Inside the magical plant cultivation room.

Locke and Sophia stood at the entrance. Only then did Locke realize the room was far larger than he had imagined, its interior space rivaling a small castle, filled with sprawling fields of magical plants.

The number of magical plants here resembled a garden.

Standing at the entrance, Locke saw the nearest fields of magical plants. “That’s Bloodvine, Soul Iris, Boiling Blood Berry… and even the highly valuable Holy Blood Rose.”

Locke gazed in awe at a field of pale golden Holy Blood Roses, their petals pure gold, their veins glowing with faint golden light, and their stamens resembling miniature holy grails.

Holy Blood Roses were extremely valuable, their materials used to create various precious potions. In the Universal Studies course, the dark elf Sasari had mentioned that any wizard apprentice with half an acre of Holy Blood Roses would be wealthy.

Holy Blood Roses could even be used to make life-extending potions, highly sought after by wizards, especially those nearing the end of their lifespans.

Sophia glanced at Locke and asked, “What do you feel right now?”

Locke paused, then noticed that since entering the cultivation room, his limbs felt slightly weak, and he was somewhat dizzy. These sensations were subtle and might not have caught his attention without careful focus.

Locke honestly shared his feelings.

Sophia said, “That’s normal.”

“There are many First Circle magical plants here, and the magical pressure density is extremely high, far exceeding what you’d find in a natural environment.”

“If you weren’t a second-class wizard apprentice, I wouldn’t have brought you here. Otherwise, you’d die, Locke.”

Locke bowed respectfully. “Thank you for the warning, Teacher.”

Sophia continued, “Until you become a first-class wizard apprentice, don’t stay here for more than three hours at a time.”

“After every three hours, you must leave and spend at least one hour in a normal magical pressure environment.”

“Otherwise, your soul will suffer chronic damage.”

Locke asked curiously, “Teacher, can magical pressure harm a wizard’s soul?”

“Of course,” Sophia replied. “But explaining that is too complex and not our purpose today.”

“Follow me.”

Sophia led Locke to a field of magical vines. Within the plant room, small elves with petal-like wings fluttered about, tending to the various magical plants.

Likely due to their race, these elves were far less affected by the magical pressure than Locke.

Locke had another suspicion: Sophia might be treating these elves as expendable, unconcerned about whether they suffered chronic soul damage.

As her first student, however, she would not allow Locke’s soul to be harmed, as it could jeopardize his future.

Sophia pointed to a field of Tiflo Root Vines in front of them and said, “Locke, you’re lucky. Since I only recently became a formal wizard, this plant room isn’t too dangerous yet. Most of the magical plants here are at the first-class apprentice level.”

“Because of that, I’ve planted an acre of Tiflo Root Vines.”

“You can practice with these Tiflo Root Vines, but you can only use them here and not for other purposes.”

Sophia added, “To become a breeder’s assistant, you must at least master the most basic cultivation method: the grafting cultivation method.”

Sophia bent down and selected two Tiflo Root Vines, one thicker and one with a vibrant green color. She said, “The grafting method involves attaching the bud or branch of one magical plant to another.”

“By utilizing the plant’s [healing] mechanism after injury, we artificially cultivate the desired magical plant.”

Sophia ran her palm over one Tiflo Root Vine, breaking its root, then over another, snapping its branch.

Next, she used a bamboo skewer to connect the root of one vine to the branch of the other. She chanted a spell, and under its effect, the root and branch of the two Tiflo Root Vines fused together.

After completing this, Sophia buried the grafted Tiflo Root Vine in the soil, along with a dose of advanced Growth Gel.

Under the effect of the advanced Growth Gel, the vine grew at an astonishing rate, quickly rejuvenating and completing its transformation.

Sophia pointed to the new Tiflo Root Vine and asked, “What do you notice?”

Locke thought for a moment and said, “The grafted Tiflo Root Vine combines the characteristics of the original two vines.”

“Teacher, the grafting method allows us to obtain desired magical plant traits, enhancing their performance.”

Sophia said, “Well done, you noticed.”

“Locke, your observation skills are sharp.”

Sophia continued, “This is the most basic breeding method, but don’t think it’s as easy as I made it look.”

“If you tried, the grafted magical plant would likely wither and die. The grafting method has three challenges.”

Locke focused intently. “Teacher, please explain.”

Sophia said, “First, grafting two plants requires precisely aligning their cambium layers, or the fusion will fail.”

“Second, it demands extremely high mana stability. For successful fusion, both accuracy and precision in mana control are critical.”

“Third, you need to learn a basic trick spell to complete the grafting cultivation method.”

Sophia handed Locke a magic book. “As always, you only have learning rights, so don’t show it to others.”

Locke took the book and glanced at it. The title was the trick spell [Lesser Grafting Healing].

This spell enabled different plants to trigger their healing mechanisms, forcibly fusing two plants into one.

For example, grafting a peach tree branch onto a vine using this spell model would force the vine and branch to heal together, becoming a single plant.

In other words, with mastery, the grafting cultivation method could even combine entirely different plant species in later stages.

This method allowed wizards to imbue their magical plants with desired traits.

Sophia said to Locke, “The Tiflo Root Vine was created by an excellent breeder who grafted a Mandrake Vine onto the root of a Tiflo Cactus.”

“However, even if the plants successfully fuse, there’s no guarantee you’ll get the desired traits or that the plant will survive.”

“That’s why we use Growth Gel to accelerate plant growth. It also increases the survival rate of modified magical plants.”

“Locke, you have much to learn.”

“Until you earn your breeder’s assistant certificate, you’ll have to stay on the patrol team for now. But a bit of experience isn’t necessarily a bad thing for a young person.”