Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 629 Ecological Corridors and Subspace Zones

Locke observed carefully and discovered that this demiplane, located in a special region in the void called the "subspace zone," naturally carried magical tides.

The Victoria Witch laughed and said, "Because it is located in a special subspace zone, the internal matter will not flow out of the void. Therefore, as long as I introduce the external magical tides into this demiplane, I can make it have an environment similar to the basic magical tides of the Cloud Marsh Wetland."

"So, was it worth spending those two million magic stones?"

Locke's eyes lit up slightly. "Worth it!"

If that's the case, then spending those two million magic stones would have been well worth it.

This is a magical field with a magical tidal environment on par with the Yunze Wetland, covering 10,000 acres.

Only in such a region could a magical plant forest, as I had envisioned, be built.

Locke decisively took out two hundred magic crystal cards and handed them to Witch Victoria. "Teacher Victoria, here are two hundred magic crystal cards. Let's sign the contract."

The witch Victoria stared at the two stacks of magic crystal cards on the table, momentarily stunned. Two million magic stones were just a small sum for her, but a considerable amount for a first-ring wizard.

The Victoria witch hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Where do you live now? Is it Golden Horn Town?"

Locke looked at Victoria the Witch with a puzzled expression and said, "No, Teacher Victoria, it's a dormitory assigned to me by the academy. What's wrong, Teacher Victoria?"

The witch Victoria took a sip of her wizard's tea, then smiled without saying a word. "It's nothing, I just think you're very promising at such a young age."

"It's rare for a first-ring wizard to be able to produce two hundred magic crystal cards in one go. Two hundred magic crystal cards can develop two decent projects for a first-ring wizard. Of course, if you're actually using them to run projects, that amount of money is still too little."

"We can't sign a contract. My product is currently only in the lab, but I can treat it as a direct transaction with you. Your teacher is my best friend, so you don't need to worry about after-sales issues."

The Victorian witch pointed to Locke's right eye, meaning she was offering him the contact lens directly.

Locke then realized that the Victorian witch asked him where he lived simply to confirm his strength and his background.

Since I live in the dormitory assigned by the college, it means that I can come up with such a large sum of money not because I have a powerful background, but because I earned it myself.

That's why the Victorian witches said they were accomplished in their youth.

Golden Horn Town...

That seems to be a famous wizard town on Mount Golden Crown; many of the native wizards of Mount Golden Crown probably live there.

The Victoria Witch said, "Hmm... since you paid so readily, I'll give you another set of golems as a gift."

Locke was about to speak when he saw the Victoria Witch extend her finger and gently tap his right pupil.

Suddenly, a beam of light entered his right pupil.

The beam of light landed, revealing a complete set of one hundred clay golems of varying sizes.

Locke looked at the clay golems, which still bore the logo of Quinnjoll University.

The Victoria Witch laughed and said, "This is an agricultural golem worth 50 magic stones. It can cultivate land for you and maintain your magical fields."

Locke said, "Professor Victoria, this is far too precious. I cannot accept it."

The Victoria Witch smiled and said, "It's alright. This is just a small gift from me for our first meeting."

“Since your teacher sent you to see me, it means that your relationship with her is not just a collaboration commissioned by the college, but that you are her real student. As her good friend, I naturally want to give her student a nice gift.”

Seeing Locke's worry, the Victoria witch couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry. Your teacher has already paid for something of equal value for this gift. One of my former students received a similarly priced gift from her."

"I was just returning the courtesy."

"This set of agricultural golems was made by alchemists from Quinjol University. Clay golems from the Cloud Marsh Wetlands are the most famous, and among them, those made by Quinjol University are the most renowned. These clay golems can perform all sorts of intricate operations and will not disappoint you."

"The internal alchemy chip is loaded with a lot of data on the use of breeder equipment and agricultural equipment, which can handle most simple operations, although it cannot completely replace the help of students."

"Hmm... some special tasks that require wizards to complete will still need students to handle. Locke, do you have any students?"

Locke pondered, "Hmm, there are two."

The Victoria Witch nodded. "That's too little. Since you want such a large demiplane, it means your planting area is extremely large. In that case, such a small number of students won't be enough."

"Wait, you're a researcher at the True Knowledge Institute, right? That explains it."

“Once you get a teaching position, you’ll have a lot of students,” said the Victoria witch. “For now, you can use the agricultural golem I gave you.”

Locke pondered this and realized that as the number of magical plants that needed to be transplanted to his Forest Sanctuary increased, he did indeed need some students to help him.

Counterintuitively, as his magic level increases, it seems that the number of students he needs is also increasing.

No wonder many high-ring wizards like to have a large group of students.

Many things that only wizards can do must be done by wizard apprentices.

'Have my two students, along with Mason Witch's dozen or so students, and the five first-class wizard apprentices we acquired in the previous transaction, hire some more people from the market's employment agency. That should be enough to get things done.'

Locke pondered.

He had never wanted to reveal the existence of the Forest Sanctuary before, but now that he was becoming stronger and the Forest Sanctuary was becoming stronger as well, it didn't matter if others knew about it.

To put it bluntly...

Currently, its Forest Sanctuary has grown to the point where its health bar is even thicker than its own.

To directly destroy the sacred forest with the ancient tree of life is extremely difficult, almost equivalent to making an enemy of the entire ancient forest with its own backbone.

After thanking the Victoria witch, Locke turned and left the shop, leaving him with six hundred magic crystal cards.

In addition, he will be able to receive thirty magic crystal cards from the fairy family bank in half a month, so he is already quite wealthy.

Locke first returned to his dormitory, checked on the hundred clay golems in the demiplane, confirmed that there were no problems, and after gaining a basic understanding of their functions, Locke then summoned Gregor and Williams.

At this point, Williams' magic pressure was 790, very close to 800, while Gregor's magic pressure was 750. In the past six months, Gregor has made good progress.

Locke told the two about his plan to move the Forest Sanctuary into the demiplane, and the two expressed their willingness to help Locke complete this massive project.

Williams said, "But teacher, isn't it a bit too few people, just the three of us?"

"I feel like it might take us several years to move completely."

Locke said, "I have a whole set of agricultural golems worth 50 to help us move them. It's just that during the process, the maintenance and some details will need to be done by someone."

"Of course, we are indeed a bit short-handed."

Locke thought to himself, “I will call on Mason Witch and others, as well as their students. If that’s not enough, I can hire people from the market.”

However, there are many unsavory people among the first-class wizard apprentices hired in the market. Even if I don't care about the secrets of the Forest Sanctuary as much as before, it's still not good to let outsiders come into contact with them.

Perhaps I could ask the Celtic group leader; he's been operating here for a long time and has a lot of students, so maybe I could borrow some people from him.

Gregor hesitated for a moment, raised his hand, and then stopped himself from speaking.

Locke said, "You speak."

Gregor said, "Teacher, I've recently gotten involved in the tea ceremony industry, and I'd like to... try becoming a tea ceremony master, so I've secretly enrolled in a tea ceremony course. I don't know if you'll agree, but I might not be able to help you with your work lately..."

Locke paused for a moment. "This is the first time I've seen you so proactive. But of course, you can. Where did you sign up for the course?"

Gregor said, "Teacher, I registered at the Preston White Dragon Tea Room in Dragonblood Market. I heard that the teacher is Afra Valentine, a first-circle wizard."

Locke frowned slightly. Wasn't that the property of the Preston Witches?
He took out the Wish Ganoderma and asked the Preston Witch, whom he had previously added as a friend, directly on the Water Hyacinth System. She then explained the situation in detail.

The Preston witch replied instantly. "Hmm? Afra Valentine? She's an outsider witch. And just a regular first-stage witch, her strength is quite limited."

"However, she has excellent marketing skills and knows how to package herself well, so I had her sell tea ceremony classes. But to be honest, her basic skills are very average, and I think she's misleading students. Your student wants to take classes with her? Oh, it's best not to. Give me his name, and I'll arrange a teacher for him."

Locke sent the name to the Preston Witch.

The Preston Witch replied with an 'OK' emoji and then sent herself a message: "The third-ranked Julian Witch refused to participate in the Plane Conquest Tournament. That girl really doesn't consider the collective interests of Mount Golden Crown. So, the people who will be participating in the Plane Conquest Tournament with you are me and Antoine."

"I don't understand why Antoine agreed to go along."

“Young Locke, let’s get along well in the competition six months from now. My parents said that participating in the Plane Conquest Competition is very beneficial for constructing great magic, so they told me not to refuse.”

Locke sent her a thumbs-up emoji. Then, Locke looked up at Gregor and said, "Gregor, I asked my friend about the teacher you originally signed up for, and he seems extremely unreliable."

Gregor's expression changed slightly. "What should we do... Teacher, I've already paid my money, a thousand magic stones."

Locke said, "I've arranged another teacher for you. You can go and teach him. You don't need to worry about anything else."

Gregor looked at Locke with awe.

He never expected that Locke could wield so much power in just one shop in Dragonblood Market.

He simply contacted one person and arranged for him to have a better teacher.

Gregor immediately bowed to Locke. "Thank you, teacher."

Locke nodded. "But during this time, you still need to help me with the work, at least you need to help me finish moving the Forest Sanctuary."

Gregor nodded immediately. "Yes, teacher."

So the next day, Locke gathered a group of people and began to relocate himself to the Forest Sanctuary.

Mason Witch and her students entered Locke's Forest Sanctuary for the first time. Looking at the terrifying ancient forest and the hundreds of first-ring magic plants before them, they couldn't help but feel awe.

First... Locke is incredibly wealthy.

At first glance, they discovered that Locke's investment in his Forest Sanctuary should be between three and four million magic stones.

Secondly, a strange power flows through all these forests.

Those were two kinds of Mysterian power, plus an ancient power that the forest possessed after absorbing the Night Meteor.

Mason Witch looked up at the ancient tree of life in the center of Locke Forest, slightly amazed. "Ancient tree of life! So there really is such a magical plant in this world."

Both the wizard Barrett and the witch Freya looked on with surprise.

Their students followed behind them.

Locke replied, “Mason, I remember Quinnjoll University, there was a wizard named Edgar David, I competed with him in the Cloud Cup before, and he had quite a few Trees of Life.”

Mason Witch laughed, "But this is the first time we've ever seen the Tree of Life."

"Thank you, Team Leader Locke. I didn't expect you to trust the three of us so much."

Locke said, "Well, after all, we're a small team."

The witch Freya turned to the five students behind her, her face stern, and reprimanded them seriously: "Be careful later, don't be clumsy. If you break anything and ruin my group leader's plans, I won't let you off the hook."

The witch Freya was quite strict with her students. "Did you hear me!"

The five first-class wizard apprentices immediately tensed up and stiffened, quickly assuring her that they would do their work seriously and follow their teacher Augustine's instructions completely.

Wizard Barrett said, "Freya, you're being too harsh on your students. You were just complaining to us about how the Celtic leader was too strict before."

Freya the witch said with distress, "You haven't seen how I clean up the messes my students make. I gradually realized that if I'm not strict with my students, then when they make mistakes and things get out of control, it will be my responsibility as their teacher."

Freya the witch looked at Locke and asked, "Team leader, where should we begin?"

Barrett the wizard scratched his head and said, “Locke, your forest is already a natural wonder. I don’t think we can move it tree by tree. That would destroy the whole forest. How about we use golems and these large numbers of first-class wizard apprentices to dig out the entire forest together and then move it into the lenses of your new Cosmic Light contact lenses?”

Locke nodded. "That's what I was thinking too."

"Because setting up the magic circle requires wizards, I need enough students and three friends to help me set up hardening magic circles on every piece of land at the bottom of the forest. Then I plan to divide the forest into more than three hundred pieces and move them into my new plane piece by piece using golems and students. It's a time-consuming project, but I want to finish it as soon as possible."

"It would be best to complete it within a week."

I'm about to go explore the Abyss Ruins.

Wizard Barrett fell into deep thought. "Finish it within a week. With such a small group, we'd be lucky to finish it within a month."

Mason Witch looked at Freya Witch and said, "Freya, why don't you call your friends over to help?"

Freya the witch quickly waved her hands. "No, no. The group leader's Forest Sanctuary is a secret. My friends are just drinking buddies; it's fine to hang out with them, but I absolutely won't let them do anything this important."

“If something happens…” Freya the witch glanced at Locke, shrugged and said, “I’ll feel so guilty.”

Mason Witch frowned and looked at Locke, saying, "Locke, there's another way."

Locke said, "Mason, what?"

Mason Witch said, “I am good friends with a female chieftain of the Green Elves in the Golden Crown Mountain region. Her tribe has dozens of female elves who are equivalent to first-class wizard apprentices. I can ask her for help. She is my close friend, so she is absolutely reliable. With their help, the relocation can definitely be completed within a week.”

Locke nodded slightly.

It seems that my three group members really do have their own paths.

This is quite normal, as they are all wizards at the first crystallization stage of the True Knowledge Institute, and naturally have their own social circles, each able to leverage significant resources.

By bringing them together to brainstorm, we can naturally find a solution to the problem quickly.

So Locke started working with the others first, and then told Mason Witch to set off immediately to find the friend she had mentioned who would come and help.

Locke and the others first used shovels to dig around the soil around the roots of each tree, and then tried to harden the soil around the roots with a magic circle to make it easier to move the trees. The group got busy.

While Locke was busy with this matter, he also took the time to write to the Sun Ring Wizard of the Rose Council to ask questions.

In a private office of a Sun Ring Wizard in the Rose Council, Master Flower Language Master Lana Alvarez wore a strange expression. She looked at a student in front of her, suddenly stopped listening to his progress report, and instead asked this first-ring wizard cooperating with the Institute of True Knowledge, "Fleming, here is a letter written to me by a first-ring wizard from Golden Crown Mountain."

"He keeps asking me about the details of an article I wrote thirty years ago. Do you think I should reply?"

Fleming wiped the sweat from his brow, for the wizard Lana before him was his mentor and his teacher.

Fleming didn't know why, but when he was reporting on the progress of the fourth-class grant project, the witch Lana would suddenly ask him this question.

His mind was in complete disarray as he pondered whether the witch Lana was testing him by speaking like that.

"Teacher, isn't this wizard from Golden Crown Mountain a bit too audacious, daring to write a letter to the Wizard of Sun Ring with questions? You're not his teacher."

The witch Lana nodded in agreement. "That's why I ignored him before. Who knew he'd be so prolific, writing to me so often. Oh, by the way, he offended a lot of flower language masters on Love Day, September 1st."

"They have offended our Rose Council."

The wizard Fleming immediately thought he understood Lana the witch's thoughts, and pretended to be angry in front of her, saying empathetically, "If we don't deal with this madman, he'll feel lucky. He even has the audacity to write to you, teacher... You can write back and scold him."

The witch Lana's expression changed slightly, then she glanced at the wizard Fleming and said, "Fleming, you are too petty and talented but lack virtue. That's why I look down on you."

"Since this wizard has read one of my articles from thirty years ago and has relentlessly written to me with questions, I naturally have to write back to him. How could I be such a petty person as you? What do you take a Sun Ring Wizard for!"

Fleming was so frightened that he bowed to the witch Lana, while inwardly feeling like crying.

Why does my supervisor scold me no matter what I say?!

'Wasn't it her who started it, making me scold that wizard? I was just going along with what she said.'

"I can't take it anymore! My tutor, Lana, is so unpredictable. She's definitely going to yell at me again after she sees my progress report. I can't hold on any longer, I want to drop out!"

The wizard Fleming thought to himself with distress, 'This is worse than my becoming a full wizard. I'm so unlucky.'

'Lana the Witch's moods are as fickle and capricious as a hibiscus flower, as unpredictable as a chaotic system. I'm a certified wizard, can you please stop insulting me like that!'

'If only I had asked Lana the Witch about the wizards who had participated in the mission over the years, and those who had left, before coming here. What a blunder. I was just too busy before.'

The witch Lana picked up her magic quill and began writing on the envelope: 'Greetings, Wizard Augustine. Your perseverance has impressed me. You have a keen spirit of inquiry.'

'That article was written thirty years ago; I have a better one now.'

"I've discovered something called ecological corridors between different forests in nature. I believe that for different forests to interact better and maintain a better exchange of energy, they need to create artificial ecological corridors. I suggest you read the following list of books. I will include these articles in my reply. These are my recent works, which you certainly won't find at Jinmian Mountain."

'Although I don't know what you intend to do with this research, I hope you will make good use of it.'

'In this world, I greatly admire wizards as obsessed with ecological corridors as you.'

(End of this chapter)