Seeing Zach make his stance clear and present a ten-thousand Magic Stone academy order as compensation, the coldness in Locke's eyes finally dissipated.
After all, there was no need for him to turn down money.
Moreover, he had mostly guessed that it was the administrative leadership behind Zach testing his limits. If he agreed, the academy could save money while allowing Lilith's Cottage to retain its large-scale production capacity for Crystal Palmfire Lotus—only at his expense.
Even if he still profited from this arrangement, it would undoubtedly squeeze his profit margins, affecting his development of future Magic Plants and even his Mana advancement speed. Thus, Locke decisively refused.
Locke softened his tone. "If the academy has a demand, just give me the order. Restoring a hundred acres of Magical Field would only take a little over a month."
Zach smiled. "That's true."
"Come, let's toast to our Locke."
Next, in a private room at the Witch's Kitchen, Locke and Zach finalized the second Academy Centralized Procurement contract.
After handing over the ten thousand Magic Stones directly to Locke, Zach said with a smile, "This batch just needs to be delivered within three months."
"The academy and the Blood Curse Court haven't entered full-scale war yet, so purchasing these Magic Plants is just for stockpiling."
"By the way, junior." Zach turned serious and handed Locke a document. "This is the Magic Plant Customization Competition recently announced by the academy's combat division."
"It's a competition held for the war. Participants must develop a Magic Plant that meets the requirements of the wizards in the combat division and enter the competition."
"The first-place winner will immediately receive an academy procurement contract. The top three will all receive substantial Magic Stone rewards and have the chance to secure academy procurement contracts."
Zach added, "This is an internal Breeder competition within Lilith's Cottage."
"If you're interested, you should participate. I have high hopes for you."
Locke picked up the document and saw it read: [Lilith's Cottage Custom Magic Plant Competition (Apprentice Level)]. The competition had only one round—producing a product according to the requirements of the wizards in Lilith's Cottage's combat division and submitting it for evaluation.
As long as the combat division's wizards were satisfied, it would be adopted immediately.
At its core, this was a military weapon design competition, fundamentally different from the Breeder Competition hosted by the White Wizard Association.
Both the evaluation criteria and the competition format were different.
This competition sought a specific Magic Plant that better met Lilith's Cottage's wartime needs, without requiring the disclosure of technical details—only the final product mattered.
"Aside from individual Breeders, there must also be studios formed by multiple Breeders participating, right?" Locke noticed that aside from Formal Wizards being barred from entering, there were almost no other restrictions—participants weren't required to compete under their personal names.
This meant it was unlike the Breeder Competition held by the White Wizard Association, which was meant to identify outstanding individual Breeders.
This competition is open to anyone, as long as they can produce a work.
Inside Lilith's Cottage, apart from individual plantations, there are established Breeders who, by hiring Breeder Assistants or partnering with other Breeders, have formed Breeder Studios.
Breeder Studios can gain greater bargaining power in competitions hosted by shops in the Chimera Market or institutions like academies, possessing larger production capacities and research capabilities compared to individual plantations.
Therefore, if I were to participate in such a competition, my opponents wouldn't be individual growers but established Breeder Studios.
"The requirement for the Magic Plant is combat utility—it must enhance defense in battle, protecting Plant-based Wizards from high-speed, high-agility, and high-attack Vampires closing in for quick kills. In other words, we need to develop a close-combat defensive Magic Plant capable of resisting sudden melee attacks from enemies." After some thought, Locke smiled at Zach and said, "Senior, I'll consider it."
"However, my fourth Magic Plant isn't combat-oriented, so my focus won't be on this for now."
A flicker of disappointment passed through Zach's eyes before he replied, "No problem. I just wanted to inform you, Junior Locke."
"Hahaha…"
After parting ways with Zach at the Witch's Kitchen, Locke immediately returned to his two small to medium-sized Botanical Gardens.
First, he inspected the plantation where the Crystal Palmfire Lotus was grown, confirming everything was in order and the True Sight Crystal was patrolling normally.
He then instructed and adjusted the farming tasks of the Minotaur slaves there before heading to the second plantation.
In the second small to medium-sized plantation, ten acres of Magical Fields had already been cleared and planted with Wire Tendon Grass.
Looking at the remaining ninety acres of untilled land, Locke retrieved from the Synthetic Magic Cube a Level 7 synthetic item he had been testing recently—a product synthesized from Emerald Lichen.
Over the past month and a half, Locke had been experimenting with different plants to synthesize Emerald Lichen, hoping to discover a special synthesis formula.
And today, he had finally found it: two Level 6 Emerald Lichen + one Level 6 Iris Licorice could synthesize a Level 7 Emerald Lichen-type plant—
Level 7 Synthetic Item: Emerald Iris Lichen
Using the Magic Resonance Breeding Method at 600 frequency to directionally mutate the licorice, and at 721 frequency to directionally mutate the Emerald Lichen, followed by the Grafting Breeding Method to combine the licorice with the Emerald Lichen, merging the traits of Iris Licorice with those of Emerald Lichen.
Then, using the Cutting Breeding Method for propagation, this Magic Plant was cultivated.
The Emerald Iris Lichen retains the Emerald Lichen's ability to enhance human Physical Magic Resistance while also inheriting the Iris Licorice's life-enhancing properties. Their fusion results in the phenomenon of Adaptive Magic Resistance.
When elemental or Curse Magic damages the Emerald Iris Lichen, it undergoes structural adjustments in its magical composition to better resist the same type of attack.
Locke's eyelids twitched. This implied that the complex Magic Plant cultivated using three breeding methods possessed immunity in terms of Magic Resistance.
"What would happen if I used this to replace the Emerald Lichen as the main ingredient in the Bear Spirit Bile Potion during the brewing process?"
Locke couldn't help but ponder.
"Moreover, with this Magic Plant, I can resume practicing the Magic Resonance Breeding Method."
"Before the Breeder exam, I can further improve my proficiency in the Magic Resonance Breeding Method."
"And I can attempt large-scale cultivation of this Magic Plant. Though it's not combat-oriented, it would undoubtedly have no shortage of buyers."
"Especially among Potionology Masters."
(End of Chapter)