Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 768 The Key to Second-Order Potions: Ling Hong and the Witch Rose's Trap

The Rose Witch took out a black and red seal from her astral ring. The seal looked like a carved wooden sculpture, but as soon as she took it out, it immediately attracted the attention of many wizards, including a second-ring potion master and even the head of the Demon Hunter Division of Cloudze Wetlands, who was a rare third-ring potion master in Cloudze Wetlands.

The Director of the Demon Hunter Division said, "The Rose Throne is really willing to spend a lot. You two young wizards should thank the Rose Witch for this prize."

"This is Ling Hong."

The Rose Witch nodded to the Director of the Demon Hunter Division and said, "Director, you are too kind. In front of you, a master of potions, my [Spirit Macro] is nothing but a joke. You can make one with ease."

The Director of the Demon Hunter Division said, "It's not something I can call casual. Rose Throne, don't try to harm me, don't make it sound like I'm capable but don't treat people's illnesses. No matter how skilled I am, I can't further shorten the fixed time required to refine this very important potion in the field of potion making."

"This is a long and painstaking process. My two students are too old to help me refine the spirit essence."

The witch Catherine reminded Locke, "Locke, you should thank the Rose Witch. Linghong is the key to brewing second-level potions. Oh, by the way, you've successfully brewed two second-level potions, haven't you?"

"Blank Potion".

At the rectangular table, the Director of the Demon Hunter Division stroked his white beard. Mentioning potion-making, he seemed to forget the current power struggle and interrupted, "Blank potion? Never heard of it. Red Dragon Throne, your student isn't very old, yet he's managed to concoct two second-ring potions successfully? That's impressive. Doesn't that mean he's very close to obtaining an expert-level potion master certificate?"

Catherine the Witch smiled without saying a word.

The Rose Witch's eyes shifted slightly, and she snorted coldly. She was extremely displeased that Catherine the Witch's student was suddenly close to passing the expert-level potion master certificate exam, a highly valuable professional certificate.

The Rose Witch looked at the Rose Witch and said, "Rose, why don't you take the expert-level flower language exam soon?"

Seeing the two high-ringed wizards bickering, Locke stood next to the witch Catherine and smiled bitterly to himself.

Teacher, I have successfully refined magic potions twice. The blank spiritual magic potion was refined using the reverse refining method.

Strangely, he could successfully refine blank potions on his first try using the reverse refining method taught to him by the wizard Otto, but for some reason, he would fail every time he tried to refine clone potions.

That's a complete waste of 1.5 million magic stones!

Right now, it seems that something very important has come up—Ling Hong!
On the rectangular table, the Director of the Demon Hunter Division said in a low voice, "However, the age doesn't match up either. Logically speaking, no matter how talented you are, after becoming a second-ring wizard, it will take a long time to become proficient in observing [Spirit Macros], another time to master [Spirit Macros], and an even longer period of practice to successfully draw [Spirit Macros]."

"To learn how to use Linghong, you need a lot of resources to repeatedly refine potions and to understand the deeper properties of things from failures... This requires resources and age."

"Unless, this young potion master... is using someone else's [Spirit Macro] instead of his own."

He does not mean that.

Locke's body trembled slightly. Although he hadn't had time to go to the paid and free areas of the Golden Crown Mountain library to look up information related to [Ling Hong], he knew in his heart that he was probably really using Otto Wizard's Ling Hong.

He could only successfully refine blank potions using the second-ring magical artifact, the bronze cauldron, given to him by King Otto.

If that's the case, then perhaps the pattern on the surface of that bronze cauldron contains the name "Ling Hong".

Locke bowed to the Rose Witch, saying, "Rose Witch, my teacher asked me to thank you."

The Rose Witch rested her chin on her right hand, nodded slightly, and squinted her eyes, saying, "Actually, you don't need to thank me. I don't necessarily have to give it to you; I'll only give it to you if you win."

The Rose Witch said, "You cunning boy, the stakes are in."

"Can I talk to my granddaughter now?"

Rose the Witch looked at Locke expressionlessly. At this moment, a huge spinning machine appeared behind her, seemingly located in the far distance, making it difficult to see with the naked eye.

But soon the spinning machine came closer and closer, and every detail appeared in Locke's eyes like an explosion.

The entire piece is grayish-black and made of special snow-forged magic pattern steel, with an extremely beautiful surface. Streams of water spray out from the two rows of nozzles on the spinning machine, like ten fountains. A large amount of thick yarn is drawn into the rotating cup by the water flow and then spun into fine yarn.

Rose the Witch's magic pressure is 19999, which is on the edge of becoming a Star Ring Wizard. She is just one step away from completing the monetization of her ultimate magic and entering the Virtual Forging stage.

Many wizards present were whispering among themselves, especially the three directors of the White Wizarding Association, the third-ring wizard representatives from the seven top universities who had come to the banquet, and the wizard directors from the ten top shop alliances, all of whom nodded in agreement.

As the direct disciple of the throne wizard of Yunze Wetland, it wouldn't be unreasonable for him to put on a 'spell performance' at his own celebration banquet.

It does have the ancient style of a wizard from the Enlightenment era.

Moreover, at this moment, they can also see the level of each student personally trained by the two renowned throne wizards of Yunze Wetland.

That's actually quite an interesting story.

The wizard director of the Arthas Shop Alliance, in particular, looked at Locke with a smile. He had recently heard that Locke's wizard shoe brand had made a lot of money for the Arthas Shop Alliance.

Alsace was essentially a big landlord.

However, after Solas's Barefoot and Melochy's Magic Step grew big, they broke away from this major landlord, which was inevitable.

Although they later quickly supported the Blue Ribbon Shop Alliance in the wizarding shoe industry, unfortunately, Blue Ribbon was a subsidiary of Solas's Lightfoot and was controlled by Solas's Lightfoot.

Therefore, for the Alsace Shop Alliance, their interests lie with individual shop owners and small shop alliances, not with large shop alliances.

At this moment, the shuttleless loom behind Rose the Witch began to turn, rapidly refining various raw materials into silk threads.

The witch Rose, dressed in a wizard's robe adorned with black demon roses, was graceful and charming. A hint of disdain and frivolity appeared on her beautiful face. Then she raised her right hand, her middle finger and thumb touching, and a thread appeared in her hand.

"I heard you clashed with the Witch Georgina in the Silent Grail War? Hmm, her skill level was just so-so. So I think that makes you underestimate my textile science."

"My textile science is based on alchemy. What is textile science? Our greatest magic is the various textile machines, but there are more than a hundred different types of textile machines alone, not to mention the specific differences between textile machines of the same type. The one behind me is a high-pressure water jet textile machine without a flying shuttle, developed by the Rose Council."

"This textile machine can maximize our textile efficiency and expand the range of raw materials that can be spun into yarn. This is the [Water Cannon Textile Machine]."

Rose the Witch looked at Locke with a blatant frivolity in her eyes.

"The ridiculous new textile science at Bonifacio University places too much emphasis on weaving methods and neglects weaving materials. Therefore, in our last confrontation with you, we did not truly demonstrate the strength of our textile science."

Locke sensed the undeniable tone in the other person's voice. He had originally intended to give the other person some face, since he was a guest, but at this moment he remained expressionless.

"Enough talk, let's get to the questions."

Rose the Witch pinched a strand of silk thread, and the water cannons and spinning machines behind her roared like cannons. Then, under the pressure of the high-pressure water flow, the various silk threads behind her began to twist into yarn.

Locke looked at her water cannon spinning machine and immediately began to think.

"Like the wizard Chad, is your magic primarily based on water as your greatest source of energy?"

"This ultimate magic is indeed very interesting."

"This Rose Witch is the teacher's academic enemy, and her granddaughter possesses 19999 magic pressure, which means she has at least four Great Magic Runes. As for whether she has more, I think it's highly likely. I just don't know exactly how many Great Magic Runes she has."

"But there are at least four."

As a direct disciple of the Throne Wizard, the probability of not having an extra extremely powerful magic rune is extremely low and can be disregarded.

Second-circle wizards not only differ in magical pressure, resulting in a fundamental difference, but also in the ability to forge extremely powerful magical spell models due to their superior magical runes.

Of course, if the wrong Great Magic Rune is added, increasing the energy dissipation of Great Magic and reducing the instantaneous magic pressure multiplier, such a thing could happen.

At this moment, the witch Rose held a strand of transparent water and said, "Look, water can be woven into thread."

Then, the spinning machine behind her started turning, and beams of light were spun into threads by her.

"Light can also be woven into thread."

"The wind can also weave threads."

Rose the witch reached out and grabbed a wisp of air, tossing it into the loom behind her. The loom roared as various precious alchemical raw materials stored inside—star silver, dragon fury steel, blood gold, wind elemental gel—were added into it. The loom had at least a hundred steps, each handled by a machine within it.

Metal is smelted, shaped, and processed into yarn, which is then spun coarsely and finely into silk thread.

Finally, she raised a thread in her hand. The thread was semi-transparent, like air gel. Holding the thread, she smiled slightly, then grabbed both ends of the thread in front of Locke and began to pull it outwards. The thread suddenly extended, seemingly without end.

Suddenly, she released her hands, and the lines quickly returned to their original state.

Amazing stretchability!
Meanwhile, the silk thread swayed in the wind, seemingly without any mass.

Locke calmly observed the scene and began to analyze it.

First, the special weaving thread of the water-based textile type should be an inherent ability of her great magic. In essence, it is a kind of magic that can transform water resources into water threads and form a positive cycle in some way.

Locke's tiger eyes opened, the three-eyed tiger cat's eyes seemed to shine a divine light on Rose the witch. Rose the witch frowned slightly, disliking the feeling of being seen through.

At this moment, Locke used the power of his ancient creature bloodline to enhance his perception, and he saw what appeared to be a river behind the water cannon spinning machine.

'To weave the waters of a river into threads, thus taming it, seems to me that this great magic of Rose's is simply placed in the middle of the largest river in a colonized world, taming its currents and bringing it calm.'

Locke made a quick judgment.

'And those woven threads of light and wind were likely achieved through the subsequent addition of massive magical runes. Actually, it wasn't that she truly turned light and wind into threads; upon closer inspection, a considerable amount of alchemical materials were incorporated.'

So, they only utilized a portion of the wind and a portion of the light.

'Logically, she should have at least two more second-circle spell models with greatly enhanced runes. Old textile science focuses on materials, so it's most likely a special kind of thread.'

Locke made a judgment. However, since this was not a real fight, neither side would use all their skills, so Locke could not see much more.

At that moment, Rose the Witch curled the corners of her lips into a smile.

"Why be confined to every blade of grass and every tree in the world? The wind, the water, the mountains, and the trees can all become the threads of our textile science."

She took out a second-ring magic plant called the "King Jade Vine". The vine was as green as jade, extremely beautiful, and its overall shape resembled a large swallow. It looked like the most beautiful jade magic plant in the world.

At this moment, the wisteria seemed to sense its fate, its branches and leaves trembling slightly. The next moment, it was thrown into Rose's water cannon spinning machine by the witch.

After the vines entered the water cannon spinning machine, they were immediately immersed in different magical pools inside the machine, where they were quickly soaked and degummed. Then, a device inside the spinning machine scraped away the woody parts, separating long fiber bundles, and then the fibers were combed by an iron comb.

The whole process was as smooth as flowing water. All the long fiber bundles of the King Jade Vine of these two-ringed magic plants were mixed with those air lines and turned into a line as white as jade.

Locke watched her dazzling and self-satisfied performance and couldn't help but feel annoyed.

"This person is just bragging, but she may not actually be as powerful as she claims to be as strong as Georgina the Witch. Luckily, she's just exchanging ideas with me right now, giving me a challenge. If this were during a competition, I wouldn't give her this much time. One powerful spell and she'd be out of the competition."

"If it were a life-or-death battle, I would have already punched her in the face. Calm down, calm down, don't make myself look like I lack composure."

Locke tried to convince himself.

"We're all civilized people, and these are all white wizards. Besides, it's not good to break the law in front of so many important people."

'The three directors of the White Wizarding Association are still here.'

Locke maintained his fake smile and gestured for Rose the Witch to enter.

"Please continue."

Rose the Witch proudly raised her chin, and with a swift movement of her right hand, strands of silk, neither jade nor cloud, appeared in her palm.

A whole bunch.

The witch Rose said, "These are special silk threads I designed called Cloud Threads. These cloud threads have almost no weight and will float in the air."

"If it encounters a magical attack, it will retreat."

“Even without any magical manipulation, these threads will automatically flutter in the air like a dragon’s whiskers. Therefore, I call them Cloud Whiskers.”

The spinning machine behind Rose the Witch spun, and soon a large piece of cloud-beard cloth woven from cloud-beard threads floated in the sky above the wizard town.

In just a few moments, it became the size of a room.

Locke paused for a moment.

"She was showing me how efficient she was. Although she didn't say it explicitly, I knew that this kind of cloud-like thread was an excellent material for making second-circle wizard shoes."

It’s not easy to deal with.

This is a blatant act of self-deprecation.

This cloud-like thread seems to be made from a thread woven with wind elements, combined with a thread woven from the plant fibers of a second-ring magical plant, the [King Jade Vine], and then with the water thread inside the spinning machine. The three threads converge into one, forming a cloud-like thread.

The wizards present all saw through the Rose Witch's true intentions.

The head of the organization department at Yunze Wetlands suppressed a laugh, secretly thinking: 'Lock defeated the Georgina witch promoted by the new textile science. Therefore, for textile wizards who want to restore the prestige of the old textile science, the best approach isn't to challenge the heavily protected Georgina witch at Bonifacius University.'

Instead, he sought out Locke Augustine, the first-place winner who had defeated Georgina the Witch and obtained the Silent Grail, for a magical duel.

'If we beat him, it will be said that their old textile science has surpassed the new textile science.'

Schools of thought, they fight each other, all for a little bit of fame.

Of course, the Rose Witch's purpose was not only to use Locke to gain power and suppress the new textile science, but also to find out about the Catherine Witch's matter.

Therefore, this is killing two birds with one stone.

No, it might be killing three birds with one stone.

Rose the witch gestured for Locke to enter.

"Augustine, breeder, please shoot down this piece of my cloud-bearded cloth."

“I am a renowned wizard shoe designer, and this Cloudbeard cloth is the upper material I developed for a new second-circle wizard shoe. My junior brother Augustine has only recently become a second-circle wizard, so I came here specifically to give him some pointers.”

Locke smiled.

This is a personal grudge.

The conflict stems from the shoemaker and himself, the breeder who suddenly bursts into the market and wreaks havoc.

Locke summoned his Golden Branch and his Little Golden Jujube Hanging Spear. Since he only needed to hit them and not destroy them, he did not use his full strength.

Locke drew his bow and arrow, about to release it. 'The main difficulty should be the cloud-like fabric; the material is special, extremely light. Moreover, its characteristic of automatically repelling magical attacks makes it a top-tier material for wizard shoes.'

'Are they testing my attack magic on their competitor? It's pointless.'

So the key is to overcome this characteristic?

'This is difficult, but I can temporarily modify the spell model so that the Peach Blossom Thorn Arrow splits into two arrows at the moment of firing, attacking from both sides.'

'For me, a second-circle wizard, this means the ability to quickly modify spell models during combat.'

'Of course, this is quite challenging for me right now; it requires me to concentrate...'

Locke drew his bow and arrow, and under the watchful eyes of his five senior brothers and sisters, he was about to release the arrow.

Trajan the wizard hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

But at that very moment, a dragon head seemed to appear before Locke's eyes, its eyes glaring angrily, with black horns and red eyes, resembling both a demon and a god, startling Locke.

In an instant, Locke's superhuman intuition was activated, and the next moment, he sensed that something was wrong.

wrong.

This cloud-patterned cloth is no ordinary item.

Locke frowned.

Rose the witch frowned.

Locke, on the other hand, had a tiger eye appear on his forehead. If viewed from above, the three-eyed tiger cat's perception was extremely powerful.

If both can perceive the flow of dimensional power with the naked eye, then the eyes of an ordinary wizard are like those of an ordinary person, while the eyes of a three-eyed tiger cat are like those equipped with an electronic telescope.

With his enhanced eyesight, Locke quickly realized something was wrong.

'That's not right.'

Locke realized what was happening.

He looked at the cloud-like cloth above everyone's heads. The cloud-like cloth covered the shadows, but what supported it was not the root of textile science, but the root of botany!
'This isn't a piece of cloth at all.'

Locke finally realized where he had almost been tricked.

'For weavers, magical artifacts are spell models. This piece of cloth is a spell, a spell model connected to the water cannon spinning machine. But this Rose witch's water cannon spinning machine isn't simply a simple major textile magic; it's primarily based on textile magic, with botanical spell models added as auxiliary elements.'

'The evidence is that the main body of that spinning machine is only partially magical; another part is made of magical plants. I should have realized that sooner.'

'That piece of cloth, I don't know what kind of magical model it used, was attached to a botanical root realm. When I attack that cloth with botanical magic, it's like attacking a magical artifact located at a higher level within the botanical root realm while standing at a lower level.'

Locke suddenly understood.

While it's not that you can't attack, this makes it difficult to hit your target, essentially forcing you to attack from below. And that piece of cloud-bearded cloth is inherently difficult to hit.

Therefore, it became even more difficult.

With his super-intuitive guidance, Locke used his tiger-eye to observe the clues and figured out the whole trap.

Therefore, it is necessary to give him a challenge and limit the type of attack magic he uses.

If he were to use an offensive spell other than botany, this trick would no longer work.

The root environment is a platform, but this platform has different levels.

The lifting range was the same, but because of the different magical pressure, everyone's maximum magic was at different heights on this trapezoidal platform!
At this moment, Rose the Witch's magic pressure is 19999, so her ultimate magic, in the Botanical Root Realm, is definitely at a higher level than her own ultimate magic, Evolution Moon!

　Rose's mana pressure has been increased to 19999, a buff in this version, because the author previously wrote her mana pressure too low in the earlier chapters.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)