Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems

Inside the staff dormitory, Locke took the Grade 8 Moon Porcelain out of the synthesis magic cube. He had by now synthesized two pieces of Moon Porcelain, consuming four of the Demon Hub City's natal witch porcelain pieces in the process.

"The first synthesized Moon Porcelain is basically a failure." Locke looked at the Moon Porcelain, which had a large crack running across its surface, and said.

Synthesis did not guarantee an improvement. If the synthesis formula was poorly constructed or the internal compatibility was off, the result could actually end up downgraded.

"This cannot be used as the moon core for my moon, but it still has value as a research subject. After all, this crack is simply a certain property of the lunar plane manifesting itself on this magical instrument."

Locke took out the second Moon Porcelain he had synthesized, formed by combining two natal witch porcelain pieces with a Moon Witch Stone to produce a Porcelain Moon Growth.

The back of this moon was covered in a massive crater, while the other side was comparatively smooth.

Locke looked at its attributes.

[Dark Side of the Moon Witch Porcelain, Grade 8 synthesized item, crafted using a special porcelain-making method...]

[Forged by simulating the dark side of the lunar plane, it deeply integrates with the blueprint magic of a wizard-constructed Grand Magic, transforming into a luminous moon rising into the sky.]

[This magical instrument has reached a level approaching the Second Circle. As a moon core, it can simulate the lunar plane to the greatest degree possible, drawing close to the true reality of the lunar plane. Magical plants may be planted in the lunar crater. Such a plant will fuse with the moon as one, stabilizing the core of the moon core, generating a stronger lunar gravitational pull, and the plant will merge with the properties of the lunar plane.]

[Transforming into a Moon Plant.]

[Tip 1: The closer the Moon Plant's properties are to those of the lunar plane, the better the effect.]

[Tip 2: Because the growth pattern of peach tree magical plants is deeply tied to the lunar cycle, planting peach-type magical plants will yield an even better result.]

Upon reading this, Locke did not hesitate for long. He immediately channeled his own magical power into the Dark Side of the Moon Porcelain, claiming it as his own magical instrument.

He then retrieved the Golden Palace Legacy Branch from his astral ring and transplanted this First Circle magical plant, a luxury-grade item worth five hundred thousand magic stones, into the crater.

The tree's canopy, which resembled layered golden clouds, with branches that curved naturally like the sweeping eaves of a palace, and leaves edged as though inlaid with golden thread, all set on a trunk of golden-red hue, this opulent magical plant took root on the dark side of the moon.

Its thick roots reached down into the massive crater on the back of the porcelain piece, treating it like a planting pot, with the roots coiling along the rim of the crater.

At the same time, the Golden Palace Legacy Branch underwent the Moon Plant transformation. Points of silver light appeared among its branches and leaves, crystalline and translucent, exquisitely beautiful, like a palace on the moon, lofty and cold and magnificently resplendent.

The moon core suddenly expanded enormously, as though it were about to burst the entire room apart.

Before that could happen, Locke blinked his right eye, and a planar gate opened at once, drawing Locke himself and the Dark Side of the Moon into it.

In the next instant, he and the moon appeared inside his half-plane located in the subspace belt.

At this point, the moon had grown to an immense size, while the Moon Plant, the Golden Palace Legacy Branch, had not grown along with it, and so looked like nothing more than a small potted plant sitting in the lunar crater.

A magical plant in the palace of the moon.

Under the pressure of this enormous magical force, the surface of the entire half-plane's twenty thousand acres of ocean heaved and churned. The previously glassy and undisturbed sea surface was now covered in wind and waves in every direction.

It had added a breath of life to this half-plane.

And it had refined, to some degree, the laws of this plane.

It was a pity that this plane suffered from inherent deficiencies. Without filling it with a complete Grand Magic, there was no possibility of it becoming a small-scale plane.

And generally speaking, no wizard would be so generous and selfless as to give away the fruits of many years of hard research to an inconsequential half-plane.

Locke sensed that the half-plane's thin and diffuse planar will was entirely devoted to him, gathering all the fortune of the entire plane and directing it his way.

"This half-plane with its incomplete laws is really too easy to please." Locke said, "Grand Wizard Sulla worked tirelessly for two hundred years in the Mage Plane, and even then was still schemed against by that plane's will. At the very last moment, everything fell apart."

"But right now, I have done nothing more than display a half-finished Grand Magic here, and this half-plane was drawn to me of its own accord."

Locke was not particularly moved by this. "If I were to place this Grand Magic into a small-scale world that genuinely needed it, would the effect be the same? Hmm... a small-scale plane, though it would be somewhat more reserved, should still be unable to resist the temptation and would invite me directly."

"A medium-scale plane is the smallest scale that qualifies as a world. And since it is a world, it would naturally be a great deal more reserved."

Of course, in the infinite void there were all manner of exceptional worlds. The Infinite Abyss, for example, was entirely unlike other worlds in their high-and-mighty aloofness.

Even if an ordinary formal wizard wanted to pledge allegiance to the Abyss, it would certainly come rushing over at once, painting picture after picture of grand promises, trying to draw wizards into the Abyssal faction.

"The Dark Side of the Moon has once again strengthened my previously conceived Moon of Evolution out of nowhere."

"It amounts to a comprehensive enhancement across the board." Locke thought, "I should thank my golden finger. Of course, the main thing is that the synthesis formula was something I carefully designed in advance. The two witch porcelain pieces were obtained through trade from the Demon Hub City, and the Moon Witch Stone was exchanged using the Revelation Witch Stone obtained from within the Abyssal Ruins."

"All three of these items already have good natural compatibility with one another. What was synthesized just so happened to be related to the blueprint magic of my moon-related Grand Magic. With the two combined, the attributes naturally received a boost out of nowhere."

"And on top of that, I gained this planting slot in the Dark Side of the Moon out of nowhere as well..."

Locke's expression grew peculiar.

Because this planting slot in the dark side of the moon was in itself a property of the lunar plane, which meant that Moon Plants themselves would exist in the lunar plane.

They were one or several magical plants that had deeply integrated with the lunar plane.

And now, by utilizing the Moon Plant mechanism, he could effortlessly incorporate the spell model of his Peach Bow Thorn Arrow into it.

It could be said that this had filled the last remaining gap in his Grand Magic.

Locke recited an incantation, and the bright moon hung high above. The roots at the base of the peach tree on the moon remained unchanged, while the upper half transformed into a bow and arrow. Locke summoned a Little Diamond Jujube Pendant, and a jujube pendant detached itself, transforming into an arrow shaft, and nocked itself onto the peach bow.

Drawn but not released.

Like a heavy siege crossbow at full tension.

Locke naturally had no intention of releasing the magic, since this was his own half-plane. Any damage done here would pain him greatly.

He snapped his fingers, and the magic vanished at once.

Locke looked at the Moon of Evolution, which had returned to its normal state, and thought, "Since this magic appeared, my degree of control over this half-plane has increased considerably."

"If before this, I was nothing more than a farmer working the surface of this half-plane to cultivate magical plants, then now I can truly call myself the master of this plane. Before, this plane itself had little real connection to me."

"I had only planted five thousand acres of magical plant forest here, making me the lord of the magical plant forest, with the magical plant forest becoming a part of the half-plane. I and the half-plane had formed an indirect connection."

"But with this magic, I now control the flow of this world's world-force almost entirely..."

Locke thought, "Is this what it feels like to perceive the world from the perspective of a Second Circle wizard? It truly is different from a First Circle wizard."

Only by standing at a greater height could one see further.

If not for this, a First Circle wizard could simply continue conducting research, exploring the truth endlessly.

The reason one pursued higher wizard ranks was precisely this.

Only by becoming a high-circle wizard could one come into contact with the true nature of this world.

Young First Circle wizards stumbled along, doing nothing more than spinning within the rigid framework of this world, unable to touch what was truly real.

Locke reached out and grasped a strand of planar force that mortals and ordinary wizards would be unable to see.

To an outside observer, he had simply grabbed a handful of air. But from his own perspective, he had grasped a strand of planar force.

Grand Magic was truly extraordinary.

He had previously used his Grand Magic to directly usurp the kingdom domain of the imperial court, infuriating that lich king to the point of fury, yet neither the lich king nor his entire lich court had been able to do anything about it.

Now, Locke's understanding of Grand Magic had grown considerably deeper. "Grand Magic can naturally take control of a relatively rudimentary world, or some portion of a world."

"So engaging a wizard who uses a Grand Magic in battle using the kingdom domain, the most important magical form of the Era of Stars, is truly a case of fighting with both hands tied behind one's back, a natural and total counter."

"With this, I need at most two weeks to make fine adjustments to the spell model and fully integrate my Moon of Evolution with the Peach Bow Thorn Arrow."

"Using the Dark Side of the Moon as the connecting link, I can join the two magics front to back."

"The Peach Bow Thorn Arrow can then transform into Lunar Arrows."

Locke nodded. "Although it still feels somewhat mismatched and patchwork, it has taken shape. The remaining issues are not problems of my own making, but problems of the stage I am currently at."

"Right now I am in the stage of constructing my Grand Magic, and have not yet reached the point of forging. So a degree of untidiness is entirely normal at this stage. When I reach the star ring and moon ring stages, I will still need to forge it several more times."

Locke thought, "Grand Magic has the ability to temporarily seize and act as proxy for the world-force of a world. That is the case for these colonized worlds. But what about the wizard world?"

Having caught a partial glimpse of a Second Circle wizard's perspective, Locke could not help but begin to think it through.

The wizard world had so many wizards above the Second Circle. Each of these wizards had a Grand Magic, and in theory, each Grand Magic was deeply connected to some world, though the extent of that connection varied.

So what was the relationship between the wizard world and these numerous Grand Magics?

Locke worked through the rough calculations, and arrived at a startling conclusion. "Wizards are themselves beings originating from the wizard world. When these beings' souls, their Grand Magics, become a part of other worlds, it is equivalent to those worlds becoming a part of the wizard world."

"The wizard world does not even need to devour them. It can remotely govern a vast number of worlds. Even if wizard civilization were to remain forever at the Second Circle stage, it would still be an enormously profitable arrangement for the wizard world. The wizard world could achieve a continuous expansion of itself simply by having wizards steadily accumulate more Grand Magics."

"The only question is whether Grand Magic has any influence over the world-force of the wizard world itself."

"And also..." Locke finally understood why Witch Yekaterina had said that the Second Circle offered ranks that could never be exhausted.

"I can continuously increase the total volume of my individual soul by stacking additional Grand Magics, and thereby continuously elevate my magic pressure. That is why Teacher Yekaterina said that the Second Circle can have as few as four ranks, or it can have an infinite number."

"The Second Circle is a stage with no upper cap on rank. In this stage, if a Second Circle wizard truly mastered some method of constructing multiple Grand Magics, that would be an enormously beneficial thing for the wizard world as well."

At its core, it seemed that wizard civilization must have undergone some kind of civilizational turning point upon reaching the Second Circle, because wizard civilization could have continued indefinitely along the path of Grand Magic, continuously elevating its civilizational tier by stacking more and more Grand Magics.

That would have meant wizard civilization remaining at the Second Circle forever.

Yet for reasons unknown, that had not happened. Wizard civilization had gone on to chart the path of the Third Circle.

No, wait.

Locke recalled that the Era of Stars had already had Third Circle wizards from the outset, so it was unlikely that civilization had simply stayed at the Grand Magic stage indefinitely.

Locke coughed. These matters were so far removed from his current situation that his thinking had grown muddled, and far too many questions had arisen.

Wizard civilization seemed to have had multiple branching points of choice in the past, where it could have continued along the path of Grand Magic, or continued along the path of kingdom domains.

In any case, the secrets of wizard civilization were too numerous. At his current level, he was truly no different from a blind man touching an elephant.

"I think I can roughly understand why wizard civilization would choose to abandon the kingdom domain path to the Second Circle and even the Third Circle."

Locke thought, "A kingdom domain is essentially the creation of a large-scale magical realm, with the realm bearing the additional magic pressure of its lord, elevating the lord to the Second Circle level. And for reasons I do not yet understand, it can even elevate the lord to the Third Circle..."

"No, based on what I can work out, the upper limit of the kingdom domain from my current understanding is an ordinary Second Circle. So there must have been subsequent developments along the kingdom domain path, leading to the moon ring, star ring, and sun ring stages that followed."

Locke thought, "The kingdom domain I came to understand from within the Historical Milestone Curse was only the most basic and primitive version."

"There must have been many further developments along that path. But in the end, the entire line of progression was abandoned by wizards altogether. The number of realm lords was always extremely limited, which meant that the number of Second Circle wizards in the Era of Stars must have been far, far fewer than there are today."

A single magical realm was a magical kingdom, and the rate of resource utilization would therefore have been perhaps one percent of what wizard civilization achieves today.

In other words, it would have taken a hundred times the resources to cultivate a single Second Circle wizard.

And on top of that, the degree of separation between a magical realm and the wizard themselves was absurdly high.

If someone destroyed the kingdom first and then went after the wizard, breaking the realm before breaking the wizard, one would have been completely helpless.

Once the kingdom was broken, the magical realm would be broken along with it, and the wizard's own rank would drop.

Just as Locke had once seen with King Otto, whose rank had fallen from the Third Circle all the way down to the peak of the First Circle. That was simply beyond belief.

Whereas with a Grand Magic, something like that was essentially impossible.

Back at the Spell Combat Competition, a Council of Elders wizard's Grand Magic had been stolen away by a wizard from the Twin Demon Realm, and it had not affected the man's magical rank in the slightest.

After all, as long as a Grand Magic existed, the soul existed. As long as the soul existed, the self existed. And as long as the self existed, one was still a Second Circle wizard.

Locke sat in his half-plane and organized his thoughts. At present, he held in hand three known methods of becoming a Second Circle wizard.

The first was to use his Moon of Evolution to seize a World Stone, or to have a world offer him a World Stone of its own accord, thereby becoming a Second Circle wizard.

The second was to use the demon dragon bloodline or the Three-Eyed Tiger-Eyed Cat bloodline within him to transform his wizard bloodline into the corresponding magical creature bloodline, thereby converting from human to beast and becoming a Second Circle level existence.

The third was to construct a corresponding magical kingdom and become the corresponding Second Circle wizard through that route.

The third option was viable only because he happened to know the foundational principles of the kingdom domain. As long as he found a colonized world, he could forge one from it.

But Locke personally felt that if one was going to live, one ought to walk the broad and proper road. So he would certainly choose the first path.

Locke left the half-plane and returned to his dormitory.

"There are two months left before the competition begins." Locke said, "But I am already very satisfied with my current Grand Magic. As long as I supplement it with Daniel's research, it will be at the best level I can achieve at this stage."

"For the remaining two months, I should shift my focus back to Group 2."

Locke thought, "It would be better to wrap up the Tier 1 project funding. Researching the ancient Glandular Root Pouch's energy-locking structure and the ecology of the Dune Plane is something that holds very important significance for me in its own right. Rather than fixating on the construction of the Grand Magic, putting my energy into these concrete matters might actually give me a greater boost."

"I can use the funds I have on hand to rapidly shorten the research timeline. Throw money at it." Before this, Locke had already had a design concept in mind, which was to find a way to use grafting and cultivation methods to give the bromeliad wizard shoes of his Big Snow Crown Bromeliad series a Glandular Root Pouch structure, boosting their instantaneous burst capability, that is, their top speed in sudden bursts.

That would allow him to launch a fifth wizard shoe product and press forward on the momentum of his current success.

He would use the Silent Chalice Competition and the Demon Realm War as his finest advertising platforms, and deliver a decisive blow to those top-tier wizard shoe shop alliances of the Cloud Marsh Wetlands in one stroke, firmly establishing the standing of the Augustus Wizard Shoes brand.

He also happened to have ten million magic stones in hand, which he could convert entirely into liquid capital.

And in the process, he could conveniently complete the Origin Academy project as well.

Locke sat on the sofa and thought, "It's just that the situation with Wizard Bailey is genuinely strange. During this period, I had Witch Mason and the others go and investigate the Dune Plane, and I found that the pollution in the Dune Plane is growing worse with each passing day."

"That Zalan Bailey is somewhat too eager for quick results. When it comes to researching ecological restoration, the greatest taboo is to single-mindedly chase visible effects for the sake of reputation and performance metrics. It tends to produce short-term prosperity that leads to an even greater ecological collapse in the end. But to have become a Second Circle wizard, he should not be foolish enough to do that."

"If he truly intends to ignore everything completely, then in the end he will be the one who suffers for it."

Locke picked up on the problem with a sharp sense of perception. "There is likely something much deeper going on here. But since I am still a First Circle wizard, I had better not get involved in this matter."

"There is probably some enormous vortex of interests at play here, with everyone entangled in it. There is a very high probability that Zalan Bailey is being set up. So over these past few days, with Witch Mason saying he keeps coming around to find me so eagerly, it is best that I avoid meeting with him."

Locke made up his mind not to carelessly involve himself in matters that had nothing to do with him, especially at this critical juncture when he had entered the soul decline period.

Locke heard a knock at the door, and Wizard Daniel's voice came from outside. "Locke, are you in?"

Locke opened the door and saw Daniel along with one of Daniel's witch students. The witch student was at that moment meek and submissive, wearing an ingratiating expression.

Locke was reminded that Wizard Daniel had complained to him before that when he had nearly fallen into debt slavery, his student had apparently attempted to change supervisors. Now that Wizard Daniel had made his comeback, she had likely received no small amount of scolding from him for it.

Daniel smiled. "You seemed very interested before in the new energy carrier I was attempting to develop. I could tell, you really need it."

"Locke, I am calling it the Viren Mist."

"Come and have a look."

Wizard Daniel took out a jar made of Temporal Gold Crystal, with a wispy and ethereal mist contained within. "This mist is composed of countless tiny water droplets, increasing the surface area, and uses water infused with dang element light particles."

Locke looked at him with a hint of surprise.

Wizard Daniel said, "Dang element light particle water is a concept from meteorology. It is a special element that only appears in the cloud layer at the top of underground spaces. This element can increase the surface area of my mist and enhance its ability to adsorb special energies."

"This element is mixed with ordinary water, which then evaporates to form a mist. I then use meteorology spells to adjust the fog-lock structure of the mist, which is essentially the three-dimensional structure of these mist water droplets, and that is my Viren Mist."

"The only issue is that the Viren Mist, at present, can only store light energy."

"And because of its special structure, after adsorbing large amounts of energy, it develops properties similar to a colloid. Its fluidity drops dramatically, which is completely contrary to what I originally envisioned."

Wizard Daniel smiled wryly. "This thing is the complete opposite of what I was aiming for. In other words, I have discovered a new form of energy carrier, but the problem is that its properties are nothing like what I originally had in mind."

"Looks like I'll be losing money again."

Wizard Daniel glanced at his student.

The witch student immediately spoke up. "Teacher, you are already so accomplished. This is only a small upfront investment. I am sure your returns will multiply exponentially very soon."

Wizard Daniel said with satisfaction, "Helen, your way of speaking has become much more pleasant to hear lately. I appreciate your current attitude greatly. I have forgiven you."