia was only Level 4, she should be able to cover a dozen or so mu.
In the future, with the fields fertilized by Spiritual Soil and enhanced by Bountiful Dew, the harvests were bound to be excellent.
"Duane."
Natalia’s expression suddenly softened. "Are you giving me all these tasks to build my prestige on the island?"
She was very clever. Duane’s specific instruction—to say she’d come upon these two types of Magic by chance—made her understand many things.
Duane’s arrangements would put her in contact with officials, Warriors, tenants, and Mages in a very short amount of time, all while being the bearer of significant changes and benefits.
This would inevitably elevate her status in everyone’s eyes, making her more than just Duane’s wife or a daughter of the Kennedy Clan.
Duane rubbed his nose and nodded. "You figured it out."
People are complicated. They submitted to Duane because he had the power and ability to command them. The same might not be true for Natalia.
It wasn’t that his subordinates would rebel, but they might feign compliance while secretly disobeying.
Bolstering Natalia’s prestige was necessary so she could maintain control of the situation while Duane was away.
"You trust me so much."
Natalia pressed herself against him, moved. "It’s not unheard of for members of the Nobility to have their territory and property divided and taken by their wives."
Duane smiled. "I know you wouldn’t do that."
In truth, not only would Natalia never do such a thing, but Count Kais had no such intentions either.