Chapter 29: A New Discovery

Chapter 29: A New Discovery

As night fell, the Magic Forest at the edge of Felix Magic Academy grew even more desolate. The bright moonlight cast long shadows from the towering palace.

Two figures appeared before the gates of the Magic Forest at some unknown hour.

They were none other than Doman and Dorothea.

After investigating during the day, Doman had finally made up his mind to join Ajef’s magic experiment.

Knock, knock…

The moment the knocking sounded, the heavy palace doors swung open silently.

Doman straightened his back and strode in with his head held high, Dorothea following closely behind her grandfather.

The two bypassed the screen wall, ascended the spiral staircase, and arrived at the underground laboratory.

Doman narrowed his eyes as he surveyed this magic laboratory with its distinctly unconventional style, growing even more convinced of his suspicions.

Ajef was not from the Keville Empire. It was highly likely that Dandell had recruited him from another country as a Wood Spirit mage.

At that moment, Ajef and his assistant Eileen were gathered around a microgravity glass container, seemingly observing something.

Doman paid no mind to Ajef’s apparent lack of courtesy.

His attention was entirely captured by the plants inside the glass container, which twisted and danced as if possessed.

Even with his vast knowledge and experience, he had never seen plants mutate in such a manner.

“Doman, Wood Spirit Magic instructor at Felix Magic Academy, greets Mr. Ajef,” Doman said as he approached Yu Sheng’an, placing a hand over his chest in salute.

“What is it?”

Yu Sheng’an’s gaze remained fixed on the glass container, his fingers occasionally sketching notes on the illusory Parchment floating before him.

His assistant Eileen, however, stared at Doman in astonishment, clearly recognizing his identity.

“I’ve heard extraordinary things about your magic experiment and wish to join it, if you’ll permit me,” Doman said directly, his tone humble.

Yu Sheng’an stopped writing and turned to look at him.

He first glanced at Dorothea, making her heart race as she hastily lowered her head, before addressing Doman. “I’ve long heard of your reputation, Mr. Doman! But my experiment doesn’t require advanced magic. If you join, you’ll likely end up doing menial work like a magic apprentice. Are you sure you still want to participate?”

Doman paused, then quickly replied, “Of course.”

“Don’t agree so hastily. Participating in my experiment requires signing a confidentiality agreement. Moreover, given your high magical expertise, aside from the Confidentiality Contract, you’ll also need to sign a non-compete agreement.”

“A non-compete agreement?” Doman was puzzled.

“In simple terms, you can study what I research in the future, but you can’t share it with others or profit from it. Does that make sense?”

“May I ask what your research focuses on?” Doman asked, visibly surprised.

“Crops,” Yu Sheng’an replied impatiently. “Alright, decide now—stay or leave. Don’t waste my time with hesitation.”

The others’ expressions shifted slightly.

Clearly, they hadn’t expected Yu Sheng’an to treat Doman with such bluntness.

After a moment of silence, Doman gritted his teeth and said, “Fine!”

Yu Sheng’an nodded, casually retrieving two blank Contract Documents from his Spatial Ring. With magic as his pen, he swiftly drafted two contracts and handed them over.

Doman scrutinized them carefully, ensuring there were no hidden traps in the wording, before finally signing.

"Sir, are you planning to work through the night?" After signing the contract, Doman relaxed considerably and asked curiously.

"There's still some work left to finish. Here, let’s add each other as friends first. I’ll send you the observation report."

Yu Sheng’an opened the internet, preparing to add Doman as a friend, while continuing to instruct, "Later, you’ll need to categorize and record all the different traits of the same plant species in that row of glass containers over there."

Doman, who was about to add him as a friend, looked puzzled. "Different traits? What do you mean?"

"You don’t understand?" Yu Sheng’an reflexively retorted, then sighed impatiently. "Never mind. Eileen, explain it to him."

"Also, after categorizing them, keep all the seeds. Take them out of the glass containers and cultivate them in normal soil to produce a second generation. Remember, plants with the same traits should be cultivated separately—let them self-pollinate to produce homozygous offspring as a stable seed bank with consistent genetic traits. If you don’t understand anything, ask Eileen."

After assigning the tasks, Yu Sheng’an left to attend to other matters.

Yet Doman stood there as if struck by lightning!

The incomprehensible jargon made him feel like he was encountering Wood Spirit Magic for the first time. His previously somewhat arrogant attitude was utterly crushed by Yu Sheng’an’s few casual remarks.

Dorothea, meanwhile, was practically trembling with excitement, her eyes shining.

She knew Ajef was extraordinary!

In fact, as Eileen haltingly explained the "dominant and recessive gene theory," it was as if she had opened the door to a whole new world for the grandfather-granddaughter pair.

Plants could be interpreted from this perspective?!

Doman’s aged face flushed red with excitement!

Little did he know, Eileen’s emotions were even more tumultuous.

She had never imagined that one day, the Empire’s most outstanding Archmage of Wood Spirit Magic would listen attentively to her explanations, even repeatedly asking questions when he didn’t understand.

It made her so nervous that she kept glancing back at Ajef mid-explanation, afraid she might say something wrong.

After all, this knowledge had only been taught to her by Ajef not long ago.

At the time, she had been stunned.

Now, seeing Doman’s reaction, it was clear that what had seemed like trivial knowledge was far more significant than she had ever realized.

It was like the famous debate in the magical world—

Which held greater value: the first Magic Rune ever learned by humans, or Forbidden Magic?

The widely accepted conclusion was that the first Magic Rune was the most valuable.

Because it represented the leap from zero to one!

The knowledge Ajef had imparted to her was exactly like that first Magic Rune—seemingly simple, yet likely the foundation of an entire profound discipline.

In truth, Doman had already grasped this.

Only after questioning Eileen to the point of speechlessness did he reluctantly glance at Ajef, then scurry off to work with the vigor of a young man stepping into his mentor’s lab for the first time.

At this moment, his heart was overflowing with exhilaration!

This young man did possess mysterious Wood Spirit Magic knowledge—no wonder he was held in such high regard by the God of Magic, Dandell.

He knew this knowledge must be incredibly precious, and obtaining more of it would depend on his performance.

Just as he, too, would only pass on his most treasured knowledge to the most promising magic apprentices.

And so, they worked late into the night.

In truth, Yu Sheng'an didn't need to push himself so hard—it was simply that magic was too efficient, igniting his passion.

Imagine planting a seed and watching it sprout, grow, bloom, and bear fruit right before your eyes at an astonishing speed.

With such efficiency, goals felt within reach.

Naturally, Yu Sheng'an was driven to press forward without pause.

Honestly, if not for worrying about Doman and Eileen's stamina, he would have continued his research.

Yet, unbeknownst to him, after he left the underground lab and returned to his residence, neither Doman nor Eileen rested.

Instead, they each retreated to their own labs—some sophisticated, some rudimentary—to verify the "dominant and recessive gene theory" Yu Sheng'an had taught them.

Among them, Doman was the most exhilarated.

The theory Yu Sheng'an had shared sparked his inspiration and explained many of his research dilemmas.

Naturally, he was too excited to sleep and immediately set about verifying it.

As for Eileen, her emotions were far more stable.

After all, she was just a magic apprentice, her knowledge not yet profound, so she encountered fewer difficulties.

Her motivation was more out of curiosity—she was simply experimenting for fun.

Since mainstream crops had already been included in Ajef's experiments, she decided to cultivate a common wild vegetable: winter mallow.

Few in Willis City knew this, but in the countryside, this plant had saved countless lives.

Many farmers relied on this cold-resistant plant to survive the bitter winters.

This wild vegetable grew quickly, reproduced rapidly, and could be harvested repeatedly in a short time. It wasn't picky about soil—its only drawback was its bitter taste, which could cause stomach pain and diarrhea if consumed in excess.

So Eileen wondered if she could separate its traits to observe how different variations might manifest.

Truthfully, she was just trying it out of curiosity, without much thought.

Yet, as the saying goes, "Unintentional actions bear unexpected fruit." Through rapid cultivation, she soon obtained two variants of winter mallow—one with white flowers, the other with red.

Each variant further had two seed types: wrinkled and round.

To her shock, the white-flowered, wrinkled-seed winter mallow... had no bitter taste at all!

This discovery completely stunned Eileen.

Without hesitation, she opened the internet and sent a message to Ajef, her heart racing with excitement over her findings—and a hint of that student-like pride in showing off good results to a mentor.

Only after sending the message did she notice the faint glow of dawn on the horizon. She assumed Ajef must have long since gone to bed.

But the moment that thought crossed her mind—Ajef replied instantly.