Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 653 Reversing Potions! King Otto's Unparalleled Wisdom!
A golden finger ripped through the sky, a celestial-level golden finger that broke through the barriers left by ancient time and space. Locke transformed into a golden-green spiritual torrent, heading towards the location of King Otto.

King Otto saw the torrent of spiritual energy swirling above the golden palace before him, and a strange look flashed in his eyes.

A nascent dragon spirit emerged from the torrent of spiritual energy. The dragon glared at him hostilely, but quickly merged back into Locke's spiritual energy.

A second-circle wizard is someone who has broken through the limits of the soul for the second time.

Even in the endless void, they are among the very few, and they cannot be ignored in any place.

Such a vast and exceptionally high level of spirituality, after breaking through the barrier of time, was not worn down much and reassembled into Locke's form.

Locke was bleeding from the corner of his mouth, and his magic was fluctuating wildly.

Forcibly breaking through this barrier would also be a huge drain on oneself.

However, the spiritual energy lost can be compensated for by the spiritual energy gained from the pseudo-second ring breakthrough.

Anyway, even if you don't pay it off, the spiritual boost you gained will evaporate and disappear on its own once your magic level drops.

Locke sensed his damaged spirituality and discovered that when he temporarily reached the second level for the second time, the quality of his spirituality was even higher than the last time.

This was mainly due to the fact that the second Great Magic he constructed was more reasonable than the first one.

Moreover, by fusing his Overlord Sea Sands into the Moon Growth Spell Model, he gave his Mirror Moon certain offensive characteristics.

At the same time, this time the great magic is different from the last one in that I am exploring the truth of history, so I unconsciously incorporated some historical magic spell models into it to stabilize my spirituality after breaking through the obstacles.

Therefore, I incorporated some of the core spell models of [Historical Recreation] into the spell model of Mirror Moon.

Even though this second creation of the Great Magic has seen a significant improvement, in some respects it can be considered average.

It was even slightly better than average, but Locke still had many complaints.

This immense magic did not reach the level he had envisioned.

At this moment, Locke looked at King Otto.

King Otto seemed oblivious to the dragon's spiritual presence he had just witnessed. "You are the messenger of the Tower of the Black Sun... no, you are the one who tried to speak with me?"

"Is this...the past?"

King Otto glanced at Locke's eyes.

The two, separated by 70,000 years, were able to meet here thanks to the magic of the archaeological patriarch.

King Otto said, "You look very young."

Locke raised an eyebrow. "I can come back in ten years, Your Majesty."

King Otto smiled. "You are very witty, much more humorous than my court wizards. It seems that wizards of later generations are not like those of my time, who were mostly nobles and princes. They are much more rigid in nature."

“I can see that you come from a completely different era. I can see a vitality in you that this era does not have, and I can feel a power in you that is completely different from the wizards of this era.”

Locke said, "Seventy thousand years from now, very few wizards will become nobles or princes."

King Otto's eyes flickered slightly. "Seventy thousand years? That's quite a long time. No wonder the curse of the Black Sun Tower on me will weaken after seventy thousand years."

"Have power and strength been separated? Forget it. It doesn't matter to me anymore. Wizard of the future, I know why you came here. I sense that the curse of exoneration is approaching."

"time is limited."

"I can roughly guess why you've come here. I can give you the recipe for the Zero Potion, or rather, this is my only option right now."

With a wave of his hand, King Otto caused the lid of the bronze cauldron to float into the air.

A blank spiritual object is placed inside.

Locke asked, "What should I do?"

King Otto said, "Place the weapon of kingship in your hand into my bronze cauldron!"

Locke did as he was told.

Instantly, the iron ball merged with the blank spiritual energy, then fell into the very center of the bronze cauldron, and the next moment, the iron ball was embedded in the bronze cauldron.

Locke asked, "Your Majesty, what has happened?"

King Otto looked at the bronze cauldron and said, "This is a weapon for becoming a king. It can be fused with the Zero Elixir that I have refined, and the two can become one."

“Reshape spirituality. Therefore, the framework of this furnace I have painstakingly crafted can be reshaped from the flow of information from the past and taken back by you.”

“Although everything here is from the past, the iron ball in your hand is from the future. Although it is only one item, it is enough for a master potion master like me.”

Locke raised an eyebrow. Only a third-ring potion master could call himself a master.

King Otto tossed the bronze cauldron to Locke. "Here you go. This is the [Bronze Cauldron Magic Artifact] that I completed after searching for a large number of alchemists."

"Once it is fully formed, it should be a second-ring magical artifact. It is one of the best cauldrons for potion masters! Moreover, every time you use it to prepare a potion, the bronze cauldron will absorb the residual spiritual energy that escapes from the potion."

"And a slight evolution has occurred."

"In other words, this is a prototype of a magical artifact that can grow to the third ring."

Locke looked at the bronze cauldron in his hand, which had shrunk to the size of an incense burner, and never expected that he could obtain such a treasure.

"But Your Majesty, I want the recipe for the Zero Potion."

King Otto said, "Young friends of later generations need not be in such a hurry. However, to concoct the Zero Potion, one needs at least an expert level of potion-making skills, and also a second-circle level of magic."

"Your current level of magic is indeed safe enough to listen. Listen carefully, young man. I may be a failed king, a failed ruler of this era, I admit it."

King Otto waved his hand, and a map made of spirits appeared in mid-air.

This map is shaped like a maple leaf.

The territory of the Heliotos Royal Court accounts for almost 70% of the total.

Locke frowned as he looked at the map. "Your Majesty, is this a map of the Wizarding World? But why does it look like it's been chewed up by a dog, with broken and tattered marks everywhere?"

“Damaged?” King Otto turned to look at the maple leaf map in mid-air and smiled. “The Wizarding World has been like this since the Age of Empires. The Age of Empires suddenly crashed, leaving the Wizarding World in ruins, and during the Age of Stars, the Wizarding World suffered repeated blows.”

"My dream was to bring a new era to the wizarding world, to restore our glory of the Imperial Age, and to reclaim our lost lands—those lands that have been separated from our world for so long."

"Before the [Heliotos Royal Court], during the Age of Stars, there were three other magical kingdoms of similar size and scale to the [Heliotos Royal Court]. We almost completely unified the wizarding world, but ultimately failed."

Locke said, “That’s a pity. Your Majesty, when I was exploring the tomb of your wife, Princess Loom, I kept coming across a piece of information—there are four questions in the Age of Stars, and I’ve also heard that there are 300 million magical kingdoms.”

"Now that I know all this, I have many questions I want to ask you. It's such a rare opportunity to have a conversation with someone from ancient times, and it's incredibly important to me."

King Otto looked surprised. "My wife's tomb? You weren't a grave robber in your future life, were you?"

Princess Loom, hiding behind the throne in the golden palace, suddenly revealed a strange expression. She had heard with her own ears that a wizard had come from her ancient tomb, traveled back in time, and come to see her.

This feeling is so strange.

Although she couldn't be sure whether this place was the past or just a reenactment of it.

Locke coughed. "No. In my later life, I was a botanical wizard, a breeder, a potion maker, and an archaeological wizard."

“I have done some research in ancient breeding. Of course, this time I am collaborating with three archaeology professors to explore the abyss ruins.”

"The duty of an archaeological wizard is to unearth those secrets that have long been forgotten, so that future generations will not forget the painful lessons that happened in history, and to excavate the buried secrets and knowledge of the past so that they can be revived in my time and develop new vitality."

King Otto nodded. "Hmm, I understand. Alright, he's definitely not a tomb raider. But I'm sorry to disappoint you, there's not much I can tell you."

King Otto said, "Don't be fooled by my status as the ruler of the Heliotus Royal Court, the king who almost ushered in the age of mortals. My knowledge is quite limited."

“You seem to have received a good education. But for me, apart from the necessary magical knowledge, I haven’t been exposed to much other knowledge. In my time, acquiring knowledge is extremely difficult.”

"Moreover, there is not much emphasis on ancient history and archaeology, and there is no special category for magic. Therefore, although I am from the Age of Stars, I may not know this era as well as you do."

"I only know about the period in which I lived. But the Age of Stars existed a long time ago, and I don't actually know the specifics."

Otto said, "I only know some basic things. For example, before the Age of Stars, there were three magical kingdoms that reached the same scale as the Heliotos Royal Court—the Aachen Royal Court, the Regensburg Royal Court, and the Liangfeld Royal Court. I have only heard of their reputation, but their history has been buried in the past."

"The Age of Stars is a long era, and even within this era, there have been multiple cycles."

"In the Age of Stars there were 300 million magical kingdoms. The smallest of these kingdoms was the territory of a first-ring wizard, and the largest was the territory of a third-ring wizard."

King Otto asked, "What kind of education did you receive?"

Locke paused for a moment, then said, "Later generations had a complete academy system, and during my time as a wizard apprentice, I received instruction from many renowned teachers..."

He gave a brief explanation.

King Otto seemed very interested in the academy system, asked another question, and then sighed, "In the Age of Stars, learning magic was still based on the master-apprentice system, or self-study through magic books."

"The academy system of the Imperial Age has been extinct in the Age of Stars. The transmission of knowledge relies almost entirely on sporadic oral instruction between wizards, and even the number of wizards writing books is decreasing."

"This is an era of knowledge desert."

“Each wizard can only have one teacher, and once a teacher, always a father. A wizard learns most of his magic by reading ancient magic books throughout his life. How wonderful that in your time, knowledge was so easily acquired.”

“You received a complete education during your apprenticeship. It’s clear that you have a solid foundation; you possess the kind of foundation that wizards of this era lack.” King Otto said, “Most wizards of this era, due to limited conditions, learned in a fragmented and disjointed way, lacking a systematic approach. But the patents and writing systems of later generations have eliminated the situation where wizards only cared about their own affairs.”

King Otto laughed and said, “I have a friend whose family has a unique understanding of fireball magic. They developed three new apprentice-level fireball spell models. Then, they kept them as a secret treasure and never told anyone. Later, his family was wiped out in the war, so those three apprentice-level fireball spell models were lost.”

Locke looked surprised. "The spell model for Fireball has to be hidden?"

King Otto laughed and said, "What extravagant words! I am amazed by the abundance of knowledge that has been passed down through generations."

"Let alone the spell model of fireball, even an ordinary chef adding an extra spoonful of salt when cooking can become a closely guarded secret."

“Without the system of writing and patents, everyone would simply hide their unique knowledge, keeping it secret from everyone, letting it rot in the past, rather than telling anyone. But the writing system of later generations, the kind you described, makes a wizard eager to announce something new to everyone, which is excellent…”

“I can see the universality of knowledge exchange in later generations,” said King Otto. “It must have been a great era where even mediocre wizards had the opportunity to become high-ring wizards. It is my misfortune that I cannot see the wizarding world 70,000 years from now.”

"But to have met you is my good fortune. To those who come after."

King Otto said, "It seems that I have been worrying for nothing."

Locke asked curiously, "What?"

King Otto said, “That is a misunderstanding that I am indispensable. For a long time, I have felt a heavy responsibility on my shoulders, that is, I bear the future of civilization. Every step I take is lonely, heavy, and painful.”

King Otto uses illusion to maintain his human appearance, and the middle-aged man's eyes reveal loneliness and despair.

"So many years have passed, I've forgotten that I am just... a person."

"Now, I feel not sadness at these words, but rather a sense of fortune. Future generations, have you ever considered how painful it is for one person to bear the weight of an entire era?"

"I have no one to rely on, no one to confide in, I rule all ages alone. I bear the weight of the times alone. If I were to enter the age of mortals, that would be my future. Now I am actually glad that I have failed; perhaps it would be a blessing in disguise for me."

“But after communicating with you, a person from a later era, I suddenly realized that I had fallen into a delusion that the whole world couldn’t do without me.” King Otto laughed heartily. “Thus, my last worry has been put to rest.”

"Since the future can be so wonderful and beautiful, I can leave this world in peace."

“I have let go of my attachment to the world; what remains is a little selfishness regarding my personal achievements,” said King Otto. “I don’t actually know much about the Age of Stars; it was an age of knowledge wasteland, and I could only hear some hearsay. Therefore, I can’t help you much.”

"As for the four major problems, one of them is the problem of the imperfect immortality created by necromancy, which leads to immortal dictators."

“I’ve solved that. I can speak directly. As for the remaining three, the four major problems are all super-magical concepts. Just mentioning them will cause a reaction. And my current power, and your power, are insufficient to resist those three major problems. So, it’s best if I don’t say anything.”

King Otto said to Locke, "Thank you, man of the future. Now, I will tell you about the most important invention of my life..."

"This is a discovery comparable to that of a kingdom."

"I have said that I have failed as a king. I admit that. But I have succeeded as a potion maker. My great invention must have remained unchanged in the original timeline."

King Otto clenched his fist. "But you, a person from the future—you come from the future, you have experienced an era where all great inventions are rewarded accordingly. So, you also feel that this shouldn't happen, right? This is a new theory of potion-making that is comparable to the level of a beginner kingdom."

"I just don't have the time to refine it into a new system."

"Just listen carefully."

Behind King Otto appeared the shapes of 'humans' formed by spiritual energy. These 'humans' were lifelike, with the spiritual energy forming blood vessels, muscles, and bones intertwined to create a 'human'.

Locke pondered, "Even a low-level kingdom realm is equivalent to a very high level of magic. It's the core of the wizarding world of this era."

'King Otto actually claimed that his new theory, proposed by a potion master, is comparable to this.'

'However, King Otto was one of the four kings of the Age of Stars, so his words should be highly credible.'

King Otto said, “Look, this is a simulated human body that I constructed using spirituality and the element of air. Before me, public spirituality was considered impossible, but I discovered the possibility of extracting blank spirituality from all things.”

"Furthermore, it allows a wizard to utilize this blank spirituality while also safely separating from it. Absorbing and using spirituality is not uncommon in the concept of potions."

"There are many potions in potion science, which involve wizards absorbing and utilizing a certain spirituality within the potions."

“What’s truly valuable is my public spiritual concept.”

"In fact, in the existing potion science, there is a way to allow a wizard to acquire the spirituality of another wizard, and the spirituality of the two wizards will temporarily or permanently merge, rather than just a superficial absorption."

"And after fusion, its spirituality can be safely separated."

As a potion master, Locke raised a reasonable question: "But spirituality is something that is a collection of traces of a wizard's past, present, and future existence, as well as the combined power of all of them. Spirituality is incredibly mysterious. Even the high-ring wizards of my time had not been able to fully deconstruct it."

"Furthermore, if it's not spirituality devouring spirituality, but rather spirituality merging with spirituality, wouldn't that mean that the souls of one person and another person can merge?"

"A person's existence can overlap with that of another. However, based on the non-fusion characteristic of existence in Ghost Studies... this is impossible."

"Everyone has a unique spirituality, and generally, one's own spirituality devours the spirituality of other things. Even if one acquires some of the corresponding characteristics, it is only that one's own spirituality has grown, with corresponding replenishment and transformation. It is not that the boundary between one's own existence and the existence of others has collapsed and merged."

King Otto said, "Some things don't need to be fully understood, but they can still be used, and their mechanisms can be utilized."

"Moreover, the love potion in potion science is such a potion."

"I'm asking you, what's the principle behind basic love potions?"

Locke quickly replied, "It all boils down to the same thing. Love potion is a magical potion that makes the user emit a special scent or produce special changes in magical pressure, so that other wizards or mortals will like it."

King Otto asked, "Well, what is the basic principle behind high-level love potions—love potions?"

Locke paused for a moment, then began to think. "The love potion is quite special. It involves collecting the hair of the person the wizard truly loves, extracting their essence, and combining it with other ingredients to create the love potion."

"The user becomes the wizard's lover. True love will develop between them. However, this true love simply shifts from another couple to the user and the wizard."

Locke realized. "The love potion does indeed utilize the spirituality of others, and drinking the love potion doesn't mean the person absorbs that spirituality or undergoes a spiritual devouring process. Because if that were the case, it would be impossible to transfer the wizard's true love for others to oneself."

"So, it's simply about covering your own spirituality with the other person's spirituality."

Locke reacted quickly.

Love potion is also a potion that can be made at the first crystallization stage, but its difficulty in making is comparable to that of luck potion among first-stage potions.

Even now, when using the Primal Flame, I still need a period of learning and practice before I can concoct a love potion.

"The love potion uses the philosopher's rose nectar. It has the special effect of binding two different spiritualities together."

Locke realized. "So, the inspiration for the Public Spirituality and Zero Potion recipe comes from the ancient Love Potion recipe?"

Indeed, if you continue to think in this direction, you will realize that a mere love potion, which wizards consider a pathetic method of obtaining someone else's true love but is actually a waste of time, actually has great potential for application in other fields.

The True Love Potion, a potion that steals and combines the spirituality of others, does indeed have the rudiments of a shared spirituality.

However, this is still a long way from true public spirituality.

First, it's not about two spiritualities coming together, but about two spiritualities merging. And after merging, they must be deliberately separated; otherwise, it's no different from devouring.

However, there may be some differences in terms of personal development.

Moreover, public spirituality must also eliminate the spiritual void.

The reason why spirituality is difficult to empty, or rather, why empty spirituality is difficult to exist in nature, is that spirituality itself is a mixture of the existence of all things and various inherent attributes.

If it is blank, then it does not exist. If it does not exist, how can it have spirituality?
It is as if there is no spirituality in a vacuum.

Therefore, the phrase "blank spirituality" is itself illogical.

This is probably why, over tens of thousands of years, only King Otto was able to find the formula for the Zero Potion by starting with the Love Potion.

King Otto said, "You actually thought about it seriously. It seems that you also believe that something can indeed be figured out from this direction."

"That's right, that's where I started in inventing the Zero Potion formula. But later, I came across something better and more perfect."

Behind King Otto is a 'person' composed of spiritual and air elements. The spirituality within this 'person' interacts with the air elements. "I have a different understanding of potion-making. Unlike the mainstream understanding of potion-making, I believe that potion-making is a doctrine of integrating and refining various spiritualities."

"From this perspective, both magic and the human body are undergoing some kind of potion-based reaction every moment."

"Similarly, using potion-making techniques, it is possible to simulate and create a 'person'."

"The Traditional Potions Society believes that potion science can guide and fix a certain energy or information through a series of strictly processed magical materials, allowing the user to obtain that energy or information."

"However, conversely, can we use 'humans' to create the blank spirituality we desire? The spirituality produced by the 'humans' we create has no existential attributes, no self, and is not a true human being. It is entirely a 'human' defined by potion-making techniques, and thus it is blank!"

“This ‘person’ is the crucible, the furnace, into which magical materials are thrown to extract the blank spirituality.”

"This is the [Reverse Refinement Method] that I created!"

"Ordinary potion-making involves first refining the potion ingredients into a potion, which is then ingested by the human body. My reverse method, however, involves first using potion-making techniques to simulate the human body, and then refining a blank spiritual essence within that body—the potion of zero!"

Locke blinked. Good heavens, King Otto truly deserves to be called the greatest rebel of all time.

This is a complete reversal of the natural order, directly reversing all the steps of potion-making.

Most wizards would be helpless.

But he somehow managed to make the path open.

Locke gave a wry smile. "I have a feeling this thing can still develop, and it will be very dangerous. I could easily end up in a wizarding prison."

(End of this chapter)