Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 868 Nineteen Thousand Demonic Pressures! This is the moment when the Saint descends!
On Golden Crown Mountain.

Locke carefully removed the Bloodwave Pineapple from the Golden Wheat rootstock using the second-ring magic weapon grafting knife [Spirit Vein Stitcher], and then grafted it onto another fast-growing Bloodwave Pineapple seedling. This was an advanced grafting method [Double Grafting].

This is a unique method that only a second-generation breeder can accomplish.

First, graft the two magical plants together. Then, remove the rootstock, take the branch, and graft the magical plant onto a similar magical plant variety.

In this way, the magical plant characteristics of the target rootstock can be obtained while preserving the original magical plant shape as much as possible.

Simply put, it involves grafting a single branch twice, using two different rootstocks.

The reason why first-level breeders find it difficult to apply this method is that they cannot directly see the power of the plane with their naked eyes. Therefore, they cannot skillfully control the fusion of magical plant spirituality that occurs in the grafting and cultivation method, which easily leads to the failure of the grafting and cultivation method.

At this moment, Locke threw the Bloodwave Pineapple, which contained the key plant factor, the Brilliant Factor, into his Forest Sanctuary, intending to teleport it to his main body.

The moment Orion killed the King Giant of the Three-Dimensional Plane, it signified that the first phase of his experiment in the Three-Dimensional Plane was complete.

Now, we are about to enter the second phase.

Locke glanced at the rootstock and said to Douglas, "Take the tools, dig this rootstock out of the magical soil, put it in the Ice Magic Cabinet in the laboratory, label it, and place it in the common area."

The Ice Magic Cabinet on the 10th floor of the research institute is now generally only used by members of his team.

Moreover, this thing is nothing important; it's just a byproduct of the cultivation process of the "double grafting cultivation method." I kept it simply out of habit.

So Locke had Douglas put the sample into the publicly used Ice Magic Chest to preserve it.

Douglas said, "Yes, Lord Augustine."

Locke took off his gloves.

The finite element method can also be used to transfer key Brilliant Photon plant factors into the Bloodwave Pineapple.

However, this is different from transferring this factor using grafting cultivation methods.

First, using the finite element method requires analyzing the plant essences of both parties and designing the arrangement of plant factors, which is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and costly.

Secondly, although both can ultimately achieve similar results, due to the complexity of plants, the same goal achieved through different methods can still be distinguished upon careful observation.

The finite element method requires rearranging and redesigning plant factors, making it unsuitable for transferring plant factors across different plant species. That would be equivalent to redesigning an entire set of plant essences, which is too much work, too difficult, and makes it hard to guarantee the results.

Although grafting was the first cultivation method I used, it has accompanied me throughout my growth, and I have come to discover its profound and subtle aspects more and more.

After the spirituality of the two magical plants merges, they can achieve spiritual fusion on their own without needing to manually design the plant essence. Part of the plant essence of one magical plant will enter the plant essence of the other magical plant.

Although it's difficult to control the details and is too simple, it's still practical.

Most importantly, it's really cheap.

It took me seven grafting attempts to succeed this time. Apart from the extra costs of using the Evolution Moon to accelerate the growth of the magical plant and the grafting healing process, I only spent 324 million magic stones to complete this step.

These are already good enough to be considered a pair of second-ring wizard shoes, but he still needs to go a step further and further cultivate this magical plant!
Next, he only needs to use the verdant spiritual energy he discovered in the three-plane plane. Once he successfully uses the spiritual energy cultivation method once, he can complete the second set of second-circle wizard shoes.

Moreover, these are enhanced second-ring pure magic plant wizard shoes.

Of course, this is on the premise that your first attempt at using the Spirit Breath Cultivation Method is successful.

Otherwise, all his previous investments—the 324 million magic stones and the related manpower and time—would have been wasted.

Or rather, they only produced second-ring wizard shoes of the same level as the first pair.

Most importantly, he's broke now.

Because he invested all his money in developing the second type of second-ring pure magic plant wizard shoes and the second-ring flying magic plant of the Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow series.

Fortunately, both projects are progressing smoothly now, thanks to the help of their own Evolution Moon and Synthetic Cube.

Mason Witch looked at Locke and asked, "Team Leader Locke, the Brandy Wizard has invited you again. He said that if you don't have any good ideas recently, he'd like to share a research topic with you..."

"Team leader, do you want to see him?"

Locke is now focusing most of his energy on the three planes, especially on forging his ultimate magic, and he has no desire to have any entanglement with the others from the Golden Crown Mountain True Knowledge Academy.

“Mason, next time he comes over, just tell him I’m very busy lately. Not only am I busy, I’ve also been using Douglas quite frequently lately.”

"We've all been very busy lately."

Mason Witch laughed and said, "Okay."

Freya the witch covered her mouth and chuckled, saying, "Team leader, I rarely see you refuse someone so directly."

Locke looked helpless; there was nothing he could do.

Because if he leaves even the slightest room for compromise, the brandy will shamelessly come crawling back and relentlessly pester him.

At this crucial moment, I don't want to lose any of my heart.

……

Brandy, outside the Dune plane, maintained his smile after receiving Mason Witch's reply, but snorted coldly as he turned away.

'Looks like Douglas hasn't had it too easy since joining Locke's team. He still has to work every day, doesn't he? Now he's regretting it, isn't he?'

"All crows are black. Locke has achieved so much at such a young age; he must be very good at exploiting others and extremely competitive. If you're not part of his core team, associating with him will only result in being exploited."

'Douglas, now you finally know what humanity is, don't you? You might as well have handed over the inheritance to me sooner. At least I wouldn't have exploited you like this.'

'It seems there's absolutely no way to have any contact with this guy until Locke has completely squeezed Douglas dry. Locke's methods are appalling; he doesn't leave a single scrap for his colleagues.'

"He doesn't like joining group chats, which means I can't find anyone he usually chats with, and I don't know anything about Locke's progress. It's practically a black box. We're constantly trying to get information from each other in the group, and we're working ourselves to the bone in the lab, but we know absolutely nothing about his situation."

'Like a terrifying, unpredictable time bomb.'

The Brandy Wizard, putting himself in others' shoes, thought, "I need to get out of here as soon as possible, otherwise, once Locke grows up, the atmosphere at the True Knowledge Institute will definitely become even more competitive. I'm afraid that by then, I won't be able to keep up with the competition."

"This intense competition is about who has the most profound magical power, who has the most abundant energy, who has the most methods, and who can break down 24 hours into more time... I definitely can't compare to a young man like Locke."

The Brandy Wizard pondered, "I wonder how things are going with Locke. But if we're talking about the person who loves to pry into things the most, it's that annoying Droma. Maybe I should go over there and sound him out. I think I recently heard that Droma somehow managed to become friends with Locke. He's a blabbermouth; if I say a few words to him, he'll tell me all the information about Locke himself."

“That makes sense. Let’s go find out more from Zhuoma.”

……

At this moment, within the Three Caves World, hidden in the deepest part of this world, at the top of the crater mountain, the 'God Supreme God' of the upper plane suddenly awoke.

The single, indifferent divine eye in the sky composed of countless eyes suddenly shrank.

He turned around and looked out at the crater. He could feel the sudden change in the magical pressure of the three worlds. Even the world's will, which had been forced to sleep, began to show signs of consciousness recovery amidst this violent change in magical pressure.

His divine eye saw Orion, covered in blood, standing atop the corpse of the god of kingship on the land surrounded by craters, and only now did it notice a forest appear behind Orion.

And in the forest was a young wizard.

Locke was greeting it with his power. Although they had never met face to face or spoken directly, they still greeted each other in this way.

"I was wrong, I was wrong all along. I was wrong before."

The 'God Supreme God' was filled with both fear and anger. "In the process of preventing that wizard from descending, I did not truly eliminate his power at the beginning of his descent. He hid his power in the mortal world and developed it in secret there. Until this moment, he ordered his pawn to kill one of my important pawns."

A long-forgotten fear flashed in the eyes of the 'God Above God'.

As time goes by, Nicholas's predictions about him seem to be coming true more and more.

At first, he held absolute power in this world, until that person came. After spending countless years suppressing that person in the underworld of this world, Nicholas came again.

Immediately after he finally suppressed Nicholas, the wizards piloted their void warships to the edge of this world.

No.

Why can't these bastards fulfill his desire to rule the world forever?
Why do they keep entering this world from the outside?
Couldn't they have chosen not to come?

Do they not know how difficult it was for him to scheme and control the entire world all by himself?
"This complicates things."

The pupil of the divine eye expanded, and the patterns in the pupil resembled fiery clouds or a rainbow, like a kaleidoscope, with colors changing rapidly.

"Now a new player has appeared on this chessboard."

"No. This is my world."

The divine eye emitted a malicious sound.

"This is the world I have conquered, and I absolutely cannot let anyone take it away."

"Nightmare Legion! Damn Nightmare Legion, all I wanted was to turn this world into my divine kingdom, to allow me to be reborn here. Yet you keep appearing like locusts that can't be killed. Fine, if I can kill the first batch, I can definitely kill the second."

Shenyan finally broke free from his fear and anxiety.

He immediately ordered the giants to descend from the crater and enter the mortal realm to surround and kill Locke's chess piece.

His divine eye pierced through time and space, shining from the top of the crater down to the bottom, and locking onto Orion of Terrell.

At this time, in the city-state of Antori.

Orion felt that his injuries were too severe, so he randomly found some ruins, sat on a rock, and then used the wilderness first aid method that Locke had taught him to tear off a piece of his clothes and use it as a strip of cloth to tie around his right thigh to stop the bleeding.

Orion sat there panting, with the giant's skeleton beside him.

Antori's mortal soldiers stared at him in utter terror.

The soldiers of this city-state, which was not known for its bravery to begin with, dared not advance when they saw Orion.

After Orion killed the God of Kingship, he immediately sensed that something about him had changed.

Firstly, he seemed to be able to sense the principles of war that the Tree Man Teacher spoke of more easily.

This seems to increase his strength, speed, and the ability for his body to withstand more damage.

Of course, this was just Orion's misjudgment of himself.

Because, in essence, Orion is different from those giants.

For reasons unknown, the 'God Above Gods' did not grant the giants a power system, but only the corresponding authority to respond to the principles of the world.

But it took Orion three years to learn the Ranger system that Locke had developed through two iterations, and he also learned the forest breathing method, which Locke had simplified from meditation.

In other words, the half-path of the War Principle within him wasn't directly superimposed on him, but rather transformed into a rank, superimposed on the Ranger system, that is, the Leaf of Power. This resulted in Orion actually being more powerful than he had imagined.

If the giants were merely primitive people wielding golden hoes, then Orion, who received Locke's education, was essentially a mutant wizard.

The Leaf of Power is a set of virtual symbols that Locke uses to illustrate his power.

On the exploration vanguard, Locke's true form looked at the Leaf of Power of the Path of Nemesis in his hand, which was the first ring version.

My experiment is complete!

When Orion learned the Forest Breathing Technique, his Nemesis's Path of Power Leaf had already reached 0.9 rings. And the moment he killed the King Giant with the Cursed Branch, this Power Leaf evolved to the first ring level!
Because he killed the King Giant as the King Giant's natural enemy, he completed a cycle of sworn enemies.

Therefore, his action essentially strengthened the Path of Nemesis: Leaf of Power.

This was an experiment that Locke had already set up the moment he asked Hussein to use the blood of the Grass Giantess to complete the second-circle ultimate blood curse and create the cursed tree branch.

With Orion's actions, the experiment was successfully completed.

By learning about beings who had violated the laws of nature, Orion gradually discovered their weaknesses. As a ranger, he became the natural enemy of these beings who had disrupted the balance of nature.

This would normally be difficult to break through to the first level, but Orion, as the natural enemy, killed the King Titan, fulfilling his responsibility and obligation as the nemesis.

In doing so, he used this action to push the final step of the Path of the Nemesis: Leaf of Power to the next level.

When this Leaf of Power evolves to the first level, it means that other Leaves of Power can also evolve to the first level.

This leaf of power has become a leaf of evolution, the very core of its entire power system.

Because of it, I've saved myself countless troubles.

When his Power Leaf system finally reached the first level, his magic pressure increased by a full 500 points!
This is 500 points of second-level magic pressure!
Before the Starfield Sea's High Magic Project, I needed five hundred months to improve, and after the Starfield Sea's High Magic Project, I will need three hundred calendar months to improve.

That is 25 years.

But now, because of the completeness of his power system, he has directly increased his magic pressure by 500 points.

How many Sunny Sky Stones would that require!

At this moment, his normal magic pressure is 19,000 points.

Not only that, but the speed at which his magical pressure increased also seemed to have doubled. The originally rugged and difficult road in front of him instantly became a smooth and bright road.

"It is of utmost importance for a second-circle wizard to articulate his or her power in his or her own words."

Locke seemed to be deep in thought.

"I actually increased my magic pressure directly and indirectly increased the speed of my magic pressure increase by explaining my power to the first stage, thus expanding my soul potential."

"No wonder many second-circle wizards don't rush to increase their magical pressure, but instead focus on projects and publishing articles to enhance their understanding of magical knowledge."

Old Henry looked at Locke with envy.

Locke looked at Hussein and noticed that the magical pressure emanating from Hussein was of very high quality, which gave him a sudden idea.

"Hussein, your magic pressure is currently only 13,000. But your power system hasn't already evolved to the first level, has it?"

Hussein did not deny it, but crossed his arms and laughed, "I am different from you. You don't have the pressure of being hunted down, but I do. If I can't finish those things that don't consume too many resources as soon as possible while I'm being hunted down, then I'll really be in despair."

Locke nodded slightly. "No wonder your magic pressure has increased so quickly. I really envy you."

Perfecting one's own power system can quickly increase one's magical pressure.

Unexpectedly, although his magical pressure was far superior to Hussein's, he was actually much worse than Hussein in terms of internal cultivation before the Three Cave Planes.

Hussein looked at Locke with a complicated expression.

“Envious of me? Look at what you’re saying, Locke. The leader envies the laggard. If I weren’t familiar with your overly modest nature, I would probably think you were provoking me. Of course, we’re already familiar with each other, we’re friends.”

"Of course I wouldn't misunderstand."

Locke smiled.

Indeed, he has now advanced his power system to the first stage and his magic pressure has reached 19,000, putting him far ahead of Hussein.

If judged by the average wizard's perception of the flow of time, Hussein is probably between thirty and fifty years ahead of him.

Of course, since both of us are quite special, it's impossible to say for sure whether such a small gap will be suddenly overcome or widen if either of us suddenly relaxes.

At this moment, in the Three Caves Plane, Locke's treant avatar appeared directly in front of Orion.

Orion looked at Locke in surprise.

"Teacher Tree Man? I thought you wouldn't leave the forest? Are you here to rescue your good-for-nothing student?"

Locke, controlling his treant avatar, said, "I will not leave the forest in this world? Hmm... that was before, things are different now. Heh heh."

“Orion, you’re not even my most hopeless student, but you’ve caused enough trouble. You personally killed a second-circle being. Although I set up the whole scheme for you, you were merely the executor of the scheme set up by two second-circle beings.”

"But your experience, even if you were to share it in my world, would still be a topic of conversation."

Orion was about to speak when a divine light descended from the sky and enveloped him.

Orion shielded his face with his hands to protect his eyes from the light, and picked up the dagger from the ground.

"Damn it, are those gods still not willing to let me go? Fine, I feel I haven't finished avenging my family!"

"Teacher, please go first. I'm afraid I'll implicate you."

Locke glanced at the dagger in his hand. It seemed that Orion had used it too many times, and some of the magical radiance of the Leaf of Power was reflected on it, making it look like the pattern left by the hundred-times-forged steel during the forging process.

The dagger is undergoing some kind of change.

It seems to be its own Leaf of Power system, trying to deduce a new Leaf of Power on its own.

Locke's gaze swept around; he had actually been searching for his half-body, but he couldn't pinpoint its location.

"I don't need to leave. The giants can come whenever they want."

Locke looked up at the principle of kingship in the sky, and saw that even after the principle of kingship lost its responding subject, it did not disappear or hide, but was still shining above their heads.

It seems that whoever controls this principle of royal power can get a response.

Looking at the Royal Power in the sky, Orion said expectantly to Locke, "Teacher, I think you are the one who deserves to be the God of Royal Power. Go and control this Royal Power. I can feel that after I killed that bastard, his power seemed to be calling for someone who could control it. It was even extending an invitation to me."

Locke had indeed intended for Orion to control the Principle of Kingship, but then he suddenly realized something.

This was the first trap set by that 'God above God' immediately after discovering the death of the King Giant; it was a pitfall.

After the 'God Above God' was enraged and issued an order through his divine eye to send ten giants down the mountain to besiege Orion, he immediately realized what was happening.

This is Locke's trap.

So he immediately ordered the ten giants to stop descending the mountain and remain on the crater.

Looking down the mountain with his divine eyes, the result he derived from his deductions made him break out in a cold sweat.

“No. That mortal has already obtained the external blessing of a second-ring rank. That wizard can no longer only descend with the power of an apprentice. This time is different from last time. The last encirclement and suppression was successful because they could only descend with the power of an apprentice, or at most a first-ring wizard.”

"But this time, he already possesses a level two power. Moreover, some of these giants are Nicholas's men, or those who are secretly playing both sides. Apart from the King Giant, the Fire Giant, the War Giant, and some of my confidants, I cannot completely trust the other giants."

"If these giants come down from the mountain, the end result will likely be that they will be hunted down one by one. Especially if the Grass Giantess is killed, then I will have completely lost."

"My contest with him is like playing a game of chess. I've already lost the initiative. If I let another piece slip into someone else's rhythm and end up in their territory, I'm truly doomed to lose. At least his main body can't get in yet!"

"Now that Nightmare Legion's wizard has the upper hand. I can no longer win by brute force. He didn't move that piece immediately, but waited for me in the same spot. If I go there, I'll fall into his trap."

On the other side, Locke's treant avatar looked at the Royal Power in the sky, which was constantly waiting for someone to take over, and sneered.

"The principle of royal power is different from other principles of the world. Other principles of the world are things that already exist in the world, while the principle of royal power is based on civilization."

"Currently, almost all of this civilization worships the gods of the crater, and this worship is controlled by the 'God Supreme.' If I were to obtain this Principle of Kingship, it would not only not enhance my abilities, but would also suppress me and lead to my defeat. This Principle of Kingship is probably some key item in the hands of that 'God Supreme.'"

Just as Locke was pondering whether there was a way to divide the principle of kingship, that principle of kingship abruptly disappeared.

Locke sneered.

Wow, it's so automatic!

'Although I don't know who that supreme deity is, this taste is so familiar to me.'

Locke's expression was strange. As someone who frequently participated in competitions and project applications, he was all too familiar with this smell.

Isn't this exactly what it's like to clash with a wizard?
'That supreme god must originate from a civilization genuinely hostile to the wizarding civilization, deep within the endless void. This feels too authentic. It has that air of meticulous planning and countless hidden tricks.'

'There aren't many civilizations capable of opposing the wizarding civilization. I might be able to ask my teacher to confirm who they are.'

'He must have a lot of experience fighting wizards. No wonder I couldn't just kill indiscriminately; it's not a beginner's game, it's a veteran's game.'

At this moment, Locke sensed that the giants on the crater were retreating back to the upper plane. He frowned immediately. He hadn't expected that his deliberate provocation here would still not result in them re-entering the fray.

Goodness, it really is the old guard.

However, we already have the upper hand.

“My other half must have done something in this world,” Locke thought. “I need to find him.”

Locke's saintly incarnation began to descend. Because Orion is a Ranger, and Rangers are part of the forest, the moment the Ranger received the blessing of rank, it was equivalent to the Forest Sanctuary entering this world in depth.

And I can rely on the power from the Forest Sanctuary to bring my saintly avatar here!

This is the moment when the saint descends.

High above, on the surface of the dimensional crystal wall, Locke's true form, dressed in wizard shoes and robes, walked upon it, his hands behind his back, life magic gathering before him, after receiving an invitation from the power of the world below.

His power transformed into a pillar of light, which fell from the heavens.

The dimensional laws of the world below immediately welcomed this great incarnation of a saint.

The long, dark night seemed to be illuminated at this moment by the candlelight of a saint incarnate.

The spell model of the Second Ring Universal School: Saint Incarnation!
(End of this chapter)