Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems - Chapter 847

Chapter 843 The Headquarters of the Intersection Journal and the Purchase of Void Battleships

The Border of Darkness and Light, the Golden Dynasty, the Old Ruins.

This is a magical city, gold everywhere, one of the five most important cities of the Golden Dynasty, the City of Old Ruins.

The main wizarding university in the Border of Darkness and Light is the Golden Dynasty, and within the Golden Dynasty are five major academies, led by the five major cities of Old Ruins, the Ancient Ruins of Merri, and others.

Old Ruins, once said to be the most glorious city in the Border of Darkness and Light, possessed incredible, even miraculous, magical power. Even after suffering a devastating blow, the glory and miracles of ten thousand years ago still flow within this city.

Nine-tenths of the buildings in Old Ruins are ruins, while one-tenth were built over the past ten thousand years.

Therefore, half of the wizards living here live in the still usable buildings in the ruins, and the other half live in the newly built buildings.

But this is enough to prove how vast Old Ruins was in the past.

The buildings rebuilt over ten thousand years are only one-tenth of the remaining ruins.

In the old ruins of the city, a bronze bell, only half of which remains, lies dormant on the earth. Covered in rust and bearing the marks of time, this is the headquarters of the journal *The Crossroads*.

The bronze bell is as large as a small mountain, a high-level magical artifact of unknown rank, or perhaps even a void-flying device; its exact function and original purpose are uncertain.

Perhaps it was merely a small component of a larger magical artifact.

However, this mountain-sized half of the bronze bell contains numerous rooms, and due to the use of a large amount of rare magical metals, it is itself an extremely valuable magical resource.

Therefore, it became the headquarters of the journal *The Crossroads*.

At this moment, inside the ancient bronze bell, filled with unfathomable meaning, in an oval office, the editor-in-chief of *The Crossroads*, the Moon Ring Wizard [Saronius], uses golden magic to manipulate a stack of documents before him, making them float above his head.

Wizard Saronius coldly snorts.

“What is this? The submissions I’ve been receiving lately are getting worse and worse.”

His first glance was at a wizard’s background, then at the wizarding university and their current position, followed by their past submission history, such as the number of journals they’d submitted to, and only then did he consider the wizard’s current magical level. Only

after making these judgments did he look at the article’s viewpoint, and if he confirmed the viewpoint was sound, he would then examine the research methodology.

Saronerus was a wizard with a neck full of gold rings, two gold earrings, and an androgynous air about him. Despite being a male wizard, he wore eyeliner and lipstick.

Saronerus casually stamped several submissions from wizards whose qualifications were clearly insufficient with a gold stamp, labeling them “rejected.”

After that, the student council would come and collect the rejected articles, then his students would concoct a bunch of reasons to reject them.

It didn’t matter to him anyway.

Saronerus the Wizard didn’t want to waste a single ounce of energy on these worthless articles, so he had his students write the rejection reasons for them.

“Bloodline issues are important. Articles from wizards without golden bloodlines aren’t necessarily unacceptable, but the minimum requirements for passing will have to be raised significantly,”

Saronerus muttered to himself.

“Then there’s the wizarding university. Without a decent position at a wizarding university, there’s no point in continuing. And the submitter’s magical level should at least be at the Moon Ring level, and they should have previously had some articles approved in Zone 2…”

“Doing these eliminations first will reduce my workload,”

Saronerus the Wizard stamped the rejected articles.

However, he actually had a safety net.

Although he personally disliked reading trash and thus chose this efficient review method, mistakes could easily lead to reprimands from above or attract the attention of the academic committee.

Therefore, he would have his students take a second look at the rejected articles when drafting the rejection reasons.

If they felt there were objections to the rejected article, they could show it to him again.

Saronerus the wizard stared at the article floating before him, momentarily stunned.

“Locke Augustine? Never heard of him. It doesn’t mention whether he has the Golden Bloodline, he’s a wizard from out of town… the probability of him having the Golden Bloodline is low.”

“Mount Golden Crown…”

Saronerus thought for a moment; Mount Golden Crown was a decent wizarding university.

He could certainly continue reading.

However, when he noticed that Locke was just an ordinary second-circle wizard, and had only recently become one, he immediately frowned. Upon discovering that Locke hadn’t published in any second-circle journals, his brows furrowed even more.

“Hmm? He hasn’t even completed a second-circle grant.” “

He didn’t even secure the top-tier grant from the Institute of True Knowledge?”

Saronerus the wizard lost patience.

He still had a pile of manuscripts to review, and some experimental data in certain articles required repeated experiments for verification if he had doubts.

In short, he had a lot to do today and naturally didn’t want to waste his time on this unknown young man.

“The Border of All Things is a Zone 1 journal, yet someone submitted directly to it without any Zone 2 journals available. This young man is too hasty, lacking experience. Which Zone 2 wizard isn’t a genius? Zone 2 journals aren’t easy to get published in.”

“You should wait another ten years, let yourself mature, and then submit again.”

Wizard Salonirus thought for a moment, then proactively grasped the golden seal in mid-air and stamped the article with “Rejected. ”

An hour later, Wizard Salonirus had efficiently processed all the submissions for the day.

At that moment, a Crystallized Wizard entered.

“Lord Salonirus, I’ve come to collect the articles you rejected.”

Wizard Salonirus nodded to him and said, “Hmm. They’re on the table. Write some plausible reasons for rejection on those articles.”

The Crystallized Wizard glanced at the stack of manuscripts before him and immediately swallowed hard.

These tasks would be easy for the wizard Salonirus to complete, but for him, they were extremely difficult.

After all, he was only a first-ring wizard.

But he thought this could be considered a form of training, so he steeled himself, stepped forward, picked up a stack of articles from the table, bowed, and left the office.

Back at his workstation, the wizard sorted through the articles, then began selecting the easier ones to reject and writing reasons for rejection.

Three hours later, he saw a submission from a wizard named Locke Augustine. Scanning Locke’s resume, he immediately understood the reason for Saronerus’s ruthless rejection.

Almost instantly, he picked up his magic quill and began writing in the margins, in Saronerus’s voice: ‘Hello, Locke Augustine, thank you for submitting to The Intersection of All Things. However, The Intersection of All Things is a Zone 1 journal with high entry requirements, and you have no record of submitting to Zone 2 journals…’

The wizard suddenly wanted to open the article to see what it said. He glanced at the article’s viewpoint and froze on the spot.

“This…”

“Golden Wheat?”

Several wizards at their workstations in the public office inside the bronze bell glanced at him. Some thought he was noisy, others thought he was strange.

Golden Wheat was a magical plant that had been extinct for a long time, with no specimens left, once a symbol of the boundary between light and darkness.

But there was no need to make a fuss in a public place like an office.

This crystallized wizard quickly flipped through the article, only to find its contents making him dizzy. He was clearly reading the text and was certain he had memorized it, but he could only remember a fraction of what he knew.

This was a typical symptom of cognitive imbalance.

This crystallized wizard suddenly stood up from his workstation for the second time, startling the two wizards around him who gave him disapproving looks, as this was the second time he had acted so suddenly.

The crystallized wizard covered his eyes.

“I’ve developed symptoms, and everything seems to be breathing. Oh no, this article isn’t simple. It concerns Golden Wheat; I must have the Wizard of Salonirus look at it. Has the Wizard of Salonirus not even read the title of this article? Is the task of reviewing and editing a first-zone journal for a second-ring journal so easy?”

“No. I shouldn’t have spoken ill of the high-ring wizards behind their backs.”

Carrying Locke Augustine’s article, he covered his eyes with his left hand and stumbled through the corridor inside the bronze bell towards the Wizard of Salonirus’s office.

At this moment, he felt that the colors before his eyes were changing, which meant that his cognitive imbalance was still quite severe.

He struggled back to the Wizard of Salonirus’s office, only to find the office door tightly closed.

In front of the office door was a makeshift workstation belonging to a liquefied witch, presumably the Wizard of Salonirus’s secretary.

He looked at the witch and said, “Where is Lord Salonirus?”

The witch coldly glanced at the young crystallized wizard.

“Mr. Persepolis, Lord Belsaronerus is busy this afternoon and should be out. You can contact him again in a week.”

The wizard Persepolis frowned immediately.

A whole week to contact him?

That was the troublesome part.

Because the wizard Belsaronerus had indeed instructed him to be responsible for the second review of the rejected articles—this was indeed a direct task given to him.

But this task was more like a liability waiver, a way to shift blame.

If anything went wrong later, the wizard Belsaronerus could easily use this to claim that Persepolis had neglected his duties, causing the problem.

He had authorized him to review the articles a second time and report any issues.

But the problem was, authorization was one thing, but whether there would be a proper handover was another matter entirely.

‘Logically, I need to send the results back within a week; that’s the wizard Belsaronerus’s rule. And now the wizard Belsaronerus wouldn’t be back for a week.’ This means that whether I send it or not, I will be violating the rules of Wizard Belsaronerus.

Wizard Persebrus’s expression changed slightly.

Normally, articles examined using Wizard Belsaronerus’s method rarely had errors.

Looking at the wizard’s school, position, magic level, and past experience is generally a useful way to filter out many things.

After all, exceptional geniuses are definitely a minority.

Most people are predictable by common sense.

But…

Persebrus felt that the author of the article he held was a genius beyond common sense. Persebrus was momentarily at

a loss.

The City of Old Ruins had many forbidden zones, areas where low-level wizards would almost certainly die if they entered.

If Wizard Belsaronerus was in those places, then finding him within this week was indeed impossible.

Just as Wizard Persebrus, preoccupied and dazed, walked out of the corridor, someone suddenly called out to him.

“Persepolis, show me that article you have.”

“Yes, sir.”

Persepolis turned around and saw that the person who had come was none other than Flavius, the Sun Ring Wizard and the editor-in-chief of the Intersection of All Things.

Persepolis had been feeling dizzy and disoriented due to cognitive imbalance, but strangely, he didn’t know why, but after just one sentence with this Sun Ring Wizard of the Golden School, all his symptoms were relieved. The

Wizard Flavius gently touched his forehead, and a hidden true form of all things, a special spiritual energy, entered his forehead, instantly making all the wizard’s cognitive imbalance symptoms disappear.

Persepolis respectfully handed him the article. The

Wizard Flavius, according to legend, was the reincarnation of a Three Ring Wizard, a great alchemist, said to possess special hidden knowledge that allowed him to understand the secrets of turning lead into gold and comprehend the true mysteries of spiritual energy.

The Persian wizard Bruce bowed to him and said, “Thank you, Lord Flavi. Do I need to pay for the potion treatment?”

Flavi Sun Ring replied, “I didn’t use any potion on you. I simply extracted the spirit essence from your name and infused it into your soul to stabilize your consciousness. Your name is also part of that spirit essence.”

The Persian wizard Bruce’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Flavi Sun Ring said, “In this world, everything has a spirit essence.”

“Spiritual mass is an inherent property of an object, just like mass.”

“Alright. For you to see an article with such severe cognitive imbalance, the quality must be quite good.”

Flavius looked at the article in his hand. “You must be looking for Wizard Salonirus. He’s a very busy man. If he’s not here, I’ll help him proofread the manuscript. Very young. But heroes have always emerged from among the young.”

“Ah? This is… a reversion to ancestral golden wheat!”

Flavius was momentarily stunned. He looked up in surprise at Persebrus, his tone showing dissatisfaction.

“Wizard Salonirus, have you even read a single title of this article?”

Wizard Persebrus hesitated, as this matter involved his direct superior, so he was somewhat unsure how to answer.

Flavius shook his head slightly. He hadn’t been communicating with Persebrus, but simply making his own judgment.

“If he had even seen the title, he wouldn’t have dared to reject this article without informing me.”

“Saronius’s work attitude has been getting worse and worse lately.”

Flavius Ring took the article and quickly left.

Bosbrus swallowed hard; he had a feeling his boss had gotten himself into a serious mess this time.

Meanwhile, Flavius Ring returned to his office with Locke’s article and began to read it carefully.

“Excellent ideas, clear thoughts. It seems there were multiple people guiding it, but the main ideas are coherent.”

Flavius Ring read to the end, where a test result of the mutated golden foxtail grass magical plant was included.

There were also magical images left by the related illusion school.

After reading the article, his eyes lit up.

“Brilliant Photon Plant Factor? I haven’t seen this kind of plant factor in so many years. This is Golden Wheat!”

Flavius Ring was excited. He immediately reacted and found three relevant wizards from the Golden Dynasty to act as reviewers.

However, his main purpose was to bring them over to see if it was indeed Golden Wheat.

Flavius, the Sun Ring Wizard, considered the candidates. He first found two high-ranking nobles from the Golden Dynasty, then a member of the Golden Dynasty’s royal family, a student of the Russell Throne, and also a Sun Ring Wizard.

Although Golden Wheat held more of a spiritual symbolic meaning than a practical one for the Boundary Between Darkness and Light, the Boundary Between Darkness and Light had lost Golden Wheat for a long time.

This held special significance for the Boundary Between Darkness and Light.

Could it be that in his generation, he could see that Golden Wheat again?

Flavius, the Sun Ring Wizard, said, “Please have the three judges take a look first.”

“Let’s see how they evaluate this article.”

…

Golden Crown Mountain, Dragon Blood Market, inside the Dragon Blood Market branch of the Otherworldly Peach Garden.

The second-circle wizard shopkeeper looked at Locke and said, “Wizard Augustine, what kind of void warship are you looking to buy? What’s your budget? You can also rent one.”

Locke asked, “Before coming here, I read a lot about void warships. I wonder what kind of void warships you have here? Could you tell me about them?”

The second-circle wizard shopkeeper smiled and said, “Of course.”

“Void warships are a great achievement of alchemy. Otherworldly Peach Garden mainly makes three types of void warships. The first is magical metal void warships, and the second is magical plant void warships. Of course, no matter what type of void warship it is, alchemy and enchanting magic are indispensable. The third type of void warship is relatively niche in Cloud Marsh Wetlands, but we still make them. That is, biological void warships.”

“Magical plant void warships are generally modified accordingly. It’s rare to find pure magical plant or biological void warships. Oh, by the way, pure magical plant void warships are very expensive.”

Locke smiled. He knew why he said that.

A magical plant capable of traversing the Great Void—what level of magical plant must it be?

After all, magical plants are living beings; traversing the Great Void is equivalent to a living being crossing it.

That level of magical plant is definitely not priced like an ordinary void warship.

The second-ring wizard said, “Biological void warships are a different story. Their price might actually be lower than magical metal void warships. This is because, within the planes, it’s more common for living beings to traverse the Great Void.”

“There are many reasons. The main reason is that in the planes, the content of ether, the most important element for living beings, is relatively scarce, but in the Great Void, the content of ether is actually higher than other elements.”

“Compared to magical plants, ether is more important to animals.”

“But biological void warships also have their own problems. Their environmental adaptability is somewhat poor. The void isn’t empty; there are void viruses. If you get infected, it will be very troublesome. Moreover, they are large creatures with strong personalities and wills, which are difficult for wizards other than those of the summoning school to control.”

“And the Summoning School of Cloudze Wetlands… is quite ordinary. Therefore, we have the fewest of this type of Void Warships in our shop, and their quality is relatively poor. However, I think you’ll still focus on the magical metal type Void Warships, which are the mainstream, followed by the magical plant type.”

The second-circle wizard led Locke to the shelves in the shop of the Otherworldly Peach Garden, where various model-like ships were displayed.

Locke glanced at them and realized these weren’t models, but real Void Warships, simply shrunk by shapeshifting magic.

‘I remember that in the Transfiguration school of magic, changing one’s own form isn’t the most difficult thing; the most difficult thing is changing one’s own volume, making one’s volume larger or smaller.’

‘This is an extremely profound shapeshifting magic, at least at the second-circle level. That’s why it can turn a massive Void Warship into a model toy on the shelf.’

The second-circle wizard shopkeeper picked up a angular ship from the shelf, its hull covered in heavy magical armor plates, with a planet-destroying cannon in the center.

“This magical ship is called the Arcane Forger, and it’s entirely forged from the rare magical metal [Arcane Blue Iron]. Look, even the observation window has been carefully designed.”

The second-circle wizard shopkeeper pointed to the observation window of the void warship’s cockpit, a window that was as clear as transparent glass.

“It doesn’t use Chrono Crystal here. Chrono Crystal isn’t very reliable for navigation within the Great Void. It uses Number 1 Magic Energy Siphon Glass.”

“It’s a special transparent magical material newly developed in the Land of Dragonfall.”

“It’s said that alchemists, combining spiritual energy techniques, unprecedentedly used spiritual energy technology within traditional alchemical material synthesis arrays to create this special glass.”

“Besides that, the hull has a total of thirty-two enchantments, forming a special enchantment magic array…”

Locke asked, “So, what about the price?”

The second-ring wizard shopkeeper smiled and said, “Not too expensive. Eighty million magic stones. After all, this is a void warship, a crystallization of magical civilization. Although it’s only a second-ring level void warship, it’s composed of a large number of second-ring, first-ring, and apprentice-level magical artifacts.”

“So the price will naturally be high. In the past, void warships would easily cost hundreds of millions, but now the price has been driven down by those few manufacturers.”

The second-ring wizard shopkeeper observed Locke’s expression and immediately said, “You don’t have to buy a brand new one. If it’s a second-hand one, the price should drop to around sixty million. However, I don’t recommend buying a third-hand one. Although the price of a third-hand void warship will be further reduced by about fifty million magic stones, it usually has some minor problems. With the cost of repairs, it may not be more cost-effective than a second-hand one, and there may even be safety issues.”

“Our shop only provides warranties for brand new and second-hand void warships.”

“Besides that, you can also rent it. The deposit is one time the rental price, and the daily rental fee is generally one ten-thousandth of the Void Battleship’s price. The rental fee is calculated based on the Void Battleship’s first-hand market price.”

Locke nodded slightly.

In other words, if he were to rent this Void Battleship, which costs 80 million magic stones, the daily rental fee would only be 8,000 .

But the problem is that Void travel, even near-ground Void travel, is calculated in months, not to mention that Void travel over slightly longer distances is calculated in years.

Therefore, the rental fee

for one year would be close to 2.9 million magic stones. If the Void exploration lasts for five years, it will be much more expensive, with the rental fee reaching around 14.4 million magic stones.

Locke judged that renting it seemed only worthwhile for explorations lasting less than three years; anything beyond five years would be too expensive.

Locke asked, “Are there any more affordable prices? The Otherworldly Peach Garden is the shop of the witch Catherine; we’re on the same side.”

The second-ring wizard shopkeeper’s smile remained unchanged.

“Even close brothers need to keep clear accounts.”

“I am a professional manager hired by Her Majesty the Throne, so naturally I must protect her interests and ensure their complete protection.”

“However, Wizard Augustine, there’s no need to rush. The shop does have some void warships with better value for money.”

“Arcane Forgers are mainly used for large-scale conquest, so they are equipped with heavy armor and many weapons, even a planet-destroying cannon.”

“Perhaps you are more suited to the pure void exploration type.”

The second-circle wizard shopkeeper recommended three more void warships made of magical metal, which were slightly cheaper: the [Pioneer], the [Leader], and the [Explorer Vanguard].

The initial price of the three was around 60 million.

These did not have large-scale destructive weapons like the planet-destroying cannon that could blast an entire comet plane with a single shot, so Locke did not consider using them, because such things cost a fortune in magic stones with a single shot.

The three void warships each had their own characteristics and unique design styles.

Locke focused his attention on the [Explorer Vanguard]. This void warship was entirely crafted from arcane mithril, possessing powerful magic immunity. Its surface was enchanted with eighteen layers of enchantment magic arrays, providing eighteen layers of shields.

What impressed Locke most was that this void warship was the fastest among the void warships the shopkeeper had recommended.

It had a total of twenty layers of enchantment arrays; only eighteen were for defense, and two were unusually designed to enhance the Explorer Vanguard’s movement speed. One was a Void Formless Energy Fluid enchantment, which allowed the Explorer Vanguard to utilize Void Formless Energy to flow across its surface, slightly increasing its speed.

The second enchantment was a second-circle level powerful acceleration enchantment, increasing the void warship’s inherent movement speed.

While the Explorer Vanguard didn’t carry large-scale weapons like the Star Destroyer Cannon, it primarily enhanced its own speed, while also ensuring its safety. Furthermore, the void warship contained sixteen Void-class Light Energy Mayfly Cannons, capable of bombarding the ground.

Of course, it consumed a considerable amount of energy per minute.

From all angles, Locke was satisfied with the void warship.

After all, he was only going to a medium-sized world, not to fight in a Great Void War, so he didn’t need a void warship of the Arcane Forger level.

This Explorer Vanguard was perfect for him; its speed saved him time.

The Second Ring Shopkeeper said, “However, according to the old tradition, these void warships are all just destroyers.”

Locke nodded slightly.

He knew.

According to the old definition in the wizarding world, void warships were divided into four classes: destroyers, starships, death ships, and annihilation ships.

Of course, this was a classification method left over from the Great Void Exploration Era.

In the modern magical era, more and more wizards felt that this classification method was outdated and had lost its practical function, and the modern magical era didn’t care much about it.

But many wizards still cared about this classification due to historical inertia.

‘Second Ring level void warships are generally destroyers,’

Locke pondered. ‘A few Sun Ring level void warships might be starships.’ The two following are truly devastating weapons .

It’s said that in the distant past, wizards piloted void warships into the depths of the Great Void to wage war, bringing a catastrophe to the Great Void. But later, the wizards paid a necessary price, ending that mad, sinful, yet vibrant era—the Great Void Exploration Era.

Locke said to the second-ring shopkeeper, “I’ll take this Explorer Vanguard. I’m very satisfied with it. I’ll rent it.”

The second-ring wizard shopkeeper said, “Okay. You need to provide your personal Civilization Credit Score’s Eye of Truth code so I can check your credit score. Below 900, you cannot rent.”

“Next, you need to provide your Shop Alliance’s credentials and show your tax payment records for this year. These are all required by the White Wizard Association.”

“According to the Void Warship Management Law, renting a void warship needs to be registered with the White Wizard Association’s Warship Management Department.” “

Then, you sign a contract with us, pay a deposit, and you can take the void warship away.”

The second-ring wizard shopkeeper smiled, “We’re all on the same side, so we definitely won’t cheat you.”

Locke nodded.

“Okay.”

He immediately realized that owning a shop alliance was likely necessary in the wizarding world.

Because according to this system, a first-circle wizard, no matter how wealthy, couldn’t rent a void warship in their own name.

No wonder many second-circle wizards, even if bankrupt, would still maintain a shop alliance to stay afloat.

(Requesting monthly votes~)

(End of this chapter)