Chapter 65: Fire Persimmon Festival

As the Fire Persimmon Festival approached, the Immortal City of Fire Persimmon became a ghost town. The city dwellers departed the city, making their way to the foothills and slopes of the mountains.

During this time, a portion of the Fire Persimmon Forest would be opened to the public.

Mortals and cultivators alike would participate, gathering the fire persimmons.

It was a city-wide celebration, a festival of harvest. From the city's founding, established by the first city lord, it had never been interrupted.

This year's Fire Persimmon Festival was markedly different from years past.

Months prior, Chi Dun's pursuit of the Shadow Demonic Cultivator had caused a sensation throughout the city.

Even those who hadn't witnessed it firsthand had heard tales of the Shadow Demonic Cultivator being driven into the Fire Persimmon Forest and sealed within layers of powerful arrays.

Before the festival even began, Fei Si had overseen the city's defenses, tightening security step by step.

On the day of the Fire Persimmon Festival, the city lord stood atop Fire Persimmon Mountain, taking the initiative to activate the city's grand formation.

Countless emerald green array glyphs manifested in the air, within the city, and on the ground, their aura imposing, crisscrossing and intertwining. This was only what the city residents could see with the naked eye. Many more formations delved deep into the Fire Persimmon Mountain's core, constantly drawing on geothermal heat and subterranean flames, channeling them to all corners of the Immortal City of Fire Persimmon, fueling the various alchemic chambers, artifact forging rooms, mechanical workshops, and other facilities.

The place consuming the most subterranean flames and geothermal heat was, naturally, the Fire Persimmon Forest.

Through the fire persimmon trees, geothermal heat and subterranean flames were converted into fire persimmons, one by one.

Fire persimmons could serve as fuel, similar to fire essence; they could be consumed, used in medicine, and refined into artifacts… their uses were manifold.

At the city's founding, the Fire Persimmon Forest was only a small patch. Now, it had nearly spread across the entire base of the mountain, encircling Fire Persimmon Mountain's foot in a magnificent ring of fiery red.

Watched by countless city residents, a large number of Foundation Establishment cultivators emerged from the city together.

These cultivators were almost all from the city lord's manor and the three great clans. A small number also came from trusted powers,

such as the Monkey Head Gang.

Each Foundation Establishment cultivator carried several mechanical monkeys.

Yuan Dasheng followed by Yuan Er's side, his massive, burly frame particularly noticeable among the cultivators exiting the city.

"Let's set out too."

Ning Zhuo, Chen Cha, and others also secretly left the city.

These mechanical artisans would be on hand to make emergency repairs to the mechanical monkeys today, a prudent measure taken by Fei Si to prevent accidents.

After exiting the city, they didn't head directly to the Fire Persimmon Forest. Instead, they were stationed on the mountainside, entering a concealed, well-hidden formation with powerful defenses.

The formation also provided a view of the Fire Persimmon Forest, allowing the mechanical artisans to observe the working mechanical monkeys in real time and identify any problems that arose.

On the mountainside, Zhu Xuanji concealed his presence, alone, gazing at the Fire Persimmon Forest.

Chi Dun was doing the same, hidden somewhere unknown.

The Golden Core cultivators of the three great clans had also not revealed themselves, deployed around the Fire Persimmon Forest according to the city lord's secret arrangements.

A net targeting the Shadow Demonic Cultivator had already been woven.

"Begin," Fei Si, the only Golden Core cultivator on the surface, commanded, overseeing the situation.

At his order, numerous Foundation Establishment cultivators, carrying mechanical monkeys, charged into the Fire Persimmon Forest.

In recent days, the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the three great clans had diligently practiced mechanical arts, honing their ability to control the mechanical monkeys.

Generally speaking, a Foundation Establishment cultivator could simultaneously control at least three mechanical monkeys to harvest fire persimmons.

Seeing countless mechanical monkeys leaping into the fiery red persimmon forest, Yuan Er also grew somewhat anxious, giving a final pep talk: "Brothers, next, it's up to you!"

"Spare no effort, prove to everyone that our Monkey Head Gang is the best at picking fire persimmons!"

The Fire Persimmon Forest, according to the age of the trees, was divided into countless sections by layers of arrays.

Initially, the sections with trees under ten years old were opened.

The mechanical monkeys harvested continuously, and each time they plucked a fire persimmon, as long as it was brought near their chest, it would be absorbed by their built-in storage array.

Viewed from above, it would be seen that countless fire persimmons rapidly disappeared, leaving only the fiery red branches of the fire persimmon trees.

Once the mechanical monkeys' storage arrays reached their limit, they were remotely controlled to return by the Foundation Establishment cultivators.

They would stand within a giant circular array, spitting out the fire persimmons from their storage arrays, piling them on the ground.

Whenever a pile reached ten feet in height, the formation would activate, transporting the fire persimmons directly to the city lord's manor's granary.

After the fire persimmons under ten years old were harvested, Fei Si opened the sections with trees in their teens.

After these fire persimmons were collected, then came the twenty-year-olds, thirty-year-olds…

The age gradually increased, reaching the century-old trees.

Boom!

With a loud explosion, a fire persimmon burst open.

Almost instantly, it triggered a chain reaction of explosions among the surrounding fire persimmons.

The terrifying flames rapidly engulfed a dozen Fireblast Monkey automatons. The Foundation Establishment cultivators, being far away, suffered no casualties.

For a time, countless gazes turned towards the location of the incident.

Fei Si frowned and immediately ordered an investigation.

A Zhou clan Foundation Establishment cultivator was quickly brought forward.

Fei Si's face was expressionless: "Was it you who mishandled the mechanical monkey?"

The Zhou clan Foundation Establishment cultivator's face was pale, and he weakly nodded. He wanted to argue, but he knew very well that with the grand formation activated, images were being recorded from all directions. If he lied, he would easily be exposed, and the consequences would be even more severe.

Fei Si frowned slightly: "The fire persimmons destroyed in the explosion will all be counted against you. I'll give you half an incense stick's time to calm your mind and continue working."

"Yes," the Zhou clan cultivator accepted the order and withdrew.

Bang.

Not long after, a mechanical monkey suddenly contorted, and while retrieving a fire persimmon, it collided with other fire persimmons, causing an explosion.

Fei Si investigated the footage and confirmed that the mechanical monkey had malfunctioned, immediately identifying the workshop that produced it based on the mechanical monkey's serial number.

It was the Flying Disk Workshop.

Fei Si immediately ordered someone to notify Chen Cha and Ning Zhuo.

The messenger delivered Fei Si's reprimand.

The formation they were in was also replaying the footage from just before the explosion. The main subject of the footage was the offending mechanical monkey.

Chen Cha, through the footage, immediately made a judgment: "The mechanical monkey's movements are distorted because the frame has suffered a large degree of melting from the constant work."

Chen Cha looked at Ning Zhuo.

This mechanical monkey was a inferior product, made according to Ning Zhuo's reduced-quality scheme.

Ning Zhuo pondered: "The temperature in the century-old fire persimmon forest seems higher than in previous years. Have those Foundation Establishment cultivators pause temporarily, take Clear Dew Pills, grind them into powder, mix them with water, and sprinkle it on the mechanical monkeys. Remember, it must be thoroughly sprinkled, to the point where the surface of their bodies is slightly seeping water."

After giving his instructions, Ning Zhuo continued to immerse himself in repairing the mechanical monkeys.

Since the harvesting of fire persimmons began, mechanical monkeys had been continuously damaged and rendered ineffective, being sent over for emergency repairs and then quickly returned to the field.

As time passed, more and more mechanical monkeys were sent over, making Ning Zhuo and the others increasingly busy, gradually falling behind the pace of repairs.

Chen Cha, sweating profusely, reminded Ning Zhuo: "Little Zhuo, see, this is the bitter fruit of cutting corners."

Ning Zhuo sighed: "Elder Chen, isn't this the rate of attrition I wanted?"

"Moreover, many of those sent in for repairs suffered damage from improper human operation. I can't be held responsible for those."

The hardship was temporary. Not long after, fewer mechanical monkeys were sent to them for repairs.

This was because everyone had finished harvesting the century-old trees and had begun extracting fruit from the millennium fire persimmon forest.

These millennium fire persimmons were as large as washbasins, having absorbed boundless geothermal heat and subterranean flames through the grand formation to be birthed. Each one was of considerable value.

The Foundation Establishment cultivators had become more cautious, willing to control only one mechanical monkey to harvest the fruit.

Once one exploded, potentially triggering a chain reaction of explosions among the other fire persimmons, these Foundation Establishment cultivators would likely be bankrupted!

With each person using only one mechanical monkey, the number of monkeys needing repair naturally decreased.