Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 841 Tree Ring Theory and Edgar and the First Batch at the End of the World
The True Knowledge Institute, with its three laboratories, is filled with all sorts of trees. The most eye-catching feature is that on the canopies of some enormous magical tree plants in the center of the laboratory, there are objects that resemble rings.

Locke glanced at the magical plants with surprise.

"These are all test rings, but much more primitive than the two I have. It seems the main research focus of all three groups is closely related to wedding rings."

'Furthermore, there's also tree ring analysis.'

Locke glanced at the trees and noticed that many of them showed signs of being forced to grow, and there were also many Time Crystal isolation plates here.

These glass-like isolating plates, combined with a large device called the tree ring table, allow tree-like magical plants to be planted on the tree ring table. Then, by using the Time Crystal isolating plate to cut into the middle of a tree, a tree can be split into two sections, but the two sections remain connected.

It's like a magical plant with a piece of glass placed in the middle.

This way, you can slice the living tree-like magical plants.

By observing the annual rings of these living tree-like magical plants, their age can be determined.

Locke scanned the magical plants; his knowledge of tree rings could increase the total magical pressure of a single tree-type magical plant.

Tree-type magical plants are characterized by their high growth potential; through the increase of annual rings, they can enhance the total amount and intensity of magical pressure.

Speaking of which, if I'm going to use my second ultimate magic on the Tree of Life, then I'd better learn about tree rings.

Inside the three laboratories, people were walking back and forth.

Many first-ring wizards nodded to Locke upon seeing him, gave him a simple salute, and then hurried off to work with their experimental supplies.

Locke did encounter an unexpected person here, Edgar David, or rather, his alter ego.

The wizard Edgar was walking with a ring wizard, asking him questions while reading documents behind him. When he felt the ring wizard in front of him stop, he looked up and was surprised to see Locke.

This Star Ring Wizard was chosen from Catherine the Witch's side. He was a newly appointed group leader. When he saw Locke, he paused for a moment, then smiled.

"Wizard Locke, is there anything you need from our Group Three?"

Although he is a contracted wizard mentor at Golden Crown Mountain and the acting leader of Group Three, his position is not stable, as he has only recently been appointed.

And everyone knows that Locke Augustine is currently a core student of the Red Dragon Throne.

In terms of status within the academy, this group leader is definitely higher than Locke, but within the Red Dragon Throne's academic lineage, their statuses are reversed.

Of course, the Star Ring Wizard shouldn't underestimate himself.

The wizarding world places great emphasis on magical levels.

The difference between a Star Ring Wizard and a regular Second Ring Wizard is enormous.

It's as big as the difference in strength between a teenager and a child.

Locke bowed to the group leader and said, "I am here on the orders of my teacher to call away a wizard named Douglas."

The Star Ring Wizard pondered for a moment.

"Douglas? There's no one like him in Group Three's lab. He's probably a temporary worker."

"Since this is His Majesty's order, Locke, please proceed. You can tell me if you need anything."

“This is Wizard Edgar, you should know him. Quinnjoll University has a small collaboration with the Red Dragon Witch recently, and Edgar is handling the handover with us.”

Wizard Edgar said modestly, "Actually, I'm just here to learn. The knowledge about tree rings at Mount Golden Crown is truly vast."

Ansel Chandler, the acting team leader, smiled with satisfaction.

"But you learn very quickly."

Locke glanced at Edgar with surprise.

Surprisingly, this guy is quite eloquent when he's learning something.

Edgar said to Locke, "I recently came to your Golden Crown Mountain to study tree ring analysis, and I'm making great progress. Locke, we can exchange ideas sometime when we have time."

"can."

Locke looked at Edgar and said, "Your clone is quite good."

Wizard Edgar smiled and said, "Isn't it nice? This is the Divine Tree Doppelganger magic from Quinjol University. If you're interested, I can teach you."

"Your clone is quite impressive. Could you teach me?"

Locke said, "It's just a clone of the Ancient Tree Fruit. If you want to learn it, I can teach you. But I remember the Divine Tree Clone magic is unique to Quinjol University. How about we make a trade?"

The wizard Edgar smiled confidently.

"The Red Dragon Throne has been very generous this time, transferring some advanced techniques of tree ring analysis to us for free in order to complete a project. So, naturally, we won't keep it to ourselves. Besides, it's no big deal to share it with you."

"Because these things are not important. What's important is to keep improving, and to improve quickly. If communicating with you can give me more ideas and enable me to improve rapidly, then what does it matter if I use Quinnjol University's unique clone magic to exchange for an Ancient Tree Fruit clone magic?"

"The value of these things lies not in the things themselves, but in myself. If I think they're worth it, then they're worth it. That transaction with you before allowed me to complete 'All Things Return to the Tree,' which had a very good result."

Locke fell silent; the wizard Edgar was as confident as ever.

Wizard Edgar coughed and said, "By the way, Locke, I heard the Golden Cup is going to be held soon."

Locke said, "Yes, I heard about it too, and I even signed up."

The wizard Edgar's eyebrows twitched.

"Hmm? You've signed up? Which competition did you sign up for?"

Locke said, "The Flying Magic Plant Competition."

Edgar the Wizard's lips seemed to curve into a smile, but he quickly suppressed it.

"Oh. I've signed up for the Golden Cup Golden Magic Plant Breeding Competition."

"What a pity. I originally wanted to have a showdown with you on the field to avenge my two previous losses. But now it seems that this opportunity will have to be postponed."

Edgar the Wizard looked regretful; seven parts were true, but three parts were a mix of relaxation and genuine feeling.

"By the way, Georgina the Witch also participated in the Golden Cup. However, she participated in the Golden Magic Spell Model Competition."

Locke showed slight surprise.

"A spell model competition? Is she skilled in gold magic?"

At this moment, the acting leader of the Star Ring Wizard group had already left, seemingly to handle other work.

Wizard Edgar said, “I asked her that question too. Her answer was that she didn’t know any gold magic. But the characteristic of the new textile science is that you can use the [Celestial Garment Hunting Spell] to weave and simulate the enemy’s weaknesses. At the same time, that spell model can be combined with other spell models to even imitate the opponent’s spells.”

"Moreover, the Golden Cup spell model competition is different from what we understand. Due to the continued decline of the Boundary Between Light and Darkness, there are very few wizards who major in the Golden School. Most wizards study it as a sideline, so many of the wizards who participate in that competition, like Georgina the Witch, are forced into it."

"Or rather, this is one of the interesting things about the Gold Cup. Every famous competition has its own philosophy. For example, the Gold Cup believes that the best contestant is not a full-time wizard, but an 'amateur' wizard who has no connection with the Gold School but has learned about Gold Magic before participating in the Gold Cup. They believe that this is the meaning of the ancient competition."

"However, in my opinion, this is mainly because the wizards of the Golden School can no longer support any decent competitions."

Locke frowned. Had the border between darkness and light really declined to this extent?
There's a question: the Golden Route in the Wizarding World was built using gold magic. If the Boundary Between Light and Darkness and the Gold School have declined to this extent, then who will repair the Golden Route?

Will the White Wizards Association (headquarters) stand idly by and let this situation continue?

Wizard Edgar said to Locke, "Then let's see which of our top three Silent Grail players wins the championship in the three Golden Cup matches. That would be quite an interesting story."

Locke asked, "How is Diana the Witch doing lately?"

The wizard Edgar paused for a moment.

"I don't know, it seems she hasn't broken through to become a second-ring wizard yet. I'm not interested in people who fall behind. If she continues like this, she'll fall off the track we're currently on."

Locke knew what he was talking about.

The top-tier talent cultivation route in the wizarding world is a very secretive one. If it weren't for the information from the Golden Crown Mountain and the Red Dragon Witch, as well as the information sent back by the Witch Sophia from the Star Sea, I wouldn't be able to be completely certain of its existence.

Because of many things, it's more like a fantasy about recruiting talent for the wizarding universities of the upper wizarding lands and the leader wizarding lands.

But Locke was now certain that there was a hidden path to cultivating top geniuses in the wizarding world. However, even discovering this path required a wizard to have sufficient strength and insight, or perhaps a bit of luck.

Clearly, Edgar was a true kindred spirit to him.

He also wanted to take this path.

Wizard Edgar said to Locke, "Since we can't decide a winner in the Golden Cup, I think we might have a chance to face off at the End of the World in the future."

Locke glanced at the wizard Edgar, and sure enough, he also knew about the ends of the earth.

After all, the ends of the earth are the dream wizarding land for every breeder.

The number of wizards that Tianya Haijiao can host each time is limited, and there are batches. The first batch of people can get the best resources, while the later batches of people who arrive will have fewer resources.

Therefore, the number of wizards vying to be among the first to go to the ends of the earth is always exceptionally large.

Of course, this requires obtaining information about the trajectory and stopping points of the Tianya Haijiao (End of the Earth) in advance.

Because the first batch of opportunities to land will be quickly snapped up.

"I'm leaving now, Edgar. We'll talk again later."

Locke nodded to him; he still needed to find Douglas as soon as possible.

Locke inquired with a researcher and, following the information he received, found the Brandy Wizard's laboratory. Inside, in a small laboratory within the three sets of laboratories, were thirty annual ring tables.

On the thirty tree-ring tables, a magical tree-like plant was transplanted. Strangely, because of the tree-ring tables, vertical internal slices of these magical trees could be seen. However, half of these magical trees were densely packed, resembling a human vascular system.

Clearly, this was the research the Brandy Wizard had mentioned to him before, and it seems that he wasn't just making things up.

Locke glanced at them sideways, because the total cost of these tables and equipment was close to a hundred million, which was obviously a price that an individual wizard could not afford. It must have used the resources of three sets of laboratories.

After Esther the Witch betrayed and left Group Three, Brandy the Witch received a lot of preferential treatment in terms of public resources from Group Three.

At this moment, Locke stood outside the laboratory, because there was a barrier around the laboratory, although it was a simple barrier that he could easily break.

But this is, after all, someone else's private laboratory.

Therefore, Locke first took a look around the interior of the laboratory.

Inside the small laboratory, there were only three wizards. Two of them were crystallization wizards, who seemed to be researchers from the Institute of True Knowledge at Mount Golden Crown, and the other wizard was Douglas.

At this moment, Douglas, with his stubble, seemed to be under immense mental pressure, and the other two crystallizing wizards were also in poor condition.

Locke immediately noticed why: the special magical trees planted on these thirty tree ring tables seemed to be emitting some kind of polluting radiation at all times.

Even standing outside the barrier, Locke could sense a strange magical power emanating from it.

There was a foul, fishy smell. 'It seems to be some kind of alchemical flesh magic. The trees probably emit some kind of natural magical component.'

'This guy. Now I understand why he couldn't get his special grant application at Golden Crown Mountain.'

Locke was stunned by the idea of ​​the Brandy Wizard's bird.

why.

Even during my time as a first-ring wizard, I knew one thing: different wizarding regions had their own mainstream aesthetics.

The shamans of Yunze Wetland are practical and capable, value exquisite things, prefer skill to numbers, and cherish what is considered small and beautiful.

Mount Golden Crown, a wizarding university with strong disciplines in bloodline studies, breeding, and wave energy, is actually quite hostile to flesh magic within the alchemy school.

For some reason, perhaps due to his own aesthetic sense, the Brandy Wizard actually focused his research on this area.

Wouldn't that be a waste of effort?
It's not that this direction is flawed, it just requires more effort.

Clearly, the fact that a wizard could make such a wrong judgment is enough to show that he has no ability to break the rules.

Locke was almost speechless.

'If he really applies for the top-tier grant with something like this, even if he had another five years, he would have a hard time convincing the wizards of Golden Crown Mountain to let him participate in the top-tier grant application.'

Locke shook his head slightly.

Forget it, it's none of my business. After all, it's our first meeting and he's already trying to pull some dirty tricks. If I remind him, he might even resent me.

At this moment, it seemed that Douglas, one of the three wizards, was not only under the radiation pressure from the thirty flesh and blood magical plants, but also under considerable mental pressure.

In fact, Douglas had wanted to retreat for a long time.

He initially wanted to get close to Locke and use Locke's power to retrieve the treasure of Lagmamon. However, after realizing that he could not get close to Locke, he set aside his options and tried to contact the other second-circle wizards in Mount Golden Crown.

As a result, they encountered setbacks at every turn.

Later, he met a very enthusiastic brandy wizard who treated him very well from the beginning and invited him to join the third group's laboratory as an assistant.

He originally thought that the Brandy Wizard was a very helpful wizard, but later he gradually realized that the Brandy Wizard seemed to have a vague sense of the presence of the King of Lagmamon in him and was constantly testing him.

The initial test was simply to deliberately assign him tasks that were difficult for him to complete.

The Brandy Wizard himself did not specify the punishment for failing to complete the mission, but those missions themselves were inherently dangerous.

He managed to escape danger several times through his quick thinking, but later, the brandy wizard's probing became increasingly blatant, and he seemed to have already determined that there was something wrong with him.

Now, the Brandy Wizard has even started to deliberately assign him tasks that are obviously dangerous, while he also has to perform very dangerous experiments for the Brandy Wizard.

These are things that the wizards of Golden Crown Mountain would only do if they were given a very high subsidy by the Brandy Wizard, and even then, they wouldn't do them often.

But at this point, the Brandy Wizard seemed to have figured out that he had no one backing him, not even the wizards of Mount Golden Crown, so he put him in his laboratory and used him to the extreme.

It was only then that Douglas realized he had no way to leave.

He tried many methods, such as asking for help or trying to contact the witch Catherine, but those people seemed to completely ignore him.

Catherine the Witch was not at Mount Golden Crown at all; she was said to have gone to the Genesis Conference.

After Catherine the Witch left Mount Golden Crown, he could clearly sense that the Brandy Wizard's behavior had become increasingly unrestrained and brazen, often staring at him with greedy and malicious eyes.

In fact, he was almost about to reveal his hand.

Just last night, the Brandy Wizard directly demanded that he hand over the treasure he possessed.

Douglas was measuring the amount of water vapor that had evaporated from the fleshy tree in front of him the previous night, while recalling the brandy wizard's secret message to him the night before.

Right here in this laboratory.

The Brandy Wizard stood at the laboratory door and said to him, "I discovered the Flesh Tree in the medium-sized Forbes plane of the colony world. This magical plant has medium to high levels of toxicity for low-level wizards like you. And I have already cut off your antidote for a month."

“Douglas, let’s be frank. With your talent, there’s no way you could ever become a Crystallization Wizard. I knew that when I saw your resume when you first joined my lab.”

“You must have had a remarkable encounter. At first, I didn’t care; I don’t care about the kind of encounters that low-level wizards have. But later, I gave you some very difficult tasks, and you managed to complete them all. This gradually made me start to pay attention. After my testing, I believe that your encounter is very likely a Sun Ring level encounter. This is amazing.”

"A stroke of luck, who wouldn't want that? Douglas, if you can give me that stroke of luck, I'll let you leave Group Three. Otherwise, you'll just die here. Given your status, even if something goes wrong, I won't be subject to the ethics committee's review. At most, I'll just be fined for violating the lab's internal rules."

The brandy wizard stood at the laboratory door, smiling mockingly at him, and said, "Ansel Chandler, the acting team leader, is new here and still needs me to manage the laboratory. So maybe I can't even be considered to have violated the laboratory rules."

"Douglas, now you're trapped with nowhere to go. I advise you to hand over your extraordinary adventure. You can't handle it."

Douglas was in a daze. At this moment, he truly regretted it. If he had known this would happen, he shouldn't have agreed to let the Brandy Wizard transfer him to Group Three.

He's like a lamb entering a tiger's den.

But that person acted too kindly.

In the early days, when others treated him coldly, he helped him in every way, which led him to seriously misjudge the brandy wizard.

It was only then that Douglas realized that the so-called help the brandy wizard had given him was nothing more than some words of encouragement.

There wasn't even a single physical item.

That's something that costs absolutely nothing.

Thinking about this, Douglas couldn't help but worry about his future.

At that moment, the voice of King Lagmamon suddenly appeared in his ears.

"Douglas, don't give up. Everyone who achieves great things has faced seemingly insurmountable difficulties. You can get through it."

'At least he hasn't discovered my existence yet. He's only confirmed that you had a miraculous encounter, but doesn't know what that encounter was. I'll reduce my interactions with you; believe me, as long as you don't hand me over to him, he absolutely won't harm you.'

'This is, after all, the society of the White Wizard. He either secretly kills you, or he can only scheme against you like this. He wouldn't dare do anything else.'

The wizard Douglas was overjoyed. Hearing the reminder from King Lagmamon again, he felt as if he had found a pillar of support.

For the past six months, King Lagmamon has rarely appeared in order to prevent the Brandy Wizard from discovering the existence of his soul.

He also wore a first-ring magical artifact called the "Myriad Shadows Necklace" to conceal his teacher's soul aura and prevent the second-ring wizard from discovering him.

Douglas said in a low voice, "Teacher, you've finally spoken. I think I should take this opportunity to leave the wilderness and see if I can escape from Golden Crown Mountain."

King Lagmamon did not answer.

Wizard Douglas's heart sank. He looked up and discovered that there were two second-ring wizards standing outside the laboratory.

A second-circle wizard, that wretched brandy wizard.

He was dressed in a pure white wizard's robe, with a swan-feather-like wing on his right shoulder, while the other second-circle wizard was...

The wizard Douglas's pupils suddenly shrank, his face filled with shock and surprise.

Because the other wizard was Locke Augustine.

This esteemed person actually came looking for me.

Outside the laboratory, the Brandy Wizard smiled at Locke and said, "Wizard Augustine, I told you you'd be interested in my experiments. Did you come here because you thought my suggestion last time was good and wanted to research with me?"

"I've noticed you've been staying home a lot lately, hardly ever going out. That's not good; always working in isolation won't lead to any good ideas. Why don't we study this strange tree of flesh and blood from the Forbes dimension together?"

Locke pursed his lips, feeling somewhat speechless.

He didn't even think the wizard in front of him was serious.

Let me explore this hopeless field with you?
If I were an alchemist, I could consider it, but of course I couldn't do this kind of research in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands. I could go to the Southern Witch Capital.

Some judges in the Southern Witchcraft Academy might like this style.

It's easier to apply for funding.

Locke said, "No. I'm here to transfer Douglas away."

The brandy wizard's smile froze instantly. He glanced at Douglas with a strange, ambiguous smile that made Douglas feel uneasy, as if a demon with a fake smile was staring at him.

The Brandy Wizard asked, "Did Douglas contact you first, Wizard Augustine?"

Locke said, "This person was originally assigned to my group by the teacher. It's just that you transferred him over when I wasn't looking. However, I have some articles to write recently and need help. I'm short-handed."

“Brandy Wizard, you’re a seasoned second-ring wizard. You have plenty of men under your command, but I do.”

Locke replied using logic the other party could understand: "You poached a Crystallization Wizard from my ranks, and you didn't even tell me anything."

Sure enough, the Brandy Wizard agreed with this logic. After careful consideration, he also felt that it was indeed inappropriate to casually poach a Crystallization Wizard from Locke.

Given his profit-driven logic, wouldn't he immediately turn against that person?

So the Brandy Wizard spoke to Locke in a gentler tone, even with a hint of guilt, saying, "It's just that this person was responsible for some key data work with me. Now that he's gone, I can't do the experiments."

Locke directly used logic to expose his lies.

"A crystallization wizard can handle the crucial experimental data work for a second-circle wizard genius? Brandy Wizard, you must be joking."

The brandy wizard paused for a moment, then realized that the reason was indeed absurd, illogical, and laughable.

As a result, his momentum weakened further, and he felt even more guilty.

The mere thought of the possible encounter with the Sun Ring Wizard made him frown, unwilling to give up this tempting prize he was about to devour.

The Brandy Wizard said, "Wizard Locke, I do indeed admire this wizard very much. I appreciate his talent, and besides, he came to me himself. If he has offended you in any way, I can apologize and offer appropriate compensation."

"But he's been here with me for a while now. Douglas, let me ask you, would you rather go back to Group Two, or stay with me in Group Three?"

At this moment, the other two crystallization wizards in the laboratory quickly lowered their heads. They weren't stupid; they had already sensed the tension between Locke and the brandy wizard.

Locke looked at Douglas and dusted himself off.

Douglas's answer was irrelevant; he was going to take him away anyway, no matter what.

However, if Douglas agrees to come with him, it would save him the risk of having to resort to violence later.

After all, Brandy was also a second-circle wizard genius from the Advanced Institute of Truth.

It took him longer than he had become a second-circle wizard.

Before the fight, I really didn't know who was stronger between us.

It's hard to say.

(End of this chapter)