Pioneer and Leader

Dorothy was a little jealous of Erin.

No, she was extremely, incredibly jealous!

Non-Toxic Winter Mallow was an entirely new species created without any magical intervention—not even the seeds had been tampered with!

In the history of Wood Spirit magic, this was an achievement worthy of being recorded for the ages.

Even her Grandpa had never accomplished something like this, yet now it had been claimed by a mere Magic Apprentice.

If Erin had developed it independently, that would have been one thing.

But Dorothy knew that it was all built upon Mr. Asheff's theories. The Spiral Leaf and Broad Leaf varieties of Winter Mallow had even been cultivated under Mr. Asheff's direction, so why should the credit go to Erin?

Dorothy refused to accept it!

She also felt a deep sense of frustration!

Born into a Magic Aristocrat Family, she had been immersed in magic from childhood and had displayed extraordinary magical talent in her youth.

Her attainments in Wood Spirit magic were unmatched among her peers.

Her mentor, Mr. Talen, had once said that Dorothy's mastery of Wood Spirit magic had already reached the level of a formal mage, perhaps even beyond it.

She had grown up under everyone's gaze, always believing herself to be heaven's favored child, the center of Felix!

She liked Desova largely because he was the best among their peers.

But all of that had been stolen by Erin, a dark, skinny girl from the mud. Erin had even become one of the most dazzling women in Felix—no, in the entire Kevil Empire. How could Dorothy possibly reconcile herself with such a gap?

The vast disparity gnawed at her mind, leaving her tossing and turning through the night.

In the end, she simply got up and headed for her Grandpa's laboratory.

She knew he definitely would not be asleep.

Ever since her Grandpa had joined Asheff Laboratory, he had practically given up sleep and replaced it with meditation.

Sure enough, when she arrived at the laboratory, her Grandpa was cultivating a fruit tree. A magic book floated beside him, while a glass pen recorded experimental data.

"What is it?"

Without turning around, Doman maintained the growth-accelerating spell while using Mage Hand to record the experimental data.

"I... I don't understand. Why did Mr. Asheff give the achievement of Non-Toxic Winter Mallow to Erin? She's just an assistant." Dorothy went straight to the point.

"Non-Toxic Winter Mallow was indeed cultivated by Erin. How can you say he gave it to her?"

"But the Spiral Leaf and Broad Leaf variants were clearly cultivated by Mr. Asheff."

Dorothy's agitated tone made Doman stop his spell.

He turned around and saw his granddaughter's face filled with anger and dissatisfaction. "I don't understand. This is an achievement worthy of being recorded in history. Why would Mr. Asheff give it to a Magic Apprentice?"

Doman fell silent for a moment. "Because he is Asheff."

"Huh?" Dorothy froze, unable to understand what her Grandpa meant.

"Only a true scholar can disregard fame and profit and devote himself to academic research. Since the birth of Wood Spirit magic, every Wood Spirit mage studying plants has instinctively used magic to interfere with their growth. No one ever chose to abandon magic, but Asheff did."

Doman pointed at the fruit tree before him. "Do you know what this is?"

"Red Rose Fruit."

"Yes, and no. I separated the traits of the Red Rose Fruit and cultivated the Seedless Red Rose Fruit. Then the seedlings underwent mutation in the Microgravity Glass Box of the Magic Forest. In theory, this Seedless Red Rose Fruit is now an entirely new species."

As he spoke, Doman intensified the growth-accelerating spell. In an instant, the Red Rose Fruit grew larger at a visible rate, finally stopping only after becoming three times the size of an ordinary Red Rose Fruit.

Dorothy's eyes widened in astonishment. "Grandpa, you... you created a miracle!"

"A miracle?" Doman shook his head. There was no joy on his face; instead, his eyes were filled with complicated emotions. "No. There will be more and more miracles like this in the future. Even ordinary people will be able to create such miracles! Once miracles become common, they will no longer be miracles."

Dorothy was stunned. "H-how is that possible?"

"There is nothing impossible about it. The one who truly created the miracle is Asheff!"

Doman did not explain the Time Rain Farm that was currently under construction and continued instead.

"You should not be dwelling on how much fame Erin has gained. Remember this: fame without strength will only become a burden. What you need to do now is study Asheff's theories diligently, cultivate new plants—perhaps even magical plants—prove your worth, and catch Asheff's attention!"

Doman paused, then said solemnly, "Because from this day onward, Asheff will become the pioneer and leader of Wood Spirit magic in the Kevil Empire!"

Dorothy's scalp went numb at those words, her face full of disbelief.

Before she could process this shocking news, her Grandpa seemed to receive a notification. Frowning, he activated the Internet Ring and summoned an Internet Phantom Scroll.

After glancing through it, his frown deepened.

After a long while, he casually waved his hand and turned the Phantom Scroll toward Dorothy. "There. This is the Erin you refuse to accept. She is far smarter than you imagined. No wonder Asheff thinks so highly of her!"

Dorothy looked at the scroll. It displayed Erin's personal space.

When she saw what Erin had written, her expression immediately became a complicated mess—shame, shock, disbelief, admiration... all sorts of emotions flooded her heart.

She suddenly realized that Erin would become the greatest rival of her life!

That girl certainly knew how to conduct herself.

Yu Sheng'an looked at Erin's announcement and smiled as he shook his head, a trace of appreciation flashing through his eyes.

As the leader of the crop research team, he naturally would not shamelessly swallow the research achievements of his subordinates. Even though he had overseen the mutations that produced the Spiral Leaf and Broad Leaf Winter Mallow, he had no interest in claiming Erin's credit.

Still, he had not expected Erin to voluntarily push the credit onto him.

Whether Erin had done it out of self-preservation, like a child carrying gold through a crowded market, or because she sincerely believed she had contributed little and could not bear such fame, it proved that she was a very good girl.

The former showed that she was sharp and perceptive.

The latter showed that she was honest and steadfast by nature.

Yu Sheng'an was satisfied either way. He even began to consider handing the research team over to her.

When Yu Sheng'an had taken the opportunity to ask Dendall for the Time Rain Farm, he had already planned to move behind the scenes in crop research.

For one thing, crop research had basically established a complete process.

First, separate a plant's different traits and use Directed Breeding to cultivate homozygotes with distinct traits. Then use microgravity and environments with differing mana concentrations to induce plant mutations, finally selecting suitable finished products.

To be honest, even ordinary people could participate in this process. That was one of the fundamental reasons he was building the Time Rain Farm.

Under this standardized process, it no longer mattered much whether he personally directed everything.

He only needed to ensure the quality of the finished products.

For another, he needed to free up time for other matters.

For example, learning Magic; finding other gods and forging alliances to fight the Five Great Gods together!

After all, aside from feeding the people of the Kevil Empire and maintaining his user base, his reason for spending precious time cultivating crops was actually part of an invasion and expansion strategy.

This would become one of his weapons against the Five Great Gods.

War was not merely slaughter through blood and flesh. Economic warfare was the deadliest, cruelest, fiercest form of war—one that killed without spilling blood!