Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems - Chapter 859

Chapter 855 Becoming the Xiaoxi Cup Champion and Obtaining Sponsorship!

Wizard Salonirus looked at the abbreviated report in Locke’s hand. It actually listed the magical plant characteristics of the Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow as a first-ring magical plant, as well as the characteristics of the Four-Winged Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow cultivated after the ‘Sword Tomb Method’.

His furrowed brows relaxed, because it seemed the project was progressing well, with tangible results, and the concept seemed promising.

At the same time, he saw a special mention in the report of a magical plant jointly developed with the Rose Council, another top wizarding university in Yunze Wetlands, a third-ring throne wizard—a grafted Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow with the Magic Dragon Rose, and the concept of achieving a reversion to ancestral evolution.

Upon seeing this, Wizard Salonirus’s pupils suddenly contracted.

The Rose Council?

The Rose Council has recently gained a reputation for its expertise in the study of rose symbolism, though this is a niche discipline developed by recent generations of Rose Witches. However, the Rose Council is renowned throughout the Eastern Boundary for its breeding and cultivation of magical rose plants. It

is also famous for its textile science and the potion-making branch—perfume science.

Perfume science, in particular, is highly valued; the incense produced by the Rose Council has always been a favorite among the Golden Nobles. Furthermore, the magical bouquets created by their florists have recently become popular in the Boundary Between Light and Darkness, where the Golden Dynasty has a penchant for luxury.

Therefore, for the wizard Salonirus, the reputation of the Rose Council is far more valuable than that of any other top wizarding university in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands.

The wizard Salonirus recalled a Moon Ring wizard friend whom he had entrusted with purchasing certain types of magical incense to bring back when his avatar entered the Cloud Marsh Wetlands.

The wizard Salonirus looked at Locke with surprise and said, “The Rose Council is most renowned for producing many Throne Wizards in its research on rose-type magical plants. Over its thousands of years of history, it has even earned the prestigious title of Throne of a Hundred Flowers. Although it has never truly reached a hundred Thrones, it has produced dozens, and among them, more than one has been a Fourth Ring Wizard.”

“Of course, each Rose Throne is special. To some extent, they represent administrative control over the Rose Council.”

“Those Fourth Ring Wizards, of course, cannot directly manage the minor affairs below, so the management of the Rose Council has always been with the Rose Throne.”

“You actually managed to get the Rose Throne to cooperate with you?”

Locke realized that the wizard Salonirus, as a wizard from the border between the Dark and the Light, was completely unaware of the details within the Three Swamps. He casually replied, “Yes. This Dragon Rose is indeed a work created jointly by the Rose Throne and me. My teacher is the Red Dragon Throne.”

“When they had their academic exchange last time, the Rose Throne helped me complete this magical plant.”

Wizard Salonirus looked at the Dragon Rose in Locke’s hand, sensing the power of the mutated golden dragon contained within it.

His expression changed slightly.

He didn’t have any information on the World-Destroying Dragon, but as a wizard of the Golden School, he could naturally sense the considerable golden magic power contained within this magical plant; it was practically a golden magical plant.

The golden magic it contained was incredible.

The key was that this golden magical energy seemed to be a special variant.

Wizard Salonirus said, “Can I see this magical plant with my own hands?”

Locke smiled and said, “Of course. Lord Salonirus, here you go.”

Wizard Salonirus took the magical plant, and a very complex moon-ring level spell model automatically appeared in his left eye. This spell model first summoned three golden orbs, then the three golden orbs extended, turning into three golden monocles.

Next, the three golden monocles combined, connected by a phantom golden magical passage.

This was the model for a lunar ring-level spell: the Golden Eye.

This spell was an identification spell, with a special strength in observing the attributes and spiritual categories of magical energy.

It was a very high-level form of golden magic.

At this moment, the wizard Salonerus used the Golden Eye as if he were wearing a complex long monocle on his left eye.

Ten minutes later, he said to Locke, “This magical plant contains an isomer of golden magic. The characteristic of golden magic is its immutability.”

“But this magical plant contains a variant of golden magic. I saw many isomers of natural magical structural components similar to golden magic in the apoplastic solution between the plant’s cell walls.”

“It seems these isomers caused this golden magic to mutate… no… I can’t really determine what happened.”

As a moon ring wizard of the Golden School, Saronerus lowered his head and pondered for two minutes before speaking, “This mutation is like revealing another side of the immutability of golden magic. Hmm… it’s like saying that the indestructible nature of gold is also the most powerful destructive force.”

At this moment, the three golden monocles in Saronerus’s left eye began to rotate. He suddenly covered his left eye and lowered his head, saying, “Oh no. I can’t study this magical plant any further.”

“The essence of the magical power contained within this magical plant is like two parallel lines with the magic of my Golden School. Observing it is the greatest challenge to my Golden Magic. A second-circle wizard cannot yet make his magic transform illusion into reality…”

The wizard Salonirus muttered to himself, even biting his lip until blood flowed, using the pain to remind himself of his reason.

“A second-circle wizard cannot observe a path parallel to his own, a path that might lead to a greater future, a path that is easier to access the truth, and remain unmoved.”

“I will waver, but this wavering will only harm my heart.”

The wizard Salonirus returned the magical plant to Locke, and only after Locke put away the Dragon Rose did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Locke looked at the wizard Salonirus strangely; he hadn’t expected that simply showing the wizard the Dragon Rose would provoke such a strong reaction.

‘The Golden Dragon is one of the symbols of the boundary between light and darkness.’ The World-Destroying Dragon is a subspecies of the Golden Dragon race, while the Demon Dragon Rose possesses the complete bloodline essence of a regular second-ring World-Destroying Dragon, transforming this essence into plant essence. “

So, in the process of observing the World-Destroying Dragon’s bloodline essence, the wizard Salonirus felt his path being questioned, thus plunging him into pain and doubt?”

Locke immediately realized that the World-Destroying Dragon, the Golden Dragon race, and the border between the Dark and Light realms were likely deeply connected, or even completely hostile.

The Golden School wizard Salonirus, merely glancing at the Demon Dragon Rose possessing complete dragon plant essence, had lost his composure to this extent!

Could it be that the disappearance of the World-Destroying Dragon and the Golden Dragon race, and even the loss of the wizarding leadership in the border between the Dark and Light realms, are related?

But why was it the Pale Pilgrimage that attacked the Boundary Between Light and Darkness back then?

And why didn’t their historical existence and main areas of activity overlap?

Most strangely, the World-Destroying Dragon has a deep connection with the Tower of the Black Sun, while based on the information he currently possesses, the Tower of the Black Sun has a serious conflict with necromancy users.

Logically, the World-Destroying Dragon shouldn’t be associated with the Pale Pilgrimage.

Or perhaps, for some reason, the Boundary Between Light and Darkness had many enemies back then.

Locke calmly looked at the wizard Salonerus, “Lord Salonerus, do you think my project can be sponsored by the Golden Cup?”

The wizard Salonerus looked up, hesitated briefly, then smiled and shook his head, saying, “Yes.”

“I’ll try to contact the staff of the Golden Cup’s competition committee office for you.”

He had to try for his prize money.

After all, Locke couldn’t possibly bring the results of the Golden Wheat’s atavistic evolution project to the Golden Cup.

He had already won the Lesser Rest Cup with that project.

Although the results haven’t been announced yet, it’s reasonable to assume Locke wouldn’t give up.

Therefore, this project, clearly a Golden Magic project, would be a significant achievement for him if it could be brought to the Golden Cup.

At this point, the wizard Salonerus realized why Locke had invited him to this meal.

‘The project is of good quality; even the first half is a decent magical plant. Add to that the brilliant idea, the magical plant with its strange, mutated Golden Magic power, and the endorsement of the Rose Council and the Rose Throne.’ ‘

It’s indeed a good project, a strong contender for the championship.’

‘Applying for subsidies for it isn’t a loss for me; I could even say I’m doing the Golden Cup a favor.’

Such a recommendation, if you recommend a less desirable but still acceptable project, that’s considered using a favor.

But recommending a high-quality project like this is doing favors from both sides.

Of course, the wizard Salonerus knew he couldn’t recommend a completely unsuitable project to the tournament committee.

That would be purely offensive.

Half an hour later, the wizard Salonerus reached an agreement with the staff of the Golden Cup competition committee, and he also showed them Locke’s report.

The Golden Cup competition committee is different from the Lesser Cup; it’s a competition that has been maintained for thousands of years, very old and with a stable position, so it doesn’t lack good entries, nor does it have much motivation to improve.

Therefore, the Golden Cup competition committee is relatively complacent.

Locke had previously guessed that even if he directly negotiated with the competition committee of that competition, he probably wouldn’t be able to get sponsorship.

But now, after the wizard Salonerus was intimidated by the name of the Rose Throne, he used his own name to guarantee the Golden Cup competition committee, and after some back and forth, the Golden Cup competition committee actually agreed to sponsor him with five million magic stones to help him complete his work.

Locke smiled and added a Star Ring wizard staff member of the Golden Cup as a friend on the Water Hyacinth System, and learned that the other party had already transferred the money to the Fairy Family Bank.

This can be considered credit leverage, right?

Of course, there are three prerequisites for him to do all this.

First, he had genuinely created the item, at least completing the first half of his planned project. With this tangible proof, these people would believe that the latter part of his plan was serious and potentially feasible.

Otherwise, without concrete evidence, the wizards of the Boundary Between Light and Darkness wouldn’t consider their ideas viable.

Second, the Rose Throne had indeed collaborated with him to create the Dragon Rose. Even if they brought in a third-ring prophet to test his lies a hundred times, he could guarantee passing the test a hundred times.

Because it was true.

The Rose Witch contributed a spell, while he directly contributed his life, gained from using the World’s Wonder: the Dragon Eater.

Third, he had indeed entertained the Moon Ring wizard of the Boundary Between Light and Darkness in a good mood.

Otherwise, if he got angry or wasn’t interested in his proposal, he could simply turn around and leave; there was no need to continue the conversation.

After helping him secure sponsorship, the wizard Salonerus seemed to have grown closer to Locke. His guarantee in his own name meant that, to some extent, his interests were tied to Locke’s.

If Locke suffered a major setback, he would also lose face.

If Locke’s work achieved something, even winning the championship in the Golden Cup Flying Magic Plant Competition, he would be honored, and the Golden Cup staff would owe him a favor.

The wizard Salonerus smiled at Locke, “I haven’t guaranteed for a junior in a long time. This is the first time in the last ten years. Wizard Locke, you’d better do your best.”

Locke replied, “Of course. Thank you, Director Salonerus.”

The wizard Salonerus paused for a moment, then his smile widened.

“No need to thank me. The notebook you showed me was already champion-level.”

“So I didn’t have to put in much effort to convince my friend to sponsor you in advance.”

“The border between light and darkness has lost many symbols, so we are trying our best to revive our wizarding lands.”

He sighed.

“Unfortunately, the wizards of our Boundary Between Darkness and Light are severely polarized. One group knows the vastness of the outside world, the power of the Starfield Sea, the rise of the Three Swamps, the increasing strength of the Dragonfall Lands in recent years, and the millennia-old heritage of the Siming Waters, with its continuous stream of talented individuals.”

“Even the Southern Wizards, after embracing some dark wizarding forces and possessing certain controversial advantages in the gray areas, have surprisingly risen to prominence.”

“These wizards tirelessly strive to revive the glory of the former Golden School.”

“The other group, however, is obsessed with the splendor of the Golden Dynasty. They read history books only of the ancient history of the Boundary Between Darkness and Light, refusing to read the modern history. This way, they can avoid seeing things that would break their hearts.” “

These wizards remain completely indifferent to the outside world. They refuse to accept anything new.”

“Very conservative,”

Wizard Salonirus sighed.

“Speaking to a wizard like you with such excellent golden dragon blood, you should be able to understand what I mean to some extent.”

“In the past, the border between light and darkness was where the best wizard’s wine was produced, not the Rain Swamp. Back then, the border between light and darkness possessed the best wine—Jade Gold Wizard’s Wine.”

“Unfortunately, Jade Gold Wine is now lost.”

Wizard Salonirus sighed deeply.

“We, the Golden People, once had a glorious past, we possessed noble bloodlines, and our wizards, because of the Golden School of magic, were naturally more likely to become third-circle wizards.”

Locke’s pupils suddenly contracted as he glanced at Wizard Salonirus.

Wizard Salonirus continued to sigh, “I never imagined we’d end up like this.”

Locke nodded and said, “Lord Salonirus, please don’t worry. Just as the sun will inevitably set and rise every day, there are valleys and peaks. The border between light and darkness is currently only in a valley, but if it’s already so powerful during this valley, it will surely be even stronger when it returns to its peak.”

Wizard Salonirus’s eyes brightened slightly.

“Where there are valleys, there are peaks? Yes. As long as we emerge from the valley, it means we can become even stronger.”

Wizard Salonirus smiled at Locke, “Locke, I really like you, my junior. If I had known you were such a magnanimous person, I really shouldn’t have rejected your article so quickly…”

He realized something, smiled, and suddenly changed his words, “Since we’ve reached an agreement, I’ll be going now. If you need to ask me anything in the future, you can ask me directly on the Water Hyacinth System.”

“We welcome your continued submissions to our ‘Intersection of All Things’.”

“I hope to see your excellent articles in ‘Intersection of All Things’ again in the future.”

Locke nodded, “I will.”

Wizard Salonirus nodded. According to his estimation, it was unlikely in the next few years.

Because for an ordinary second-ring wizard to publish a second-ring first-zone article, the effort required was enormous.

Even a genius like Locke, a breeder, needed a lot of accumulation.

Locke pondered, “Because of the dragon bloodline, and my long-term research on the golden magical plant: Sea Gold Sand, I have a certain foundation in the research of golden magic.” “

Just now, the wizard Salonerus said that those of the Golden School are more likely to become Third Ring members? Third Ring knowledge… even if you asked Salonerus himself, he probably couldn’t explain it clearly to me. It’s still quite far from my current understanding. But anyway, if I focus a little more on it in the future, my research on Golden Magic will surely be correct.”

“Secondly, it seems Salonerus meant that he rejected my submission to *The Crossroads* immediately.”

Actually, Locke had already guessed this.

After all, for an avatar of a Moon Ring Archmage to travel across wizarding lands to find him, it meant either he had a major project to collaborate on, or he himself came to find him for some special reason.

This wasn’t hard to guess.

Locke thought, “Perhaps the wizard Salonerus was punished for easily rejecting my submission. That’s why he’s so insistent on getting me to participate in the Golden Cup.”

Locke chatted with him for a few more minutes, and the two had a pleasant conversation before leaving the Witch’s Kitchen.

At this moment, Locke was constantly monitoring his main body’s situation. His main body was currently manipulating the [Explorer Vanguard], attempting to approach the Three Holes World and get it close to its near-Earth orbit. He planned to use dimensional gravity to capture the Three Holes World and land directly on its surface crystal wall system.

‘This is my first time doing this, and I’m still a bit clumsy. It’ll probably take some time. After landing, my main body probably won’t be able to enter that world immediately. But I can try sending some first-ring wizards, or my magic, into that world, and then try to create conditions for a saint’s descent, or create environmental conditions that allow my main body to enter directly,’

Locke assessed.

‘Now that the sponsorship has been secured, I should be very confident in developing a second-ring flying magical plant for the competition.’

‘Now I need to start pre-selling the second set of wizard shoes, and at the same time, I can try to develop a second set of wizard shoes.’

Currently, he was steadily progressing on the three tasks assigned to him by the witch Catherine.

Recently, Locke even considered whether to apply for the first second-ring fund while preparing to apply for special-grade funding.

After all, applying for the first second-ring grant would give him priority, allowing him to gain some weight when competing for projects with moon-ring and sun-ring wizards.

However, he still hesitated.

He had to consider the time, energy, and resources involved.

Second-ring grants were much harder to obtain than second-ring first-zone articles. After all, publishing articles wasn’t a completely zero-sum game, but obtaining grants was essentially one.

In this white wizarding society, anything involving money was rarely easy. However, anything requiring personal spending, no matter how high the standards, was usually not too difficult.

Locke chatted with Scarlett on the Water Hyacinth System and asked her to have Arthas’s mage create a free promotional poster for his second set of second-ring wizard shoes, which he then started pre-selling online.

Although the product wasn’t finished yet, he could pre-sell the concept.

After all, he was certain he could make the second-ring wizard shoes; he possessed the Evolution Moon.

The only question was the level of magical plant traits in the pure magical plant second-circle wizard shoes he had created.

Meanwhile, Locke was conducting research in the second research institute. He used a bloodline proliferation pool as an irrigation canal, mixing it with name-specific potions, and watering the Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow grafted onto the Magical Dragon Rose.

A month later, Locke checked the Four-Winged Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow to ensure it was still undergoing spiritual fusion with the Magical Dragon Rose.

“This grafting was much more difficult than I expected, seemingly due to the Magical Dragon Rose’s unique characteristics. This caused the Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow to collapse at the grafting point several times this month.”

“Fortunately, with the careful care of me and Witch Mason, this Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow has finally survived. It’s undergoing a positive mutation as it fuses with the Magical Dragon Rose rootstock.”

Locke gazed at the magical plant before him. If it suddenly withered and died, he would be in trouble.

He would have to go through the entire process again,

which would cost a lot of money and time.

Of course, the greatest contributor to preventing it from withering and dying was not his and his colleagues’ meticulous care, but rather his use of the Evolutionary Moon Cultivation Method to inject a Zero-type magic potion into it just before it was about to die, enhancing its vitality with blank spiritual energy.

He forcibly completed what was on the verge of failure as a graft.

Locke methodically completed the experiment with this flying magical plant. As the plant’s progressed, his spiritual energy cultivation method also improved rapidly, and he practiced spiritual energy identification exercises daily according to the witch Catherine’s teaching plan.

Suddenly, Douglas, Mason, and the others walked towards him from the other side of the magic field, their faces beaming with surprise and smiles.

Locke glanced at them in surprise. Douglas had developed a good relationship with Mason and the others during this period.

Because this made it easier for him to supervise him, Locke hadn’t interfered.

Mason Witch said, “Congratulations, Group Leader. The Lesser Rest Cup has ended ahead of schedule and a champion has been awarded. You are the champion of the Lesser Rest Cup!”

Douglas said to Locke with great admiration, “Group Leader, you published an article in the Second Ring, First District within three months and won the Lesser Rest Cup.”

Mason Witch exclaimed in surprise, “Not only that! Group Leader, you can get at least two Tourmaline King Peaches. I heard it from someone else. It is said that Tourmaline King Peaches are a very important magical resource of Golden Crown Mountain, and are only given to true geniuses.”

(End of Chapter)