Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 947 Advancement to the Star Ring!

Locke's fingers touched the second Fruit of Prosperity.

At this moment, the star ring behind him disappeared, and a star ring appeared at his feet, consisting of two overlapping rings, one gold and one blue. With a huge roar, the surrounding magic violently vibrated, and then the rings rose from the ground and rotated around Locke.

The last embers of the fire, both civil and military, gradually died out.

The second forging of the Great Magic has been completed.

This is the complete Star Ring, representing Locke Augustine, a dangerous life form in the Endless Void. It is recognized by the three major gods as the mark of the Nightmare Legion, signifying that their power has reached a level beyond the reach of mortals, within the existing level of civilization in the Endless Void.

Although in the wizarding world, this is merely the starting point of the path to discovering the truth.

Endless starlight enveloped Locke. Because the magical pressure, almost equivalent to that of a small world, was concentrated on one person, a kind of starlight naturally arose on Locke's body. It was the gravity of the plane.

At this moment, all the wizards in the audience on the stage applauded—second-ring wizards, first-ring wizards, wizard apprentices, and even third-ring wizards.

The panel of thirty second-ring wizards also suddenly abandoned their hostility towards Locke. They had no conflict of interest with Locke to begin with, but they had previously thought some of Locke's actions were a bit outrageous.

But now that Locke has become a Ring Wizard and seems to have shown some potential to attract Third Ring Wizards, they naturally no longer need to be enemies with him.

After some hesitation, the wizards on the review panel all applauded Locke.

Throughout the defense session, applause rang out repeatedly.

Although the results of the defense have not yet been announced, the enthusiasm and duration of the applause far exceeded the sporadic applause given to the Brandy Wizard by the previous review panel.

At this time, although the recipient of this special grant had not yet been announced, everyone knew that it was probably Locke Augustine's application that had passed the internal review and been sent to the White Wizards Association.

Eric Ender, a wizard from the Mystic Heaven, suddenly raised his hand and clapped twice.

Valeria Kenway, the wizard, looked at Eric Ender, the wizard, with curiosity.

"Hmm? It seems you also think our young people in the Eastern Border Region are quite good."

Eric Ender the Wizard said, "This wizard is indeed good, and that Zeno wizard is also good."

“Witch Valeria, you and the wizards behind you deliberately created the magical plant crystallization technology route to stimulate the geniuses of the Eastern Frontier, just to stimulate and guide the emergence of true geniuses. Your Starfield Sea places too much emphasis on geniuses. You have ignored the interests of other wizards. The wizards behind me do not question the results of your plan, but rather the methods you used.”

"Many research directions in the development of magical plant crystallization technology are simply impossible to produce results. They are merely bait, bait you use to stimulate the emergence of true geniuses. However, isn't the price too high? The actions of the Star Domain Sea in stimulating the emergence of super geniuses and increasing the number of geniuses... I'm not saying it's wrong, but isn't it too radical, too extreme?"

"What I see here, I will truthfully report back to Mysterious Heaven."

"But... I have a piece of advice for you: if there is any major unrest and you do not take care of it, or are unable to manage it, then we will take over."

Valeria Kenway's expression turned ugly for a moment.

"We are also disappointed by the slow changes that Mystic Heaven has made over the years."

"How many years has it been in the wizarding world? The battle between the three great gods and us is still unresolved, and we have yet to find our true path—the true way out for this era."

"The Ascension Project is necessary, and to achieve it, we need more super geniuses and more ordinary geniuses. In addition, Mystic Heaven doesn't have to just look at us. The Super Magic Network Project in the Southern Realm and the Magic Origin Project in the Central Realm are far more extreme than our Ascension Project."

"The Southern Realm has already caused countless disasters in the endless void because of their super magic network. Their plan from beginning to end has been a complete catastrophe, creating countless ethical crises. The Central Realm's Origin Project is even more outrageous; they're probably still recruiting archaeologists in large numbers right now. Heh..."

"I think they should just invest all their resources in archaeology."

At this moment, on the defense platform, Wizard Zhuoma looked at Locke, who had become a Star Ring Wizard, and suddenly sighed. She then turned to Wizard Brandy and said, "Brandy, ever since I entered the Institute of True Knowledge on Mount Golden Crown and was framed by you in my first year, I've picked up your bad habits. I've fought with you for so long, ostracizing colleagues, causing trouble in secret, and manipulating information, but have you ever seen us receive a single special grant?"

In the end, we're all just doing meaningless things.

The brandy wizard glared at the Zhuoma wizard and said, "What are you saying, you native?"

The sorceress Zhuoma suddenly smiled and shook her head.

“Brandy, I’m no longer affected by you. The greatest harm you did to me wasn’t that you successfully pinned your work mistakes on me in the first year, making me pay a lot of compensation. The greatest harm you did to me was that you taught me how to frame others and how to use unfair competition to exclude colleagues. But look at us, did we get any good results? In the genius-filled True Knowledge Institute, we missed out on the top-tier grant year after year.”

“Brandy, I can’t even blame you. Maybe I was wrong from the start. If I had spent that time on myself, I wonder if things would have turned out better. It’s okay, I’ve given up on my obsession with getting the special grant.”

The wizard Zhuoma looked at Locke's retreating figure and said, "I can't improve anything here anymore. I'll leave the station and go to the Reptile Garden in the Rainswamp to become a wizarding instructor. I should have gone there last year. Special grant... I know that with my current abilities, I don't deserve it. That belongs to geniuses like Locke or Zeno. Heh..."

“Actually, Zeno and Locke are braver than we are.”

The brandy wizard roared, brandishing his fist.

"You say our actions are meaningless? Did I teach you to do that? Didn't you learn it yourselves? Everyone's talent has its limits. At most, our talents can only get first-class grants, and I know that all too well."

"But I'm not willing to accept this! So I can only resort to these underhanded methods, the only way to get things I shouldn't have, things my abilities don't match. You say it's meaningless? But if I don't use these methods, do you want me to admit that I can't get the top-tier funding at all?"

Brandy's eyes widened in horror.

The sorceress Zhuoma looked at him and asked, "But even if you use those methods now, you still won't get the top-tier funding. Brandy, give up. Playing those tricks here is just wasting our time, draining our talents, and destroying our potential."

"The Advanced True Knowledge Academy on Mount Golden Crown is teeming with geniuses. There was Zeno before, and then there was Locke. Even if you delay your departure for another year, you will encounter Zeno again and new geniuses next year. There's no need to waste time here. There might be better paths outside. If there are no opportunities here, go find new ones outside."

The sorceress Zhuoma sighed.

“If this continues, you and I will get used to using underhanded methods to get things that don’t belong to us in the first place. Over time, we will become path-dependent and get used to this kind of thing happening. Then you and I will really have no future.”

The brandy wizard went berserk.

"That's because you lack ambition. Next year, yes... next year, I'll participate in the defense again next year. I have one last chance. I'm different from you. I'm determined to get the top-tier grant!"

All the wizards who participated in the defense, except for Droma and Brandy Wizard, sighed and felt relieved at this moment.

It seems they will miss out on the top-tier grant again this year, and will have to wait another year.

However, each person can only stay at the Zhenzhi Institute for a maximum of seven years, so the number of times you can apply for the special grant is actually limited. Even if you enter the institute early, you can only make up for eight application opportunities by following the rules.

However, the prerequisite for applying is that you must have at least a first-class project grant.

That is to say, a wizard can only theoretically apply for eight special grants. In reality, very few wizards can apply for grants three times in a year like Locke, and go from third-class grants to first-class grants.

However, they all looked at Locke. In any case, Locke deserved the special grant this time.

The wizards also applauded Locke.

……

On the stone steps of the last stretch of mountain path leading to the True Knowledge Institute on Mount Golden Crown, the Demon Dragon Wizard walked up and saw the Red Dragon Witch.

The Red Dragon Witch was dressed in a magnificent black and red wizard's robe, exuding an air of elegance. She seemed to have been waiting here for some time.

The Red Dragon Witch said, "You have one last chance to choose. You can go down the mountain and leave safely."

The dragon wizard's eyelids twitched. "A fine tactic. We're always the ones giving others choices; I never thought we'd be the ones giving choices today."

"But man proposes, God disposes."

"You didn't expect that your opponent would suddenly help me in secret. This is both natural disaster and man-made calamity. I am your disaster, and she is your misfortune."

"Then let's go."

The red dragon witch curled her lips into a smile. "Why don't you try to break my spell?"

The Demon Dragon Wizard laughed, "I knew it at a glance. From the very beginning of your Heart-Shaped Curse, I fell into your elaborate trap. Through power struggles and manipulation of people's hearts, you learned my thoughts and led me step by step into your snare. And now..."

A peach blossom mark appeared on the dragon wizard's forehead, and peach tree branches appeared around him, eventually creating a peach grove around him once again.

“I have never left your Dragon View Peach Garden, have I? In both of my eras, I seem to have never seen such powerful botanical magic.”

"If I want to leave your Dragon View Peach Garden, I need to accept your 'humanity' test. Of course, I have a way to pass it, but if I pass it that way, it would be the same as me accepting an education in your ideology. But I am a wizard of the Black Sun Tower, we are the 'sky' of this world, and I will not accept your ideology."

"I won't give you that chance."

The dragon wizard lifted his foot and continued walking. He passed directly through the red dragon witch's body, and the red dragon witch seemed to be a phantom, with the two bodies overlapping each other.

The next moment, the phantom of the Red Dragon Witch disintegrated and turned into countless peach blossoms, which passed through the body of the Demon Dragon Wizard.

In an instant, the permanent defensive field around the dragon wizard's body disintegrated, and some of his magic dissipated into the air.

His magical pressure suddenly dropped by a third.

"I see. If it weren't for her great enemy secretly helping me, I would have lost a third of my magic power to get here from the bottom of the mountain. And if I had encountered her guardian incarnation here, I would have needed to lose another third of my magic power in order to leave the Dragon View Peach Garden."

"When I finally meet her, I will only be able to use less than a third of my magic power against her. Although I am only a half-body clone at this moment, she should also be a clone."

The dragon wizard smiled. "Truly impressive. Even in the Age of Stars, it would have been quite a task for me to deal with her."

The peach blossom mark on the dragon wizard's forehead suddenly shattered. The spell that the witch Catherine had cast on him through Alaric finally broke. The shattered mark turned into countless points of light in the air, which then scattered into the air. Some fell to the ground, while others landed on him, blocking his permanent defensive field.

"It's finally been resolved, but because of the intervention of her great enemy, I wasn't actually weakened that much."

"Man's calculations are ultimately no match for Heaven's calculations. Human hearts are no match for natural defenses."

The dragon wizard looked at the tortoise shell on his left hand and saw a crack in it. This was the Ten-Day Curse activating; he had captured the fate of the wizard with the dragon bloodline.

As one crack appeared on the tortoise shell, more and more cracks appeared, as if the entire tortoise shell was about to explode, with new cracks constantly appearing.

The Dragon Wizard looked toward the first floor of the True Knowledge Academy, his gaze seemingly piercing through the layers of buildings to see Locke Augustine standing there.

If Heaven wants you to die, how dare you not die?

How can you not die?
How could you possibly survive?
The dragon wizard lifted his foot and landed on the stone steps, taking the final step. He had a pipe in his mouth; he had important business to attend to, so he decided to have a smoke first. His fingers traced the pipe, and instantly, endless smoke billowed from it.

A fierce glint flashed in his eyes.

"Heaven... its word is its bond!"

On the first floor of the True Knowledge Institute at Mount Golden Crown, Locke stood on the podium and, amidst applause, plucked the second fruit of prosperity.

His advancement was now complete.

At this point, the five judges had already written their comments, and even Master Patrick of the Rose Council seemed to have given up on helping Brandy win the fund, since the situation was simply too difficult.

With his abilities, he is not capable enough to distort the truth and turn black into white here.

Just as the Green Dragon Throne Witch was about to announce the results, a sudden gust of wind swept through the conference room, and countless plumes of ash appeared in the air above the room.

Many wizards felt a tightness in their chests and difficulty breathing in an instant.

The grayish-white ash drifted like willow catkins, resembling swirling snow in the wind.

The wizards in the conference room clutched their chests and began to cough. They felt dizzy, their magic was disordered, they were agitated, and a heavy pressure was pressing down on their shoulders.

The Green Dragon Throne Witch, seated on the judges' panel, exclaimed in surprise, "Hmm? This is... could this be... the Ember of an Era?"

"How could something so rare appear here?"

The Valeria wizard from the Starfield Sea stretched out his hand, looking at the ash falling into it. He glanced at the wizard from the Mystic Heaven, then smiled and said, "This is interesting."

At this moment, countless embers of time turned into gray-white snowflakes and fell, pressing down on the wizards present, making it almost impossible for them to breathe.

Wizards below the second ring level were so suppressed by the embers of this era that they didn't even have the strength to stand up and could only lie on the ground.

Even ordinary second-ring wizards have difficulty moving around.

Whether they were first-class wizard apprentices, full-fledged wizards, or crystallized wizards, they were all slumped over, lying on the ground, crawling on the ground, or forced to slump in chairs, because the conference room was filled with the embers of an era.

A strong smell of smoke filled their nostrils.

Who is smoking the embers of an era like tobacco?
Who blew out that smoke that suppressed hundreds of formal wizards!

At this time, only wizards of the Star Ring level or higher are qualified to withstand the embers of this era and have the opportunity to move freely in this environment.

Locke turned to look at the conference room door. Now that he was a Star Ring Wizard, he could move freely amidst the embers of these eras.

Locke felt a tightness in his chest and was feeling unwell, but overall he was in pretty good shape.

The gold and blue star ring behind him rotated slowly.

Locke had a feeling that the other party was coming for him.

His own dragon bloodline wanted to break free from his teacher's control of the Peach Heart Curse, so that he would be controlled by the other party and harm himself in return.

The Tower of the Black Sun!

From the very first day I transmigrated to this world, I had been in contact with this wizarding force. Even my nominal witch mother seemed to have gone to Corfu because of the pursuit by the Tower of the Black Sun.

The Tower of the Black Sun is deeply intertwined with his own destiny.

Although he knew that as long as he continued to ascend, given the Black Sun Tower's concern for the dragon bloodline, they would definitely come to contact him.

But I didn't expect the other party to come so early, right when I broke through to become a Star Ring Wizard.

However, Locke was still somewhat relieved at this moment.

As he watched those ordinary second-ring wizards staggering through the gray embers of the era, he realized that if he didn't break through to become a star-ring wizard in time, he probably wouldn't be able to stand upright at this moment.

'I didn't expect the Black Sun Tower to attack so directly. Their magical pressure... I can't sense it.'

Locke stared ahead.

The conference room door opened, but no wizards entered; only three incense sticks were stuck in the ground.

The three incense sticks started burning quickly after the conference room door was opened, and burned out in a flash.

Immediately afterwards, the ashes of these ancient embers rapidly coalesced into ferocious beasts, like dragons born from these ashes. These wingless dragons attacked all the wizards present.

Many wizards were even horrified to discover that their skin was turning into patches of ash.

Their bodies were assimilated by the embers of the era, turning together into the ashes left behind by that bygone age.

The brandy wizard struggled to breathe, feeling as if countless ashes were entering his lungs through his respiratory tract, making it difficult for him to breathe.

"what happened?"

"What's wrong?"

On the judges' panel, several throne wizards exchanged glances.

Wizard Fisher was the first to stand up. The Senate itself was the military faction within Mount Golden Crown. As a third-circle wizard of the Senate and a power master, Wizard Fisher was furious.

"Who dares to openly attack our Golden Crown Mountain!"

Do you consider our Golden Crown Mountain nothing?

He stretched out a finger forward, and a wave of killing intent condensed on his finger. After a brief period of gathering, it suddenly transformed into a wave that burst forward, destroying countless smoke beasts in that instant.

The air seemed to resonate with murderous intent.

But the next moment, a force rebounded from the source of that era's embers, and Wizard Fisher was thrown back by this rebounding force, forced to sit backward.

He sat down in the chair, panting, "This...this is fourth-ring level power. No, the magic pressure isn't at the fourth ring level."

"who is it?"

Amidst the grayish-white smoke formed by the embers of an era, several voices echoed continuously.

'You are intolerable to the world.'

'Fate is inescapable.'

'You shouldn't be alive.'

'This world cannot accept you; you have been abandoned by the world.'

Amidst the ashes of time, bodies made of incense ash emerged one after another; they were all wizards from past eras who worshipped the Tower of the Black Sun.

The wizard legion looked in unison in the direction where Locke was.

"There is no place for you in this world!"

"You wicked dragon, we, the people of the world, will unite to strike you down!"

These people were all wizards who worshipped the Tower of the Black Sun during the Age of Stars and the Dark Age. Although they had died, their power was preserved during the rituals, and they appeared now at the call of the will of the Tower of the Black Sun.

So it has become the current global condemnation of Locke.

Locke must be completely eliminated, his existence completely erased.

Among these wizards, many were even third-ring wizards.

Locke felt the power of the world condemning him. He faced it for a moment, so many enemies, that isolation, that helplessness, that indifference from the world, all of it pierced him. For a moment, he even lost his composure, but then the Tree of Prosperity and the Moon of Evolution appeared behind him.

He coldly looked back at the murky air of his homeland.

I am in the future, and you are in the past. How can the whole world condemn me?

At that moment, almost all the wizards in the audience at the defense were teleported away by the Golden Crown Mountain's teleportation array.

The once crowded conference room suddenly became empty, but there were many wizard legions formed from the power of ashes.

At that moment, Wizard Fisher struggled to stand up from his seat, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

He glanced at the red dragon throne located in the audience seats.

"Although I don't know what happened, I knew all along that Locke Augustine was a troublemaker. It was one thing for him to cause trouble at home before, but today he actually got a high-ring wizard to come knocking on the door."

"What terrible things have you done?"

"But there's something I've wanted to use for a long time."

He took a rusty key from his astral ring, and then a keyhole appeared in the ground at his feet.

"Power masters who have stored the power they once used in battle in the supernatural purgatory, lend me your power temporarily."

He inserted the key, made from the fluctuations of killing intent, into the lock and then turned it gently.

Suddenly, a power composed of killing intent burst forth from it—the power of the Senate wizards who had guarded Mount Golden Crown in the Supernatural Purgatory for countless ages. Before their deaths, each of them transformed their magical pressure into waves, leaving their power in the Supernatural Purgatory. This way, when invaded by external enemies, these waves would transform into a fighting force to protect Mount Golden Crown, even if they were merely remnants of their past, just residual waves left under the amplitude of magical pressure.

(End of this chapter)