Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 846 Developing a Second-Ring Level Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow and Finding Locke's Weakness
A month later, in the underground laboratory on the tenth floor of the 2nd Research Institute, the place was filled with subspecies of the Great Green Leaf Dragon Finch, the first-ring subspecies of the fast-growing plant, like a sword tomb.

In just one month, Locke spent five million magic stones in this laboratory.

The money required to cultivate a first-level subspecies is incomparable to that required to cultivate an apprentice-level magical plant subspecies.

Locke plans to spend another five million magic stones next month to cultivate the first subspecies of these Great Green Leaf Dragonflies.

Meanwhile, Mason Witch and two other crystallizing wizards were helping them record information about the mutations in the plant essence of these demonic plant subspecies.

Meanwhile, Wizard Douglas was working with him on sequencing the plant essence of the Great Green Leaf Dragonfly.

These are the basic steps to complete the final finite element method cultivation.

At this moment, the magical fields ten underground were filled with the special spiritual energy fluctuations of magical plants. This was a sign that a second-circle wizard was using the finite element cultivation method. For a second-circle wizard, it was not only possible to start with the essence of plants, but also with their spirituality.

The spirit of magical plants can be grafted, hybridized, propagated by cuttings, pruned, added to, and even mutated; naturally, they can also be spliced ​​together.

Therefore, the four crystallization wizards helped Locke work on the plant essence of the magical plant, while Locke himself used his own research system, using the synthesis cube + lunar cultivation method + flowering and falling flowers, to cultivate a subspecies of the Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow; at the same time, he recorded the spirituality of these subspecies, and then tried to use the spirituality of these subspecies to conduct identification and grafting exercises.

"But I need to remember that the spirituality of magical plants and the essence of plants are just two ways of identifying the same thing about magical plants."

"I can't put the cart before the horse and mistakenly think these are two different things. This practice method can also train the spiritual energy cultivation method that a second-ring breeder should know."

Locke beckoned to a fast-growing subspecies of the Great Green Leaf Dragonfly growing in the magic field. Instantly, under the effect of the [Star-Shaped Spirit-Attracting Magic Array], the spirituality within the Great Green Leaf Dragonfly was forced to manifest.

At the same time, Locke carefully examined the hundreds of subdivided magical plant spiritualities within the magical plant, each of which corresponded to a plant factor.

These are merely the spiritualities corresponding to those plant factors.

If one mistakenly believes that spirituality and plant factors are two different things, then one will inevitably go astray and achieve less with more effort.

Many breeders outside of Golden Crown Mountain fail to master the Spirit Breath Cultivation Method because they have taken too many wrong paths.

Too many people have problems with their fundamentals. If their fundamentals are flawed, their understanding will be flawed, and they will make mistakes when looking at things. Even if they continue to make mistakes, they will find it difficult to realize it because of their flawed understanding.

Locke had seen these reminders in many of the materials he borrowed, so he knew that in the second-stage finite element cultivation method, as a breeder, he absolutely could not make the mistake of thinking that "the spirituality of magical plants and plant factors are two different things".

These are just different outward manifestations of the same thing.

'I want to use this opportunity to participate in the Golden Cup and cultivate second-ring flying magical plants to improve my breeding skills, elevate my various breeding methods to the second-ring level, and even gradually learn the Spirit Breath Breeding Method.'

Locke manipulated two sets of his own magical arrays, the Star-Shaped Spirit-Attracting Array, to make the spirit of the second subspecies of the Great Green-Leaf Dragonfly in front of him manifest.

Then he used his magical magnetic field to cut off the spiritual essence of the two fast-growing subspecies, and then used a grafting method to graft the two magical plant spiritual essences together.

Locke looked at the green light in his palm.

"In the end, this is just a combination of two plant factors. But a first-level breeder can only piece these plant factors together in the finite element method to form a set of plant essences, and then inject them into a seedling or seed of a magical plant."

"A second-ring breeder can enhance what they can do and do more complex things through the spiritual level—by using the finite element cultivation method, they can extract the target spirituality from two magical plants and then graft it."

"In this way, the two plant factors are not combined, but fused together, thus forming a new plant factor that possesses all the characteristics of both plant factors at the same time."

It is obvious that because second-ring wizards can see the power of planes directly with their naked eyes and see deeper levels of spirituality, the five major cultivation methods plus the spiritual breath cultivation method of second-ring breeders can reach a deeper level.

This completely surpasses the capabilities of a first-level breeder.

However, it also brought about a more complex system of knowledge in the discipline of breeding.

Many wizards get stuck at this point, thus giving up the possibility of further development in the field of breeding.

"Based on the fundamental finite element cultivation method of the one-ring breeder, it is possible to achieve grafting, hybridization, cutting, and magical resonance cultivation of plant factors at the spiritual level."

Locke realized, "At my current level, I can only use the finite element cultivation method and grafting cultivation method to graft the spirituality of the two magical plants and create a new plant factor that combines the advantages of both."

"It is said that those Sun Ring-level breeders can even extract the spiritual essence corresponding to the plant factors of multiple magical plants and graft them at the same time to create a super plant factor."

Yes, super plant factor.

This is something only a Level 2 breeder could create.

Because at the first-level breeder stage, breeders can only use the five cultivation methods on the magical plants themselves and cannot directly manipulate plant factors. Therefore, whether they can obtain powerful super plant factors depends entirely on luck. However, second-level breeders have much more powerful abilities.

"After that, we still need to practice the finite element analysis cultivation method + cutting cultivation method, the finite element cultivation method + hybridization cultivation method, and the finite element cultivation method + magic frequency resonance cultivation method. Of course, these five cultivation methods themselves have many sub-fields of research. It's as vast as the deep sea."

Take the previous grafting cultivation method as an example. A simple grafting cultivation method can be advanced to the second stage, where there is approach grafting, and even more advanced and unique grafting methods.

Therefore, Locke was overjoyed as he looked at the vast subject of breeding, completely immersed in the ocean of knowledge.

He must keep moving forward toward the truth ahead.

“The spiritual essence is still the key.” After Locke grafted a wisp of spiritual essence from the two magical plants, the spiritual essence was about to separate.

Spirituality is inherently difficult to graft together; even a second-circle wizard cannot do it. Therefore, special spiritual energy is needed to stabilize these spiritualities.

Locke used a [Azure Soil Spirit Breath] purchased from the Golden Peach Garden, which is a commonly used spirit breath.

This spiritual energy can stabilize spirituality. Therefore, in the second-stage cultivation phase, regardless of whether the finite element cultivation method is used as the foundation or any spiritual cultivation method is employed, the spiritual energy of the green soil is required to obtain the super plant factor.

Of course, the spiritual energy of the green soil is just the most common and ordinary spiritual energy. Therefore, skilled breeders may even cultivate their own unique spiritual energy to cultivate super plant factors.

Therefore, in the end, the foundation of a second-ring breeder is still the Spirit Breath Cultivation Method.

The better the breeder of the Spirit Breath Cultivation Method, the better their breeding level.

Locke placed the special plant factor in his hand into a common fast-growing seedling of a large blue-leaved dragon sparrow, simultaneously applying a powerful growth-accelerating effect and guiding a magic array to inject energy into it, aiding its growth.

Soon, a mature, quick-grown *Dracaena davidii* plant appeared.

Locke then used his magical magnetic field to cut off the implanted plant factor and placed it in his hand.

"It's done. This super plant factor is now complete."

Locke placed the super plant factor in his hand into the [Factor Bead] crafted by the alchemists. It looked like a glass marble. After the super plant factor was placed inside, the transparent glass ball seemed to have a green firefly inside.

Wizard Douglas held a Time Crystal Magic Box, the inside of which was full of small compartments containing many Factor Beads.

Locke said to Douglas, "This is a type 2 natural magic structure component called Feather Drop Ingredient that can increase the secretion of Feather Drop Technique of the Great Blue Leaf Dragon Sparrow by three times. The downside is that it seems to inhibit the expression of plant factors related to the size of the Great Blue Leaf Dragon Sparrow, which will cause the Great Blue Leaf Dragon Sparrow with this super plant factor to shrink in size."

"But other super plant factors can be used to enhance the size of the Great Green Leaf Dragon Finch to make up for this deficiency."

Locke said, "Record this super plant factor as, 3x Feather Extract Super Plant Factor. I remember I made a 1.5x Feather Extract Super Plant Factor a week ago, right? Put it together with that one."

Locke said, "Although that 1.5 times feather drop super plant factor is somewhat average compared to this, that factor will not suppress the size of the Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow or force it to become smaller."

"So we might as well keep that super plant factor; we might need it in the future."

Douglas nodded and then followed Locke's instructions meticulously.

The Lagmamon Wizard King in Douglas's mind seemed to have become accustomed to speaking directly with Douglas in front of Locke, and thus said directly in his mind: "This young wizard from later generations is quite something. His speed of progress and research in breeding science is different from that of ordinary breeders."

"The research system he has built has the ability to enable magical plants to complete a growth cycle quickly, and it seems to have the ability to create more subspecies in a short period of time. In addition, he has an amazing intuition and accurate judgment that grafting different spiritualities can produce different super plant factors."

“Impressive. He was quite a figure in my time. If I had encountered such a talent back then, I would have definitely brought him into my Royal Wizarding Order. I would have given him a position and put him in contact with my Crown Prince, so that he could consider the next generation.”

Douglas knew nothing about breeding; he just did whatever Locke told him to do.

So, he said to his witch king teacher in his mind, "Teacher, do you also understand breeding science?"

King Lagmamon said, "I don't understand at all."

Douglas was speechless for a moment, and looked at his teacher, the Witch King, with a questioning gaze in his own mind.

If he doesn't understand anything at all, why can he so confidently comment on a breeder at the level of a second-circle wizard?
Lagmamon the Wizard King said, “Although I don’t understand, I can learn. Don’t forget, I am a third-circle wizard. I can force myself to understand some of it.”

Locke glanced at Douglas, then focused his attention on the fast-growing magic plants in front of him.

"These fast-growing magical plants are only good for research; they're all show and no substance."

"Right now, my magical plant 'Sword Tomb' is doing three tasks. The first task is to use the normal finite element cultivation method to continuously accumulate subspecies and obtain excellent plant factors, and then try to assemble a set of second-ring level Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow plant essence."

"This is the main body of the Sword Tomb's work."

"The second task is to use the finite element method and grafting method to create super plant factors, and then select the best super plant factors to add to the first task of assembling the plant essence of the two-ringed big green leaf dragon sparrow."

"The third task is to use the grafting cultivation method alone to cultivate the seeds of the Demon Dragon Rose, then find a way to produce a second Demon Dragon Rose, and then graft the best subspecies of the Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow that I cultivated using the finite element cultivation method onto it, so that my Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow can obtain the essence of the Demon Dragon."

"Next, I will use the ancestral evolution to force the Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow to revert to the essence of the ancestral dragon. I don't know what will happen. According to my idea, this should create a flying magical plant that has been reverted to the true power of the dragon. It will be the king among ordinary second-ring magical plants and will help me win the championship in the Golden Cup flying competition."

However, this step still has problems.

Because according to his own plan, grafting the large green-leafed dragon sparrow onto the demon dragon rose could not be merely a superficial act.

In other words, neither of the two magical plants can be the fast-growing kind that only looks good; instead, they need to be mature magical plants.

However, the resources required to properly cultivate a true second-ring magical plant into an adult form are unimaginable. Therefore, this is an exaggerated investment of resources; investing a mere five or six million magic stones is like throwing stones into the water, making no real impact.

After careful consideration, Locke made up his mind.

"Therefore, I need to complete the first two tasks first. I need to create a Super Green-Leaf Dragonfly that is as close as possible to a second-ring magical plant before I can proceed to the third step."

'Otherwise, if I invest tens of millions of magic stones and successfully cultivate the adult Dragon Rose, but the first two steps are never completed, wouldn't that be embarrassing for me?'

This is why research is so expensive.

I'm quite lucky to have the cheat code of synthesizing Rubik's Cube. I can graft the spirituality of different magical plants and inject them into the seeds using the finite element cultivation method to cultivate them into adults. Then, I can use the Flower Blooming and Falling method to sacrifice the magical plant and obtain three cultivable seeds.

Next, cultivate it and synthesize it to obtain an optimized magical plant implanted with new plant factors.

The key is that you can read the information about this new plant factor yourself, and then you can find out from the entry which point is wrong and whether the direction is correct.

Then, you can adjust the next spiritual grafting.

In this way, it will be much easier for me to create super plant factors.

Therefore, in the eyes of some people, the speed at which they cultivated the high-quality super plant factor of the large green leaf dragon sparrow using the finite element method and grafting method is astonishing.

"The finite element method combined with grafting is the golden combination for grafting spirituality, and it's the easiest way to produce new plant genes," Locke pondered.

'The finite element method combined with cutting propagation can create a copy of spirituality out of thin air. Then, by placing this spirituality into the magical plant, multiple identical plant factors can be generated within the plant, making its expression of that factor more pronounced and complete. However, this requires a Star Ring Wizard to use. It seems to be related to ultimate magic.'

'The finite element method combined with hybridization couldn't be used before the Moon Ring technique. It seems to be related to spiritual gender transformation. I need to become a Moon Ring Wizard first to do that.'

'The finite element cultivation method combined with the magic resonance cultivation method can easily induce mutations in spirituality. However, it requires a special large-scale magical artifact—the [Magic Energy Fusion Blast Furnace]. Neither of our groups is equipped with this equipment, and I myself cannot afford such equipment worth hundreds of millions.'

'Unless I'm a solar-ring wizard, then I can rely on my own abilities to use the finite element cultivation method combined with the magic resonance cultivation method.'

Locke pondered, "Besides that, I also need to focus on improving my fundamentals in the Spirit Breath Cultivation Method while working on this project. I hope to be able to cultivate the next second-ring magical plant using this Spirit Breath Cultivation Method."

Regardless, I'll first use the finite element method to complete the cultivation of the large-leaved dragon bird.

Without the first and second steps, I wouldn't dare to start the third step, which requires tens of millions of magic stones.

But I figured that as long as I completed the first two steps, I could at least upgrade the Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow into an ordinary second-ring magic plant.

Therefore, there are two ways to become a second-ring breeder. One way is to use the Spirit Breath Cultivation Method to cultivate magical plants and produce three different second-ring magical plants.

Another method is to use the traditional five cultivation methods, which combine spiritual observation with the five cultivation methods to cultivate a second-ring demonic plant.

This is how one can become a second-level breeder.

The witch Freya walked over, admiring the ubiquitous subspecies of the Great Green-leaved Dragonfly in this 'Sword Tomb'.

"It's truly spectacular, team leader. But I don't understand why you still need to use the finite element cultivation method + grafting cultivation method for spiritual grafting."

"Could it be that the finite element method alone is insufficient to cultivate a second-ring demonic plant?"

Locke knew that Freya the witch was asking him a question.

As a breeder herself, she naturally asks questions when she encounters something she doesn't understand, striving to get the opportunity to consult with more experienced breeders.

Locke said, "Of course not. The finite element method can only optimize a magical plant in a certain direction if it is already a second-ring magical plant."

"But that's not enough to allow a single Ring-1 Magical Plant to combine plant factors from a subspecies of Magical Plant to form a set of Ring-2 Magical Plant Essence."

"The reason is simple. The difference between a first-ring magical plant and a second-ring magical plant is just too great."

"The finite element method is no longer sufficient to transform a magical plant into a second-ring magical plant."

The tall witch Freya, wearing high heels, nodded thoughtfully.

"I see. That's why we need to perform spiritual grafting to create the super plant factor you mentioned."

"Use that kind of super plant factor to reduce this gap."

Locke said, "You're right. But it's too early for you, Freya, to explore this kind of knowledge. You don't need to think about these things."

To become a second-circle breeder, you must at least be a second-circle wizard.

If you're not even a second-circle wizard, then you can't become a second-circle breeder.

Freya stuck out her tongue; she knew Locke was right.

Since she doesn't need to cultivate a second-ring magic plant, she naturally doesn't need to think about this step.

Locke didn't react in any particular way to Freya's obviously coquettish behavior, after all, Freya was a sociable witch who acted this way with everyone.

Freya the witch said, "Team leader, don't you have a way to directly turn a first-ring magical plant into a second-ring magical plant? Why don't you turn the Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow directly into a second-ring magical plant?"

Locke nodded slightly. Both atavism and the Moon Cultivation Method do indeed have such effects.

However, the Moon Cultivation Method can only turn a first-ring magic plant into a wild second-ring magic plant.

And you also need a Zero Potion.

I don't have any more Zero Potions on me right now.

Moreover, I don't want to create a wild second-ring magic plant.

The reason why the first two reversions could turn sea ginseng and golden foxtail grass into second-ring magical plants was because those magical plants were already second-ring magical plants. However, even so, those magical plants were actually considered wild magical plants.

After all, the plant factors were mixed together without much modification.

This time, if Locke wants to participate in the Golden Cup Flying Magic Plant Competition, he needs to create a set of magic plants of the second-ring level, cultivated by a true second-ring breeder.

Locke smiled and asked Freya, "By the way, how's your first-class grant project going?"

Freya, the witch, blushed and looked at Locke with adoration and admiration, saying, "Team leader, with your help, Mason, Barrett, and I have all made rapid progress. You only gave us a few pointers, and all our chaotic thoughts have been cleared up."

Locke nodded. The air plant species that the three of them were researching were synthesized by him using a synthetic cube. He could naturally remind them what equipment to use and in which direction to conduct their research. This way, they could easily find the key mechanisms and pathways of action and achieve results.

Of course, all three of them thought it was simply because they had amazing judgment.

The air plants that the three of them are researching are also suitable for making wizard shoes.

The better the magical plant's energy-locking structure, the more suitable it is to be made into wizard shoes.

Because of its high energy efficiency.

Locke smiled at Freya the witch and said, "I'm really looking forward to seeing you all finish your first-class project grants. I wonder who among you will be the first to complete it. After all, the reason I'm able to conduct my research so extensively in Group 2 is because of the research on the special energy-locking structure of air plants that the three of you have done."

When Locke used the Rubik's Cube to synthesize those air plants, he utilized that plastic flower. Therefore, these three air plants are essentially three special energy-locking structures that were obtained from the plastic flower through plant mimicry and grafting cultivation methods.

The spiral structure of the Pixiu's horns is similar to that of its glands and root sacs.

Freya the witch bowed to Locke and said, "I understand, team leader. You've only been a second-circle wizard for a short time, and who knew you'd be as experienced as those second-circle wizard team leaders so quickly. All you do is urge us, your subordinates, to get things done. Sigh."

Locke said, "Then shall I invite the three of you to the Witch's Kitchen for a grand feast tonight?"

Freya the witch's eyes lit up. "Alright."

Just then, Mason Witch ran over from the other side of the magic field, holding a journal in her hand. "Team leader, the Boundary of All Things sent you a copy of this month's journal."

"Your article is on pages seventeen through twenty-seven of this journal."

Freya the witch turned her head in surprise.

"A District 1 journal from the Second Ring Road? Let me see it too, Mason. Oh, and call Barrett over quickly, the team leader is inviting us to Witch's Kitchen tonight!"

The Witch King Lagmamon within Douglas's sea of ​​consciousness let out a surprised cry.

"Hmm? I didn't expect this little guy from later generations to publish articles so quickly."

Douglas asked himself, "Teacher, when can I invite him to open the treasure?"

King Lagmamon said, "Wait a little longer. We suffered a great loss at the hands of that idiot Brandy last time. We can't rashly reveal our trump card this time. It would be best if he really needed the treasure, and we only needed to obtain a part of it."

"It's too risky to bring it up now. I need to wait until his research gets stuck before bringing it up. That way, when he has a need, he'll have a weakness."

"As long as a person has needs, it means we have grasped their weaknesses."

“We can then keep him in check. I have some ancient magical plants in my treasure vault that he should be interested in.”

“His research this time is extremely difficult. Let’s wait and see if he encounters an insurmountable obstacle in the Gold Cup. That will be my moment to exploit his weakness.”

(End of this chapter)