Lord of the Mysteries: I Married the Queen Mystic

Not far to the west of Backlund lies the Balchis Mountain Range, a north-south range that separates the Backlund Plains from the Tarkwell Plains, serving as the last natural barrier to the west of Backlund...

Odis's laboratory is nestled deep within these mountains.

The location is about fifty kilometers from Gale's Herbal Shop in the West Borough, which is already the limit of the Teleportation Array.

Though only fifty kilometers away, the area is sufficiently remote from the city.

Due to the lack of arable land, only a few small villages are scattered throughout the mountains, making it an extremely secluded place. Many noble estates are also situated in this direction.

However, no noble estates are located near Odis's laboratory, as the surrounding terrain consists entirely of rugged hills, making transportation inconvenient.

For Odis, this was the perfect undisturbed location.

The exterior of Odis's laboratory resembles an ordinary cottage, but since it consists of only a single room, the interior is quite spacious.

Inside, there are three workbenches, a small metallurgical furnace, and two foot-operated engraving machines Odis built himself for inscribing mystical symbols onto hard materials.

Additionally, two tall cabinets house various herbs and Spiritual materials.

The yard and walls are lined with mystical traps, so Odis has no fear of villagers intruding.

Rather than lingering in the laboratory, he temporarily deactivated the traps in the yard and quickly headed deeper into the mountains.

The area where his laboratory is located is already sparsely populated, and venturing further into the mountains, one could walk an entire day without encountering another person.

After crossing a mountain peak, signs of human activity (fences, wooden huts) appeared on the hills ahead.

Odis had purchased a large swath of this land. With no mineral deposits, no dense forests, and unsuitable terrain for farming, the land had been cheap.

For him, it was ideal for cultivating herbs, low-level Spiritual plants, and even breeding low-tier Spiritual creatures, such as the mutated flamingos he was heading to inspect today.

The large-scale cultivation of Spiritual plants and breeding of Spiritual creatures were Odis's unique innovations.

Rumors suggested that the Church of the Earth Mother had previously conducted extensive research into breeding Spiritual creatures, but the results were far from satisfactory.

While they succeeded in raising some, the process required constant intervention by demigods...

Ultimately, they deemed the endeavor unprofitable and abandoned the research.

They would never have imagined that a humble herbal shop owner in Backlund had achieved their vision, successfully cultivating Spiritual materials on a large scale without relying on high-level Beyonder assistance.

To manage such a vast operation, Odis had hired seven villagers to assist with upkeep. The villagers were unaware that these were Spiritual plants and animals, believing them to be nothing more than the exotic hobbies of a wealthy eccentric...

Odis noticed that after his recent advancement, his walking speed had increased significantly. A journey that once took three hours now took only an hour and a half.

The enclosure that was built on the mountainside housed not only a flock of mutated flamingos, but also red bees and fire-patterned martens, as well as Spiritual plants like blazing red maples, red-crowned phoenix grass, and scarlet lilies.

The caretaker, an elderly man named Anil, donned the protective gear Odis provided and entered the enclosure with a catching pole to capture the flamingos upon Odis's request.

These Spiritual creatures were merely more intelligent and aggressive than ordinary animals. With the right tools, even ordinary people could capture them.

While Anil gathered the flamingos, Odis inspected the mystical arrays surrounding the enclosure.

The area around the fence was nearly barren, forming a bare, circular path. In fact, the entire hillside outside the enclosure appeared somewhat withered and yellowed.

The array consisted of hard granite slabs, each engraved with mystical symbols using a special material.

As Odis carefully examined the array, a woman's voice suddenly spoke beside his ear: "I've never seen an array like this before!"

The unexpected voice startled Odis, "Could you at least give me a warning before speaking next time?"

He glanced around but still saw no sign of Bernadette...

"I could have my messenger tap your shoulder or back first."

"No thanks!" Odis quickly refused. That would be even creepier.

The sensation of being touched by an unseen presence was the stuff of ghost stories.

After a moment's thought, he proposed, "How about this... just write 'I'm here' somewhere in front of me so I at least have some warning."

"Fine." Bernadette sounded agreeable, "Now, back to the topic. If I'm not mistaken, this array concentrates the Spiritual energy of the entire hillside into the enclosure, correct?"

"Yes." Odis admitted freely.

There was no point hiding it. She was an expert and had already deduced the array's function.

He sat on a nearby rock and pulled out his pipe, then explained, "To be precise, it concentrates most of the Spiritual energy inside, not all of it."

Bernadette immediately understood, "The material used to inscribe the symbols is the limiting factor..."

"Exactly." Odis packed tobacco into his pipe as he spoke, "Using higher-quality materials would be too costly, not worth the investment. Plus, it would draw unwanted attention from Beyonders."

"...This setup is just right. The Spiritual creatures I can breed are limited, but it's enough for my needs."

Aside from materials for his experiments, it also provided a tidy side income.

Initially, Odis had only developed arrays for cultivating herbs. Mystical herbs were essentially plants with higher Spiritual energy than ordinary flora.

Others had attempted to cultivate these herbs, but no matter how much they fertilized them or how robust the plants grew, the results never met the requirements for mystical applications.

As a result, herbs used in Mysticism and the supernatural world had always been gathered from the wild.

The reason was simple... no matter how rich the soil, the area lacked sufficient ambient Spiritual energy for the herbs to absorb. Without that energy, the herbs were useless in mystical practices.

If such Spiritually deficient herbs were used as supplementary materials in potions, they could severely hinder a Beyonder's advancement.

The principle behind Odis's array was straightforward. During a study session in the 'Knowledge Moor', he discovered that certain arrays could manipulate Spiritual energy, concentrating it in a specific area.

The array itself wasn't new... it was a basic hexagram design with a very limited range of effect.

Odis modified this traditional array, using the concentrated Spiritual energy to cultivate fast-growing herbs, earning his first pot of gold.

Over the past three years, through gradual refinements, the array's efficiency improved to the point where it could sustain Spiritual plants and even breed Spiritual creatures.

After a brief silence, Bernadette remarked, "The Church of the Earth Mother was researching in the wrong direction!"

Odis lit his pipe, took a slow drag, and smiled, "You've heard of their research?"

"Indeed. They were fixated on using Beyonder power to gather enough Spiritual energy to create large-scale cultivation zones. The idea itself wasn't flawed... it's just that the cost was too high. At that point, buying the materials outright would've been cheaper."