Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems - Chapter 782

Chapter 779 Destroying an Entire Cult and Understanding Me, Locke!

A giant’s hand descended from the sky above Locke’s head, the immense demonic pressure creating a crater on the River Styx. Under this immense pressure, Locke’s Moon of Evolution gradually descended, about to fall back into the River Styx.

‘I have to gamble, but this gamble is dangerous for me.’

‘If the Moon of Evolution is thrown into the River Styx, I don’t know what will happen to me.’

‘I must seize the last moment to escape. If I can’t complete the graft, I must leave the River Styx plane.’

At this moment, the power of emerald descended upon the Second Ring Fern Spear, causing it to grow enormous and become entirely emerald, transforming into the Emerald Fern Spear.

This Emerald Fern Spear gathered a large amount of emerald dream power, its entire body dreamlike and illusory, possessing a fantastical quality, with immense life energy constantly gathering.

Locke manipulated the Fern Spear, which appeared like a needle before the mysterious River Styx Iron Tree.

With a ‘clang,’ the Emerald Fern Spear struck the bark of the Styx Ironwood, instantly creating a series of magical sparks. The bark of the Styx Ironwood was incredibly tough, not due to any special energy; it was simply the bark of an iron tree, purely resilient and indestructible.

The Emerald Fern Spear struck the bark three times, each time missing its mark without causing the slightest damage.

It was as if the embroidery needle was struggling repeatedly within the texture of the ironwood bark, trying to pierce the folds, but to no avail.

“Damn it, it’s too hard!”

Locke’s tiger eyes gleamed even more fiercely, and behind him seemed to appear the aura of a three-eyed tiger-cat hunting its prey in the forest.

“World Leaf!”

A bright green leaf ring appeared on the second-ring fern spear, its energy instantly concentrated.

The Emerald Fern Spear struck the branch, like a collision of heaven and earth, even affecting the surrounding Styx River, causing its surface to ripple.

The next moment, the Emerald Fern Spear slid across the branches of the Styx Iron Tree, sparking a magical flame.

Locke frowned at this.

“Is my magical pressure still insufficient?”

The Moon of Evolution reflected light, using the Cycle of Generations to transform the Emerald Fern Spear into a gamete—a spore—a process that repeated six times. The final spore, imbued with the summer magic attribute of Pinellia ternata, flew out as a fiery fern spear, condensing into a single point and landing on the Styx Iron Tree.

‘Bang!’

The Styx Iron Tree remained unmoved, completely undamaged.

Locke raised his right hand, fine-tuning the spell model. The Emerald Fern Spear emerged from the flames, dancing like a dragon around the branches of the Styx Iron Tree.

The moonlight of the Moon of Evolution shone on the magical pressure dissipating in the air, using lunar mist to gather the magical power gained from the Cycle of Generations, refocusing it on the fern spear.

At this moment, the giant’s hand was almost touching his head.

The Moon of Evolution was pressed to within five meters of the River Styx, on the verge of its final escape window.

Locke gritted his teeth, “If we miss this opportunity, the Crimson Abyss will definitely fix the loopholes, and I won’t be able to replicate today’s situation. There are too many coincidences involved in this whole thing.”

“This magical plant is so mysterious; if we retreat now, the loss will be too great.”

“I still have the Little Vajra Jujube Hanging. I can use it to absorb the damage for my main body. Using the Little Vajra Jujube Hanging in place of myself can buy me another three seconds of escape time.”

“Open!”

Locke’s eyes flashed with ferocity.

The Emerald Fern Spear danced around the branches of the Underworld Iron Tree, colliding with the bark countless times, each collision triggering a magical shockwave. The Emerald Fern Spear

flew from the trunk of the Underworld Iron Tree to the middle of the branches, and then to the treetop.

‘Bang!’

The Emerald Fern Spear couldn’t withstand Locke’s forceful drive and after several impacts, it broke in the middle.

Originally just a common fern, *Lygodium japonicum* was later bred into a tree fern by Locke, increasing its hardness. However, it’s not a true tree; the main components of this fern spear are still interwoven aerial roots and leaf bases, making it relatively soft.

Its microscopic material is similar to a reinforced version of paper.

At this moment, however, the Golden Fern Spear couldn’t hold on any longer and split in the middle, like torn paper.

Locke was stunned.

Besides the Black Lock Sword Bamboo, this was the first magical plant he’d broken.

But the next moment, he used the Emerald Fern Spear to cut a V-shaped gash at the tip of the Netherworld Iron Tree’s branch!

At this crucial moment, Locke suddenly realized something from his botanical knowledge—

the bark of a tree isn’t uniformly hard everywhere.

The hardest part is at the base, followed by the middle of the branches.

Because the base of the trunk bears the weight of the entire tree, it has a high density of lignin deposits and thickened wood element crystal cluster walls.

The trunk, responsible for transporting water and natural magical structural components, is slightly weaker than the base, but not the weakest point.

The weakest point is the treetop.

Because the treetops of magical trees are newly grown, the wood elemental crystal clusters and walls are not fully formed, or are still very thin!

Therefore, only attacking the treetop offers a chance!

Of course, his previous attacks weren’t wasted, because even within the same treetop area, there are variations in hardness.

He needed to target newly grown treetops, the only weak point among all magical trees.

And at the very moment the second-ring Sea Gold Sand broke, Locke found it.

It was likely a recently grown treetop, all parts still very tender.

Locke slashed a V-shaped incision in the cambium layer, and the Time Shadow Fern, which he had prepared beforehand, flew from his hand.

At the instant the V-shaped incisions of the Time Shadow Fern and the Netherworld Iron Tree overlapped, Locke used a second-ring Botanical Spell: Model – Advanced Grafting Healing.

Regardless of the outcome, Locke immediately withdrew from the Underworld plane, interrupting the witch Stephania’s ritual magic, and left the Styx plane.

The giant’s hand was already pressing down.

If he didn’t leave, his Moon of Evolution would be directly suppressed in the Styx, along with the fallen angel and the river’s waters.

At this moment, the fallen angel seemed extremely angry, roaring and pounding the river’s surface, but it was struck by the palm and forced directly into the Styx.

Meanwhile, the crimson abyss was shattered, and the ever-flowing River of Faith was destroyed at its source.

The little golden jujube pendant helplessly sank into the River Styx, its whereabouts unknown.

The underworld giant smiled as he looked at the now-stabilized River Styx.

“So, the problem is solved. This section of the River Styx has returned to calm. There seem to be some small insects on the surface of the River Styx. There have been too many insects on the River Styx lately, causing frequent accidents.”

“I will suggest to the Lord Overlord that we clean up these insects on our River Styx.”

“You two, wait for your punishment from above.”

…

In the present world, Locke returned to the ruins of the University of Verdandia.

At this moment, the black wizards looked at him with fear and awe, as well as terror, and also flattery and obsequiousness.

Before the female High Priestess of the Ghostly Cult, Locke stood with his hands behind his back, closed his eyes, and began to examine his Moon of Evolution.

Thankfully.

Although the Moon of Evolution had traveled through the River Styx, it had not been affected.

So, had his final action been successful?

Locke examined the ecosystem of the Evolutionary Moon.

If successful, the Shadow Fern would be grafted onto the Netherworld Iron Tree, and the Shadow Fern could live as part of the Netherworld Iron Tree.

That would mean the mysterious Netherworld Iron Tree had become part of its ecosystem.

However, although he had finally made a V-shaped incision, grafting was a delicate and difficult technique,

especially for an unknown magical plant .

Therefore, he didn’t know if his final advanced grafting healing would be successful.

At this moment, Locke closed his eyes and saw a scene.

The Netherworld Iron Tree was once again beneath the River Styx, and this time, the river’s water level seemed to have risen due to the earlier turmoil, causing the tree to be completely submerged.

The Shadow Fern was completely immersed in the River Styx, gradually withering and turning gray.

It was simply unable to survive in the River Styx.

Similarly, severe rejection occurred at the grafting point, and black pus appeared at the interface between the two magical plants.

The mysterious ancient tree had rejected the Shadow Fern.

Locke frowned. So it still wouldn’t work?

In that case, he could only memorize the location and explore it again after becoming a Moon Ring Wizard, or even a Sun Ring Wizard.

Or he could seek outside help, perhaps asking his wizard senior brother Trajan, or the Sith leader, for assistance in the exploration, if they were interested.

When he left, he left behind the small golden jujube tree not only to absorb the demonic pressure of the underworld giant, but also to

mark the location of the River Styx.

He inserted the small golden jujube tree into the bottom of the River Styx so that he could find it again someday.

“Hmm?”

The illusion in Locke’s mind suddenly changed.

“That mysterious iron tree, could it be related to the World Tree?”

In the illusion, the Time Shadow Fern, almost completely withered and even with several imaginary roots broken, naturally possessed a trace of Locke’s spirituality as part of Locke’s ecological community.

It was this trace of spirituality that saved the demonic plant.

The spirituality within the mysterious iron tree resonated with this particular spirituality, indirectly resonating with it as well. Then, the iron tree, contrary to its usual behavior, tacitly accepted the grafting of the Time-Shadow Fern and actively provided it with nutrients.

Thus, although Locke’s grafting method was half-failed, the mysterious ancient tree’s initiative ensured the grafting was successful.

The Time-Shadow Fern grew on the iron tree’s branch, and Locke could observe a part of it through it.

‘My power and will are strictly confined to this section of the Time-Shadow Fern,’

Locke pondered. ‘But regardless, the grafting was successful. This is my greatest gain from this trip.’

‘With this foundation, I can begin further research. The Second Ring Wizard’s Shoes project is truly showing promise.’

Locke pondered for a moment and decided to abandon his plan to return to Corfu.

It was a choice:

return home for a visit, or immediately begin his research?

Considering the pressures of Mount Golden Crown and the fact that he had already missed this year’s top-tier grant, he didn’t want to miss next year’s.

He only had about six months at most to obtain initial experimental data and complete his application.

Furthermore, he had just come across such a huge secret—the Ancient Tree of the Underworld—it was simply too mysterious.

Locke had no other thoughts; he only wanted to immediately begin his research, obtain initial data, apply for the project, and then leverage the academy’s resources and personnel to conduct in-depth research on that mysterious tree.

Why did the tree suddenly stop resisting his grafting cultivation method after sensing his special connection with the World Tree?

What was the relationship between that tree and the World Tree?

Did it grow naturally from the Underworld, or was it planted?

Who planted it? And for what purpose?

Furthermore, could he, like the founding wizard of the Ghostly Holy Cult, utilize this mysterious ancient tree as a public server for his products…

and what about that special realm on that mysterious ancient tree that he currently lacked the ability to extract?

These were all worth exploring.

At this moment, Locke had gained a great deal.

He looked at the female leader of the Ghostly Holy Cult and said, “Leader, you are a smart man. I will give you two choices: first, be killed by me; second, surrender voluntarily.”

“As long as you agree to let me cast a spell on your soul and come with me, I will not make a move.”

At this moment, the dark wizards of the Ghostly Holy Cult, knowing that Locke was a second-circle wizard, dared not step forward to stop him.

And the witch Stephania was also extremely pale.

“I’ll cast a spell on my soul.”

“Then my life and death are in your hands. The life and death of the entire Ghostly Holy Church are in my hands. If my life and death are in your hands, then the entire Ghostly Holy Church is yours!”

Locke retorted, “Does that mean your life and death are no longer in my hands?”

The witch Stephania’s face darkened as she quickly weighed the pros and cons.

She soon discovered with horror that after Locke deliberately placed her under his ritual magic, she was unable to connect to the core of the Ghostly Holy Church’s magic system—the Ghostly Iron Pillar!

All the magic of the Ghostly Holy Church was essentially imbued with a touch of ritual magic.

Without that Ghostly Iron Pillar, even for a crystallized wizard, most of their Ghostly magic was rendered useless.

Because a crystallized wizard couldn’t use ritual magic all the time; they couldn’t bear the corresponding price.

The witch Stephania screamed.

“Augustine, what have you done? You went to the River Styx, and now all the magic of our Ghostly Holy Church is unusable?”

The magical pressure of the Ghostly Holy Church’s official wizards began to drop one by one.

All the official wizards, except those who had become crystallized wizards, began to have their permanent defensive fields shatter.

One after another, official wizards died as their permanent defensive fields collapsed, their souls decaying and turning into echoes.

The scene was quite spectacular.

Hussein couldn’t help but turn around to look.

He saw Locke standing alone in the middle of hundreds of official wizards of the Ghostly Holy Church, his hands behind his back. The deaths of those official wizards were like stars falling from the sky, or whale falls.

It was quite spectacular.

One whale fall, and all things are born.

And Locke was the one who caused all of this.

Hussein was stunned.

‘The Eye Demon Wizard is even faster at killing than I am! He’s too ruthless.’

‘Brutal!’

Locke also realized.

‘That’s right, the spell model of the permanent defensive field of these official wizards of the Ghostly Holy Church all uses Ghostly Magic.’

‘Since it’s Ghostly Magic, it all relies on that pillar.’ “Now that section of the Styx River has been flooded by me, the iron trees are all submerged.”

“These people can’t connect to that iron pillar, so their permanent defensive field will collapse. Their permanent defensive field will collapse suddenly, of course they’ll die instantly.”

Locke understood. “If that’s the case, then this is inherently a flaw in the Ghostly Magic of the Ghostly Holy Church. As long as they haven’t reached the first level of crystallization, they’ll die instantly once they lose that iron pillar.”

“Wait a minute.”

Locke realized. “These people were originally… food for the Pale Pilgrimage. This was deliberately left as a backup plan. In this way, those formal wizards and dark wizards who study Ghostly Magic will have no chance to fight back and their soul power will be easily harvested.” “

Ghostly Magic has always liked to use wizards who study Ghostly Magic to make magical artifacts.”

“These people are the best leeks.”

“Only by studying Ghostly Magic can one qualify as raw material to be made into magical artifacts.” Locke

, considering Hussein’s current predicament, realized that even as a wizard from the Blood Curse Court, Hussein was likely within the scope of the harvest.

Moreover, his possession of the progenitor wizard’s legacy, which made him a second-circle wizard, also placed him within the harvesting range.

It seemed that all the dark wizard lineages in the southeastern region were at risk of being harvested by the Pale Pilgrimage.

Thus, the Pale Pilgrimage appeared to be an extremely dangerous dark wizarding organization.

It was unclear what connection they had with the Lich Kings.

Realizing that these fallen ghostly wizards might become excellent raw materials for ghostly magical artifacts, Locke did something. He took out Banxia and used the “Unable to Support a Single Tree” technique.

In an instant, the magic of summer descended, turning the entire sky into a fiery cloud.

The echoes and souls of those fallen ghostly wizards were all burned by Locke.

“Since killing these leeks might actually make them easier to harvest, I’d rather burn them,”

Locke smiled.

At the same time, he looked at Stephania, the only remaining female high priestess of the Ghostly Cult, and a crystallized witch beside her.

Stephania gritted her teeth; the failure of the ghostly magic, coupled with Locke’s brutality, had completely terrified her.

She had originally intended to use some tricks, but now, facing such a ruthless and infamous bewitching wizard, she was utterly terrified.

High Priestess Stephania felt that Locke was more like a dark wizard than she was.

How could she have imagined that the little wizard she had only briefly met back then would grow up to be what he was now, standing before her?

High Priestess Stephania said, “Fine, I’ll let you cast a spell on my soul.”

“I surrender.”

The next moment, Locke waved Half-Summer, setting the half-crippled, remaining Crystallized Witch ablaze, instantly reducing her to ashes.

‘The Ghostly Holy Church’s Ghostly Studies system is too easily wiped out.’

Locke shook his head slightly.

‘This isn’t a magic system for properly training people at all.’

‘I wonder if there’s any real Ghostly Studies over at the Pale Pilgrimage.’

Witch Stephania’s eyelids twitched in fright. She had thought Locke wanted to capture the remaining two wizards of their Holy Church.

Who knew that after she surrendered, Locke would directly kill the remaining elder.

In an instant, Stephania felt a chill run down her spine. Dark wizards were known for their willingness to sacrifice their own allies, so she didn’t really care about the deaths of so many of her colleagues. She was

simply heartbroken that these wizards, who had once belonged to her, were all dead.

However, since they had all lost their ghost magic before Locke killed them, rendering them useless, she wasn’t particularly distressed.

But Stephania thought, what if that elder had surrendered to Locke first?

Wouldn’t Locke have killed her instantly?

Ruthless!

Too ruthless!

Stephania looked at Locke in horror, finding him completely unpredictable and unable to understand his moods. She had even lost the will to resist and the desire to trick him.

Locke approached her, touching her forehead with his finger. Because the witch Stephania had voluntarily released her soul and dispelled the permanent defensive field, Locke had placed a gametophyte of the Tyrant Sea Gold Sand, its heart-shaped leaf, into her soul. The heart-shaped leaf parasitized her magical pressure, nourishing the gametophyte of the Tyrant Sea Gold Sand with her own magical pressure. This

was a method of generational succession.

After transforming into a gametophyte, a magical plant easily parasitizes the magical pressure of others, treating a wizard’s magical pressure as soil.

Afterward, if Locke wished, he could instantly use generational succession to transform into a spore, bypassing the permanent defensive field and harming the witch’s true form.

In this way, the witch Stephania was essentially under his control.

Locke smiled with satisfaction. Next, as long as he kept his promise to Hussein and destroyed the Blood Curse Court, he would gain a second-circle wizard to aid his exploration of the plane.

At this moment, a second-circle wizard appeared beside him.

His voice was icy, filled with anger: “Your Excellency, killing so many of my Pale Pilgrimage’s subordinate wizards is one thing. They were just a bunch of leeks, easily harvested.”

“But why burn them all, leaving us with nothing to harvest?”

“Isn’t this bewitching wizard a bit too domineering?”

“You’re not one of our dark wizards, why get involved! This witch possesses some Pale Pilgrimage secrets; you can’t take her!”

At this moment, Locke sensed two second-ring magical pressures appear beside him and Hussein.

Hussein, however, was delighted rather than alarmed.

He had finally caught the fish.

Locke looked at Hussein.

“Is this your real purpose?”

The lives of those first-ring wizards were irrelevant; they probably had little impact on Hussein. What he truly wanted was to fish!

Hussein laughed heartily.

“You understand me, Locke!”

(End of Chapter)