Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 340 First Strengthening of the Forest Sanctuary

Locke used archaeological magic models and ancient pointers, taking advantage of the properties of rust particles, to find the research institute hidden by the magic lock of the Illusion School, and then entered it by opening the magic lock.

Upon entering the research institute, Locke immediately used [Summon Tomb Spirit] to scan the negative energy particle field inside the entire institute, regardless of whether anyone was there or not, to ensure that no one had entered or approached the institute during this period.

After everything was confirmed, Locke arrived at the temperature-controlled planting room in the core area of ​​the research institute. At this moment, the six red holly bushes sensed the return of their forest master, and their branches and leaves swayed, like gentle dancers, greeting Locke.

Locke checked the various circulation systems in the temperature-controlled planting room and found that they were still functioning well. This meant there was no need to worry that the incomplete establishment of the circulation system had caused damage to the nascent forest.

Locke stroked the bark of one of the red holly trees and had a unique feeling, as if he were looking at himself from a third-party perspective.

Because of the permanent defensive field, this forest is itself, but the problem is that at this moment it has touched itself. The permanent defensive field acts as a connection point, linking this forest with its own soul.

In a sense, at this moment, one's own soul is the soul of this forest.

Therefore, when Locke closed his eyes, he could indeed look down over the entire forest.

Therefore, Locke had a strange feeling of being inside himself, touching himself. "According to Dean Levis, the forest is also a living organism, a complex organism in its own right. Therefore, if I want to continue to strengthen my permanent defensive field, I can do so by increasing the total biomass of this forest."

"Whether a forest is thriving depends on its total biomass."

"The higher the biomass, the stronger the forest."

Locke has learned a lot about botany during this period. He can exchange contribution points for a lot of knowledge related to botany in the library, so his knowledge is growing rapidly.

In the first stage of botany, there is a very important term—[biomass].

The larger the total biomass of an ecosystem, the greater its strength and integrity.

Similarly, the maximum power of botanical spell models is also largely limited by the total number of organisms.

Take Lygodium japonicum as an example. As the king of magical plants, the biomass of Lygodium japonicum is comparable to many acres of ordinary forest.

The spores of gold powder that it secretes every moment further ensure the minimum power of its botanical spells.

The increase in the total biomass of a forest is usually related to the number of years the forest has been in existence. Therefore, Dean Levi boldly proposed using the life cycle of dragons to divide the life cycle of forests.

Essentially, Dean Levi has elevated the forest to the level of a dragon.

Locke took out one hundred double-ball sycamore trees from his astral ring. The roots of these double-ball sycamore trees all had soil balls attached, and they had undergone root pruning treatment a month in advance, making them completely suitable for transplanting.

Plants are inherently difficult to move, even if they are powerful magical plants, so transplanting a double-ball sycamore tree requires preparation a month in advance.

Locke, relying on Harlan Vera's network of connections, brought a large number of people and had already given instructions on these matters a month in advance.

Locke ordered the ten still-functioning dwarf-type golems inside the temperature-controlled room to use shovels to dig one hundred pits in the ground. Locke had already calculated the diameter of these pits.

The size of the pit and the root ball will affect the survival rate after transplanting.

"Six trees are definitely not enough for a forest to take shape. For a woodland to become a community, it needs at least thirty trees, and they cannot be of a single species. A single species will attract diseases." Locke recalled the ecological knowledge he had learned over this period of time.

"Therefore, I want to increase the number of trees to 106, so that this magical plant forest will truly live up to its name. It's a pity that I haven't obtained the Druid's Ring yet, otherwise I could seriously plan and enhance this forest and conduct ecological experiments."

Locke commanded the golems to plant the sycamore trees one by one, and at the same time he sensed that the roots of the trees under the Red Holly had begun to connect with the roots of the hundred sycamore trees.

The roots of the red holly are parasitic with many fungi, one of which is called "holly arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus". This is a magical fungus that can extend outward from the roots of the red holly to form magical mycorrhizae.

In other words, it is a mycorrhizal fungus associated with the roots of the red holly tree.

These mycorrhizae connect with the roots of other plants underground within a radius of several kilometers.

In this way, a [microbial network] can be formed.

This is a unique ecology possessed by all plants, belonging to a type of distributed intelligent evolution, and is in the same direction of intelligent evolution as the swarm of insects seen in one's illusion.

However, the symbiotic fungi of *Ilex rubrum*, namely *Ilex rubrum arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi*, amplify this fungal network to its extreme. *Ilex rubrum* can share its nutrients, magic, some natural magical structural components, and even some information with other plants connected to the fungal network, and can also obtain magic, nutrients, and natural magical structural components from other plants in the fungal network.

Locke saw that the hundred double-ball sycamore trees were now enveloped in a green light. This was the red holly sharing its magic, giving these sycamore trees vitality, helping them to get through the weakened period of transplantation as soon as possible, and to immediately join this forest family.

The microbial network is the true brain of the forest, which is located in the soil layer beneath the tree roots.

Within the [Microbe Network], all plants can engage in simple, instinct-based communication.

As Red Holly used the [Fungi Network] to incorporate one hundred sycamore trees, neural virtual tentacles of a distributed psionic network appeared behind Locke. These tentacles connected to the sycamore trees one by one, completely incorporating them into his forest.

My own forest is currently maintained by three things. The first is the natural microbial network that every forest has.

The second method is to establish a magical grafting relationship between these magical plants and oneself.

The third option is to incorporate them into their own distributed psionic network.

In other words, the forest, the insect swarm, and the botanical wizards are used to unite the entire forest, creating the possibility of a forest sanctuary.

Five hundred years ago, the wizard Levi was stuck at this step because he lacked a distributed psionic network, which prevented him from establishing a closer connection with the magical plants, thus making it impossible for him to complete the Forest Sanctuary magic.

As the forest transformed into 106 magical tree-like plants, the magic of the Forest Sanctuary increased by three points out of thin air, causing Locke to notice that his permanent defensive field had been strengthened.

Although a hundred sycamore trees are nothing, insignificant compared to a first-level magical plant, their existence perfectly fills the gap in the forest's deficiencies, truly transforming the forest into a forest.

Therefore, the magic of the Forest Sanctuary was enhanced out of thin air.

The six red holly bushes, as the kings of magical plants, were able to subdue these double-ball sycamore trees.

Locke suddenly realized that if this continued, two scenarios might occur.

First, can I use two permanent defensive force fields simultaneously during battle?

Secondly, one's own permanent defensive force field will encounter an external source of magical pressure if the magical pressure of the forest exceeds one's own.

That is, by relying on the Forest Sanctuary, one can obtain a magical pressure far exceeding one's own magical pressure, much like the energy of the abyss.
Locke quickly calculated and discovered that this was originally the planned development and change of the Forest Sanctuary.

It can be done by making some minor adjustments to the spell model of the Forest Sanctuary.

There's no need to make adjustments within one's own soul; adjustments can be made on the six red holly plants.

This can only be achieved by further strengthening the forest ecosystem itself.

Locke looked thoughtful. "The Forest Sanctuary isn't an ordinary permanent defensive field; it's a product of Wizard Levi's attempt to break through to the second-ring wizard level. In other words, the key to breaking through to the second-ring wizard level is hidden within the Forest Sanctuary, but I just haven't realized it yet."

"Let's continue to strengthen the Forest Sanctuary. With the increase in the total number of organisms, it's now a true forest."

"Then, we will enter the real forest cultivation stage and plant the symbiotic magical plants of the forest!"

Trees are indeed the core of the forest, but there are other types of magical plants inside the forest, which are symbiotic magical plants with the trees.

The existence of symbiotic magical plants is to make the forest grow stronger and form a stable cycle.

There's no need to plant a bunch of random plants in a nascent forest. For example, I want to plant the rotten konjac king in the forest, which I can already mass-produce.

If you plant Amorphophallus titanum in it, you can definitely strengthen your own forest.

But this thing is a luxury item within the ecosystem. Its existence consumes ecosystem resources, while the symbiotic magical plant is there to maintain the resource cycle within the ecosystem.

Therefore, Locke only planned to plant Emerald Iris Lichen and the three magical vines he cultivated himself.

(End of this chapter)