Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 665 Discovery of a Special Root Energy-Locking Structure
The wizard, whom Locke found unfamiliar, went directly to Zaran Bailey's private office after leaving the Sith wizard's office.

After hearing the news he had gathered, Wizard Zaran Bailey fell into thought. "No plan? It seems I overestimated Locke Augustine. Well, he is only a first-ring wizard after all; perhaps I was overthinking things."

“In that case, the only ones competing with me for the top-tier grant this year are the second-ring wizards within the six groups,” Wizard Zaran Bailey said with a smile. “Wizard Tucker, thank you for tipping me off. Thank you.”

Wizard Tucker laughed and said, "Given our relationship, I would definitely help you. Wizard Zhalan, if you can get the top-tier grant for Golden Crown Mountain this year, it would really make us ordinary researchers in Group 2 very proud."

"We researchers fully support you."

"Especially those of us who are close to you, and we also want to thank you for the resources you've recently allocated to us friends."

Zaran Bailey nodded. "Of course. We are friends."

……

After completing his report and leaving the Dune plane, Locke immediately headed to the Arthas Plantation region at the foot of Mount Golden Crown and made contact with Scarlett the Witch.

Locke handed her the improved, final version of the Great Snow Pinscher seeds, along with a sufficient amount of Tyrannosaurus Rex No. 2 and cell conjugates.

“Seeds, one hundred tubes of No. 2 Overlord Essence and cell conjugate, and a new design,” Locke said. “This is the fourth wizard shoe I’ve designed, which can be called the Demon Pineapple Wizard Shoes.”

"These are pineapple wizard shoes specially designed for the war in the demon realm."

"In order to collect enough data, I also conducted experiments on the wizards of the Twin Demon Realms."

Inside the plantation, Scarlett the Witch raised an eyebrow.

She looked at the performance test report of the magical plant that Locke had given her and exclaimed in surprise, "Locke, the performance of the fourth wizard shoes you designed this time... has improved a lot."

If the previous three wizard shoes could only be described as having decent quality, the performance of this fourth magical plant wizard shoe, which combines plant mimicry and the special spiral angle of ancient flowers, is undeniably excellent.

Even considering only the performance of the wizard shoes, they have reached the highest level currently available from wizard shoe manufacturers in the Yunze Wetland Jinmian Mountain area.

Scarlett the Witch looked at Locke in surprise and said, "How could you use the methods of a breeder to improve the performance of a pair of magical plant wizard shoes to this extent?"

Locke smiled and offered no explanation, for no explanation was needed.

Scarlett the Witch is just her own trader.

Locke asked, "In that case, do I have a chance to be selected for the Wizard Set in the Golden Crown Mountain Demon War?"

Scarlett the Witch looked at the data report. "If this data is accurate, that's wonderful. And since your wizard shoes design has no redundant features, there's no need to add extra service fees to the contract."

Scarlett the Witch, being a professional trader, immediately said, "If that's the case, then we should definitely give it a try."

"If it were a fair competition, your magical plant wizard shoes, with their performance, would definitely be a winning bid. But the problem is... the unspoken rules within the magic weaver community..."

Locke said, "There are unspoken rules among magic weavers, but there are also unspoken rules among breeders. I believe we can use unspoken rules to fight against unspoken rules."

Scarlett the Witch paused for a moment, then gestured for the Arthas staff around her to move away. She looked at Locke and said, "Locke, what kind of unspoken rules could there be among breeders?"

Locke said, “The Hand of the Jungle. I remember that because of the Hand of the Jungle, all the White Wizard Associations have environmental protection issues. Mount Golden Crown has a big reputation, so it has many environmental protection issues.”

"And if our Augustus Wizard Shoes brand is recognized as an environmentally friendly brand..."

Scarlett the Witch's eyes lit up, and the last cloud in her heart was lifted. "If our wizard shoes are an eco-friendly brand, Golden Crown Mountain will choose to buy our Augustus Wizard Shoes in order to meet its annual environmental targets."

"Wait a moment, let me check the information."

Using the Ganoderma lucidum plant, she opened the water hyacinth system, consulted several wizards, and confirmed the environmental protection targets for Jinmian Mountain this year. "This year, the environmental protection targets for Yunze Wetland total one hundred million magic stones, of which ten million magic stones have been allocated to Jinmian Mountain."

Locke was somewhat surprised. "One hundred million?"

Scarlett the Witch laughed, "It's already very little. The Three Swamps Lands are no longer buying into Green Steel City's approach. The environmental protection expenditures that many regions have to pay are astronomical. Green Steel City is currently demanding that Starry Sea allocate 30 billion yuan annually for environmental protection expenditures, thereby increasing Starry Sea's environmental protection responsibilities."

"Of course, this is just an unreasonable request."

"In short, Jinmian Mountain has only met half of its environmental protection quota this year. Although this is a small matter for Jinmian Mountain, it is a troublesome matter that requires some thought. But if our Wizard Shoes can be recognized as an environmentally friendly brand by Jungle Hand, it will solve this small problem for Jinmian Mountain."

Scarlett the Witch laughed and said, "That is indeed an idea; I hadn't thought of it before."

Scarlett the Witch slapped her forehead. "I was only thinking about doing things within the rules, so I never imagined there could be such a radical twist."

She looked at Locke in surprise. "It seems like you're more suited to be Arthas's trader than I am."

Locke said, "That must be an illusion. You are the witch of the prophetic school."

"Scarlett the Witch, I'll leave her to you. I've been quite busy lately."

Scarlett the Witch nodded. "Using this approach can significantly increase the competitiveness of a breeder's creations."

"I might be able to use this trick on my less-than-stellar breeders as well."

Locke remained noncommittal.

He made this suggestion because his own pure magical plant-based wizard shoes did not cause much environmental pollution when they were made, while the wizard shoe production chain of the magic weavers had multiple links that would generate magical industrial pollution.

Therefore, it is not unfounded to say that their Augustus Wizard Shoes do have the potential to be a model of environmental protection.

As for Scarlett the Witch, whether she should use this approach to help other breeders engage in unfair competition would deviate from her original intention.

He and Scarlett the Witch were merely business partners, so he naturally had no incentive to say anything more.

Scarlett the Witch said to Locke, "I'll help you contact the Hand of the Jungle. There are some people there who owe me favors. I'll make sure to confirm that your wizard shoe brand is an eco-friendly brand before the final review."

Locke said, "Thank you very much, Scarlett the Witch."

After saying one more word to Locke, he left and went to the Dragonblood Gathering, where he found the Feathered Serpent Pavilion.

He came to the Feathered Serpent Pavilion today for two main reasons.

The first thing to do is to try to pass the fourth round of the ladder.

The second thing was to use the Queen's Chessboard to analyze ancient flowers.

I gained three major rewards in the Abyss Ruins Secret Realm.

The first major achievement is the magical accomplishment of archaeology.

The second major achievement was obtaining the fake ancient flower and acquiring a special spiral angle from it, which allowed him to create his fourth set of wizard shoes.

The third major achievement was learning King Otto's potion-making technique, specifically the Reverse Refining Method.

Through the reverse cultivation method, he finally figured out how to solve the problem of that wizard in the Southern Witch Capital.

The reverse alchemy method for preparing the Zero Potion does indeed require a second-circle wizard.

The problem is that the reverse brewing method is just a concept for preparing potions, a new method, rather than a fixed procedure for preparing the Zero Potion.

Locke used the reverse alchemy method to draw inferences from one instance to another, and finally understood many things that he had not understood before.

This means there is a possibility of passing the fourth round of the Heavenly Ladder test at the Feathered Serpent Pavilion.

Locke entered the Feathered Serpent Pavilion and immediately felt his luck being enhanced by the "Dragon's Nest Luck Enhancement Technique." At the same time, a green dragon half-dragon came out and said, "Honored guest, it has been a long time since you last visited. I did not expect you to grace our humble shop with your presence today."

Locke said coldly, "I will use the Queen's Chessboard for three days. Here are three hundred magic crystal cards."

The green dragon-man shopkeeper paused for a moment. "Honorable guest, the Queen's Chessboard is dangerous even for a first-ring wizard. Have you ordered too many days?"

Locke waved his hand. "No, I'm quite sure, I want to order three days' worth at once."

The green dragon half-dragon shopkeeper said, "Okay."

"Please wait a moment. I'll use the optical transmitter to contact the upper echelons of the Feathered Serpent Pavilion. In your case, they might be able to offer some special benefits."

The green dragon half-dragon shopkeeper turned on the optical transmitter, and soon a message appeared from it. He turned to Locke and said, "Distinguished guest, you enjoy special privileges within the Feathered Serpent Pavilion. If you do purchase a three-day trial of the Queen's Chessboard, then, considering the cost and your distinguished status, the higher-ups will grant you a full week of use."

Locke glanced at the green dragon half-dragon shopkeeper with surprise. "That's double the time."

The green dragon half-dragon shopkeeper bowed to Locke and said, "This is an instruction from the higher-ups at the Feathered Serpent Pavilion. The Feathered Serpent Pavilion is not a profit-making department, nor does it need to make a profit. The reason we charged you one million magic stones before was simply because of the market price."

"But since you need to use it, the Feathered Serpent Pavilion can accept even just the cost price."

Locke glanced at the green dragon half-dragon shopkeeper with a puzzled look.

This is absolutely unacceptable to the wizarding organizations of the Three Swamps, because making money is what they value most. This is also something that the Starry Sea values.

Locke became increasingly curious about the origins of the powerful figure behind the Feathered Serpent Pavilion. "When I was in the Land of Six Towers, some friends told me that your Feathered Serpent Pavilion is an inter-wizard shop alliance from the Starfield Sea."

"But when I came to the Land of Three Swamps, a wizard told me that the Feathered Serpent Pavilion did not come from the Starfield Sea."

"I also think that the Feathered Serpent Pavilion would not come from the Starfield Sea. The wizarding organizations in the Starfield Sea would not do something that doesn't make money."

The green dragon half-dragon shopkeeper bowed to Locke and said, "Honored guest, the Feathered Serpent Pavilion will exist wherever it is."

"It has always been an honor for the Feathered Serpent Pavilion to serve outstanding potion masters, especially those like you who possess immortal dragon scales."

Locke nodded slightly, no longer dwelling on it.

The reason I spent so many magic stones to use the Queen's Chessboard was to use it to analyze the ancient flowers and resolve my past confusion.

He also needs to combine the Queen's Chessboard and archaeological magic to analyze the resin ball the princess gave him.

In addition, he needs to use the Queen's Chessboard to leverage its ability to deduce the future at the Force level, helping him to quickly digest all the historical and legendary materials he currently possesses and write a history book.

This will meet the requirements for advancing archaeology magic to the second level.

That's why I don't feel bad about using so many magic stones.

Because these magic stones are not a luxury, but an investment in oneself, a better investment in oneself for the future.

Without spending these three million, he would not be able to quickly compile his historical materials into a book; it would take more than ten years to slowly work through them.

He also needs to hire a large number of wizards to work with him to analyze the structure of ancient flowers.

For me right now, time is money.

The Silent Grail War is approaching, so every investment I've made in myself will be worthwhile.

Locke paid for three hundred magic crystal cards and then, at the invitation of the green dragon half-dragon, entered the Queen's Chessboard Room.

Locke, in the Queen's Chessboard Room, said, "If we use two sets of Queen's Chessboards, it will definitely attract the attention of many wizards, and it will be difficult to use the Queen's Chessboards at will for such a long time."

“That second-circle wizard who is hostile to me might also interfere. So even though there is a Queen's Chessboard in Group 2, I still prioritize using the equipment from the Feathered Serpent Pavilion.”

"Fortunately, Quetzalcoatl gave me an extra discount, reducing the cost of using the Queen's Chessboard."

Locke walked to the Queen's Chessboard and placed an ancient flower seed on it. Instantly, a large amount of spiritual energy emanated from the entire chessboard, and numerous phantom images of ancient flower seeds appeared.

Locke scanned the phantoms of these seeds, their surfaces facing the sky, radiating a spiritual aura like water droplets. "The ancient flower is indeed not a plant, but an artificial polymer."

Locke skillfully projected a historical image into the seeds of the ancient flower.

Under the influence of this magic, a spiritual projection of an ancient flower in its adult form appeared on the surface of the ancient flower.

Locketon was able to observe the details of this ancient artificial flower.

The ancient artificial flower, imbued with a spiritual essence, flowed around Locke like a river, constantly branching out and revealing every detail to him.

Locke, on the other hand, manipulated these spiritual tributaries, standing within them, constantly ignoring the useless parts and bringing the useful ones to his attention. "Every part of this artificial flower is full of artificial design and a... imitation of nature."

“This fake flower is almost indistinguishable from a real one.” Locke sensed a certain concept of the Tower of the Black Sun. “I already understand the spiral part. The key is, why can this fake flower be planted on the ground and increase the magical tides and soil nutrients?”

"Understanding this is crucial for the ecosystem that my great magic needs to build, as well as for the research of the two groups."

Locke's eyes followed the flowing river of spirituality. "Hmm? Is the secret in the roots of these artificial flowers?"

Locke immediately paused the device's deduction of the ancient flower's overall spirituality and focused on its roots.

As his proficiency with the Queen's Chessboard equipment increased, his experimental efficiency, research level, and related judgment all improved rapidly.

Locke quickly determined that the plant root of the Ancient Flower seemed to be a design borrowed by the Black Sun Tower from a special magical plant in a special plane. It was a plant that could secrete special natural magical structural components that could refine gravel into smaller soil.

The difference between gravel and soil is significant. First, gravel has a simpler composition, and second, the mineral particles are larger.

Its particle size is between 0.05 and 2 mm, while the particle size of soil is less than 0.002 mm, which is the particle size of colloidal particles.

The roots of the ancient flower constantly secrete various natural magical structural components that crush and erode the sand and gravel, turning them into smaller mineral particles.

This makes it possible for sand to turn into soil.

Its ancient flowers are characterized by rapid blooming and rapid withering. Once withered, they can metabolize humus and enter the soil, making the soil more fertile.

This may be the reason why ancient flowers made the earth more fertile, leading to the explosion of Otto's royal court because the system could not keep up with the progress of productivity.

A day later, Locke, through the Queen's Chessboard, continued to deduce the special roots of the ancient flower and discovered that it could reconstitute sand, a substance composed of several inert composite element particles, into clay through the combined application of seven natural magical structural components on its surface.

Locke was surprised by this, because for alchemists, reconstituted sand into clay was not difficult.

However, most of these processes are completed in laboratories or transmutation arrays, making it difficult to achieve the same effect as the ancient flowers that spread across the land and simultaneously impacted the entire wizarding world of the past.

The manpower required is simply outrageous.

Moreover, turning sand into clay requires many steps, a lot of energy, and a lot of materials for alchemists.

However, the special root of this ancient flower can complete this exaggerated transformation in a very short time, with very little consumption and almost no intervention from wizards.

Locke regretfully discovered that even though the roots of ancient flowers possessed such powerful functions, they still needed water to transform sand into soil.

“Water is key. This kind of root system must have been copied from some magical plant by the Black Sun Tower,” Locke said. “It’s a naturally occurring transformation plant.”

"Compared to artificially constructed, highly polluting conversion plants, this is infinitely superior. However, even so, water is still needed, and water remains the key."

Locke looked at the roots of the ancient flower and marveled at the great power of nature. Wizards learned from nature, came from nature, and ultimately progressed with nature, becoming stronger.

"I need to record the primal force information of this special root, extract information from the spiritual level and the plant essence level, and may also need to use the three magic mirrors."

"We can use the information about the Force level obtained from the Queen's Chessboard to print a prototype on the biomaterial modeling machine, then take it to the three magic mirrors for analysis, and finally obtain the plant essence composed of specific plant factors."

Locke's eyes were serious. "Next, I will be able to use the finite element cultivation method to fuse with the essence of this specific plant to create a subspecies of magical plant. At that point, obtaining a magical plant with this special root will only be a matter of time."

"It just takes a little effort to choose which magical plant can easily combine with this special plant essence."

Essentially, as a breeder, once you obtain information about ancient flowers, you can easily acquire their various characteristics.

If the ancient flower weren't a real flower, but just an artificial one, I could have directly tried to figure out how to propagate and cultivate it, and planted it myself.

However, since ancient flowers were not real flowers, there were many problems.

Of course, I wouldn't be foolish enough to drip my own blood onto it, allowing it to absorb my life force and complete the final step of transforming from a life simulation into a real life.

Locke said, "This special root should be a powerful energy-locking structure of some kind of magical plant in the past."

"It should be a new type of energy-locking structure. If I just extract a small part of it, I estimate I can secure a first-class project grant."

The True Knowledge Institute's projects are largely just for young first-ring wizards to practice on.

This ancient flower was once a magical plant that brought a tremendous and devastating disaster to the wizarding world.

It would be an easy task to extract a small part from this magical plant and use it in a project that researchers are currently using for practice.

This is why Locke had reassured Mason and the others.

Locke looked at the ancient flower in front of him and pondered, "Plants do indeed have a tremendous ability to change the ecological environment."

"I have read a lot of ecological data before and found that at the beginning of the formation of each life plane, plant communities of various levels always appear in sequence to transform that plane before the life plane is formed."

"Plant communities are directly related to the formation of life planes. Without plant communities, a life plane will automatically be downgraded and fall out of the life plane community. Therefore, plants are an important part of life magic and an important part of nature."

Locke sighed, "Wizards can learn a lot from nature. The Tower of the Black Sun must have found this special magical plant from a special plane. Then, they replicated the structure of this magical plant and put the ancient flower into the wizarding world, which ultimately led to the huge ecological disaster in the mortal era."

"Water is still the key. Never mind, I'll focus on analyzing this special root first. It will be of great use to me, enough to qualify for a first-class project grant, and it will also benefit my magical construction."

An idea was taking shape in Locke's mind.

(End of this chapter)