Chapter 441: Research Progress and Variegated Mutation
One month later, inside the premium laboratory.
Locke gathered the magic plant cuttings cultivated by Montgomery and the others, along with the magic plant branches he had cultivated himself using the synthesis cube. He used a magic magnetic field to cut specific plant factor segments from those plant essences, constrained them with the magnetic field in his hand, and after a simple design, injected them into a Chain Vine seed.
At this moment, beneath the Dragon Crystal Ecological Dome, Locke used the First Ring Life Magic [Rapid Growth]. That Chain Magic Vine grew rapidly, but unlike the previous green chain-like appearance, the overall color of this One-Ring Magic Plant had turned into a dark iron hue.
Half a day later, Locke, along with Barbara the Witch, Tasitus the Wizard, and Montgomery the Wizard who were observing from the side, revealed expressions of joy.
Locke transplanted the cultivated color-changing Chain Vine from the soil and injected magic power into it. "As a single-soldier weapon, this One-Ring Magic Plant is already quite excellent."
"As a magic plant operated by multiple people, its performance is also good. You guys should give it a try too."
The four wizards simultaneously controlled the Chain Magic Vine. It quickly bored into the ground and then emerged from another spot. Through their mana connection, all four could clearly see the Chain Magic Vine circling them again and again after it dove underground.
Barbara the Witch cast a Blood Flame at the magic plant. This bloodline universal spell—a flame that burns bloodlines—was swatted away by the swinging mutated Chain Magic Vine before it could even get close, completely dissipating into the air.
Barbara the Witch was clearly startled. "In just one month, we've actually created a magic plant of this intensity. This plant connects our mana together, overlapping and strengthening each other, and stores magic pressure through the [Rust Bead Flower], resulting in what we see now."
She fully utilized her Dryad bloodline, and her face instantly transformed into that of a Dryad Elder.
With a wave of her hand, several branches within the ecological garden extended out to attack the four of them. However, in an instant, the Chain Magic Vine lashed out repeatedly, blocking all the incoming branches.
Next, Barbara the Witch, Montgomery, and Tasitus simultaneously launched spell attacks at the Chain Magic Vine, all of which were easily blocked by it.
Barbara the Witch said in pleasant surprise, "The speed of this progress has exceeded my imagination."
"The attacks of three One-Ring Wizards couldn't shake it in the slightest. I can feel that if we choose to attack, this Chain Magic Vine will instantly turn into a terrifying weapon, stacking the magic pressure of all four of us to strike the enemy."
"As of now, this magic plant already has significant practical combat value."
Locke nodded slightly. "This is also thanks to Montgomery for coming up with the idea of utilizing the Variegated Mutation mechanism."
The change of this Chain Magic Vine from dark green to dark iron color was a [Variegated Mutation], a somatic mutation unique to plants and the primary breakthrough result of Locke and the others' research over the past month.
That kind of Variegated Mutation causes the color of the magic plant to change and forms special spell circuits within its interior.
Variegated Mutation is a common method in Botany enchantment techniques.
By utilizing changes in the pigments of the internal magic structural components of the plant, an enchantment formation is formed inside the magic plant to enhance it.
This was the path Montgomery suggested. Over the month, they had consulted a large number of ancient texts, attempting to make the Variegated Mutation path of the magic plant produce a spell conduit with the effect of stacking magic pressure.
The biggest difference between magic plant enchantment and ordinary enchantment is that magic plants are living organisms, so all enchantment methods must rely on their natural growth.
Wizards can only guide the Variegated Mutation's color-change path through external intervention to generate the corresponding magic conduits.
Montgomery said honestly, "No, the greatest credit goes to Boss Locke. If I were to pursue this Variegated Mutation direction on my own, let alone whether I could actually do it, even if I could, it would take at least five or even ten years."
"But we only provided you with the raw data, and you were able to turn my idea into reality within a month."
Montgomery said admiringly, "This is truly incredible."
Tasitus mused, "But it's still not enough. This magic plant is indeed excellent, but it can only stack our magic pressure; it cannot achieve the stacking of a wizard's Eternal Defense Field as planned in the project proposal."
"If this magic plant were taken outside, it would be very outstanding and worth investing in, but in the Yunze Cup competition alone, it is still very weak."
"After all, our opponents are... mythic treants like the Ancient Tree of Life and the Luna Laurel Tree."
"We need to continue working on the basis of this stage to find the possibility of stacking the Eternal Defense Field."
Montgomery comforted him, saying, "This is only the first month of our official work; there's no need to rush. Achieving such results in the first month is all thanks to Boss Locke's genius and the laboratory he got for us, which shortened the original experimental process to a single day. Doing experiments in this lab for one day is equivalent to a month in an outside lab."
Barbara the Witch said, "There's no need to build up others' morale while discouraging our own."
"Their project proposals sound nice, but whether they can realize them is another matter. Everyone's situation is likely similar; they might also be fretting in their own labs, completely unable to create the kind of magic plant described in their proposals."
"So we don't need to worry too much; just take it steady."
Tasitus the Wizard smiled. "True. Right now, it's a contest of patience. After all, once in the finals, every research group is going all out. We've already exerted all our ingenuity, so what we can still do, and the key that can decide victory or defeat, lies in patience."
"The research group that gets anxious first will surely lose the initiative."
Locke used the Life Magic [Rapid Growth] to stimulate this magic plant, making it quickly flower and bear fruit, leaving behind seeds which he kept in his hand.
"One major downside of Variegated Mutation is that the growth conditions for the magic plant become more demanding, and its recovery ability decreases. That's why some Breeders don't like using the Variegated Mutation mechanism to enchant plants."
"However, for crafting this kind of rare magic plant, using the [Variegated Mutation] mechanism is perfectly normal."
Locke distributed the seeds to everyone. "Cultivate them and continue breeding subspecies based on them. We will conduct periodic Finite Element Breeding, continuing from these already cultivated and qualified magic plant subspecies."
"Besides this, there are two other subspecies that are worth continuing directional breeding with as prototypes."
Choosing a subspecies for the next stage of directional breeding is like reaching a fork in the road and deciding which way to go.
Once the wrong path is chosen, it's very difficult to get results.
Therefore, Locke chose three subspecies that currently looked relatively successful to continue cultivating.
After all, some subspecies might appear to have stronger magic plant traits than others, but in reality, they lead to a dead end where no further progress can be made.
If they happened to take such a fork, they would just have to consider it bad luck.
Thus, researching such things requires patience and calmness; one needs to endure countless failures and the sense of loss when a result is almost within reach but ultimately fails.
Otherwise, giving up easily or becoming incredibly anxious will only slow down one's research progress further and further.
Additionally, perfectionists are also difficult to deal with.
Because every research endeavor is unlikely to be perfect. Being too obsessed with perfection leads to getting stuck in one place, unable to move forward, with no efficiency to speak of.
Locke said to everyone, "I think these three current magic plant subspecies are all decent One-Ring Magic Plants. Perhaps we can ask around outside to see if any wizards want to buy them."
"These research by-products can also be sold. The funds gained can subsidize our research group, and we can also distribute this private money among you to help you raise your magic levels."
"However, since they are Tactical Magic Plants, their market is actually quite limited."
The magic plant subspecies coming out of their lab were all Tactical Magic Plants that required at least 2-3 people to operate, intended for wartime use. Therefore, wizards interested in buying their subspecies were unlikely to be individual wizards, so the sales channels were indeed limited.