Da Si Nong: I really don’t want to farm

Chapter 499 Researching Feed and Raising Mythical Beasts

Is the extreme pouty lipstick delicious?

That's definitely much tastier than farm-raised mandarin fish.

The farm's aquaculture now includes not only common fish such as crucian carp, carp, grass carp, and silver carp, but also some valuable fish species.

The Xu family certainly didn't lack fish to eat.

However, relatively speaking, the best-tasting food is still the rice paddy fish raised in their rice fields.

And this fish with a round mouth was clearly better than the rice paddy fish from Xu Yue's family.

“There are plenty of fish that break the limits in Chilongtan Reservoir, but what about the fishpond in our village?” Zhang Ruoxi asked. “The spirit array of that pond is even more advanced than many fields in the village.”

When Xu Yue contracted that pond, he only rented a small portion of the village's farmland.

“I checked before, there’s nothing there,” Xu Yue said. “How could there be any fish that escaped the net in the pond? The pond was cleaned a few years ago.”

Fish ponds are usually drained to clean them.

With all the water drained, how could there be any fish that slipped through the net?
Those fish don't live very long, how could they possibly break the limit?

But reservoirs are different.

Some reservoirs don't even allow aquaculture.

Reservoirs that allow aquaculture are generally not allowed to be drained dry.

It might not even dry out completely.

Some reservoirs are connected to underground rivers.

Reservoirs usually have big fish, but fishponds are difficult to find.

"So how do you plan to raise them?" Zhang Ruoxi asked. "If we raise them in a reservoir, there might be some potential dangers."

The reservoir is too large, and it's inevitable that we can't take care of everything.

“Let’s test it out at the fishpond at the village entrance first,” Xu Yue said. “We won’t sell the fish there for now. Raising mutated fish mainly takes time. If we want to cultivate them in a short period of time, we’ll probably have to invest a lot of resources. It’s better to use those resources on people than on fish.”

“We should ask Grandpa or Academician Meng for advice later. Maybe they can develop a feed that helps fish break through their limits,” Zhang Ruoxi said. “You can also do some research yourself. And while you’re at it, research the feed for poultry and livestock as well.”

"Are you planning to give them some serious technological work?"

Xu Yue said with a smile, but did not deny it.

The poultry and livestock raised on the farm, as well as the aquaculture, are fed mostly natural food, without any technological additives.

That's why it has such an unparalleled quality.

However, if technology is added to produce feed, even if the feed ingredients are of good quality,
“Why should it be the same as regular feed?” Zhang Ruoxi said. “You can think of that feed as a kind of elixir.”

Xu Yue nodded, feeling that it might not be impossible.

No wonder Zhang Ruoxi put her grandfather and the others before Academician Meng and the others.

By combining alchemy techniques, we can develop a better feed than what we currently use, and then use technology to mass-produce it.

"I'll ask Grandpa and the others later," Xu Yue said. "However, whether they have the energy to research other things now that they're researching pills that are useful to people is unknown."

They're already too busy researching pills for human consumption, so how could they possibly waste their energy researching pills that are useful for poultry and livestock?

“The broken levels of poultry and livestock are not just for satisfying our appetites,” Zhang Ruoxi said. “People like Grandpa who practice martial arts need much more meat than ordinary people. Nowadays, I’m afraid ordinary meat is no longer of any use to them. As their cultivation levels increase, the meat produced on the farm probably won’t help them at all.”

Xu Yue seemed to be thinking about something, and felt that what Zhang Ruoxi said was very likely.

Because Xu Yue's interest in farm meat has been waning, the only things he still has an appetite for are the things grown on his own land.

Those were grown in a sacred place.

Xu Yue didn't have much of an appetite for the crops grown elsewhere on the farm.

This may be the reason for practicing breath control and fasting.

Because the food cannot keep up with the level of cultivation, or rather, it not only does not help the cultivators but also hinders their cultivation, those cultivators gradually lose interest in food.

Eating hinders cultivation.

Then why don't I fast or eat air?

"You've noticed?" Zhang Ruoxi said. "You've become very picky about food. These days, you rarely eat meat, mostly just vegetables. At first, I thought it was because you'd reached a higher level of spiritual cultivation and your desire for meat had decreased. But the way you're eating this fish doesn't seem like you like vegetarian food. So there's only one possibility: meat no longer appeals to you. And if you can avoid eating other things, you won't eat them."

“The vegetables at home are still somewhat helpful to me, but meat is basically no longer helpful,” Xu Yue said. “Those things outside are not only not helpful, but also detrimental to cultivation.”

"You've mastered fasting?"

Zhang Ruoxi couldn't help but ask.

At her current level, she can go without food or water for a few days without any problem.

But that definitely won't work in the long run.

"Hmm!" Xu Yue nodded and said, "After condensing the primordial spirit, one should be able to abstain from grains. However, since one can still obtain energy from food, there's no need to abstain from grains. At my current level, the energy I obtain from food is negligible, even less than that from absorbing qi. Of course, this applies to places with abundant spiritual energy. In poor environments, one doesn't even want to breathe. The reason why people with higher cultivation levels like to stay away from the mortal world is not only because they don't want to attract karma, but probably also because of their environment."

The higher the level of attainment, the higher the requirements for the environment.

Even ordinary people don't like going to the toilet, let alone those who are more perceptive and skilled in spiritual cultivation.

In Xu Yue's view, places without spirit arrays are no different from ordinary people using toilets.

Who goes to the toilet for no reason?

It's a different story if married men like to hide in the bathroom to smoke or play on their phones.

“Eating qi and fasting, it all feels like something is missing from the everyday life,” Zhang Ruoxi said. “I don’t want our family to never even have a chance to eat together at the table again in the future.”

Upon hearing this, Xu Yue fell into deep thought.

If the ingredients reach a higher level of skill, then this situation naturally does not exist.

Vegetable cultivation may be keeping up now, but what about in the future?

But meat consumption is no longer keeping up.

Xu Yue finally understood why he suddenly wanted to breed poultry and livestock that could break through to higher realms.

This is a reaction to his craving for meat.

"Why did you suddenly decide to start a feed mill?"

Tian Yizhi looked at Xu Yue, somewhat surprised.

"You must have heard about the giant octopus, right?" Xu Yue said. "There are mutated fish in the Red Dragon Pool Reservoir. I tried one before, and it tasted good and was beneficial to the body, and it also helped with cultivation."

"You want to raise mutated poultry and livestock?" Tian Yizhi frowned and said, "Raise them with feed? Are you planning to separate the raw materials from the farm?"

Previously, during company reforms, the seeds were separated from the farm. Regardless of how large the farm becomes or how many state or private shares it holds, Xu Yue retains control of the source.

Regardless of whether such subsidiaries will become monopolies in the future, technological leadership is enough.

The same applies to feed mills.

Farms cannot monopolize animal husbandry.

This highlights the importance of feed mills.

Tian Yizhi clearly thought much more than Xu Yue.

Xu Yue actually just wanted to raise some to eat himself.

“Feed mills can be sold not only to farms, but also to other people,” Xu Yue said. “However, the prerequisite for this is that we can develop various types of feed.”

Feed can be graded: feed for outsiders, feed for your own farm, and feed for breeding mutant beasts.

The first two shouldn't be difficult; I reckon the Academy of Agricultural Sciences can handle them.

Feed ingredients are estimated to have to be grown on farms.

As for the feed that comes later, it would probably need to have some of the effects of a "medicinal pill" to work.

"Not yet?" Tian Yizhi looked at Xu Yue in astonishment, as if to say, "The things aren't even here yet, what are you talking about?"

By the time I got the feed mill up and running, the feed hadn't even been developed yet. Isn't this just a joke?
“General feed, feed needed for farms, and feed needed to breed mutant beasts,” Xu Yue said. “The first two should be simple, and they should also have market value.”

Tian Yizi nodded.

As for the raw materials used to make those feeds, the farm actually has them all.

For example, those weeds and grains.

Turning those weeds and grains into animal feed might make better use of them.

Modern technology still has many merits.

“Alright, then I’ll get started on building the feed mill,” Tian Yizhi said. “Should we still locate the feed mill in Gong’an City?”

Xu Yue nodded.

The same applies to seed companies.

Xu Yue had no intention of building factories in other places; there was no need for it.

Unless it's something important, Xu Yue has no desire to leave Peach Blossom Village.

Tian Yizhi acted quickly; before Xu Yue could even go to the school to talk to Academician Meng and the others, Yin Xue arrived.

"You're going to start a feed company?" Yin Xue asked bluntly. "Where do you plan to locate the company?"

“Go find Lao Tian, ​​I don’t care about this, you know that,” Xu Yue said. “Didn’t the seed company move to Changjing District before?”

He knew perfectly well what Yin Xuelai's purpose was.

Xu Yue only said that the feed mill would be located in Gong'an City, but he didn't say which district.

“How can you ever have too many of these kinds of things?” Yin Xue said. “If you’re running a feed mill, you certainly won’t be doing it on a small scale.”

How could it be just a small-scale affair?

The seed company has only been established for a short time, yet its tax contributions and job creation are enough to make countless regions envious.

If those seeds weren't produced and sold locally, then the feed must have been as well.

"You really think highly of me," Xu Yue said with a smile. "I haven't even congratulated you on your promotion yet."

Yin Xue is now the top official in Changjing District, which is quite an achievement for someone her age.

However, there are gains and losses.

She is currently only at the second realm of cultivation. If she focuses on cultivation, she will definitely break through to the third realm.

Xu Yue, like everyone else, did not agree.

But he didn't refuse.

If you come to Xu Yue's place and then find Tian Yizhi, things will be much easier.

After Yin Xue left, Xu Yue went to school.

"Feed?" Upon hearing Xu Yue's purpose, Academician Meng immediately laughed and said, "My research is at a critical stage right now, and I can't possibly abandon seed research to study feed with you. However, you can ask Li Weimin for help; he's much more professional in this area than I am."

"Academician Li?" Xu Yue nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go find him."

Li Weimin is also an academician of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. He is currently at the university, but his research is different from that of Academician Meng and others.

In fact, there are quite a few academicians from the agricultural science academy at the university nowadays.

There are also many academicians in other fields.

For example, life sciences, genetics, physics, materials science, and so on.

It's not that most of the top people in China are here, but at least there are many outstanding people in various fields.

There are quite a few in the medical field as well.

"no problem."

Upon hearing Xu Yue's purpose, Li Weimin readily agreed.

He had actually wanted to do research on this before, but he just didn't have the opportunity.

Funds, raw materials, and equipment, etc.

These are all difficult problems.

The key issue is that there is too much relevant research, making it very difficult to get an application.

But now that Xu Yue is taking the lead, there's naturally no problem.

Xu Yue can handle everything, from funding and raw materials to even using his name.

Xu Yue discussed it with Li Weimin, and then went to find Xu Chengyang.

“We’ll look into it later; I don’t think there will be any major problems,” Xu Chengyang said upon hearing Xu Yue’s purpose. “Breeding exotic beasts is imperative, but we also need to consider their temperament. They can’t be as docile as the likes of Da Huang. You’d better start with those that are more docile.”

“Poultry and livestock should be fine,” Xu Yue said. “Even geese shouldn’t pose too much of a danger.”

If a goose breaks through its limits, it may not be a match for an ordinary person.

Even with a cultivation level of one realm, one might not necessarily be able to defeat those combat masters.

The differences will gradually become apparent after reaching the second realm.

“It’s good to take precautions,” Xu Chengyang said. “Otherwise, if something really goes wrong, it could be a disaster. Especially for specialized farming, like your scorpion or centipede farming.”

"I'll call Miao Shiwen later."

Xu Yue nodded.

If problems arise in poultry and livestock farming, they may not be major issues.

For example, cattle and sheep eat grass and are generally docile.

But venomous creatures like scorpions and centipedes are different.

If something goes wrong, it could truly be a disaster.

Although Miao Shiwen is now at the third realm of cultivation, his scorpion farming scale is already large, and now he has also started farming centipedes and other species.

He might not be able to manage it all by himself.

On his way back from school, Xu Yue called Miao Shiwen and repeatedly reminded him.

“I installed a lot of surveillance cameras, 24-hour monitoring,” Miao Shiwen said. “In addition, I installed infrared detectors, which will immediately trigger an alarm if a scorpion escapes.”

"If any scorpions mutate or anything like that, notify me immediately," Xu Yue said. "Mutated venomous insects can be terrifying."

Miao Shiwen naturally had no objection to this.

He and Xu Yue were partners, but Xu Yue was clearly the one in charge.

Miao Shiwen never intended to take the lead, nor did he have the ability to do so.

Without Xu Yue, his scorpion farm would have been barely surviving and on the verge of collapse. How could he have made such a fortune now?

Nowadays, he sells almost all of his scorpions and centipedes to Taoyuan Pharmaceutical.

If it weren't for Xu Yue's connection, who would he have sold it to?
Xu Yue went home, spent some time with his child, and then sat down to read a book. But not long after, the phone rang.

Xu Jianghe's phone call.

"Rabbits from the back mountain have started running out and are all over the village. I feel like something is wrong."

As soon as Xu Yue answered the phone, Xu Jianghe's voice came through.

Upon hearing this, Xu Yue scanned the area with his divine sense and frowned.

(End of this chapter)