As his fame grew, it was inevitable that someone would take issue with him. Before long, someone deliberately tried to make things difficult claiming they loved eating watermelon but were too lazy to spit out the seeds and publicly asked Cheng Ying if he had a solution.
The whole affair quickly turned into a citywide spectacle. Everyone knew it was just an excuse to pick a fight. Seriously, not wanting to spit out seeds while eating watermelon? What kind of boredom would lead someone to that kind of complaint?
"If you don't want to spit out seeds, just don't eat it!" some said. After all, watermelons grow from seeds—how could there be one without? Most of the people in Heaven Dou City had benefitted from Cheng Ying's inventions, and they voiced their support, but no one could think of a viable solution.
To their surprise, Cheng Ying merely smiled faintly, called for a porter he was familiar with, and told him to bring back two watermelons from the field outside the city.
In truth, seedless watermelons aren't difficult to cultivate. By crossbreeding a tetraploid watermelon with a diploid one, you can produce triploid seedless fruit. Cheng Ying, who enjoyed convenience, had already transplanted a full orchard outside the city and hired nearby farmers to maintain it. He'd experimented with all sorts of seedless fruits before, and among them, watermelon was the easiest.
He was highly proficient at extracting colchicine using alcohol to induce chromosome doubling in plants. After a few trials, he determined the right concentration to produce triploid varieties. Originally, he intended to market seedless watermelon as a luxury item, but who would have thought someone would walk right into the trap?
When the porter returned carrying the two watermelons, Cheng Ying cut one open in front of the gathered crowd, revealing vibrant red flesh with not a single seed in sight. The troublemaker who had posed the challenge was left wide-eyed in disbelief.
Everyone else was similarly stunned—except for the little loli who was always by Cheng Ying's side. She acted like this was nothing out of the ordinary, happily scooping up half a seedless watermelon and munching away, completely unaware that everyone else saw this as a divine miracle.
After all, everyone knew: you can only grow a plant from its seed. A watermelon seed won't grow a pumpkin. But what kind of plant produces a seedless watermelon? To them, it defied the fundamental laws of nature.
If before, people saw Cheng Ying as a sage, now they looked at him as if he were a god…
Cheng Ying took full advantage of the moment and marketed seedless watermelons as luxury goods. While they didn't necessarily taste better, their prestige far outstripped that of regular seeded varieties.
And buyers had no choice but to pay premium prices. What else could they do? You couldn't grow your own—it was literally impossible without the seeds!
Naturally, Cheng Ying's growing reputation soon reached the ears of the current emperor. Upon hearing that such a man lived in his empire, the emperor immediately wanted to summon him to court. But it was obvious to anyone that Cheng Ying had no intention of becoming a royal lackey.
The emperor sent a few secret experts to investigate, but none returned. He could only conclude that Cheng Ying must also be a powerful soul master—and reluctantly decided to treat him with courtesy and respect, even as he longed for what the man could offer.
The people of Heaven Dou City gradually realized something else: Cheng Ying only seemed interested in improving living conditions. Matters of state, treasures, and power—he didn't care for any of it.
Over time, people began to understand which kinds of questions he would answer, and which would get them kicked out on the spot.
Of course, there were still some oddballs. Like those who had received "Mr. Sheath" from Cheng Ying—he always looked annoyed when such matters came up, but had to admit that even these absurd questions led to improved quality of life. And since he didn't want to tarnish his own reputation, he still provided solutions.
Gradually, people became accustomed to the presence of this great sage. No one truly knew how strong he was, but people from all walks of life respected him deeply.
Even business owners whose profits were harmed by his inventions would come to confront him, only to walk away with new strategies—often making even more money than before.
Still, the common folk had no idea how much wealth Cheng Ying had actually accumulated. Though most of his business ventures operated on a commission or outsourcing model, over the course of a year, his earnings had piled up to the point where he needed to buy a warehouse just to store it all. He was, without question, the kind of tycoon whose death could enrich an entire nation.
Yet Cheng Ying rarely left his shop, and no one really knew what he was doing inside.
That day, under the resentful gaze of Dugu Bo, Cheng Ying had commandeered the shop's only high-powered microscope to observe wheat seeds that had been soaked in colchicine.
"Master, it's clearly my turn to use the microscope today. I'm at a critical point in my research on the effects of soul power on bacterial evolution, but you keep using it to look at cereal crops and fruit. Don't you think that's a waste?" Dugu Bo, who usually never talked back, couldn't hold it in anymore.
If soul power could be used to genetically engineer bacteria, he might be able to develop the kind of terrifying bioweapons that Master often spoke of in stories like Resident Evil. Compared to that, analyzing the chromosomes of fruit to make seedless watermelon just seemed like trivial indulgence.
"That's where you're wrong," Cheng Ying said, moving away from the microscope. He was starting to look more and more like a real teacher. Carefully removing the slide and setting it aside, he pointed toward the crowded street outside the window.
"Let me ask you this: what's more important—technology that kills, or technology that saves lives? I'm not opposed to you studying offensive viruses, but don't look down on these simple plants."
As he spoke, he picked up a plump potato beside him. On the Douluo Continent, potatoes were not widely grown. Due to improper farming methods, the tubers were small and bitter—hardly worth cultivating.
"Have you ever wondered," Cheng Ying asked, "why soul masters can live freely, wandering the world with their swords, without having to produce anything, yet still enjoy wealth, power—and mating rights?"
"Because soul masters are powerful. Even armies of ordinary people can't stand against us," Dugu Bo replied without hesitation.
Cheng Ying facepalmed. "Clearly, I've neglected your education in history and philosophy. That's my failure. A lot of things you take for granted... really aren't as natural as you think.
"It's not soul masters' strength that lets them live without producing. It's that society has enough surplus resources to support you. Over 90% of your food comes from the hands of ordinary farmers.
"As long as they can eat, they can pay taxes. And with that tax, the empire and the sects can afford to support non-producers like us. If your only goal is to become someone who hoards more resources, then food may not matter.
"But what I want to teach you is this: to truly gain more in life, it's not just about grabbing a bigger slice of the pie. The better way the noble way is to make the whole pie bigger with your own hands."
"Well said! Truly worthy of the great sage known across the capital. I suppose you've always lived by that philosophy of expanding the pie, haven't you?"
A sudden voice came from the doorway. Cheng Ying sighed and waved Dugu Bo off.
"Your Highness Xue Ye, you've forgotten to knock again."