His Attitude Didn't Matter

Doman narrowed his eyes and confirmed, "You mean... a Wood Spirit magic experiment?"

Dorothy nodded eagerly.

Doman's expression turned grave.

As a titan of Wood Spirit magic in the Kevil Empire, Doman, known as the Son of the Forest, was only an Archmage in magical attainment, yet his status was even more important than that of some Grand Archmages.

Many of the Kevil Empire's Wood Spirit spells had been researched and created by him alone.

Some had even boldly predicted that if Doman advanced to Grand Archmage, he might be able to push Wood Spirit magic from a Special System into the Regular System in one stroke! This showed just how profound his mastery of Wood Spirit magic was.

As his most beloved granddaughter, Dorothy had been influenced by him since childhood. Her attainments in Wood Spirit magic might not have been particularly outstanding, but she certainly had an eye for it.

For Asheff's magic experiment to leave her so shocked and excited, one could imagine just how great an impact it had made on her!

By acting this way, his granddaughter was clearly willing to risk offending Asheff just to tell him how important this magic experiment was.

If he could participate, then with his attainments in Wood Spirit magic, perhaps he could learn a few things and gain something from it. Maybe he could even break through to the Grand Archmage realm because of it!

No one knew that Doman's research into Wood Spirit magic had long since stagnated.

If not for the ties of family, the Empire, and affection, he would have long ago left for distant lands in search of an opportunity to break through.

Now, a possible opportunity had appeared.

Doman rose to his feet and began pacing around the study, his expression shifting.

It sounded somewhat unbelievable, but he had yet to uncover Asheff's identity.

With his Wood Spirit magic, his network of connections within the Empire was deeply entrenched and extensive.

Even Magic Gods treated him with great courtesy.

It could be said that within the Kevil Empire, his position was as steady as a mountain.

Yet even so, he had failed to learn Asheff's identity, and that left him uneasy.

Especially after seeing that even his own granddaughter had been forced to participate in Asheff's magic experiment, he gritted his teeth and sent over that Dead Egg.

Judging from his granddaughter's reaction now, Doman felt immense relief.

He had not taken the wrong step!

He suspected that Asheff was very likely a Wood Spirit mage whose magical attainments surpassed even his own! Even if he was not, he might possess magical knowledge completely different from that of the Kevil Empire.

That was precisely why Magic God Dendall valued him so highly while keeping his identity secret.

At that thought, Doman's body trembled slightly. He was both anxious and excited—anxious that this person's appearance might replace him in the Empire's Wood Spirit magic field.

And excited that his stagnant Wood Spirit magic might finally have a chance to advance further.

"I understand. You may go back!"

Doman drew a deep breath and waved his hand.

"Yes."

Dorothy did not try to persuade him further. Her grandpa's lengthy contemplation had clearly already brought him to a decision.

After his granddaughter left, Doman pondered briefly before summoning his Personal Steward and whispering a few instructions.

The steward nodded and departed after receiving his orders.

He had instructed the steward to investigate the attitudes of the other Magic Apprentices participating in Asheff's magic experiment. Though the Confidentiality Contract would prevent them from leaking information, it could not restrain their emotions.

After all, his own granddaughter Dorothy was merely a Magic Apprentice. It was not impossible that she had made a misjudgment.

Therefore, he needed to gather and compare the information before making his final decision.

At the same time, Felix Magic Academy—no, the entire magical community of Willis City—was deliberately or inadvertently trying to learn about Asheff's magic experiment.

His experiment had simply been too high-profile. It was impossible for it not to attract attention.

However, after the Magic Apprentices returned from the experiment, countless people made inquiries and began cursing furiously!

Asheff had actually made every Magic Apprentice sign a Confidentiality Contract?! Damn it, that move stunned countless people.

Still, curses were curses, while the fire of gossip in everyone's hearts only burned hotter.

That was because whenever the Magic Apprentices who had participated in the experiment mentioned it, their expressions changed drastically, and their eyes revealed disbelief and terror.

Some Magic Apprentices privately revealed that this was an experiment involving Divine Authority.

The moment this news spread, it immediately caused an enormous uproar in Willis City's magical community.

Some people finally understood why Magic God Dendall had gone to such lengths to support Asheff's experiment.

Of course, others scoffed at it.

"Divine Authority, my ass! A bunch of country bumpkins who have never seen the world, spouting nonsense!"

"I had people probe around the edges. No new species were created, no unknown plants appeared, there was no Flesh Magic involved, and no Divine Art either. This should just be an ordinary Wood Spirit magic experiment."

Inside a villa hall, members of the Willis Magic Plantation Federation gathered together and discussed the matter.

For High-level Mages like them, breaking a Confidentiality Contract might not be child's play, but using elimination to estimate the experiment's purpose and general content was still easy enough.

That was why they dismissed the Magic Apprentices' claims about "Divine Authority" with such contempt.

This was perfectly normal. Magic Apprentices fortunate enough to participate in a Grand Archmage's magic experiment would almost always return in a mentally abnormal state.

People always overestimated what they did not understand.

Just as Magic Apprentices were considered important figures in the eyes of commoners.

Some Magic Apprentices sent out on missions were occasionally even worshipped as gods by ignorant villages.

But were Magic Apprentices really that impressive?

Obviously not.

In the eyes of Magic Mentors, they were nothing more than free labor.

The members of the Willis Magic Plantation Federation had gathered again to plot how to seize back their free labor.

"Dendall is clearly favoring Asheff. Are we just supposed to let this go?" one member said, bringing the discussion back to reality.

Everyone's faces immediately darkened.

Yesterday, they had collectively gone to see Magic God Dendall, ready to pressure him.

Unexpectedly, Magic God Dendall suddenly said, "You came at the right time. I have something to discuss with you as well."

Then he opened the Empire Official Website, pulled up the complaints page, pointed at a large number of anonymous complaints, and questioned them.

Upon closer inspection, nearly more than half of those complaints accused them of forcibly seizing fertile land.

Everyone's expressions immediately turned ugly.

Magic plants had extremely high requirements for soil fertility. Plants cultivated through magical stimulation in particular depleted soil fertility at an especially alarming rate.

After growing magic plants on a plot of fertile land for three to five years, it often could no longer be planted.

That was why Magic Plantation owners needed to continuously purchase fertile land or trade away poor fields whose fertility had greatly declined.

In that process, it was clearly impossible to say there had been no coercion or plunder.

Facing the Magic God's questioning, the plantation owners could only push responsibility onto their subordinates and promise to deal with it immediately upon returning.

After that interruption, how could they still have the courage to pressure him? They could only flee in disgrace.

After returning, everyone gradually came to their senses.

Dendall had never mentioned the commoners' complaints before, yet he had brought them up at that exact moment. Clearly, he was holding that leverage over them, favoring Asheff and warning them off.

Once they understood this, everyone became furious.

"By the way, where is Anthony?" someone suddenly asked.

"Him? He said something happened at home, so he couldn't come," someone answered.

Everyone's eyes flickered.

Anthony had always been quite close to Dendall's faction. Finding an excuse not to attend the federation gathering at a time like this clearly meant he feared Dendall.

Or rather, he had completely sided with Dendall and would no longer oppose Dendall's orders, even if those orders harmed his own interests.

"I suggest we talk to Asheff. Nearly four hundred Magic Apprentices is too many. Giving half of them to us shouldn't affect him much," someone proposed.

"What if he refuses?"

"Hmph, I refuse to believe he would dare offend all of us!"

"His attitude doesn't matter. Magic God Dendall's attitude is what matters most. Haven't you seen it yet? Magic God Dendall has set his sights on our plantations!"

"This..."

"Give up some of the profits. Otherwise, if this keeps dragging on, our losses will be even greater."

"Sigh, I suppose that's the only way."