Chapter 27: Mutated Plants and Astonishing Magic Apprentices

“Tch, with all that commotion, I thought he’d be something impressive! But instead, we’re treated like lowly farmers?”

After Ajef walked away, a magic apprentice named Roger grumbled as he continued to force the seeds to grow.

“Exactly! And to think they made us sign a confidentiality contract over this. It’s simply ridiculous! I can’t even bring myself to talk about it!”

Another magic apprentice joined in the complaints.

“Keep your voices down! If someone hears us, we’ll all be in trouble!” the team leader warned.

“Got it, got it!”

Roger responded quickly, but the discontent on his face only grew.

At that moment, it wasn’t just Roger—most of the Wood Spirit element magic apprentices were bottling up their frustrations.

On one hand, they were envious of Ailin for getting the Violet Snowwood Magic Wand.

On the other hand, this magic experiment made them feel underutilized—or worse, insulted! After all, accelerating plant growth was merely a basic Wood Spirit element magic. It just sped up the growth process, serving no other purpose.

Its greatest value lay in breeding certain magical plants with a long growth cycle or using combination magic to manipulate plants in combat.

Now, Ajef was making them use acceleration to grow crops faster. How was this different from being a dirt-digging farmer? How could this even be considered a magic experiment?

The group of magic apprentices were furious but didn’t dare to speak out. Meanwhile, Ailin, who was standing beside Yu Sheng’an, showed a hint of excitement.

“Master, are you planning to quickly grow and then select the best plants?” Ailin asked eagerly.

If you asked what her greatest achievement in crop research was over the years, it was her invention of the ‘Best Theory.’

It was a concept she came to after long and hard contemplation.

She believed that, just like humans, plants also had variations—some taller, some shorter, some fatter, some leaner.

Just like how children born to magicians had better magical aptitude compared to commoners.

You had to admit it—there was a definite bloodline advantage.

So, she argued that selecting the best-growing plant seeds and breeding them generation after generation would surely produce high-yield crops.

“Something like that, but this is called selective breeding.”

“Selective breeding?”

Ailin’s entire body shivered as the term almost perfectly encapsulated her greatest research achievement. At that moment, she looked at Yu Sheng’an with her eyes sparkling.

She finally confirmed that she’d met a true scholar! “I can tell you’ve been researching this for a while. How are the results?”

Yu Sheng’an asked as he continued inspecting the underground laboratory.

“It’s not good. After much selection, I’ve managed to increase the yield by at most 10%, but this advantage disappears in the second or third generation.”

Ailin’s expression turned gloomy. The loss of advantage meant they would have to meticulously select seeds for each generation, making the process too costly and impractical.

“That’s normal. Every plant carries both dominant and recessive genes. The plants you selectively bred in the lab only express the dominant genes. But that doesn’t mean the recessive genes are gone. After two or three generations, as the plants freely pollinate, these traits naturally start to separate,” Yu Sheng’an casually explained.

Ailin’s expression became puzzled.

What Yu Sheng’an said made her feel like she was encountering magic for the first time—confused, bewildered, and awed! But the way he spoke clearly and logically made her realize that Yu Sheng’an had indeed conducted profound research on plants! “My God, what happened to the Ghost Hand Melon?”

At that moment, one magic apprentice suddenly exclaimed in shock.

Before Ailin could look over, a wave of exclamations erupted in the laboratory.

“Look! Look! The black wheat I accelerated is secreting white liquid?”

“Mine too!”

“Ah—my long beans are growing abnormally long!”

The magic apprentices were going wild, shouting and yelling!

As Wood Spirit element apprentices, they were fairly familiar with various common plants.

Initially, their plant acceleration process seemed normal, but as the plants continued to grow, something was clearly wrong.

Some leaves started growing in a spiral shape, which was odd enough, but some branches and leaves even began secreting liquid? And what’s more terrifying, as the plants started to flower and bear fruit—

The final products left them utterly astonished, nearly biting their tongues.

The Ghost Hand Melon turned into a conjoined melon;

The long beans grew longer than a person;

The black wheat secreted white liquid;

Almost all the common plants had undergone frightening mutations!

A moment ago, Roger was still complaining, but now he couldn’t bring himself to utter a word.

His pupils dilated as he looked at the plants before him. This magic experiment had completely exceeded his wildest expectations.

It wasn’t that the bizarre plant changes scared them; as Wood Spirit element apprentices, they had cultivated even stranger plants.

What truly shocked them was that none of them had interfered with the crops in any way! They had only accelerated their growth.

And yet, the plants underwent these horrifying changes? How could they not be terrified? Was it the seeds that were the problem?

But they had clearly checked the seeds before starting; they were just ordinary crop seeds!

Fear stems from the unknown.

At this moment, all the magic apprentices collectively turned their gaze toward Yu Sheng’an.

They realized they had underestimated this mysterious figure.

For a person who made the Archmage Dundar offend a bunch of Archmages just to have them assist in the experiment, they should have known he was anything but ordinary! These plants had already become distorted.

This almost equaled touching the realm of the Gods! “Silence! What are you panicking about? Did you forget what I said before? Record everything you see, observe, and feel. The rest is none of your business.”

Yu Sheng’an sternly ordered.

“Yes!”

The magic apprentices hesitantly echoed his command. It wasn’t that they didn’t respect Yu Sheng’an; they were simply too overwhelmed.

Ailin, in particular, looked at Ajef with a face full of disbelief. Her pupils were trembling, and her hands were shaking.

The scene before her completely negated her understanding of ‘selective breeding.’

This meant that Mr. Ajef might have already discovered an entirely new research direction.

From these mutated and twisted plants, it was clear that he was challenging the domain of the Gods, trying to create new species!

At that moment, Dorothy also realized that Yu Sheng’an was challenging the domain of the Gods.

After all, she was the granddaughter of Doman, the Son of the Forest, so she was insightful enough to see it.

Her grandfather had never told her what Ajef really was, and she had always wondered. But now, she never could have imagined Ajef would be this terrifying.

A seemingly simple magic experiment completely overturned their understanding of plants!

Is he a god?

Is this the true reason he could mobilize all of Felix’s Wood Spirit element magic apprentices?

Dorothy looked at the plant deformations, carried out without any magical interference, and felt chills down her spine. Her thoughts of love, Desowa’s coldness, and her grandfather’s sighs—all of it was cast aside.

She realized she was witnessing history.

In the face of history, all her experiences were like floating dust, insignificant and unworthy of mention! The experiment ended amidst a chorus of exclamations.

The magic apprentices wrote their observation reports and left the underground laboratory one by one.

As they passed by Yu Sheng’an, no one could summon even the slightest bit of sarcasm.

On the contrary, they all felt an overwhelming sense of guilt and astonishment! Ajef was a true scholar, and his expertise in Wood Spirit element magic far exceeded their wildest imaginations.

He deserved respect! After leaving the Forest of Magic, Dorothy rushed back home. She burst into her grandfather’s study, panting, and shouted: “Grandfather…”

But the rest of her words wouldn’t come out.

The confidentiality contract locked down her conscious thoughts.

The moment she tried to leak anything, her mind would go blank—she didn’t know what to say.

After a moment of stammering, she suddenly had an idea. Her voice became urgent and incoherent as she cried out, “Grandfather, you must participate in Ajef’s magic experiment! Or you’ll regret it for the rest of your life! Trust me, you know what I mean—I—I can’t say. I’m under contract, but you have to participate! You must!”