Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems - Chapter 826

Chapter 823 Conducting an experiment on atavism!

After completing the exchange with the merchant, Locke immediately examined the Two-Headed Cicada Spirit Macro in his hand.

Studying and learning from others’ drawn spirit macro rubbings has a drawback: what you see isn’t the original appearance of the spirit macro, but rather that person’s understanding of it.

However, most potion masters probably wouldn’t be so extravagant as to study every spirit macro; they would use the original.

Locke examined the thin, cicada-wing-like Two-Headed Cicada spirit macro rubbing in his hand. This is a magical cicada with two heads, and its spirit macro is very unique. While studying it, Locke couldn’t help but think of the Crimson Vampire Stone’s spirit macro.

A very interesting point in second-circle potion mastery is that the higher the level of the potion, the more spirit macros need to be added.

Locke considered whether this Two-Headed Cicada spirit macro could be combined with the Crimson Vampire Stone’s spirit macro, but with his current level of spirit macro mastery, it seemed impossible to delve too deeply into this area.

Locke looked at the merchant and asked, “By the way, do you know if there are any second-circle potion-making books available for purchase in this secondhand market? I’m looking to delve deeper into potion-making recently.”

The merchant immediately realized that Locke was probably not a second-circle potion master yet.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know either. I’m also a wizard currently studying potion-making.”

Locke realized that he wasn’t a second-circle potion master either.

The merchant hesitated for a moment, then said, “I am Stellan Rhodes, a formal instructor from the Hall of Everlasting Radiance.”

The wizard Stellan said, “If you need any potion-related materials in the future, or if you have any other needs, you can come find me. I usually come here when I enter the secondhand market. However, if you want to learn potion-making, doesn’t your Golden Crown Mountain library have a lot of materials?”

“I heard they even have the Spirit Curse Manual. It’s much more comprehensive than our Hall of Everlasting Radiance’s materials.”

“You can study by reading books and doing experiments. If you don’t understand anything, you can ask the potion masters of Golden Crown Mountain.”

Locke said, “That’s true. But the potion-making at Golden Crown Mountain and your Hall of Everlasting Radiance should be at roughly the same level.”

The wizard Stellan chuckled somewhat proudly, “In terms of foundation, it still can’t compare to Golden Crown Mountain.”

Locke glanced at the other items on his stall, then used his last Spirit Curse Manual rubbing to exchange for a set of materials for crafting the Doppelganger potion.

Then, Locke left the stall and continued browsing in the secondhand market.

Actually, his main goal was to see if he could find the Black and White Tome, an important archaeological heritage, in this market. Although he didn’t have high hopes, he still casually strolled around.

Locke hadn’t walked far when a wizard dressed in an impeccably white robe, with an angel wing as an ornament on his left shoulder, approached him.

The wizard smiled and brushed past Locke at a stall, then seemed to notice something.

“Wait, are you Locke Augustine?”

Locke turned to look at him, remembering the seven wizards listed in the special-grade funding competitor information his senior brother had given him, one of whom was the wizard Jugglus Juggler. He

had already sent him to the Forbidden Forest to deal with the necromantic contamination and earn fairy blessings for him.

And the person before him…

Locke guessed, “You’re Brandy?”

Brandy nodded with a smile, “Yes. You recognized me at a glance, so you really are Locke Augustine the Wizard. I’m the wizard of Group Three. The former group leader was that… cough cough, traitor. Of course, after she left, Group Three is currently under the leadership of another group leader, and I’m basically maintaining order in Group Three.”

This Brandy wizard seemed very kind.

“Locke, I’ve heard so much about you. You seem to be particularly appreciated by the teacher, and many of our senior brothers are watching you. By the way, are you going to participate in next year’s special scholarship?”

Locke said, “Yes, I will.”

The warm, sunny smile on Brandy’s face vanished for a moment. For a instant, his pupils seemed to lose all emotion, and then he stared blankly at Locke.

It was as if this was his true face.

Without emotion.

All the smiles were merely an enchantment, a spell cast upon his true nature.

The next moment, a smile returned to Brandy’s face. A wizard with weaker perception would likely have missed the instantaneous change in his expression.

Brandy smiled and said, “That’s great. I love competition.”

“Otherwise, having the same old rivals every year is really disappointing.”

Brandy smiled and said, “I’ve always believed that competition allows us to achieve better results. Without competition, wouldn’t everyone become complacent? It’s like how food tastes better when everyone’s scrambling to eat.” “

Oh, by the way, junior, we created a group on the Water Hyacinth System to discuss the application for the Special Scholarship Fund project. We invited all the second-circle wizards in the True Knowledge Academy, but it seems we forgot you.”

“Do you want to join?”

Locke decisively refused.

“No need, senior.”

Brandy continued to smile. “I wonder, junior, what are your thoughts on the Special Scholarship Fund project? Judging from your confident demeanor, you seem quite certain.”

Locke nodded.

“Not yet. Things will

work out in the end.” “By next year, a new idea should come to mind.”

The Brandy Wizard smiled. “In that case, why don’t you join me? I’m currently researching a special energy-locking structure of a second-ring magical plant.”

The Brandy Wizard took out a fern with antler-like growths. The underside of its leaves had a special structure resembling human blood vessels.

“The special veins of the second-ring magical plant king, the staghorn fern, are very interesting. If you cut it open with a grafting knife, you can see a special liquid, like blood, flowing out. Just like a person bleeding.”

“Isn’t that interesting? I think it might be some kind of vascular system. So I’m researching it. Would you like to join in?”

The Brandy Wizard smiled.

“I’m quite helpful. I think this is a project that can uncover many new things. If you join, we’ll definitely have a lot to do.”

“If you discover anything, you can take it with you.”

Locke waved his hand. “Thank you, Senior Brandy. But you’re about to graduate, aren’t you? If you don’t extend your studies next year, then next year will be your last chance to apply. I won’t bother you any longer.”

Locke said, “Besides, although I don’t have any ideas right now, I wonder if one day in the future, some idea might suddenly pop into my head. Then I could suddenly apply for a top-tier funded project next year.”

“I was just joking. But who knows?”

Brandy’s smile remained unchanged, still beaming, but a faint regret showed on his face.

“It’s alright. I just wanted to work on this project with you, junior.”

“No pressure.”

Brandy said, “However, Augustine, be careful.”

“Some people in the Academy of True Knowledge will stop at nothing to get projects.”

“Do you know the Wizard of Droma?”

A look of realization flashed in Locke’s eyes.

“It’s about that big incident last year. One of Droma’s colleagues had his experimental results inexplicably destroyed, preventing him from participating in the academy’s review for the special grant.”

“Later, that wizard left Golden Crown Mountain that year, departing in despair.”

Brandy Wizard said with a smile, “Augustin Wizard, you know him. That makes things much easier. That incident caused quite a stir. The academy investigated for a long time and actually found some clues, but because of a lack of concrete evidence, they couldn’t do anything to certain people.”

“That Droma Wizard was supposed to graduate this year, but he applied for an extension and was approved. So, next year will be his last chance. I heard he had already reached an agreement with the Root Crown Court in the Razer Lowlands, but he forcibly extended his studies for a year just for the special grant.”

“Of course, this might be related to the contract between him and the Root Crown Court. It seems the Root Crown Court is requiring him to secure top-tier funding.”

The next moment, the Brandy Wizard’s pupils lost all their luster, devoid of any emotion, staring coldly at Locke.

He quickly covered his face.

“I apologize. Due to a bloodline modification experiment, I’ve lost the ability to precisely control my facial expressions. This is a side effect of that bloodline modification.”

“I’ve consulted many potion masters, but none can completely cure this problem. Unless the Seven-Colored Deer bloodline essence is removed from my body, it cannot be eradicated.”

The Brandy Wizard took out a Ganoderma lucidum plant and said, “Since you don’t want to join that small group, I’ll add you to a more practical one. This is a secondhand scrap recycling group.”

The Brandy Wizard explained with a smile, “As you know, we’re actually quite short of money; we need money for everything. Research requires money.”

“So, we save wherever we can.”

“This secondhand scrap recycling group is a small group for wizards from Golden Crown Mountain. Many wizards directly post what they need or want to sell, such as consumables. Some small items that can’t be sold on the secondhand market, especially consumables, can be sold through this group.” “

Moreover, sometimes, some wizards will sell their unused consumables at low prices in the group.”

“So, want to join?”

Locke thought for a moment and decided that joining this secondhand scrap recycling group wasn’t a bad idea; it was a way to save money.

“Sure.”

Locke added the Brandy Wizard as a friend and was invited to join the [Secondhand Scrap Recycling Group].

The Brandy Wizard waved to Locke and left.

“Hmm, I’ll continue browsing this secondhand market to see if I can find any cheap experimental equipment that might be useful to me. I’ll be going now, Locke.”

Locke nodded and said, “Okay, Brandy Wizard.”

After the Brandy Wizard left, Locke frowned.

“I can’t tell what kind of person he is at all. He seems very enthusiastic, but overly so. He can’t control his expressions precisely?”

“My super intuition can’t react to him. He’s probably wearing a high-level soul artifact that’s blocking my prophetic abilities. Oh well, no need to think about whether he’s good or bad.”

And then there’s that witch, Droma, who seems to have some connection to sabotaging others’ experimental results.

It seems some people within the True Knowledge Institute are almost going crazy trying to get special funding.

As Locke left the secondhand market, he encountered Alex, who had a joyful smile on his face.

Locke asked Alex, “Alex, how did your talk with that fairy gentleman go?”

Alex smiled and said, “Very well. The Fairy Family Bank is even more generous than I expected. Interest-free loan. I signed a betting agreement with the Fairy Family Bank.”

“By the way, Locke, you signed one too, right?”

Locke fell silent.

He glanced at the fairy witches who had just left the witch’s kitchen, then nodded vaguely.

Mainly, he couldn’t say much in front of others.

Moreover, the key point was that Alex had already signed a contract with the Fairy Family Bank.

That meant the contract was already legally binding; saying anything more at this point would only offend both sides.

Wizard Alex said, “I need a lot of money for a project recently, and I was really worried about it. I didn’t expect the Fairy Family Bank to lend me 35 million magic stones interest-free.”

“That’s a huge help,”

Wizard Alex said confidently.

“With this money, my shop alliance can finally get started.”

Locke pursed his lips.

“Wizard Alex, what does your shop alliance do?”

Wizard Alex replied, “Oh, I’m actually in the beast taming magic subfield. My shop alliance mainly sells a specialty from the wizarding lands along the Tianjiang River: a shark-taming flute.”

“However, with a slight modification, the effect will be even better.”

“The Tianjiang River region doesn’t have many resources; the main resource is water from the rivers, so the beast taming magic, as well as the water magic of the Ocean School and the Evocation School, is quite powerful there.”

Locke nodded slightly.

Clearly, Wizard Alex had absolute confidence in his abilities, which was why he dared to sign a betting agreement with the Fairy Wizard Bank.

Therefore, there was nothing more to say.

What if they really had the ability?

The fairy wizard Roller approached, a sly grin spreading across his face like a businessman. “That’s right,” he said, “most wizards have misunderstood our fairy family bank all along. For us, lending to potential clients and helping their businesses thrive is a win-win situation.”

“Many second-circle wizards, in their early stages, need money from others. They just lack sufficient collateral to obtain it.”

“And our bank fills that gap.”

The two fairy wizards beside him seemed moved.

“Lord Roller, we’re so kind. We’re kind bankers!”

Roller, the fairy wizard, smugly added, “Of course, we’re all very kind banker wizards.”

Locke frowned, coughed, and thought, “We’re all old foxes, putting on a show for me.”

The fairy wizard Roller immediately reverted to his original form, grinning wickedly, and said, “Gentlemen, I enjoyed doing business with you this time. I gained two different kinds of wonderful flavors. Farewell then.”

The fairy wizard Roller left with his two fairy subordinates.

They seemed incredibly stingy; despite having three people, they only hired one magic carriage.

So when the wizard driver saw the three fairies trying to squeeze into his magic carriage, and after struggling for a long time without success, his face darkened.

The wizard tentatively suggested, “My lords, why don’t you hire another magic carriage?”

The three fairy wizards screamed collectively, as if someone had stepped on their feet.

“No need, this is fine. We can let one wizard ride your magical creature mount. Anyway, that Flame Spirit Steed is only used for pulling the carriage outside; we can let one person ride on its back.”

The wizard driver’s nose was practically crooked with anger.

Out of respect for the second-ring goblin wizard, he didn’t say much and silently drove the magic carriage.

Wizard Alex raised an eyebrow.

“These goblins are far too frugal. Do they really need to save such a little money?”

Locke said, “That’s probably just the nature of those goblins.”

After bidding farewell to Wizard Alex, Locke went to Little Peach Mountain, entered the Dune Plane, and returned to the underground laboratory of Group 2.

At this time, the pollution of the Dune Plane had been basically controlled.

The ecological damage caused by the rush to achieve quick results had been largely restored.

He just didn’t know how much money the Sith wizard had spent on this.

In the underground laboratory of Group 2’s research institute, Locke had already cultivated a large number of Yellow-Cloaked Mushrooms through his clone.

Because of the funding from Little Rest Mountain, he could splurge and buy a large number of high-quality strains of Yellow-Cloaked Mushrooms, as well as a large amount of related nutrient soil and magical resources to nourish this hundred acres of magical fields.

This hundred acres of magical fields were now full of Yellow-Cloaked Mushrooms.

Locke used a grafting knife to cut off a yellow mushroom. As he pressed the cap, a large cloud of yellow spores erupted.

The special spore powder secreted by the yellow mushroom, once inhaled, would cause a person to develop an extreme craving for yellow clothing, along with corresponding physical mutations.

However, according to the witch Sophia’s research, the yellow mushroom caused a kind of atavism.

Because of his permanent defensive force field shell, this dangerous mushroom had no effect on him.

Locke took out a crucible, lit a primordial fire under the dry pot, and began extracting the yellow mushroom essence.

Inside the crucible, the yellow mushroom essence was gradually extracted, turning into a thick soup.

Locke looked at this thick soup; this pot of yellow mushroom essence was worth 500,000 magic stones.

He harvested the aloe vera plants from the adjacent acre of magical field, pressed the aloe vera with the grafting knife to extract the juice, and then mixed the yellow mushroom essence into this aloe vera juice at a 1:5 ratio.

This aloe vera is White Jade Aloe, a beginner-level magical plant. Its advantage is that its properties are neutralized, so it won’t interfere with the spiritual energy within a mixture.

It’s a neutralizing magical plant liquid selected by the Rose Council to dilute various potions.

“The proportions are difficult to control. The Rose Council is vague about this, and this is my first time diluting the yellow-skinned mushroom extract. Let’s try it first and adjust as needed.”

Locke placed a green foxtail grass he had purchased into the diluted yellow-skinned mushroom extract.

Soon, many bubbles appeared in the diluted extract, and the green foxtail grass was engulfed in them.

Magical light flowed across the surface of the grass.

Locke removed the grass and transplanted it into a nearby magical field. He then cast a spell on the seemingly normal grass: [Enhanced Growth Acceleration].

In an instant, the green foxtail grass, resembling a green dog’s tail, began to rage. Due to the diluted yellow-skinned mushroom extract, golden spots gradually appeared on the plant’s surface, and it began to writhe wildly, attacking haphazardly in all directions.

Locke wasn’t surprised; this was a common berserk state that magical plants often exhibited when their plant essence was altered.

This indicated a significant change within the first-ring magical plant, the Green Foxtail Grass.

Locke tossed a piece of mossy pith near the roots of the Green Foxtail Grass and continued using the accelerated growth technique. Twenty minutes later, the leaves began to curl, and blue and gold stripes appeared on their surface.

Simultaneously, the uniquely resilient stem of the Green Foxtail Grass suddenly collapsed.

Locke frowned; it seemed the yellow-skinned mushroom extract had caused a mutation in some factor within the Green Foxtail Grass, resulting in the loss of its resistance to collapse.

Locke retrieved the plant essence sequencing results of the Green Foxtail Grass, borrowed from the library.

“The overall plant essence of the Green Foxtail Grass has long been thoroughly studied. I will use this plant essence diagram to find the key plant factors, and then use a magical magnetic field to cut them off, thus removing the mutated key plant factors.”

An hour later, Locke identified three plant factors that could have caused the Green Foxtail Grass to lose its resistance to collapse, and then, in sequence, removed them from the plant essence.

The entire process was like a delicate surgical operation; the slightest carelessness could destroy the normal plant essence sequence of the entire magical plant.

An hour and a half later, after Locke’s accelerated growth illumination and the irrigation of magical resources, the green foxtail grass had returned to its upright position.

“Although I don’t know which plant factor took effect and caused the mutation just now, it doesn’t matter,”

Locke said. “Just cut it all off. Anyway, it’s just an experimental subject.”

“This is faster; let’s complete the process once first.”

The golden foxtail grass was a second-ring magical plant; using it for experiments would be too extravagant.

The green foxtail grass, on the other hand, was only a first-ring magical plant, so he could try out his ideas on it and let it go through the complete process of atavism.

“Then we continue soaking the diluted yellow-skinned mushroom extract,”

Locke said. “The mutation can’t happen all at once, otherwise I wouldn’t have needed to deliberately dilute the yellow-skinned mushroom extract. The overall idea is to slow down the atavism process, so I can remove key conflicting factors or important pathogenic plant factors that cause the magical plant’s degeneration during the process.”

“This will allow for controllable atavism.”

(End of Chapter)