Chapter 338: Advanced Resources: River of Life |
After the fields evolved, the next decision was which building to evolve.
But after long consideration, Qin Ziwen decided to postpone it for now.
The main reason was that the remaining ordinary buildings were either too low-level, unsuitable, or duplicates of existing structures.
Although no building was suitable, there were plenty of resource points.
Qin Ziwen brought Jia Liangcai to the spring.
The spring in the Home was currently level 4, mainly responsible for producing fresh water within the Home.
Several bamboo pipes had been built beside the spring, water gushing out in a steady stream. At the ends were several large wooden basins, and people came every so often to take the water from the basins.
This saved a lot of pressure on fresh water needs. Although other residents in the residential complex also had spring resource points, most of their springs were low-level; the highest was only level 2.
Jia Liangcai said, "Master, the Home still lacks a mature seawater purification capability. If we upgrade and lose the ability to produce fresh water..."
However, the Advanced Resource Card he had obtained earlier in Red Cauldron Tower, the River of Living Beings, could be used.
They went to the newly expanded area. The River of Living Beings required a construction area of 1000 by 50 meters. Qin Ziwen drew a straight long channel through the middle of this new blank area.
It was like a north-south canal, dividing the area into two.
When the card's use was confirmed,
he heard the sound of a river surging in his ears.
A straight curtain of light extended forward.
From under his feet to the horizon of his sight, it measured exactly one thousand meters.
When the light faded, a river fifty meters wide flowed gently.
At that moment, the Home little glowing ball appeared.
Qin Ziwen's expression shifted slightly. Previously, when this happened it meant some buildings had activated a linkage.
[Detected same-series resource card. Merge?]
"Yes."
As soon as the words fell,
a stream of light from behind, like a swimming fish, crossed the sky and merged into the newborn river at his feet.
At first, the river's surface only rippled with a few unusual circles.
Then, midstream, a few hundred meters from Qin Ziwen, the water silently bulged upward. The flow was not pushed aside; instead, as if held by an invisible hand, it slowly formed the outline of a surging spring.
After several seconds, it subsided and everything returned to calm.
[Fusion complete: Level 4 spring has been merged into "River of Living Beings"]
[River of Living Beings gained Special Effect: Everlasting Vitality]
[Advanced Resource · Level 1 River of Living Beings: Level 2 River Eye, Level 2 Reproductive River, Level 2 Ecological Hub] (Special Effects: 1) Revitalized Water: The entire river's water quality is essentially upgraded, containing faint life energy. Long-term drinking can slowly improve constitution; irrigation accelerates crop growth and slightly improves quality. 2) Everlasting Vitality: The river has powerful self-purification and circulation; even if downstream is polluted, the river can cleanse and restore itself.)
First was the River Eye, a very simple effect, similar to a spring: it can continuously produce fresh water, but it will not exceed the river's limits and cause backflow that floods surrounding land.
Although the River Eye was only level 2, a level 2 River Eye's water production speed far exceeded that of a level 4 spring.
Next was the Reproductive River. Whether freshwater or seawater, any aquatic species could grow in this river. It also reduced reproductive isolation between species, increasing the chance of conception.
Finally, the Ecological Hub was a passive effect covering the entire Home.
The river, springs, and all planting-type buildings and resource points in the Home would receive a permanent buff: they would gain a layer of a beneficial cyclical micro-ecological field.
The higher the Ecological Hub's level, the more significant the buff.
As for the two special effects mentioned earlier:
Revitalized Water needs no further explanation. Plants in the Rare Treasure Garden already grew quickly; irrigating them with river water would speed growth even more.
With these layered effects stacking up, he dared not imagine how fast crops would grow.
As for Everlasting Vitality, it served as a safeguard for the river. With industrial and population development in the Home, even with controls, wherever people leave traces the water is inevitably affected to some extent.
This state served as a bottom line.
By the riverbank, perhaps because the river's form was a straight line, the surface was very calm,
but he could see the water slowly flowing from upstream to downstream.
Qin Ziwen took off his coat and jumped into the river.
The river wasn't very cold; it was much warmer than seawater.
He dived down and, after swimming a distance, touched the riverbed.
There was a shallow layer of silt on the bottom and many scattered stones that could serve as natural cover for riverbed creatures.
The riverbed was V-shaped, fairly shallow near the banks at about eight meters deep, and getting deeper toward the center, where it reached twenty to thirty meters.
At the river's downstream end lay a vague black cave. Qin Ziwen reached out and touched the edge of its boundary, but an invisible barrier stopped him.
Yet the water flow was unaffected; passing through this membrane was like the lava rivers in the Furnace Bunker—this was only a section of a severed river.
"So this river is alive, not stagnant water."
Back on the surface, Qin Ziwen was already calculating how many fish such a river could support.
With this river's width and depth, even a whale could be housed with room to spare.
But besides water, the river contained nothing else.
They would have to stock the fish themselves.
However, that was not a big problem; there was plenty of time.
He told his ideas to Jia Liangcai, who dutifully recorded everything in his little notebook.
Unlike planning the Rare Treasure Garden, supplementing fish species and building the ecology for the River of Living Beings was a huge project.
Jia Liangcai subconsciously touched his hair—another round of hair loss was on the horizon.
News that the Guild Leader's Home had gained a new river and a large new blank area could not be kept secret for long. It soon spread throughout the Qin Alliance.
At the same time, a notice was issued within the Home: an "Exchange Life for Death" event.
Live fish could be exchanged for dead fish at a rate of 1:1.2.
Although the rate was not high, many people flocked to it.
A jin of live fish could net an extra two liang of meat!
This made island expansion work suddenly very popular.
The island reef where the residential complex sat had limited area and had been heavily developed by residents recently, causing local seafood yields to drop sharply.
Many nearby islands were undeveloped wilderness.
If one had the guts, a day's harvest could equal several days' normal yield.
Because expansion efficiency had increased, ferry sailing frequency soared, changing from one trip every three hours to one every two hours.
Demand for boats within the residential complex reached its peak.
Against this lively backdrop, Huang Tao, who had kept a low profile for a while, seized the opportunity to promote his small ferries in the complex.
"Although the hulls are small, only about five in length, and they use oars so they're not fast, they're cheap. More importantly, these boats can be sold. Once you buy one, it's yours! Go out to sea whenever you want!"
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