Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems - Chapter 696

Chapter 693 Completion of the Dissertation and the Sunshade Wizard’s Reminder

Locke pointed to the image projected by the Illusion School’s magic and said, “In the traditional view, the energy storage of magical plants is extremely dependent on seeds or tubers. But my team and I have discovered a special root structure that can temporarily store energy.”

“This root possesses a special structure—glandular root sacs—which can temporarily store energy and release it in a short time.”

“Therefore, this is my cross-disciplinary innovation in plant physiology and energy metabolism. After testing, the glandular root sac structure can effectively enhance the instantaneous burst ability of magical plants.” “

I transferred this structure to a large snow-capped pineapple using grafting. The normal magical plant characteristics of that large snow-capped pineapple generally increased by about 10%, but the peak magical pressure of the instantaneous burst was…twice.”

Locke said, “In other words, this method of storing energy as agave ketone bodies and then releasing magical energy by converting agave ketone bodies into agave acid…”

“Each unit of agave ketone, converted into agave acid, can release the magical pressure of approximately three first-circle fireballs.”

“Similarly, each unit of agave ketone can store the magical pressure equivalent to three first-circle fireballs.”

“However, the process and result of converting agave ketone into agave acid is harmful to the plant, and after the plant withers, it causes significant soil acidification.”

“Agave acid is a natural magical structural component favored by the Conjuration and Evocation schools for creating acidic magic bullets. It is inherently a dangerous spell.”

Locke explained, “Agave ketone is a highly explosive substance; therefore, this energy-locking structure—the glandular root capsule—has a special spiritual structure to stabilize the agave ketone.”

“But this requires a significant amount of additional energy resources to maintain this structure.”

Locke continued, explaining the significance of his research: “My research fills a gap in the study of ‘short-term energy regulation in plants.’”

“This fully demonstrates that the prejudice against the insufficient burst magical damage of magical plants in the writings of certain alchemical and summoning schools is narrow-minded.”

The three judges exchanged glances.

As they expected, Locke’s research at the Institute of Truth was of exceptionally high quality.

Although it was merely a project used by the Institute of Truth to train young wizards, he consistently produced results that were both significantly innovative and highly practical.

In Locke, basic research and commercial application always seemed to intertwine naturally.

It was as if he possessed a special magic that allowed the abstract and the concrete to merge.

This was unlike most of the young first-stage wizards in Golden Crown Mountain, who preferred lofty perspectives.

Locke possessed a very contradictory temperament; he had both the qualities of a well-educated individual and the qualities of someone who had risen through the ranks from the bottom.

They were familiar with this temperament, because it was also present in the witch Catherine.

Most of Catherine’s theoretical research had the potential to develop into a large number of commercial studies.

This was why, as an outsider wizard, she was able to own so many shop alliances in the Golden Crown Mountain region and the Cloud Marsh Wetlands.

Only then could she leverage the profits from those shop alliances to influence the Academic Committee, the Holy Wizard Court of Mount Golden Crown, and even bribe the wizards in major laboratories who maintained clear neutrality among the four major factions of Mount Golden Crown. Only then

could she maintain a vast surveillance system, monitoring the approximate movements of each team member under her command.

The Sun Ring Wizards of the Senate were not very familiar with Locke, but Locke was now a participant in the Great Magic Modeling Competition, and had no conflict of interest with their Senate, so they only had pure admiration for Locke.

He nodded repeatedly. “This glandular root sac structure does indeed fill the research gap in the energy-locking structure of first-ring magical plants for short-term energy storage.”

“Although it seems to come at a high cost, it will not be common among magical plant groups in various worlds.”

Locke then explained the mechanism of action, energy conversion, and the special spiritual structure of the glandular root sac of the four natural magical structural components.

He simply explained the function, principle, mechanism of action, potential future applications, and related significance of this newly discovered energy-locking structure.

Locke grasped his main innovation point, which was the rare temporary energy-locking structure in plants.

He knew this would be a huge advantage, making it easier for him to pass the final defense of his first-class project grant and avoid being rejected by the judges.

Locke glanced at the three judges.

The wizard Hao was a breeder specializing in plant mutations and other unique varieties.

The wizards from the Senate and the Rose Council, on the other hand, focused on different aspects: one emphasized the biomimetic structure of plants and its applicability to mechanics, while

the other emphasized the specific spiritual structure of plants and its applicability to rose language.

All three were wizards specializing in breeding within the major school of life sciences, but also within various sub-categories of magic.

The Sun Ring wizard from the Senate specialized in the biomimetic structure of magical plants.

The Sun Ring wizard from the Rose Council was a flower language master.

The wizard Hao was a third-ring wizard, and Locke didn’t fully understand his research area.

Third-ring wizards and second-ring wizards occupy different niches.

Group Leader Sith had provided Locke with the judges’ academic backgrounds before the defense, making it easier for him to focus his defense.

After all, if there were more ecologists among the judges, he should have emphasized the impact of the glandular root sac-locking structure on the wild adaptability of magical plants.

But now, most of the wizard judges favored the application of magical plant structures.

Therefore, Locke focused on explaining the applicability of the glandular root sac-locking structure to various schools of magic.

Locke explained in detail, and in the final stage, he summarized what he thought were possible applications. “I believe this structure would be very useful for the energy buffering system of the power school, especially wave dynamics.”

“In the study of rose language, it also has the effect of strengthening the basic spirituality of magical bouquets…”

The three judges nodded, all feeling that Locke was thoughtful.

Locke could say this because he had read their works; otherwise, he wouldn’t have specifically mentioned the potential applications in their familiar fields during the summary stage.

The three judges felt more favorably disposed towards Locke.

Locke said, “Overall, the glandular root sac structure is more like a niche attempt by plants. While incurring additional costs such as consuming a lot of resources, taking risks, and soil acidification, it adopts the glandular root sac as a temporary energy storage structure…”

“Overall, it cannot be said to be too efficient, but it will certainly have its unique uses in certain specific fields.”

Fifteen minutes later, Locke finished his defense.

The three wizards exchanged glances. The Sun Ring Wizard from the Senate remained silent.

As a wizard from Mount Golden Crown, he needed to be the final speaker, controlling the pace of the questioners and

preventing the two high-ring wizards from stumping the young first-ring wizard.

However, he also knew that this was just a habit he maintained during defenses, and the young man before him didn’t seem to need his final act.

The Sun Ring Wizard from the Rose Council thought of his friend, the witch Lana, who had praised Locke several times.

She had a good first impression of him.

The wizards of the Rose Council were all quite sentimental, or perhaps this was a common trait among flower language masters.

Wizards they admired were naturally perfect in their eyes, while those they disliked were utterly unacceptable.

But this had little to do with whether the wizards were truly excellent.

It was simply a matter of personality among flower language masters.

Even a very talented young wizard could be found to have many flaws if they didn’t like him.

The current Sun Ring Wizard, Nina, already had a favorable impression of Locke because of Lana.

Locke’s excellent performance naturally won her even more favor.

Nina looked at Locke, her eyes shining. As a flower language master who studies the spirituality and natural magical structure of rose-type magical plants, her perception of spirituality surpasses that of ordinary wizards, and her emotions are naturally richer than those of ordinary wizards.

She nodded to Locke. “Excellent. Lana told me about you, and at the time I thought she was prejudiced. But now I realize she was right, you are indeed a very outstanding wizard.” Locke

said neither humbly nor arrogantly, “Thank you for your praise, Lady Lana. I was just doing my job diligently, and Lady Lana probably recognized my diligence, so she gave me some guidance a few times before. I am very grateful to her.” Nina

‘s eyes were filled with smiles. “Lana said you’re a very comfortable wizard. That’s certainly true. Recently, you’ve had some unpleasantness with some wizards in our Rose Council, and I’ve heard a lot of prejudice and rumors,”

Nina the Witch chuckled. “Now it seems that seeing is believing. I’ve met you, and I think you’re a very sincere young wizard. Those harsh words really shouldn’t be taken seriously.”

Nina the Witch then asked Locke, “Will this kind of energy-locking grafting affect the metabolic pathways of the original magical plant’s natural magical energy structure?”

Locke hesitated for a moment, then readily admitted, “Lady Nina, our research in this area is indeed insufficient.”

“Time is limited, and costs must be considered. Currently, there isn’t much data on this. But overall, it doesn’t have any negative impact on the magical plant traits of the transplanted large snow-capped pineapple.”

Nina the Witch nodded.

She was just asking a casual question.

The research was already quite complete; it was enough to secure a first-class project grant from the True Knowledge Institute.

As for what she had just mentioned, that required a higher-level project grant, which necessitated such detailed data.

Nina nodded, her eyes filled with admiration. “Alright, I’ve finished asking.”

Nina suddenly spoke, uttering a completely unrelated question. “By the way, do you have a World Stone? If not, I think it’s a bit of a shame.”

Locke glanced at Nina with surprise.

This question had nothing to do with the final defense, yet she suddenly uttered it without any prior explanation, and Nina showed no intention of continuing.

In that instant, Locke’s mind raced, trying to decipher the meaning of her words.

‘Nina is undoubtedly reminding me,’ Locke thought warily. ‘She’s a Sun Ring Wizard, holding a very high position among Second Ring Wizards. Since she said this, she’s probably implying that I should acquire a World Stone as soon as possible.’

‘I don’t know exactly what she means, but the world seen by a Sun Ring Wizard should be different from mine.’

‘Just as the world seen by a First Ring Wizard is completely different from the narrow world seen by a Wizard Apprentice.’

‘There must be a reason for her saying this.’ Most of the wizarding shop alliances I’ve offended have connections to the Rose Council. Even those without the Rose Council’s backing often have ties to wizarding academies in Rose Council regions.

Wizard Hao coughed, drawing Locke’s attention back. He smiled knowingly. “Little Locke, no one can predict the future. But you certainly have good connections.”

“Alright, I have some questions for you. How can you prove this is an active ‘energy-locking structure,’ and not just an accumulation of metabolic waste from magical plants?”

Wizard Hao pinpointed the crux of the matter.

He truly lived up to his high-level wizarding reputation; with a single, insightful question, he cut to the chase like a skilled butcher dissecting an ox.

Fortunately, Locke had prepared for this.

Locke said, “I conducted specific energy marking experiments on the grafted glandular root pods of the Snowcap Pineapple, marking four key natural magical structural components.”

“I confirmed that after being coerced, the Snowcap Pineapple’s energy was actively mobilized, and the key natural magical structural components underwent specific changes.”

“The order of magnitude of the four natural magical structures changed from increasing to decreasing, reflecting the energy release and transformation process.”

“Here’s a chart.” Locke proactively displayed the chart he had created in his illusion magic. Locke

understood; since the witch Nina had reminded him, he should find a way to obtain a Worldstone as a safety net as soon as possible. A Worldstone

that no one had ever used was unlikely to be bought with money.

Or the required amount of money would be astronomical.

But he might be able to buy an ordinary Worldstone first.

Although Worldstones required conquering planes to obtain, it wasn’t impossible to buy one in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands with a huge sum of money. However

, such things were always in short supply; there would never be a shortage of people wanting them, and there would never be a surplus.

Because even if a wizard didn’t use it, they could store it for future use.

It was an absolute form of hard currency.

However, the academy does offer some rewards and special channels for purchasing Worldstones.

In any case, since Nina the Witch made such a seemingly random statement, it’s best to heed her advice and acquire a Worldstone as a safety net first.

After all, when constructing a powerful spell, he can decide which Worldstone to use based on the situation.

Wizard Hao nodded in satisfaction. “That’s fairly rigorous. The second question: is this structure common in other plants?”

“Or rather, is it common in plants of a particular world?”

Locke hesitated for a moment, then said, “I’ve consulted the literature, but no other wizards have made any related discoveries. In my opinion, this glandular root sac structure couldn’t be common.”

“Because for magical plants, evolving this energy-locking structure requires additional energy expenditure.”

“This presents a typical [energy asymmetry].” “

Among magical plants, less common plant organs are in a common state. That is, the energy consumed to evolve and maintain this plant organ may exceed or be equal to the energy increase or effect caused by this plant organ.”

“Therefore, I believe that this energy-locking structure is unlikely to be widely present in all worlds. Rather, it will appear in certain specific environments.”

“Considering that the disadvantages of agave ketones and agave acid outweigh the advantages, I think this environment will be relatively niche,”

Locke said. “But I will look for such environments later.”

“I believe that in some rarer planes of the endless void, there should be a small number of such environments, and those environments might contain similar energy-locking structures.”

This matter itself is closely related to the curse of exile.

He’s just temporarily unable to extricate himself from it further.

Given the right conditions, he could delve deeper.

How exactly did the Age of Stars end?

What was the Age of Mortals used to cover up?

Why is there a problem with the Tower of the Black Sun, and why does the princess believe it cannot be trusted?

Do those immortal rulers still exist, and will they return?

He’s very curious about all of these things.

The wizard Hao commented with a smile. “The Crisis-Reproduction Trade-off Theory is a classic theory of our Throne Wizard of Quinjol, Garen Armstrong.”

“The energy distribution of magical plants does not follow maximum energy utilization efficiency, but rather involves a trade-off between survival and reproduction.” “

To increase survival efficiency, improve survival rates in extreme environments, and facilitate the long-term transfer of plant essence, some magical plants evolve energy-locking structures in high-risk environments that consume more energy than they gain.” “

The Crisis-Reproduction Trade-off Theory explains why magical plants specifically evolve aggressive energy-locking structures that consume more energy. He proposed this theory when he was a young man. Alas, in the blink of an eye, we’re all old men.”

Locke bowed to Wizard Hao. “Yes, Lord Hao, this is a theory proposed by Lord Garen Armstrong.”

“I’ve made a fool of myself,”

Wizard Hao laughed. “Not at all. Seeing you young people so energetic makes me happy, and it reminds me of the past.”

Wizard Hao asked, “You said before that this energy-locking structure could be applied to certain fields. Do you have any ideas yourself?”

Locke said, “Yes. I’ve designed my fifth set of wizard shoes, and it’s about to be delivered to Arthas.”

Wizard Hao was a little unaware of the grudges between Locke and Solas’s Barefoot and Melochy’s Magic Step.

After all, wizard shoes are just a category of sports products, not magical artifacts.

For a third-circle wizard of Wizard Hao’s caliber, he is usually very busy and naturally wouldn’t notice such a sordid affair between Locke and two top wizard shoe shops.

Moreover, even many magic weavers are not aware of it.

After all, Locke’s competition for the wizard shoe market is currently relatively low; it’s just a threat.

After listening to the explanation from the wizard beside him, Wizard Hao laughed and said, “You really do resemble Catherine the Throne. When Her Majesty was a first-ring wizard, she also took action against the wand industry. Back then… cough cough, the fighting was quite fierce.”

“I didn’t expect that her student would now be fighting with the wizard shoe industry’s shop alliance. You two really are alike.”

“What, Locke, you look strange. Your teacher is very wealthy; many shops in Dragonblood Market are her businesses.”

“I remember the famous breeding shop, Golden Peach Garden, is hers.”

Locke’s eyes widened, dumbfounded.

Because he really didn’t know this.

He had been to Golden Peach Garden so many times, and good heavens, no one had ever told him that it was his teacher’s business!

No, wait a minute.

Locke remembered that he had bumped into those third-generation members of the Dragonblood Society inside Golden Peach Garden.

Now that he thought about it, it was probably because Golden Peach Garden itself was a place where those third-generation members often gathered.

Because it was the property of the Academic Committee.

Locke then realized that the waters of Mount Jinmian were far deeper than he had imagined; a single sentence from the other party had revealed what he had previously failed to see clearly. Only

by standing tall can one see far.

However, he was about to become a second-circle wizard.

Only by becoming a second-circle wizard could he be considered to have a foothold in this wizarding world, and have a preliminary place for himself.

Wizard Hao said with a joking smile, “Why has she never told you that Golden Peach Garden is her property?”

Locke smiled wryly and nodded. “Yes, Lord Hao.”

Wizard Hao laughed heartily. “Actually, there’s no point in saying anything, because I won’t give you any discounts. Many industries have complex ownership structures, changing hands multiple times. Even the wizards running the shops might not know who their real boss is.”

“They think they’re on this side, but they might actually be on the other. However, the Throne Lord’s operations are so vast; if she didn’t have some profitable businesses, she’d probably go bankrupt the next day.”

“The resources the White Wizard Association throws down from above are scarce; relying solely on grants for research would be too difficult. So she won’t give you any discounts.”

“My students even have to pay more when they buy things from my shop. Because it’s harder to bargain then. So sometimes, not knowing is much better than knowing.”

Locke remained silent.

Therefore, the witch Catherine had made the same choice in the past, earning money through shop alliances to support her research progress.

Wizard Hao asked curiously, “But where exactly did you discover this special energy-locking structure?”

Wizard Hao knew that Locke’s discovery of this energy-locking structure stemmed primarily from finding a plant with this structure, not from other factors.

Everything else could be acquired by throwing money and manpower at it.

But finding this particular plant in the first place was extremely difficult.

Locke hesitated for a moment, omitting all the key points, only saying that he had discovered the ancient plant seed in a deep abyss ruin.

Wizard Hao’ao looked thoughtful. “That works too. The advantages of interdisciplinary research certainly seem quite good. Should I also recruit an archaeologist for my research group next quarter?”

“However, there are limited spots available recently. Even if we were to recruit, I’m afraid we couldn’t recruit a second-ring archaeologist, at most a first-ring one.”

Upon hearing that Locke had actually dug it out of a ruin, Wizard Hao’ao’s mind immediately became active, feeling that this was indeed a rather novel direction.

He also wanted to find some people to dig in various ruins to see if they could unearth any valuable magical plants.

Wizard Hao said, “Locke, you’re lucky. Or rather, you have ideas, ability, flexible thinking, and good luck. This allowed you to discover this special energy-locking structure. I wish you even better sales for your next wizard shoes.”

“I have no problems on my end. You’ve passed your defense this time. It was truly interesting to hear you defend it. I really hope to see you here again next time.”

Locke had already completed his first-class defense.

The only way to defend here again was to achieve a special-class project completion.

After all, the key sub-project was handled entirely by the cooperating mentor and didn’t require a defense here.

Therefore, if Locke wanted to meet Wizard Hao again as he wished, he would have to apply for a special-class project grant. Locke

nodded and said, “Lord Hao, I also hope to meet you here again. I will try my best.”

Wizard Hao smiled and said, “I’ll say it again. I still have high hopes for you; you will definitely become a second-circle wizard.” Since Wizard

Hao had no objections, the other two wizards naturally had no objections either.

The first-class grant project’s completion defense was completed!

(End of Chapter)