Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems - Chapter 1025

Chapter 1014 The Hundred Dragon Peach Pit and the Spirit Breath are Companions!

This book is first published on Taiwan Novel Network → 𝘵𝘸𝘬𝘢𝘯.𝘤𝘰𝘮, providing you with an error-free and disordered chapter reading experience.

“This is————”

After Locke walked through the door opened by the Green Dragon Throne, he saw a garden composed of various vines behind the door. Each vine was of Star Ring level. It was hard to imagine that such a place existed.

This didn’t seem to be the Wizarding World, nor a Wizarding Secret Realm. Spirit breath was everywhere, as if it were composed of spirit breath, but it wasn’t that simple.

Locke’s eyes showed doubt. He walked among the vine garden. Some vines were covered with sharp thorns, some were covered with suckers, some were wrapped in flames, and some were wrapped in water.

A vine that looked like a three-headed snake blocked his way and attacked him violently.

Locke instinctively summoned a Golden Wheat plant and lashed it at the three-headed serpent vine. However, this wild vine was, after all, a Star Ring-level magical plant; instead of being severed, it went berserk.

All the vines in the entire garden erupted in fury.

“Does the Green Dragon Throne want me to eliminate these out-of-control magical vines? Strange, there are many kinds of these vines, and their appearance is very unusual. Many of these magical plants don’t seem to be ones I’ve ever seen before. Where can there be so many vine-like magical plants I’ve never seen before?”

The three-headed serpent magical plant didn’t retreat; instead, it seemed to transform into a three-headed python and lunged at him.

Locke instantly activated his Abyssal Mind’s Eye, directly distorting the three-headed serpent vine with his vision, then uprooting the three-headed serpent and moving it a thousand meters away from him.

The next moment, he covered his eyes, because the consumption of the Abyss Mind’s Eye was greater than he had expected. However, fortunately, the power of this eye technique was indeed astonishing. The Star Ring Demon Plant with over 20,000 magic pressure couldn’t resist it and was forcibly teleported away.

This was quite astonishing.

Because the magic pressure of a Star Ring-level demon plant was already extremely powerful, yet he was able to directly teleport it to another location using the Abyss Demon Dragon’s eye power.

The bloodline modification technology of the Blue Dragon Throne was indeed powerful. This Abyss Demon Dragon’s eye power came from the bloodline power of the demon dragon, an innate ability of the demon dragon bloodline. As long as he purchased some true blood made by bloodline wizards and used its accompanying spells, he could probably further enhance the power of the Abyss Mind’s Eye.

Locke landed on the ground, and the entire vine garden suddenly seemed to be completely hostile to him. A massive magical pressure assaulted him, so powerful and unstoppable that Locke felt this was the strongest enemy he had ever encountered. The

two magical pressures collided.

Behind Locke, two phantom images of star-ring bloodlines appeared, a dragon and a tiger, while a full moon descended from the sky, and golden trees of prosperity rose from the ground.

As his magical pressure surged, reaching 20,500, the opponent’s magical pressure also increased accordingly, with the total amount and quality being exactly the same.

This made Locke instantly understand something.

The next moment, the space inside the vine garden distorted, and when he opened his eyes again, he found himself back at the location where he had just entered the manor.

Locke checked his status; the magical pressure he had consumed using the power of the Abyss Dragon had not yet recovered.

In other words, everything that had just happened was valid.

It was just that at a certain moment, everything had returned to its starting point.

Moreover, Locke had noticed some details during the battle. He closed his eyes and released his magical pressure once more, striking the three-headed serpent vine that had reappeared in its original position. The magical pressures clashed.

The three-headed serpent vine, like a mad python, was about to attack him.

But just as the vine was about to bite, Locke suddenly reached out his hand, and the vine abruptly stopped in front of him.

Locke’s fingers touched the surface of the vine.

The magical pressures of both sides collided.

The three-headed serpent vine seemed to touch his fingers with a sense of grievance, gently rubbing against them.

“Just as I thought,”

Locke said. “When I attack every vine in this vine garden, it’s like attacking myself.

Because every vine in this manor is actually my own magic, I just didn’t realize it before.”

This was a unique kind of clone mystery.

Because it was so strange, he hadn’t reacted immediately upon entering the garden.

So when he attacked the three-headed serpent vine, it was like he was attacking himself—how could he possibly win?

When one is to fight against all the vines here, it is tantamount to fighting against oneself.

“This seems to be some kind of imprinted land.”

The Great Ming Dragon Sparrow appeared behind Locke. He flew high into the sky, looked down at this seemingly endless land, and marveled at the extraordinary methods of the Throne Wizard.

This is not a virtual world.

It seems to be his own mental world.

In the moment when his power clashed with his own, he saw some remnants of his own mind in the fragments of that power. This place seems to be an imprint of his mental world.

Because it is too magical, Locke himself does not know how to describe this area, this place.

“Look closely, every vine here was once one of my ideas.”

Locke realized that every vine here was a fragment of his magical power.

“They were never real magical plants, but only fragments of my ideas, those breeding projects that did not succeed, or those successful but did not reach the expected varieties, or those vines that are still in the planning stages.”

The magical plant breeding he first encountered during his apprenticeship was vine-type magical plants.

The Green Dragon Throne seemed to have used some special method to reflect the land of her own inner spiritual imprint, and then perfected the magic within that imprint using her magical power.

Was this what she meant by creating a spell model tailored to her from scratch?

Locke looked down at the garden on the ground.

“So, to obtain this spell model, I still have to rely on my own efforts. This space is a very magical space; I still don’t understand its principles. But if I were to perform my duties as a breeder, it would be to calm my mind and sense the spiritual energy of these magical plants.”

Locke closed his eyes. At first, he simply couldn’t hear the wind, and then all sounds around him disappeared.

When a breeder, in this land of spiritual imprint, questions their own heart, wanting their power to interact with the spiritual energy, then their entire being will respond to them.

At this moment, Locke discovered that his spiritual energy was interacting with his own, which further helped him understand himself.

“The spiritual energy has established a fixed flow channel; it seems to be a very fixed pathway.”

Locke memorized this flow of spiritual energy because, for some reason, he felt that this fixed flow channel was very similar to the meditation methods he had learned.

Locke sensed a powerful magical plant, a magical plant that responded to his senses in this place of mental imprinting.

He reached out, communicating with the entire vine garden, and then a magical plant appeared before him, its entire body dark green, like jade.

“This is—a special kind of vitality.”

“Touching it will transmit some kind of hidden knowledge to me. But this knowledge was originally something I figured out myself, so can this magic of the Green Dragon Throne activate my own inner potential?”

Locke felt that this seemed to touch upon something fundamental to third-circle wizards, so he couldn’t understand the vine in his hand as anything specific.

Because it was neither spiritual energy nor spiritual energy; he didn’t know what it was.

This was probably an object that only third-circle or fourth-circle wizards could understand.

However—

Locke pondered, “It seems only one of these special things can be brought out from this vine garden.”

“This thing will become a spell model in my mind, a series of feasible cultivation plans. But if I find a few more of the same thing and put them into a synthesis cube—”

Locke tried putting the object into the synthesis cube, and it showed that it could indeed be synthesized.

A look of wild joy flashed in Locke’s eyes.

If that were the case, then he could stay here a little longer.

On the seventh floor of the True Knowledge Academy at Mount Golden Crown, the witch Catherine swirled her coffee cup, her eyes strangely sweeping over a magic door before her. According to her estimation, given Locke’s potential, he could easily gain something from the [Botany Shortcut] created by the Crown Magic.

Even for a Throne Wizard, opening such a shortcut required a massive amount of resources; it wasn’t something that could be done at will. Therefore, unless it was a very important student, it was generally impossible for a low-level wizard to use Crown Magic to open a shortcut.

Moreover, for a low-ring wizard, each entry carries immense pressure, and multiple

entries in a short period are hardly a good thing.

Therefore, it was truly astonishing that the Green Dragon Throne, known for its cunning and opportunistic nature, had actually used crown magic to open a shortcut for Locke.

However, Locke stayed in the shortcut for a rather long time this time.

Fafnir, the three-ringed golden dragon behind Ekaterina, emerged from behind the wall and asked, “What’s going on? Does this little guy lack talent and potential?”

Ekaterina rolled her eyes at him.

Fafnir chuckled awkwardly, “I was just kidding. If Locke Augustine doesn’t have talent, then what wizard has talent? Each crown spell corresponds to the highest achievement within a small domain. Perhaps the Green Dragon Throne’s crown magic has something special, which is why it allows one to stay there longer.”

Fafnir became serious. “I investigated the person you asked me to investigate before.”

“The woman’s seal has been broken. I remember she was special to you. She was your first student, and you considered her your junior.”

“That woman also knew a lot about you. She knew parts of your ultimate grand plan. But now that she’s free, every moment after her release is a risk to us,”

said Fafnir the Golden Dragon.

The witch Ekaterina said, “She no longer has an identity in the White Wizarding Association, killing her won’t violate wizarding law.”

Fafnir the Golden Dragon’s pupils suddenly contracted. “What do you mean? Katya, I need clearer instructions.”

“Your statement is vague,”

said Ekaterina. “Fafnir, you need to do what’s in our best interest.”

Fafnir the Golden Dragon gave Ekaterina the Golden Dragon a deep look.

“Sometimes I really feel like you’re an emotionless machine. Someone you couldn’t bring yourself to kill before, you can now make swift decisions about, simply because she went against your interests.”

“I understand. My clone recently discovered she’s been active along the Tianjiang River, seemingly trying to sabotage Golden Crown Mountain’s interests there, even making things difficult for Locke Augustine. But I dealt with them before any of that happened.” “

I believe that woman has already colluded with the undead.”

“This is the most troublesome part. I don’t know if she’s revealed our secret to the undead,”

said the witch Catherine. “She never knew the complete plan, so even if she did, it wouldn’t make much difference. And—the undead—”

“Given her personality, this is her biggest trump card; she won’t reveal it easily. She’s very similar to me in my youth. She won’t just hand over her bargaining chip; she’ll definitely hold out for a higher price. But she doesn’t dare to trade with me, so the only possible trading partners are actually two people. One is the Rose Witch, and the other is—that fourth-ring wizard.”

“Fafner, you need to act quickly. Currently, only you can move freely without being detected by almost any high-ring wizard,”

said Fafnir the Golden Dragon. “I understand. I’ll quickly deal with that woman to ensure our final plan isn’t affected in the slightest. My clan has already placed all our bets on you in your advancement to fourth-ring wizard; we have no way to back down now.”

“I only hope you can eventually achieve your goal and become a fourth-ring wizard,”

Ekaterina said to Fafnir. “And wait, Fafnir, I hope Locke won’t get involved in anything related to these things. I want him to focus on preparing for the competition.”

Fafnir smiled and said, “You really spoil him too much.”

Ekaterina nodded and said, “I just don’t want what happened to me in the Black Iron Tower to happen to him again. As a ring wizard, the biggest challenge right now is to completely complete the Unreal Forging and enter the False Forging stage.

But the great magic of the Unreal Forging stage—”

“I will try my best to prevent him from experiencing what I experienced in the Black Iron Tower.”

Fafnir retreated back into the wall.

“I must say, you made the right choice in selecting him as your student. He has brought us so many surprises. Ekaterina, you must try to keep him; he is a valuable student. Moreover, if he stays by your side, you might be able to help him become a third-circle wizard in the future. You already have at least four disciples who are third-circle wizards.”

“Katya, listen to my advice.”

“Don’t hesitate on this matter, because letting him go is tantamount to handing over a young talent you’ve painstakingly nurtured.”

Ekaterina remained expressionless, seemingly lost in thought after hearing Fafnir’s words.

In the shortcut created by the Crown Magic, Locke spent a day synthesizing three special life-giving substances he had discovered.

At this moment, Locke took out the magical plant’s vitality and immediately saw the relevant entry—[Level 10 crafted item, the mark of the Green Dragon’s Claw vine, obtained from the shortcut opened by the Crown Magic, synthesized from three ordinary marks. Absorbing it will grant you a Star Ring-level spell model: Green Dragon’s Grip, and a Star Ring-level magical plant’s essence: a wisp of special essence.]

Locke was stunned. This was indeed a special area opened by the Crown Magic.

Was this the shortcut?

He felt that everything in this place was completely different from the doctrines encountered by second-ring wizards.

—

“Now that I’ve got the item, let’s go.”

Locke already sensed that he was about to be expelled from this area. The next moment, a magic door appeared in front of him.

Without hesitation, he stepped through the magic door and found himself back in front of the witch Catherine.

At this moment, everything in the office had returned to normal, and he could no longer feel the witch Catherine’s magical pressure.

His teacher, sitting before him, looked at him with considerable curiosity and asked, “How did it go, Locke? What did you gain from the shortcut opened by the Green Dragon Throne using her crown magic?”

Locke replied, “I obtained a spell model: Green Dragon’s Grip.”

“Using this spell model, I can summon a vine resembling a green dragon to attack enemies, or, in conjunction with other botanical spells, the green dragon vine will grasp the magical plant and then attack the enemy with the power of a dragon.”

Locke briefly explained his gains from the shortcut.

The witch Catherine nodded.

“This is an advanced application of Spiritual Harmony. It suits your potential perfectly. Crown magic can open shortcuts for wizards in the same field and develop their inner potential, but it’s a drain on both parties. You can’t enter a shortcut again for a while.

” Locke gave a strange look. “Teacher, I don’t think I have the means to have another Throne wizard use crown magic on me again in a short time.”

The witch Catherine curled her lips into a smile. “How do you know there isn’t?” “

Locke, the gains from this trip to the shortcut can slightly compensate for your weakness in spiritual energy. Many of your opponents along the Tianjiang River have long benefited from the shortcuts opened for them by the Throne Wizards, and some have even started to use any means necessary to win. Their teachers, for the sake of performance evaluation, treat them as expendable resources.”

“You’re at a disadvantage in two ways. First, you’re a normal person; you won’t get yourself into trouble because of a single competition.”

“Second, you weren’t born into a high-level wizarding family and didn’t receive instruction from wizards of the third ring or higher from a young age. Therefore, many things that are common sense for wizarding geniuses from prestigious families are things you have to learn from scratch.”

The witch Ekaterina said, “But none of that matters. If we work together, we will become the final victors along the Tianjiang River.”

The witch Ekaterina said, “Spiritual Energy Sharing is just the most rudimentary and wasteful application of spiritual energy. So I’m going to help you learn the Four Holy Blessings and quickly improve your spiritual energy.”

“Hmm? Locke, you seem a little distracted. What are you thinking about?”

Locke bowed to the witch Ekaterina and said, “Teacher, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be distracted, but listening to you talk about spiritual energy, I couldn’t help but think of what I saw and learned in the near-path. Until now, everything that happened there is still unknown to me. And—”

Locke took out a wisp of spiritual energy he had obtained there.

“Teacher, besides the Star Ring spell model: Green Dragon’s Grip I obtained there, I also obtained this special wisp of spiritual energy.”

“It’s a pity I didn’t obtain the corresponding dimensional principle, and this little bit of spiritual energy is too little. Otherwise, I could use the Moon Cultivation Method to introduce it into a magical plant, and perhaps I could cultivate an imaginary root that can continuously extract this special spiritual energy.”

The witch Ekaterina stretched out her hand.

“Let me see. The fact that you found other treasures in this shortcut proves your great potential. Normally, a wizard entering this place would be lucky to get even one high-quality treasure.”

“This is—Azure Dragon’s Spirit Breath.”

The witch Ekaterina’s eyes were strange. “I never expected this.”

Locke asked, “Teacher, do you recognize this spiritual energy?”

The witch Catherine nodded and said, “It is a very high-level and rare spiritual energy. The Azure Dragon’s spiritual energy comes from a legendary magical plant—the Jianmu.”

Locke asked, “Teacher, where is the Jianmu located?”

The witch Catherine smiled helplessly.

“Don’t keep interrupting me. Let me finish.”

“The reason Jianmu is a legendary magical plant is that no one has ever seen it, and its existence is uncertain. I know this because of the Moon Ring project I did at the Black Iron Tower, which was to search for the Azure Dragon’s Spirit Breath. Later, I found the Azure Dragon’s Spirit Breath deep in the Emerald Dream, proving the truth of the Azure Dragon’s Spirit Breath legend, and even indirectly proving the existence of Jianmu. However, the evidence is still relatively weak. I am also very curious about one thing, which is whether Jianmu really exists in this world.”

The witch Catherine said to Locke, “So far, I only have a wisp of Azure Dragon’s Spirit Breath. Since you are so destined for this spirit breath, and can even obtain it in your own nearby place, then I will give you this wisp of spirit breath.”

“But, how come you can obtain a wisp of Azure Dragon’s Spirit Breath from your own nearby place?”

The witch Catherine looked at Locke’s somewhat nervous appearance and suddenly laughed.

“Locke, it seems you have your own little secret. But it’s alright, I don’t care.”

“Which wizard on Golden Crown Mountain doesn’t have their own secrets?”

“This is a seed of the Green Dragon Vine. Only Azure Dragon Spirit Breath can make it germinate. Since you have a wisp of it, use the spirit breath on this seed.”

“You’re lucky to have obtained Azure Dragon Spirit Breath. The Green Dragon Vine is a magical plant seed I found while searching for Azure Dragon Spirit Breath in the endless void. I found three Azure Dragon Spirit Breaths in total, and I’ve already used two of them to grow the Green Dragon Vine, then gave them to the Green Dragon Witch and the Victoria Witch.”

“Because the Green Dragon Vine is a Star Ring-level magical plant, although it’s precious, it’s not very useful to me.

I haven’t used the last Azure Dragon Spirit Breath or the Green Dragon Vine seed.”

Locke looked up at the witch Catherine.

So, is it possible for three Green Dragon Vines to exist in this world?

What would happen if he combined them?

Will the synthesized green dragon vine lead him to the legendary Jianmu tree that exists only in the void?

The witch Catherine handed Locke a stone seed.

Locke watched this scene with a hint of speechlessness, because after his teacher gave him an iron ball seed last time, this time it was a stone seed.

She also included a small handbook.

Locke opened the handbook and discovered that to make the green dragon vine grow, besides needing Azure Dragon Spirit Breath, a great deal of magical resources were required. Azure Dragon Spirit Breath was a kind of hidden life force in all things, but life force alone was not enough to directly give birth to life; a large amount of matter and energy was also needed.

Locke glanced at the complex list of materials. He could simply have his students purchase the other magical materials normally, but the True Phoenix Egg fragment was extremely rare. A True

Phoenix was a third-ring level being.

Where could he get such a thing?

He could only check the various markets to see if they sold it, but even if they did, it would probably be astronomically expensive. Alternatively, he could issue a bounty and hire wizard explorers to search for it in various void planes.

However, a proper void exploration, even with a specific objective, would cost at least 30 to 50 million magic stones.

Locke frowned; it was clear that collecting the fragments of the True Phoenix Egg would be extremely difficult.

But he didn’t need to be so pessimistic, because he had already obtained even the most elusive Azure Dragon Spirit Essence.

That was truly priceless.

The witch Catherine extended her palm, and four special spirit essences appeared within it.

“Spirit Essence Co-Clothing is merely the most rudimentary application of spirit essence. Truly powerful breeders wouldn’t use such a rudimentary method.” “

The next step after Spirit Essence Co-Clothing is Spirit Essence Co-Palace.” “

The next step after Spirit Essence Co-Palace is planting Star Ring Magic Plants capable of catching special spirit essences onto a Great Magic spell, hence the name Spirit Essence Fusion.”

Hearing Catherine’s words, Locke immediately thought of the fourth prince of the Golden Dynasty, Appian.

Clearly, the Great Magic spell he used when killing the Withered Vine Ancestor exhibited the characteristics of Spirit Essence Fusion.

That wizard’s research in spiritual energy was indeed superior to mine.

The witch Catherine said, “It seems you’ve witnessed the unity of spiritual energy before. You’re still young, and it’s normal that you might not be as strong as wizards a generation older than you in certain areas. But you must believe in your potential. I sent you to the Tianjiang coast instead of sending a genius wizard from my lineage who is a generation older than you, naturally because I believe you are more suitable.” “

Furthermore, the Tianjiang coast itself is a place that can nurture wizards,”

Locke said. “Teacher, thank you for your trust in me.”

“I will definitely help you win the Tianjiang coast and obtain the final regional highest grant there.”

“Defeat all opponents.”

Upon hearing this, the witch Catherine raised an eyebrow with a rather strange expression, glanced at Locke curiously, and then said, “Locke, what you need to do now is to upgrade your Spirit Breath Technique from Spirit Breath Clothes to Spirit Breath Robe. Once you upgrade to Spirit Breath Robe, you can use Spirit Breath Robe during the Spirit Breath Cultivation Method. Then, you can do this.”

The witch Catherine casually picked a sprig of green plum blossom from a vase on her desk, then opened a drawer and took out a pile of small, emerald-green cubes, which resembled Rubik’s Cubes.

She casually picked up a piece of emerald-green spirit ore, then crushed it with her fingers. The spirit ore was disintegrated by her powerful magic, automatically forming a small garden grotto.

Then, the witch Catherine placed the green plum blossom inside, and then she cut her finger, letting a drop of blood drip into it.

The Red Dragon Throne chanted a spell, each syllable earth-shattering, as if the air itself trembled and the ground shook. But Locke quickly realized it was just his imagination; the ground didn’t shake, and the air didn’t tremble.

It was the Throne-level magic, like an irresistible black hole’s gravity, drawing his own power and creating this illusion.

It can only be said that the difference between a third-circle wizard and a second-circle wizard is simply too great.

Soon, the garden cavern shattered, and the witch Catherine took a sprig of green plum blossom from within.

The green plum blossom burst forth with life, blooming with blossoms and green leaves.

Catherine held the green plum blossom before Locke and smiled, “How about it? What do you think?

“

Locke picked up the green plum blossom, his first reaction was how heavy it was, and his second reaction was that he immediately noticed the unusual nature of this ordinary green plum blossom.

“Teacher, this green plum—it seems to have a special attack effect on skeletal undead. I don’t know if my feeling is wrong. But it’s just an ordinary plant.”

The witch Catherine praised, “Your feeling is correct. It seems your spiritual cultivation has improved greatly recently. This is the essence of spiritual cultivation, and this is the true function of spiritual cultivation. An ordinary plant, given specific spiritual cultivation, can possess special mystical meaning. Now this green plum has become a magical plant and has developed a specific mystical meaning, namely, targeting ordinary skeleton warriors resurrected using death magic.” “

It has developed a mystical meaning—the flower of purification for skeletal undead.”

“This requires the use of a specific garden cave structure, the use of specific spiritual energy, and a certain combination. Most importantly, it requires the optimization of your spell model structure.” “

But these three are only the surface. The essence is still your understanding of spiritual cultivation.”

The witch Catherine waved her hand, and instantly the newly opened flowers and newly grown leaves of the green plum all fell off, and it returned to its original state.

“Many of the Spirit Breath Cultivation Methods of the Star Ring Wizards are focused on cultivating this aspect, which is also the strength of Star Ring Wizard-level breeders.” “

And your previous breeding ideas haven’t yet broken free from the limitations of low-ring breeding science.”

“When you truly master the Spirit Breath Cultivation Method, and then go a step further, connecting all the breeding spells you’ve learned before, then Locke, your breeding level will be considered among the best in the endless void.”

Locke exclaimed in amazement, bowing to the Red Dragon Throne.

“Teacher, thank you for showing me the magic of such advanced fields of breeding. I was truly blinded by my own limited perspective before.”

“I thought my level of breeding science had reached a certain point, but seeing this, I realize the boundless scope of this discipline.”

The witch Catherine smiled. “You have already laid a solid foundation in breeding science, even developing two unique breeding methods of your own. I believe these two breeding spells have great potential, and you must develop them well. Perhaps they will bring you surprises in the future.”

The witch Catherine said, “Alright, I’m going to formally present this to you, this is my personal reward.”

The witch Catherine took out a black magic box, with a miniature chain magic device sealing it.

She took out a key, about to open it, but for some reason, her pupils suddenly shrank, and she placed the key and the magic box on her desk.

“You open it yourself, Locke.”

Locke looked at his teacher strangely, for some reason, he felt that the witch Catherine seemed unwilling to open this magic box.

Locke picked up the key, inserted it into the lock, and gently turned it. The small magical chain vanished on its own. Locke then opened the magic box and found a peach pit inside.

The peach pit was exquisite, bearing the marks of a skilled craftsman’s carving, and the carved pattern appeared to depict a full one hundred dragons.

The witch Catherine explained, “This is the Hundred Dragon Peach Pit. When I was a Moon Ring Wizard, I commissioned a master alchemist to forge it using the peach pit from my Dragon View Peach King. It’s not a particularly powerful artifact, but it’s still quite useful for a breeder. The Hundred Dragon Peach Pit stores a large amount of dragon’s spiritual energy—dragon’s essence. The main body is actually verdant spiritual energy, but it’s mixed with some unique dragon vitality, making it a variant of verdant spiritual energy.”

“If that’s the case, there are many variants of verdant spiritual energy. Dragons have dragon’s spiritual energy, humans have human’s spiritual energy, and birds and beasts all have their own unique spiritual energy. Only plant spiritual energy is the purest, possessing the purest verdant spiritual energy.” “If

you place this peach pit into your magical plant, even a mere apprentice-level magical plant will possess a vitality that would frighten an ordinary second-ring wizard,”

Locke thanked Catherine.

“Teacher, thank you. This is truly a wonderful gift.”

The witch Catherine said to Locke, “With the blessing of the Four Saints, you must study diligently. Only then can your spiritual science and cultivation methods improve. If you have the time, or the ability, it would be good to learn my unique cultivation method as well. You skipped the first round, which is perfect. Use this time to improve your spiritual science level so you can compete with the wizards along the Tianjiang River in the project.”

Catherine continued, “You need to strive to reach the spiritual science level of your fellow practitioners as soon as possible.”

“After you return this time, you must immediately find a way to escape from the Tianjiang River region. It’s a quagmire, and we must always extricate ourselves from it when it’s most consuming, returning only after the results are in. This is crucial for obtaining the highest grant from the Tianjiang River region. You must not make a mistake on this step.”

Catherine added, “After you return, I will arrange for you to go to the Rain Marshland and will assign you reliable companions.”

“Alright, Locke, I have other matters to attend to. There are many wizards waiting outside to report to me. The busyness of a throne wizard is beyond the comprehension of you young wizards.”

“You may leave.”

Locke bowed to Ekaterina.

“Yes, teacher.”

“I will take your advice and warnings to heart. I will leave the Tianjiang Riverbank as soon as possible.”

Ekaterina hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“There is something I may tell you in advance. I have had Shirley take some of my power into the Tianjiang Riverbank. When necessary, my [Red Dragon Avatar] will appear there. As I anticipate, someone will not let you leave so easily. You don’t need to know when I will act; you only need to know that I can act once when necessary. I will decide the specific timing myself.”

“You only need to do your best to get out of that quagmire. You have received a large reward this time; go back and digest it first.”

Locke bowed to Ekaterina again.

“Thank you, teacher.”

“Teacher, I hope your project will be a success.”

Ekaterina the witch smiled and nodded slightly.

After Locke left, Ekaterina the witch sighed, “The Hundred Dragon Peach Pit—I ultimately gave it away. But it was originally a special magical artifact tailor-made for my first student. Fafnir—”

Along the Tianjiang River, a girl stood in the cold rain, holding a magical umbrella, happily watching the Golden Dynasty’s Appian wizard question his existence, because even with his precognitive dreams, he hadn’t secured the first round of funding.

The girl smiled.

“That wizard from the Black Earth is interesting. But without my help, he almost lost this time.”

—

“I really don’t know why that dragon lich wanted me to help that genius from the Black Earth. Does that mean I’ve successfully eliminated a genius rival from the Golden Dynasty?”

The girl, who had been happy, suddenly sensed something. She had always had a subtle connection with the Hundred Dragon Peach Pit.

But now, that connection was severed.

Her eyes widened in fury, her face contorted. Ignoring the demonic rain, she moved the demonic umbrella aside, letting the rain lash her face.

“Teacher, you said it yourself, the Hundred Dragon Peach Pit belongs only to me, and will always be mine. How could you go back on your word?

Wasn’t that proof of our bond?”

“Have you forgotten our bond?”

the girl gritted her teeth.

“How could you be so cruel? Who is it that wants to replace me! I will never forgive him! I will personally rip out his heart, so he can’t even become a ghost!”