Cultivating Magic Plants on a Large Scale

When Lin Lei arrived at the second hamlet, something unexpected happened. He sensed magic in the wheat. It was very faint, and if he hadn't been so powerful and focused his mental energy, he might have missed it.

"Lin Bing, see if you can sense a trace of magic here. Has this wheat evolved into Magic Bronze Wheat?"

Lin Lei turned to David, the guard standing beside him. Though only a Silver-rank Warrior, David was also a Silver-rank alchemist, and Lin Lei wanted him to confirm his suspicions.

At Lin Lei's words, everyone around them looked astonished. They had never imagined their territory might be able to grow magic plants.

At his lord's command, David quickly passed Lin Lei and walked to the edge of the wheat field. He picked an ear of wheat and examined it closely.

"My lord, it is indeed a magic plant. Look—the ears are noticeably larger than the wheat we saw before, and there are fewer of them. Their color is no longer yellow with a hint of green; instead, it's yellow with a touch of red. These are definitely magic plants in the process of growing."

As he spoke, David even took a bite of an unripe ear of wheat and chewed it, sensing the magic within.

"It should be Bronze-rank Magic Wheat. It's probably become a once-a-year crop, unlike ordinary wheat, which can be harvested twice or even three times a year. When this Magic Bronze Wheat turns completely red, it'll be ripe for harvest."

David continued.

"Good, good, good! I knew I wasn't mistaken. It really is a magic plant. David, take some people and inspect all the wheat fields around here. See if they're all Magic Bronze Wheat."

Lin Lei said "good" three times in a row, then assigned people to inspect every wheat field in Yellow Earth Hamlet.

Yellow Earth Hamlet wasn't very large, with less than a hundred mu of land in total. Five minutes later, David returned with his men, looking delighted.

"My lord, we've checked. The whole hamlet is full of magic plants."

Lin Lei was delighted too. He turned to the hamlet head, who was watching their actions with a bewildered expression.

"You're the head of this hamlet, right? What's your name?"

"My lord, I'm John."

John bowed and answered ingratiatingly.

"Very good, John. Your hamlet has done excellent work, and I'm very pleased. I'll reward you with 100 gold coins, and every other farmer with 10."

Lin Lei praised him.

John dropped to his knees in delight and tried to kiss Lin Lei's shoe, but David stopped him. David had noticed the first time that his lord didn't seem to like that gesture, and he had remembered. Now he was glad he had.

"Magic crops help with cultivation. The human body is the most mysterious treasure, and magic and energy are the keys that unlock it. Magic crops simply speed up the process.

"Compared with other magic herbs, magic crops are gentler because they started out as ordinary crops. They don't leave as many impurities in the body, though their effects are much weaker.

"Still, that doesn't stop them from becoming a target of every lord's pursuit. Bronze-rank magic crops can speed up cultivation by fifty percent for those of the same rank and ten percent for Silver-rank cultivators. They're almost useless to Gold-rank cultivators, but they can strengthen the body."

Lin Lei recalled what he had read in a book.

He had once considered buying magic seeds and growing them himself, but their exorbitant price had put an end to the idea.

Magic seeds were controlled by the middle and upper nobility. The magic crop market was a source of recurring wealth for them, and unless someone offered a huge sum, no one would let others get their hands on their magic crop seeds.

Moreover, magic crops had specific growing requirements. They weren't as demanding as magic herbs, but they weren't much easier to grow, either. Those obstacles had put him off cultivating magic crops.

But now none of that mattered. His own family had magic crops, so he didn't need to spend a fortune on seeds or adjust the conditions they needed to grow.

There were more than a dozen businesses in Kul Tiras selling Magic Wheat, and even Silver-rank crops were available. But that had nothing to do with Lin Lei. He had no intention of harvesting this Magic Wheat and selling it for money. He planned to invest all of it in his soldiers to accelerate their growth.

After sorting through his thoughts, Lin Lei focused on John, who was still standing in front of him.

"You'll continue looking after this Magic Wheat, but it no longer belongs to you. It belongs to the territory.

"When harvest season comes, soldiers will be sent to reap it. Of course, I won't make you work for nothing or go hungry. I'll pay every farmer one gold coin a year, and the hamlet head will receive an additional five gold coins a year."

"This..."

John suddenly stumbled over his words. The others thought he was dissatisfied with the pay and looked at him with contempt. Some guards even quietly rested their hands on their swords, as if John would lose his head at a word from their lord.

"These things are so valuable. What if someone steals them? Everyone in our hamlet is an ordinary farmer. We can't guard against anyone with bad intentions."

Lin Lei considered this and realized John was right. Every pound of Magic Bronze Wheat was worth a hundred times as much as ordinary wheat. If someone got bold, took the risk, and stole it to sell, the loss would be enormous.

After a moment's thought, Lin Lei made his decision.

"Tomorrow, I'll assign two squads to your hamlet. One will patrol during the day, the other at night. Then you won't have to worry about anyone stealing the wheat."

After giving his orders, Lin Lei spent a little longer looking over the yellow-red fields before heading to the other hamlets.

By the end of the day, he had visited all the hamlets, but nothing as exciting as what he'd found in Yellow Earth Hamlet turned up again. They were all ordinary wheat, nothing that could impress someone who now had Magic Bronze Wheat.

Still, while the wheat hadn't developed like the crop in the second hamlet, it was much like that of the first: a bountiful harvest. Once it was reaped, Crouching Dragon Ravine would have enough to meet its needs and wouldn't need to send people to Flower Territory for grain every day.

When Lin Lei returned to the Lord's Mansion, beaming with happiness, Aierlan stopped him and said she had a surprise to show him.

In a good mood, Lin Lei went along without protest and followed her to the back courtyard. But there was no surprise in sight—only Avril.

"So you're the surprise Aierlan was talking about?"

Lin Lei gave a helpless smile.

"It's not me. It's my magic. Look!"

Avril skillfully cast a spell, and a small Water Elemental appeared in front of her. After a full day of repetitive, dull practice, the Water Elemental had grown to the size of a murloc. Lin Lei was genuinely surprised.

"Avril's only been learning magic for a few days—three? Seven? And she can already cast a spell? She's as good as the children of the great noble families."

"Five and a half days. Avril really is talented. Even in my class, there were only a few who learned to cast magic this quickly."

Aierlan sighed. She had studied at a famous magic academy in Boralus, the capital of Kul Tiras. It gathered the most talented mages in Kul Tiras. Anyone who stood out there could make a name for themselves across the entire planet of Azeroth.

"With talent like Avril's, it would be a waste not to nurture it. I think we should send her to Boralus Magic Academy to study. She'll be able to grow faster and learn more systematically."

Lin Lei rubbed his nose and spoke with unusual seriousness.

"No! I don't want to go to magic academy. I've only just been reunited with my brother. I don't want to leave him again."

Avril, who had been waiting for Lin Lei to praise her, immediately went from smiling to frowning. She looked utterly unwilling.

"Uh..."

Lin Lei had genuinely been thinking of what was best for Avril, but her refusal left him torn.

"Maybe we should let it be. I graduated from magic academy, and I'm nearly Gold-rank. I can still teach Avril for now. We can think about sending her to magic academy when she reaches Gold-rank too."

Aierlan spoke up for Avril.

"All right."

Seeing Avril's face ready to crumple at any moment, Lin Lei reluctantly agreed.

"Yay!"

When Avril heard that Lin Lei wouldn't send her to magic academy, her expression went from cloudy to sunny in an instant. The rapid change between two expressions made Lin Lei marvel at how terrifyingly impressive it was.

Of course, Lin Lei didn't actually make any strange gestures like that. In Avril's eyes, he had always been perfect—a dependable older brother.

"Red Fire, go teach that little blue thing a lesson."

Lin Lei didn't exclaim about how terrifyingly impressive Avril was, but he still decided to teach her a small lesson.

Seeing Red Fire spend all day sleeping in the Lord's Mansion, Lin Lei gave him a kick and sent him to bite the Water Elemental Avril had just summoned.

Red Fire obliged. At Lin Lei's command, he shot forward like a streak of lightning and charged straight at the Water Elemental.

"Red Fire!"

Avril hadn't noticed Lin Lei's malicious intentions. When she saw Red Fire wake up, she greeted him.

"Bang!"

There was no splash of water as Lin Lei had imagined. The Bronze-rank Water Elemental actually held its own against Silver-rank Red Fire. Avril cheered Red Fire on, then cheered the Water Elemental on too.

Lin Lei could only shake his head in dismay.

"Red Fire, how dare you make a fool of me? You've been gone only a few days and you've already switched sides."

Lin Lei finally saw the truth: Red Fire wasn't teaching the Water Elemental a lesson at all. He was playing with it. Lin Lei muttered to himself from the sidelines.

"My lord, are you really getting jealous over a child?"

Aierlan walked over and, quite unexpectedly, overheard Lin Lei muttering to himself. She found it amusing to see her usually imposing, domineering lord acting like a child.

"No, I'm not. Don't make things up."

Lin Lei flatly denied it, but that only made Aierlan's smile grow brighter.

"Forget it. Let the little ones play with Avril. The two of us can go for a walk. We have some time now, so I can talk with you a little more."

Lin Lei changed the subject and teased her.

"Mm."

Aierlan answered shyly. Even the most tomboyish woman became a complete sweetheart once she had a husband of her own.