Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 694 Purchasing the World Stone!
Locke left the defense session and immediately saw Mason and her two companions. The three surrounded him and asked if he had passed the defense.

After receiving Locke's nod of confirmation, the three of them breathed a sigh of relief.

After a month and a half of hard work, having used up the million-dollar fund and the five million magic stones provided by Locke, the first-class fund project was finally completed.

Locke celebrated with the three of them, then left the Institute of Truth with a somber face. He rode the Rainbow Sparrow to Dragonblood Market, where he found Scarlett the Witch. In the witch's kitchen, Locke handed Scarlett the design blueprints for the fifth wizard's shoes, the magic plant seeds, and the No. 2 Overlord Element and cell complex.

Scarlett the Witch doesn't seem to be having a good time either. Recently, more and more wizards have wanted to break their contracts with her, which is indeed due to her own actions.

If this goes on for too long, it could even threaten her job in Alsace.

After saying goodbye to Scarlett the Witch, Locke thought about it and contacted the Celtic leader who had provided him with the most financial assistance and had previously lent him money.

Recently, the Celtic team leader was transferred to the Longevity Peach Orchard. I wonder if it's possible to get in touch with him.

Come to think of it, I still haven't paid back the 30,000 magic stones I owe him.

It's been so long, and the Celtic team leader still hasn't urged them to come.

Locke flew to the sky above Golden Crown Mountain on the Rainbow Bird. He used the Ganoderma lucidum plant to make a voice call to the Celtic leader.

The Celtic team leader answered the call immediately.

At this moment, behind the Celtic leader was a place of raging waves, where a huge waterspout descended from the sky and was moving rapidly around the Celtic leader.

The Celtic leader held the Ganoderma lucidum plant in his right hand while continuously casting spells with his left hand to suppress the group of merman priests in front of him.

"Locke, what's the matter? I'm currently undertaking a planar conquest."

"The Silent Grail War should start in about a week. It's a pity I won't be able to get back to watch your match," the Celtic team leader said regretfully.

At that moment, the waterspout attempted to engulf his figure.

Locke then noticed that the waterspout contained an army of tens of thousands of merfolk, and that there was an Eye of Truth behind the Celtic leader. This proved that the Eye of Truth had noticed the large-scale battle that had taken place in the lower world and had taken notice of it, beginning to record civilization credit points.

Locke noticed that the Celtic leader had 998 Civilization Credits, which meant that these merfolk natives had probably violated the Wizard Law, so the Celtic leader didn't need to spend any Civilization Credits to suppress them.

But to be honest, when you conquer planes, even if the other side violates wizarding laws, you will still lose civilization credits if you kill too many.

The Celtic leader seemed amused by the tens of thousands of merfolk. "I used matter to trade water essence with the native inhabitants of this plane, who knew that the empire of this world would suddenly declare war on me. Since it's a declaration of war, it's the same as declaring war on the wizarding world, and since it's a declaration of war, there's nothing more to say."

The Celtic leader complained to Locke, "This civilization is too low-level. The strongest, the emperor, is only equivalent to a first-class wizard apprentice. He only has the special ability to combine the power of his army and transform it into a sea tornado."

"I'm thinking about how to fight. I originally wanted to end it quickly with a powerful spell, but I'm afraid that if I use a powerful spell, ninety-nine percent of the civilization in this world will be killed or injured, and my civilization credit points will be reduced by more than half."

“If we use other magic, the magical pressure released would be too high for them,” the Celtic leader pondered. “It is indeed difficult to handle. This kind of low-level world should actually be handled by a first-ring wizard. Their magical pressure is not that high, so they are not so constrained.”

Locke smiled and said, "Not even apprentice-level magic?"

The Celtic leader coughed. "The magical pressure of a second-ring wizard is too high. Even if it's just an apprentice-level spell, the aftershocks alone could cause widespread death among the mortals of this world. Because of the special nature of ultimate magic, before reaching the Star Ring level, I couldn't control my magical pressure at will."

"Aren't you about to start the Great Magic Modeling Contest?"

"That competition has another name: the Dimensional Conquest Tournament. Sigh, my current pain point is what you're about to encounter."

The Celtic team leader had a wicked grin on his face.

He waved his hand impatiently, and a leaf fell down. The huge waterspout collapsed abruptly beneath that leaf.

The Celtic leader kept checking his civilization credit points. Although the other party had declared war on the wizard civilization, the difference between the two was too great.

Just as a lower-dimensional being fights a higher-dimensional being, the Eye of Truth will have a certain bias.

If he kills too ruthlessly, he will still lose civilization credit points, but not by much.

Even losing a little bit would break the heart of the Celtic leader, so he kept restraining himself and prepared to slowly deal with the merman army in front of him.

And, there is one more thing.

These merfolk are experts at extracting the essence of water from the depths of the ocean in this shallow sea plane. If he kills too many, it might affect the workforce.

A decline in the labor force will reduce the production of water essence.

He didn't care whether the essence of water was obtained through commercial trade or through direct military conquest and taxation, but in any case, the essence of water was a necessary resource for building the Hanging Gardens.

This is a task directly ordered by His Majesty the Throne.

If he were to disrupt His Majesty's plans, he would be in serious trouble and might very well be dismissed.

Therefore, the Celtic team leader played very cautiously, basically idling. Since he had nothing to do, he asked Locke, "Dear Locke, is there anything I can help you with?"

Locke nodded. "Yes, Celtic Group Leader, I want to trade a World Stone to the Academy. I've heard before that there are special channels, but when I checked the information, I didn't find any publicly available application channels."

"Therefore, I would like to ask you if you can help me apply."

The Celtic group leader paused, taken aback. "The World Stone? You're in such a hurry? Wouldn't it be more relaxed to consider this after you pass the Great Magic Modeling Competition? Why the rush?"

Locke recalled Nina the Witch's inexplicable remark and nodded. "Team leader, I do need it. Do you know if I have any channels to facilitate a transaction?"

The Celtic team leader rubbed his chin with his left thumb and pondered, "That requires going through a special talent channel, and the conditions are very high. There are requirements for the journals, specifically those in Zone 1 and top-tier journals. You need to publish at least fifteen Zone 1 journals within Jinmian Mountain during the first stage and win a top-tier first-stage award before you'll be given the opportunity to redeem it."

"These requirements are quite high. After all, the hard requirements are 15 articles in Zone 1, one top-level award, and at least one well-known wizarding world-level competition championship."

"Especially that top prize. In the ordinary Zone 1, you can still climb up the ranks by working long hours and seniority, but I think the difficulty of winning that prize is even greater than winning a World Stone. The competition itself is also very difficult to win."

"The overall setup gives me the illusion that wizards who need this channel don't actually need to go through it to obtain the World Stone. And the first-level wizards who truly need this channel to obtain the World Stone simply don't have the conditions or ability to go through it."

Locke blinked. "The Istoria Archaeology Award, is it considered a top-tier award? It's a top-tier archaeology award from the Starfield Sea, and the academy even rewarded me with a Golden Cloud Peach."

The Celtic wizard was stunned for a moment. The next moment, a wave hit him, but it was automatically blocked by his permanent defensive force field, the Water Cloud Barrier, and bounced back, causing another large number of casualties.

The number of Civilization Credits displayed by the Eye of Truth has changed to 997.

The Celtic wizard, seeing the countless dead and wounded merfolk, was speechless. "Damn the theocratic empire, even in this state, they still come to their deaths." "Damn it, another bunch of valuable laborers have died."

“This is all money. We can’t keep fighting like this.” The Celtic wizard’s face was grim. “It’s too difficult to crush ants without killing them.”

"If I had known, I should have sent a first-ring wizard. No, two first-class wizard apprentices would have been enough."

"It's easier for a low-level wizard to handle this kind of thing. If I come directly, I can just increase the magic pressure slightly and seize the dimensional power of this small world, causing the extinction of a large number of living beings."

The Celtic wizard looked at Locke and said, "The Istoria Archaeology Award? I've heard of that too. It's quite famous, the most prestigious archaeology award in the first stage, right? What did you do to deserve such an award?"

"For many years, the Istoria Archaeology Prize has rarely been awarded to a first-ring wizard from beyond the star system."

"Unless you have a very important finding, or even one that fills a research gap, you absolutely cannot win this award!"

He probably hadn't been back to the Prime Material Plane for too long, so he really didn't know much about Locke's current situation.

The Celtic group leader said, "Then you'll have the Spellfighting Tournament championship and the Istoria Archaeology Award. All that's left is to meet the requirement of fifteen first-tier journal articles."

Locke did a quick mental calculation and realized that he had published sixteen articles in Q1 journals.

Moreover, I can publish my research on glandular root sacs in "Qingcao Yunze".

That makes seventeen articles in Q1 journals.

I didn't realize how many articles I had in the first section until I did the math.

Among them, I have written dozens of articles in Zone 2. This is because the general knowledge wizard apprentice I hired helped me write articles quickly, and I also made continuous progress in pineapple-type magical plants. So after organizing them, I published a lot of articles in Zone 2 to earn contribution points.

Upon careful counting, there are now a total of 35 articles.

This is because after I joined Group 2, I went on an archaeological trip to the Abyss and prepared for the Silent Holy Grail Tournament, so I didn't have much time to write articles, hence the smaller number.

Otherwise, the number could be even greater.

Locke said, "Now I have sixteen articles in Zone 1."

The Celtic team leader was also taken aback. "So many? There are so many! Then you can apply. You do meet the requirements. I'll find someone to submit your application; I estimate someone will come to you soon to fill out the relevant materials."

"If you need it, I can get it done for you right now."

"Even if you go through this welfare-based channel, you will still need to pay five million magic stones."

Locke's brow twitched.

Stones are really expensive in this world.

Five million magic stones is enough for a first-ring wizard to start a big project.

After all, this is not a purchasing channel, but a welfare channel provided by Jinmianshan.

'This is probably to prevent wizards and those with water-related abilities from getting World Stones for free. These five million magic stones are likely to cover the costs of acquiring them.'

Locke pondered, "The World Stone needs to be extracted from a world using special methods, so even disregarding its intrinsic value, just getting it out requires a huge amount of resources. Five million magic stones probably wouldn't even cover the costs."

"Thinking about it carefully, this is indeed a benefit. After all, the cost of doing things yourself and hiring someone to do them are completely different. Although I doubt that Grand Wizard Sura spent five million magic stones to conquer the mage plane."

Locke said to the Celtic group leader, "Okay, group leader, please exchange it for me. Thank you."

In this way, I will soon have a World Stone in my possession.

Thus, with his own Evolution Moon, he could become a second-circle wizard at any time; it was simply a matter of choice.

Of course, becoming a second-circle wizard in this way would compromise the perfection of one's ultimate magic, so it should only be done as a last resort.

After thanking the Celtic team leader, Locke hung up the phone.

In this way, I can go back and review the information for the Great Magic Modeling Contest, then wait a week before directly participating in the competition.

Locke sat on the rainbow jay, pondering why Nina the witch would suddenly give him such a hint. Had she overheard something in the Rose Council?
Locke sensed an unusual disturbance in the magical tide. He looked up at the sky and saw that the distant sky seemed to have been torn apart by a huge black hand. The hand of that hand entered this world and unleashed a demonic storm on a certain area of ​​the earth.

That is the power of the Twin Demon Realms.

A bell tolled from Mount Jinmian—'The Gates of Hell have opened; the war in the Demon Realm has officially begun!'

Wizards participating in the war, please immediately respond to the Demon Realm War and enter the Gates of Hell.

'The remaining wizards are requested to restrain the demon beasts. Until the demon war is resolved, any raiding of the Cloud Marsh Wetlands by the demon beasts is illegal.'

At the same time, directly below the demon beast lies the Demon Pivot City.

The wizarding leader of Nexus, a third-circle wizard, looked up at the terrifying demonic beast, a flicker of astonishment crossing his face. "How is this possible? The Twin Demons dare to attack our Nexus? Was that demonic storm aimed at us? Could it be that they intend to…"

“No, that’s not right.” The Lord of Demon Hub City suddenly sneered. “Don’t try to play mind games with me. How could the Twin Demon Realms’ target be our Demon Hub City…”

"All wizards are forbidden from pursuing them. This matter is none of our concern."

Suddenly, the demonic behemoth changed direction and attacked a small to medium-sized wizarding organization called "Rose Paradise," located a thousand kilometers north of Demon Hub City.

All the magical tides near Rose Paradise were swallowed whole by the demonic beast, instantly turning the entire environment into a magic-free environment.

The professional wizards and wizarding apprentices in Rose Paradise fought desperately, unable to believe why the giant demon beast had suddenly turned around and attacked them, catching them completely off guard.

The master wizard of Rose Garden, a second-ring moon-ring wizard, immediately looked towards the magical fields hidden in the very heart of Rose Garden. "So, they couldn't be hidden after all?"

The cold voice of the master wizard of the park appeared above Rose Paradise, saying, "All wizards without contracts may leave Rose Paradise automatically. Wizards with contracts and who owe money to Rose Paradise, please stay and fight to the death to protect Rose Paradise."

She chanted a spell, and instantly, the wizard town where Rose Paradise was located was covered with blooming magical roses in all their colors.

(End of this chapter)