Locke thought for a moment about whether he could plan to purchase the four elemental rings of wind, water, fire, and earth in the near future, but he dismissed the idea himself.

Because purchasing just one of the rings would be useless, while buying the complete set would cost 800,000 magic stones.

Although he had 1.2 million in savings and could earn 160,000 magic stones per month, his Tier 2 Origin Academy funding project required at least 35 uses of the three major Third Circle magical artifacts, the magic mirrors.

Since this project currently belonged to him, when Witch Mason and the others helped with research and used the magic mirrors, he should also pay the 20,000 magic stone usage fee.

During the research process, he was still using that one acre of magical field atop the Great Red Mountain Banyan's canopy to synthesize and discover new mechanism pathways and new natural magic structure components.

In other words, the number of times he would need to use the magic mirrors for this project in the future would only increase.

Right now, he needed at least 700,000 magic stones, and future costs would only be higher.

He also needed to keep 200,000 magic stones in reserve to prevent any sudden expenses.

Therefore, at present, he definitely didn't have the money to spend 800,000 magic stones purchasing the four elemental rings.

He was only barely well-off, and there would be plenty of places requiring money in the future.

What about taking out a loan?

Locke considered that if he wanted to quickly plant the Ancient Life Tree seed in the Druid's Ring, he could completely go to the fairy family bank in Dragon Blood Market and take out some loans.

Of course, in this White Wizard society, as long as a formal wizard wanted to borrow money and take out a loan, there would definitely be countless avenues available.

Money was the item that allocated resources, so industries related to money in White Wizard society were all extremely developed.

In this plantation, Arthas could provide quite a few items needed for cultivation free of charge.

Locke found an ordinary First Circle wizard employee from Arthas in the plantation, then said to him, "I need First Circle level nutrient soil and nutrient solution, as well as rapid growth hormone."

This ordinary First Circle employee said to Locke, "Hello, Breeder Augustine. The manager has already instructed me that I can provide you with the resources needed for backcrossing your Hydra magical plant. I just don't know whether you need to self-configure the nutrient soil or use nutrient soil already prepared by other breeders?"

Locke said, "Configure nutrient soil myself? Does Cloud Marsh Wetland's nutrient soil need to be self-configured?"

A flash of surprise crossed this ordinary First Circle wizard's eyes. Breeders who cooperated with the Arthas Shop Alliance rarely raised such basic questions.

But he immediately thought of something, and the slight contempt that had just risen in his heart quickly disappeared, instead becoming more respectful.

"You must have just arrived in our Cloud Marsh Wetland. Truly young and accomplished. Very few wizards can reach cooperation with our Arthas Shop Alliance for commercial development right after arriving in Cloud Marsh Wetland."

This First Circle wizard patiently explained, "In Cloud Marsh Wetland, the paradise of breeders, we have a comprehensive nutrient soil science. Take this First Circle level nutrient soil for example. In other wizard lands, they would definitely just put a bunch of trace elements needed by plants into the nutrient soil and irrigate it with excessively abundant magical energy."

"But in Cloud Marsh Wetland, we don't just do that. We have extensive basic research, and within those trivial basic studies, we discovered that different magical plants need different trace elements, and the specific mechanisms of their growth environments are also different. This has produced many different formulas of nutrient soil."

"This can reduce the wasteful consumption of magical resources and also allow magical plants to grow better."

Locke nodded slightly. In his four and a half months here, he had updated a whole bunch of knowledge and learned a pile of things. Just a few days ago, he had entered the Emerald Dream and completed his project, so time was tight, and many details he hadn't perfected.

Previously, when he cultivated two acres of magical field, because he was planting ordinary First Circle bromeliads or even apprentice-level bromeliads, he basically didn't need to use much nutrient soil.

Moreover, when he had previously gone to shops to purchase nutrient soil, he had directly said, "Boss, I want nutrient soil."

Then the boss had tossed him a bag of nutrient soil and taken his 1,000 magic stones.

Thinking about it now, that shop owner had simply looked him up and down, automatically made a judgment about him, and tossed him a bag of the universal version of nutrient soil.

Locke coughed, secretly glancing at his two students. His two students had no expression, as if they had seen nothing.

Locke said, "I see. I've indeed only been in Cloud Marsh Wetland for four months and just joined Golden Crown Mountain."

After hearing this, the ordinary First Circle wizard immediately became even more respectful toward Locke.

Although Locke temporarily didn't understand these small details, he wasn't someone an ordinary wizard could disrespect.

Being able to cross wizard lands and join a wizard organization in Cloud Marsh Wetland meant the wizard's abilities were definitely excellent.

Otherwise, they couldn't break through the restrictions of wizard lands and join the wizard academies of the Three Marsh Lands.

Like himself, because he couldn't find a teaching position at a wizard academy and was unwilling to leave the Three Marsh Lands to develop in other wizard lands, he could only join a shop alliance and become a senior employee here.

This First Circle wizard said in a low voice, "That's right. Then let me give you a brief explanation of these things. Breeder Augustine will understand them very quickly anyway."

"It's my honor to explain things to an excellent breeder like you."

"Cloud Marsh Wetland's nutrient soil generally has eight categories, divided into universal nutrient soil, which is basically mixed from peat soil, perlite and green fertilizer class magical plants, fixed wind element magical plant humus, then mixed with the Plant Nutrition Potion prepared by potion masters at a 7:3 ratio."

"The characteristics are balanced fertility, water retention and air permeability."

"There's also arid-type magical plant nutrient soil, moist-type magical plant nutrient soil, seedling-type magical plant nutrient soil, flowering-type magical plant nutrient soil, woody-type magical plant nutrient soil, herbaceous-type magical plant nutrient soil, and vine-type magical plant nutrient soil."

This ordinary First Circle wizard patiently explained, "But these eight categories are only applied in the most common situations. Certain special magical plants require specially configured nutrient soil. For example, orchid-type magical plants that grow on rocks and tree surfaces cannot use these eight types of nutrient soil and need self-configured nutrient soil."

"There are also many special magical plants that need to be planted in high-temperature environments, which also require specially self-configured nutrient soil."

"So, understanding these eight types of nutrient soil is just the entry level."

Locke nodded slightly. There were indeed still many things he needed to learn in Cloud Marsh Wetland.

For example, this nutrient soil science related to his original profession as a breeder, he should catch up quickly.

Cloud Marsh Wetland had more types of magical plants and higher-level magical plants, so correspondingly, nutrient soil science and nutrient solution science would naturally be more complex.

Locke didn't pretend to understand when he didn't. Instead, he directly asked this Arthas employee, "Then, can vine-type magical plants use vine-type nutrient soil?"

The ordinary First Circle wizard was stunned for a moment. "If it's a soil-cultivated magical vine with no special requirements for high or low temperatures, then it can indeed be used."

"The core of making these eight major types of universal nutrient soil is actually looking at the drainage needs, acid-base needs, and air permeability needs of these magical plants, as well as the magical element needs of the major magical plant categories."

"It's just looking at these four needs."

"But in Cloud Marsh Wetland, theoretically, every type of magical plant can have its own specialized nutrient soil and nutrient solution. But this requires extensive basic research on that type of magical plant, collecting various properties and needed things of this magical plant from multiple aspects."

"Then, specialized nutrient soil can be made."

Locke nodded slightly. This meant he could possibly purchase Sea Gold Sand specialized nutrient soil and nutrient solution in Cloud Marsh Wetland, but couldn't purchase Hydra specialized nutrient soil and nutrient solution.

Because Hydra was a brand new magical plant, while Sea Gold Sand was a magical plant that had existed for a long time.

This ordinary First Circle wizard said, "So, generally speaking, the breeders here will try to configure specialized nutrient soil and nutrient solution for their magical plants themselves, if that type of magical plant is very meaningful to them."

"The vine-type magical plant nutrient soil is mainly made from 40% First Circle magical plant leaf humus, 30% earth core rock, 20% Scorched Earth Holly bark humus, and 10% Tartarus cave worm excrement, plus the Plant Nutrition Potion made by potion masters mixed in proportion."

"The main characteristics are air permeability, water retention, and strong support."

This First Circle wizard said, "So, we have nutrient soil breeders here, plant nutritionists who specialize in preparing nutrient soil for those breeders."

Locke nodded slightly, indicating he understood. From this First Circle wizard's description, he already understood that vine-type magical plant nutrient soil could be used to cultivate Hydra.

After all, the so-called specialized nutrient soil for each type of magical plant was just icing on the cake. Just the universal vine-type magical plant nutrient soil was actually already completely sufficient. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

You had to know that in other wizard lands, there might be just one type of nutrient soil, while in Cloud Marsh Wetland, there were eight types just for universal nutrient soil.

It was impossible that a magical plant from the outside world would become delicate after arriving in Cloud Marsh Wetland.

Rather, it was because Cloud Marsh Wetland, in the long-term process of internal competition and pursuing performance excellence, had already reached an extremely exaggerated level in the pursuit of magical plant quality and cultivation efficiency.

But the Hydra magical plant was his own work, and currently should have no similar competitors, so it was a blue ocean market, not a red ocean market.

He didn't need to be so competitive.

Therefore, there was completely no need to follow what this ordinary First Circle wizard said and find someone or configure a specialized version of nutrient soil for the Hydra magical plant himself.

That would just be wasting time and money.

The specialized version of nutrient soil actually didn't increase efficiency by much.

Especially in a blue ocean market, he didn't need to be competitive to such an extent.

Locke said, "Then give me 3 tons of vine-type magical plant nutrient soil, 1 ton of vine-type magical plant nutrient solution, and five hundred kilograms of King Bull Horn Mushroom rapid growth hormone."

Ordinary rapid growth hormone was extracted from fluorescent moss. This type of rapid growth hormone could no longer meet the rapid growth needs of First Circle magical plants, so breeders found the King Bull Horn Mushroom, a special fungal magical plant with a volume as large as a house, possessing rapid self-repair ability and amazing reproductive capacity.

Breeders extracted from it several key natural magic structure components that gave it rapid self-repair and strong reproductive ability, mixing them together to form King Bull Horn Mushroom rapid growth hormone.

Plus, this plantation itself had a dragon crystal ecological dome. With these things, as long as they didn't encounter any special insect pests or magical fungal disasters, basically speaking, no matter how they planted it, the Hydra magical plant could grow up.

That ordinary First Circle wizard quickly used a star ring to transport these things, while Locke had his two students pick up shovels and get to work in the field, digging out deep pits one shovelful at a time, then filling the deep pits with the mixed soil Locke had prepared from nutrient solution, nutrient soil and rapid growth hormone.

Then, Locke had the two dusty students walk out from the magical field, and then planted one Hydra magical plant in each acre of magical field.

Locke watched his two students working in the field, thinking, 'First Circle magical plants are too delicate and require first-class wizard apprentices to plant them for me.'

'However, I also need to guide them for competition, so it's mutually beneficial.'

'I'm not a slave driver, right?'

Locke said to Gregor and Williams, "You two handle this first. I'm going to cast Rapid Growth in a moment. Hurry up. I want to deliver the first batch of Hydra magical plants today."

Locke wanted to use Hydra magical plant seeds to grow different Hydra magical plants, then crossbreed these magical plants to obtain new seeds, then plant them again. After cycling through this several times, by around the sixth generation, if the cultivated Hydra magical plants showed no trait variation or trait degradation, it would count as trait stabilization.

Then he could directly sell them.

This was also Arthas's requirement for him. After all, Arthas didn't want to be selling products and suddenly have problems that triggered customer disputes.

Of course, the money and resources needed for backcrossing were also provided by Arthas.

"The Hydra magical plants needed for backcrossing don't need to be true adults," Locke thought. "Just like when I originally developed the Hydra magical plant, I didn't use true adults either. I only need to use rapid growth adults."

Rapid growth adults were extremely different from true adults, basically being forced growth products, with power very different from true adults.

They were in a state of forced growth.

But he only needed to ensure that the sixth generation Hydra magical plant could become a normal adult, and then the normal adult of the sixth Hydra magical plant still possessed traits close to the Hydra magical plant in his hand, which would count as trait stabilization.

Then he could obtain a certificate allowing sale issued by the Arthas Shop Alliance.

Whether specialized nutrient soil or backcrossing, these were all special regulations of Cloud Marsh Wetland. In this fertile ground for cultivating breeders that was Cloud Marsh Wetland, selling magical plant works seemed to have become much stricter than in the southeastern quadrant and the Land of Six Towers.

One day later, Gregor sat on the ground exhausted, while Williams, in order to maintain her bearing, naturally couldn't sit on the ground and could only barely stand in place.

Locke, as the mentor, was naturally spotless, while his two poor students were directed around by Locke.

Locke took out two stools from his star ring and gave them to sit on. "You two sit."

The two students immediately looked at Locke gratefully.

And Locke looked with satisfaction at the ten rapid growth adult seedlings of Hydra magical plants that had already been rapidly grown under his First Circle spell [Rapid Growth].

They were basically in a state of poor development, but it didn't matter, because they only needed to have reproductive ability and produce seeds.

If he wanted to completely cultivate six generations of Hydra magical plants, let alone the mere 100,000 in backcrossing funds given to him, even if given 1 million, it would be completely insufficient.

Doing scientific research meant learning to save money in any gap.

So, just now Locke felt that configuring specialized soil for magical plants completely didn't fit his needs.

What was his current status? Did he need to be so meticulous?

Thinking carefully, perhaps that First Circle wizard didn't understand the ways of the Origin Academy, and many people he dealt with were Second Circle wizards. After all, Arthas's biggest cooperation partners were still Second Circle wizards.

Therefore, many of the suggestions he gave himself were habits of Second Circle wizards and weren't suitable for his current self.

Locke collected seeds from these rapid growth Hydra magical plants. Because he used growth-forcing magic, he once again harmed this batch of Hydra magical plants.

Locke said to the two, "You two work a bit harder and dig out these rapid growth magical plants. Be careful not to damage the roots. I only need to do some enchantment processing on these rapid growth magical plants to prevent them from keeping seeds, then I can sell them and recover a wave of costs."

Gregor didn't consider refusing at all and immediately climbed up from the ground. "Okay, teacher."

Williams showed an expression about to cry, but she quickly adjusted her mentality and said to Locke, "I understand, teacher."

Williams secretly glanced at Locke, her heart full of expectation that Locke would say, 'It's getting late, everyone go back and rest first.'

But when she turned back, she found Locke taking out paper and pen, calculating backcrossing generations, and then using a Focus monocle and the small-scale breeder equipment provided by the plantation, the differential magic mirror, to simply observe whether these rapid growth Hydra magical plants' traits had changed.

After all, just doing backcrossing to stabilize traits, he definitely couldn't use the large-scale breeder equipment, the three major magic mirrors.

He did want to use them, but the team leader probably wouldn't approve it for him.

That would be using a cannon to kill mosquitoes.

Williams secretly asked Gregor, "Didn't our teacher come from the southeastern quadrant?"

Gregor, who was carefully shoveling soil around the magical vine roots, was stunned. "Yes, why?"

Williams said in a low voice, "Do I need to say why? The two of us have already worked a whole day, he's also worked a whole day, and it's almost midnight now."

"Teacher, how did he adapt to Cloud Marsh Wetland's pace so quickly?"

Williams held her forehead. She had originally thought that after being assigned to a wizard from an outside wizard land this time, she could escape the 996 work schedule.

But the familiar formula and familiar taste had arrived.

Gregor looked at Locke a bit fearfully and secretly. "Teacher is also working himself."

Locke heard them talking and frowned slightly, then suddenly remembered he was a First Circle crystallization wizard, a first-tier transcendent, whose body and spirit already far surpassed apprentices.

Therefore, his perception had a serious difference from apprentices' perception.

The level of tiredness for him and the level of tiredness for apprentices were two different concepts.

As a First Circle wizard, for him to feel tired to that degree could probably tire the two of them to death several times over.

Not noticing this point was his mistake.

Locke said, "You two go back and rest."

"I still need to work here. You two go back first and come back at six tomorrow morning."

"Oh right, after you go back tonight, look at the materials I gave you." Locke, to prevent the two from slacking off, said, "I've already registered you two."

"Cloud Marsh Wetland's association-level breeder competition has three rounds in total. The first round is competition within the academy, the second round is the association-level preliminaries, and the third round is the main competition."

"You two prepare for the first round first. If you can achieve good rankings, it can help you obtain the wizard candidate seed title in breeding studies and become rising stars in breeding studies, as well as some special rewards from Golden Crown Mountain. If your ranking is quite good, you can even obtain one apprentice-level wizard secret realm entry opportunity."

Mentioning the wizard secret realm entry opportunity, both of them shuddered again.

Who didn't want to enter a wizard secret realm? Whoever entered a wizard secret realm and came out could improve significantly. Everyone could see that.

After the two left, Locke looked at his magical field and began contemplating.

After testing, the backcrossing of the Hydra magical plant was very successful, with basically no trait degradation. He only needed to pick out the seeds of some magical plants that might have problems and continue experimenting with the seeds of those Hydra magical plants that stably inherited the traits.

Soon the Hydra magical plant could be sold as a product.

If the Hydra magical plant could be sold, it could further alleviate his scientific research funding shortage problem.

With abundant scientific research funding, perhaps he could do some things that might exceed Witch Yekaterina's expectations.

But there was still one problem now.

"If I could make the Hydra into a Three-Headed Snake, it could further increase product sales rate, which would greatly benefit me."

Locke thought for a moment. "But even using the Synthesis Cube combined with grafting cultivation method or magic resonance cultivation method, or finite element cultivation method, I would need some funding to develop subspecies."

But he was really short on money. Having enough money now to comfortably do that Tier 2 Origin Academy funding project was already quite good.

"Scientific research is really too expensive. I'm already someone with some money. If there were those with no side income who could only rely on the Origin Academy's 10,000 magic stones monthly subsidy for researchers, wouldn't doing scientific research be even more painful?" Locke said, "Forget it, if I can scam some money from Arthas, I'll scam some money from Arthas."

"I'll just directly ask the wizards here for money. As long as they don't refuse, I'll pretend not to know."

This was all to scam a research fund.

If he could scam one, he'd scam one first.

Locke already had three approaches for the Three-Headed Snake. One was to use fewer-headed magical vines to graft onto the Hydra, utilizing their characteristics to suppress the Hydra's multi-headed trait.

Another was to use magical suppressants to suppress the Hydra magical plant's side heads, making them unable to develop.

The third was to use the magic resonance cultivation method.

Of course, these could all be accelerated with the Synthesis Cube.

At that moment, a First Circle crystallization stage witch walked into the plantation. After searching around the vicinity and looking through the formal wizards working in the plantation, she found Locke. "Hello, are you Locke Augustine? I'm the brand operations manager assigned to you by Arthas."

"I'm responsible for specialized operations for your Hydra, as well as related business. I came this time to communicate and exchange with you."

"Please rest assured, I'm a professional brand operations manager. I've been responsible for operating over a hundred types of magical plants and have abundant operational experience. Also, I need to open for you the special section interface in the water hyacinth system that our shop alliance has."

"In the interface, you can see every single Hydra sales amount in the future, as well as related reviews, and various major rankings of Arthas products."