Not far to the west of Backlund lies the Balchis Mountains, a north-south mountain range that divides the Backlund Plain and the Takwell Plain, serving as the last barrier in western Backlund.
Odis's laboratory was built deep in the mountains of this range.
This place is more than 50 kilometers away from the Gar Herbalist Shop in the West District, which is already the limit of the "teleportation array".
Although it is only about 50 kilometers away, it is far enough from the city. Moreover, because there is not much good farmland, there are only some small villages scattered in the mountains. It is very remote, and many noble estates are located in this direction.
However, nobles would not choose to build their manors around the Odis Laboratory, because the area is full of hills and transportation is very inconvenient.
For Odis, however, this was a peaceful and undisturbed place.
[At this point, I hope readers will remember our domain name: Taiwan Novel Network → 𝒕𝒘𝒌𝒂𝒏.𝒄𝒐𝒎]
Odis's laboratory looks like an ordinary house, but because it only has one room, it is very spacious.
There are three test benches here, a small metallurgical furnace, and two foot-operated engraving machines made by Odis himself, used to inscribe mystical symbols on hard objects.
In addition, there are two tall cabinets, on which various herbs and spiritual materials are placed.
There were extraordinary traps in the courtyard and on the walls, so Odis was not afraid of the villagers breaking in.
Odis did not linger in the laboratory. Instead, he temporarily disarmed the traps he had set in the courtyard and hurried into the mountains.
The area where he built his laboratory was deserted; if you continued walking into the mountains, you might not encounter a single person even after a whole day.
After crossing a mountain peak, signs of human activity, such as fences and wooden houses, appeared on the mountain in front of us.
A large area around it was bought by Odis.
There are no mineral resources here, no large forests, and it's not suitable for growing crops, so it's very cheap.
For Odis, this place is very suitable for growing herbs and some low-level spiritual plants, as well as for raising some spiritual animals of a lower level, such as the breeding area of mutated flamingos, which is Odis's destination today.
The large-scale cultivation of spiritual plants and the breeding of spiritual creatures are unique patents of Odis.
It is said that before this, the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess had conducted many studies on raising spiritual creatures, but the results were far from satisfactory. They did manage to raise a batch, but they needed constant assistance from demigods.
Ultimately, they felt it wasn't worthwhile and stopped the research.
They never imagined that a herbalist in Backlund would actually accomplish their plan, cultivating and raising spiritual materials on a large scale without the help of advanced extraordinary powers.
With such a large estate, Odis also hired seven villagers to help look after it.
The villagers didn't know these were spiritual animals and plants; they only knew that they were kept and cultivated by a wealthy person.
Odis felt that he was moving much faster after his promotion. What used to take three hours now only took him an hour and a half.
This is an enclosure built halfway up the mountain. Inside, not only are there a flock of mutated flamingos, but also a group of red bees and fire-patterned ferrets. In addition, there are spiritual plants such as fiery red maple trees, red crown impatiens, and bright red lilies.
The guard here is an old man named Anriel. After learning that Odis wanted a batch of mutated flamingos, he put on the protective gear issued by Odis, took a lasso, and entered the enclosure to capture them.
These intelligent creatures are simply smarter and more aggressive than normal creatures, and ordinary people can capture them with the right tools.
While Anriel went to capture the mutated flamingo, Odis walked along the fence and inspected the outer magic circle.
The area around the fence was almost completely barren, forming a bare road.
Not only the surrounding area, but the vegetation on the entire hill outside the fence looked somewhat withered and yellow.
The magic circle is composed of blocks of hard granite, with mystical symbols engraved on them using a special material.
As Odis was concentrating on her inspection, a woman's voice suddenly rang in her ears: "This is the first time I've ever seen a magic circle like this!"
The sudden sound startled Odis: "Next time you speak, could you please say something first?"
As he spoke, he looked around, but still couldn't see Bernadette.
"I can have the 'invisible servant' pat your shoulder or back first."
"Forget it!" Odis quickly said, "That would be even more frightening."
Especially when you feel someone filming you but can't see the other person, it feels like you've encountered a ghost story scenario.
Odis thought for a moment and said, "How about this, you can write 'I have come' anywhere in front of me, so that at least I can be prepared."
"No problem." Bernadette sounded easy to talk to. "Let's continue our previous topic. If I'm not mistaken, this magic circle can concentrate all the spiritual energy of the entire hill inside the fence, right?"
"Yes," Odis readily admitted.
After all, the other party was an expert and had already figured out the function of this magic array.
He found a rock to sit on and took out his pipe: "To be precise, most of the spirituality is concentrated inside the enclosure, not all of it."
Bernadette immediately understood: "It's a matter of the material used to carve mystical symbols."
Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!
"That's right." Odis said as he filled his pipe with tobacco. "If we use too good materials, it will cost too much and be not worth it. In addition, it will easily attract the attention of extraordinary people."
"This is just right. Although the number of spiritual creatures that can be raised is limited, it is enough."
Besides using the materials for experiments, you can also make a small profit.
At first, Odis only figured out the magic circle for planting herbs.
The herbs used in mysticism are actually plants that possess a higher spirituality than ordinary plants.
Some people have tried to grow those herbs, but no matter how much fertilizer they apply or how robustly the herbs grow, what they produce does not meet the requirements for mystical applications.
Therefore, herbs used in mysticism and the extraordinary world have always been collected from the wild.
This is because, even with ample fertilizer, the area lacks sufficient spiritual energy for the herbs to absorb.
Without spirituality, there will naturally be little effect in mystical activities.
Using herbs lacking spiritual energy as auxiliary materials for potions will severely hinder the advancement of extraordinary individuals.
Odis's magic circle works on a simple principle. During one of his studies in the "wilderness of knowledge," he discovered that some magic circles could be used to influence spirituality and thus concentrate it.
This magic circle actually existed a long time ago, but its effect was very limited, and it was just an ordinary "six-pointed star" magic circle, which only worked within a very small range.
Odis improved this traditional magic circle and used the concentrated spiritual energy to grow many fast-growing herbs, earning his first fortune.
Later, with his gradual improvements over the next three years, the concentrated spiritual energy was fully capable of cultivating spiritual plants and raising spiritual creatures.
After a few seconds of silence, Bernadette said again, "The Church of the Earth Mother is going in the wrong direction!"
Odis lit his pipe, took a puff, and then smiled: "You've heard of that research too?"
"That's right, they're going in the wrong direction. They've been trying to use their extraordinary abilities to concentrate enough spiritual energy to create an area where they can grow spiritual plants on a large scale."
"This idea isn't wrong, but the cost is too high. It's better to just buy it directly."