Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems - Chapter 896

Chapter 891 Becoming an Apprentice to the Potions Master Throne and a Profit of Fifty Million Magic Stones!

In the deepest part of the True Knowledge Academy within the Rose Council’s campus in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands, the wizard Hades entered a secret room.

The room, made of rock, was filled with magical arrays, forcing out the hidden true forms of all things.

Dressed in black robes and sporting a hooked nose, Hades’ cold eyes swept over the people in the room. When he saw the witch Rose, a slight look of astonishment appeared

on his face. At this moment, a half-circle of stars surrounded Rose’s soul, like fragments of matter drawn by the gravity of stars in the void.

The [Star Ring] was the mark of a Star Ring wizard, a symbol of the successful forging of immense magic.

The wizard Hades nodded slightly. “Excellent. Junior sister, your teacher will be happy for you. You’re about to become a Star Ring Wizard, how fast! You’re still so young.”

“Becoming a Star Ring Wizard requires describing one’s power.”

Rose nodded, “That’s true, and I’ve discovered there’s a risk of Great Magic collapsing at any moment. It’s a crucial process. Senior brother, why did you come to see me?”

Hades paused for a moment, then suddenly changed his attitude.

“Junior sister, you’ve calculated very accurately. I discovered you have private dealings with wizards from Golden Crown Mountain, and some wizards have reported you to me.”

Hades carefully considered his attitude; he had one attitude towards ordinary second-ring wizards, but a different attitude towards Star Ring Wizards.

As a Sun Ring Wizard, Hades naturally knew that Great Magic possessed the [Star Ring] symbol, representing that a wizard could describe their full power using a symbolic system, reaching an unbelievable level of academic and magical power in the eyes of wizards of the past.

In the past, a wizard of this caliber would have been a prince or nobleman, a wizard king, a wizard general, or a capable subordinate of a wizarding lord.

Hades had initially intended to reprimand Rose, but realizing she was at a crucial moment in her breakthrough, he knew he couldn’t interfere.

“The conflict between the two academic lineages usually manifests in key journals, project applications, and awards, all deeply intertwined with the market. The wizard shoe market has always been our territory; Solas and Meloch are crucial to the livelihoods of countless wizard weavers.”

“Junior sister, are you confident in managing these two shop alliances?”

“Although it’s just a small market, if we fail here, our teacher will be angry, and besides, you won’t be able to explain it to Lord Solas and Lord Meloch.”

Rose nodded, “Senior brother, I’m confident in managing these two shop alliances. Using the enemy is a last resort for me.”

Hades nodded.

“It’s good that you know the situation. But let me ask you, what’s the deal with your massive layoff plan?”

Witch Rose asked, a hint of surprise in her eyes. “It’s surprising that my senior brother would concern himself with such a small matter. It’s just an internal management change. I don’t think we need that many people, and with the change, it’ll be easier for the lower-level staff to rise. I think it’s entirely beneficial for those unemployed magic weavers in the Rose Council.”

Wizard Hades smiled and nodded slightly.

“Currently, I’m the head of our academic lineage. But you should know how difficult it is to be this leader. Although I have access to many resources, there are also many people asking you for money, and many others waiting for you to feed them.”

“There are indeed many people in our lineage who are currently unable to find work and are asking me for help.”

Witch Rose smiled, “Then let them submit their resumes to Solas and Melochy Magic Step. However, they need to undergo a fair assessment.”

“Everyone should enter based on their abilities.”

“I think that the original alliance of the two shops had many people who wanted to eat, but few who could actually get the food. Closing it down is not an option; it’s like cutting away rotten flesh.”

Wizard Hades nodded in satisfaction.

“It’s good that you understand my predicament. You understand my predicament, and I understand yours, Junior Sister. It seems that you are indeed more suitable than those two moon-ring wizards to serve as the administrative head of the two shop alliances. Moreover, you have also obtained the approval of the councils of the two shop alliances.”

Witch Rose appropriately showed a hint of surprise.

“Seeing your aggressive approach, I thought you were here to question me about responsibility,”

Hades the Wizard coughed, as that was indeed his original plan.

After all, Rose the Witch’s actions had indeed betrayed one of her own people, and he had even uncovered it.

But who knew that Rose the Witch would now announce her imminent breakthrough to the Star Ring, elevating her status and value. Secondly, Rose the Witch had done him a favor, solving his current headache.

The employment of his subordinates had always been a headache for the higher-ups within the academy.

Rose the Witch said to Hades the Wizard, “Senior Brother Hades, I want to ask you for a shop alliance.”

Hades the Wizard was slightly taken aback.

Rose the Witch said, “The Olayer Shop Alliance.”

Hades the Wizard’s expression relaxed slightly.

“What do you need that shop alliance for? It specializes in selling magical plant weapons and has been losing money year after year. I poached it from a wizard from Golden Crown Mountain,”

Witch Rose laughed. “Senior brother, have you forgotten? I’m a genius weaver, a genius breeder, and a genius flower language master. This year, I’ve signed up for competitions in all three fields. So, I also want to run a magical plant weapon shop.”

“After all, my rival, Locke Augustine, is a genius breeder,”

Wizard Hades said casually. “It’s up to you. It’s just an unwanted, loss-making shop. If you take it, you can take care of it from now on.”

Witch Rose knew she could get it because the shop alliance was looking for someone to take over.

‘This way, I’ll have the famous flower shop [Human Wealth], two famous wizard shoe shop alliances, and an Olaye magical plant shop alliance.’

‘In this way, I can attack or defend as I please. Any of the three industries, as long as I develop them, will be considered a success.’ Her

thinking was that the failure rate of working in one industry was higher than the failure rate of working in three industries simultaneously.

To improve her standing within the academic circle, she needed achievements and results.

Simply being an ally of the wizard shoe shop wasn’t enough to defeat Locke.

Rose the Witch said, “Recently, I need to concentrate on breaking through the Star Ring. The struggle with Locke isn’t urgent. He’s currently riding high, naturally complacent. A person is most prone to arrogance and collapse when they are complacent and successful.”

“Let him be smug for a few days. Of course, it might be useless; given his personality, he shouldn’t be too complacent about this small success.”

The Witch Rose, through the Ganoderma lucidum plant, ordered: ‘Soras needs to cut costs and increase revenue. Stop supporting those True Knowledge Academy members at Golden Crown Mountain.’

…

In the Golden Crown Mountain region, the Brandy Wizard was surprised to find in his dormitory that the medium-to-large-scale wizarding academy [White Ash Forest] in the Rose Council region had stopped sponsoring him.

The Brandy Wizard frowned and asked why they had broken their agreement.

Soon, [White Ash Forest], who was responsible for contacting him, sent him a message.

“I’m sorry, Brandy Wizard, the main issue is that we originally had high hopes for your high-ring wizardry, but now we’ve chosen a better project: the crystallization of magical plants. This is a new technology proposed by the Rose Council. Compared to it, our high-ring wizards consider the symbiotic research between Arctic Ice Peach and magical creatures to be too ordinary.”

“Right now, all the breeders in the Cloud Marsh Wetland are doing research in this direction.”

“So, I’m sorry.”

Brandy Wizard’s eyes were filled with anxiety. He had been extremely anxious lately, feeling that if he didn’t start researching in this area, he would fall behind.

Most importantly, he was looking for an opportunity to enter this field.

But he couldn’t find one.

He was almost going crazy.

Brandy Wizard hurriedly messaged the staff at [White Wax Forest]: “I can also do research on magical plant crystallization.”

There was no reply.

Brandy Wizard frowned, stood up, and paced anxiously. His mind was blank, filled only with anxiety. He desperately wanted to find an opportunity to enter this research direction.

“This research is so hot right now. If I could find a way to do this research, wouldn’t applying for top-tier funding be a piece of cake?”

The Brandy Wizard saw that at least three people on the Ganoderma Magic Plant forum believed he had access to the key equipment or crucial information for this technological route, and had sent him probing questions.

After replying to each one, he became even more anxious.

“This is too hot! I have to keep up!”

…

At the Golden Crown Mountain, within the True Knowledge Academy, the Zhuoma Wizard was also anxiously watching the various discussion groups on the Ganoderma Magic Plant forum discussing the magic plant crystallization technology.

This technology was booming, seemingly becoming the hottest topic in the entire Yunze Wetland in an instant.

Suddenly, a wizard sent a column to the technical exchange group of the Golden Crown Mountain Advanced True Knowledge Academy—an interview column about the group prophetic magic direction at the Sun Ring level from Xiaoxi Mountain.

The column in this Magic Daily featured a wizard’s portrait, speaking eloquently to a reporter and addressing all subscribers directly: “I believe the next decade will be the decade of magical plant crystallization technology. Traditional magical plant cultivation and preservation techniques may fall behind the times. Traditional spirit cultivation methods, and even earlier methods of magical plant cultivation, may be no match for this magical plant crystallization technology.” “

Undoubtedly, traditional magical plant technology hasn’t seen major innovation in many years. I believe this technological development is the biggest opportunity of the last decade.”

Wizard Zhuoma suddenly stood up.

“It seems this technology is likely the advantageous research route for this year’s top-tier grant application.”

“My original research topic seems unworkable.”

Wizard Zhuoma realized that if other wizards pursued this technological route while he didn’t, his chances of getting top-tier funding this year would be gone.

He couldn’t afford to apply for top-tier funding a second time.

Losing this opportunity meant it would be many years before he could secure a second-tier grant.

A second-tier project was extremely rare.

The sorceress Zhuoma thought of her team leader, who hadn’t applied for the second-ring project for years and was currently very frustrated, possibly facing a transfer by the Red Dragon Throne at any time.

“No. I need to find a way to do this project too.”

…

At Golden Crown Mountain, in the underground research institute of Locke’s avatar in the Dune Plane, on the tenth floor, using the fragrance of the Super Jaeger Dream Flower, a Golden Dragon Claw Air Plant was brought into the Dream Sky and grafted using the approach grafting method.

“Using the approach grafting method to extract the power of the Underworld Iron Tree can still reduce my production costs. Although due to the special imaginary root, I can’t use the method of grafting a first-ring magic plant onto the Underworld Iron Tree to produce Golden Dragon Claws.”

“But I can use limited resources to cultivate magic plants, then graft semi-finished Golden Dragon Claws onto them, extracting the power of the Underworld Iron Tree to enrich my Golden Dragon Claws. Using this method, I can produce four Golden Dragon Claw Air Plants from a single piece of Green Spirit Essence.”

Originally, it took a single piece of Green Spirit Essence to cultivate one Golden Dragon Claw Air Plant.

For less skilled breeders, the price might be two to three pieces.

However, using this method, combined with a group of skilled breeders, the price can be minimized.

Locke calculated that, based on this profit margin, each pair of Golden Dragon Claws could earn him approximately 500,000 magic stones.

He had already sold 180 pairs of Golden Dragon Claws – Air Pineapple, and this single sale alone could potentially earn him a net profit of around 50 million magic stones.

Moreover, his Wizard Shoes had completely dominated the market, making it difficult for Melochy Magic Steps and Solas Barefoot (30k) to truly drive him out.

Locke saw that many wizards were requesting that he open up his shares in Augustus, allowing Augustus to accept external capital inflows, which would cause the value of his shop alliance to increase several times over in a short period of time.

He could potentially gain an additional 60 to 80 million magic stones in revenue out of thin air.

To be precise, he simultaneously attacked two major wizard shoe brands in Yunze Wetland, selling 180 pairs of pure magical plant second-ring wizard shoes on the same day. This in itself severely damaged the foundation of the two major shop alliances.

Of course, the main reason he was able to achieve such a large market share and success was that he sold them cheaply.

This, in turn, made many wizards in Yunze Wetland restless, prompting many breeders in Yunze Wetland to enter the pure magical plant wizard shoe market.

It also sparked their desire to invest in Augustus.

Unfortunately, Locke had not sold his shares in Augustus.

“There’s no need to sell. My cash flow is so healthy now; I don’t need to accept external funds and be bossed around by other wizards.”

“After this, Augustus has truly established himself in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands. Although I’m only a second-ring wizard, my Augustus shoe shop possesses super-items within both first- and second-ring wizard shoe categories. Super-items are the stars of wizard shoes.”

“The two major shop alliances can no longer strangle me like before.”

“This transaction involves hundreds of millions of magic stones.”

Locke became cautious.

“With these orders, getting a loan from the wizarding bank shouldn’t be difficult. However, I must be careful; a slight misstep could lead to me incurring huge debts.”

His current problem is that the money the Augustus Wizard Shoe Shop Alliance is earning is clearly exceeding his magical level, but he’s currently able to keep it under control thanks to his status as a senior researcher at Golden Crown Mountain.

If his Augustus Wizard Shoe Shop Alliance can release more super-items, it could put immense pressure on the survival of the two top-tier shop alliances.

But for now, he can only stop here.

Because he’s just an ordinary second-ring wizard, not even a Star Ring wizard.

“The current Augustus Wizard Shoes already hold a sufficient market share. It’s unlikely to be destroyed by other shop alliances. I can just release new products methodically. That would fulfill my teacher’s wish,”

Locke pondered. “After all, Solas Barefoot and Melochy have third-circle wizards and the Magic Shoemaker group behind them. They’re too big to fail. So far, I can neither destroy them nor have any reason to eliminate them.”

He was only here to make money, not to cause trouble.

Next, he just needed to use Augustus, this cash flow monster, to absorb wealth, then slowly expand, broaden his base, and cultivate his loyal customers.

Locke pondered, “However, in the short term, Rose the Witch, wanting to control the two major shop alliances, will definitely not have time to deal with me. She can’t deal with me in the short term either; Augustus has fully matured. So, in the short term, I don’t need to worry about external pressure.”

“On the contrary, I should worry about external temptations.”

Locke had already seen many wizards claiming to be senior prophets sending him messages in the background, recommending stocks.

Some wizards even volunteered, claiming they had very promising projects and wanting to fund them themselves.

Just kidding.

They need money to support their own research; where would they find the spare cash to manage these projects?

“With the pre-sale deposit and the bank loan, I can easily raise the funds to produce the Golden Dragon Claws,”

Locke pondered. “I just don’t know if Scarlett Witch can cooperate with me.”

“People often stumble at the last hurdle. The order is in, and production is fine, but I’m afraid Arthas’s cooperation might be problematic, preventing me from delivering and causing a cash flow crisis. Then I’ll be in trouble.”

“Currently, the cost of one pair of Golden Dragon Claws: Air Pineapple is about 1.5 million, with a net profit of only about 500,000. There’s no way around it; after all, the main reason I gained such a significant advantage this time was because Solas’s Barefoot and Melochy’s Magic Step were so irresponsible. My shop alliance is just starting out; if I sell at a high price, the goods will probably be stuck with me.”

“But there is still a lot of room for price increases. I can gradually raise prices later. As long as the reputation of the Augustus brand gradually improves and the value of the shop alliance increases, prices should return to a relatively normal level.”

Locke tried to contact Scarlett Witch.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, someone sent him a voice call request.

After Locke accepted the voice call request, a high elf witch appeared before him. She wore a simple crown and a green royal robe, with a dignified expression and green eyes.

“Hello, are you Locke Augustine, the breeder?”

Locke nodded slightly.

“Yes. This Sun Ring Wizard, you are…”

Locke responded cautiously, after all, this high elf witch he had never met before was a Sun Ring Wizard, her entire body shrouded in a vast magical pressure like a solar corona.

Her ultimate magic appeared so perfect, honed through countless trials and tribulations.

“I am Queen Ella Grant, a high elf from the Great Elf World,”

the elven queen smiled gently.

“Since the Elven Great World joined the Wizarding Civilization two thousand three hundred years ago and became part of it, we have continuously sent outstanding talents to the Wizarding World, making many contributions to the Wizarding Civilization.”

“That was truly a long past. The Elven Great World originally favored making pacts with the Abyss to gain power. The emperor of the Elven Empire at that time was a powerful third-ring sorcerer. He made a pact with a fourth-ring archdemon within the Abyss.”

“We eventually waged a long war to defeat him. But I digress.”

“I obtained your contact information from that child, Scarlett. She’s young and inexperienced, and she’s been somewhat neglectful of a breeder as promising as you. Therefore, from today onwards, I will personally handle communication with Arthas.”

Locke paused, surprised.

“Arthas actually had a sun-ring wizard communicate with me.”

Queen Ella Grant smiled, then covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

“Not every second-ring wizard can find a blue ocean market.”

“Lock Augustine, your potential has led me to make an exception and personally cooperate with you.”

“Just like Solas and Melochy at your age, they received almost the same exceptional treatment from Arthas. But you’re right, even if Scarlett were replaced, the replacement wouldn’t be me; it would probably be a Star Ring wizard.”

Queen Ella Grant said elegantly, “We in Arthas can pay for all your goods in advance. At the same time, we will focus on both the production and supply chains. Currently, Arthas considers Augustus to be our premium customer.”

“We will continue to guarantee our cooperation with you.”

Locke bowed to her.

“Thank you, Archmage Ella Grant.”

This Star Ring wizard’s words granted his Augustus shop alliance many privileges, such as advance payments of hundreds of millions, and focused protection of his supply and production chains, addressing his biggest concern—that he couldn’t handle this business.

After all, businesses vary in size, and this wizard shoe business was already close to his limit.

Locke then discussed the current plans and arrangements with Queen Ella Grant. Queen Ella Grant indicated that she would send her students to collect the seeds from Locke’s side.

Queen Ella Grant said, “However, regarding the seeds, you’ll need to produce 400 yourself first. Is that alright?”

Locke nodded.

“Yes, only 400 seeds, not a big problem. I’ve already asked Scarlett the Witch to stop pre-sales, since any more might put pressure on my production.”

180 pairs of wizard shoes require 360 seeds, but considering the inevitable scrap rate during the cultivation of seeds into mature magical plants, especially for such difficult-to-produce magical plants, Locke needed to provide at least 400 seeds, and ideally, even more.

Locke sensed that Queen Ella Grant was relatively easy to talk to, which was why she only asked him to produce 400 seeds. This likely took into account his production capacity, thus placing the pressure on Arthas’s production base in the Elven Great World.

After all, the difficulty of growing 360 top-tier second-ring magical plants from 400 seeds is completely incomparable to the difficulty of growing 360 top-tier second-ring magical plants from 500 seeds.

Previously, his first type of second-ring wizard shoes was essentially a shortcut, simply planting a bunch of first-ring magical plants.

But now, he’s facing the cultivation of hundreds of top-tier ordinary second-ring magical plants.

Both seed production and the production of adult magical plants in Arthas are incredibly stressful.

‘Although those first-ring high elf wizards in Arthas have a higher success rate in planting magical plants due to their ultimate magic, racial talents, and Arthas’ special arcane arts—I think mainly it’s their special ultimate magic—’ ‘

the business is ultimately my own. I should produce as many seeds as possible. Even if I use cutting propagation to replicate cheap, fast-growing seedlings and obtain the corresponding seeds, I’ll still need to invest at least ten million magic stones.’ One of the difficulties in cultivating second

-ring magical plants from seeds lies in the fact that the seeds used for mass-produced magical plants are rarely the normal seeds of a single second-ring magical plant. This

is because it’s rare for second-ring magical plants to have a very large quantity of seeds; generally, large quantities of seeds are non-reproductive, and a single flowering and fruiting plant only produces one or two fertile seeds.

Therefore, the mass-produced seeds cultivated by breeders are basically naturally weaker seeds from fast-growing seedlings. Breeders then use secret methods, magic, and verdant spiritual energy to replenish their vitality and cultivate them.

Thus, mass-produced second-ring magical plants are indeed inferior to those carefully cultivated by breeders.

Although, according to industry practice, breeders will claim that these magical plants are indistinguishable in terms of characteristics.

Of course, after the breeder’s treatment, these magical plants are generally still acceptable, with only subtle differences between the two.

After all, breeders can use verdant spiritual energy to compensate for the inherently deficient life potential within the seeds.

Queen Ella Grant said, “I’ll have Scarlett transfer ten million magic stones to you first. That should be enough.”

Queen Ella Grant, as expected of a Sun-level breeder, quickly calculated the approximate cost Locke would need to cultivate these seeds.

Queen Ella Grant continued, “Scarlett will continue to keep in touch with you, mainly because I’m too busy with clients and projects. She’ll handle many things for me.”

“Of course, you can tell me if you have any special needs.”

“Also, you can rest assured about the breeders of our Elf Great World. Our breeding level is among the best in wizarding civilizations, and we possess unique secret techniques. The Elf Great World also has abundant Azure Spirit Essence ore veins. As a breeder, you should understand what this means.”

Locke nodded.

Azure Spirit Essence ore was key.

Because for breeders, whether it was rapidly cultivating seeds for second-ring magic plants, ensuring their robust growth, or breeding or improving varieties of second-ring magic plants, Azure Spirit Essence was essential.

Other spiritual energy is one thing, but verdant spiritual energy is like a necessity for the breeding industry. A lack of it would bring the entire second-ring breeding industry to a standstill.

Therefore, the fact that the Elf Great World possesses abundant verdant spiritual energy indicates that they have a developed breeding industry.

Queen Ella Grant smiled and said, “You’ll be quite busy these days.”

“Your Augustus is only a little bit away from success; you mustn’t give up halfway.”

Locke nodded. “Yes, Lady Grant.”

The two ended the video communication.

He quickly summoned Douglas, Witch Mason, and others, discussed the matter with them, and decided to wait for Scarlett Witch’s funds to arrive before starting their intensive work on breeding the fertile seeds of the Golden Dragon Claw Air Plant.

They aimed to produce and deliver them as soon as possible, to

avoid any unforeseen complications .

A week later.

On the tenth floor of the underground research institute in the Dune Plane 2, Solas Lightfoot and Melochy seemed to have retreated into seclusion; they had indeed found much peace and quiet recently.

Locke’s seed breeding mission was progressing rapidly.

Meanwhile, Locke’s clone headed to the Feathered Serpent Pavilion.

On the second floor of the Feathered Serpent Pavilion, Lady Tataroni gracefully bowed to Locke, slightly raising the tip of her silver dragon-half-dragon tail, and said, “Lord Augustine.”

Beside her stood the family wizard servant from the Sea Queen’s household who had arrived earlier.

This second-ring witch looked at Locke with cold eyes.

“We meet again, Mr. Augustine. Lady Tataroni said you wanted to answer the question a second time. So I came. Do you have a result now?”

“Please tell me, what is the potion?”

Lady Tataroni looked at Locke, somewhat nervous, clenching her fists, afraid that Locke would again fail to give an answer that would satisfy the Sea Queen.

Locke did not speak, but took a step back.

He opened his right hand, and a ball of primordial fire burned fiercely in his hand.

Then, this flame suddenly leaped up, then split into five colors of flame, five flames appearing on his five fingers respectively:

wind, water, fire, earth, and wood.

The Magic Flame Extraction Method!

Five-colored flames burned like candles on his fingers. Locke reached out and grabbed at the air, actually grasping the potion the second-circle witch had mentioned.

Lady Tataroni was stunned.

The next moment, the words the second-circle witch had spoken, the lingering vibrations in the air—the words “potion”—entered Locke’s palm, and he extracted a portion of their essence.

Locke handed half of the golden phantom to the second-circle witch.

She immediately put it into a glass bottle of Time Crystal, carefully tore open a spell scroll, and sealed it away.

The second-ring witch looked up at Locke and said, “Congratulations, Mr. Augustine. From today onwards, you are Her Majesty’s student.”

Lady Tataroni seemed a little confused and asked, “What…what happened? Wasn’t the question about what a potion is?”

Locke looked at the silver-dragon half-dragon shopkeeper and replied, “Lady Tataroni, it’s like this. The Sea Queen sent her family wizard to test me. What she really wanted to ask me wasn’t what a potion is, but rather my level of spiritual knowledge.”

“It was only after I returned that I realized what you meant when you mentioned that the Sea Queen’s specialty is [Name Potions]. What I need to do is extract the hidden meaning from the pronunciation of the word ‘potion’.”

“Show me your level of potion-making skills. It’s just a pity that it’s only this little bit. With my current level of potion-making skills, it’s really difficult to extract anything useful. It’s just half a potion.”

At this moment, the second-ring witch’s face warmed up a bit, and she smiled at Locke, saying, “Half a potion is enough. In fact, you only need to demonstrate your level of potion-making skills. That’s what His Majesty the Throne is testing. If you really want to answer what a potion is in front of me, I really won’t be able to respond.”

“Your potion-making skills are already above mine, and your knowledge of potions is also above mine. So, if you were to say what a potion is in front of me, I would really be at a loss. Fortunately, Mr. Augustine quickly realized what His Majesty the Throne really wanted to test you on.”

“Actually, His Majesty the Throne considered that you have just become a second-ring wizard, so he didn’t even need you to make a potion. This time, he specifically instructed me that if you really managed to extract a potion from the pronunciation of my two words, you should take it back to show her.”

The second-ring witch gestured for Locke to proceed.

“Please follow me. Her Majesty is temporarily a guest at the Rootcrown Court. Therefore, we need to take a magic carriage to find her.”

“From today onwards, you will be her student in Potions.”

Lady Tataroni smiled and nodded to Locke, bowing slightly, “Congratulations, Lord Augustine.”

Locke nodded to Lady Tataroni and immediately followed.

He boarded the witch’s magic carriage, which quickly traveled to the Rootcrown Court.

One day later.

Cloudweed Wetlands, Rootcrown Court.

The entire Rootcrown Court is characterized by numerous wooden houses, all of which are complex in structure, massive in scale, and generally possess supporting structures.

Outside the majestic wooden palaces, roots from ancient trees coil around the walls, supporting the buildings.

Moreover, these wooden houses are vast; walking among them feels like walking through a giant’s palace.

Locke followed the family wizard maid into a magnificent wooden hall, clearly a classroom—a potions classroom—filled with numerous students and formal wizards from the Rootcrown Court.

The lowest rank among them were first-class wizard apprentices, including many first-ring wizards, ordinary second-ring wizards, and even star-ring and moon-ring wizards.

They all sat in the classroom, listening attentively to the Sea Queen’s lecture, just like students.

The Sea Queen’s family wizard hesitated for a moment, but still crossed the classroom and walked to the Sea Queen’s side, handing her the bottle containing the half-spiritual essence of the Time Crystal.

Locke was also seeing the Sea Queen for the first time.

Unlike the majestic and unfathomable Catherine the Witch, and unlike the seemingly approachable but incredibly powerful Rose Throne, the Sea Queen’s wizard robes were deliberately torn into strips resembling tassels.

She had a single, multicolored braid.

She wore exaggerated black eyeliner and eyeshadow, and her pupils were covered by red contact lenses.

She held a magic pencil, twirling it in her hand by moving her fingers.

Locke had never imagined that a Throne Wizard would look like this.

The most extravagant third-ring wizard he had ever seen was Master Milady of the Cassilos Art University, but even he wasn’t a Throne Wizard.

Besides, he only liked to rap, but at least he considered himself an art master, a guardian of human souls, standing at the pinnacle of art, his aesthetic sense beyond compare.

The second-ring witch whispered to the Sea Queen, “Your Throne, this is a work created by Locke Augustine. Would you like to take a look?”

The Sea Queen propped her chin on her fist, glancing casually at the work. “Hmm? Didn’t you say that brat wasn’t very good? Isn’t this good?”

“This brat’s progress is quite good. Last time, his answer made me think he was just another mediocre person.”

The Sea Queen swept her displeased gaze across the many wizards present.

“Many of you have asked me, how can I become a good second-circle potion master?”

“Didn’t I make myself perfectly clear?!”

“If you’re a genius, you can become a good potion master. If you’re not a genius, no matter how hard you try, you’ll only ever reach the second-circle. How could I possibly fool you?”

“Do you expect me to say that anyone can become a second-circle potion master simply by working hard?”

The Sea Queen twirled her pen, saying, “I’m not as hypocritical as some people, enjoying wasting your time.”

“Finding your own talent is something you wizards should do yourselves. To become a good second-circle potion master, the most important thing isn’t hard work, but having the aptitude to become a second-circle potion master.”

The Sea Queen suddenly pointed at Locke, “He’s the genius I’m talking about. I gave you all the assignments around the same time—to extract the word ‘potion’ from Ling Hong’s work—but look at his work.”

“You should understand what I meant earlier.”

The Time Gold Crystal glass bottle in the Sea Queen’s hand floated up automatically.

Suddenly, Locke felt many gazes on him.

Some gazes were filled with anger.

Locke suddenly fell silent.

The potion-making instructor I found through the Feathered Serpent Pavilion… seems to have a very strong personality.

Moreover, he loves to provoke enemies…

which clashes sharply with my own personality. (

Author’s note: I’m asking for more monthly votes at the end of the month!)

(End of Chapter)