Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 575 Dimensional Exploration Industry and Bankruptcy Law
Locke said to Schneider, "I understand. It's not your fault. Take the two rejected manuscripts and submit them to 'Environment and Plants' to see if they can be accepted."

"If it still doesn't pass, revise it slightly according to their rejection comments and resubmit it. If it still doesn't pass, then we'll see."

Publishing a paper in a Zone 2 journal will earn you 800 contribution points at the White Wizard Association in Yunze Wetlands and its various libraries.

This is 300 points higher than publishing directly in an association-level library and getting an S-level article from the association.

Therefore, generally speaking, even if it's not for honor or seniority, wizards will prioritize publishing articles with the potential to be published in journals rather than leaving them in the library.

However, starting from Zone 3, the contribution points you can obtain are the same as those you can get by sending them directly to the library and obtaining an S-level rating from the association: 500 contribution points.

In Zone 4, you can only get contribution points for A-level articles from the association, which is 200 points.

Of course, even for Q4 journals, they need to be at least S-level journals from the college library to be published.

This is also the lowest standard of an article published by a formal wizard.

Therefore, journals in Zone 4 are generally not valued, and journals in Zone 3 are even considered superfluous. Given Locke's current situation, only journals in Zone 2 and Zone 1 can be of help to him.

Second-tier journals are just for show, and even if you're the first author, it's not a good position; at best, you'll get a corresponding authorship.

Schneider bowed to Locke and said, "Sir, I understand. I will do as you ask."

Locke nodded. Anyway, since they had helped him publish two articles in the second section, he had earned 1,600 contribution points.

It is said that the contribution points from Yunze Wetland can not only be exchanged for opportunities to enter the Wizard's Secret Realm, but also for opportunities to colonize medium-sized planes.

Therefore, it is still very necessary to accumulate contribution points yourself.

Although progress is a bit slow at the moment, it is still within the normal range.

Once the framework is established, the efficiency of getting articles accepted will be improved.

Locke gave a few instructions, left the dormitory, and headed to Dragonblood Market Castle. There, Locke discovered that the witch Lena was still up to no good and was trying to add him on her account, even though he had already blocked her once before.

She actually created a new account and said that she had misunderstood her and that she had already explained the misunderstanding to Wizard Daniel.

She just wanted to help me make money. All I needed to do was put up three million magic stones, and she was confident she could help me increase those three million magic stones to ten million magic stones within six months.

If you don't believe it, you can give her 500,000 magic stones and let her manage them. I guarantee that within a month, they will multiply several times!
The witch Lena seemed to be treating the friend requests as messages to herself, and the friend requests kept coming one after another.

"Lena the Witch. 'Locke, if you don't trust me, then don't you trust Daniel? If you're still worried, you can sign a contract with me. I can sign a contract guaranteeing that if we lose money on this venture capital investment, I'll return your principal to you intact.'"

She sent another message, which was a clause she was planning to include in the contract stating that even if she lost money, she would still have to return the principal to herself.

Locke promptly blocked her new account again.

At the same time, he opened the Gray Mist Slab, found Hussein, and showed him the contract terms that the witch Lena had given him. Hussein was currently a contract master and knew about this.

Hussein quickly replied to his message. "Have you been scammed?"

Have you made any money lately?

"I heard you've recently come to Yunze Wetlands. I'm at Yunze Market near Quinjol University. But it seems I'm quite far from where you are."

Hussein sent himself a message saying, 'Don't believe this.'

'This is a common scam. First of all, they don't care whether this law will be recognized by the Holy Wizard Judges of the White Wizard Association.'

"Just to clarify, in the Land of Three Swamps, bankruptcy law takes precedence over contract law! If the other party files for personal bankruptcy with the White Wizard Association, then all economic contracts you signed with them, including those stipulating your economic rights, will be invalid!"

Locke sent Hussein a message of thanks and briefly explained his current situation.

It has to be said that the contract master is truly professional; he saw through the tricks that the witch Lena was playing at a glance.

She wouldn't be so kind as to sign a contract that would completely absolve her of any risk or liability in venture capital.

Locke sighed, hoping that Daniel would have a good time, as he had done all he could.

He passed through the Dragonblood Market Castle and strode into the Feathered Serpent Pavilion.

At that moment, the green dragon half-dragon shopkeeper stepped forward and said, "Respected guest, welcome back again. What do you need? Do you need to exchange for a potion recipe, or have you made a breakthrough in the fourth round of the Heavenly Ladder Mountain?"

Locke shook his head. "There are other needs. Two things. First, I need to borrow the Queen's Chessboard."

A rare look of surprise flashed across the reptilian pupils of the green dragon half-dragon shopkeeper.

His expression turned serious.

Anything involving the Queen's Chessboard is no small matter.

Sure enough, Locke asked a second question: "The second thing is, does the Feathered Serpent Pavilion offer a service for leasing colony opportunities in medium-sized planes?"

Although the chances are slim, I'll still try asking.

Seek out other opportunities to obtain a medium-sized plane outside of the academic system.

The green dragon half-dragon shopkeeper of the Feathered Serpent Pavilion gave Locke a deep look, bowed, and said, "Honorable guest, it seems you are already looking forward to the Second Ring."

"The Feathered Serpent Pavilion in Yunze Wetland does indeed control some medium-sized planes, but these planes are all production bases for the Feathered Serpent Pavilion. Therefore, we do not offer colonization opportunities or World Stone resources to outsiders."

"When creating great magic, the World Stone is required, which causes instability in a plane."

The green dragon half-dragon said, "Every change comes at a price. But those planes are our production bases, so whether the changes are good or bad, we hope to minimize their occurrence."

Locke nodded slightly. There are many ways to construct massive magic within a world, but no matter which method you use, it will actually be beneficial to that plane.

The great magic of wizards is, in essence, a gift to the plane, and the plane, in turn, gives gifts to wizards in exchange.

That's how it was originally.

However, things seem to be quite different for the dark wizards. They want to get the most out of the smallest gifts, which leads to terrible plunder and killing.

The Nightmare Legion in the Wizarding World owes much of its reputation to the dark wizards who fought their way through the endless void.

This has led many civilizations in the endless void to have serious misunderstandings about wizard civilizations. They turn pale at the mention of wizard civilizations and describe them as beings comparable to demons of the abyss!

“Basically, it’s very difficult to buy the opportunity to enter a medium-sized plane with money. Because in this world, there will always be first-class wizards who reach the threshold to become second-circle wizards. These people are constantly emerging, while conquering a medium-sized plane takes a lot of time. Therefore, this resource is very difficult to obtain through market transactions.” The green dragon half-dragon shopkeeper said, “Even if you could obtain it through market transactions… it would probably cost tens of millions of magic stones to buy, and you would also need an introducer.”

Locke nodded slightly.

The problem is that the True Knowledge Institute's training system does not include helping one become a second-circle wizard.

In other words, he could not obtain the opportunity to enter a medium-sized plane through the resources of the True Knowledge Institute.

This is related to the overall positioning of the Institute of True Knowledge as a research institute for young wizards.

But now, the special funding program is just too complicated, so complicated that the prerequisite for obtaining it is becoming a second-circle wizard.

This is why even a wizard like Griffin could feel despair.

The green dragon half-dragon suddenly spoke up: "Perhaps you could take a look at the competitions related to Mount Golden Crown. Your identity as a researcher at Mount Golden Crown, and your access to the Mount Golden Crown platform, already puts you ahead of many wizards, including myself."

"Your status is something that ordinary wizards can only dream of. I've heard that some competitions or sporting events within Mount Golden Crown may offer prizes that involve opportunities to plunder medium-sized planes."

"For example, I could reward you with the coordinates of a plane that has already been preliminarily explored."

“You should definitely check out the competitions and top-level sports leagues at Golden Crown Mountain.”

Locke was jolted awake by these words and nodded repeatedly.

The green dragon half-dragon shopkeeper said, "In addition, you can also participate in dimensional exploration."

"Even if you can't participate in dimensional exploration through teaching positions, you can still obtain the qualification through trading via the Shop Alliance. However, this part of the business is not handled by our Feathered Serpent Pavilion."

"I'm so sorry I can't help you."

The green dragon half-dragon looked respectfully at the immortal dragon scale hidden on Locke's left hand and sincerely apologized for his inability to help.

The green dragon half-dragon shopkeeper said, "But before you begin exploring the planes, perhaps you could complete the fourth round of the Heavenly Ladder first."

"Although the rewards from the Magic Box obtained in each ladder are highly random, our Feathered Serpent Pavilion offers certain privileges to members of rank B and above."

"That is, a reward within a specified range."

"As our honored guest, you can enjoy this privilege in advance. You only need to specify the potion-making equipment and resources for plane exploration, and you can obtain some things that will be very useful for your plane exploration."

Locke nodded slightly. The obelisk stone golem he had drawn last time had grown from a small stone into a stone the size of a basketball under the watering of the potion waste generated from his daily potion preparations, and recently it seemed to be becoming more and more alive.

Obelisk Stone Golems are extremely useful for plane exploration.

Many potions cannot be prepared in worlds with different world laws, requiring the use of special magical pets like the Obelisk Stone Golem to help create a stable wizarding world environment.

Locke replied simply, "I understand."

Whether you pass or not depends not on yourself, but on your own progress.

I can only do my best.

The manager of the Half-Dragon store said, "As for the Queen's Chessboard, we do have that equipment in our store. And it's right under our feet."

"The equipment used by the potion master in our shop."

Locke looked at the half-dragon shopkeeper in surprise. The second ring was expert level, and the third ring was master level.

Since the other party is a professional potion shop, the fact that they used the term "potion master" means that there is at least one third-circle potion master in this Feathered Serpent Pavilion.

As for why he had never encountered one before, it was simple: wizards of that level were too far removed from his world.

The Feathered Serpent Pavilion itself is not a shop that serves first-ring wizards.

Clearly, the Feathered Serpent Pavilion's services in the second and third rings are still hidden from me; what I've seen of the Feathered Serpent Pavilion is just the tip of the iceberg.

The green dragon half-dragon shopkeeper hesitated and said, "You are a valued customer of our shop. If you wish, you can indeed use our Queen's Chessboard. And you only need to pay one million magic stones."

“But… I urge you to think carefully. The Queen’s Chessboard is extremely dangerous. Using it involves the Force, which is beyond the realm of a first-ring wizard.”

Locke nodded. "I've already looked up the information. I'm aware of the dangers involved."

But as long as it is done properly, it doesn't matter.

It can even be beneficial to oneself, as it can broaden one's horizons.

Let's get a sneak peek at the world through the eyes of high-ring wizards!

The green dragon half-dragon hesitated for a moment before speaking again: "Are you really going to pay one million magic stones to use the Queen's Chessboard? You can think about it some more."

"One million magic stones is no small sum."

Locke said with absolute certainty, "Yes, I had done a lot of research before I came. So I'm very sure."

The green dragon-man shopkeeper gestured to Locke, "Then, please follow me. The Queen's Chessboard is underground."

Locke followed her deeper into the shop, to the end of the corridor where a landscape painting hung. Locke and she walked directly into the painting.

He then realized that it was actually a corridor, and the so-called magic painting was just a disguise of a skilled second-level speed painter.

Actually, this is just a corridor.

However, even first-level potion masters would assume that this was the end whenever they reached this point.

Locke followed the green dragon half-dragon shopkeeper into a spiral staircase, which led them deeper and deeper underground.

There are some doors on the walls of this spiral staircase.

The Green Dragon Half-Dragon shopkeeper said, "Out of respect for you, you can pay for the magic stones after you've used it."

"This is the room where the Queen's Chessboard is located."

"Please be careful with it."

(End of this chapter)