Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems

Chapter 624: You Can Have Two Grand Magics!

Inside his dormitory room, Locke opened his Druid's Ring and stepped into it. The thousand-acre forest within was lush and verdant, its branches and leaves flourishing. Having been washed through by the stellar energy of the Night Meteor, the entire forest had undergone a natural process of transformation and evolution.It had gained an added trace of ancient nobility.

This effect was actually somewhat better than what Locke could have achieved through manual magical intervention. He could see that the Ancient Life Tree, nourished by the Night Meteor's energy, had already reached the crystallization stage of the First Circle.

The dense and thriving Ancient Life Tree sensed Locke's arrival and immediately lowered its branches. The crown's branches made contact with Locke's fingertips, and the magical power of the three hundred and four First Circle magical plants within the Forest Sanctuary, including one newly added Sunny Sky Birch storing a combination of two varieties of Type 2 Tyrant Element cells, all gathered together and touched his fingers in return.

"The Ancient Life Tree has grown to the crystallization stage of the First Circle. With it as the core, I can expand the forest again. By my estimation, the forest's area can be increased by at least threefold, and the original number of First Circle magical plants can grow to one thousand."

"The Forest Sanctuary's overall strength will be elevated to its greatest degree."

Locke thought, "But the Druid's Ring is no longer sufficient."

The Druid's Ring only had an area of fifteen hundred acres.

Area was not actually the most pressing problem. The deeper issue was that the Druid's Ring, even with the enhancement of the Four Elements Ring, was already struggling to house a magical plant forest of several thousand acres.

He needed better druidic equipment.

Fortunately, he had earned quite a good sum of money at the Sports Festival.

"Expanding it once more should be able to push the ancient-period forest into an even more primordial state." Locke thought, drawing on the ecological knowledge he had accumulated, "Ideally, I could transplant some truly ancient trees directly into my Forest Sanctuary, rather than relying on those greenhouse magical plants that had been carefully cultivated by breeders in nurseries."

In truth, after being washed through by the stellar energy of the Night Meteor this time, his Forest Sanctuary had already taken on a quality reminiscent of a wild forest in nature.

To take this step further would require a massive financial investment.

But that was not the most important thing. What truly mattered most was finding a future path forward for the Forest Sanctuary magic itself.

The Forest Alliance Curse could be that path.

He just hadn't yet figured out how to make it happen.

Locke left the Druid's Ring. Back in his study, a pile of documents had accumulated. After the competition ended, Locke had gone through a large number of materials from the free access zone, and so they were now stacked throughout the room.

But none of it had given him a clear direction.

The Forest Alliance Curse was something that even Dean Lewis, the former head of Lilith's Cottage, had never managed to develop.

If he could develop the Forest Alliance Curse, it would not only further increase the total biomass of his Forest Sanctuary, but also further strengthen his control over it and allow it to undergo a true transformation.

According to Dean Lewis's planning, this step was inherently one that could only be taken when crossing into the Second Circle wizard stage.

Locke flipped through the books on his desk. "But it's not that I have no leads at all. It's just that my contribution points are completely depleted at the moment. I need to submit a few articles to Zone 1 and Zone 2 journals in order to exchange for more contribution points."

"And furthermore..." Locke was reading through an article by a sun ring wizard from the Rose Council. The article was research from thirty years ago, but it provided some concrete case studies on how alliances between various large forests could be established.

After reading through it, he felt that this portion of the material was very helpful to him. However, he still had some questions, and certain things in the article were not explained in enough detail. So he had drafted a letter the previous day addressed to that Rose Council sun ring wizard, attempting to consult with them.

He just didn't know whether that flower-language sun ring wizard would write back.

Locke looked at the eight million magic stones that had been transferred to him and the corner of his lips curved slightly. His wizard shoes at the Sports Festival had topped the sales ranking, which was why he had earned eight million magic stones in the span of just seven days.

This ability to accumulate wealth had already made him the envy of quite a few wizards in his research group.

And with such a large sum of money in hand, Locke now felt confident enough to pursue his earlier hypotheses. "Before completing the Forest Alliance Curse, I can absolutely use the ecological knowledge I currently have to push the ancient-period forest all the way into an elder-period state. With the Ancient Life Tree there, I can keep this forest in check."

Without the Ancient Life Tree, this idea would have been impossible to realize.

A Forest Sanctuary that became too powerful could actually turn around and suppress its own wielder. It would no longer be a forest that revolved around him. Instead, he would become part of the forest.

That would be equivalent to magical backlash.

He would very likely end up trapped within the forest, unable to leave, and that would be a deeply troubling situation.

"But the prerequisite is purchasing equipment better than the Druid's Ring."

"I can ask my teacher about this. Beyond that, I can use the Queen's Chessboard to cultivate a batch of Type 2 Tyrant Element magical plant forest within my Forest Sanctuary."

Type 2 Tyrant Element was entirely his own research product.

Using these tyrant-ization magical plants could both strengthen his forest and increase his degree of control over it.

Of course, tyrant-ization magical plants were far from normal magical plants, so the ratio of tyrant-ization to normal magical plants within the forest would need to be maintained within a reasonable range.

As for the Abyssal Devourer Body magical plants...

Those could be forgotten about.

Such things were not suitable for placement within his Forest Sanctuary. The hidden dangers were too great, and the drawbacks would outweigh the benefits.

Locke took out the four Full Moon Growth instances he had stabilized within witch porcelain. "I also need to analyze the moonlight stored within these four spells as soon as possible."

"To use it in refining my Peach Bow Thorn Arrow and Full Moon Growth."

"Furthermore, within the Night Meteor, my Three-Eye Tiger-Eye Cat bloodline gained the potential to advance toward the Second Circle. And the true form of my dragon bloodline is also becoming increasingly clear."

A golden, Immortal Dragon Scale appeared on Locke's left hand. Very quickly, the scale dimmed and transformed into a dangerous shade of black-gold antiquity.

A terrifying surge of dragon bloodline power arose within it.

Locke's pupils shifted into golden vertical slits. He rolled his neck, and a trace of draconic ferocity appeared on his face.

He looked at the mirror in his study, continuing to roll his neck slowly.

"Both of my bloodline powers seem to have the potential to advance toward the Second Circle. My power system is so complex, and a Grand Magic reflects a wizard's unique qualities and power system..."

Locke thought, "If the foundation of a Grand Magic is not laid properly from the start, if it doesn't fully reflect a wizard's qualities and power system, it won't only affect their current strength."

"It will also limit their future ceiling. Right now I have the powers of archaeology, bloodline studies, breeding, botany, and potion studies. How exactly am I supposed to balance all of these?"

Locke spent an afternoon writing an article about the Tyrant Eye potion, then had his student Gregor submit it to Grassland Cloud Marsh.

At the same time, he decided to wait until he had reported to Research Group 2 and learned about their research content before deciding what kind of article to write next, in order to earn more contribution points.

After all, since Witch Yekaterina had asked him to collaborate with Group 2, it would be inappropriate for him to continue analyzing the action pathways of bromeliad magical plants.

...

In Witch Yekaterina's office at the Origin Academy, she slid a cup of eagle-tooth black tea toward Locke and smiled, saying, "Locke, you gave the Academic Committee's wizards quite a pleasant surprise this time."

"You did not disappoint my expectations of you."

Witch Yekaterina handed Locke a badge depicting four hands clasped together. "This is the emblem of your right to participate in the Plane Conquest Competition, which you have earned. Remember to keep it safe. If it is lost, it would be as though Golden Crown Mountain had forfeited outright."

"The Plane Conquest Competition is tied to the rankings of the Origin Academies among the four top-tier institutions. It cannot be taken lightly."

Locke was somewhat stunned. "Teacher, did you believe from the very beginning that I could win the championship? Even knowing that the Spell Combat Tournament involved three-way competition, and that there was a formidable opponent like Wizard Antoine..."

Witch Yekaterina smiled. "Yes."

"I simply chose to trust in your ability. From the moment you were able to rapidly complete two projects using hyper-intuition, I knew you could. Because... you are far too similar to the younger me."

"The younger me would certainly have been able to win the championship of the Spell Combat Tournament. In my youth, I never actually encountered a Third Circle wizard's reincarnation at the First Circle stage, but even if I had, he still would have lost."

Witch Yekaterina looked at Locke, hesitated briefly, then reached out and patted him on the shoulder. "Trusting you is the same as trusting myself."

"So your performance this time was still within my expectations. Of course... there was one point that slightly exceeded them. And that was Full Moon Growth."

Witch Yekaterina said, "Locke, show me Full Moon Growth again."

Locke bowed respectfully and said, "Of course, Teacher."

He extended his hand and traced the outline of a magical moon in midair.

Witch Yekaterina shook her head. "Not that bare, stripped-down version."

"I mean your Porcelain Moon."

Only then did Locke understand. He took the Porcelain Moon out from his star realm ring.

This spell had already been refined by him into a state somewhere between a spell and a magical artifact.

Witch Yekaterina looked at the spell, furrowing her brow slightly, seemingly deep in thought.

"It makes sense now, why you were able to defeat Antoine. The first major reason is that he had no competition for a long time and became lax in his studies."

"The second major reason is that your Porcelain Moon Growth carries the characteristics of a Grand Magic prototype. Of course, it is still far too weak right now to count as a true prototype."

Witch Yekaterina said, "As for which spell to choose as the blueprint for your Grand Magic, that is entirely up to you. After all, only you yourself can fuse all of your power together. Guidance from others will always be one step removed."

"It might even lead you in completely the wrong direction."

Witch Yekaterina thought for a moment, then raised her right hand. The bookshelf in her office suddenly opened, revealing one volume after another of magical books bound with chains.

She waved her hand, and the chains on one of the chained magical books automatically fell away. The book flipped open on its own, and a single page drifted into Witch Yekaterina's hand.

At the same moment, the book lunged as though trying to break free from the bookshelf, but the magical chains locked it back into place, and the cabinet door closed on its own.

Witch Yekaterina handed Locke a page that resembled a leaf, saying, "This is the Moon Goddess Blessing Curse."

"Based on my observation of your magic and what I believe its future evolution will look like, following your own line of thinking, I believe this is a spell you should study. Learning it will be of great benefit to you."

Witch Yekaterina said, "Also, I am still investigating the demon dragon bloodline on your body. I have some special suspicions."

"Are you aware that under certain circumstances, a wizard is not limited to having only one Grand Magic?"

Locke looked at Witch Yekaterina with an expression of shock. "Teacher?"

Witch Yekaterina gave a small nod, then turned away and raised her left hand, signaling him to be quiet for the moment. "Based on my investigation, the bloodline you carry belongs to the World-Annihilating Demon Dragon bloodline. And the World-Annihilating Demon Dragon bloodline has one innate talent, which is a dual soul."

"If a wizard possesses two souls, they can have two Grand Magics. This is in itself a paradox. How could one person possess two souls? But the World-Annihilating Demon Dragon clan possesses precisely this special talent."

Witch Yekaterina looked at him deeply and said, "The World-Annihilating Demon Dragon possesses a special Half-Body mechanism."

"That is to say, in addition to your main body existing here in this place and time, there will also be a Half-Body of yours existing within an alien time and space somewhere in the boundless void. This Half-Body looks different from you, is the same age as you, and shares the same soul. When either the main body or the Half-Body dies, the two souls will converge into the surviving body."

Witch Yekaterina looked at Locke and said, "Therefore, through my study of the World-Annihilating Demon Dragon bloodline, I have arrived at the following conclusion. It is very likely that you can possess two Grand Magics."

"Due to the special nature of the demon dragon bloodline, you carry two great souls."

"If you can possess two Grand Magics, it would resolve many problems. For instance, your power system is complex and disorderly, yet you would not have to deliberately abandon certain magical fields you previously studied just to advance to the Second Circle. Many wizards, in the process of advancing, truly have no choice but to make that painful sacrifice."

Witch Yekaterina waved her hand, and an image composed of peach blossom petals appeared in midair. Within it, a wizard was shown being split in two, expression anguished. "To advance, one must keep the Grand Magic simple and pure. Otherwise, a Grand Magic that is too complex will create shackles that block advancement. So those wizards must abandon a portion of their own qualities, sacrificing them for the sake of their future."

"A primitive Grand Magic is like an anvil. It requires the wizard to forge it with a hammer, and so it is not convenient for an anvil to be made overly complex."

"But you are different." Witch Yekaterina continued, "If you can divide your power system into two, then both Grand Magics can remain in a state of elegant simplicity."

Hearing Witch Yekaterina explain the World-Annihilating Demon Dragon bloodline in such detail, Locke swallowed quietly. As someone who had transmigrated from another world, that transmigration had always been his greatest secret.

But he suddenly realized that the wizard world itself was a multiverse of planes existing at the level of the great void.

Traversing time and space was, for high-circle wizards, as routine as eating and drinking.

In that case, did the plane he originally came from exist within the great void?

Was he, Locke Augustine, actually the Half-Body born in the Blue Star world due to the demon dragon bloodline?

No. That wasn't right.

Locke suddenly caught himself. He had nearly been led astray by Witch Yekaterina's explanation. He said to her, "Teacher, according to what you've said, my demon dragon bloodline took shape with the help of the Night Meteor and the emerald cat's eye stone."

"If I were to have a Half-Body..."

"Then it should have only just come into existence recently, shouldn't it?"

Witch Yekaterina gave a small nod. "Your demon dragon bloodline has one opportunity to generate a Half-Body. Based on my investigation, when your demon dragon bloodline reaches the crystallization stage of the First Circle, you may choose to use this Half-Body opportunity."

Witch Yekaterina reached out and pressed her fingertip to the center of Locke's brow. A peach blossom petal rune appeared between his eyes, then quickly vanished.

Witch Yekaterina said, "I have cast the Peach Heart Curse on you."

"This curse will allow you, upon entering a plane outside the wizard world, to forcibly generate a Half-Body of yourself within that plane. Which specific plane you choose is entirely governed by your own will. You can select a particular plane and generate your Half-Body there to plunder that plane's knowledge. Otherwise, the boundless void is so vast that waiting for your Half-Body to naturally merge with you would take far too long. It would essentially come down to luck."

"You would have to wait anywhere from more than ten years to several decades."

Locke asked Witch Yekaterina, "Teacher, when my Half-Body's soul enters my body, will the two souls compete for control of the body?"

Witch Yekaterina shook her head. "The domain of the soul is not as simple as you imagine. The Twin Talent of the demon dragon clan is far more complex than you might think."

"You can understand it this way. Your Half-Body is another version of you. It is a special avatar of yours. When it returns to you, you will still be yourself. You will simply have two souls."

Witch Yekaterina thought for a moment and said, "In essence, that soul which is reborn into another world is simply one of your spells."

"You can understand it as: one day, the 'you' reflected in the mirror suddenly steps out and sets off on an adventure in a distant place. The moment it comes back, you are still you."

"In essence, this is a spell the demon dragon clan uses to harvest other worlds. It is a type of special avatar, just like the Nature Avatar you have used before. Both are extraordinary avatars." Witch Yekaterina held up the book in her hand.

Locke was momentarily taken aback when he read the title: "One Hundred Methods for Raising a Demon Dragon."

Locke said to Witch Yekaterina, "Thank you, Teacher. You looked into this on my behalf and shared all of this with me, and you cast the Peach Heart Curse to help me lock onto the location of my Half-Body. If I can create two Grand Magics, I will have an enormous advantage in organizing and categorizing my powers."

Witch Yekaterina nodded. "Actually, it's fine either way. I personally believe one Grand Magic is enough."

"If you have two Grand Magics, you will need to forge eight times, four more times than everyone else. But you don't need to worry too much about that. I will help you resolve it."

Witch Yekaterina said, "I intend to specifically research materials for you in the near future. First, to fully understand the characteristics of your bloodline. Second, to devise a method that allows you to forge two Grand Magics simultaneously."

"Otherwise, having to forge four additional times more than everyone else is completely unacceptable."

Locke said, "Teacher, didn't the World-Annihilating Demon Dragon clan's Half-Body talent serve as an advantage for them in the past?"

Witch Yekaterina curled the corner of her lips. "First of all, Grand Magic did not exist in the past. Racial talent advantages that were strengths in the past may well become weaknesses in the present era. As things currently stand, if I don't find you a way to forge simultaneously, then at the Second Circle stage at least, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages."

"After all, advancing to the Third Circle as quickly as possible is what truly matters. If you are required to forge four additional times more than everyone else out of nowhere, that is equivalent to having four additional major levels to clear. In that case, it would be better to simply create only one Grand Magic from the start."

Witch Yekaterina said, "No matter how many new levels you carve out within the Second Circle, it will be of no use."

From what Witch Yekaterina said, Locke gathered a piece of information. It seemed that the Second Circle stage of magical power could keep advancing indefinitely without necessarily needing to cross into the Third Circle.

For instance, under normal circumstances, the Second Circle had four major levels.

If a Second Circle wizard lacked the right approach and did not advance to the Third Circle, it seemed they could bypass the racial soul limit breakthrough and instead keep creating more and more major levels within the Second Circle stage indefinitely.

So the racial soul limit characteristic of the Second Circle must be fundamentally different from the two racial soul limit breakthroughs that occurred at the apprentice and First Circle stages.

Locke sensed that because Witch Yekaterina's magical level was so high, even an offhand remark from her contained partial secrets about the path from the Second Circle to the Third Circle.

Yet the moment he tried to think through this portion of secret knowledge, he felt his thoughts becoming abnormal, his mind turning slower and slower.

It seemed that his current level was insufficient for him to contemplate this knowledge.

Witch Yekaterina said, "Locke, go ahead and report to Research Group 2 soon. This magical painting is a map of Group 2's location. I have already informed Cis."

Locke said, "Understood, Teacher."

"Thank you, Teacher. It seems I have caused you a great deal of trouble..."

Witch Yekaterina smiled and said, "Not at all. The effort I put in for you isn't for any other reason. It's simply because you rendered me a service this time. Otherwise I wouldn't bother concerning myself with you."

The golden dragon's mocking laughter sounded only in Witch Yekaterina's ear. "Do you even believe that yourself?"

Witch Yekaterina's face became utterly expressionless. She looked at Locke and said, "All right, do you have any other questions?"

Locke took the opportunity to ask Witch Yekaterina whether there was a ring better than the Druid's Ring available.

Witch Yekaterina looked at the druid ring on Locke's left hand. "That is interesting. Your First Circle permanent defensive force field is indeed an unconventional choice. At first I thought it was simply extreme, and I refrained from saying too much. But gradually I came to see its merits."

"I believe your permanent defensive force field was learned at Lilith's Cottage. Is that correct?"

Locke said, "Yes, Teacher."

Witch Yekaterina glanced at him. "Mm. Lilith's Cottage, Myst's Power. Good. You've had good fortune. The permanent defensive force field I learned at the First Circle stage was fairly ordinary, just a defensive spell called Falling Blossom Apricot Rain."

"Later, using the two opportunities I had when advancing to the Second Circle and advancing to the Third Circle, I reforged it into my current Three Thousand Peach Blossoms. Only then did I truly transform it from an ordinary permanent defensive force field into a permanent defensive spell that could be considered rather formidable even among spells of the same level. However, you don't need to go through that kind of trouble. Your original permanent defensive force field already seems to be quite solid."

"You can go purchase a Grand Druid Ring." Witch Yekaterina said, "However, a Grand Druid Ring is simply a larger half-plane ring. Carrying a half-plane with you at all times ultimately has its limits. Size, area, and the degree of the plane's completeness all have restrictive ceilings."

"My recommendation to you is this: purchase a Zephyr Transparent Contact Lens."

"I'll write you a letter of recommendation. I have a good friend who is a Third Circle wizard, an alchemist who specializes in this field. This item is not yet available on the open market, but I believe it would suit you far better."

Witch Yekaterina quickly wrote a letter on the surface of the desk. "Take it."

Locke said to Witch Yekaterina, "Thank you, Teacher."

He expressed a few more words of gratitude, then turned and took his leave.