Since he had no instruments, Charlie could not control the pH balance of the soil, nor could he accurately measure the trace elements, so he had to give up the soil composition experiment.
Nevertheless, as his round after round of experiments progressed, he gained more and more favorable factors, and the quantitative change might lead to a qualitative change.
On the other side, in Maka's house, there was another scene. In fact, the Wailing Grass was very easy to raise, because the gardener of the botanical garden had basically grasped its temperament and had a complete cultivation method.
Maka's advantage was beyond Charlie's imagination. Although the soil was the same, Maka had a trump card: the first-order natural magic scroll 'Nourish'. It could release a certain amount of life energy, which could promote the growth of any plant and strengthen its vitality. It was an omnipotent scroll without any side effects.
This was the welfare of the Ren Botanical Garden. Master Ren had taken in more than a dozen registered disciples, and the most common daily task of these magic apprentices was to produce the natural magic scroll 'Nourish', which would be widely used in the cultivation of the botanical garden.
Of course, there were even more effective spells, such as the third-order natural magic 'Growth', which contained more abundant life energy and could shorten the growth and development time of plants. If such scrolls were used, Charlie would have no chance at all. However, these scrolls were handmade by Master Ren, the price was expensive, the quantity was limited, and any use would be reported and recorded. Martin did not dare to use them lightly.
In addition to this trump card, Martin had dug another pit for this competition. Before the Wailing Grass could grow into a mature plant, there was an indispensable step, which could even be called a ritual, called "the Weeping of Burial". This was a regularity discovered by the gardeners after countless failures.
On the sixth night of the Wailing Grass seedling's growth, it had to be buried in the soil, and on the seventh day, when the sunlight fell on the soil, the Wailing Grass would emit a cry like a child, break through the soil, and complete the metamorphosis. If this step was not taken, the seedling would still become a mature plant, but would appear listless and weak.
Before the competition started, Maka had guaranteed to Martin that he would definitely win, betting on his lifetime of cultivation experience!
The week passed in a busy manner, and Charlie seemed to have returned to the work state of his past life, busy and fulfilling. Although he was a quantum physicist, now doing plant science work also had a certain style.
The organic fertilizer was completed on the third day and put into use. By the fifth day, he had basically grasped the habits of the Wailing Grass. The last two days were spent cultivating it in the optimal environment he had set: appropriate lighting, suitable temperature, precise water and fertilizer configuration. If the Wailing Grass had self-awareness, it must be grateful for this meticulous care.
Finally, the week-long competition entered the evaluation stage, and the evaluation site was in the open space in front of the two experimental rooms.
Martin specially invited Brian to be a guest, and sat with him in the spectator stand. The judge's seat was occupied by three elderly people in purple uniforms. They had dark skin and wrinkled faces, with the characteristics of laborers, but their determination and self-confidence indicated their identity. Even Martin and Master Ren's assistants had to treat them politely.
Charlie and Maka respectively prepared their competition pieces, one on the left and the other on the right, waiting for the evaluation to begin.
Martin nodded to the three Purple Herbalists and said, "Masters Carl, Pello, and Evan, hello. I have wasted your precious time today, but it was at the request of our contestant to ensure the fairness of the competition."
This was clearly a rule of the competition proposed by himself, but he shifted the responsibility to himself. Charlie sneered at this hypocritical man in his heart.
Carl spoke up, "Okay, let's skip the courtesy and get straight to the point, I'm still busy!"
Martin smiled embarrassedly and said, "Okay, then I'll make it short. This young man in front of you is the nephew of the castle steward Brian, trying to challenge the authority of Master Maka. I held a Wailing Grass cultivation competition for them, lasting seven days, and today is the day the results are announced. Please, esteemed masters, judge who cultivated the healthier and more robust Wailing Grass, and please be fair and just in your evaluation."
Carl couldn't help but laugh, "A Third-Order Blue Seal and an apprentice competing in planting skills, I've never seen such a thing in my life!"
Evan stroked his beard and smiled, "A small competition, and the manager makes such a big fuss, it seems he has big plans!"
Martin's face showed an embarrassed expression, and he was a little annoyed in his heart. These herbalists were arrogant and unpleasant. Just as he was thinking about how to respond, Maka spoke up, relieving him from the awkward situation.
Maka glanced at Charlie and said, "As for the cultivation of Wailing Grass, there's really not much to say. This is a basic skill required for a Green Seal Gardener. I think any gardener in the botanical garden can take good care of it, but for an outsider, it might not be the case.
You managed to survive, which means you're quite smart, so you should have a sense of reality.
The Green Seal Gardener is an entry-level threshold, and each subsequent level is a different stage. Upgrading from Green Seal to Blue Seal is an entirely new level. It's good for young people to have lofty ambitions, but more often, they need to be down-to-earth and recognize reality.
I'm willing to compete with you, just to let you see the difference between amateur and professional, to let you see how big the gap is between us, and to dampen your enthusiasm a bit.
In this competition, I selected the three best-growing seedlings from the 20 seedlings. Please take a look!"
With that, Maka pulled down the curtain on the carriage.
Overbearing! Aggressive!!
However, Charlie was not a naive young man. He could speak with facts and would not indulge in empty talk. Let him brag for a while.
"Wah! Wah..." A series of wailing cries startled Charlie. An amazing thing happened.
Under the curtain, the three earthenware pots on the carriage suddenly emitted the cries of a child, and then the soil in the center was pushed up, and the deep green plants quickly emerged from the soil...
The initial power is the strongest force in the world, breaking through all things. The vitality was so abundant that the emergence from the soil continued for dozens of seconds, reaching over 20 centimeters before the speed began to slow down.
Among them, the plant in the middle was the most luxuriant, almost 30 centimeters tall, and it had seven leaves. The largest leaf had a faint purple color, and the edges were covered with serrated thorns, a deadly poison thorn.
Is this the true form of the Wailing Grass? A truly amazing plant, unheard of before.
Brian was dumbfounded, and Charlie also frowned deeply, his expression very gloomy. If judged solely by the size of the plants, he had already lost.
Charlie couldn't help but wonder: Why could it grow so fast in seven days? Shouldn't he have already grasped its habits?
Maka's arrogant gaze swept around, as if asking, who else can compete with me?!
Martin quietly heaved a sigh of relief, and the arc of his mouth grew more and more obvious.
Pello's eyes were full of contempt: "Maka, I don't know what you're so happy about here. Three Wailing Grass plants, six Nourish scrolls, allowing a gardener to follow the routine, how can you be so proud?
If this competition has any meaning, it is that Manager Martin is using the Wailing Grass to test the superimposed effect of the Nourish scrolls, and it seems quite amazing! It has shortened the growth period by at least five days. I just want to ask, do the scrolls cost nothing? Can they be wasted so casually? Since when have you been granted such authority by the Masters?"
The other two masters also showed disdain, shaking their heads one after another.
Carl supplemented, "Maka, when you can cultivate this level without using scrolls, you can call yourself a Herbalist. We are not mages, and all methods that rely on special means are heresy and despised by Herbalists!"
At this moment, Martin's manipulative tactics were exposed in public, and the atmosphere became very awkward. He didn't know how to smooth things over. He regretted letting the Purple Herbalist Masters come to evaluate the competition. With their experience, they could easily discern the tricks inside.
Now the situation was a bit out of control. Martin glanced quietly at Brian beside him. If the old steward caused a commotion, he would also have a hard time getting the Jordan Staff. If it got too big, it wouldn't be good for him either.
Evan made a definitive judgment, sneering, "This is the most boring, most wasteful, and most meaningless competition I've ever seen! Okay, the game is over, we're busy, and we should go back."
How rude! Martin's face was as dark as water, and his pent-up anger had no outlet.
Who is the real manager of the Botanical Garden?! Just because they wear the title of Master, they can do whatever they want?! Martin wanted to stop them and demand that they give the final conclusion, or else his previous investment would have been in vain.
At this time, Charlie stood up and said with a smile, "Since the esteemed Masters have come, why don't you take a look at my work? I haven't used any scrolls, and I can't afford them either."
The three Herbalists were held back by his words.
The three looked at each other, and Carl snorted, "Okay, I'll give you a chance. I hope it won't be as boring as Maka's."
Charlie nodded slightly and said, "The situation of the Wailing Grass I raised seems a little different from Master Maka's. I only used some basic plant science techniques, such as providing them with the most suitable lighting, temperature, and humidity, and adding some organic fertilizer. Of course, since I wasn't familiar with its habits at the beginning, I did a lot of experiments to find the optimal growth environment, and now they've grown to this stage."
With that, Charlie pulled off the curtain.
The gaze of the crowd involuntarily fell on the wooden carriage in front of him. Unlike Maka's, Charlie had brought all the Wailing Grass seedlings here. Their heights were not much different, with the tallest not exceeding 15 centimeters, much shorter than Maka's.
However, they were different from ordinary Wailing Grass. The leaves were no longer green, but showed a purple-red color, with vein-like patterns that seemed to have red liquid flowing through them, which was quite sinister. Among the twenty pots of plants, five had flower buds, and three had bloomed into purple-red flowers. The texture of the flowers was very strange, like a terrible ghost face, and they faintly emitted a sweet and sour scent, clearly an extremely dangerous plant.
As Charlie explained, the three masters were bewildered by the terms he threw out, such as lighting, temperature, and humidity. These were not common terms on the continent, but they sounded very intuitive.
If these three words could still be understood, then what was "organic fertilizer"?! They had never heard of it before.
Then, after he displayed his work, the doubts in the masters' minds were overshadowed, and they were immediately stunned by the scene in front of them.
Evan suddenly stood up, almost knocking over the table in front of him: "This...this is the Ghost Face Flower?!"
"What?! The Ghost Face Flower?" Carl and Pello also showed shocked expressions.
Martin and Maka were even more dumbfounded, completely caught off guard by this sudden turn of events.