At the tips of the bean seed's roots, tiny, round bumps could be seen, one by one, like grains of rice.
The moment Shane saw them, his heart clenched, his eyes widening in utter disbelief.
For he recognized what they were—rhizobia, a beneficial bacterium that was immensely helpful in improving soil quality.
It was a type of bacteria that formed a symbiotic relationship with leguminous plants.
Although they invaded the plant's roots and stimulated the root hairs to form nodules, inside these nodules, the rhizobia would convert nitrogen from the air into nitrogen nutrients that the plant could directly absorb.
And nitrogen was the "food" of plants, a core element in the formation of proteins, chlorophyll, and nucleic acids.
The desert was barren largely because the sandy soil had an extremely low organic matter content and lacked nitrogen, preventing plants from growing large.
Even if they barely survived, they would be yellowed, withered, and on the brink of death.
But with rhizobia, everything would be different. It acted like a natural food factory, continuously supplying the plants with nutrients.
Furthermore, the role of rhizobia went beyond just that.
In the soil, they could release nitrogen-rich organic matter into the surrounding environment, thereby improving the rhizosphere microecology and creating conditions for the growth of other microorganisms.
Thus, they were also the pioneers of ecological succession, trailblazers paving the way for subsequent plant life.
With them, this barren sand would no longer be a dead zone, but would gradually form a vibrant soil ecosystem.
At this thought, Shane's heart trembled violently.
He had originally thought that to cultivate rhizobia in this barren land, he would first need to improve the soil around the pool, expand the green area, and then find wild leguminous plants to breed.
It would take at least three, or even five years.
He never expected that in the blink of an eye, it would be right before him!
Shane snapped his head up, his eyes burning as he stared at Elon.
The latter had just finished confirming the growth status of the bean sprouts. Seeing no issues, he looked up, only to lock eyes with Shane.
Instantly, a chill surged up his spine and straight to his brain.
In his vision, Shane was staring at him intently, the corners of his mouth split upward at an unbelievable angle to reveal even white teeth. He looked no different from the ghouls that constantly wandered around graveyards.
Elon's mind went blank for a moment. Knowing the traits of necromancers all too well, he knew that the only difference between these fellows and corpses was probably that they were still breathing.
Their pursuit of death wore away their emotions, leaving their facial expressions permanently like carved statues.
Thus, since he had met Shane up until now, he hadn't found it strange that the guy always kept that deadpan, coffin-like face. On the contrary, seeing Shane make such an expression now made his blood run cold.
This was clearly the expression of a necromancer looking at a prized experimental specimen!
“W-What are you doing?”
Elon instinctively wanted to stand up and retreat. Under the current circumstances, facing a necromancer at such close range was clearly unwise.
However, Shane was faster.
He grabbed Elon's sleeve and leaned in close, his breath practically brushing against Elon's face. “This, what is this? What's inside the pouch in your hand?”
Instantly, Elon froze.
He looked down at the linen pouch in his hand, then looked up at Shane again, and let out a long sigh of relief.
So, he wasn't targeting me.
As expected, this guy's head was filled with nothing but planting trees. It was just that he looked no different from those madmen who would stop at nothing for their experiments.
Chuckling inwardly, Elon placed his other hand over Shane's and gently pushed it away.
Then, Elon stood up. Holding the pouch, he looked down at the necromancer on the ground with a triumphant smile. “This is a Living Soil Pouch.”
Hearing this, Shane frowned. There was no explanation of such an item in his memories.
However, Elon had no intention of hiding it. He held the pouch in front of Shane and explained, “This is a wonder that only a few druids can craft. It is an item exclusive to druids.”
At this moment, Elon's voice was slightly raised, his pride obvious in his words, and the undisguised smugness in his eyes was even more apparent.
After all, since yesterday, he had been so shocked by Shane's various actions that his Dao Heart was nearly shattered. Now that there was finally a field where he could show off, to be honest... it felt pretty good.
“A small number of druids will travel across countless places throughout the continent, and the soil in some of these places contains extremely vibrant life force.”
“It's highly likely that these soils were nourished by ancient forests, or perhaps they once birthed powerful spirits of nature.”
“Therefore, we collect this soil and place it inside this pouch.”
As he spoke, he shook the pouch in his hand and looked at Shane.
The latter stood up from the ground, his gaze never wavering from the pouch for even a second as he pressed, “And then?”
Seeing Shane like this, Elon's gaze turned deep, and his words carried a hint of weariness. “And then, we wait. Usually for about five years, sometimes ten in rare cases. Under the nourishment of a druid's power, the life force inside the pouch will continuously grow, eventually becoming a ‘Seed of Life.’”
“When we face barren lands or encounter ancient trees on the brink of death, we only need to sprinkle a little on the ground to greatly enhance the land's vitality.”
Having said this, the smugness on the druid's face faded, replaced by a touch of helplessness.
“But that's all. The capacity of a Living Soil Pouch is limited, and its production cycle is long. This single pouch can, at most, improve an area of one to two hundred square meters before it's empty.”
He turned to look at the endless desert of the Golden Sea and let out a long sigh. “Faced with something the scale of the Golden Sea, it's no different from a drop of water in the ocean.”
However, Elon's lament did not affect Shane in the slightest. His gaze remained fixed on the pouch in Elon's hand as he pondered.
Although he didn't know the working principle behind this druid wonder, based on his knowledge and judgment, the pouch acted like a miniature culture chamber.
Therefore, the soil with strong life force likely referred to soil where microorganisms were highly active.
As for the quantity? That wasn't a problem at all. As long as these microbial colonies could form a specific symbiotic relationship with plants to improve the soil quality, the colonies would reproduce endlessly.
But Shane's inspiration did not stop there. Ever since he arrived in this place, he had spent most of his time thinking about how to carry out desert reclamation using the experience of his past life.
To put it bluntly, it was a crude copy-pasting of the knowledge and experience from his past life. Now, it seemed rather narrow-minded.
If he could combine his own experience with the technology of this world, perhaps the progress of reclamation would be even faster than he had imagined.
In an instant, a crazy plan began to form in his mind.
Along with the plan in his mind, Shane's gaze shifted from the pouch to Elon's face. His burning gaze made the experienced druid instinctively shudder.
Instinctively, the druid sensed that something was very wrong.
Rate on N.U.
