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

Chapter 351. "Precious" Energy

For the residents under Kroya's rule, daily life was simple and plain: they worked at sunrise and rested at sunset, and all they needed to do was grow crops according to the inspectors' requirements.

This Moya Village is no exception.

It was just an ordinary little village that was randomly selected. Kroya was proud of it, so she wouldn't deliberately find some elaborately decorated villages for the Star Town delegation to see.

The more ordinary, the better.

Who are you?

The patrol team responsible for village security spotted the guests outside and immediately became tense, sending the information to the Northern Guard via their magical devices.

This is essential in the world of magic, because no one knows if they might suddenly be controlled, preventing information from being transmitted and ultimately triggering a series of chain reactions.

It's always better to be cautious than not.

Jamie was aware of the situation, of course, and he gave a gentle smile similar to Kroya's: "Call your village chief out. I'm Jamie from the Civil Engineering Department of Han Reef Island. I'm here to show guests around your village."

He took out his badge and handed it to the other person. The colorful alloy, infused with a trace of eternal magic, shimmered in the sunlight. Of course, it was impossible to imitate.

The patrol team, who also carried equipment to check the authenticity of badges, immediately showed a respectful expression: "So you are the sorcerer from the Civil Engineering Department. Please come in. I'll go and call the village chief right away."

Within the structure of Hanjiao Island, the "Civil Engineering Department" holds a unique position, responsible for everything from repairing magic runes and machinery to constructing cities and academies.

When someone mentions that they are a magician in the Civil Engineering Department, they are definitely someone to be admired.

"Okay." Jamie gestured for him to go in first, while he led the others slowly behind.

Irina listened from the sidelines for a while, but when they were walking into the village, she suddenly asked, "This should just be an ordinary person without magic, right?"

Her expression was quite sincere: "Dear Jamie, why does he have that special magical energy fluctuation that even the human inhabitants of the astral plane don't have? I sincerely hope that this is also part of our exchange plan."

The succubus lady blinked.

Humans, though all human, can have different physical constitutions and magical tendencies depending on their race and place of residence—the Kingdom of Norland, where Kroya lives, is the most common "plains race".

This type of race is a prime example of being ordinary and unremarkable. They lack the cold resistance and strong physique of highlanders, as well as the agility and excellent adaptability to magic of rainforest people.

The vast majority of humankind is populated by this type of people.

But Irina saw in this seemingly ordinary patrolman a vibrant and spirited individual, and a harmonious blend of sunshine, breeze, and earth, making him an excellent candidate for learning magic and becoming a warrior.

If everyone here is at this level, it's terrifying beyond imagination. Even the territories where plane mages train their subordinates couldn't be this exaggerated, right?

Jamie smiled slightly: "But this isn't on our trade list or exchange plan, Ms. Irina—I can ask my mentor for authorization. What are you prepared to offer in exchange?"

In Kroya's opinion, there was nothing wrong with talking about this, so he had casually mentioned it to him long ago.

Irina said angrily, "Your behavior is really not gentlemanly at all, but luckily I also asked the teacher for some things. Take a look at this!"

She took out a strange test tube containing spherical algae.

The tiny, spherical algae inside the test tube, about the size of a finger, floated in the pale green liquid, looking like something produced from some terrible alchemical experiment.

After being exposed to sunlight, it swelled up rapidly like a balloon, quickly growing to the size of a test tube, and was still trying to expand, making it look even stranger.

"Within the Astral Plane, each mage and transcendent being needs to build their own spatial structure for the area that belongs to the Astral Council's sphere of influence."

"Although there are various life-sustaining magic rune arrays in this kind of spatial structure, it is still a very troublesome thing for the humans living inside."

"Therefore, a powerful legendary mage from the Astral Council researched and developed this magical plant. After sensing changes in the surrounding environment, it produces substances that allow humans to adapt to the environment..."

Just as she was explaining incessantly, a strange force locked onto the bottle in her hand. The spherical algae that had been vigorously absorbing sunlight suddenly let out a mournful cry, like a punctured balloon, and instantly deflated.

Irina: "..."

Jamie: "!!!"

The sunflowers not far away swayed gently in the breeze, raising their heads high as if withdrawing the divine power contained within their bodies.

These tiny algae dare to compete with them for nutrients!

The air seemed to freeze at that moment, and the mages behind Befario and Irina dared not speak, after all, they were just followers.

After a long pause, Irina managed a weak laugh, "What a coincidence! I didn't expect you to have such powerful magical plants here that could affect them..."

She put away the chlorella with great heartache. It was something she had worked hard to earn. In a place like the Astral Council, the cost of buying magical plants and magical beasts that could reproduce was unimaginably high, and now it had died.

She had assumed that there were things like the Fiery Tree at the top of the Green Dome or the Constant Fungal Spirits of the Azure City, since it was the North, and it wouldn't be surprising to find such spiritual guardians.

Jamie, having received Kroya's permission, gave her a deep look and said, "This is actually our lord's plan."

He walked over to the sunflower, took out a measuring cup, and said to the sunflower, "Please."

The sunflower shook gently, and a drop of golden oil dripped from its pale golden seed into the measuring cup, appearing as a solid, translucent crystal bead.

"!!!" Irina exclaimed in shock, "You already have a way to convert the sun's life force into energy?"

That was certainly an interesting question, and Jamie immediately asked, "Is the life force of the sun important in the astral plane? Or does it have some special significance?"

He knew absolutely nothing about the astral plane, so he didn't feel ashamed to ask questions. Knowledge is something you have to learn; it's a never-ending process.

Irina explained, "In the astral plane, our star sector is all about living on the Ring of Creation, which is a huge ring-shaped world that holds a sun in place."

The sun's energy is a highly efficient and vital force, and it is very precious. Therefore, the amount of sunlight allocated to us each day is rationed. How to utilize this energy efficiently is something that every power is learning.

Jamie frowned immediately: "Is sunlight... also a resource?"

He looked up at the sun, which was impartially showering its light upon the earth. It was hard to imagine that in the astral plane, even the sun's light had to be distributed. Was the astral plane so barren?

Irina noticed the confusion on his face and asked:

"Do you know how the sun comes about in the Zemuria world?"

—In ancient legends, the sun was the divine kingdom of the Father of Light, and the selfless Father spread his light across the entire continent.

Of course, this was obviously a lie. Later, Jamie learned from Kroa and Teacher Mia that the sun was a "celestial body" that existed alone in the astral plane and was not controlled by any person or god.

But now Irina's statement...

He shook his head decisively: "I don't know."

Irina's lips twitched slightly: "The suns of all planes originate from the original primordial sun, which selflessly shines its light upon all planes, regardless of spatial or temporal distances."

However, if one wants to build their own power in the astral plane, they need to mine the veins of the primordial sun, use the obtained sun ore to fix and create a stable source of the sun for themselves.

Our predecessors in the Astral Council once captured the largest fragment of the sun, used the immense power from the Skyward Ark to fix it in place, and built the Ring of Creation around it.

However, we are, after all, a sun that has been forcibly fixed in place. The primordial sun is not so gentle to beings like us who build planes outside.

Therefore, sunlight needs to be filtered before it can be supplied to the various ring areas. Before I came here, I worked as a temporary worker at the solar factory...

After her explanation, Jamie finally got a general idea of ​​the Astral Plane. He thought life there must be very difficult, and that even the sunlight had to be fought for.

"Therefore, the technology that can convert sunlight into stable life and energy is extremely precious in the astral plane." Irina looked at the sunflowers with an envious gaze, then suddenly turned around and threw a spell at the mages following her.

A flawless version after careful inspection!

"call--"

It was a pink, fragrant gust of wind that immediately made the mages who were hit look dazed. Finally, they closed their eyes in exhaustion and fell asleep immediately.

Jamie's brow furrowed slightly, then relaxed, and he understood what she meant.

"alright."

"If these guys weren't my henchmen from Star Town, and they hadn't overheard such valuable information, I would have killed them on the spot."

Irina smiled gently and sweetly, with a hint of nonchalant cruelty: "Mage Jamie, if what you have is leaked, even the Astral Council will be uneasy. Don't leak it before you have enough strength to protect it."

She glanced at Befalio behind Jamie.

The meaning was clear: if this young druid was not trustworthy, she was quite willing to use the forgetting spell to make him forget this deadly matter.

"Thank you, Ms. Irina." Jamie calmly blocked Belferio's path. "These are students from our Earth Academy, and my teachers and I trust their loyalty."

—There's something else he didn't say: anyone of even moderate importance has a mental defense magic artifact drawn by Kroya for the Ark. If you try to force it, you'll be met with a strike from the constellation.

"Oh." Irina didn't seem to mind. "Then let's make a deal? I'll secretly smuggle in some solar ore, and in exchange, I want these..."

She originally wanted to ask for the sunflowers, but knowing it was impossible for her to have them, she had to settle for second best: "I want the oil from these sunflowers."

Jamie didn't agree immediately: "Someone will talk to you about this after we finish our main business. Let's deal with the main business first."

He pointed to the fields in the distance: "How exactly is farming done in the Astral Plane?"

Irina knew that it was definitely not the time to talk about that now, so she quickly got to work: "In the astral plane, the babies will undergo adaptation tests, and all the plants will resonate with the people living within the region."

"This is different from the other planes. The edible magical plants cultivated in this way will have a special ability to gradually nourish the small plane worlds that are created along with life."

"It's not about us altering nature, but about making nature adapt to our existence and become the most suitable area for our lives."

That's quite an interesting point of view.

Jamie thought for a moment: "Does this require any special equipment for screening? If we were to conduct experiments and improvements in the current world, would there be any problems?"

"No problem." Irina took out a book: "Here, this is the blueprint for the required magic rune structure. You'll need to experiment with it yourselves."

"Human mental strength is very powerful. This research method actually comes from the reverse research and utilization of the belief in gods."

"Thank you." Jamie immediately sent the book through Eden to the Mage Tower on the Isle of the Reef, asking Mr. Tower Spirit to analyze it.

At this moment, the village chief finally arrived, albeit late.

He ran over, sweating profusely. He was first startled by the group of mages sleeping on the ground, but then wisely ignored them and smiled.

"Mr. Jamie, guest, I'm sorry I'm late."

Seeing that Jamie didn't react, he explained:

"The subway construction is right next to our village, so I just checked the subway's service area."

Irina asked curiously, "The subway?"

"Is it the kind of transportation where tracks are built underground and cars run on them?"

She actually knew? Jamie was surprised, then gave the village chief a wink.

"Yes." Receiving Jamie's signal, the village chief explained with pride, "The subway line can now run freely throughout Lord Kroya's territory."

"Could I go take a look?" Irina said. "As far as I know, there is a quick and convenient way to travel in the Astral Plane that doesn't require spatial magic."

Jamie, of course, wouldn't refuse, and nodded: "Then please come with me."

He was genuinely curious about a way of traveling that didn't require spatial magic.

Astral planes...wouldn't that be a bit novel?

(End of this chapter)