Jiang Chan's heart pounded, a surge of immense joy welling up within her! What did this mean? It meant that it might produce even better seeds!

This means her plan is perfectly feasible!

Excitedly, she bent down, bringing her face closer to the delicate flower bud, wanting to get a better look. In the cool morning air, she could almost smell a faint, almost imperceptible, scent of grass.

However, the moment she got closer, her pupils suddenly contracted!

Several insects clung tightly to the pale blue, soon-to-bloom flower bud!

It wasn't the small green aphid she was familiar with.

These insects were much larger, about the size of a fingernail! Their shells were hard, yellowish-brown, with a cold, metallic sheen at the edges! Their mouthparts, like two tiny curved knives, were greedily gnawing at the delicate edges of the flower buds! Ugly black bite marks were left where they had been gnawed, and pale blue sap was slowly seeping out!

Jiang Chan's breath caught in her throat. She immediately reached out and grabbed an insect, but despite her great effort, she couldn't kill it and instead let it fly away.

"System! What the hell is this?!" Jiang Chan screamed in her mind.

[Scanning in progress...]

[Confirmed: Ironclad Soul Eater (larva).]

【Characteristics: Hard outer shell (high physical defense), highly resistant to common plant toxins and odor repellents (such as artemisia). It feeds on the tender tissues of the plant (flowers, buds, new leaves), hindering development and potentially causing plant death in severe cases.】

[Suggested solutions (based on available local resources): ...]

The system's cold, impersonal notification sounded rapidly in her mind, listing several possible solutions. Jiang Chan quickly scanned them, her heart sinking lower and lower.

Sulfur-containing powder? Strongly alkaline substances? Where would this dirt-poor Lingyao Peak's servants' quarters get sulfur and strong alkalis?!

The beetles were gnawing even more vigorously, and the flower buds were breaking apart at a visible rate. On the other two selected mother plants nearby, several similar rust-colored spots were also faintly visible! If this wasn't dealt with soon, these precious plants would be finished! Her painstakingly selected high-quality seed stock would be ruined!

No! Absolutely not!

Jiang Chan gritted her teeth, forcing herself to calm down. The knowledge base! What else was in the knowledge base?! She desperately searched her mind for substitutes for sulfur and alkaline substances.

Sulfur...sulfur ore...near the crater...hot springs...no, too far!

Strong alkali...wood ash? Wood ash is alkaline, but the knowledge base suggests that its effect might not be enough to penetrate the shell of this iron lump...

Lime! Yes! Lime! Slaked lime powder is strongly alkaline! But limestone...

She suddenly remembered! Deep in the back mountains of Spirit Medicine Peak, near the edge of the abandoned mine! The original owner seemed to have seen some grayish-white stones when she went to gather firewood before! She hadn't paid attention then, but now, thinking back, the texture, the color…

Let's take a gamble!

We have to take a gamble!

Jiang Chan grabbed a tattered burlap sack and a small pickaxe from the corner of the wall, turned around, and ran towards the back door of the shack. Time was of the essence! She had to get back before the insects devoured the best mother plant!

The back mountain was deserted, and the trees grew crookedly. Jiang Chan trudged through the uneven terrain, ignoring the tears her clothes and arms had taken on by the branches. The entrance to the abandoned mine resembled a dark, gaping mouth, with scattered rubble around it. A damp, musty smell permeated the air.

Her eyes widened as she carefully searched through the pile of rocks near the cave entrance. Gray... gray... I've got it!

Several palm-sized, grayish-white stones were mixed in with the ordinary stones. She picked one up, chipped off a corner with her small pickaxe, and found it contained grayish-white powder. She rubbed some powder between her fingers, found it slippery, put a tiny bit in her mouth, and spit it out! A strong, astringent taste shot straight into her throat!

That's it! Limestone!

Jiang Chan was overjoyed and swung her small pickaxe at the limestone stones, smashing them repeatedly. Powder splattered everywhere, making her cough. She didn't care; she carefully packed the broken pieces of limestone and powder into a burlap sack. It wasn't much, but hopefully it would be enough!

Having filled half a sack, she didn't dare delay, hoisting the sack over her shoulder and running back. She ran frantically, her lungs burning with pain, her legs feeling as heavy as lead.

Rushing back to the experimental field, the flowering mother plant was in a terrible state! Several flower buds had been half-eaten off, and the tender green stems had been gnawed into several pits, oozing clear sap. Several beetles were still greedily feeding on it, and many more had crawled onto the other plants.

Jiang Chan's eyes turned red! She rushed to the water vat, scooped up a ladle of water, poured the limestone blocks and powder from the burlap sack into a broken earthenware basin, and added water! As soon as the water touched the limestone, it started to hiss and produce white smoke! A pungent smell filled the air.

She endured the choking sensation and stirred vigorously with a wooden stick. The coarse gravel sank to the bottom, while the fine lime slurry floated on top. Impatient to let it settle completely, she carefully poured the top layer of slurry, still containing lime particles, into another spray bottle—a makeshift sprayer she had created herself using broken bamboo tubes and scraps of cloth.

Holding the spray can, she rushed to the mother plant that was most severely damaged and sprayed it hard on the base of the stem, as well as the flower buds and leaves crawling with insects!

White lime slurry was applied. The beetle, which was happily munching on its food, was suddenly drenched and froze! Its rust-colored shell seemed unharmed, but the slurry seeped into its joints through the cracks in its shell…

laugh!

A wisp of white smoke rose from the insect!

The beetle thrashed about as if it had been burned, making a faint but sharp, piercing squeaking sound! It tried to run, but its joints, coated with lime slurry, seemed stiff, making its movements clumsy and slow. After struggling for a few moments, it fell directly off the leaf and landed on the ground, its legs twitching. Soon it went still!

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