Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems - Chapter 997

Chapter 989 A Guest Invitation to the Tide Wizard Tower!

The entire laboratory was now empty. Locke glanced at Trix, then turned to inspect the Ice Mirror Chamber behind him. He opened it and saw that one of the Ice Mirrors was intact and undamaged, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

Next, all he needed to do was have an alchemist dismantle the basic equipment inside the Ice Mirror Chamber, and he could transfer the Ice Mirror to his own hands.

He figured the Witch Heidi must have used considerable means to obtain this Ice Mirror. Now it was   practically

free

for him. Even now, he wouldn’t be willing to buy such equipment.   The materials and labor required to dismantle the ice equipment were approximately in the millions of magic stones, but with careful planning, the cost could be controlled.   Locke’s innate magical eye opened, scanning his surroundings for any remaining power from either side. Whether it was the witch Heidi or the necromancer, they might both have left traces of magic within the laboratory. Based on his previous experience with the dragon wizard, he decided to be cautious and double-check.   He traversed the various rooms and corridors of the laboratory, finding several special items hidden by magical arrays, but they were mostly useless junk or half-finished special undead cells.   Locke casually picked up a high-grade Concentration Monocular Lens and began examining a slice of a special plant cell in a glass dish. It was a cell slice from a hybrid of undead and crystallized magical plants. Under the monocular, he saw tiny crystal clusters, each cluster resembling a small cell.   ”As expected, this special hybrid undead plant isn’t a true life form. It’s just that the innovation brought about by the crystallization plant technology has created a special, life-like form.”   Locke pondered, “So it seems that the widespread dissemination of the plant crystallization technology in the Black Sun Tower has triggered some very peculiar changes. I wonder if the Star Domain Sea anticipated this, but it seems they believe fair competition is best for everyone, so they don’t seem to care much.” Locke continued, “But why would the Pale Pilgrimage… no, I don’t know which wizard that is, why would that necromancer, Withered Vine Ancestor, want to use the witch Heidi’s hands to create this kind of hybridization laboratory? Why would a necromancer need to constantly hybridize undead plants to give them life-like characteristics?”   Locke suddenly had a flash of inspiration. “Could it be related to his advancement to the Moon Ring?”

“However, because of my promise to my teacher, I’ll think about it for now. After all, to become a Moon Ring Wizard, one must first reach 30,000 magic power, and I’m still a long way from that.”

Locke walked to Heidi’s bedroom. Her bedroom was very simple, and her living conditions were extremely rustic: a bed, a table, a stool, and a few simple clothes.

For a Star Ring Wizard, Heidi was definitely poor, because even her clothes seemed to be just ordinary magical items, not magical artifacts. It seemed that she had invested all her money in these dangerous and forbidden experiments.

Locke also saw her daily schedule on her table. From day to night, a total of 24 hours, she was working, from morning to night, everything was arranged.

“So lazy? As a Star Ring Archmage, she only works 24 hours a day. That seems a bit lazy for Mount Golden Crown. I work 72 hours a day now.”

Locke was slightly taken aback and felt it was a bit outrageous.

“Oh, no, she must have overexerted herself. I remember that when a wizard is extremely fatigued, they can’t use clone magic. Right, this is a mental enhancement crystal, a product of the Dragonfall Land. She installed the Dragonfall Land crystal on herself when she was severely exhausted and unable to maintain her clones.”

Locke opened the drawer and saw a box of spare crystals. There were three in the box, and according to the instructions, each crystal could be used for about a year.

These were basic mental focus crystals. Once installed in one’s body, one could maintain focus at any time and increase thinking speed to a certain extent. Of course, the price was a great burden on the body, and the instructions recommended removing the crystal during battle because it was extremely easy to damage.

Such a basic second-ring crystal was worth about 500,000 magic stones.

Three of them would be 1.5 million magic stones.

Locke said, “Heidi the Witch is too hardworking.”

Locke realized that Heidi the Witch had become so hardworking that most wizards on Golden Crown Mountain were not as hardworking as her. No wonder she was easily taken advantage of by necromancers.

Her soul was utterly exhausted, riddled with flaws.

And necromancers were clearly adept at exploiting these flaws.

“Hmm? This is…”

Locke was about to take the wafer and leave when his attention was drawn to the plan on the table.

“This piece of paper below is Moonwhite Clover Paper, worth 100,000 magic stones. The part with writing on it is just ordinary magic paper, but the blank part below is the precious Moonwhite Clover Paper.”

The Red Orc Demon King once used this kind of magic paper to entertain me.

“If that’s the case, then it’s very likely…”

Locke’s hand brushed across the blank half-sheet of paper on the table. Under the radiance of life magic, lines of text appeared on the paper—it was Heidi the Witch’s diary: “I’m gripped by fear, because according to my calculations, it’s unlikely I’ll advance to the Moon Ring Wizard level within a hundred years. I estimate it will be difficult to obtain a formal teaching position as a wizard instructor at Golden Crown Mountain.

But how can I endure the humiliation of going to the lower-level academies? I must stay here and explore the truth. I work day and night. While others use clone magic, I create two massive spells and two clones, while simultaneously using the crystals from Dragonfall Land to enhance my focus and thinking speed. This is my secret weapon, and the key to my research progress far surpassing my colleagues. I must stay here.” “In this relentless work, I seem to be becoming increasingly anxious. My efficiency is declining, but the more it declines, the more I must work.”

“I gradually began to lose confidence in myself. But during this process, somehow, I started to notice the magical creature bones and magical plant corncobs among the consumables used to cultivate mushroom-type magical plants… I became obsessed with the process of things decaying.”

Locke’s expression was serious.

“The Witch Heidi, under control, sensed something was wrong, so she used moon-white clover paper to start writing in her diary.”

Locke saw that the writing was intermittent, and the handwriting had been there for varying periods.

Clearly, she likely started writing on it to remind herself of the abnormality, and would look at it when she was lucid to maintain her awareness and alert her to the anomaly.

Judging from the final result, her attempt to save herself clearly failed.

Heidi the Witch wrote: “As my confidence waned, so did my anxiety. I began to lose my bearings, and then suddenly some things appeared in my memory, things that seemed to be knowledge of necromancy. I don’t know why, but suddenly a thought popped into my head: I’m old, I’m useless. I’m too old, I’m too old, I can’t keep up with those young people…”

Locke frowned. Clearly, the whispers of the undead had interfered with Heidi’s mind. Of course, she was already too insecure, which gave her an opportunity. Damn necromancer.

A cold glint flashed in Locke’s eyes. He had originally intended to take Heidi back to Mount Golden Crown and hand her over to the Mount Golden Crown Morality Committee for disposal, but who knew that the necromancer would actually kill her, and that he, out of fear of that dragon lich… Strategic considerations forced them to let him go for the time being. The next time they met…

things wouldn’t be so easy.

The writing continued on the moon-white clover paper, “At an academic conference, I suddenly felt guilty, and this guilt made me realize something was wrong. Before entering Mount Golden Crown, I was a proud and talented witch, but here I had my spine broken. This guilt made me feel unlike myself. I completely lost confidence in whether I could break through the Moon Ring. I began to believe that I could never become a Moon Ring member because I was too old. I realized my condition was wrong and that my mind had been tampered with.”

Locke frowned and said, “Age is not a problem at all.”

Wizarding civilization has overcome obstacles and remained ever-evolving, still creating new futures in each era.

A wizard who feels insecure because of age is already guilty and afraid; how can she possibly advance further? Moonwhite Clover Paper continued, “I told my best friend, a Moon Ring Witch named Belial, that she was even more talented than me. But she was too busy and seemed to think it was just a matter of my mood. She offered a few words of comfort and then went to class.”

“My mind began to wander…

“I seemed to have missed the opportunity to proactively report my condition to the academy’s higher-ups. Most importantly, I had already conducted many forbidden experiments. Proactively reporting this information would be tantamount to betraying myself. I couldn’t do that. Perhaps through those forbidden experiments, I could make rapid progress.” “I did indeed make rapid progress. Without the constraints of ethics, my research advanced by leaps and bounds. I even obtained a paper in a Zone 1 journal. Hahaha…”

“I started distancing myself from my best friend because she kept emphasizing the ethical justification of experimental materials, saying that experimental results without ethical proof of materials are equivalent to doing nothing. She might have discovered something, but I felt that as a Moon Ring Wizard, she was laughing at me. I just wanted to break through to the Moon Ring, I just wanted to become a formal wizarding mentor, I just wanted a position, I just wanted to pursue the truth… Something’s not right. But it was too late for me to escape. I had already done many wrong things. I secretly investigated the existence in my memory, and I found that he did exist. He was a wizard, a dark wizard, and he claimed to be a twelfth-ring wizard.”

“That’s right, the true name of the second ring level is Infinite Wizard. The second ring has countless realms, so if he said he was a twelfth ring, that wouldn’t be wrong. In my investigation, I think I was probably ambushed by him, but I didn’t want to give up my District One journal. I wrote my investigation results on this moon-white clover paper to remind myself to be careful of that dark wizard.”

“Starting from the second ring, he kept unlocking new levels for himself, reaching a total of ten levels. But his magical pressure seems to still be in the star ring, for some reason. He didn’t use the proper methods of advancing magical levels in the wizarding world at all; instead, he indirectly increased his magical pressure by constantly unlocking new levels, but the efficiency seems quite low.”

“Heidi, I must remind you, I am you. The man you often discuss magic with is a dark wizard. He has placed a curse on you. After reading this note, you must remember everything and look at everything recorded on this note every now and then, because your memory is becoming increasingly confused. Never stop communicating with me; I am another you.”

“Heidi, I am the real you. Don’t forget.”

“Yes, you are the real me. I suddenly figured out how to advance to the Moon Ring, I have hope, but the real me… I’m currently controlled by that wizard, I can’t get rid of him, and he wants to use me to hybridize necromancy plants with crystallized plants. He gave me a lot of information, which revealed some of his secrets.”

Locke’s eyes became serious, because the handwriting in this diary was becoming increasingly messy, but Heidi the witch seemed to have grasped how to break through to the Moon Ring at the last moment, but it was unclear how she had figured it out, or if this was just a memory confusion caused by the necromancer’s necromancy? The last few lines of the Moon White Clover Paper read—”According to him…” “Based on the information given to me, combined with my own knowledge of breeding, I can conclude that necromancer plants, plant spirits, and nightmares are essentially three different things. Plant spirits are the product of a plant’s normal death; according to some hypotheses, they are very likely the origin of souls. Nightmares, on the other hand, are variants of spirits, special advanced soul structures that have strayed from the path of evolution without evolving into souls.” “These are all normal things. It’s like a fish being irradiated into a monster; although this is an extreme natural change that disrupts the natural cycle, it’s still within nature. But necromancer plants are different; they are neither alive nor dead among plants, simultaneously profaning both death and life.” Locke looked at the last line.

“Form and substance. The necromancer is the form, I am the substance. When you come to the words on this note, you must remember that the necromancer had an extreme worship of form; he worshipped superficial and perfunctory things. You must remember!”

Then, the text abruptly stopped, and the last line seemed to have been written a long time ago, meaning that Heidi the Witch ultimately succumbed completely and became the necromancer’s puppet.

However, as the price for controlling the Star Ring Wizard, he also revealed some of his secrets.

“He forcibly increases his magical pressure by constantly opening new levels,”

Locke pondered. “That’s one method.” “

But it’s very inefficient.”

“No wonder he calls himself a twelfth-ring wizard.”

Locke recalled the opponent’s ultimate magic; indeed, the surface of the opponent’s ultimate magic flowed with necromancy runes, which combined to form new realms.

“Isn’t this ancient magic?”

Modern magic-era wizards clearly wanted to go through the four stages of forging ultimate magic—nothingness, illusion, falsehood, and truth—and use this method to reach the Sun Ring Wizard level, then approach the third ring through the Sun Ring Wizard level, entering the state where it’s easiest to break through the second ring level-up trap.

But this ancient sorcerer clearly follows the traditional path of constantly unlocking new levels to increase his power, hoping to one day reach a limit and then break through it.

Most civilizations in the endless void do this at the second-ring stage.

“A certain extreme worship of form… Heidi the witch seems to have discovered some hidden dangers in him. Form versus substance?”

Locke frowned.

“That wizard exploited Heidi’s anxiety and insecurity, allowing him to take advantage of her vulnerability. After violating the ethical and moral review regulations, Heidi felt guilty and naturally dared not reveal her situation. Instead, she wanted to solve the problem independently and distanced herself from the Moon Ring Wizard who could have helped her.” “

With this magic paper, I can give the Golden Crown Mountain Ethics and Moral Review Committee an explanation.”

“Form and substance, is this the problem that necromancer encountered? So he needs to constantly hybridize to give life to the undead plants… Does that mean all undead are only in form?”

Locke’s heart skipped a beat. Realizing this, his two most powerful spells began to vibrate slightly and start to recombine and fine-tune.

“Form and substance—this isn’t just a problem of necromancy, but also a problem that Grand Magic encounters in the process of virtual forging. After realizing this, I’ve been actively adjusting the structure of my Grand Magic spells, which means I’m thinking in the right direction. However, I can’t think about it any further. Firstly, I don’t have much information, and secondly, I promised my teacher I wouldn’t think about this direction for now.”

Locke put away the magic paper and then found his apprentice, Trix, and asked him to tidy up the underground laboratory.

Next, he walked to the laboratory entrance, where a sudden tremor occurred, followed by the double doors being pushed open.

Two wizards walked in, staring at each other in disbelief.

The two wizards were the witch Shirley and a wizard from the Tide High Wizard Tower.

Locke looked at Shirley and said, “Senior, what are you doing?”

Shirley, who had been on high alert, was also taken aback upon recognizing the newcomers. “Junior, what are you doing here?” Locke asked. “Oh, because I got word that Heidi the Witch is about to sign a contract with the White Wizard Association along the Tianjiang River, so I couldn’t wait for you. I came straight here to stop their deal, and I’ve already taken care of things here. I also rescued a first-class wizard apprentice from Golden Crown Mountain. He claims he was captured by Heidi the Witch… who is also his mentor.”

Witch Shirley snorted coldly.

“Don’t tell me, he knows nothing about what his mentor made him do. He’s a first-class wizard apprentice, after all; he shouldn’t be unaware of what he’s doing. He’s already got countless lives on his hands. But I didn’t expect you to have already taken care of everything. I was planning to invite this outside help to unlock the magic lock on the double-sided door, then find a way to collect evidence of Heidi’s crimes, and then sneak out to bring the evidence to the Ethics and Morality Review Committee.” Locke nodded.

“Before Heidi died, she took all the blame upon herself. Besides, students lack the ability to discern and can only listen to their teachers. I think as long as the problem isn’t too serious, it seems we can give her a chance.”

“Just send him to a lower-level academy.”

The crystallized wizard of the Tide Wizard Tower quickly bowed to the wizard.

“I am Gustav, Lord Augustine, greetings.”

The witch Shirley then realized that Locke was no longer her junior, but a Star Ring Wizard.

She quickly bowed to Locke.

Locke reached out to stop her. “Senior, why be like this? Let’s remain as we were before.”

The witch Shirley raised her head and smiled, “I’ve seen many wizards who, after becoming high-ring wizards, feel that they are not on the same level as low-ring wizards. Locke, you are still so calm. Even now that you are a Star Ring Wizard, you still treat me like this.”

Locke said calmly, “We are all just seekers of truth. There is only a difference in order, not in rank.”

The witch Shirley was stunned for a moment.

“Listening to you, junior, is like listening to some third-ring wizards in the academy. In their eyes, everyone is just pursuing the boundless realm, only they are indeed a little ahead. But truth is boundless, and that little lead seems insignificant to truth.” “Locke, your current spirit makes me unable to believe that you are the wizard who followed me back then.”

“I still remember that year, when we went to the Abyss Ruins together.”

Locke nodded. “Yes, senior, congratulations on becoming a second-ring wizard. Although you have experienced some hardships, fortunately, the final result is good.”

The witch Shirley thought of something, and her face turned ugly.

“It was the Rose Council who plotted against me. I came to the Tianjiang Coast to help you.”

“I heard that the Rose Council is still ambitious and hasn’t given up on the Tianjiang Coast. It’s because they know that the Tianjiang Coast’s status in the Eastern Boundary will rise in the future, and that there might be a large investment from the Starfield Sea sometime in the future, seemingly some kind of demolition. So they suddenly reneged on the agreement and want to use the shameless act of the Shop Alliance to invade the Tianjiang Coast, where the profit distribution had already been decided according to the competition.” Locke glanced at Gustav.

The witch Shirley laughed, “This kind of investment news is just hearsay. Anyone who believes it is a fool. That’s why I laugh at the Rose Council for being fools.”

Wizard Gustav quickly laughed awkwardly.

Obviously, the witch Shirley felt that it didn’t matter if this news was spread, because for lower-level wizards, they had no ability to verify whether this information was a hoax or true. Besides, even her own words were full of possibilities.

Locke said to the witch Shirley, “Very well, you can take these materials and your apprentice Trix back to Mount Golden Crown to give your teacher and the Ethics Committee an explanation.”

Locke gave Shirley a copy of the materials he had compiled earlier.

Since she didn’t have time to return to Yunze Wetlands, she left this matter to Senior Sister Shirley.

Senior Sister Shirley nodded, and after reviewing the data and showing a shocked expression, she quickly put it away. According to the data, it was clear that an unknown dark wizarding force had lured a young wizard from their Golden Crown Mountain down the path of corruption.

This was a serious act of provocation.

The witch Shirley said to Locke, “I will take that apprentice back to Golden Crown Mountain. Locke, this laboratory…”

The witch Shirley glanced at Locke, her expression shifting slightly, and then said, “I think you should handle it. Locke, you are the chairman of the Ethics Committee.” She looked at the badge worn on Locke’s chest.

The witch Shirley said, “However, the Academic Committee needs to ensure that all specimens of the undead magical plants have been completely destroyed, and only one specimen should be retained and brought back to the Academic Committee as evidence and for storage of related data.” “

Therefore, I need to record this process using the True Sight Crystal.”

Locke nodded.

“Of course, you can. Senior Shirley, I trust you. We’re friends and wizards from the same school. You can enter this lab first and destroy each experimental specimen yourself. There are material records in the lab; you can match them one by one. Trix is dismantling the Ice Mirror under my orders.”

Witch Shirley was taken aback; she hadn’t expected a mere underground lab to contain an Ice Mirror.

Locke said to Witch Shirley, “Senior, if you want to use this Ice Mirror later, you can borrow it from me. We can use it together.” There was no other way; after all, this was an action authorized by the Ethics and Morality Review Committee of Golden Crown Mountain. He couldn’t take away this large piece of equipment worth fifty million magic stones without Witch Shirley’s consent.

Otherwise, if Witch Shirley returned and told the Ethics and Morality Review Committee, the Ice Mirror would have to be handed over.

Because it was very likely that Witch Heidi had transferred funds and misappropriated funds to accumulate this equipment. Anyway, these things were already unclear; even if a single penny of money that shouldn’t have been used was invested in that equipment, the ownership of the equipment would still belong to the academy.

The witch Shirley understood and nodded.

“Okay, Locke.”

She had no objections, after all, Locke had already found the culprit and ended the mission early.

This kind of thing didn’t violate the values of a holy wizard, because it was the gray area, with too many intricacies to explore. Moreover, even if this thing were handed over to the academy, it would definitely get stuck at some point and end up in the pocket of some high-ranking wizard there; after all, it was just unexpected wealth.

Locke and the witch Shirley completed the transaction, and then Locke and the wizard Gustav left the laboratory and the junior academy, taking a magic carriage to the Tide Wizard Tower.

Half a day later, the wizard Gustav and Locke arrived at the Tide Wizard Tower.

This was a wizard tower built beside the Frost River, situated in the middle of the river like a watchtower. The tower had water level markers to indicate changes in the Frost River’s water level.

The Tide Wizard Tower was likely originally just a landmark building used to monitor the Frost River.

Beside the Frosty River, on a rocky mountain, stands a wizard’s castle, the very heart of the Tide Wizarding Tower’s academy. That tower is the tower’s iconic structure and an ancient wizarding structure.

Locke and the wizard Gustave arrived at the rocky mountain in a magical carriage. Along the way, Gustave effortlessly introduced Locke to the history of the Tide Wizarding Tower and the development of related disciplines, speaking with such ease that he seemed like a chronicler of history.

Gustave invited Locke to disembark, then looked at him with a fawning smile. “Lord Augustine, this is our Tide Mountain. That castle is our academy. Behind the academy on Tide Mountain are two statues, one of a wizard and the other of a witch.” “They are a couple.”

“Those two statues are incredibly large, as if they are supporting the academy.”

“However, they are not actually the creators of our academy, nor do they have any direct connection to it.”

Locke looked at Gustave with a puzzled expression.

“Hmm?”

Wizard Gusta chuckled. “These two wizards were both Third Ring Throne wizards, and skilled in the water magic of the Evocation school. In the early days of this era, when the Frost River still frequently breached its banks, they worked here to control the floods. During one particularly severe flood, the couple ventured deep into the Frost River, seeking to understand why it was so turbulent. After that, they never returned. Strangely, since then, the Frost River has become far less turbulent than before.”

“Even now, a century later, when the Frost River breached its banks again, it is nowhere near as raging as it once was. The world has no idea how these two great water level testers and water magic masters managed to do it. Therefore, the founding wizard of our Tide Wizarding Tower built a water level testing tower here to commemorate these two great water magic wizards.”

“Later, to maintain its operation and monitor the water level changes of the Frost River, this water level testing tower recruited a large number of students and wizard instructors. Over time, it became a powerful wizarding academy, and under the leadership of our Star Ring Wizard, Lord Elliott Chandler, it has flourished even more, and may even achieve new heights.”

Locke glanced at the proud Wizard Gusta, the official wizard instructor of the Tide Wizarding Tower.

“What, is your Headmaster Elliott about to break through to become a Moon Ring Wizard? Or is he considering it recently?”

Wizard Gusta looked at Locke in alarm. He didn’t know why Locke had guessed such a crucial fact after only a few words. Wizard Gusta quickly bowed to Locke, filled with admiration and respect. He truly deserved to be called a Star Ring Wizard; he had discerned the truth from just a few words. He shouldn’t have spoken so much in front of Locke; it was a pity he had come with a mission from the academy.

Wizard Gusta smiled bitterly.

“Yes, our Dean does indeed aspire to become a Moon Ring Wizard. Of course, this is difficult; it requires the combined resources of the entire academy, the efforts of all our teachers and students, securing more projects, publishing more articles, obtaining more resources, and developing even more resources…

Lord Elliott is only 350 years old, a rare young dean along the Tianjiang coast. And their White Ice Tower… Hmph, their White Ice Tower’s Master Gikon Moon, though a Moon Ring Wizard, is nearing the end of his life,”

said Wizard Gustav. “The White Ice Tower is simply afraid that after Master Gikon Moon’s death, their proud discipline will lose its influence, while our Tide Grand Wizard Tower can rise to prominence and annex their power. Moreover, once Lord Elliott becomes a Moon Ring Wizard, in the future, we could even turn the White Ice Tower into a second-rate, or even third-rate, wizarding academy along the Tianjiang coast.”

“Let them never rise again.”

“The White Ice Tower’s feud with our students wasn’t due to a conflict; it was premeditated.”

Wizard Gusta invited Locke to stand beneath the statues of the two water level testers, a husband and wife. Directly below these statues was the Tide Wizard Tower’s academy, and to the left of the academy was an oval-shaped building under construction.

“This is your Great Azure Leaf Dragon Sparrow Service Station.”

“We’ve designed a series of infrastructure, including docking areas, based on the blueprints you provided.”

Locke nodded in satisfaction, as the service station was under rapid construction and would likely be operational within a few months.

Locke asked, “Can you speed things up further?”

Wizard Gusta paused for a moment, then replied, “Lord Augustine, we’ve already had our construction wizards working 12-hour days; they’re already working overtime.”

Locke realized this wasn’t the Cloud Marsh Wetlands.

Wizard Gust whispered, “My lord, if we rush it any further, we’re afraid these builders will cut corners or even quit halfway through.” Locke asked curiously, “Is that so?”

Wizard Gust whispered, “These builders are connected to a high-ring wizard in our academy, so they’re very assertive, and our people here have a hard time getting them to cooperate.” “

The wizarding world along the Tianjiang River isn’t large; it’s more like a semi-acquaintance society. Whatever you do here, you might need connections. So every wizard working here probably has connections behind them; otherwise, they wouldn’t be here working on such a good project.” Locke nodded.

There’s no way around it; a lower-level wizarding land doesn’t just mean inferior magical resources and the number and level of wizards compared to higher-level lands.

In fact, it’s inferior in every aspect.

Even the ecological and cultural construction has problems. For example, this semi-acquaintance society that relies on connections is basically non-existent in the Yunze Wetlands and the Three Swamps.

Because those places are too competitive; if performance isn’t good enough, no amount of connections will help.

If it can’t be done, it can’t be done.

Wizard Gusta whispered, “But our Tide Grand Wizard Tower values our cooperation with you highly, so the higher-ups put pressure on them, doubling their work hours from six to twelve hours a day.”

Locke immediately realized that the way things worked along the Tianjiang River was different.

Because in this world, wizards didn’t just survive on competition and performance.

If every wizard agreed that you could only work at this pace, and hire people according to this standard, then the entire wizarding community would undoubtedly slow down, become less competitive, and various small groups and cliques would emerge, forming a kind of protectionism within these small circles.

Wizards within these small circles would undoubtedly be very comfortable.

“Some of these lower-level wizarding communities genuinely lack resources, while others seem to be struggling to develop,”

Locke pondered.

Locke asked Gusta, “You’ve gone to so much trouble to explain the history and current state of your Tide Grand Wizard Tower to me all this way; I know what you’re trying to do.”

Wizard Gusta immediately smiled ingratiatingly.

Because Locke wants to secure the Tianjiang Riverbank Fund, he needs an identity here. And according to unspoken rules, he needs to obtain the highest-level academy-level grant before he can use that academy as a starting point to apply for the Tianjiang Riverbank Fund.

This means he needs to obtain the title of guest wizard instructor at a wizarding academy along the Tianjiang River.

Star-ring wizards in top-tier institutions in upper-level wizarding regions typically hold multiple academy titles due to this guest system.

Since it’s only a guest position, no one takes it seriously, thus not affecting their pursuit of top-tier institutions.

In fact, if Locke wanted, he could simply obtain an honorary title from a small local wizarding academy, then fabricate an academy-level grant to cover his tracks, and then directly compete for the Tianjiang Riverbank Fund.

Securing this fund would enhance his credentials.

This is considered a branch-level grant within the association.

Wizard Gustav said to Locke, “Lord Locke, the Tianjiang Riverbank Fund here is based on offering a course. If you do manage to secure the fund, you’ll eventually have to offer a course and establish corresponding business partnerships anyway. Why not offer the course at our Tide Grand Wizard Tower?” “

Headmaster Elliott would like to invite you to become a guest wizard instructor at our Tide Grand Wizard Tower. You won’t need to do anything; he’s given you a unique agreement.” “

The headmaster would also like to meet you.”

Locke nodded.

“We currently only have a normal business partnership. As for whether I choose you or another wizarding school, we’ll discuss that later. However, I can meet your Headmaster Elliott first.”

Wizard Gustav immediately extended an invitation, actively inviting Locke to join the Tide Grand Wizard Tower Academy.

The two entered the Tide Wizarding Tower. Wizard Gustav solemnly said to a first-class wizard apprentice, “I have something for you to do. Go tell the headmaster that Lord Augustine has arrived.”

He appeared unfathomable and imposing before this student.

The student, in turn, bowed respectfully to Locke and him.

“Yes, Master Gustav.”