Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 639 Qionghua Enclave, an Extreme Credit Society!
A month later, the Qionghua landed.

The wizard airship suddenly appeared from the net-like channels above the Qionghua Enclave. These channels were interconnected in the form of waterways, and above this wizarding land was a long magical waterway.

Locke stood at the semi-transparent Time Crystal window, gazing down. "This is a day earlier than expected. It seems the Starfield Sea waterway project has indeed had an impact on us, permeating every aspect of our lives."

Wizard Warwick nodded and said, "That's right. The speed of travel between the major wizarding lands in the Eastern Frontier has been improved."

"Although not many."

"But if the Starfield Sea's demon-ascension plan continues, then perhaps one day, the time cost of traveling to and from various wizarding lands will be reduced to a minimum!"

Locke nodded slightly.

At the same time, he noticed the current state of the Qionghua Enclave. He saw many floating islands in the sky above the Qionghua Enclave, and below the floating islands was a dark, deep pit basin.

Both places have some urban buildings.

But it's like the difference between heaven and earth.

The floating islands, perched high in the sky, draw a vast amount of magical energy from the ground and gather it into the floating cities in the heavens.

The floating city is magnificent, with green mountains and clear waters, and many magical flying machines. Its level of civilization seems to be comparable to that of Yunze Wetland.

On the ground, however, lay a desolate landscape of black mountains and white waters, with hardly a decent city in sight.

Ordinary people live like ants in this desolate land, existing in the form of tribal city-states.

Locke frowned slightly upon seeing this. "Warwick, what's going on with this place? The magical tides on the floating islands are comparable to the Cloud Marsh Wetlands, but the surface basins are almost entirely magic-free."

"The difference between civilizations on earth and in heaven... it's just too great."

Warwick the wizard waved his hand and said, "Don't ask me. This has nothing to do with us dark wizards. You should ask you white wizards. This is a good deed done by you white wizards."

"Of course, the White Wizarding Association and the Black Wizarding Alliance in each region have completely different ways of doing things. Whether it is history, culture, or even racial composition, they are extremely different."

"So it has little to do with the two of you. At least Yunze Wetland will give people a fair chance. In Yunze Wetland, it is true that as long as you work hard, you will be rewarded, and I can admit that."

The witch Shirley snorted coldly.

Warwick the wizard pointed to the ground and said to Locke, "This is a unique ecosystem of the Qionghua Enclave. The Qionghua Enclave is a typical low-magic, medium-martial region."

Low magic?

Locke said, "The basic environment of that Qionghua Enclave is not even as good as that of the Southeast Corner Region."

Warwick said, "So that's why. The wizards of the Qionghua Enclave set up inheritance magic arrays in various places, and also sought out alchemists to build floating cities, absorbing the magical tides between heaven and earth. The floating islands are like paradise, while below, there is... a scorched hell."

“Locke, what you have seen and heard is ultimately too little. You have only been to three wizarding lands, so it is natural that you are surprised at this moment. The white wizard lady beside you is very adaptable to this situation.”

"Welcome to the most terrifying credit society in the Eastern District!" Warwick said.

Locke looked at him with a puzzled expression.

At this moment, the airship had landed on the largest floating island and was heading towards its docking point on the ground.

Warwick said, "In this Wizarding Land, only wizards, wizard apprentices, and mortals who are about to become wizard apprentices have the opportunity to live on the floating islands."

“There are also some races of wizards who are slaves.”

"And the human servants selected by the wizards. You know, the hypocritical white wizards cannot tolerate humans as slaves, so they can only recruit them as contract workers."

"Besides that, everyone else can only stay on... this ground."

"Therefore, mortals on earth would call celestial wizards celestial beings."

"But if a celestial being dares to default on a debt and goes bankrupt due to the inability to repay the debt for a long time, that wizard will be expelled from the floating island and forced to live on the ground."

Warwick said, "So this is one of the most terrifying credit societies in the Eastern Frontier. If you owe money in this wizarding land and don't pay it back, you'll be forced to leave the floating island and come to the ground, where you'll be enslaved by your white wizards' black factories."

"That situation... was terrifying."

The witch Shirley scoffed. "You don't need to exaggerate. Only witches who owe money and refuse to pay it back are likely to be expelled from the floating island."

"As long as a wizard works hard, he won't be forced to leave the floating island! The wizarding life here is not as tough as you describe."

"I think you're focusing too much on extreme scenarios."

Warwick looked at the witch Shirley and said, "Work hard? Holy Wizard, you're being far too idealistic. What if a wizard is no longer able to work? What if he's injured, sick, or his research is going in the wrong direction, wasting a lot of money?"

"I'm not talking about a full-fledged wizard in his prime, but rather a full-fledged wizard who encounters an accident and is unable to repay his debts. In that case, he would first be expelled from the floating island because he loses his property."

"Because they were expelled from the floating island, they were unable to find a normal job."

"Because he couldn't find a normal job, he was eventually forced to work in a shady factory to obtain some magical resources in order to maintain his most basic magical power in the lower realm."

Warwick spoke coldly, recounting the cruel truth of the Qionghua Enclave. "The inherited magic arrays in various places will draw in all the magical tides from the lower realm to maintain these floating islands that resemble the heavens. Therefore, wizards who stay in the lower realm, unless they sell their labor in black factories, will soon lose their magical power due to the forced extraction of magical energy, becoming weak and miserable."

"Miss Holy Master, have any of your friends encountered this situation?"

"No, you are a noble researcher at Golden Crown Mountain, so of course you won't encounter this situation. You have powerful mentors by your side, so even if you encounter an accident, there will be someone to protect you."

A deep sadness flashed in Warwick's eyes. "But I have many friends who have fallen into the miserable state I described."

"They just had no connections, they were all alone, they had no one to help them. Then, they ran into some trouble, because of some accidents, they lost their property on the floating island and had to land on the ground."

“They are having their magical energy drained every moment, and they are in an extremely miserable situation. The black factory has approached them, and they are in an even worse situation there, but in order to obtain a little bit of resources from the black factory to replenish their magical energy, they can only sell their remaining value further.”

Warwick's voice carried a deep anger. "Some of my friends certainly deserved this fate. But some friends simply loved their work, simply wanted to seek the truth, and simply weren't as talented."

"They just didn't have the talent, so they took out loans to do research, but they didn't achieve anything. Then they went bankrupt and were thrown into the lower realm. Why did they get such treatment?"

Warwick the Wizard closed his eyes. "Locke, do you understand? I don't."

"The Enclave of the Jade Flower, my foolish and miserable homeland, where the white wizarding society is systematically eliminating those low-level wizards who have no talent and whom it no longer needs." "Those low-level wizards may lack talent, but why should they suffer such treatment! This wizarding land is systematically creating those wizards who fall into the black factory." Warwick looked at Locke and said, "And those most likely to encounter accidents are precisely those wizards who want to advance."

"A wizard apprentice, or a full wizard, is less likely to encounter unexpected events if they only want to keep what they currently have. But if they want to go further, they will inevitably have to take risks, and if they fail, they will be forced to leave the floating island."

"Once you fall into the lower realm, a vicious cycle will quickly begin, with you constantly falling into lower social classes and eventually being led to a black factory."

"This wizarding land is constantly punishing those who work hard but lack talent."

Warwick, hands behind his back, questioned Locke and Shirley, "White wizards, I ask you, is this right?"

"Is this your reason for becoming a dark wizard?" The witch Shirley gave him a cold look. "You dark wizards always have your own reasons for doing evil."

The witch Shirley snorted and whispered to Locke, "Locke, ignore him. Who are you, and who are he? You are the Throne's last disciple; how can you believe his words?"

Warwick smiled, a knowing look on his face. "So you white wizards will never understand us."

Locke glanced at Warwick Wizard in surprise, never expecting that this abyssal werewolf wizard's hometown was this Qionghua Enclave.

Locke said in a low voice, "Warwick, don't forget why we're here. We're not here to reform society or criticize it."

Warwick immediately understood Locke's meaning and apologized to the witch Shirley, saying, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I tend to grumble a lot when I return to my hometown, please don't mind, witch Shirley."

The witch Shirley scoffed. "It's nothing. We're just business partners anyway. You'd better actually have information about the tomb of that nameless king's wife."

Warwick said confidently, "Don't worry. I really do. It's just that the ruins are protected by a lot of ancient magical traps, making it difficult to get close for the time being."

"Here we are."

The wizard's airship landed on the dock with a loud roar.

The three of them stepped off the airship and saw that the main island was a paradise of birdsong and fragrant flowers, with incredibly fresh air, and everyone walking on the streets was a wizard.

Magical streetlights stand tall on the clean road, and carriages pulled by magical creatures are everywhere.

Warwick skillfully flagged down a magic carriage and, after paying 100 magic stones, let Locke and the witch Shirley get on board.

Warwick said, "Our destination is the Ash Cult Academy on the 13th Vortex Reef. However, the 13th Vortex Reef is connected to the main floating island, the 1st one, by a magical bridge constructed by the architect."

"Gentlemen, the [Ash Cult] Academy contains the dimensional coordinates and portal to the Tomb of the Nameless King's Wife. You can prepare yourselves now. Tonight is the perfect opportunity for our archaeological team, composed of four PhDs in archaeology, to showcase our skills."

A deep desire flashed in Warwick's eyes. "If we can crack the secret of that nameless king from the Age of Stars, we'll definitely win this year's Istoria Archaeology Prize!"

"I'm willing to put my name last! As long as you two help me unravel this ancient secret buried in history."

Inside the carriage, Locke and the witch Shirley sat on one side, while Warwick sat on the other.

From the carriage, Locke saw that this No. 1 floating island was essentially an independent little society, with buildings standing side by side and magical items everywhere.

To civilizations on Earth, it was indeed like a celestial realm.

Locke, however, was hesitant to comment. Firstly, he felt his voice carried little weight. Secondly, he had only recently arrived in this place.

As a wizard, how can one make a judgment about the civilization of a region based on a first impression?

But Locke truly believed that the development of civilization should naturally lead to an improvement in the quality of life for everyone.

Locke felt somewhat resistant to the idea of ​​the Qionghua Enclave, a civilization development path where the strong plunder the resources of the weak.

'Perhaps the different development paths of the fifty-three wizarding lands in the Eastern Boundary are themselves one of the sources of vitality for our wizarding civilization. The differences between the Southeast Corner Region, the Cloud Marsh Wetlands, the Six Towers Land, and this Qionghua Enclave are indeed significant.'

Locke pondered, 'But I haven't had any contact with anyone from the proper wizarding academies in this wizarding land, so I don't know the level of research at the wizarding academies in this region.'

'Perhaps it has some advantages.'

Inside the carriage, the witch Shirley said to Warwick, "No need. What is, is. You don't need to put on airs, dark wizard."

Locke smiled at Warwick and said, "Mr. Warwick, your contribution to this operation is well known, and so far, you are still the one who has made the greatest contribution."

"Let's be fair and decide the order of our names based on our respective contributions."

Warwick's eyes crinkled into crescents as he smiled. "No wonder you're from Yunze Wetlands. Back there, hard work truly pays off."

"Otherwise, the wizards over there wouldn't be so keen on working hard."

"Alright, let's decide the order of our names according to your favorite performance science."

The magical carriage carried the three across a wizard's bridge that was about 5 kilometers long, and then arrived at the 13th vortex reef.

This vortex reef is a small floating island located in a storm vortex in mid-air. There seems to be only one small city on the floating island, and the center of this small city is the [Ash Cult] Academy.

Warwick removed the soundproofing from the carriage, paid the wizard coachman, and then got off the carriage first.

At this moment, a wizard dressed in a black wizard's robe was already standing in front of the ancient castle building of the Ashes Cult Academy.

The middle-aged wizard glanced at Warwick. "Mentor Warwick, you've been gone for a long time this time."

Warwick laughed and said, "My two friends were too hospitable; they hosted me at Yunze Wetlands for two months."

“Professor McKinley, it’s our own decision when to set off. A two-month delay won’t make a difference.”

Warwick said to Locke, "This is Christopher McKinley, the wizard."

"Both of us are official wizard instructors at the Ashes Cult Academy."

“I’ve been teaching here for many years. The Ashes Cult Academy is an archaeology wizarding academy. Moreover, we have our own White Wizard status in the Qionghua Enclave. In the Qionghua Enclave, as long as you have money, you can buy anything, including White Wizard status!”

"So, Miss Holy Wizard, don't even think about suddenly attacking us afterward. Wizard McKinley and I are both... members of the White Wizarding Association."

"We are all good wizards."

(End of this chapter)