Chapter 173: G.o.d Farmer"s Taste of Some Herbs
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
At this time, a chariot pulled by an Exotic Beast arrived. It was the one who had sent the River Chart and The Inscription of The Luo to f.u.xi before.
f.u.xi got in the chariot and said to G.o.d Farmer,
"Take care of the Human Tribe. I will wait for you in the Holy Land." f.u.xi then returned to the Sacred Land of Spiritual Inheritance of the Human Tribe with the Four Ancestors of Humanity.
f.u.xi was a master at the Peak Level of Sage-to-be now. Although he had restored his previous life"s memory, he had not gained back his cultivation. He had been a demon in his previous life and now he was a human, so transformation exercises from the previous life could not be exerted. He was interested in the Martial Arts of the Human Tribe and he owned merits as the Human Sovereign, so it was suitable for him to cultivate a Golden Body of Martial Arts.
After f.u.xi left, the Human Tribe formally transformed from the age of f.u.xi to the age of G.o.d Farmer. Since G.o.d Farmer had succeeded to the throne, he kept working hard and took clan affairs personally without any misconduct. As an old Chinese saying went, keeping is harder than winning. Seeing G.o.d Farmer"s att.i.tude, all the tribe leaders were relieved.
The first thing G.o.d Farmer did after taking the throne was to popularize the planting of the Five Grains. The Human Tribe had begun to plant them before, but it had been limited to G.o.d Farmer"s tribe and other surrounding tribes. Planting was not common among all the tribes and many still knew little about growing the Five Grains.
In order to better popularize the planting methods, G.o.d Farmer called smart people from each tribe to teach. Outside Chen Du, he taught them the planting methods in person and explained problems they might meet in the planting process. In this way, the planting of the Five Grains caught on quickly and G.o.d Farmer"s name became well-known in a short time.
With ample food, the Human Tribe witnessed another rapid development. The food shortage was not a restriction for its advancement anymore. Nevertheless, with an increasing number of wastelands being reclaimed and an ever-growing amount of food, food storage became a problem. As the grain would never cease to come, the storage time was not long enough.
G.o.d Farmer failed to come up with a method after meditating for a long time, so he went to his mentor Kong Xuan for advice. Kong Xuan did not have any feasible advice, but he remembered that Liu Er had once made wine with wild fruit. Could the Five Grains be used to make wine as well? Kong Xuan mentioned this casually, but G.o.d Farmer took it seriously.
G.o.d Farmer had once had a taste of the Monkey Liquor made by the martial elder uncle, Liu Er. The wine was full of Spiritual Air and one could feel the warmth all over his body after drinking it. If the Five Grains could be used to make similar wine, the wine could drive away the inner chill during cold days even if it had no Spiritual Air. Considering this, G.o.d Farmer hurried back to his city to commence trials.
Shortly afterward, "wine" came into the life of the Human Tribe and they began to make wine with the extra grain. Different raw materials and production methods could make various wines. It was this one idea from Kong Xuan that introduced wine to the Human Tribe before its time.
Nevertheless, G.o.d Farmer knew that making wine could not completely solve the excess grain problem. As a result, he came up with an idea. People could exchange for things they needed with extra grains. This bartering system was the rudiment of trading and laid a primary foundation for the later commerce of the Human Tribe.
As trading and winemaking became popular in the Human Tribe, the grain problem was finally resolved. Gradually, G.o.d Farmer found other problems. When planting the Five Grains, people found there were some weeds. After ingesting certain species of weeds, people would get unpleasant symptoms or sometimes even die.
G.o.d Farmer instantly convened with wise people in the clan to discuss the matter, but they failed to come up with a solution after discussing it for a considerable amount of time. G.o.d Farmer had no other solution but to adopt the bluntest method, namely tasting every weed to distinguish toxic ones from medicinal ones. He then cataloged all his findings in brochures to be given out to all the tribes so that people would not die from eating the wrong herbs.
Although people in the clan tried to stop G.o.d Farmer from doing so, he had made up his mind to taste all the herbs. Before leaving, Kong Xuan called him to send some detoxifying elixirs just in case. G.o.d Farmer was delighted to get these elixirs with which he believed he was more probable to taste all herbs.
During his tour through the Untainted Land, he tasted all the herbs and flower buds he came into contact with. Although he was poisoned constantly, he was lucky to survive with the detoxifying elixirs given by Kong Xuan. He noted down after every single taste; thus he could catalog them into brochures to be given out to the Human Tribe and future generations.
The elixirs, however, were eventually used up. One day, G.o.d Farmer felt severe pain in his stomach after taking a type of herb. When he reached out for the elixirs, there was nothing left. Even when he was unconsciousness, he still thought about his dream of tasting all herbs in the world. He pa.s.sed out with regret.
As G.o.d Farmer was on the edge of dying, multicolored clouds flashed and Kong Xuan appeared out of nowhere. Seeing G.o.d Farmer"s condition, Kong Xuan took out a grain of elixir and poured it into G.o.d Farmer"s mouth. After a while, G.o.d Farmer was free from stomachache and the poison from Heartbreak Gra.s.s was resolved.
G.o.d Farmer regained consciousness. Noticing Kong Xuan at his side, he knew that he had been rescued by his mentor. He stood up and expressed his thanks, "Mentor. I was foolish to eat toxic herbs. Thank you for saving my life!"
Kong Xuan nodded, saying, "You are my disciple, naturally I will save you. Save the etiquette, get up." Kong Xuan continued asking, "G.o.d Farmer, are you aware that tasting herbs will bring you numerous pains and even kill you? There are innumerable herbs in Untainted Land, how can you taste them all?"
G.o.d Farmer replied seriously, "Mentor, I will never regret tasting herbs even if I may die from doing so. There are countless herbs, and I will taste each of them day by day. I will taste them all one day." He then knelt on the ground, saying, "I"m just worried that I will die before tasting all the herbs. I beg you to give me some a.s.sistance."
Seeing G.o.d Farmer with a st.u.r.dy expression, Kong Xuan smiled and helped him up. Kong Xuan then took out a treasure, saying, "This is Reddish Brown Whip refined from a body from the Dragon Tribe and numerous treasures by your grandmaster. This whip is used to identify drug properties by touching herbs. You may also use it to identify herbs."
G.o.d Farmer was exultant to get the Reddish Brown Whip, holding it in hands. Kong Xuan laughed, saying, "Now you may continue your tasting journey. I am leaving." He gave more detoxifying elixirs to G.o.d Farmer, then rode the clouds away. G.o.d Farmer watched Kong Xuan in awe until he vanished in the clouds, then he came to himself.