Every time the Fire Persimmon Festival arrived, the Fire Persimmon Immortal City became a deserted city. The city folk would leave the Immortal City and head to the wilds on the mountainside and foothills.
During this time, parts of the Fire Persimmon Forest would be opened.
Ordinary people and cultivators would all participate in the harvest of fire persimmons.
It was a citywide celebration, a festival of harvest. Since the city was founded, established by the first generation City Lord, it had never been discontinued.
This year's Fire Persimmon Festival was quite different from previous years.
Several months ago, Chi Dun's pursuit of the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator had caused an uproar throughout the city.
Even those city residents who had not witnessed it personally had heard from others that the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator had been driven into the Fire Persimmon Forest and was sealed off by layers of formations.
Before the festival even started, Fei Si had taken charge of the city's defense, step by step, enforcing a full lockdown of the city.
On the day of the Fire Persimmon Festival, the City Lord perched high on the Fire Persimmon Mountain Summit, personally initiating the Immortal City Great Array.
Countless emerald green array patterns appeared in the sky, within the city, and on the ground, creating an awe-inspiring and interwoven scene.
This was only the part visible to the naked eye; much more of the array extended into the interior of Fire Persimmon Mountain, continuously absorbing geothermal energy and earth flames, channeling them to different parts of Fire Persimmon Immortal City, nourishing large and small alchemy rooms, artifact refining rooms, mechanical workshops, and other facilities.
The Fire Persimmon Forest consumed the most earth flames and geothermal energy.
Through the fire persimmon trees, these energies were transformed into the fire persimmons.
Fire persimmons could serve as fuel like fire essence, could be eaten, could be used in medicine, and could be used in artifact refining... they had many uses.
At the city's founding, the Fire Persimmon Forest was just a small patch. Now, it extended over almost the entire mountain base, enveloping Fire Persimmon Mountain's foothills in a fiery red, embroidered circle.
Under the gaze of countless city residents, a large number of Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators left the city together.
These cultivators were mostly from the City Lord's Mansion and the three major families. A smaller number came from trusted factions.
For example, the Monkey Head Gang.
Each Foundation Establishment Cultivator was accompanied by several mechanical monkeys.
Yuan Dasheng followed closely beside Yuan Er, his huge and burly frame making him particularly conspicuous among the cultivators leaving the city.
"Let's move out as well."
Ning Zhuo, Chen Cha, and others secretly left the city.
These Mechanism Cultivators were to carry out on-the-spot repairs of the mechanical monkeys today, one of Fei Si's prudent measures to prevent unexpected issues.
After leaving the city, they did not go directly to the Fire Persimmon Forest but instead entered a powerful defensive formation located on the mountainside.
The formation also provided views of the Fire Persimmon Forest, allowing the Mechanism Cultivators to monitor the mechanical monkeys at work in real-time, identifying where problems occurred.
On the mountainside, Zhu Xuanji concealed himself, alone, gazing at the Fire Persimmon Forest.
Chi Dun did the same, hidden somewhere unknown.
The Golden Core Cultivators of the three major families also remained unseen, secretly stationed around the Fire Persimmon Forest as per orders from the City Lord's Mansion.
A net to ensnare the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator had already been laid.
"Begin," Fei Si, the only Golden Core Cultivator on the surface, commanded, overseeing the situation.
With an order, numerous Foundation Establishment Cultivators, carrying mechanical monkeys, stormed into the Fire Persimmon Forest.
These past days, the Foundation Establishment Cultivators of the three major families had been arduously practicing mechanical techniques, refining their ability to control the mechanical monkeys.
Generally, a Foundation Establishment Cultivator could simultaneously control at least three mechanical monkeys to harvest fire persimmons.
Seeing numerous mechanical monkeys leap into the crimson persimmon forest, Yuan Er grew anxious and issued a final call to arms, "Brothers, now it's up to you."
"Give it your all and prove to everyone that our Monkey Head Gang is the best at harvesting fire persimmons!"
The Fire Persimmon Forest was divided into countless sections by formations according to their age.
Initially, the forest under ten years was opened.
The mechanical monkeys continuously picked the fire persimmons, placing each one into their chest, which had a built-in storage formation that would absorb it.
From a bird's eye view, one could see countless fire persimmons vanishing quickly, leaving only the ruby-red leaves on the persimmon branches.
When the mechanical monkeys reached their storage limit, the Foundation Establishment Cultivators remotely controlled them back.
The monkeys would stand in a large circular formation, spewing out the stored fire persimmons, stacking them into mounds on the ground.
Each time a pile grew up to several feet high, the formation activated, transporting the fire persimmons directly to the City Lord's Mansion granary.
Once the areas of fire persimmons under ten years old were harvested, Fei Si opened areas with fire persimmons older than ten years.
After these were picked, it was the turn of twenty-year, thirty-year...
As the years increased, they finally reached the hundred-year mark.
Boom!
A fire persimmon exploded with a loud bang.
Almost instantly, it triggered a chain reaction of explosions among the surrounding fire persimmons.
Terrifying flames rapidly engulfed over a dozen Firecracker Monkey Mechanisms, though the Foundation Establishment Cultivators were far enough away to escape harm.
For a moment, countless gazes turned towards the explosion site.
Fei Si frowned, immediately ordering an investigation.
A Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the Zhou Family was quickly brought forward.
Fei Si's face was expressionless, "Was it your mistake in controlling the mechanical monkey?"
The Zhou Family Foundation Establishment Cultivator's face turned pale as he weakly nodded. He wanted to argue, but he knew that with the array activated, recording images from all angles, lying would easily be discovered, leading to even graver consequences.
Fei Si furrowed her brows slightly, "The destroyed fire persimmons will be counted against you. Take half a cup of tea's time to calm your mind and continue working."
"Yes," the Zhou Family Cultivator received the order and retreated.
Bang.
Soon after, a mechanical monkey's movements malfunctioned, causing it to crash into other fire persimmons during the retrieval process and trigger explosions.
Fei Si reviewed the footage, confirming the mechanical monkey was at fault, and immediately identified the workshop that built it from its serial number.
It was the Flying Disk Workshop.
Fei Si immediately instructed someone to inform Chen Cha and Ning Zhuo.
The messenger brought Fei Si's reprimands.
In the formation where they were stationed, the explosion scene replayed. The culprit was indeed the faulty mechanical monkey.
Observing the footage, Chen Cha quickly made a diagnosis, "This mechanical monkey's body deteriorated from prolonged labor, leading to malformed movements."
Chen Cha looked over at Ning Zhuo.
This particular mechanical monkey was produced using Ning Zhuo's cost-cutting design, making it a lower-quality item.
Ning Zhuo pondered, "The temperature in the hundred-year Fire Persimmon Forest seems higher than in previous years. Have these Foundation Establishment Cultivators pause, grind up Dewdrop Pills, mix them with water, and pour it over the mechanical monkeys. Be sure to soak them thoroughly until their surfaces are lightly wet."
After giving his instructions, Ning Zhuo continued repairing the mechanical monkeys.
From the moment the harvesting of fire persimmons started, damaged and malfunctioning mechanical monkeys had been sent over for emergency repairs, then quickly sent back 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 on repairs.
Chen Cha, drenched in sweat, reminded Ning Zhuo, "Little Zhuo, you see, this is the result of cutting corners."
Ning Zhuo sighed, "Master Chen, isn't such a failure rate precisely what I intended?"
"Moreover, many of the ones sent for repairs are due to improper human control, which is not my fault."
The difficulty was temporary; soon the number of mechanical monkeys sent for repairs decreased.
This was because they had finished picking the hundred-year ones and were now entering the thousand-year fire persimmon forest for the harvesting operation.
These thousand-year fire persimmons were as large as basins, drawing limitless geothermal energy and earth flames through the array, each one being highly valuable.
The Foundation Establishment Cultivators became cautious, preferring to control only one mechanical monkey for the harvest.
If one self-detonated, triggering a chain reaction of explosions, these Foundation Establishment Cultivators might go bankrupt!
Using only one mechanical monkey each naturally reduced the number needing repairs.