Farming in the Magical World

"A magic battery? A magical power bank?"

"Or perhaps the universal currency of the cultivation world—spirit stones?"

That's right. When Lanny heard that some plants could absorb and release magical elements, the first thing that came to his mind was batteries, power banks, and rechargeable batteries.

Of course, this thing has a more resounding name in the cultivation world—spirit stone.

Although described in more than one cultivation novel, spirit stones are a type of mineral that can provide energy for formations and magical treasures, but they cannot be infused with spiritual energy again.

But Lanny felt that this was a misunderstanding.

How do spirit stone mines come about? They are formed by being immersed in spiritual veins rich in spiritual energy over a long period of time. Can this formation process be seen as another way of infusing spiritual energy?

Just because you can't quickly replenish your spiritual energy, you treat spirit stones as disposable consumables. It's such a waste!

He even believed that the outer shell of the spirit stone, capable of bearing such immense spiritual energy, was the most precious part.

If a technology could be developed to reuse spirit stones a second time or even multiple times, it would greatly change the landscape and behavioral logic of the cultivation world.

With spirit-gathering arrays already in place, no one has even thought about reusing spirit stones—what a waste!

He banished the jumbled thoughts that flashed through his mind and brought his thoughts back to the room.

If this plant can really absorb and release magic power, could it be considered another kind of spirit stone? As long as I find a way to quickly recharge this thing, such as a spirit-gathering array—oops, I mean a magic-gathering array—wouldn't this thing immediately transform into a power bank?

With the magic battery, the possibilities are endless.

A fantasy version could be: a cocky, arrogant guy, holding a magic battery in one hand and a magic wand in the other, shouting "God grant me power!" and whoosh... the world is destroyed.

A sci-fi version could be: a cool, futuristic guy stands before a majestic, powerful magic cannon, shouting, "Watch me take your lives!" *Bang!*... the cannon fires, and mountains thousands of miles away crumble, leaving behind only devastation...

Doesn't that sound exciting?

However, before that, he still needs to gain a detailed understanding of this thing.

If this thing is as tall as a towering tree, or if it absorbs more than ten times the amount of magic power it releases, then it's all for naught!

"What are plants like?" Lanny stared at Melissa with eyes as wide as saucers, his face full of curiosity.

“Uh… …” Hearing Lanny’s words, Melissa was a little confused, but seeing Lanny’s serious expression, she finally became serious as well. “These things are not uncommon, but the ones I’ve seen seem a little… strange!”

This plant is called alpine cyanobacteria, which is a type of fungus. However, in this world, fungi and lichens are considered plants, which is not surprising.

But what Melissa found strange was that the alpine blue-green algae she encountered seemed to be different from the ordinary ones!

During her escape, she accidentally lay down on a patch of alpine algae. Exhausted and sleepy, she ignored the slippery ground and fell asleep on it.

But when she woke up the next day, she was horrified to find that the alpine algae were slowly absorbing the magical elements from her body.

It terrified her so much that she scrambled away and ran a long way, even wondering if it was some kind of trick by the mysterious sorcerer.

After all, he still had the Black Vine Seed within him. If his magic power was completely absorbed, wouldn't his death be imminent?

After confirming that she was safe, she returned to the spot and was surprised to find that the alpine algae where she was lying was actually releasing magical elements, with a concentration significantly higher than the surrounding environment.

She observed curiously for most of the day, almost forgetting for a moment that she was still on the run.

Initially, she thought the same as Lanny: since these alpine algae could create and release magical elements, if she could use this, she might be able to solve her problems. This idea excited her for a while.

After all, while the Black Vine Seed is terrifying, there are also vague legends in the magical world that if it can be provided with sufficient magical elements, things might change. To her, this seemed to mean that the transformed Black Vine Seed should be of great benefit to its host.

Although no one has ever succeeded, and the news also mentioned that even if a great mage exhausted all his magic power, it would be impossible to achieve that level, it is still a hope.

Although she couldn't find a great mage willing to help her right now, it would be different if these alpine algae could create magical elements. If one acre wasn't enough, could she plant two acres?

However, after observing for half a day, she reluctantly gave up her idea.

She discovered that the magical elements released by these alpine algae were not created, but rather were the portion she absorbed while resting the previous night. In other words, the magic released by these alpine algae was actually hers.

That's pointless. You release magical elements and then have to figure out how to absorb them back yourself. Isn't that just a pain in the ass?

So she left that place quickly, but the incident left an impression on her. After all, plants that can both absorb and release nutrients are very rare, and she had never even heard of such a thing before; it was quite a rare find.

"Are you sure they really are moss-like plants? They don't have large roots underneath, do they?" Lanny asked again to confirm.

“No,” Melissa shook her head firmly. “I was curious at the time, so I dug it up to take a look. It was just like moss and lichen, thinly spread on a large rock!”

If what she said is true, as long as a cultivation method is found, it may indeed be possible to realize the idea of ​​a "magic battery".

Then he asked another crucial question: "I don't know much about magic. Is there a way to use something, such as plants or metals, to guide magical elements and achieve some magical effects?"

Melissa nodded, confirming this statement. "Of course it's possible. Otherwise, what do you think magic circles are all about?" After a pause, she slowly added, "However... there aren't many magic circles in the magic world right now. To research a magic circle that can replace a certain type of magic is extremely difficult!"

Seeing Lanny's curious eyes, she couldn't bear to watch him guess like a fool, so she began to explain some basic magical knowledge.

In general, the essence of human magic practice is to absorb magical elements from the air and store them in the body through meditation. Then, following a certain route and frequency, a magical resonance effect is achieved, which triggers the energy conversion of magical elements within the body or in the environment.

Of course, sometimes incantations and gestures are used to make the process easier.

Ordinary magicians might think that these gestures and incantations play a crucial role in casting magic and are indispensable.

But as a great mage, she had a deeper understanding.

These gestures and incantations are merely to better guide the magical elements within the body to a fixed frequency and route, rather than being necessary conditions for magic.

To put it simply, they serve to regulate and guide, but have no impact on magic itself.

Once you become proficient in these fixed frequencies and routes, spells and gestures are actually unnecessary, which is one of the biggest differences between a magician and a grand magician.

Another difference is that, because archmages have a deeper understanding of magical elements, they can directly manipulate the magical elements in the environment and cast some large-scale spells, or even forbidden spells.

Some exceptionally talented magicians would use magical materials to fix these routes and frequencies, thus forming the prototype of a magic circle.

As the magical world continued to develop, magic scrolls even appeared later, which were simpler than magic circles. When casting them, one only needed to fill them with magic power to activate the array within the parchment, thus achieving certain fixed effects. Their magic power supply could even be magical elements from nature, making them essentially a one-time great magician.

"Then why don't you make some magic circles? Aren't you afraid of ordinary people like Albert?" Lanny asked, somewhat puzzled.

She rolled her eyes at Lanny before saying irritably, "Why do you think the Black Vine Seed is called a forbidden technique? It's because the magic power in my body right now is very strange. Its frequency fluctuates, and its direction changes from left to right. It's fine if I don't cast spells, but if I force myself to cast them, it might even cause a backlash from the magic power in my body."

With a sigh, she spread her hands with a hint of resentment. "I can no longer cast or inflict any magic. Now I'm just an ordinary woman!"

Having said that, he stared intently at Lanny. "So, what are you planning to do? Are you going to hand me over to the Joe family? They're very wealthy. If you hand me over to them, you'll get a large sum of money!"

Lanny was imagining what the magic circle should look like when he heard Melissa's words and blurted out without thinking, "You're mine now, and you want me to hand you over? No way!"

"Uh, no, what I mean is..."

Uh, he realized what he had said only after he finished speaking. He looked up at Melissa, stammering as he was about to explain, but found that Melissa was staring at him with wide eyes.

"I can tell you're speaking from the heart, and I'm genuinely happy!"

From a young age, she was the pride and hope of her family, and she was always the one who protected her younger siblings.

After she became a great magician, no one said anything funny about protecting her in front of her anymore.

After her family disappeared, she lost her magical abilities and became an ordinary girl, but she was constantly on the run, hiding everywhere and having very little contact with people.

She used to think that girls were incredibly naive to be so easily fooled by such simple words. But when she became an ordinary girl herself, and a boy much younger than her said similar things to her face, she truly understood what that feeling was like.

It's a feeling of security where you are protected, cared for, and cherished, and you no longer have to worry about anything.

Although he's a bit domineering and unreasonable, claiming to be his without my consent, the feeling... is really great.

In that instant, Melissa felt as if a tiny crack had appeared in her heart, which she had never opened to anyone for so many years.

She even despaired and thought that it wouldn't be bad to hide in this castle and live out the rest of her life.

Seeing Melissa's unusual expression, Lanny felt that she might have misunderstood him.

His intention was that since Melissa was already working at the castle, he had finally managed to find someone so... beautiful... gentle...

Okay, okay, maybe that's what he meant at the time, just as she thought.

But he would never admit that he was attracted to her at first sight, since he had only seen her face half a day ago.

However, to say that it is not entirely true is not entirely accurate.

After hearing about her background, he could imagine how much hardship a frail woman must have endured while fleeing between two countries. It wouldn't be accurate to say he felt no pity for her.

He couldn't quite explain what he was thinking at the time—whether it was pity, sympathy, or simply lust at first sight.

He felt his mind was in complete chaos!

Melissa looked at Lanny's youthful face and suddenly smiled slightly.

"Oh, is that so? Then please take care of it!"

"Oh, oh!" With such a beautiful woman staring at him without blinking, Lanny, whose mind was already in a mess, felt confused and didn't even know what he was saying.

"Ha ha... ..."

Seeing Lanny's stunned expression, Melissa burst into laughter, laughing so hard she was shaking uncontrollably.

She thought that Lanny was incredibly cute at that moment, just like a young boy experiencing his first love.

Melissa's laughter finally snapped Lanny out of his daze, and for a moment he felt a splitting headache.

Was she being sincere, or was she feigning it?

A headache!

Seeing Lanny's expression, Melissa didn't care. "I don't need any promises from you, so why are you worried? As long as you provide food and lodging, my requirements are not high!" Melissa shrugged nonchalantly.

“But,” Lanny hesitated, looking again at the pretty woman in front of him, “you have to have some kind of identity, right? You can’t keep pretending to be old and ugly, can you?”

He doesn't think that playing old or ugly is addictive. What girl doesn't like to dress herself up beautifully?

“That’s your problem. I definitely won’t pretend to be Granny Mei anymore, it’s just too uncomfortable!” Melissa shrugged, passing the buck to Lanny.

Yeah, it feels so good to just throw any difficult problem at him, haha!