Returning to the mountain village, starting with mushroom picking to get rich

Termitomyces albuminosus has very demanding requirements for its growth environment.

Normally, the termite mushroom in nature needs organic matter from termite nests to provide nutrients for its mycelium and promote its growth.

It also serves as food for termites, providing protein to the colony, and is a symbiotic fungus with termites.

Yang Lin didn't have anywhere to specifically look for termites that could coexist with termite mushrooms in the short term.

They could only randomly look for common insects at the edge of the village, such as red ants, black ants, ground beetles, dung beetles, centipedes, cockroaches, and the like, catching whatever they saw.

I grabbed a handful and put them in the plastic bucket that I hadn't sold yesterday. I then crushed them with a wooden stick until they became a paste.

Next, add a ladle of water and a few drops of vinegar to inhibit mold infection and lower the pH value.

Stir the mixture in the bucket with a wooden stick until it is completely mixed. Then pour the mixture into the flowerpot containing the termite mushroom mycelium.

Cover the flowerpot with a layer of decaying grass and fallen leaves.

Decaying grass and fallen leaves, along with crushed insect carcasses, provide a large amount of organic matter for the flowerpot.

The vinegar added to the water lowered the pH of the soil in the flowerpot.

Such a simple and crude method is certainly not enough to create a suitable environment for the growth of termite mushrooms all at once.

After all, the cultivation technology of termite mushrooms has always been a difficult problem.

It's not that simple; Yang Lin artificially created it.

Otherwise, the Earth where Yang Lin lived in his previous life wouldn't have been unable to master the artificial cultivation technology of termite mushrooms until 2026.

Given the current level of technology in this world, it is estimated that even in ten years, we will still not be able to develop artificial cultivation techniques for termite mushrooms.

However, this is not a big deal.

Although Yang Lin's current conditions no longer allow for providing a more suitable environment for the termite mushroom mycelium in the flowerpot.

However, Yang Lin had other options.

That is, to give full play to subjective initiative.

As the old saying goes, adapt to the environment, rather than expecting the environment to adapt to you.

In terms of the environment, there's not much Yang Lin can do anymore. What he needs to do next is to let the mycelium adapt to the environment!

With a thought, Yang Lin quickly sensed the mycelium in the flowerpot.

Immediately afterward, under Yang Lin's control, the mycelium in the flowerpot that had entered a dormant state due to unsuitable environment suddenly became active.

It grows and spreads wildly in the flowerpot.

Tiny white mycelia explore every corner of the flowerpot, doing their utmost to absorb the nutrients within.

Just like when Yang Lin had just transmigrated and was testing his abilities, the mycelium quickly covered his palm.

In no time at all, the mycelium of the termite mushroom had covered the entire flowerpot.

The difference is that this time, the mycelial growth did not draw any nutrients from Yang Lin's body.

After all, Yang Lin had put some thought into the flowerpots.

Whether it's the most basic water, oxygen, and organic matter, or nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and other trace elements, flower pot soil can provide it all today.

However, just as Yang Lin was about to let the mycelium solidify into fruiting bodies, break through the soil limitations, and emerge from the soil layer (i.e., grow mushrooms), the mycelium in the flowerpot suddenly reached its peak and began to decline, with large areas of it dying.

After all, although the soil in the flowerpot is rich in nutrients, it is ultimately not suitable for the growth of termite mushrooms.

Even with Yang Lin's willpower, they forcibly overcame the discomfort caused by the environment and rapidly metabolized and reproduced.

Once they leave the poplar forest, this is the limit they can reach.

Yang Lin was somewhat disappointed that no mushrooms grew.

The death of the mycelium continues, as if it were a mass extinction.

Yang Lin could feel that his connection with the flowerpot was becoming smaller and weaker.

Yang Lin stopped controlling the mycelium, allowing it to remain in its natural state to prevent the mycelium in the flowerpot from rapidly dying out due to its rapid metabolism.

At this point, the mycelium inside the flowerpot only had a faint, almost imperceptible connection.

This sensation is extremely fragile.

So fragile that even if Yang Lin just gets up and walks a few steps, he can no longer feel it; it is in grave danger.

Brushing aside the soil, Yang Lin reached into the flowerpot and, relying on his delicate senses, managed to pinch a clump of soil.

A clump of soil, less than the size of a fingernail.

And in this small clump of soil, the last trace of mycelium remains.

A mycelium that survived the mass extinction.

"Perhaps, I still have a chance."

Yang Lin held the last strand of mycelium in the flowerpot, thinking to himself.

With a poke of his fingernail, soil slipped away, and Yang Lin touched the mycelium, thus obtaining specific information about it.

With a thought, the dormant mycelium between his fingers immediately became active again.

They entered a phase of frenzied reproduction.

The difference is that this time, the growth requirements are directly provided by Yang Lin, eliminating the need for the mycelium to be painstakingly obtained from the soil.

A layer of white termite mushroom mycelium reappeared on Yang Lin's palm.

As before, Yang Lin carefully peeled off the mycelium and buried it in the flowerpot once again.

The experiment was repeated by removing the mycelium from its own nutrient supply.

……

There is an insect on the mainland called the peppered moth.

Before the Industrial Revolution, this moth's wings were mostly white; the white peppered moth dominated the natural world.

They hide on white bark or lichen, blending seamlessly into the fabric to avoid predation by their natural enemies.

After the Industrial Revolution began, the environment was polluted, fragile lichens died on a large scale, and the bark of birch trees was stained black.

The white peppered moths clinging to the black tree trunks are very conspicuous and basically cannot survive.

In contrast, the original black peppered moths became more elusive and better adapted to the new environment.

They can survive better in the new environment and thus reproduce.

Decades later, people were surprised to find that the once dominant white peppered moth had almost disappeared from the natural world.

On the contrary, the black birch moth, which was originally a niche species, has become more numerous and has taken the lead among moths.

This phenomenon and process is known to scientists as natural selection.

Living things themselves will evolve and adapt to become more adapted to their environment.

This is a result of natural selection.

However, this process is very long, usually taking years or even longer.

Among these, the more advanced the organism, the longer the evolutionary time required.

A thousand years... ten thousand years, perhaps that's still not enough.

……

What Yang Lin needs to do now is to accelerate the evolution of mycelium.

This allows the mycelium in his hands to become more adapted to the environment in the flowerpot.

Compared to plants and animals, fungi have a simple structure and cannot be considered higher organisms.

Its evolution does not take millions of years.

Under Yang Lin's control, the mycelium in the flowerpot multiplied rapidly, encountered difficulties, and then went extinct.

As before, Yang Lin found the surviving mycelia, used his own energy to replicate the surviving mycelia in batches, and then continued to conduct experiments.

And so on and on.

With Yang Lin's continuous screening, the time that the mycelium can survive in flower pots has become longer and longer.

They are becoming increasingly adapted to the artificial environment in flowerpots.

The emperor does not bear the painstaking people.

Finally, clusters of grayish-white termite mushrooms emerged from the flowerpot.