Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems - Chapter 995

Chapter 987 A Second-Ring Wizard Who Claims to Be an Eleventh-Ring

In the Golden Peach Garden, after signing the contract with Locke, the Treant Wizard retrieved a crimson-gold peach tree from the storage cabinet. This was the Crimson-Gold Sacred Peach, its entirety—leaves, bark—resembling some kind of crimson metal. Its shape was similar to a cane, like a branch broken from a large tree, with a Y-shaped branch at the top, a naturally spiraling trunk in the middle, and roots growing from a straight trunk at the base.

Furthermore, it possessed the imaginary root unique to Star Ring-level magical plants—an imaginary root with a main root, a characteristic of Star Ring-level imaginary roots. This meant that the imaginary root could penetrate deeper into the Imaginary Sea, capturing more magical energy tidal concentration gradients.

After inspecting the Crimson-Gold Sacred Peach and determining there were no problems, Locke handed over five hundred magic crystal cards.

He admired the Crimson Gold Peach in his hand, a magical plant resembling a staff. While it appeared to be just an ordinary magical plant, it radiated immense magical pressure. When Locke held it, he immediately felt a heavy weight.

Locke looked at the Treant Wizard in surprise, because in the Treant Wizard’s hands, the Crimson Gold Peach seemed so light, yet in his own, it felt incredibly heavy.

The moment this magical plant, possessing 20,000 units of magical pressure, was placed on his hand, he almost lost his grip and was forced to release it. The next moment, he immediately activated his Botanical Root Realm, directly lifting the magical plant and distributing the pressure.

The Treant Wizard nodded almost imperceptibly at this.

“Wizard Augustine, your botanical magic is quite good. The Crimson Gold Peach can absorb all the gold in the world, combining it with its own woody fibers, giving it immense weight. This is difficult to describe clearly in the literature. The Crimson Gold Peach requires a special magical metal, [Orichalcum], to grow. It contains various rare magical metals, which makes the woody part of this magical plant extremely tough, but at the same time, it is incredibly heavy. If this Crimson Gold Peach can absorb more rare magical metals, it can gain even greater hardness.” “

Its other name is the Gold-Eating Ancient Peach, because its woody parts can combine with a large amount of metal and, through complex reactions, compress and solidify these metals.”

Locke nodded slightly.

No wonder this magical plant is so heavy.

He held the Gold-Eating Ancient Peach—the Crimson Gold Peach Staff, and, using the root environment of the Cloud Marsh Wetland, forcibly grafted this magical plant with his magic. The magical plant was still resisting, seemingly unwilling to complete the magical grafting relationship with Locke.

The next moment, Locke fully activated his Three-Eyed Tiger Cat bloodline, instantly enhancing his physical strength and magical power. He immediately regained control of the demonic plant and completed the magical graft.

The Treant Wizard, witnessing this, shook his head slightly.

“You should love trees; you should be gentler. Trees also have feelings; you should be more tender.”

At this moment, the Crimson Gold Peach Staff sensed the magical pressure returning from Locke, causing its branches and leaves to flutter joyfully. He paused for a moment, then said nothing more.

The Treant Wizard said, “The contract is now complete. I will now place the dimensional coordinates you gave me into the black hole created by this Black Hole Peach.”

He held a letter in two twigs and tossed it into the black hole, which instantly vanished.

The Treant Wizard said, “This way, we can use this dimensional coordinate on the Void Warship, but no wizard will know it.” “

The Black Hole Peach’s ability to seal everything allows something to be used without anyone knowing.”

“This is the True Sight Crystal Ball of that fleet.”

“You can monitor their actions through this crystal ball. Of course, wizards are selfish, so I think you’d better send one of your second-circle wizard students, or your own clone, to specifically supervise this construction wizard team. Otherwise, with no one watching them, just a crystal ball, or some insignificant students over there, I don’t think that will be enough to keep those wizards in check.”

The Treant Wizard warned Locke, “We at Golden Peach Garden have done everything we can. If the wizards in those construction teams do anything in your world, like plundering resources, but it doesn’t violate any wizarding laws, then we won’t interfere.” Locke said, “Okay.”

However, this is troublesome because he doesn’t have any second-circle wizard students; it seems he can only send one clone there.

But the problem is that his main body and two clones are currently occupied with their own tasks.

Locke frowned. He thought of Douglas. If all else failed, he could ask him to keep an eye on things. After all, he knew many of Douglas’s secrets, and they had a certain cooperative relationship.

He could simply sign a contract with him and pay him a salary.

Currently, he was too busy with the Silver Peach Garden, the White Cardamom Farm, and the Potions class to spare any time, and he couldn’t possibly stop working anywhere.

This is probably the benefit of cultivating one’s own subordinates and students.

After all, as one becomes a higher-ring wizard, one will only become busier in the future, and one’s time will become a precious resource. Every minute needs to be cherished.

When he was at Golden Crown Mountain, he saw many Sun Ring wizards in their laboratories, not only skipping sleep time but also cutting out all entertainment and mealtimes in order to save time.

After exchanging a few words with the Treant Wizard, Locke left the Golden Peach Garden and saw the information on the Ganoderma lucidum plant, from the Sea Queen’s Throne, informing him of the specific location and notification for his third potion class.

At the same time, he found Douglas sitting in a seat at the Dragonblood Auction House in the Dragonblood Market. Douglas was stunned when he saw Locke.

“Boss Locke, are you also at the auction?”

The wizards around him stood up from their seats when they saw a Star Ring Archmage approaching, looking at Douglas with surprised and uncertain eyes.

Most of the wizards at this auction were only first-ring wizards, and many weren’t even from Golden Crown Mountain, but rather from the Golden Crown Mountain region itself. There were also some passing wizards, as the Dragonblood Gathering at Golden Crown Mountain was a nearby commercial center, attracting many wizards who frequented the market to try and find useful resources. This

developed commercial society created many precious magical resources, eliminating the need to risk going to secret realms and desolate places to try one’s luck. Locke explained the situation to Douglas.

“I need your help. You want to forge the Green Dragon Lightning, right? You need money. I can give you 150,000 magic stones a month.” Douglas’s eyes widened.

While this was a drop in the ocean compared to the cost of forging the Green Dragon Lightning—even working half a lifetime wouldn’t be enough to gather the resources—the problem was that money had to be earned step by step, slowly.

He needed to gradually improve his abilities before finding his own opportunities.

Locke’s offer of 150,000 magic stones a month exceeded the price of hiring a crystallization wizard.

This was a fairly generous salary, and overseeing the construction of a large-scale mining project would also allow him to accumulate experience.

Douglas’s eyes lit up slightly. Indeed, for Locke, only cross-wizard level competitions, second-ring first-zone journals, and second-ring grants from the White Wizarding Association could be considered experience. Only entering key laboratories or particularly important research groups would have value as experience. But for Douglas himself, overseeing such a large-scale project was also a form of experience.

It could potentially become an advantage on his resume when he went to other universities in the future.

Douglas said to Locke, “Great, boss, of course I’m willing to help you with this. We can sign a confidentiality agreement.” Locke nodded and took out a wizard contract worth 30,000 magic stones, certified by the Eye of Truth.

“We can sign the contract now. Then you and the people from Golden Peach Garden will head to the Three Cave Worlds.”

“Douglas, the Attila Enchantment Lightning Chain you made for me before was quite effective. I achieved good results along the Tianjiang River.” Douglas bowed to Locke and said, “Thank you for your praise, but I haven’t done nearly enough.”

Locke sensed the hostile gazes of some wizards towards Douglas, as well as their apprehension towards him. He looked at Douglas and asked, “You seem to have conflicts of interest with many wizards lately.”

Douglas nodded and said, “Yes.”

At this moment, an orc princess with ancient phoenix blood was brought to the auction. As soon as this slave girl appeared, the auction price jumped from the initial 100,000 magic stones to 500,000 magic stones.

Douglas said to Locke, “There’s a very important social space within the first-ring wizard hierarchy at Golden Crown Mountain: the societies. These societies help each other, share interests, and exchange resources. But I discovered that Golden Crown Mountain doesn’t have any societies established by Evocation wizards, so I created one called the Lightning Society. I recruited some Evocation Lightning wizards, but this has caused conflicts with some other societies.”

Locke paused for a moment, then realized that this was because his position was too high—he was a Star Ring Archmage—so naturally he had never entered the ecosystem of first-ring wizards at Golden Crown Mountain and wouldn’t know about societies.

“You run your club, they run theirs, what’s the problem?”

Douglas explained, “The clubs at Golden Crown Mountain are ranked. The top thirty clubs receive monthly awards from the academy. My Lightning Club has already made it into the top thirty and is gaining recognition within the academy. As a result, we Lightning Wizards have strengthened our position among the clubs at Golden Crown Mountain. However, many Breeders, Power Masters, and Weather Wizards resent us, believing that we are taking their place. After all, the three major disciplines at Golden Crown Mountain have nothing to do with the Evocation School.”

“So, that’s why we had a conflict. That’s what I think.”

Locke asked, “So what do you plan to do?”

Douglas whispered, “The clubs are all run by first-ring wizards. I made a private duel with those wizards. If I lose, I’ll disband the Lightning Club. If I win, they’ll have to apologize to all of us.”

Locke looked at Douglas in surprise and asked, “Douglas, don’t you know I’m a Star Ring Wizard on the Academic Committee? The Academic Committee of Mount Golden Crown manages the academic affairs department and is responsible for related order issues.”

“Your actions have seriously violated the regulations of the Academic Affairs Department. Are you asking me to turn a blind eye?”

Douglas suddenly realized that Locke had a close relationship with the Red Dragon Witch, the leader of the Academic Committee, and he had forgotten this, directly telling Locke how they were going to violate the school’s regulations by having a private magical duel to compete for the club’s reward rights.

“Boss, I’m sorry. If that’s the case, I’ll refuse their proposal. The school’s regulations are the most important.”

Locke raised his hand and gave him a thumbs up.

“No, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear what you just said. Actually, the wizards in Yunze Wetlands, especially those in Golden Crown Mountain, are fiercely competitive, fighting over just a little bit of resources. If you want to fight, then go ahead. But there’s one thing, Douglas, you’re not an ordinary crystallized wizard. You have the legacy of Warhammer Lightning, making you incredibly powerful. Don’t cause any deaths.” “

Otherwise, no one can protect you. Do you understand?”

“You need to know your limits.”

The phantom of King Lagmamon appeared beside Douglas. “I told you you didn’t need to be afraid. When it comes to v*olence, who can match Locke? Augustine is violent; these little things of yours are nothing to him. Am I right, Locke?”

Locke nodded to King Lagmamon.

“Witch King, please keep an eye on the wizards in the construction teams at Golden Peach Garden during my trip to the Three Caves World. I’m worried they might plunder the Three Caves World. The dimensional principles exposed in the Three Caves World are very tempting to the wizards. It’s a special world that has already integrated the power of the gods.”

Lagmamon, the Wizard King, said, “Alright. Don’t worry, with me here, even a second-circle wizard can’t pull any tricks on me.” “Besides,” Douglas whispered to Locke, “you told me about the anomalies in the Three Caverns World. I’m very interested in the Creation Cave of the Three Caverns World. And I’ve been wanting to hide for a while now, because…”

He continued, “We’ve recently discovered many wizards from the Twin Demon Realms in the Golden Crown Mountain region. They seem to be accelerating their capture of the resurrected Ancient Wizard Kings. I don’t know what their purpose is. A few days ago, I even killed a wizard from the Twin Demon Realms.”

“You flatter me, Boss. A lot has happened to me lately,”

Locke nodded. “Good, that means you’re starting to adapt to life on Golden Crown Mountain.”

“Douglas, good luck. I hope to see you in the world of the Second Ring soon.”

Locke got up and left, and as Douglas watched Locke leave, Locke’s words—”I hope to see you in the world of the Second Ring”—echoed in his mind.

Douglas clenched his fist and whispered, “Teacher, can I catch up with Boss Locke? He seems like such a perfect wizard.” The Wizard King Lagmamon glanced at him and said, “Well, everyone starts small.”

“You probably… you can do your best.”

“But Mount Golden Crown is ultimately just a stop along the way. After some time, you’d better leave and head to my next wizarding treasure region.” Douglas’s eyes suddenly became confused.

So, he was ultimately going to leave Mount Golden Crown, leave this place that made him feel the wizarding world was so united and wonderful?

He wasn’t stupid; he could sense that other wizarding academies weren’t necessarily so harmonious.

And was he going to be far away from here, never to see Locke Augustine again?

King Lagmamon said, “All good things must come to an end. Besides, even Locke won’t stay here for long. True geniuses can’t stay in one place forever. I understood this principle a long time ago, although in my time, there were always people who wanted to control geniuses through various means.” “

In my opinion, such things are not uncommon in your time either. It’s a paradox.”

Douglas said softly, “Teacher, I understand.”

“I will catch up with the boss.”

King Lagmamon looked at him, pondering.

“Praise Douglas, I think he’ll work harder. With enough praise, even pigs can fly. Although his chances of catching up to Augustine are slim, it’s not good to discourage him; giving him a reason to try is good too.”

“Sigh, Douglas’s talent seems insufficient to inherit the magic of the Lightning Gate. But now, I have no choice but to go all in. I wonder how far this compassionate wizard, who’s almost unlike a wizard, can go.”

After Locke left, those piercing gazes returned to him, but Douglas and the Lightning Society wizards behind him were completely unfazed.

Douglas sat in his auction seat, retorting with a defiant look to the higher-ranking wizards.

Then, Locke went to find those still in the second group’s Dune Plane… Because he had entered the key laboratory, the trio he formed with Mason and the others had effectively disbanded again. However, all three of them had secured first-class grants, having written numerous articles and obtained grants with his help, so they were quite satisfied with him.

He maintained a certain level of friendship with them.

After a brief reunion, Locke found the Wolf Giant, Julian, and Gregor, who were helping out there. Since the three couldn’t enter the White Cardamom Farm, Locke had lent them to Mason and the others.

Locke briefly chatted with the three, learning about their progress. Julian was starting from scratch and was currently only a third-class wizard apprentice, while the Wolf Giant was already a second-class wizard apprentice, and Gregor was still trying to become a full wizard.

Locke was somewhat speechless as he watched Gregor earnestly explain his path to becoming a full wizard.

Was becoming a full wizard really that difficult?

Gregor had been trying for a year and still wasn’t confident.

But Locke still offered him some words of comfort and told him he could ask him for help if he had any questions. Locke

said to Gregor, “For now, you all stay here and work with Mason and the others. They can teach you a lot. Also, Gregor, you might try to access some special resources that reduce the chances of becoming a full-fledged wizard, such as the spinal fluid of the Tartarus Cave Worm.” Gregor thanked Locke, “Thank you for your guidance, teacher. I hope I can break through and become a full-fledged wizard this year.”

The wolf giant also said, “Senior Brother Gregor is already very close to becoming a full-fledged wizard. He should become a full-fledged wizard soon.” Julian nodded as if it were a matter of course.

Locke then left and headed towards the library. He wanted to look up some materials on potions and preview the relevant content. This clone could study more in the library before the next potions class.

Along the Tianjiang River, Locke’s Ancient Tree Fruit clone had already found the laboratory of the Golden Crown Mountain Witch who had escaped here, based on the coordinates given to him by Catherine the Witch.

It was a forest, located on the border of the Sodom Empire. This mortal empire possessed advanced steam-powered machinery; coal-fired logging machines operated within the forest, and villages were built from stacked red and white bricks.

The empire’s regulations seemed quite comprehensive; Locke noticed numerous tollbooths along the way as he flew. At the edge of the forest stood a wizarding academy, seemingly a junior academy, similar to Aurelian Academy on Corfu.

Wizards ruled this world through various academies.

The academy was the core of this civilization.

However, Aurelian Academy was an intermediate academy, directly training corresponding wizard apprentices, while this junior academy only taught basic knowledge and more about the local society of the mortal world, selecting the best as wizarding prodigies to transfer to the intermediate academy for further study.

Some advanced academies can directly train second-class wizard apprentices, who are then transferred to their main wizarding academy. Of course, some advanced academies are essentially semi-independent wizarding institutions. For example, his first student to become a formal wizard—Williams—went to Tongmo Peach Garden, which was originally just an advanced academy established by Golden Crown Mountain in the mortal world. Later, as its strength increased, it officially became a wizarding institution.

Locke looked at the map and confirmed that the secret laboratory of the Golden Crown Mountain traitor was located beneath the junior academy of the Tide Wizarding Tower. Locke walked directly into the entrance of the junior academy. According to the information his teacher had given him, the entrance to the laboratory was a door in a basement of the junior academy—a [two-way door] created by the Protection School.

This meant one door led to two different locations; only wizards meeting specific conditions could open the door to enter the correct location. Others could only enter the basement behind the door.

This two-way door was a special type of lock developed by wizards of the Protection School.

He entered the junior academy and walked down the corridor, seeing many young boys and girls reading in classrooms.

Locke exhaled a breath of stale air; this scene reminded him of his own studies at Aurelian Academy.

In one classroom, a teacher was reading from the textbook, while many students in fine clothes were absent-minded, passing notes to each other, some even flirting with the girls, while others were diligently taking notes.

The air was thick with youthful energy.

This teacher was only human, after all, it was only a junior academy, and he hadn’t completely escaped the mortal world.

Only by entering the intermediate academy could one truly enter a certain circle.

At this moment, Locke walked down a corridor and came to the door of an office. He saw a teacher in fine clothes smiling at several adults and saying, “The grades of your children are not good enough to stay in our academy.”

The adults immediately understood his meaning, and then one by one they rushed to hand him gold bars.

Locke wasn’t surprised to see this, because in various junior academies, many astute individuals could sense the potential for advancement by attending a particular academy. These people would then rush to give gifts to the academy’s staff, hoping for special treatment. This was a form of anxiety.

While it had absolutely nothing to do with whether they would ultimately become a wizard, or even further, gain admission to a better wizarding academy,

giving these gifts could alleviate their anxiety. And some people genuinely needed to bribe their way into staying at the academy. When the right to education becomes a very important right, it breeds corruption.

The wizarding academies in Yunze Wetlands were stricter in this regard, but frankly, these mortal students didn’t affect the actual selection of wizarding talent, so generally, they weren’t too concerned about this aspect. Therefore, these lower-level academies were rife with corruption.

The teacher suddenly became alert and looked towards his office door.

“Who is it?”

Locke gripped the office door. “Found it.”

He slammed the door shut, then turned the handle. When he opened it again, instead of a junior academy faculty office, he entered a gloomy stone passageway. He stepped inside, and the door behind him closed automatically.

Locke glanced at the automatically closing double door.

Then, a scene created by a magic model from the Illusion School appeared in the stone passageway: a hooded witch whose face was obscured.

“Who is it?”

“Ah, it’s you. You’re a wizard from Golden Crown Mountain, a member of the Golden Crown Mountain Ethics and Morality Review Committee.”

“You still came after all.”

Locke, hands behind his back, pondered, “Judging from her panicked state, she hasn’t had time to obtain membership in the White Wizard Association along the Tianjiang River. If she does, it will indeed be very troublesome. The Tianjiang River region lacks high-level wizards, so they might forcibly use wizarding law to protect her.”

The witch with the black hood whispered, “Committee member, I was about to sign a contract with the White Wizard Association, but an hour ago, they suddenly stopped responding to me. Did you do something behind the scenes?” “We

‘ve already reached the final step. We were having a pleasant conversation before, there’s no reason for them to suddenly stop responding to me.”

“The wizards of the Tide Grand Wizard Tower betrayed me.”

Locke suddenly realized that he had previously suspected that her building such an important laboratory near the Tide Grand Wizard Tower must be related to it, and now he was certain of his thoughts.

After all, a laboratory cannot exist completely independently; it needs to supply resources and recruit talent. Therefore, under normal circumstances, without reaching an agreement with local wizarding forces, it’s difficult to maintain normal operations here for an extended period.

It’s likely that aspiring wizards from all the primary and intermediate academies within the Sodom Empire are being sent to this laboratory. However, after realizing that he and Golden Crown Mountain had taken notice of them, the Tide High Wizard Tower probably immediately sought to cut its losses and survive, thus betraying the witch. Moreover, he and the Tide High Wizard Tower had just reached a business cooperation agreement, and the latter didn’t want to offend him here. The witch then pleaded, “Commissioner, can you spare me? I’m not a bad person, I’m just a poor soul seeking the truth.”

“We all want to find the truth, don’t we?”

the witch with the black hood whispered. “In botanical experiments, as long as ethical and moral constraints are lifted, our research in many fields will advance by leaps and bounds. During the Great Void Exploration Era, we wizards committed all sorts of evil without any restrictions, and that era was also the golden age of magical growth.” “

If the research on plant undead is restricted by those ethical and moral constraints, then progress will be far too slow. I have no bad intentions, I just want to pursue the truth.”

Locke said to the witch, “As a wizard of Golden Crown Mountain, even if you haven’t entered the White Cardamom Farm, you should know why the Great Void Exploration Era ended.”

The witch fell silent.

Then, she spoke again, her phantom attempting to continue her sophistry.

“Research on undead plants had been stalled, but the crystallization technology for magical plants has given me new hope. Using undead magical plants, we can hybridize them with crystallized magical plants. Through hybridization, we can create undead magical plants that can grow normally, and they can even be pollinated with ordinary magical plants…” “

Just imagine, a forest naturally turning into an undead forest, what a magnificent feat. We can even conduct related experiments in several worlds…”

Locke was stunned.

“Wait a minute, I have a question. What’s in it for us?”

“Turning normal magical plants into undead magical plants?”

“What’s in it for us?”

the witch shrieked. “Income? What’s in it for pursuing the truth? We can learn about many mechanisms, the physiological mechanisms of magical plants, the mechanisms of undead magical plants, we can make many discoveries, what’s in it for us! Commissioner, you shouldn’t be such a third-rate wizard. We wizards exist only to explore the truth.”

Locke said, “Witch, you’ve gone mad. You’re not exploring the truth, you’re just venting your neurosis on the normal world. Besides, as long as you can pass the ethical review, your research is permissible.”

The witch said angrily, “That’s too slow, too slow. I can’t wait!”

“It seems you can’t understand me either, Commissioner. This is my last warning to you: leave my laboratory, or I will use all my power to stop you.”

The witch suddenly looked up, and her body under her hood was completely green, and her body didn’t look like a normal human’s; she seemed to have merged with some kind of plant.

Her face had vine-like features.

Locke frowned. This madwoman had clearly gone completely insane, making such profound modifications to her body and soul. She had even actively merged with some kind of undead plant.

Locke wanted to examine her brain to see if something had gone wrong, causing her to lose the normal self-control of a wizard. The witch said, “Committee member, leave here.”

Locke said, “Witch, you don’t need to argue with me. When you return to Golden Crown Mountain, you’ll have plenty of time and opportunities to debate with the wizards of the Ethics and Morality Review Committee. They will decide how to deal with you.”

“I advise you not to resist.”

“Given your current state, I even think you really need outside help to go to the wizard prison to calm down. If you continue modifying yourself like this, your soul might even be possessed by the plant.”

Locke had already realized that something was wrong with this witch.

Her modifications had caused her human attributes to continuously decline, while her plant-undead attributes to continuously increase. As a Star Ring wizard, she shouldn’t be this extreme, but the problem was that she seemed to have fused herself with a lot of Star Ring-level magical plant-undead, which meant that she herself was on the verge of death at any moment.

The witch screamed in agony; it seemed to be some kind of sorcery magic. The bricks around Locke began to crack in the sound waves. Then, many withered vines suddenly emerged from the bricks, all attacking Locke.

Seeing this, Locke immediately drew his Crimson Gold Peach Staff. With a casual swing, the withered vines snapped one by one under the staff’s attack.

“They’re just ordinary undead plants.”

Locke also noticed that these so-called undead plants seemed to be a variant application of necromancy. After all, humans, animals, and other beings are living entities, and if one can create something neither alive nor dead using necromancy, there’s no reason why ordinary plants couldn’t be used to create special undead plants.

Of course, this was clearly only at this level, at most the research content of a first-level breeder.

But this Star Ring Witch of Golden Crown Mountain went a step further, actually starting to use hybridization breeding methods, trying to create a special undead plant that could reproduce on its own in nature. In essence, her behavior had already violated many ethical and moral principles. Once this behavior was made public, even Golden Crown Mountain would suffer great reputational damage and be targeted by its peers.

Locke easily dealt with the undead vines guarding the stone corridor. He crossed the corridor, used the Crimson Gold Peach to directly split open a magic door, and saw the breeding laboratory behind it. Inside the laboratory were many petri dishes containing special seeds and plants imbued with dark magic.

“Is this where ordinary undead plants are created?”

Locke noticed several second-level wizard apprentices huddled in a corner, terrified. These people were barely human,

their bodies pale and emaciated from prolonged exposure to necromancy.

Locke ignored them; they were merely forced, pitiful creatures manipulated by the Star Ring Witch. Locke

glanced at the various devices in the laboratory, noticing a number of advanced breeding instruments, especially a special device for connecting to the magical plant’s spiritual energy.

He walked deeper into the laboratory.

At the same time, Locke activated his innate magical eye; the Three-Eyed Tiger Cat’s innate magical eye enhanced the special vision of a second-ring wizard.

“Hmm? As expected.”

“There’s a second power here.”

Locke sensed it through his innate magical eye: the entire laboratory was shrouded in the witch’s Star Ring-level magical pressure, but another unfamiliar magical pressure was hidden beneath it.

“That witch seems completely insane; I knew she was being manipulated,”

Locke pondered. “Generally, people conduct dangerous, forbidden experiments to publish papers and secure grants faster. But that witch doesn’t think according to any logic of self-interest. While there are completely idealistic people, her madness and obsession have reached an incomprehensible level.” Locke waved his hand, and the laboratory door in front of him opened automatically. He entered the next laboratory.

Inside was a vaporized wizard staring at him in horror. This laboratory was also a magical field, where ordinary undead magical plants and crystallized magical plants were grown.

“It seems the hybridization is happening here,”

Locke glanced at the magical field.

Locke looked at the formal wizard and asked, “You’re not from Cloudswamp Wetlands, are you? Where are you from?”

The formal wizard looked terrified. “I…I’m a wizard from Dalton Woods. I was originally just a first-class wizard apprentice, but Lady Heidi captured me and brought me here. Under her tutelage, I became a formal wizard. My lord, I have no autonomy. I’m just her servant, I…” Locke raised an eyebrow, a half-smile on his face.

“Servant? She helped you break through to become a formal wizard and even helped you vaporize your spiritual power. In a way, she’s your teacher. Don’t try to distance yourself from me like this.”

The formal wizard looked embarrassed.

He knew Locke saw through his story, knew he wasn’t kidnapped, but rather had come to seek refuge and had helped Lady Heidi a lot, essentially aiding and abetting her.

At this moment, he was trying his best to distance himself, but Locke wasn’t stupid; he saw through his little scheme at a glance.

Locke looked at him and said, “You should be familiar with the space in this laboratory, right? Take me to Heidi.”

“Consider this your redemption.”

“By the way, are there any other second-ring wizards in this laboratory?”

The official wizard immediately replied, “Yes. There’s a wizard who claims to be an eleventh-ring wizard!”

Locke was dumbfounded.

What the hell?

Eleventh ring?

Is this a case of over-exploitation? Are there really that many magic levels?

No, that’s not right. He only sensed the magical pressure of two star-ring wizards here.

Locke suddenly realized.

“This wizard isn’t a wizard from the wizarding world?”

The official wizard nodded and said, “Yes… I think so too.”

Locke pondered. Eleventh ring…

such a serious over-exploitation made Locke instantly realize that this was a typical characteristic of second-ring wizards, because second-ring wizards can continuously open up new realms and levels, easily falling into a cycle, and then their magic levels increase, but essentially they are all second-ring wizards.