Castrated Golden Red Chrysanthemum

Within the pure white, void-like space, a thin layer of soil spanning ten square meters floated in mid-air.

This soil was arranged with great precision, forming a 2x5 rectangle.

"The sense of déjà vu of being on some kind of farm is getting stronger and stronger..." Ron floated in mid-air, smacking his lips as he looked at the soil below.

He took the seeds of the Golden Red Chrysanthemum from his Inventory and began to attempt planting them.

From the cultivation methods he had absorbed, Ron learned that the Golden Red Chrysanthemum was an autumn-blooming plant that produced three to five fruits each time before withering in the winter.

The following year, the Golden Red Chrysanthemum would continue to grow, bloom, bear fruit, and wither again; it would not die naturally.

Its growth environment required moist, loose soil, and it needed to be nurtured with sufficient "Warm Sun Liquid" during its growth phase to bloom flowers with special effects.

The Cultivation Space could handle all of these requirements; Ron only needed to configure the settings according to the cultivation method.

Because this was his first time planting the Golden Red Chrysanthemum, even with the time-acceleration function of the Cultivation Space, it still took him the remaining three hours of the morning to successfully grow one plant.

Looking at the orange-red flower blooming in the one-square-meter patch of soil before him, a satisfied smile appeared on Ron's face.

The leaves of the Golden Red Chrysanthemum were ovate with wavy edges, and the flower stood out, supported by the leaves; the slender, orange-red petals were densely clustered together to form a sphere.

A floral fragrance wafted through the air, and after Ron took a few light sniffs, he immediately felt his body become somewhat more invigorated.

[Upgrade Task]--[Successfully plant one Golden Red Chrysanthemum]:

"Congratulations to the host for completing the task. The task reward has been deposited into the [Inventory]."

"The Golden Red Chrysanthemum can be transplanted into the shop. Would you like to transplant it?"

Ron did not choose to transplant it yet; instead, he continued to control the flow of time, waiting for the Golden Red Chrysanthemum to bear fruit, and then harvested the fruits and the seeds inside.

Next, he spent another half hour using the four newly harvested seeds and the original plant to grow five Golden Red Chrysanthemums.

System: "The Golden Red Chrysanthemum can be transplanted into the shop. Would you like to transplant it?"

Ron still did not rush to transplant the Golden Red Chrysanthemums. Instead, he reached out and cut the stems just below the leaves, snipping off the entire flower head above before choosing to transplant them.

The severed Golden Red Chrysanthemums were transplanted into pots in the shop, leaving only the lonely roots behind in the Cultivation Space.

The Golden Red Chrysanthemum was a plant that could bloom and wither repeatedly, and its petals could be harvested once every year.

If he transplanted them whole and sold them to others, the buyers would essentially obtain a plant that could continuously produce leaves and petals with special effects.

But if the connection between the roots and the stems was severed, the Golden Red Chrysanthemum could only maintain a certain level of vitality in the pot; while it wouldn't wither and die immediately, it would lose the possibility of blooming again after withering.

Ron then proceeded to cut four more Golden Red Chrysanthemums, transplanted them into the shop, and spent some time allowing these five root-only plants to grow and bloom once more.

This time, Ron harvested a batch of petals and leaves, set the time flow so that the flowers would bloom exactly when he returned the next morning, and then left the Dimensional Plane.

By this time, it was nearly one o'clock in the afternoon. Ron ate a bit of bread and then pulled open the shop door to begin business.

On the grid shelves on the first floor of the shop, in addition to the dozen or so Nether Orchids, there were now five "castrated" Golden Red Chrysanthemums.

The price list on the wall had also been updated--

[Nether Orchid]: 20 gold coins per plant.

[Golden Red Chrysanthemum]: 30 gold coins per plant.

Ron sat down on his recliner and opened the System Panel to take a look.

System Level: 3

Then, he received a notification from the system.

System: "Please choose one of the following three patterns for yourself."

Ron narrowed his eyes, not knowing what to say, feeling that the system's upgrade was truly lackluster.

He picked one at random, then opened his [Inventory] and absorbed the task reward, [Plant Growth Technique].

As expected, being a Wood Magic spell, the Plant Growth Technique also required two prerequisite spells, and the system updated its [Shop] right on cue--

[Shop]

[Rainfall Technique]: 1000 Wealth Points

[Earth Wave Technique]: 1000 Wealth Points

"Tch!" Ron closed the System Panel with a look of disdain and didn't look at the shop again.

Trying to swindle his Wealth Points again?

He could only say the system was overthinking it.

As the Disode Magic Academy was one of the top magic academies on the continent, he would certainly be able to learn this level of magic there; he didn't need to waste Wealth Points to exchange for it.

It was better to save up and keep them for exchanging for the Cultivation Space and the Miracle of the Goddess of Harvest.

Ron calculated his Wealth Points in his heart and casually picked up a copy of Gnome Prophecy from the counter to read.

At the same time, he received a task notification from the system--

[Main Quest]--[Sell five hundred Golden Red Chrysanthemums]:

"Specific requirements: As stated above, no time limit, just reach the quantity."

"Task reward: Scale Vine seeds and cultivation method."

Ron raised an eyebrow, looking at the words Scale Vine in deep thought.

Since the mission wasn't completed, he didn't know the specific characteristics or uses of this plant.

However, seeing the name of this plant reminded him of "vine armor," which in turn made him think of that board game that had been popular for so long in his original world.

I could make a set to play with when I have time... Ron thought to himself.

The afternoon hours slipped by slowly.

During this time, several more students or teaching assistants from the Magic Academy came to buy Nether Orchid.

Although the Magic Academy had just taken 100 plants from Ron, most of those would become experimental materials for laboratories, while a small portion would be gifted to professors at the academy or sent to the Magic Tower to set up individual meditation rooms.

For the students and teaching assistants at the academy, the usage time for the Magic Tower was very short; if their families could afford the 20 gold coins, it was more practical to buy a Nether Orchid for themselves.

Therefore, even though Ron had already reached a partnership with the Magic Academy, it did not reduce the number of other people from the academy coming to Ron's shop to buy flowers.

As a result, Ron's wealth value slowly rose to 5821.

But he still hadn't waited for the person he wanted to see.

"Strange..." Ron rubbed his chin, stood up, walked out of the shop, and looked toward the alley next door.

On the wall beside the trash can, that recruitment notice was still posted exactly as it was, and it hadn't been maliciously torn down.

"Could it be that they didn't come yesterday?" Ron muttered a few words before returning to the shop.

He had originally thought that after seeing the recruitment advertisement, that stray child would come to apply for the job.

After all, he had written the recruitment requirements very low; basically, as long as the age requirement was met, anyone could come to apply.

It couldn't be that the little guy wasn't even 14 years old yet, right!?

They didn't look that young...

Ron probably couldn't have guessed that Nora didn't come to apply because she was illiterate.

This could be considered him falling into a common sense trap.

After all, this wasn't his original world, so the education rate was generally low, and most commoners could only acquire knowledge through the verbal teachings of their parents.

Illiterates who couldn't read made up the vast majority of the continent.

It was just that Ron had inherited the memories of the Seventh Prince, so he subconsciously felt that literacy should be a basic skill.

As a result, he waited all afternoon, but instead of waiting for Nora, he waited for people from the Magic Academy and the Glorious Mercenary Group.

The former delivered an exquisite badge the size of a human head, and following Ron's instructions, they helped him hang it next to the shop's name at the entrance.

The latter arrived in the person of Jasper.

He stepped down from his carriage just in time to see the people from the Magic Academy helping Ron hang the badge.

This scene made him pause his steps, his eyes turning slightly solemn.

The third chapter of the day is here! Hurry up and hand over your tickets!!!