Above the mage

Chapter 295 Northwest Barley No. 1

This time, Gaode was somewhat disappointed with the additional effects of [Tidal Net+] after adding points to Fengling Yueying.

【Tidal Net】 is a control spell that is surprisingly effective in temporarily restricting enemy movement during combat.

At the same time, it is also an excellent beast-catching spell for the snowfield guardians, since they are skilled at controlling beasts.

To tame and control beasts, the first step is to capture them; only after capturing them can one proceed to taming and controlling them.

Although the Tidal Net can only be used on creatures of large size or smaller, it is sufficient in most cases.

After all, creatures that can be described as giant or even larger are rare on the snowfield.

Moreover, although a creature's strength is not necessarily proportional to its size, generally speaking, a large creature is not necessarily weak.

From this perspective, giant creatures must be at least at the second level or higher, so even if a first-level spell could be cast on them, it probably wouldn't have much effect.

Therefore, the enhancement to [Tidal Net+] seems somewhat redundant.

However, given the ease and abundance of access to its source, Gaode seems to have a very good attitude.

Something is better than nothing.

Castella, volcanic land.

In front of a neat field of golden wheat, all the key figures of the Zhenbing tribe gathered.

This included King God of the Zhenbing Tribe, War Mother Sunefa, Phoenix Agriculture Minister Flora, Deputy Minister Grant, and the other three Fourth Ring Elders—not one was missing.

Today marks the first attempt by the Ministry of Agriculture to cultivate hybrid barley.

For the Zhenbing tribe at present, and even for the Northern Territory, this could be a world-changing experiment.

Once you understand the significance behind this experiment, there's no reason not to come and witness it for yourself.

The golden wheat in the field before them was all in its flowering period—the first step in hybridization is to adjust the flowering period so that the flowering periods of the male and female plants coincide, so that hybridization can take place.

Under normal circumstances, it is generally necessary to adopt methods such as light control, staggered sowing, and temperature management for regulation.

At the same time, in order to avoid contamination from foreign pollen, it is also necessary to physically isolate the selected mother plants and cover the spikes that are about to bloom.

But in Phoenix, it wasn't so troublesome: Sunefa personally used "natural arts" to force the small patch of golden wheat to reach the flowering period suitable for hybridization, directly skipping the long growth preparation period.

It was just as the golden wheat ears were emerging, with the stems below the ears protruding about two centimeters from the leaf sheaths, and the flowers were green, with neither the flowers nor the ovaries fully matured.

"After adjusting the flowering period, the next step is to select the spikelets. We need to select well-developed, robust spikelets from the main stem or large lateral spikelets that are free from pests and diseases as the mother plant," Gao De instructed from the side. Deputy Minister of Agriculture Grant was responsible for taking notes, while the agricultural apprentices were responsible for checking the selected spikelets.

To be honest, this step doesn't actually need to be so complicated in terms of the experiment, because with Flora's abilities, she could easily select a high-quality parent stock in one go.

However, Gao De understood that although he could rely on Flora in the early stages, he couldn't rely on Flora's abilities forever.

It is essential to ensure that the Ministry of Agriculture has the capacity for independent hybridization even without Flora, so standards must be followed from the outset to establish records and norms for future reference.

"After selecting the ears of grain, the next step is to prepare the whole ear."

"The so-called 'wheat ear preparation' means removing the later-developing spikelets from the upper and basal parts of the wheat ear, and retaining the best-developed and strongest spikelets from the middle part of the ear."

Under Gaode's guidance, the apprentices were already operating the system with great care.

The process itself wasn't particularly demanding in terms of precision, but the presence of so many important figures from the clan still made the apprentices very nervous.

In addition, since it was everyone's first time doing this kind of work, they were all very inexperienced, so everyone's movements were very slow.

But thankfully, it was completed smoothly.

The apprentices, who had been busy for a long time, breathed a sigh of relief, wiped non-existent beads of sweat from their foreheads, looked up at Gao De, and waited for his next instructions.

"After the spikelets are prepared, the stamens must be removed immediately. Be careful not to damage the pistils."

As for how to distinguish between stamens and pistils, these apprentices had already been taught beforehand.

This step requires much more precision than processing the whole ear of grain.

However, after the whole process of sorting the ears of grain, the apprentices' tension eased considerably, and they relaxed a little.

To ensure the experiment proceeded smoothly, Gaode had previously activated a spell model and cast a [Divine Guidance+] spell on each of the apprentices.

With the blessing of [Divine Guidance+], the apprentices immediately got into the zone, took out their specially made tools, and began to work.

Gao De silently opened his third-tier Mandela Magic Eye, using his farsightedness and magnification abilities to observe.

Even with the blessing of [Divine Guidance+], the whole process was not smooth sailing, and there were instances where apprentices' hands would tremble and damage the pistil.

However, all of this was foreseeable, and the apprentices were completely relieved when they saw that their mistakes had not drawn any blame from Gaode.

After working for more than half an hour, the task of venturing to Xiong was finally completed.

Gao De waved his hand, and Grant, the Deputy Minister of Agriculture who was in charge of observing and recording the whole process, immediately understood and took out a dozen small bottles of ice crystals.

It contains fresh, mature pollen that has just been collected from the hardy wheat plants.

"Generally, pollination is carried out on the second or third day after the female barley plant is emasculated. The main focus is on observing when the stigma of the pistil matures. The signs of maturity are that it is feather-like and forked, shiny, and secretes mucus. At this time, the pollination success rate is the highest," Gao De continued.

To be honest, he majored in mathematics rather than agriculture in his previous life, so he only had a general understanding of the hybridization process.

The reason I can now describe so many details and such specific operations is because of the experience I gained under Flora's guidance during this period of cultivating cold-resistant wheat.

Logically, the next pollination step should take another day or two.

However, that was under normal circumstances. Now, we are in the experimental process, so of course we need to speed things up.

So Sunefa intervened again, using his natural magic to force all the emasculated female barley plants to mature at the time when the pistils and stigmas were ready.

Once the induction process was complete, the apprentices took turns stepping forward, receiving the small ice crystal vials from Grant, and using brushes to dab the pollen from the vials onto the stigmas of the parent barley plant, ensuring that every speck of pollen was evenly distributed.

Of course, this is a small-scale experiment, so a higher level of precision is required.

For larger-scale hybridization experiments, artificial pollination is usually carried out directly by broadcasting.

As for pollination, the apprentices had already mastered it when cultivating cold-resistant wheat varieties, so they were already very skilled at it and there was no need for any special instructions.

To ensure successful pollination, these apprentices, who have worked at Golden Wheat Fields for many years, usually pollinate the wheat multiple times.

Even though Flora could tell at a glance whether pollination was successful, this experiment was not only about successfully cultivating the first generation of hybrid barley, but also about setting standards and regulations, so Gaode was willing to waste more time.

"After pollination, the mother plant should be kept isolated until the seeds mature. At the same time, the growth after pollination should be closely monitored, and any abnormalities should be recorded."

That's what they said, but in practice, it was still Sunefa who took charge of ripening all the successfully pollinated Golden Glory wheat mother plants.

Not long ago, the golden wheat fields were in bloom, but thanks to the "art of nature," they have all turned golden and are now laden with wheat grains, hanging heavily.

"At this stage, these wheat grains can usually be collected as first-generation seeds."

Gao De slowly explained that the next steps were actually quite simple, and even though he wasn't a professional, he could deduce how to proceed.

"The purpose of hybridization is to cultivate seeds that combine the cold resistance of cold-resistant wheat with the high yield and cold-resistant characteristics of golden wheat. Therefore, after the seeds are harvested, these first-generation seeds are sown on the snowfield for selection."

"Those that can sprout and grow naturally on the snowfield have inherited their father's cold resistance."

"The next step is to observe their yield and whether the harvested wheat grains have the property of warding off the cold, in order to determine whether they have inherited the excellent traits of the maternal parent, Jinhui wheat, and thus select individuals carrying the ideal traits."

"For now, we'll skip this step and let Lady Flora conduct the selection," God said.

"Leave it to Lady Flora!" Flora said, head held high.

Flora's ability allows her to know the characteristics of these first-generation seeds simply by touching them, without needing to plant them—this is where supernatural power surpasses technology; sometimes, supernatural power is indeed somewhat "unreasonable."

The apprentices from the Ministry of Agriculture immediately got busy harvesting the wheat grains that had formed in this golden wheat field.

This allowed them to be more adventurous in the process, so they no longer adhered to the traditional manual harvesting methods and began to use magic.

A surge of magical energy arose, and an ice blade swept across, causing swathes of barley to fall without harming a single ear of wheat. With a rub of the mage's hand, the grains of wheat fell off.

As Gao De watched this scene, a glint of light flashed in his eyes, but no one knew what he was thinking.

After all the wheat grains were collected, the next step was the sorting process, which Flora was in charge of.

Flora frowned involuntarily as she looked at the barley seeds that were almost piled up into a small mountain.

Although she could determine the characteristics of the seeds simply by touching them, the problem was that there were just too many barley seeds in front of her.

Flora looked up at Gao De without saying a word.

But Gaode understands everything.

"Lady Flora, do you still remember what a minister is?"

"He's the boss; everyone in the department has to listen to him!"

"Do you remember what the Ministry of Agriculture is?" Gao De looked down at the little figure, and the little figure looked up at Gao De.

"The department responsible for everyone's meals is the lifeblood of Phoenix!"

"Lady Flora has a good memory and is indeed insightful."

"You have a wise mind!"

"So what does it mean to be the Minister of Agriculture?"

"We will cultivate superior barley varieties so that all the people of Phoenix can eat barley!" Flora blurted out.

"Yes, although Lady Flora is now the Minister of Agriculture, which is her job, it's still very tiring for her to inspect so many barley seeds. So I still wanted to say something to her."

Gao De looked at Flora, whose eyes were clear and pure.

Suppressing his guilt, Gao De formally clasped his hands in a respectful bow and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Lady Flora!"

The little boy's expression changed slightly, but he was still a bit confused, feeling that something seemed off.

But before she could figure it out...

"Thank you for your hard work, Lady Flora!" Sunefa, who had been watching from the sidelines for a long time, chimed in at the right moment, bowing to Flora with the same clasped hands gesture as God.

Gao De glanced at Sunafa in surprise, but she kept her eyes straight ahead, maintaining her "aloof" demeanor, as if what she was doing was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Thank you for your hard work, Lady Flora!"

"Thank you for your hard work, Lady Flora!"

The others also realized what was happening and bowed to Flora with clasped hands.

"It's no trouble at all!" Surrounded by so many people, Lady Flora had completely forgotten what she was thinking. She tilted her head back and said, "This is simply Lady Flora's duty!"

"Lady Flora is such a responsible minister!" said God.

"certainly!"

"Following this, we will conduct multi-generational selection, starting with the second generation of seeds, and gradually implement the selection process. We will also select outstanding individual plants and conduct regional trials in multiple locations to evaluate their stability and adaptability."

Gao De said sincerely, "This process will take a lot of time. If Lady Flora could directly select the seeds, it would save a lot of effort."

"Of course, I know that without me saying it, Lady Flora, as the Minister of Agriculture, will naturally take the initiative to help."

"Without the mage's instruction, Lady Flora will take action on her own!"

"Lady Flora not only has a wise mind, but also a strong sense of responsibility~"

"Yes!"

"There will be so many barley seeds for Lady Flora to select in the future. Won't Lady Flora find it tiring?"

"Won't!"

After firmly answering her master's question, Flora flapped her little wings without hesitation and came to the "Big Barley Mountain". She stretched out her little hand and picked up a grain of barley that looked like a fruit to her.

The next moment, she made a judgment:

"This one is fine."

"This one won't work."

"This one won't work."

"This one is fine."

"."

Flora's clear, delicate voice echoed through the golden wheat field, while her apprentices followed her judgment, classifying the seeds.

This busy work took up most of the day.

Finally, seeds that possess the three traits of cold resistance, high yield, and cold resistance account for 80% of all barley seeds.

Generally, the first generation of seeds will show a high degree of uniformity and excellent growth vigor.

Because they are hybrids derived from carefully selected parents, they usually exhibit heterosis, so almost all seedlings should show the desired traits.

However, the proportion of the ideal trait was only 80%. According to science, this means that cold resistance is likely a trait controlled by multiple genes.

However, it's not a big problem. We can continue the selection process in the second generation and subsequent generations until the proportion of seeds with the ideal traits is infinitely close to 100%.

"Is this all there is to it?" Grant asked, watching Flora select the seeds. "They look pretty much like golden wheat seeds, don't they?"

These barley seeds in front of me don't seem to have anything special about them just by looking at them.

Moreover, can barley that combines the characteristics of both golden wheat and cold-resistant wheat be cultivated simply by doing this?

He wasn't doubting Gao De and Flora, but he found it too incredible, beyond his comprehension.

Gao De smiled slightly.

He knew that Grant's question was the same question that everyone else present had.

"It only looks similar, but it's no longer Jinhui wheat; it's a new type of wheat that's never been seen before." Gao De thought for a moment and immediately gave the new wheat a name: "Let's call it Northwest Barley No. 1."

"Next, let's take the Northwest Barley No. 1 seed to the farm that has already been cultivated for trial planting."

(End of this chapter)