What's wrong with me, a mage, loving to farm?

Chapter 180. The Barley Magic Plant: A Fundamental Change

Because these cattail civets were indeed somewhat useful, Kroya generously built them a cat house using crystals.

I also added some magic crystals that can replenish magic power and liquid magic power produced by the magic vein.

This is enough for magical plants; they require far less than magical beasts, and this level of perfection is already very suitable for them.

Upon seeing the cat house, the cattails eagerly floated inside, each taking their favorite spot and huddling together peacefully.

It would meow every now and then, its voice filled with undisguised joy and excitement.

It looks like a bunch of blue cat dumplings.

They clearly intend to wait here to give birth.

To be honest, Kroya was quite interested in seeing how these magical plants were produced, but unfortunately, he had other things to do.

He could only instruct the Woody Wing King to come here as a camera, and then just wait to watch the broadcast and see them give birth to baby cattails.

He still needs to see Estner.

He's a guest who's come from afar, and even though I have some things to do, I can't just leave him hanging there.

Moreover, he also needs to prepare to transform the Demon Field, which requires him to communicate and exchange ideas with Estner.

Farming isn't something you can do behind closed doors; other lords wouldn't be willing to share these most basic and fundamental knowledge with him.

He urgently needed to supplement his basic knowledge about magical plant cultivation in this world—he had basically finished researching everything that the original owner had in his mind.

As for the application of these toxins, he planned to hand them over to Robert—his trained assassins would definitely find them useful.

Once the snowstorm stops, release all the assassins.

……

outside world.

Hanjiao Island.

The place where sea god barley is grown.

At this time, the Poseidon barley planting area had covered a full 100 acres. It had also undergone two renovations. Even in the snowy environment, the barley still stood tall.

Elena, the Son of Harvest, was leading the other Sons of Harvest in their routine blessing and ripening of the barley.

I don’t know if it’s because they’ve been using ripening agents and giving them a blessing, but these barleys are growing taller and taller. They were originally half a person tall, but now they’re more than a person tall.

The plump ears of wheat were so heavy they almost fell off.

A hundred acres of wheat fields, to be honest, is still quite impressive; even the raging wind and snow couldn't bring them down.

This feeling of harvest is something that no one who loves farming can resist.

"These barleys are growing quite well."

Estner went into the field himself, carefully inspected it, and even picked a stalk of grain and twisted it open to examine it.

Inside were extremely plump wheat grains.

He tasted it and thought it was quite good.

Throughout the process, Rob watched him with a smile, without saying much. After all, Kroya had given the order that he could see all the magical plants on the island, except for a few special ones.

Elena and the other children of the harvest glanced at him, then quickly blessed the wheat seedlings and left.

To be honest, they don't trust anyone except Kroya right now.

Of course, Estner paid them no heed.

He had seen many sons of the harvest, but he felt nothing for them, because as a somewhat traditional magician, he did not trust these people blessed by the gods.

He nodded after tasting the wheat:

"I didn't expect Kroa to come up with such a method."

Then, he looked at the ever-flowing seawater around him and the Woody Curved Vine King that served as a conduit, his gaze lingering on the latter for a few more seconds.

He had noticed this peculiar vine long ago.

As a level three battle mage, his mental power is extremely sharp, allowing him to perceive subtle changes in his surroundings.

These jade-like vines were almost everywhere on the island. He didn't think they were just growing lushly; they must have other uses.

If you think about it for a moment, it's nothing more than surveillance, spying, and protection.

He felt he had to remind Chloe that these things were far too conspicuous and would be easily discovered if they weren't hidden.

and……

He looked down at the wheat field, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes.

"It's good, but it's too clean. I need to have a serious talk with Chloe about it..."

As he was pondering this, he suddenly heard a familiar voice—

"What are you thinking about? How's my wheat field?"

Kroya descended from the sky, landing right outside the wheat field.

"Oh, you've arrived just in time."

Estner beckoned to Kroya: "Look here, could you make some changes?"

He pointed to the mud at the bottom of the wheat field covered by seawater and said earnestly, "Initially, the sea god barley did not like seawater. Later, it was pushed into the sea step by step and eventually took root by the sea."

Therefore, their favorite soil comes from sand washed by the ocean.

But my friend, all you have here is land soil, and although it's quite fine, it's probably not as good as sea sand.

Kroya suddenly realized.

"Oh right, I forgot."

At the time, I was so focused on finding ways to grow them on the island that I didn't consider the environment at all.

In addition, with the help of the harvest children, the barley grew very well, so no one paid attention to this small detail.

And to be honest, he had always been growing this barley as if it were rice...

"It's good that you reminded me." Kroya immediately instructed Rob, "Have people fetch some sand from the seaside. Once this batch of barley ripens, replace all the soil underneath it."

"Okay." Rob bowed slightly and prepared to leave.

"Wait, wait, there's more." Estner stopped Rob from leaving. "There are many kinds of tiny algae and marine life in the ocean, and it seems like there's nothing here?"

As a master of magical plant cultivation theory, Estner has read many books, not to mention that he was the one who gave Kroya the Sea God Barley.

He certainly knew what the best environment for these magical plants to grow was like.

Hearing what he said, Chloe asked curiously:

"Microorganisms, you mean algae, right?"

"yes."

Kroya thought for a moment, then asked, "What is the function of these algae? Do they help purify the water, or do they themselves become nutrients for the sea god's barley?"

In his previous life, his hometown did indeed have a method of combining planting and breeding, where crabs and small fish were raised in rice paddies.

But that was to let the crabs and small fish eat the weeds and some pests. But he didn't need that at all. With the care of the children of the harvest, there were no pests in the entire wheat field.

As for weeds... there aren't any.

Not to mention how weeds can grow in this saline-alkali environment after being submerged by seawater.

The farmhands treated this field as their lifeblood, tending to it meticulously. Any seaweed or other things that got mixed in would be immediately picked out.

Why put algae in when there are neither pests nor weeds?

"..."

Estner was silent for a moment, then said speechlessly, "My friend, have you forgotten about the magical environment?"

He pointed to the vast wheat field: "The marine environment is inherently changeable, especially with the magical algae that can use their own magic to change the surrounding environment."

The Sea God Barley is highly adaptable, but it is precisely this adaptability that forces it to live in an environment with ever-changing magical properties.

While planting them this way may provide them with a very comfortable and peaceful environment, my friend, can you guarantee that such a peaceful environment will always exist?

Once they lose their ability to adapt to harsh environments, they can no longer be transplanted to other places for planting.

His friend's words hit Chloe hard, and he was stunned.

Yes, I can ensure that the children of the harvest take care of this environment and that farm servants patrol it at all times.

But what about the future?

It's impossible for me to always have my son take care of these basic crops. As my power grows and my land expands, there will always be times when I can't attend to them all.

Most importantly, this represents a regression for the sea god barley, a regression from being able to adapt to the complex and ever-changing magical environment of the ocean to only being able to stay in a stable environment.

This was the most unacceptable thing for him. Kroya had been dedicated to evolving magical plants and beasts, but instead, he caused the Sea God Barley to degenerate...

He sighed deeply and quickly began to think. He had a bold idea, one that he had always had.

Finally, he glanced at the thriving Poseidon Barley and asked, "Poseidon Barley isn't a magical plant, so can it evolve into one?"

"..."

Estner was stumped by the question.

Although sea god barley is the most widely spread crop on the continent of Zemuria, it has never been a magical plant.

Because magical plants mean that these barleys cannot be planted just anywhere by the sea; the geographical location and magical environment must be taken into account.

It was originally a basic crop, but if it were turned into a magical plant, it would become very inconvenient, so no one has ever conducted this kind of research.

Magic is inherently difficult to control, after all, not everyone has the environment and resources like Kroya.

He opened his mouth to try and persuade Chloe, but she seemed to know what he was going to say and shook her head, saying, "Friend, listen to me first."

"The fact that Poseidon Barley has such a strong ability to adapt to magic means that it has the potential to become a magical plant."

If we can figure out how to make Poseidon Barley exhibit different growth patterns in different magical environments.

For example, barren seas without magic are like ordinary sea god barley, while rich seas with abundant magic are like sea god barley full of magic.

Imagine if we could consume barley flour, which is rich in magical properties, over a long period of time—wouldn't that be beneficial to us?

After Kroya finished speaking, he waited for Estner's reply—in fact, there was one more thing he hadn't said.

If ordinary people consume this magical barley for a long time, will they be nourished by the magic and have more opportunities to advance into magicians, warriors, or knights in the future?

If this level could truly be reached, it would elevate the entire lower class of society, bringing about fundamental change.

After careful consideration, the battle mage excitedly said, "Actually, what we mages eat is basically sea god barley, sea god wheat, and ordinary wheat."

I heard that there are special kinds of wheat among the elves, such as a kind of wheat called Dawn Wheat, which sells for a high price of one magic crystal per kilogram.

That kind of wheat contains the magic of the sun; it has some benefits for the body after consumption, although the effects are not as great as your sunflower seeds, but there's a lot of it.

The more he talked, the more excited he became.

"Friend! If we can develop a type of wheat that also possesses magical properties, even the legendary mages of the Mage City would probably reward us."

Upon hearing this, Kroya was puzzled.

"Wait, don't we have any magical plants related to this wheat? Is it only the elves who have it?"

He has been here for almost a year and has seen many magical plants. He has always believed that wheat, a basic crop, should have a magical plant version.

It's just that my level is too low to access it.

Unexpectedly, Estner's words implied that there was no such thing as a direct no.

"Of course not." Estner seemed even more puzzled than him: "The more basic the crop, the harder it is for it to mutate, let alone spread."

"As I just told you, if wheat requires a magical environment, won't the planting volume and yield drop significantly?"

Furthermore, the changes that wheat undergoes under different magical environments are all very troublesome matters.

After hearing Estner's explanation, Kroya immediately understood.

Wheat, a very basic crop, cannot be grown in a magical plant version because of its large planting volume and wide planting area.

This likely involves more than just ability; it also involves practical considerations.

Magical plants are still a niche crop. Which lord would be as generous as Kroya in sharing magical plants with his people?

"I understand. Does this sea god barley have the potential to become a magical plant?"

He still cares about this matter; if he had it, things would be much easier.

"Well……"

After pondering deeply, Estner shook his head in distress: "This sea god barley was developed a thousand years ago by a master of magical plants."

"For so long, I've never heard of it becoming a magical plant. It's said that because of its ability to adapt to magic, it has become insensitive to magic."

"Because of the ability to adapt to magic."

Kroya narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, but for the moment he had no solution.

Because his greatest advantage, the Astral Imprint Technique, is only effective against magical plants.

If it's just an ordinary plant without any astral entities, this spell won't work.

If these Sea God Barleys were magical plants, even if they were only the lowest level one magical plants, he would have already found a way to modify them.

Unfortunately, there is no such thing.

After thinking for a moment, he asked:

"Wait, what about the rest of the power?"

"For example, divine power, or the power of the Seven Luminaries Ore?"

Estner immediately wore a speechless expression, as if he didn't know what to say.

"My friend, do you know how precious divine power and the Seven Luminaries Ore are? Let's not even talk about the former, but the Seven Luminaries Ore is something that even the Association doesn't control much of."

"However, I have heard that if pure magic of extremely high purity is used to catalyze wheat seeds, it may be possible to turn them into magical plants."

But who would do that? A single magical wheat stalk is useless.

He finally shook his head helplessly, suppressing the excitement that had just welled up inside him.

What is said unintentionally may be taken to heart by the listener.

Kroa keenly grasped the key information of "pure magic with extremely high purity". So, does the magic in the etheric realm count as having extremely high purity?

If the magic of the etheric realm doesn't count, he probably can't think of any magic that does.

Furthermore, since Estner did not deny the power of the divine power and the Seven Luminaries Mine, he now possesses an entire Mercury Mine!

Should we give it a try?

He planned to try it out after the event ended. If he could just get one plant to become a demonic plant and open up a small opening, he would have a solution.

But there are other things to do now.

He pretended to skip the topic and took out an object from his pocket that was half sea blue and half moon blue, looking like a gemstone.

"This is a new potion I made, an improved version of the Sea Spirit Mushroom potion. Why don't you give it a try?"

Kroya handed it to Estner.

The latter took it curiously and examined it for a moment: "There's the magic of Moonlight Dew Grass in this. You didn't mix that magic into it, did you?"

"That's clever, give it a try." Kroya maintained her smile.

"...Your expression is strange." Although Estner thought Chloe's expression was strange, he still picked up the Moon Potion and put it in his mouth.

Although this thing looks and feels like a hard solid, it melts in your mouth and flows down your throat into your stomach like a refreshing minty stream.

Estner sensed with his eyes closed.

About three minutes later, he opened his eyes, which were clear, and then he spread out his palms.

In the palm of his hand was a small ball of magic, its surface wreathed in a special blue magic, the color of the moon.

"I had heard that these Moon Dew Grasses could grant people some control over the magic of the moon, and I never imagined it would actually work."

He shook his hand before putting the magic ball away and described his feelings in detail—

"It's much better than the Sea Lingzhi potion alone. My mind became very clear for three minutes, and I also gained control of the moon's magic."

"As for the most important function of the Sea Spirit Mushroom potion... I've already taken too much of this potion, yet it still has some effect."

His expression became somewhat surprised and uncertain.

He's now a level three mage, and although he just broke through, he should have long since exceeded the range where the Sea Spirit Mushroom potion would work. If it still works for him...

Does that mean this new potion is several times more potent than the Sea Ganoderma potion?

You know, the special potions that Kroa created already caused a buying frenzy among mages. If these potions could affect level four...

He simply couldn't believe what was going to happen.

Thank you so much to Milankcore, Bailianchenggang, Yangwangtiankongkanyunjuanyunshu, Aka Niu, and Qingluoyou for your monthly tickets and recommendations. I am deeply grateful.

(End of this chapter)