Chapter 65: The Festival of Fiery Persimmons

Whenever the Fire Persimmon Festival arrives, the entire Immortal City is deserted. The citizens leave their homes and gather outdoors on the mountainside and at the foot of the mountain.

During this time, part of the Fire Persimmon Forest is opened to the public.

Both mortals and cultivators participate in the harvest, picking fire persimmons.

It is a citywide carnival, a celebration of abundance that has never ceased since the founding of the city and the establishment of the first generation of city lord.

This year’s Fire Persimmon Festival is markedly different from those of the past.

Months ago, Chi Dun’s pursuit of the Shadow Demon cultivator shocked the entire city.

Even those who had not witnessed it firsthand heard from others that the Shadow Demon cultivator had been driven into the Fire Persimmon Forest and sealed within by layers of spell arrays.

Before this year’s festival began, Fei Si took charge of security and gradually put the city under lockdown.

On the festival day, the city lord stood atop Fire Persimmon Mountain and personally activated the city’s grand formation.

Countless emerald-green patterns appeared in the sky, throughout the city, and on the ground, imposing and crisscrossed. This was only what the citizens could see with their eyes; even more arrays penetrated deep into the mountain, continuously absorbing geothermal heat and fire essence, channeling it throughout the Immortal City to supply the many alchemy rooms, forging chambers, and mechanical workshops.

The greatest consumer of fire essence and geothermal heat was the Fire Persimmon Forest.

Through the persimmon trees, the mountain’s fire and heat were transformed into the fiery fruits.

Fire persimmons could serve as fuel akin to fire essence, be eaten, used in medicine, or utilized in forging—endless uses.

At the city’s founding, the Fire Persimmon Forest was but a small patch. Now, it spreads across nearly the entire mountain foot, wrapping the base in a magnificent ring of red.

Under the watchful eyes of countless citizens, a large number of Foundation Establishment cultivators marched out of the city.

Most of these cultivators came from the city lord’s manor or the three major families, with a few from trusted organizations.

Such as the Monkeyhead Gang.

Each Foundation Establishment cultivator brought several mechanical monkeys with them.

Yuan Dasheng followed beside Yuan Er, his massive, imposing figure standing out among the departing cultivators.

“We should set off as well.”

Ning Zhuo, Chen Cha, and others quietly left the city.

These mechanical cultivators would today rush to repair the mechanical monkeys in the field—a precaution Fei Si implemented to prevent accidents.

After leaving the city, they did not plunge directly into the Fire Persimmon Forest, but positioned themselves on the mountainside, entering a hidden, defensive array.

The array also displayed scenes from the Fire Persimmon Forest, enabling the mechanical cultivators to observe their monkeys in real time and pinpoint any malfunctions.

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

Chi Dun did likewise, hidden somewhere unknown.

The Golden Core cultivators of the three major families also kept out of sight, secretly stationed around the Fire Persimmon Forest as directed by the city lord’s manor.

A net encircling the Shadow Demon cultivator was already cast.

“Begin.” Fei Si, the only Golden Core cultivator openly present, presided over the event.

At her command, numerous Foundation Establishment cultivators, accompanied by mechanical monkeys, surged into the Fire Persimmon Forest.

These past few days, the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the three families had rigorously trained in mechanical arts, honing their ability to control the monkeys.

Typically, a Foundation Establishment cultivator could control at least three mechanical monkeys simultaneously to pick fire persimmons.

Seeing countless mechanical monkeys leap into the fiery red forest, Yuan Er grew anxious, rallying his gang: “Brothers, it’s up to you now.”

“Give it your all and prove to everyone that the Monkeyhead Gang is the best at picking fire persimmons!”

The Fire Persimmon Forest was divided by arrays according to the age of the trees.

At first, only the sections less than ten years old were opened.

The mechanical monkeys continuously picked persimmons, each one stored in the storage array at their chests.

Viewed from above, countless persimmons vanished in moments, leaving only branches adorned with red leaves.

Once a monkey’s storage reached capacity, the cultivators remotely recalled them.

They stood in a giant circle array, disgorging their persimmons, piling them on the ground.

Whenever the pile reached a certain height, the array activated, teleporting the persimmons directly to the city lord’s granary.

When the under-ten-year-old persimmons were harvested, Fei Si opened the sections with older trees.

After those were collected, the process continued with twenty, thirty years, and so on.

The age increased until they reached the hundred-year-old section.

Boom!

A sudden explosion—a fire persimmon detonated.

In an instant, it triggered a chain reaction, causing nearby persimmons to explode.

Terrifying flames consumed more than a dozen Fireblast Monkey mechanisms; the cultivators, being far away, were unharmed.

All eyes turned to the site of the incident.

Fei Si frowned and immediately ordered an investigation.

A cultivator from the Zhou family was quickly brought forward.

Fei Si’s face was expressionless: “Was it your mismanagement that caused this?”

The Zhou family cultivator paled, nodding weakly. He wanted to protest, but knew well that the grand formation recorded every angle. If he lied, he would be easily exposed, and the consequences would be worse.

Fei Si’s brow tightened: “The destroyed persimmons will be counted against you. Take half a cup of tea’s time to settle your mind, then get back to work.”

“Yes,” the Zhou family cultivator replied, retreating.

Bang.

Soon after, a mechanical monkey’s movements warped; while retrieving a persimmon, it collided with others, triggering another explosion.

Fei Si reviewed the recorded images, confirmed the issue lay with the mechanical monkey, and immediately traced its serial number to the workshop responsible.

It was the Flying Disc Workshop.

Fei Si sent word to Chen Cha and Ning Zhuo.

The messenger conveyed Fei Si’s reproach.

The array they occupied replayed the explosion’s footage, focusing on the faulty mechanical monkey.

Chen Cha examined the images and quickly concluded: “This mechanical monkey has suffered too much wear from prolonged labor, causing its body to melt and deform.”

He looked at Ning Zhuo.

This monkey had been produced using Ning Zhuo’s reduced-spec plan—a shoddy product.

Ning Zhuo pondered: “The temperature in the hundred-year-old section seems higher than usual this year. Have the cultivators pause and use Clear Dew Pellets, crush them, mix with water, and pour thoroughly over the monkeys. Make sure the surface is just moist enough for seepage.”

After giving instructions, Ning Zhuo buried himself in repairs.

Since the harvesting began, damaged or malfunctioning monkeys kept arriving for emergency repairs, then were quickly sent back.

As time passed, more and more monkeys needed fixing, and Ning Zhuo and the others grew overwhelmed, unable to keep up.

Chen Cha, sweating profusely, reminded Ning Zhuo: “Little Zhuo, you see, this is the price of cutting corners.”

Ning Zhuo sighed: “Master Chen, isn’t this failure rate exactly what I intended?”

“Besides, many of those sent for repairs are due to operator error—not my responsibility.”

The hardship was temporary. Before long, fewer monkeys were brought in for repairs.

This was because everyone had finished harvesting the hundred-year-old section and moved on to the thousand-year-old persimmons.

These thousand-year-old fruits, as large as basins, absorbed endless fire and heat through the grand formation, growing to immense value.

The Foundation Establishment cultivators grew cautious, choosing to control only one monkey each.

If a single persimmon exploded and set off a chain reaction, they could lose everything.

With only one monkey per person, naturally, fewer needed repairs.