Dorothy was a little jealous of Eileen.
No, she was extremely, extremely, extremely jealous!
The non-toxic mallow was a completely new species that didn't require any magical interference, not even for the seeds!
In the history of Wood Spirit magic, this was an achievement worthy of being recorded in the annals.
It was an achievement that even her grandfather hadn't accomplished, yet now it had been achieved by a magic apprentice.
If you said she had researched it independently, that would be one thing.
But Dorothy knew that all of this was completely based on Mr. Ajifu's theories.
The two varieties of mallow, spiral-leaf and broad-leaf, were even cultivated under Mr. Ajifu's guidance, so why should the credit go to Eileen?
Dorothy was indignant!
And she felt a deep sense of frustration!
Born into a magical family, she had been immersed in magic since childhood and displayed extraordinary magical talent in her youth.
In terms of Wood Spirit magic mastery, she was the best among her peers.
Her mentor, Mr. Tyron, once commented that Dorothy's Wood Spirit magic mastery had reached the level of a formal mage, or even surpassed it.
She had grown up in the spotlight since she was a child, always believing she was a favored child of heaven!
The center of Felix!
She liked Dessau largely because he was also the best among their peers.
But all of this had been taken by Eileen, who came from a humble background, was dark and thin, and had become one of the most dazzling women in Felix, no, even the Kvir Empire. How could she possibly balance the psychological gap this created?
The chasm-like psychological gap made her toss and turn, unable to sleep all night.
She simply got up and went to her grandfather's laboratory.
She knew her grandfather must be awake.
Ever since her grandfather joined Ajifu's laboratory, he had practically given up sleep, replacing it with meditation.
Sure enough, when she arrived at the laboratory, her grandfather was cultivating a fruit tree, with a magic book floating beside him and a glass pen recording the magic experiment data.
"Something wrong?"
Doman didn't turn his head, maintaining the hastening growth magic while using the Mage's Hand to record the experiment data.
"I... I don't quite understand why Mr. Ajifu gave the non-toxic mallow achievement to Eileen?"
"She's just an assistant," Dorothy said straightforwardly.
"Eileen did indeed cultivate the non-toxic mallow. How can you say he 'gave' it to her?"
"But the two variants, spiral-leaf and broad-leaf, were clearly cultivated by Mr. Ajifu."
Dorothy's agitated tone made Doman stop the magic he was performing.
He turned to look and saw his granddaughter's face full of anger and dissatisfaction: "I don't understand. This is an achievement worthy of being recorded in history. Why would Mr. Ajifu give it to a magic apprentice?"
Doman was silent for a moment before saying, "Because he is Ajifu."
"Huh?" Dorothy was startled, not quite understanding what her grandfather's inexplicable words meant.
"Only true scholars can be indifferent to fame and fortune and focus on academic research.
For so many years since the birth of Wood Spirit magic, all Wood Spirit mages studying plants would subconsciously use magic to interfere with plant growth. No one ever chose to abandon magic, but Ajifu did."
Doman pointed at the fruit tree in front of them and said, "Do you know what this is?"
"Rosehip."
"Yes, and no. I isolated the traits of the rosehip and cultivated a seedless rosehip. The seedling was then mutagenized in the microgravity glass box of the Magic Forest. Now, this seedless rosehip is theoretically a completely new species."
As he spoke, Doman amplified the effect of the hastening growth magic. Instantly, the rosehip grew visibly larger at a rapid speed, finally stopping only when it was three times the size of a normal rosehip.
Dorothy's eyes widened in astonishment, and she said excitedly, "Grandpa, you... you've created a miracle!"
"A miracle?" Doman shook his head, showing no surprise on his face.
Instead, his eyes held a complex look: "No, these miracles will become more and more common in the future, and even ordinary people will be able to create them!
When there are many miracles, they are no longer miracles."
Dorothy was stunned: "This... How is this possible?"
"Nothing is impossible. The one who truly created the miracle is Ajifu!"
Doman didn't explain the [Time Rain Farm] that was currently under construction, and continued:
"You shouldn't dwell on how much fame Eileen has gained right now.
Remember, fame without power will only become a burden.
What you should be doing now is diligently studying Ajifu's theoretical knowledge, cultivating new plants, even magical plants, to prove your worth and catch Ajifu's eye!"
Doman paused, then said solemnly, "Because from now on, Ajifu will become the founder and leader of Wood Spirit magic in the Kvir Empire!"
Dorothy's scalp tingled upon hearing this, her face filled with disbelief.
Before she could digest this shocking news, her grandfather seemed to suddenly receive a notification. He furrowed his brow, activated his interconnected ring, and summoned the internet's illusory scroll.
He browsed it briefly, his brows furrowing even tighter.
After a while, he waved his hand, turning the illusory scroll towards his granddaughter Dorothy, and said, "Look, this is the Eileen you're indignant about. She's much smarter than you think. No wonder Ajifu values her so much!"
Dorothy looked at the scroll, which displayed Eileen's personal space.
When she saw what Eileen had written, her expression instantly became a mix of emotions: shame, shock, disbelief, admiration... various feelings flooded her heart.
She suddenly realized that Eileen would become the biggest rival of her life!
...
...
This girl certainly knows how to conduct herself.
Yu Shengan looked at Eileen's announcement, smiled, and shook his head, a look of appreciation flashing in his eyes.
As the leader of the crop research group, he naturally wouldn't be so petty as to swallow the research achievements of his subordinates. Even though the spiral-leaf and broad-leaf mallows were mutagenized under his guidance, he still disdained claiming Eileen's credit.
However, he hadn't expected Eileen to proactively push the credit towards him.
Eileen's action, whether it was Out of 'a child carrying gold through a busy market' self-preservation; or genuinely feeling she didn't have enough credit to bear this fame, proved that she was a very good girl.
The former proved she was very smart;
the latter showed she had a loyal and honest nature.
Whichever it was, Yu Shengan was very satisfied, and the idea of handing over the research group to her even crossed his mind.
When Yu Shengan took the opportunity to ask Dundar for the [Time Rain Farm], he had actually already planned to move behind the scenes in crop research.
On one hand, crop research had basically established a complete process.
First, isolate traits, directionally cultivate homozygotes with different traits, then use the microgravity and magic concentration environment to mutagenize plants, and finally select suitable finished products.
To be honest, ordinary people could participate in this process. This was one of the fundamental purposes behind building the [Time Rain Farm].
Under this standardized process, whether he continued to oversee the big picture was not very significant.
He only needed to ensure the quality of the final products.
On the other hand, he had to free up time to do other things.
For example, studying magic;
finding other deities, forming alliances, and jointly resisting the Five Great Gods!
Speaking of which, the reason he spent precious time cultivating crops, besides filling the stomachs of the Kvir Empire's people and maintaining his user base, actually involved a strategy of invasion and expansion.
This would be one of his ultimate weapons against the Five Great Gods.
War isn't just about bloodshed and killing. Economic warfare is the most deadly, most cruel, most brutal, and the kind of war that kills without shedding blood!