Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 717 The Stone Sanctuary and Outdated Magic
Locke looked at the Duke of Westminster, ignoring his emotions, and simply said, "You're lying to me."

"Grand Duke, I am the Emperor now. If you do not answer truthfully, you will be a traitor."

"I'm going to kill you!"

The Duke of Westminster's brow twitched. He hadn't expected Locke to be so perceptive and insightful. Locke's statement, which was so unverifiable, was entirely his own, making it difficult for anyone else to question it.

But Locke still keenly sensed that he was lying.

The Duke of Westminster, however, did not know where the problem lay.

Locke said directly, "Although, according to you, you betrayed the Emperor and killed him. Back then, you were the Grand Duke of Westminster and possessed a second-ring level Mind Light within this Mind Network. But with your power, you couldn't kill a second-ring wizard who had successfully forged a Star."

"Even a sudden sneak attack is impossible."

“So you’re lying to me.” Locke stood with his hands behind his back, looking at him, and said, “Of course, all I want is an answer without any logical flaws. If you can come up with such an answer right now, I might believe you.”

Locke looked at the Duke of Westminster, who felt as if he had been seen through from head to toe, and his heart pounded with fear.

The wizards of the Other Shore World, wielding the position of Lord of the Mind Network, were so powerful that they filled him with fear.

This is not a crushing victory in terms of strength or information asymmetry. While these two things may convince people, they only inspire fear.

But Locke possessed an insight and wisdom that far surpassed his own, a wisdom that left the Duke of Westminster utterly unable to muster any resistance.

Locke said, "What you just said is mostly true. It's just that these things are irrelevant to you. Back then, Zoro Rick built this mental network, controlled the Silent Dimension, and established the Empire and the Inspectorate system."

"Then, he should have been attacked by the nine dukes, who rallied some of the three hundred ordinary barons to launch a rebellion. Judging from the balance of power, you were probably not the Grand Duke of Westminster back then."

“You were brought up later by Zoro Rick.”

"What you just said is actually about other people's affairs. Back then, the nine Grand Dukes led the betrayal of Zorro Rick, and you were probably a royalist, on Zorro Rick's side."

Locke raised his right hand, and nine chess pieces symbolizing the Grand Duke's spiritual light, along with three hundred chess pieces symbolizing the Baron's spiritual light, appeared in his hand.

He grabbed them all, and they all fell into his palm.

This image represents the role played by this mental network.

The Duke of Westminster gasped, his body trembling.

He would not be impressed by Locke simply because Locke was stronger than him.

Because Locke comes from that ideal place—the Great World of the Other Shore—it's only natural that he's stronger than him.

But at this moment, he felt a sense of submission because of Locke's wisdom.

The Grand Duke whispered to Locke, "His Majesty is very perceptive. Indeed."

"Your Majesty, it wasn't me, yet you guessed my little scheme."

"Your Majesty, you are clearly not from this world, nor have you experienced that period of history. Yet you saw the problem at a glance."

Locke snapped his fingers, and the legendary historical book, "A Brief History of Ancient Plants," appeared, collecting and organizing some dispensable historical materials from this period of colonial history and incorporating them into it.

Although they are optional, I'll collect them casually.

“It’s just basic historical research skills,” Locke said. “A teacher in my world once told me that only wisdom is the foundation of one’s power. Grand Duke, you lack wisdom, so it is difficult for you to grasp the power in your hands.”

"By weakening the overall potential of civilization to make all living beings adapt to your intelligence, you have indeed stabilized your power, but you have also weakened the civilization of the entire Silent Plane."

A deep voice emanated from beneath the Grand Duke of Westminster's armor. "To describe me as the successor to the first emperor would enhance the legitimacy of my rule over the world."

"I can believe myself to be a symbol of civilization in this world."

Locke said, "You should be a few generations younger than Zoro Rick."

The Duke of Westminster's pupils suddenly contracted. "Your Majesty, your judgment is impeccable. It was indeed nine dukes who launched the rebellion back then, and they have all been eliminated. His Majesty Zorro Riker, however, was critically injured and promoted me, who was a royalist at the time, to the position of Duke of Westminster."

"Then, His Majesty Zoro Rick died in battle with the last few Grand Dukes. And I killed the last Grand Duke in his place."

"I just...can't forgive him, and I can't forgive myself."

The Duke of Westminster said in a deep voice, “He is my elder. I only want to protect him. I only want him to be the ruler of this world, the emperor of this world. If it is him, I am willing to support him forever.”

"I'm just an ordinary person."

"Your Majesty, I am just an ordinary person."

“An ordinary person only needs to take care of their relatives and friends, and the people they care about. So, I did nothing wrong.”

The Grand Duke of Westminster bowed to Locke and said, “Your Majesty, I cannot understand His Majesty Zorro Rick’s thoughts, nor can I forgive the nine Grand Dukes who betrayed His Majesty Zorro Rick.”

"In my opinion, after His Majesty Zoro Rick and the nine Grand Dukes died, the world held a national mourning for them. Then... less than a month later, not many people remembered them, and within a few years, these people forgot the past."

“In less than a century, the people of this world have forgotten who brought this blue sky and white clouds to them. I really don’t believe them. His Majesty Zoro Rick is the only brother in my heart.”

Tears finally welled up in the eyes of the Duke of Westminster. “No, I should say I can’t forgive the people of this world even more. Every smile on the face of every commoner in this world is an irony to my brother, His Majesty Zorro Rick.”

"The people of this world are mean and ungrateful, and have long forgotten the source of their happy lives. They quickly attribute their small achievements to their own talent and hard work, rather than to His Majesty Zoro Rick building a canopy for them and clearing out the last of the Grand Dukes."

"They remember nothing."

“They’ve all forgotten.”

Locke said, "You hate them."

The Duke of Westminster sighed, “I don’t hate them. I’m just like them. So I just feel they don’t deserve better rulers.”

"They only deserve an emperor like me."

"I am their choice!"

Locke suddenly turned to look at the Emperor and said, "No, you are not the choice of the billions of humans in the Silent Dimension. My spiritual path points to a bright future that they desire."

"But if the future they desire is self-destruction, then the realm I summoned is not all green hills and clear waters. Grand Duke, you seem to only see the bad in others, but fail to notice the bright spots in their character."

Locke said, "You only see their ugly past, but I see their pursuit of a better version of themselves."

"I can borrow the future from the world through you because most of the beings in these silent planes are pursuing a better future for themselves, and the ideal version of themselves that they envision."

"Perhaps they will struggle to survive now and in the future. Perhaps they will do things that you would look down on or consider to be of low character. But they do have a pursuit of 'goodness'."

Locke said, “I am also exploring what truth is, so my views are just my personal views. But Grand Duke, you have deprived everyone in the Silent Dimension of the right to pursue their ideal selves because you are an insecure person and you do not believe in them.”

"That's why you lost to me."

"Grand Duke, you are only yourself. Please stop dragging down the beings of this plane."

"Each of us can only represent ourselves."

The Duke of Westminster was startled and was about to speak.

But Locke had already figured out the specifics of the power system in this world, so he had no intention of continuing to entangle himself with the Duke of Westminster.

He looked at the Grand Duke and asked, "The last two questions."

"First, what are the disasters in this world?"

"Second, did that meteorite from the Enlightenment era become the raw material for the canopy of the mind network?"

The Duke of Westminster bowed his head and said, "That meteorite was indeed the raw material for the canopy of the Mind Network."

“His Majesty Zoro Rick told me that the Silent Plane has too few resources, so he could only use that meteorite as raw material to forge the Sky Canopy.”

Locke felt a pang of regret. Although the information on that meteorite was outdated knowledge, it was, after all, a seed of civilization from the Siming Waters Wizard Land, which had been sent to various parts of the endless void for free during the Enlightenment era.

If one can obtain it, it will have some reference value, learning value, and most importantly, historical value.

Who knows, it might even fetch a high price at an auction.

Who knew that it would become the raw material for the mental network?

The Duke of Westminster said, "As for the calamity of this world... I don't really know what it is. It just happened suddenly during my long reign over this world."

"I still haven't figured out what that is or what the pattern is. I only know that there are always some cultists within the empire I rule. These cultists are very strange. They gradually lose their rationality and become monsters. It seems that as long as people see this monster, it will cause a kind of mental pollution that lowers the intelligence of others."

“Your Majesty, I have imprisoned this monster in a secret prison I have built.”

"If you want to see it, please come with me, and I will take you to see it for yourself in the real world."

Locke nodded. "Okay."

Although the current state of the Silent Dimension is rather strange, in my perception, there is no longer a single being at the second-ring level.

But at this moment, I am the strongest in the world (Silent Dimension), and I can deal with all changes by remaining unchanged.

At this moment, it is very important for me to take a look at the cult monster mentioned by the Duke of Westminster, as it may help me find out why this plane is destined to perish.

Locke led the Grand Duke of Westminster directly out of the special privilege space and into the real world the instant they stepped into it.

Locke then heard Smith's laughter, along with a few words, echoing in the magical winds left behind in this world by using weather magic.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

"Locke, this isn't over between us yet! I'm going to rise again and fight you once more!"

"Ah, Medea, you have ruined me!"

"Locke, your victory was dishonorable!"

Locke was speechless after hearing Smith's four sentences. "That's quite a leap." "He was quite energetic at first, how come he suddenly started cursing at me?"

The Duke of Westminster succinctly stated, "Traitors and scoundrels."

Locke was now in the guise of a saint, so he directly used the power of the plane to collect information and forcibly learned everything that had happened after his absence.

Wizard Smith attempted to gain outside help through the Demon Realm Dice, but was then deceived by the combined forces of the dark wizards of the Spiral Basin and the Twin Demon Realms, and was directly kidnapped and sold into slavery. His current whereabouts are unknown.

And the witch Medea entered this world.

Georgina the Witch thus turned the tables, directly attacking and killing the Wizard Edgar.

"So the problem lies with Wizard Smith." Locke's expression was strange; he had already calculated it all.

The Land of All Spirits, which had been injected with Tyrant Essence No. 2 by himself using the Moon of Evolution, collapsed first. Who knew that Wizard Smith would use his backup plan to immediately bring about his own demise.

He died too quickly; that was a lapse in his own plan.

"Doing as one pleases without overstepping the bounds is ultimately just one's way of interacting with the world. The human heart, however, is the most complex thing. The fact that Wizard Smith, through his own efforts, accelerated his own demise is something I couldn't have foreseen even in my current state."

Locke was disappointed.

Moreover, this state of being will gradually disappear over time.

'Could it be that Wizard Smith is using his bad luck to target me? That's unlikely; he's not the selfless type. He's probably just genuinely unlucky.'

Locke looked towards the Land of All Spirits, flicked his finger, and a stalk of sea gold fell into it.

The moon of evolution shone upon it, and the golden sand of the sea instantly completed its transformation into a dominant force, while simultaneously becoming a lunar plant.

The two states are superimposed simultaneously.

The Overlord Sea Golden Sand Moon Plant transformed into a gilded fern spear, which sat deep within the Land of Ten Thousand Spirits, completely crushing Edgar's remaining magical pressure. The entire Land of Ten Thousand Spirits was almost completely merged into its own world-class law realm.

"Whatever Edgar wants to do, I'd better take over the Land of All Souls as soon as possible."

"Perhaps there is still a chance to stop it."

Locke pondered.

The biggest enemy at present is still Edgar, while Georgina the Witch has gone into hiding and dares not make a move for the time being.

The Medea witch who joined after Storm Tower was a different person, but she was far weaker than Wizard Smith.

Each of the four participants joined the competition by constantly honing their great magic and receiving numerous resources from their respective academies.

Medea, on the other hand, had to rely on herself alone, and she spent most of her time plotting against Wizard Smith.

She was able to complete the blueprint for her ultimate magic in the past simply because she was older.

But her great magic was riddled with flaws.

Locke, through the information flow of the dimensional power, already knew what her immense magic, which had been constructed but had not yet been unleashed, was.

A typical prophetic school's ultimate magic: [Slate Sanctuary].

This is a relatively old, standard maximum magic spell. It's not popular in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands, but Locke knows about it because he had seen this classic but outdated and now impractical maximum magic spell construction when reading literature.

The Slate Sanctuary is a concept from the school of prophecy that posits the world as a hidden codebook, containing many messages it wants to convey but cannot express. The Slate Sanctuary is a powerful magic that helps the world express these coded messages.

This great magic had many problems, so it was eliminated by the prophetic school itself.

At least that's the case in Yunze Wetland.

First, the current prophetic schools in Yunze Wetland, namely mainstream prophetic schools such as Boniface University and Quinnjoll University, believe that the world is not a codebook.

Many schools of prophecy offer only one-sided and isolated perspectives by intercepting and interpreting the ever-changing principles of the world.

Therefore, the interpretation of many prophecies is highly problematic.

The world itself is not a dedicated codebook; this is a self-centered view held by the old school of prophecy.

Secondly, extremely powerful spells like the Tablet of Fate, which lack the instantaneous multiplication of magical pressure, were popular only during a period in the past when offensive magic was not the basis for extremely powerful spells.

Moreover, it has a high degree of energy dissipation and very poor energy compatibility.

It can be said that the Stone Sanctuary is a magic system in the development of great magic that is full of the mistakes made in the past.

But it seems that Medea, unlike the researchers of Yunze Wetland, could not easily access the most cutting-edge knowledge, which is why she could only create such an ancient, outdated, and obsolete magic in everyone's eyes.

In this way, the witch Medea had no impact on the game.

Locke had no idea what to do next.

In short, it seems like she's pushed herself to the limit.

However, this is not the point.

At this moment, the focus should be on the competition and analyzing why the Silent Dimension is destined for destruction.

Locke looked toward the realm of magic, but Georgina had already hidden in the deepest part of the realm, and Medea seemed to have also hidden there.

These two seem to want to play hide-and-seek with me.

Locke's expression was strange.

Although the Dharma realm is indeed for public use, it does have its own backup plan.

One can close the gate to the Dharma realm, which means closing the Dharma realm through the gate of the present world.

The two entered their own Dharma Realm, like turtles in a jar, where their own tree-man race was everywhere.

If I close the gate to the Dharma Realm again, they will be unable to leave the Dharma Realm and enter the present world.

Locke acted on his idea immediately, directly consuming energy to close the gate between the Dharma Realm and the mortal world.

Therefore, the Dharma realm cannot interfere with the present world.

The present world cannot interfere with the Dharma realm.

Georgina, the witch who has hidden herself in the deepest part of the Dharma Realm, is currently sitting beside the loom of destiny, studying the Moon of Evolution and spinning.

At that moment, she immediately realized that Locke had taken control of the gate to the Dharma Realm and closed it.

"Oh no, the Dharma Realm is for public use, but the door is his alone," Georgina the witch gritted her teeth. "What a filthy heart."

"There's another trick up your sleeve!"

The wizards beneath the Silent Throne, one of them, knew that Locke's past nickname in the southeastern corner of the region was the Eye Demon Wizard.

At this moment, they all started discussing it.

"In this way, the realm of magic and the mortal world will be cut off. Wouldn't that black wizard and Georgina witch be trapped inside? If he doesn't open the gate, they won't be able to get out. The situation is still under his control!"

"The bewitching wizard's heart is truly filthy!"

"I really thought that Dharma Realm was for public use. I even mocked Edgar, Smith, and Georgina for refusing to enter it, thinking they were being petty. I never imagined that he could close the door between the Dharma Realm and the mortal world."

"Edgar's refusal to enter the Dharma realm seems to have other reasons."

At this moment, in the audience area of ​​Golden Crown Mountain, all the wizards on the Academic Committee shook their heads.

That's incredibly cunning.

At that moment, the witch Victoria in the audience covered her mouth and laughed, "This student has the shamelessness of Katya back in the day."

Upon hearing this, the Victorian witch's student coughed to cover his embarrassment.

In the Silent Dimension, after Locke completely closed the gate between the Dharma Realm and the mortal world, he and the Grand Duke of Westminster immediately entered the Imperial Capital and found the Grand Duke's special prison.

Under the respectful gazes of the inspectors, the two walked directly into a tightly sealed prison perched on a cliff overlooking the sea, with walls hundreds of meters high.

The name of this prison is [Makta Prison]!
As Locke walked down the prison corridors with the Duke of Westminster, he saw that many of the prisoners were bald, with only a single hair on their foreheads.

Moreover, they are constantly drawing circles on the ground and on the walls.

These people were dazed and confused, like madmen, constantly drawing circles on the ground.

Some people were still muttering to themselves that they had seen blue light.

There are also blue arcs.

The Duke of Westminster said, "I don't know why these people have become like this. They randomly pounce on humans and attack them at night."

"But for some reason, they are terrified of electric lights, or rather, they are simply avoiding them."

"Therefore, people in this world do not go out at night or leave the light source."

Locke nodded; he knew this himself.

Suddenly, a middle-aged man with only one hair on his forehead lunged at them, gripping the iron bars with both hands, seemingly trying to strangle them. "I saw it, I saw a higher mystery existing above humanity. Everything is meaningless now."

Locke pursed his lips. "What the hell?"

"Could it be a disc-shaped creature?"

(End of this chapter)