Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems - Chapter 772

Chapter 769 Knife and Whetstone

Realizing that his opponent had established an absolute advantage by relying on the relative height of their Great Magic within the Root Realm, Locke immediately thought of a solution.

Using the second-circle spell, Generation Alternation, he could instantly transform attributes six times, stacking magical pressure. Then, at the moment of his attack, his magical pressure would multiply, causing a very brief apparent increase in the magical pressure of his Great Magic.

Thus, the relative height of his Great Magic within the Root Realm would also be enhanced.

Originally, his accumulation could only allow a single magical plant to transform its attributes five times through Generation Alternation, but after obtaining the Half Summer, he could use the Evolution Moon to imbue other magical plants with the Summer attribute, allowing him to use Generation Alternation to change attributes six times.

However, Locke rejected this plan.

While there was no need to hide it—everyone present was a wizard of a far higher level than him—

the problem was that, unless absolutely necessary, he didn’t need to use his current ultimate chain attack, the Evolution Moon, at this moment.

Moon Cultivation Method + Generation Alternation + plant factors that change six attributes.

This isn’t the Silent Grail War, nor is it any special competition; there’s no need to use full power, and his opponent clearly isn’t either.

At this moment, the Evolutionary Moon behind Locke suddenly disappeared, no longer directly empowering the Peachblossom Thorn Arrow. He only used his own magical pressure as a second-circle wizard to support it.

The witch Rose was startled.

Locke’s actions clearly indicated he had sensed her intentions.

The Root Realm only supports Great Magic; as long as the second-circle spell used isn’t related to Great Magic, it’s equivalent to not having the Root Realm supporting it, and naturally, it’s not affected by the Root Realm’s level.

This is equivalent to not being within this system, comparing herself to her.

But this still presents a problem.

The existence of the Root Realm is meaningful; it’s something extremely advantageous to second-circle wizards, jointly constructed by high-circle wizards of textile science, life science, and alchemy.

Locke’s voluntary abandonment of the dual empowerment of the Root Realm and Great Magic on his spells essentially returns him to the magical strength level of an ordinary second-circle life form.

This is a severe weakening of his magical power.

Cloudbeams themselves possess the special ability to evade magical power.

Locke drew his bow and released the arrow.

The witch Rose frowned.

“You’ve lost. The magical pressure of this Peach-Arrow Thorn Arrow can’t possibly reach my Cloudbeard Cloth.”

“Wait…”

The Peach-Arrow Thorn Arrow, barely able to maintain the power of a second-circle wizard’s spell, arced through the air. Then, under the moonlight of the Evolution Moon, the spirit of the Cloudbeard Silk connected with the spirit of Locke’s Peach-Arrow Thorn Arrow.

Although the Cloudbeard Cloth would automatically retreat upon being attacked by magic, preventing the magic from ever hitting it,

the spirit of the Peach-Arrow Thorn Arrow was now tightly bound to the Cloudbeard Cloth’s spirit, causing it to relentlessly chase after it.

This created a scene resembling a perpetual motion machine in the sky.

The two remained locked in a stalemate for a moment.

The next instant, under the light of the Evolution Moon, the connection between the spirit of the Cloudbeard Cloth and the Peach-Arrow Thorn Arrow suddenly shortened, and then the Peach-Arrow Thorn Arrow struck the Cloudbeard Cloth.

Locke nodded slightly upon seeing this.

In truth, even for him, achieving this was extremely difficult, given the incredibly low instantaneous magical pressure output of his Peach Blossom Thorn Arrow.

Even with the ability to utilize the Evolution Moon’s power to connect the spiritual essence of plants, failure was still possible.

The Cloudbeard Cloth’s ability to automatically evade magical attacks… was troublesome.

The Rose Witch’s eyes flashed with surprise upon seeing this, but then she smiled.

At the same time, Rose Witch extended her right hand, and the Cloudbeard Cloth, after being shot down, fell from the sky into her hands.

The entire Cloudbeard Cloth was engulfed in flames.

Rose Witch’s right hand was protected by a permanent defensive force field shell, so she was unharmed. With a grim face, she took out a semi-transparent potion from her astral ring, squeezed out a drop of spiritual liquid, and dripped it onto the Cloudbeard Cloth. The flames enveloping the Cloudbeard Cloth instantly extinguished.

At this moment, the atmosphere at the square table returned to its relaxed state.

His senior brothers led the applause, and a few wizards elegantly tapped their plates lightly with their cutlery, expressing their appreciation as elders and high-ranking wizards.

Ekaterina glanced at Locke with satisfaction .

“Well done, Locke.”

Ekaterina looked at Rose.

“You’re not bad either.”

“The Cloudbeard Cloth is excellent; it may have many applications in the future. The value of a magic weaver lies not in combat, but in production.”

Rose’s expression softened slightly. She looked at the Red Dragon Witch with surprise, not expecting the legendary tyrannical Red Dragon Witch to speak to her so gently, which surprised her and warmed her heart.

Rose bowed to Ekaterina, saying, “Thank you for your guidance, Your Majesty the Red Dragon Throne.”

She looked up at Locke, gave a cold snort, put away the Cloudbeard Cloth, and turned to walk behind the Rose Witch.

The Rose Witch then looked at Locke and handed him the seal.

“A bet’s a bet. Locke, this crimson vampire stone seal is yours.”

She placed the seal in mid-air, and it remained suspended there. She lightly touched it with her finger, and the seal flew towards Locke.

The Rose Witch smiled, “The wizard who made this seal put in a lot of effort, so I hope you’ll make good use of it. You’d better not use it as a single-use potion tool; that only allows one use. If you can practice copying it daily, I think it will greatly improve your potion-making skills.”

“Chief of the Demon Hunters, am I right?”

The Chief of the Demon Hunters, a fat wizard and potion master, laughed heartily.

“Although the Rose Throne isn’t a Potions Wizard, she has insightful opinions on our Potions field. Yes, absolutely. Ultimately, Potions is a discipline that can be rapidly improved with resources.”

“It’s very different from your flower language studies, which focus on fate.”

“Your flower language studies are truly difficult to learn; if a student can’t learn it, they simply can’t learn it.”

The Rose Witch was extremely pleased with this.

The Rose Witch looked at the Catherine Witch and said, “Catherine Witch, I’m still very busy. Since I’ve achieved my purpose this time, there’s no need for me to stay any longer.”

The Catherine Witch smiled and said, “Take care, don’t bother seeing me off.”

The Rose Witch’s five students all showed anger, but the Rose Witch used a calm gaze to signal them to calm down.

At the same time, the Rose Witch glanced at the Catherine Witch and said, “There’s plenty of time in the future, Katya. Your dispute with me is like playing Go. You make a move, I make a move, and no one knows the final outcome, don’t you think?”

The Catherine Witch remained silent.

At this moment, the Rose Witch glanced at Locke.

“However, your student did quite well this time. He remained calm, discovered the true nature of the [Broken Lotus Thread Curse], and devised a risky way to break it.”

“Locke Augustine, welcome to the world of the Second Ring.”

“Let’s go, Rose.”

As the Rose Witch left, white rose petals fell again like snowflakes, swirling in the wind like drifting snow.

Locke seemed to see countless interwoven patterns in this ‘snowstorm.’

Locke exhaled a breath of stale air.

Finally gone.

The Rose Witch was too intimidating.

She seemed like a very approachable wizard, but she wasn’t!

Her methods were too mysterious, and her motives were even more unfathomable.

However, despite this, he had indeed won against her granddaughter just now.

The Catherine Witch gave Locke an approving look, then turned back to continue conversing with the other high-ring wizards.

Because of the Rose Witches’ voluntary departure, the banquet returned to its previous relaxed state, and many high-ring wizards were still impressed by Locke, thus discussing him for a few more minutes.

Locke turned around and saw the wizard Trajan praising him, “Junior brother, you really showed your prowess this time. I thought you would fall for the trap, but you saw through it yourself. The insidious nature of that ‘tethered lotus root’ curse.”

Locke replied, “I was lucky. I almost didn’t realize it.”

Senior Brother Georta said, “Those wizards of the Rose Council are all so cunning. I’ve suffered a lot at their hands before.”

Witch Zoira said, “Hmm… I’m alright. I have a few friends in the Rose Council. Of course, I’m definitely at odds with the Rose Witches’ faction. Because they are enemies of our teacher.”

Second Senior Brother Heidegger said in a low voice, “Even if I don’t consider them…” “There’s nothing we can do about the enemy. Our project is closely related to our teacher’s project, and we naturally clash with the direct lineage of their academic lineage. Unless we take the initiative to back down and sacrifice our own future, I really can’t think of a way to avoid conflict with them.”

Heidegger, the second senior brother, looked at Locke and said, “You need to be careful, junior brother. The Rose Witch is proud of her status and would never do anything to embarrass her in public. But I don’t think that Rose Witch is a good person. You won this time, but I doubt she’ll be satisfied.”

Locke bowed to Heidegger and said, “It’s alright, senior brother. If I can beat her the first time, I can beat her the second time.”

Heidegger paused for a moment, then patted him on the shoulder. “Good, that’s spirited.”

Zoira the witch said, “Industry conflicts are almost unavoidable for second-ring wizards. First-ring wizards, because of their lower value, rarely encounter this situation.”

“For second-ring wizards, it’s either join a team or remain independent. But whatever choice they make, they will always pay a price…”

Locke nodded in deep agreement.

Going it alone might avoid these conflicts, but it would also mean losing access to many resources.

Locke looked at the strange seal in his hand.

“Crimson Vampire Stone is a second-circle potion ingredient, I know that, mainly used to brew Crimson Potions.”

“Those who take Crimson Potions can establish a contract or cursed connection based on blood ties, a special kind of blood curse. With just one bottle of Crimson Potion, one can create a bloodline that obeys them, and its descendants are extremely difficult to resist.”

“I’ve seen this potion at the free library, but it’s a forbidden drug, prohibited from being brewed by the White Wizarding Association.”

Mainly, this potion, in the distant past, before the Enlightenment, was used by wizarding monarchs to enslave mortal families with wizarding talents.

The formula for this potion was almost destroyed during the Enlightenment, but it was preserved for the sake of knowledge preservation.

Locke looked at the Crimson Vampire Stone Spirit in his hand and asked curiously, “I know what a Crimson Vampire Stone is, but what is this Crimson Vampire Stone Spirit? What’s the connection between the two?”

The witch Catherine glanced at the Crimson Vampire Stone Spirit, frowning, seemingly lost in thought.

…

At the foot of Mount Golden Crown, the witch Rose, standing beside the Rose Witch, asked curiously, “Grandma, I’m truly unwilling to lose to that young, callow commoner. Why didn’t you let me use the Lotus Root Spell more effectively?”

“I could have used the Lotus Root Spell to connect his Peach Bow Thorn Arrow back to the Botanical Root Realm,”

the Rose Witch said as they walked. “Rose, why the rush? The Lotus Root Spell is the core of your ultimate spell, Water Cannon Weaving Machine. If you use it at full power, you’ll expose too much of your true abilities in a non-competitive setting.”

“Secondly, and most importantly, your Lotus Root Spell might not even work.”

The witch Rose paused, taken aback. “Why?”

the Rose Witch asked. “His great magic can also connect the spirituality between plants, so it might disrupt the effect of your ‘Lotus Root Connection’ spell. Therefore, I told you not to be reckless. Besides, I’ve already achieved my goal.”

“This time, I only wanted you to demonstrate the potential of our textile science to the high-level wizards of Cloud Marsh Wetlands by fighting that Augustine wizard. Everything else was secondary. And they saw it. They know that great magic in textile science is inherently weak in frontal conflicts.”

“They also can’t fail to see the excellent performance of your Cloud Beard Cloth, and they can’t fail to see that it was almost undamaged by the Peach Bow Thorn Arrow attack.”

“They saw all of that. That’s enough.”

The Rose Witch smiled. “If you had actually won against someone else at another celebration, I would have been the one with the headache.”

“Challenging someone requires timing. Now is not the time.”

The Rose Witch nodded and said, “That kid only managed to break one of my spells by chance. If we continued fighting, he… Of course, my Cloud Beard Cloth has even better uses.”

The Rose Witch glanced at the Rose Witch and smiled, “I’m giving you Locke Augustine as your whetstone. With your talent, you’ll surely make good use of this whetstone, sharpening your blade to an unparalleled edge.”

The Rose Witch bowed and said, “Thank you, Great-Grandmother.”

(End of Chapter)