As night fell, the Magic Forest on the edge of Felix Magic Academy became increasingly desolate.
The bright moonlight cast long shadows from the towering palace.
Two figures appeared before the gate of the Magic Forest at some unknown time.
They were none other than Doman and Dorothy.
After a day of investigation, Doman finally made up his mind to join Ajev's magic experiment.
"Knock, knock..."
As soon as the knocking started, the heavy palace door opened silently.
Doman straightened his back, lifted his head, and walked in with his chest held high.
Dorothy followed closely behind her grandfather.
The two went around the screen wall, passed through the spiral staircase, and arrived at the underground laboratory.
Doman squinted his eyes, scanning the magic laboratory with its distinct style, and became increasingly certain of his guess.
— Ajev was not from the Kvir Empire.
He was very likely a Wood Spirit magic master recruited by Dendanel from another country.
At this moment, Ajev and his assistant Eileen were gathered around a microgravity glass box, seemingly observing something.
Doman didn't mind Ajev's lack of attention.
Because his attention was completely drawn to the plants in the glass box, which were growing wildly.
Despite his extensive knowledge and experience, he had never seen plants mutate like this.
"Doman, Wood Spirit Magic Mentor at Felix Magic Academy, greets Mr. Ajev."
Doman walked up to Ajev and bowed, placing his hand on his chest.
"Is something wrong?"
Ajev's eyes remained on the glass box.
From time to time, he extended a finger and scribbled notes on the illusory parchment floating before him.
His assistant, Eileen, on the other hand, looked at him with surprise, having clearly recognized his identity.
"I was astonished to hear that your magic experiment is extraordinary, and I wish to join it.
I hope you will allow me."
Doman spoke directly and humbly.
Ajev stopped writing and turned to look.
He first glanced at Dorothy, making her tremble with fear and quickly lower her head.
Only then did he look at Doman and say, "I've long heard of Mr. Doman's great name!
My experiment doesn't require high-level magic.
If you come, you'll likely have to do chores like a magic apprentice.
Are you sure you still want to participate?"
Doman was startled, then quickly replied, "Of course."
"Don't be too quick to agree.
Participating in my experiment requires signing a confidentiality agreement.
Also, your magical attainment is too high.
Besides the confidentiality contract, you'll also need to sign a non-compete agreement."
"Non-compete agreement?"
Doman was confused.
"Basically, it means that you can study what I'm researching in the future, but you cannot tell others, and you certainly cannot sell it.
Do you understand?"
"May I ask what your research direction is?"
Doman asked, surprised.
"Crops."
Ajev was getting impatient.
"Alright, decide quickly whether you want to stay or leave.
Don't dilly-dally and waste time!"
Everyone's expression changed slightly upon hearing this.
They clearly hadn't expected Ajev to be so impolite even to Doman.
Doman was silent for a moment, but still gritted his teeth and said, "Alright!"
Ajev nodded, casually took out two blank contract documents from his space ring, and then quickly wrote two contracts using magic as a pen before handing them over.
Doman read them carefully, and only after confirming there were no textual traps did he sign the contracts.
"Your Excellency, are you going to research through the night?"
After signing the contracts, Doman's demeanor relaxed considerably, and he asked curiously.
"There's still some work to finish.
Here, add me as a friend first, and I'll send you the observation report."
While opening the internet to add Doman as a friend, Ajev continued to instruct, "Later, you should count and categorize all the different traits of similar plants in that row of glass boxes over there."
Doman, who was about to add him as a friend, looked surprised.
"Different traits?"
"What does that mean?"
"You don't understand?"
Ajev subconsciously retorted, then said impatiently, "Forget it, Eileen, you explain it to him."
"Also, after you've counted them, keep all the seeds.
Take them out of the glass boxes and use normal soil for accelerated growth to cultivate second-generation seeds.
Remember, accelerate the growth of plants with the same traits separately, and let them self-pollinate to cultivate homozygotes as a seed bank with stable genetic characteristics.
If you don't understand anything, ask Eileen."
After assigning the tasks, Ajev left to attend to other matters.
However, Doman was struck as if by lightning!
The completely incomprehensible technical terms made him feel as if he was encountering Wood Spirit magic for the first time.
His initial somewhat arrogant mindset was directly crushed into pieces by Ajev's few words.
Dorothy's eyes lit up even more, and she trembled with excitement.
She knew Ajev was not simple!
In fact, as Eileen's halting explanation continued, her description of the "dominant and recessive gene theory" was like opening a door to a new world for the grandfather and granddaughter.
— Plants could be interpreted from this angle?
Doman's old face flushed with excitement!
Little did he know, Eileen's heart was even more filled with mixed emotions.
She had never imagined that one day, the empire's most outstanding Wood Spirit Archmage would obediently listen to her explaining knowledge, and even repeatedly ask questions when he didn't understand.
It made her nervous.
After explaining a few sentences, she would subconsciously turn back to look at Ajev, afraid she had explained incorrectly.
One must know that Ajev had only taught her this knowledge recently.
At that time, she had been shocked.
Now, looking at Doman's attitude, it was clear that this seemingly insignificant knowledge was probably far more important than she had imagined.
This was like the famous value debate in the magic world.
— Was the first magic pattern learned by humans more valuable?
Or was forbidden magic more valuable?
The final universally recognized result of the debate was that the first magic pattern was the most valuable.
Because that was the leap from zero to one!
The knowledge Ajev taught her was clearly like this first magic pattern.
It seemed simple, but in reality, it was very likely the cornerstone of profound knowledge.
In fact, Doman had already realized this point.
He kept asking Eileen until she was speechless.
Only then, still wanting more, did he glance at Ajev and bustled off to work like he did the first time he entered his mentor's laboratory when he was young, looking more agile than a young person.
At this moment, his heart was already filled with ecstasy!
This young man indeed possessed mysterious Wood Spirit magic knowledge.
No wonder he was highly regarded by Magic God Dendanel.
He knew that this knowledge was certainly very precious, and to acquire it, he would have to prove himself.
Just as he would only pass on the most valuable knowledge to the magic apprentices he favored most.
This busyness lasted until midnight.
Actually, Ajev didn't need to work this hard.
It was mainly because magic was so easy to use that it ignited his passion.
Think about it: a seed is planted, and it quickly sprouts, grows, flowers, and bears fruit at a visible speed.
With this kind of efficiency, the goal was within reach.
Ajev naturally had the idea of doing it all in one go.
To be honest, if he hadn't been worried that Doman and Eileen couldn't keep up, he would have wanted to continue researching.
However, he didn't know that after leaving the underground laboratory and returning to their residences, neither Doman nor Eileen rested much.
Instead, in their respective precise or simple laboratories, they began to verify the "dominant and recessive gene theory" that Ajev had taught them.
Among them, Doman was the most excited.
The theory Ajev taught him sparked his inspiration and also explained many of his research difficulties.
Naturally, he was too excited to sleep and began to verify it.
As for Eileen, her emotions were much more stable.
After all, she was just a magic apprentice.
The knowledge she had access to wasn't deep, and she naturally didn't encounter many difficulties.
She was mainly excited by the prospect and cultivated them for fun.
Since mainstream crops were already included in Ajev's experiment scope, she simply decided to cultivate a very common wild vegetable — Mallow.
Few people in Willis City knew that in the countryside, this wild vegetable saved countless lives.
Countless farmers survived the bone-chilling winter relying on this cold-resistant plant.
This wild vegetable grows quickly, reproduces quickly, and after one harvest, it can grow another one soon.
It's not picky about the soil.
The only drawback is that it tastes very bitter, and eating too much can cause stomach aches and diarrhea.
So Eileen wondered if she could separate its traits and see how different traits would manifest.
To be honest, she was just curious to give it a try and didn't think too much about it.
Unexpectedly, her unintentional effort yielded results.
Through rapid accelerated growth and cultivation, she quickly obtained two traits of Mallow — white flowers and red flowers.
Within each flower color, there were also wrinkled seeds and round seeds.
Among them, the white-flowered, wrinkled-seeded Mallow tasted... not bitter at all!!!
This discovery completely shocked Eileen.
She almost immediately opened the internet and sent a message to Ajev, feeling both excited about her discovery and having the mindset of a student showing off their test results to their parents.
After sending the message, she realized that the sky was already showing a hint of dawn.
She figured Mr. Ajev must have already gone to sleep.
Unexpectedly, as soon as this thought crossed her mind, Ajev replied to her instantly.