Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems - Chapter 716

Chapter 713 Obtaining a Great Magic

Locke looked at the various projections of mental light on the chessboard. He scanned them and nodded in praise, “I see.”

“Each piece here is a polymer of mental light.”

Locke wasn’t a wizard of the Mind School, so he didn’t know the value or quality of these mental lights within Mind School magic.

He only recognized that these pieces were formed from the mental light of the subjects of the Silent Plane’s empire.

There were nine pieces formed from second-ring level mental light. These pieces were on par with the Emperor’s pieces within the Mind Network, but seemed to have been sealed away for a long time, never being unlocked by the Emperor.

Locke moved across the chessboard, and a full moon hung above it, indirectly controlling the Mind Network.

The nine chess pieces rotated around Locke, and the information represented by these pieces entered his mind—the nine Grand Dukes.

Nine Grand Dukes.

In other words, this mental network of the Silent Plane contains nine positions. These nine positions should appear within this mental network, allowing the Silent Plane to have nine more second-ring level beings.

Simultaneously, beneath these nine second-ring level pieces are three hundred first-ring level pieces.

However, these three hundred pieces are not currently pointing to any one person.

This means the Emperor has completely hidden all the important pieces within this mental network, leaving only himself as the representative.

‘This mental network is essentially a half-finished product. If it were completed according to this mental network…’

Locke pondered, ‘it could increase the total magical pressure of the Silent Plane by more than ten times.’

‘The Silent Plane is very likely to undergo a plane upgrade.’

Locke observed the mental network’s access space; the chessboard was extending downwards, spreading countless rays of light, connecting billions of mortals in the Silent Plane.

These rays of light converged, condensing into pieces, but at this moment, because the entire mortal world had been emptied by him,

the mental network had become a rootless tree.

“Emperor, this mental network was originally meant to gather the spiritual light of all beings in this plane and concentrate it on these corresponding chess pieces. But you seem to have tampered with its permissions, trying to gather all the spiritual light onto yourself.”

Locke turned to look at the Emperor.

The Emperor, beneath his armor, seemed somewhat guilty, stubbornly replying, “Gathering the power of an entire civilization and concentrating it on me alone is the only way I can reach higher places. I can lead civilization to greater heights, therefore I am the ‘One-Man Civilization.’”

Locke shook his head slightly. “Stop lying to me.”

“You’re not the creator of this mental network at all, so you only know what it is, not why it works.”

“Otherwise, you wouldn’t have failed to discover the true purpose of my spiritual retreat. I was just testing you, but you didn’t react at all. That’s when I knew you weren’t the builder of this mental network.”

Locke pointed to the chess piece representing the Emperor, saying, “You want to gather all the light of the mind towards yourself. But you can’t do it at all. You’ve been working on it for years, but you haven’t gathered much light of the mind at all.”

“Emperor, you’ve usurped this system.”

“Or perhaps I shouldn’t call you Emperor, am I right, Grand Duke of Westminster!”

The Emperor trembled beneath his armor.

One of the nine chess pieces corresponding to the Grand Duke of Westminster suddenly broke free from Locke’s control and flew towards the Emperor.

Locke reached out, and a World Stone fell into his hand. “This mind network is essentially a massive magic.”

“Your Majesty, this mind network is a massive magic legitimately created by a wizard. But its master is dead, and this massive magic has become a magical object, making it susceptible to having a new master. And you are its second master.”

Locke, in a state of “doing as he pleases without overstepping the bounds,” understood immediately.

He keenly sensed the connection the Emperor was trying so hard to conceal—his connection to the Grand Duke of Westminster, and directly used his special state to summon the World Stone within the core of this massive magic.

The World Stone the Emperor had searched for over two hundred years without success.

The Emperor looked at the World Stone in Locke’s hand and exclaimed in surprise, “I’ve been searching within this privileged space for over two hundred years. I still haven’t found that World Stone.”

Locke snapped his fingers, and instantly the entire mind chessboard rose continuously. The Emperor

asked, “What do you want to do?”

Locke replied, “I want to see the truth of this world!”

Few wizards should be able to find this privileged space.

Given this emperor’s personality, he would never have opened up the mental network’s access space and revealed his greatest secret unless he needed someone to provide him with energy and maintain its existence.

Upon entering this mental space, however, he immediately understood something.

This mental space was created to solve a problem.

He had probably never seen the true face of the Silent Plane!

As the mental chessboard rose, the emperor panicked, “Wait, it can’t rise any higher! It can’t exceed the canopy set by the mental network…”

The next moment, it seemed as if some limit had been broken.

The mental chessboard continued to rise, and then Locke saw the true sky of this world, the true sky beneath the dark clouds.

First, there were dark clouds caused by industrial pollution, then above them, a yellowish-brown sky, like a sea of sulfur.

This sky was constantly changing shape, and the sun appeared in the very center of it.

The whole scene resembled an abstract painting by Van Gogh.

This was not a normal sky at all.

Or rather, the Silent Plane didn’t have a normal sky. The

sky that Locke and the other contestants had seen before was all a construct of the mental network.

The yellowish-brown sky appeared to be a mixture of various highly toxic substances.

When Locke saw the true face of this plane, the Emperor immediately lowered his head, removing his helmet to reveal a face corroded beyond recognition.

“This is the work of that sky. Long ago, our world had a normal sky. But later, it is said that during the formation of our world’s sky, a relatively large comet plane passed by our world.”

“That comet plane streaked across the surface of our world, disrupting certain concepts in our sky, so our world no longer has a normal sky.”

“Strange things often flow in from that brownish-yellow hole in the sky. My face was disfigured when I tried to block those things flowing down from the sky.”

Locke looked at the brownish-yellow sky. “Tyranite particles?”

the Emperor asked. “What’s that?”

“A kind of gaseous pollution,” Locke pondered. He had witnessed this gaseous pollution element when he fought the Nightmare of Life in the Emerald Dream. He

never expected to see it again in the Silent Grail.

Therefore, the sky of the Silent Plane had some kind of inherent flaw in its formation, similar to maldevelopment.

This resulted in a hole in the sky from which tyranite particles flow.

Tyranite particles, a highly polluting element, combine with anything to produce corresponding polluting compounds.

Even the Ancient Tree of War and the Ancient Tree of Life can be polluted.

The Nightmare of Life was once polluted.

At this moment, the sapling of the ancient tree of life at the center of Locke’s Forest Sanctuary was transmitting a profound and unforgettable fear to him.

It was as if, upon seeing the brownish-yellow sky, it felt immense terror.

Therefore, the Mind Network was a plan to mend the heavens.

Locke instantly understood this immense magic: using the present world of the Silent Plane as its foundation, the Mind Network was continuously raised, erecting a barrier in the sky, creating a second sky with the energy of the Light of the Mind.

This gave the life of the Silent Plane the possibility of seeing blue skies and white clouds. It

also blocked the pollution of the nitric element flowing down from the real sky above the Mind Network’s canopy.

Although the pollution still existed and was increasing every moment, it was like the emperor had thrown it into a room; no one could see it. As long as the room wasn’t filled, the pollution was considered resolved.

It was somewhat like an ostrich burying its head in the sand, but it was indeed a desperate measure.

That’s why the emperor was so panicked when he saw him raising the Mind Chessboard.

Ironically, the Mind Network appeared so that the people of the Silent Plane could see blue skies and white clouds.

As a result, the people of the Silent Plane developed industry, causing the sky to be filled with dark clouds and coal dust, so the blue sky and white clouds were no longer visible.

Therefore, this world is bound to perish because the canopy of the Mind Network will eventually collapse.

Will the people of the Silent Plane eventually face the polluted compounds of the nitric acid element?

No.

‘First of all, if that were all, even if the previous Silent Holy Grail Tournament, the contestants were only focused on the competition and no one noticed that the true nature of this plane was hidden.’ ‘

But the Silent Witch shouldn’t have failed to discover it.’

‘Secondly, even if the polluted compounds of the nitric acid element eventually collapse the Mind Network, at most it would cause a mass extinction, and it’s uncertain whether it would wipe out humanity in this world. Therefore, this shouldn’t be the reason for the inevitable destruction of this world.’

Locke pondered: ‘Furthermore, ecological extinction, downgrading from a life-bearing plane to an ordinary plane, is a completely different concept from the destruction of a plane.’ ‘

While the nitric acid element pollution is a huge destructive force to the ecosystem, it’s impossible for it to blow up this plane. Therefore, the destroyer must be something else.’

‘But this real sky is indeed a troublesome thing,’

Locke pondered. ‘The sky created by the Mind Network can only serve as a temporary isolation. Like an ostrich burying its head in the sand, it pretends to have solved the problem, but the problem is still hanging over everyone’s heads.’

He mentally calculated that the theoretical limit of the Mind Network, according to the Emperor’s method, could last for about three thousand years.

But if the Emperor were willing to open up all the pieces formed from the hidden Mind Light within the Mind Network to everyone,

that would be different.

This Mind Network could last for at least ten thousand years.

For many civilizations, that would be the best final solution.

Because many civilizations don’t even have a history of more than ten thousand years.

Ten thousand years is enough for many civilizations.

It even encompasses their beginning and end.

Locke assessed the level of this Mind Network. ‘This doesn’t seem to be a newly forged Great Magic. Because even though this Mind Network is suppressed by the Emperor, its vastness is still above the Great Magic of me, Edgar, Smith, and Georgina.’

During the Evolution Month, Antoine and the Preston Witch were overseeing Locke’s manipulation of Great Magic.

The Preston Witch was astonished; the true face of the Silent Dimension was completely different from what she had seen before.

Because she had been above the Crystal Wall system, looking down, she couldn’t see the yellowish-brown sky hole.

After entering this world and witnessing its earthly manifestation, she could only see the canopy constructed by the Light of the Mind, so she had never seen the true sky.

Only within this space of the Light of the Mind, because Locke raised the height of the Mind Chessboard, did she see the true face of this world.

However, at this moment, Antoine suddenly spoke. “Locke, this Mind Network is a Star-Forging level Great Magic.”

Locke closed his eyes, communicating with Antoine within his Great Magic: “Star Forging… that’s Virtual Forging.”

“This is the second Great Magic forged. It’s unbelievable that the person who forged this Great Magic back then was merely a world native who received a portion of the inheritance of the Enlightenment era’s wizarding civilization.”

Antoine said dismissively. “The wizarding civilization doesn’t just refer to the civilization of the wizarding world; it encompasses all those who have inherited our civilization’s legacy. Even if he was once alone, fighting alone in places we don’t know, he is still a wizard.”

“One of us. And there are many, many more like him in the endless void.”

Locke asked, “But Antoine, how can you be sure this is a Star Forging Ultimate Magic, and not just a Primary Forging Magic with high capital flow?”

Antoine replied, “Secondary Forging, called Virtual Forging, is because it adds something called [Currency] to one’s Ultimate Magic.”

“Before having its own [Currency], an Ultimate Magic, as an asset, is extremely cumbersome and inconvenient to use. But once it has [Currency], the energy dissipation will further decrease, the instantaneous doubling of magic pressure output will increase, and energy compatibility will further improve.”

“The other five indicators will generally also improve.”

“For Great Magic, currency is a power system. That is, within one’s own Great Magic, a power system is created, one that integrates and connects the powers of all individuals under its banner, and integrates and connects with its own power, the power of the world, and all internal powers, transforming them into a unified whole.”

“And this process is called reforging.”

“Before that, a Great Magic system is complex, chaotic, and its energy is extremely disordered. Therefore, a wizard needs to add four spells with Great Magic runes to its Great Magic to patch it up.”

“Another wizard needs to find more individuals within the natural phenomenon of Great Magic to reduce its energy dissipation… and another wizard needs to summarize their own magical discipline and create a symbolic system to design a power system that unifies the various individuals within their Great Magic, further reducing the energy dissipation of this phenomenon.”

Antoine explained, “This is virtual forging.”

“Locke, in a typical colonized world, even one larger than the Silent Plane, a power system reaching the first ring level might not exist. But the Silent Plane actually has a second ring, and this second ring isn’t even an isolated entity; rather, it has a corresponding power level system.”

“In other words, this set of gene locks is the currency within this mental network.”

Locke nodded. “I see.”

He recalled the Dark Cave Scorpion Woman of the Great Wizard Sura, and thus told Antoine about the enormous magical prototype that the Great Wizard Sura had constructed.

Upon learning this, Antoine said, “This Sura wizard’s ancestors must have been quite influential.”

“At least a Sun Ring wizard. His method of construction is very interesting; that mage system, in essence, is the foundation of a virtual forging. Although that power system is ambiguous, it’s not a true power system.”

“To complete virtual forging, one’s own power system must be able to produce a first-ring crystallization.”

“That’s the standard for virtual forging.”

“The spell system that the Sura wizard created couldn’t even produce a single first ring. Moreover, it wasn’t actually a true power system. Rather than those mages using magic, it’s more accurate to say that the Sura wizard granted them a portion of his magical authority, allowing them to use his magic.”

Locke said, “In other words, the mage systems I’ve seen in the mage plane cannot be considered true power systems.”

Antoine said, “That’s indeed true. It’s not that just because you can use certain powers to cast spells, it constitutes a power system. The standards for power systems could fill many books.”

“But I still say that Sura’s ancestors must have been of some importance. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have allowed his descendants to develop the habit of laying the foundation for second-level forging when constructing Great Magic. It’s just a pity that his descendants don’t seem to be very capable.”

Locke nodded. The Six Towers were indeed not doing well; they had declined overall.

The Preston Witch looked at Antoine in surprise. She rarely saw Antoine so serious.

Was this still the same Antoine?

The Antoine speaking to Locke before her seemed like an old scholar, so serious, his personality resembling that of an old cadre.

Where was there even a trace of his former arrogance ?

Inside the Moon of Evolution, Antoine said to Locke, “Locke, I can work with you to reverse-analyze this mental network. This will give you a greater advantage in this competition, and even if you win, we can still benefit a lot from it.”

“It will be beneficial for both of us. After all, it’s rare to have the opportunity to analyze a Great Magic that has completed the initial forging so casually.”

“This can help us improve quickly.”

“But Locke, could you ask that native about the fate of the wizard who created this immense magic? I’m really curious, where did this fellow countryman who struggled alone in this desolate corner go?”

Locke nodded. “I’m curious about that too.”

The Preston witch finally found a chance to interject. “He probably died of old age. Even second-circle wizards have a lifespan limit.”

“In the wizarding world, you can ask someone to help extend your life. But in the Silent Plane, if you’re alone, you have to rely on yourself for everything. Leaving civilization and living on a deserted island is very difficult.”

Locke opened his eyes, looked at the emperor’s true face, and asked, “Grand Duke of Westminster, I ask you, where did the true builder of this system, or rather, the original emperor, go?”

At this moment, the chess piece corresponding to the emperor’s Mind Light suddenly broke free from his control, leaving only the true location his mind pointed to within the Mind Network.

It was the chess piece of the Grand Duke of Westminster formed from his Mind Light.

When Locke realized he wasn’t the first emperor at all, he immediately understood that within this system, the emperor’s position could be changed.

Moreover, the Grand Duke of Westminster had never truly held the throne.

Locke looked at the emperor piece in his hand and shook his head slightly. “Grand Duke, you’ve completely altered this piece.”

“It’s ambiguous. But you’ve never truly mastered it.”

The emperor piece’s surface cracked, revealing its true form: a silver-white figure holding a blank scroll, a solitary king.

The Grand Duke of Westminster, however, had altered this emperor piece to a black, terrifyingly cold form, clad in full armor.

But the corresponding “Light of the Emperor’s Mind” had never been significantly modified.

This was the core of the system.

If the Grand Duke of Westminster were to modify it arbitrarily, it could cause the system to collapse, so he dared not touch it.

Because he didn’t understand it either.

Locke was now connected to the “Light of the Emperor’s Mind” by this piece, meaning he had become the emperor within this system.

Because the original owner of the Mind Network was dead, it had become a magical artifact. Therefore, Locke, by using a magical artifact, gained a second Great Magic.

However, perhaps because the system had been neglected for so long, or perhaps because it had been ravaged by the Duke of Westminster, he only gained an additional initial forging level after acquiring it.

That is, he was currently a second-circle wizard with two initial forging levels.

Although this sounds strange, it is indeed a characteristic of the second circle:

levels can be stacked, and different forging attempts can be combined.

The second circle can continuously expand its levels, not only upwards but also downwards and even to the side.

Locke originally only wanted to use the Moon of Evolution to control the Mind Network, but he didn’t expect it to be a crude contraption created by the natives, but a genuine Great Magic artifact transformed into a magical artifact.

This was even better.

He could directly control this Great Magic.

If he included the world-class magic realm he indirectly controlled, he would possess three initial forging levels. He

could indeed be called the strongest in the world (specifically referring to the Silent Plane)!

Locke looked at the Emperor, hands behind his back, his expression becoming inscrutable. “Grand Duke, although you have stripped me of my title, I, Duke Schiller, am now Emperor.”

“Tell me, who was the first Emperor? How did you obtain this mental network?”

“If you refuse to answer, you are a traitorous rebel who disobeys my orders!”

The Grand Duke of Westminster trembled, clearly deeply shaken.

Shameless!

A beast!

Could there be anyone more shameless in this world?

(End of Chapter)