Chapter 676: Slow Growth, Playfulness

Actually, the Arcane Garden is not a very good place for dining; the positive energy here is too intense. Although an Arcanist who has undergone Focus Training can ignore the interference of the environment here, it is ultimately not as comfortable as the normal environment outside.

Of course, Xia Duo and Niya do not come here every day, it is just that today Xia Duo happened to want to come, so he invited Niya to come here.

And the main reason Xia Duo wanted to come was not to see Pamela and the others—what is there to see about two Pegasus—what he really wanted to see was the growth of the Bonu Tea Tree.

Half a month ago, Xia Duo obtained a seed of the Bonu Tea Tree through Patriarch Aoruipusi of the Silver Leaf Family, and after several attempts at forced growth, he finally got it to sprout successfully.

Afterwards, it was planted in the Arcane Garden by Xia Duo, and Xia Duo would come over from time to time to check it, to see if this Bonu Tea Tree could adapt to the environment within the Arcane Garden.

For the time being, the Tower of Time does not have a suitable candidate who can take over Xia Duo's work; of course, even if there were, Xia Duo would still come over frequently.

After all, since this is the only seedling, it is still necessary to maintain a considerable degree of attention.

……

Very quickly, Xia Duo and Niya finished their dinner by the river, tidied up the area simply, and the two walked slowly along the small river that runs through the Arcane Garden.

The nest of the two Pegasus is at the source of the small river, and at the same time, the Bonu Tea Tree is also planted there; the main task of the Pegasus is usually to guard the tea tree.

As for the other plants in the Arcane Garden, whether they are fruit trees, wheat, or spices and vegetables, as long as they want to eat them, they can eat them at will, as long as they do not deliberately waste or destroy them.

The two walked for a while when they heard a few "neighing" sounds, and immediately after, Pamela and Yabo descended from the sky with a gust of wind, and as soon as they landed on the ground, they went straight for Niya.

Xia Duo cursed them as traitors under his breath, then ignored them and went straight to look at the Bonu Tea Tree.

Come to think of it, Niya takes better care of these two Pegasus than Xia Duo, so it is normal for these two Pegasus to be closer to Niya, but in terms of actual commands, Xia Duo's are still more useful.

Around the Bonu Tea Tree, Xia Duo set up a perimeter guarded by the Tower Spirit, mainly to remind the two Pegasus so they would not play too wildly and trample the tea tree.

In fact, the first thing Xia Duo wanted to check was whether the tea tree had been trampled, even though he knew the tea tree had not been trampled—

If a Pegasus or anyone else entered the alert range, the Tower Spirit would notify him immediately.

From this, one can see the degree of care Xia Duo has for this tea tree. At this moment, he had not thought at all about how to use it to get rich in the future; he was completely treating it as a source of a type of tea he quite likes.

Xia Duo squatted down and carefully observed the tea tree, which had just sprouted a thin shoot from the seed, from different angles, and then took out a thin wooden stick and stood it next to the thin shoot.

There are fine graduations on the wooden stick; this is a simple measuring ruler that Xia Duo created by defining weights and measures through standard Spells. If one only looks with the naked eye, it is not easy to determine the growth progress.

As for Spellcasting, Xia Duo's principle has always been: if a Spell cannot provide convenience, then do not cast it.

It is very clear that instant Spellcasting for measurement is far less time-saving and effortless than simply taking out a thin wooden stick.

"32 millimeters, only 2 millimeters more than last time!"

Xia Duo was a bit speechless; this tea tree is truly difficult to serve. Not only is it hard to force growth, but it also grows slowly. Xia Duo measured it once before leaving last time, and it was 30 millimeters.

Many days have passed, and it has only grown 2 millimeters. Could it be that in the future, he can only rely on Spell-forced growth?

The key is that for Spell-forced growth, Xia Duo also feels he is reaching a bottleneck. If he casts 【Blooming Flowers】 again today, he does not know if he can make the tea tree grow any more.

He must master more powerful Spells, or change to a more professional person!

After measuring the sprout length, Xia Duo measured the width of the sprout leaves and recorded all these data as reference material for perfecting the planting method.

Even, once there is enough recorded data, it would not be impossible to infer future growth progress from it.

……

After checking repeatedly, Xia Duo cast 【Blooming Flowers】 on the tiny tea seedling again. Upon measuring again, it had actually only grown 1 millimeter more! This made Xia Duo a bit annoyed; if it goes on like this, 【Blooming Flowers】 will soon cease to be effective.

This Spell is an Elf Magic, and Xia Duo is not proficient in Elf Magic, nor has he researched it. This kind of Life Domain Spell is best left to professionals; he himself is not confident in Ascending the Ring of it to exactly suit the forced growth of the Bonu Tea Tree.

And he only has this one Bonu Tea Tree here; if it were ruined by forced growth, he would not be able to find any place to "repair" it!

Now it seems that Xia Duo wanting to drink the tea leaves he grew himself is unlikely to be realized in the short term.

"Sigh—"

Standing up from the ground, Xia Duo looked at the scene in the distance of Niya riding the Pegasus and flying up and down in play, and shook his head helplessly. She is already such a grown person, yet still so childish!

However, after the grumbling, a ripple stirred in Xia Duo's heart. Being able to show such a side in front of him, Niya clearly trusts him and is close to him.

Before long, Niya seemed tired from playing, let the Pegasus land on the ground, and then took fruit wine out of her Dimensional Bag to feed the two Pegasus. When Xia Duo saw this, he inwardly cried out that she was a spendthrift!

Even if it is fruit wine produced by the Tower of Time, the cost is low, but it can be sold to other Mages for 100 Gold Coins a bottle. Feeding it to two horses like this is truly a waste!

After feeding the horses, Niya finally came to Xia Duo's side and said excitedly, "Your method is really good, Pamela and Yabo are especially well-behaved!"

"……"

Xia Duo remembered that he had also used fruit wine to feed the Pegasus, but he did that to let the Pegasus feel the taste of home and at the same time have them recognize their master; he had not fed them any since!

"Alright, it's getting late today, let's go back and rest early. Tomorrow we still have to hold a meeting to discuss the matter of the Elf refugees!"

Hearing Xia Duo mention the Elf refugees, Niya's face immediately fell, "Alright, then let's end it here for today!"

Saying this, she turned around again and stroked the back of the necks of the two Pegasus a few times firmly, then teleported away directly.

Xia Duo shook his head slightly and also summoned the Tower Spirit to teleport away.

……

Although he had just told Niya to rest early, when he returned to his residence and saw his familiar desk, Xia Duo still could not help but take out his Spell Notes to start reading and organizing.

As the saying goes, "Reviewing the old and learning the new, one can become a teacher." Xia Duo has the heart to become a "great teacher" of popular education, so naturally, he would not forget the teachings of the sages of his hometown.

It was not until he broke away from the state of mental exhilaration brought by the positive energy environment and fatigue gradually arose that he put away his notes, washed up, and went to rest.