Her long emerald-green gown, woven as if from countless individual leaves, was fresh and elegant, but Elisa's expression was anything but. Her face was cold as frost as she addressed Lucian: "Mr. Evans, how is your analysis of 'Thicket Growth' and 'Harvest Wellspring' coming along? I see the arcanists in other research groups have already made progress, beginning to combine oat and pea cultivation to find ways to simplify the process. Could it be that a Holm Crown Award winner like you, the famous 'Order of Elements,' is no better than them? I hear there are quite a few mid-tier arcanists among them!"
Her tone bordered on interrogation, suspecting that Lucian was either stalling her and her brother or simply lacked the ability to match his reputation—nothing but a lucky recipient of the Holm Crown Award!
Theodol and Yulian grew tense, worried that Xerxion and Elisa might suddenly lash out and withdraw from this "Arcane Research Group."
Lucian pushed his gold-rimmed spectacles—complete with their chain—and replied with meticulous composure: "Princess Elisa, the divine seals you provided were incomplete, which is why my progress has been slow. The other mid-tier arcanists may have been able to start planting experiments so quickly because the druid assigned to their group happens to possess 'decent arcane talent' and can inscribe complete divine seals. Wouldn't you agree?"
The words dripped with irony yet were delivered with an air of earnestness—a complete lack of social grace.
"Even so, as a Holm Crown Award winner, you shouldn't be completely at a loss!" After a few seconds of speechless frustration, Xerxion pressed on stubbornly.
Fearing that continued stonewalling would only deepen their suspicion and provoke a strong backlash, Lucian set aside the papers where he had been practicing mathematical fundamentals and answered with complete seriousness: "Of course. After three days of research, I've already decoded part of the underlying principles. 'Thicket Growth' stimulates the interior of shrub plants while using divine energy to simulate a small number of elements to promote plant growth. 'Harvest Wellspring,' on the other hand, simultaneously stimulates plant cells and extracts nutrients from the soil to supply what the plants need, causing the soil to lose massive amounts of nutrients without any way to replenish them. That is why the former drains your Nature Heart's power heavily while the latter does not, and why the former won't damage the soil while the latter will."
"As for which specific nutrients or elements are being extracted—the divine seals are incomplete, so I have no way of determining that."
"You—you've already decoded it to this extent?" Despite having just been questioning him, Elisa and Xerxion still found it hard to believe. With incomplete divine seals and only three days of work, he had essentially figured out the construction principles of both divine arts?
Lucian smiled faintly: "Didn't you just question whether my Holm Crown Award was obtained by sheer luck?"
Since he had been assigned to placate the two elven royals, intelligence from the other research groups flowed steadily and secretly into his hands. By the second day, the three Grand Arcanists along with Ravendi and other senior arcanists had already decoded the construction principles of most of the low-tier divine arts, and had turned their full attention to sensing and exploring the so-called "Will of Nature"—analyzing what it was, what it was composed of, why it responded to the druids' requests, and why it could provide divine arts.
This was a difficult and profound subject, so the task Malfurion had requested—using the decoded principles to construct magic that could then be simplified into mass-producible alchemical items—was handed off to the other senior and mid-tier arcanists. Otherwise, this kind of project could have been handled entirely by the Grand Arcanists themselves and carried out in complete secrecy, without needing to draft so many arcanists to assist.
And the decoded construction principles confirmed for Lucian that the elements required by ordinary plants in this world were still nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and the like, while the needs of magical plants were far more complex.
"Mr. Evans, if you've already decoded the principles, why didn't you tell us?" Cornered by Lucian's remark, Xerxion quickly steered the conversation elsewhere.
Lucian wore an expression of puzzlement and confusion: "Because I only finished decoding it last night and hadn't yet had a chance to inform you two. In fact, even if you hadn't come here, I would have sought you out. Next, we need to go to the fields for experiments—determining which specific elements oats and other grains actually need to grow."
Given that the divine seals he had received were incomplete, Lucian had no intention of telling them directly which elements were most important. And planting experiments were time-consuming, making them the perfect choice for stalling.
Seeing Lucian's expression, Elisa and Xerxion felt their suspicions ease slightly, and followed him to a hundred acres of land on the eastern edge of the small town.
Lucian casually marked out a one-acre plot of fertile soil and instructed: "Mr. Theodol, Mr. Yulian, please measure the content of each element in this soil."
The spell for measuring elemental composition was a second-circle spell. Theodol and Yulian were battle mages, neither of whom had constructed it within their souls to aid magical research, so when they cast it, they needed to recite incantations, use purified elemental materials as spell components, and measure each element one by one. It took nearly two full hours before the complete elemental content of the soil was recorded.
"Since we have currently only discovered sixty-seven elements, we can only measure these. It's possible that oats and other plants require elements we haven't yet found." As a "proper" arcanist, Lucian naturally made sure to state the experimental premises clearly, then instructed the farmers to sow the oats according to their years of accumulated experience.
Once the farmers had finished their work, Lucian addressed the two elves in the biting cold wind: "Your Highness, Your Royal Highness, please cast the Harvest Wellspring divine art to make these oats sprout, grow, and mature."
A faint green light flew from Elisa's body and enveloped the acre of land. Before long, the oats had already sprouted seedlings. Then Xerxion and Elisa alternately cast "Harvest Wellspring" twice more, and at last the acre of oats achieved a true "harvest" within ten minutes!