Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems - Chapter 761

Chapter 758 The Starfield Sea Exam and Reencounter with an Old Friend

Locke murmured, “Grand Examination?”

The second-ring wizard from the Starfield Sea chuckled softly, “Yes, you are now a second-ring wizard, so of course you’ll be interested in learning this knowledge, and it will be useful to you after you understand it.”

“Unbelievable, a former little wizard has now become a second-ring wizard as well. You and Sophia the Witch, your growth is quite extraordinary.”

The other party didn’t seem surprised.

“The high-ring wizards in the Starfield Sea made a prophecy and used powerful magic to activate the fortune of the entire Eastern Realm that has existed for a thousand years. Within the next hundred years, a leader capable of guiding the next generation will be born, so there will be countless geniuses.”

“This is itself part of the Ascension Plan.”

“The Starfield Sea always does things in a subtle and gradual way, never thinking things through beforehand. Therefore, the Ascension Plan didn’t start now, but only now has a situation that can no longer be concealed.”

“You are already a second-ring wizard, so this content is not taboo for you. I hope you can vote in the Cloudze Council [against the cancellation of the tax exemption for first-ring wizards].”

Locke knew that he currently had the right to vote.

And once he had the right to vote, he had the most basic value to be won over.

Locke showed a thoughtful expression. So that’s how it is. At least some wizards in the Starfield Sea, or rather, the Academy City, need to maintain the tax exemption for first-ring wizards.

The reason for this is not hard to guess.

Because most wizarding territories in the Eastern Boundary have extremely few second-ring wizards, but a considerable number of first-ring wizards, granting first-ring wizards voting rights would elevate the status of ordinary wizarding territories within the Eastern Council and diminish the relative power of the Starfield Sea.

Locke vaguely sensed that this proposal was no ordinary one.

Behind it seemed to lie a turbulent vortex of struggle, but his own ring level was currently too low to discern it clearly.

The second-ring wizard from the Starfield Sea opposite him said, “Sophia the Witch came to our city as a contract worker. Essentially, she doesn’t belong to the city; she’s just a lab assistant my teacher privately recruited.”

“Her initial status was very low, just doing odd jobs.”

“To be honest, Sophia’s chances of a normal future here wouldn’t be good.”

This second-ring wizard senior brother of Sophia the Witch paused before continuing, “In the Starfield Sea, wizards who enter this way certainly take a shortcut, getting a job, a place to live, and some of the city’s benefits. But once they lose their usefulness, they easily lose their livelihood in the Starfield Sea…”

“The ending is often tragic.”

“When Sophia the Witch first arrived, she was only at the first-ring crystallization stage. In the Starfield Sea, any mediocre wizard can reach that level with a little effort. So, when she first arrived, her magic level wasn’t unusual; it was only because my mentor had special needs…”

“Her situation was actually very dangerous…”

“Everyone in the lab sees it clearly, but no one will speak up to warn her. Although we get along well with her, we won’t offer any advice. It’s not because we’re heartless, but because we respect fate’s choice.”

“We’ve seen too many… the fates of ordinary wizards who come to the Starfield Sea to pursue their dreams…”

“Those who have no hope in the outside wizarding lands will have even less hope in the Starfield Sea. They just haven’t grasped this.”

Hearing the words of his second-ring wizard senior brother, Locke, now a second-ring wizard himself, understood the weight of these words even more.

So, in the Starfield Sea, would the difficulty of becoming a first-ring crystallized wizard be greatly reduced?

This is very likely.

Because in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands, the difficulty of becoming a second-ring wizard is far lower than in the Southeast Corner Region.

It might even be at least a hundred times lower.

In the Cloud Marsh Wetlands, he could access the complete knowledge advancement path to becoming a second-ring wizard, while in the Southeast Corner Region, second-ring wizards were like legendary figures, and ordinary wizards didn’t even have the qualification to approach them.

Clearly, in the Starfield Sea, the difficulty of becoming a second-ring wizard has been further reduced.

And in the Starfield Sea, the difficulty of becoming a first-ring wizard has even decreased to the point where it no longer distinguishes ordinary wizards from geniuses.

Sophia’s second-ring senior brother spoke up: “But Sophia is different. She is indeed exceptionally talented, and has shown us so many surprises. In this respect, perhaps you possess talent comparable to hers, because Sophia once told me personally that she believes you have talent no less than hers.”

This second-ring senior brother clearly had a very high initial impression of Locke, perhaps due to Sophia’s influence, and of course, also because Locke had participated in the Cloud Ze Cup with a project he hadn’t completed.

“Sophia the Witch proved her talent; after getting this job, she qualified for the Grand Examination.”

“The so-called Grand Examination is a new policy implemented by the Star Domain Sea in the last hundred years.”

“In the past, Star Domain Sea native wizards, wizards from other wizarding lands, wizarding lands in colonies, and wizards from non-colonial worlds all had to go through numerous hurdles and submit resumes to obtain their desired teaching positions if they wanted to enter the Star Domain Sea.”

“Because the number of wizards entering the Star Domain Sea is so large, outstanding talents are often overlooked, so this inefficient method wastes a lot of resources. Therefore, provided that requirements such as recommendation letters, the number of journals, and the number of projects are met, a second-ring wizard can participate in the Grand Examination.”

“Through the ranking and scores of the Grand Examination, it is easier to be noticed by the major universities in the Star Domain Sea.”

“The greatest significance of the Grand Examination is to break down the information barriers between individual wizards and wizarding academies, and to quantify the scope of the exam as much as possible.”

Locke keenly perceived the crux of the problem. “So, it’s just about getting noticed by major universities through the Grand Examination?”

Sophia the Witch’s second-ring senior brother chuckled. “Yes, that’s right.”

“But that’s enough.”

“After all, most Starfield Sea universities don’t even have the opportunity to select official wizards from such a grand exam. During the Starfield Sea Grand Exam, many of the Starfield Sea’s top and super wizarding academies pay attention to the participants. These super wizarding academies naturally have their own judgment, observing the resumes of outstanding wizards with similar scores to find the official wizards who best meet their requirements.” “

Official wizard” is the official title passed down from the White Wizarding Association. In essence, even third-ring and fourth-ring wizards are considered official wizards.

“Official wizard” is a very broad term.

Sophia’s senior brother said, “Oh, right, the Starfield Sea Grand Exam has a collaboration with the Southern Realm, so if we’re lucky, perhaps a super wizarding university from the Southern Realm will also take a liking to an official wizard in this exam.”

Locke asked doubtfully, “The Starfield Sea seems to have a closer relationship with the Mystic Heaven. Is the Grand Examination a joint exam with the Southern Realm?”

Across from him, his senior brother seemed silent for a moment before replying, “The Mystic Heaven is the headquarters of the White Wizarding Association. But the Mystic Heaven doesn’t represent the White Wizarding Association headquarters; it only represents the leading wizarding territory of the Northern Realm.”

“The Starfield Sea is merely an ally of it, and both are leading wizarding territories under the White Wizarding Association headquarters, nothing more.” “

It’s perfectly normal for the Starfield Sea to cooperate with other leading wizarding territories in other areas. Sharing magic stones with the Mystic Heaven is already annoying enough.”

His senior brother suddenly changed the subject, “Sophia went to take the Grand Examination, so she can’t contact you for the time being. She sensed you were only one step away from becoming a second-circle wizard, so she asked me to congratulate you on becoming a second-circle wizard.”

“If she passes the Grand Examination, she should be able to become a tenured lecturer mage in the Citadel.”

“In the Starfield Sea, almost all teaching positions, if obtained through normal means, require waiting in line. No matter what, the wait is at least a hundred years. Of course, the smaller wizarding academies are exceptions.”

“Lock Augustine, you should also be interested in the Grand Examination. It’s just too late this year. The Grand Examination is held every five years.”

“If you want to participate in the Grand Examination, you need to obtain a participation certificate.”

Locke said, “Thank you for the reminder, senior brother, but how do I obtain such a certificate?”

A soft laugh came from the other side. “I knew you wanted to participate. To obtain the certificate, several conditions are required. The first condition is that you must be at least a second-ring wizard and under 100 years old.”

“The second condition is that you must possess the corresponding number of second-ring journals and projects. The third is that you must have a recommendation letter from a third-ring Throne wizard or higher in the Starfield Sea.”

“The fourth is that you must have worked in the Starfield Sea for a full year. Of course, there are other methods—for example, working on projects related to the Starfield Sea can also be considered as working in the Starfield Sea.”

Locke calculated these participation conditions; clearly, these four conditions were a preliminary screening threshold.

The grand exam was originally prepared for the most talented wizards among geniuses.

He had already met the first condition.

The third requirement seemed a bit strange, but he was actually a wizard skilled at securing projects, so that wasn’t difficult to solve.

As long as the geniuses truly met the requirements, they should be able to be found.

Locke asked, “Senior brother, what is the specific quantity required for the second condition? And the projects related to the Starfield Sea in the fourth condition…”

The other person seemed somewhat surprised.

“You still need to ask me about the fourth condition? Don’t you know that your Golden Crown Mountain won the championship this year through the Three Kings Tournament, winning the construction rights for the Tianjiang River project…”

“That wizarding land along the Tianjiang River is a wizarding land created by the main waterway of the Starfield Sea. Being in charge of that wizarding land is essentially working for the Starfield Sea.”

“As for the third condition… you’ll have to find out for yourself. Because, to be honest, I don’t know either.”

Locke showed surprise in the dormitory.

The second-ring wizard opposite the Clover Ring said softly, “First of all, I’m just an ordinary researcher in the lab at the Citadel. While I’m not a temporary worker, I don’t hold any teaching position.”

“My situation is different from yours and the witch Sophia’s. I’m a native wizard of the Star Sea. My family has a hereditary researcher position in this lab, so I won’t starve. In the Star Sea, if you don’t work, or are unable to work, you’ll starve.”

A deep sense of helplessness permeated his words.

“The Grand Exam is too difficult for an ordinary second-ring wizard. Just obtaining the exam certificate is incredibly difficult; you need to meet certain publication requirements for projects and journals, and you also need a recommendation letter from a third-ring Throne wizard…”

“I hardly meet any of these criteria. Sophia gained the attention of higher-ranking wizards through several competitions. Even so, she shouldn’t have challenged it at the ordinary second-ring stage… it was far too risky.”

“I advised her to at least be a Moon Ring wizard, or even a Sun Ring wizard, before taking the exam. However, she wanted to try first. Alas, she publishes articles and completes projects so quickly, and she has received the favor of many high-ring wizards, so obtaining the Grand Examination Certificate isn’t that difficult for her…”

“If it were me, every opportunity to obtain a Grand Examination Certificate would be so precious.”

Locke realized that the other person seemed to have only mentioned the Grand Examination casually, so they didn’t even know the most important indicators of project and journal publication.

Of course, this meant that the standards for the Grand Examination were somewhat hidden.

‘Yes. The Grand Examination is actually an accelerated track within the teaching system of the Starfield Sea, so information is restricted, and only truly outstanding wizards have the ability to understand this track.’

Locke pondered: ‘This in itself is a selection method.’ “

So, if I want to participate in this major exam and get on this fast track, I need to gather information myself. Of course, perhaps I can use this last opportunity to contact the witch Sophia, who passed the exam, and get specific requirements from her.”

Locke pondered, “Although this senior brother of Teacher Sophia doesn’t seem to have high hopes for her.”

“I wonder if Teacher Sophia can pass the exam and achieve a good score and ranking.”

The other party obviously didn’t intend to cut off the contact immediately, but hesitated for a moment before asking, “Wizard Locke, I have a scrapped project here that I might be able to give you to work on. I wonder if you are interested?” “

Hmm?” A look of interest flashed in Locke’s eyes.

Because the Hydra project that the other party and Sophia had given him had won him the Cloud Ze Cup championship.

It can only be said that a scrapped project from the key laboratory of the Star Domain Sea is indeed amazing.

Locke said, “Senior brother, please speak.” “

Sophia’s second-ring senior brother said, ‘I feel the time for our contact is almost up, so let’s get straight to the point. This is a project that Sophia and I worked on before, but it was later abandoned. It was due to cost issues, some technical difficulties, and mainly because neither Sophia nor I had a deep enough understanding of evolution. Sophia subscribed to the replays of the Silent Grail tournament, and I took the opportunity to watch it too. Your Great Magic Evolution Moon seems particularly suitable for this project…’

‘Perhaps this half-finished project can be completed in your hands. I’ll pack this part of the data for you. Alright, Wizard Locke, goodbye.’

‘I hope to hear more about your reputation in the future.’

The next moment, the second spell model on the Lucky Clover Ring suddenly shattered, the emerald green spell model turning into fragments that floated upwards, melting like ice and snow.

At the same time, a large amount of compressed information appeared in Locke’s mind. This information was only transmitted to his sea of consciousness, and to decipher it, he needed to reread it.

He closed his eyes, entered a meditative state, and entered a state of rapid reading.”

“I see. No wonder my senior thought this project might be completed in my hands. This project itself would be of great benefit to my Evolutionary Moon.”

“It’s a project related to evolutionary chemistry,”

Locke said. “The powerful symbolic magical plant of the boundary between darkness and light, the Golden Wheat, has become extinct. But Professor Sophia found the Golden Wheat in the wild, where it naturally hybridized and evolved over a long period of time into the second-ring magical plant, the Golden Foxtail Grass, and the first-ring magical plant, the Green Foxtail Grass.”

“They want to use these two to reverse-evolve the two magical plants, using an extract from a magical plant called the Yellow-Clothed Mushroom, to try to make the Golden Foxtail Grass and the Green Foxtail Grass degenerate into… the Golden Wheat.”

Locke gasped. “So, Professor Sophia is trying to create a kind of atavism?”

“Although it failed…”

Locke looked at the relevant information. The research was still in the basic research stage, basically still exploring the principles, and had not yet entered the transformation research stage.

However, the project contained a wealth of evolutionary experimental data produced using advanced equipment from the Starfield Sea, which truly broadened Locke’s horizons.

After reviewing some of the materials, Locke sat in his dormitory and pondered for a moment.

“This project seems a bit far-fetched. Whether the extract from the Yellow-Cloaked Mushroom can truly achieve atavism is still uncertain. Besides the Yellow-Cloaked Mushroom, other magical plants were also used in the project.” “

To be honest, even I think this research is somewhat fanciful.”

This might be the reason why Professor Sophia and the others later abandoned it.

Locke glanced at the data; the experiment had already invested about ten million magic stones, but it seemed to have been abruptly stopped.

Moreover, essentially, this was Professor Sophia’s project; the senior brother seemed to be just an accessory to her.

“Ten million… that seems to be part of some kind of second-ring fund’s funding.”

Locke smiled wryly. “So, the professor spent most of a second-ring fund but didn’t achieve any results, and was therefore forced to give up?”

“As expected of the Starfield Sea.”

“To even approve such an outrageous project, the Starfield Sea’s ambition is truly great.”

Locke exclaimed.

“That’s why the Starfield Sea can stand at the forefront of wizarding civilization and explore this world.”

“With my accumulation of evolutionary knowledge, I couldn’t think of how to complete this project for the time being.”

“But this project is full of the teacher’s ideas. I have benefited a lot just by reading these materials and felt the vitality of genius thinking.” “

This project is not urgent. Let’s keep it on hand for now. We can do it later when we have more free time and extra funds.”

Locke read the materials in the project in his mind’s sea. “Although they are all failure data, I have gained a lot of knowledge. A lot of advanced equipment is used here, which will allow me to master a lot of high-level analytical techniques from the Starfield Sea’s experiments.”

Locke pondered, “After becoming a second-ring wizard, I have come into contact with a lot of projects. Of course, these are just project ideas, not funds.”

“Whether it is the ancestral golden foxtail grass, using normal refining methods to formulate the first second-ring magic potion, or the two major requirements that Teacher Ekaterina gave me—to conduct testing and to design three types of pure magic plant wizard shoes that are mainstream in the Cloud Marsh Wetland, they are all work that consumes money.”

“The only real project I got myself was the Black Swan Pineapple breeding improvement project at Bonifacio University.”

Locke’s main body stroked his chin and thought, “As long as I publish more articles and do more projects, it will always be beneficial for me to get the certification for the important exam in the future.”

“Although I’m not yet sure whether I should try to find a top-tier teaching position through the major examination, there are many ways to find a teaching position, and I shouldn’t limit myself.”

Essentially, the Advanced True Knowledge Academy at Golden Crown Mountain is the best True Knowledge Academy available. This is

because, in principle, top-tier wizarding universities and super wizarding universities within the Star Domain don’t offer True Knowledge Academies; this involves resource allocation.

On a larger scale, excellent formal wizards and excellent wizarding apprentices are both resources, and the top wizarding universities in the Star Domain already have too many of these resources. Therefore, the White Wizard Association generally doesn’t offer True Knowledge Academies there.

Thus, the True Knowledge Academy at Golden Crown Mountain is already considered the most prestigious.

At this moment, Locke’s Ancient Tree Fruit clone had already gone directly to the Golden Crown Mountain wizard airship docking point, paid 10,000 magic stones, and purchased a ticket to the Southeast Corner Region.

While Locke’s main body spent a day in his room digesting the half-finished project data he had obtained from his second-ring senior brother in the Starfield Sea, his Ancient Tree Fruit clone had already boarded a wizard airship bound for the Southeast Corner Region.

On the airship, Locke’s Ancient Tree Fruit clone sat in the free library area, ordered a wizard’s coffee, and the formal wizards around him stopped to greet him.

After all, second-ring wizards were rare on the airships heading to the Southeast Corner Region; even first-ring crystallized wizards were considered experts. Therefore,

Locke’s clone arriving on this ship was like shoving fish in a pond!

At this moment, Locke sat smiling at the coffee table, picking up a potions spellbook and beginning to read.

Meanwhile, some wizards on the ship were whispering amongst themselves in a corner.

Two dark wizards who had infiltrated were whispering amongst themselves.

“Oh no, there’s a second-circle wizard on this ship! He wasn’t on the passenger list. Did he buy a ticket and board at the last minute?”

“Boss Zoe told us to cancel all operations. The exile magic of the Purple Path of Exile in the High Heavens is powerful, but it’s impossible to banish a second-circle wizard, not even for half a minute!”

“That’s the only way.”

Locke looked up, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. The two dark wizards didn’t notice a fist-sized Shadow Eye Grass appearing in their shadows.

‘Unexpectedly, I’ll run into someone I know on this ship.’

‘What a coincidence.’

After boarding, Locke, relying on the powerful perception granted by his Three-Eyed bloodline, noticed the anomalies of some wizards, and then planted Shadow Eye Grass in their shadows.

And it actually worked.

“Zoe,” Locke smiled, his eyes narrowing. “You’re the first dark wizard to successfully fool me.”

(End of Chapter)