Chapter 760: The Sixth Wizard Shoe, the Black Giant Hummingbird Bromeliad!
Inside the plantation of the Arthas Shop Alliance in the Golden Crown Mountain district, Witch Scarlett adjusted her glasses and looked at the yellow-and-Black Giant Hummingbird Bromeliad that Locke had cultivated over five days using their plantation's magical farmland.
At this moment, across fifty mu of magical farmland before her stood one hundred slightly differentiated Giant Hummingbird Bromeliads, all of them having separated from the soil and hovering gently in the air.
Then, as Locke recited an incantation, a field of magical power magnetism spread outward from him in all directions. A part of every Giant Hummingbird Bromeliad enveloped by this magical power field began to flash with radiance. All of the radiance converged upward into a single sphere of light in midair.
Locke raised his left hand, moved his fingers, and adjusted the information within the sphere of light, composing an entire set of plant essences he had been designing for a long time.
One hour later, the plant essences, under the control of Locke's magical power field, fell into a seed in his hand. The seed took root and sprouted in his palm and, under the effect of the Moss-Wood Pith, rapidly grew into a pure Black Giant Hummingbird Bromeliad.
Locke recited an incantation and used the First Circle spell model, Twin Magical Plant. A single seed suddenly began splitting apart, dividing into two halves.
One seed grew into two fully matured magical plants.
Witch Scarlett, who had been observing from the side with a blank notebook in her hands, saw this happen and immediately began writing and drawing in her notebook. She looked toward Locke and said, "Is this the level of a Second Circle breeder?"
Locke said, "No. This is just a normal improvement to the First Circle-level finite element cultivation method and magical power resonance cultivation method that comes naturally from becoming a Second Circle wizard."
"I have not yet mastered the universal cultivation methods that a Second Circle breeder should know."
"Redesigning the Giant Hummingbird Bromeliad was something I planned before participating in the Silent Chalice. I was simply too busy preparing for the competition at the time to redesign a magical plant."
Locke had Witch Scarlett put on the Giant Hummingbird Bromeliad wizard shoes. "Now that I am a Second Circle wizard, both efficiency and quality have improved."
"I can do better."
Witch Scarlett stepped into the Black Giant Hummingbird Bromeliad wizard shoes. The original Giant Hummingbird Bromeliad wizard shoes were primarily emerald green with multicolored gradient edges, while these were pure black.
The moment the wizard shoes touched the ground, they emitted a black flash. Before Witch Scarlett had even registered what was happening, she had already leapt violently upward and shot up to a height of a hundred meters.
"This is flying? No, this is a jump with an extremely high reaction speed and height ceiling."
Witch Scarlett quickly made a rough estimate of this magical plant's properties in her mind, and found that it was about ten percent better than the Demon Realm Bromeliad version of the Snow Crown Bromeliad.
But the Demon Realm Bromeliad wizard shoes were already comparable to the very finest First Circle wizard shoes in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands. They were in no way inferior to the wizard shoes designed by the top-tier First Circle magical weavers.
And yet these Black Giant Hummingbird Bromeliad wizard shoes surpassed the Demon Realm Bromeliad wizard shoes in performance.
This meant...
Witch Scarlett was wearing the wizard shoes, and her heart lurched suddenly. She looked at Locke with an expression of disbelief.
"Could these shoes possibly be the best First Circle shoes in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands right now?"
Locke replied without surprise, "I am not astonished by that. The Demon Realm Bromeliad wizard shoes were only shoes I made during my First Circle stage, whereas now I am a Second Circle wizard. At the same time, during the Silent Chalice my evolution studies made enormous leaps forward. With the help of my Grand Magic, I integrated various cultivation methods..."
At this moment, Locke opened his right palm and a full moon appeared within it. The magical power field and the magical power sun, along with three other cultivation methods, the splicing healing spell model of the graft cultivation method, the cutting growth spell model of the cutting cultivation method, and the trait hybridization spell model of the hybridization cultivation method, revolved around the moon.
Locke said, "I used my Lunar Cultivation Method to transfer the Tyrant Rune, Pixiu Horn Spiral, Glandular Root Pouch, and Lunar Rune, these four energy-locking structures, onto the Giant Hummingbird Bromeliad."
"I cultivated one hundred plants in total."
"Each one absorbed slightly different information about the Tyrant Rune, Pixiu Horn Spiral, Glandular Root Pouch, and Lunar Rune within the Lunar Cultivation Method, and so there were slight differences between them. I used the magical power resonance cultivation method to stimulate these one hundred bromeliads, in order to identify in the shortest possible time the subtly different plant factors among them, and confirmed the best portions."
The magical power sun in Locke's hand radiated outward, continuously shifting frequencies, aimed at a Giant Hummingbird Bromeliad subspecies from which plant factors had already been extracted. Under the pressure of this magical power sun, that subspecies had its branches and leaves curling inward.
The magical power resonance cultivation method was one that could always be deepened further. It could never be fully mastered and never exhausted of new possibilities.
Locke had previously used the Synthesis Magical Cube to synthesize large numbers of Giant Hummingbird Bromeliad subspecies, and through the entry descriptions had learned many sensitive magical power resonance frequencies of the Giant Hummingbird Bromeliad subspecies.
Drawing on this precious data, he could use these sensitive magical power resonance frequencies to test these Giant Hummingbird Bromeliad subspecies in reverse.
The basic principle was that the more powerful a subspecies, the less likely it was to die or undergo various changes when exposed to these sensitive magical power resonance frequencies.
Using this shortcut-like method, and without any wizard apprentices or formal wizards as assistants, it had taken Locke only three days to identify the key plant factors of these one hundred magical plants, followed by one day of design work. And in the end, using only five days in total, he had used the finite element cultivation method to set up the Sword Mound and complete the sixth wizard shoe, the Black Giant Hummingbird Bromeliad, now on Witch Scarlett's feet.
Witch Scarlett looked at the shoes on her feet with mild wonder.
"Even though you are now a Second Circle wizard, Lord Augustine, even for a Second Circle wizard crafting a top-tier First Circle wizard shoe, the efficiency improvement should not have been this dramatic."
"In the absence of any assistants, you identified the key plant factors of those subspecies within the Sword Mound in this short a time..."
This step was the most time-consuming in the finite element cultivation method.
It generally required large numbers of apprentices and First Circle wizards to help.
But Locke, thanks to the entry hints from the Synthesis Magical Cube, had fully developed the magical power resonance cultivation method and turned it into a technique for attacking different weakness points in different parts of a plant and then identifying the best-performing specimens from among the results.
This method bypassed what was, for even a Second Circle wizard, a process of pure painstaking grinding.
Locke nodded and said, "It cannot be helped. I am still only an ordinary Second Circle wizard, and I have essentially no capable assistants nearby, nor many students. So I had to come up with a method that would save my time."
"Also, we are partners. Please use the same form of address as before."
Witch Scarlett took a long look at Locke.
"Locke, you truly are a genius breeder. No one has ever thought to use the magical power resonance cultivation method in this way. No one has ever designed a fine new magical plant this quickly."
"Working alongside you has finally made me understand what it truly means to be a genius. Locke, I now have even more confidence in our shop alliance."
Locke coughed.
"Scarlett, you are exaggerating."
It was no wonder that Witch Scarlett was so astonished. After all, with the help of the Synthesis Magical Cube, he had learned in advance many of the key frequencies and plant factor locations within the magical power resonance cultivation method and finite element cultivation method, which was why he could use the magical power resonance cultivation method this way.
This was not a breakthrough in the upper limit.
It was an improvement in efficiency.
But in Witch Scarlett's eyes it already seemed extraordinary.
Locke said, "If there were excellent students working with me, the performance of this wizard shoe could actually be improved by another approximately five percent."
This was true, because his method of using the magical power resonance cultivation method, while improving efficiency, was not as precise.
It simply could not compare to having large numbers of students spending time and grinding through results bit by bit.
That approach would likely boost this pair of wizard shoes' performance by a further margin.
But the key problem was that he was currently only an ordinary Second Circle wizard with virtually no students. His one First Circle wizard student, Williams, had already left Golden Crown Mountain.
Though in truth, even if she had stayed, she would not have been of much use.
Because participation in the design and refinement of a top-tier First Circle magical plant of this quality would be limited for her. She could only do the heavy lifting of labor.
What he really needed was First Circle crystallization-stage students to help.
Locke now more clearly understood than ever before why high-circle wizards needed so many students.
Witch Scarlett heard Locke say the shoe's performance could still be improved, and her eyes shifted slightly.
"In that case, I will immediately arrange the production line. I estimate we can launch the new product within one week."
"Those two shop alliances are watching your every move."
"Only now they are going to be disappointed."
Witch Scarlett said, "Locke, you should go to the White Wizard Association as soon as possible to register the Augustus shop alliance."
Locke gave a slight nod.
Witch Scarlett thought for a moment.
"But now our brand has finally established its name, and has made an impression in the minds of quite a few wizards throughout the Cloud Marsh Wetlands. So I can start taking pre-orders."
"Today I will announce across all the shops under Arthas that you, as a renowned wizard shoe designer, are releasing your latest product. And I will open pre-order availability... and I also need to apply to Arthas for promotional funding..."
"I estimate that as long as we capitalize on the remaining momentum from before, this will be another transaction at the tens-of-millions level."
Witch Scarlett's eyes sparkled.
Clearly, running the Augustus Wizard Shoes brand was beneficial to her as well, and she was naturally very excited about it.
She looked up at Locke and said, "Locke, if only you could design more types of wizard shoes, especially a Second Circle wizard shoe. The Great Blood Wave wizard shoes you designed before, can that not be put into production?"
Locke said, "The Great Blood Wave wizard shoes have a problem, which is the issue of virtual roots. Because of the virtual roots, I have not been able to bring the costs down. Until I find a solution to this problem, I temporarily cannot produce Second Circle magical plant wizard shoes."
Locke said, "And on top of that, I lack assistants. So in the short term, this is the only wizard shoe design I can put out."
"Scarlett, you look disappointed?"
Witch Scarlett let out a sigh, then upon hearing Locke say this immediately looked up. "No, no, not at all. How could that be?"
"I am just being too impatient."
Witch Scarlett said, "Is there truly no way to overcome the cost problem from virtual roots? This is a big project. After all, no one has previously gone down the path of pure magical plant wizard shoes."
"Pure magical plant First Circle wizard shoes had at least occasional involvement from a small number of breeders. But pure magical plant Second Circle wizard shoes, no one has ever made one before."
Witch Scarlett said, "So it is entirely normal that you cannot overcome it at once."
"But I have every confidence in you. Locke, in fact, given your situation, the best approach would be for you yourself to focus on other things, like the research at your Golden Crown Mountain, or concentrating on thinking through how to solve the cost problem from virtual roots, while having your students or staff design First Circle pure magical plant wizard shoes under your guidance."
"That way, our Augustus Wizard Shoes shop alliance would not face any gap in product releases. Only by continuously releasing new designs and new products can our brand survive and flourish. This is especially true at this critical moment."
Witch Scarlett said, "Do you have a student who could take on this work? It would be a rare opportunity for them as well. With so many gifted wizards at Golden Crown Mountain, perhaps there is someone who could help you."
Locke thought about it and decisively shook his head.
No.
The main issue was that he did not hold a high enough teaching position at Golden Crown Mountain and simply did not have that many students.
Secondly, this niche of pure magical plant wizard shoes was far too specialized.
If he were making some mainstream magical plant product, perhaps someone could be found to help him. The key problem was that these pure magical plant wizard shoes were simply too niche.
Even if he went to recruit breeders now, they would need to be retrained and re-educated before they could begin designing anything.
And Locke seriously doubted that pure magical plant wizard shoes designed by those breeders would even be usable.
After all, what he was building now was not an ordinary shop alliance. It was a shop alliance competing with the Cloud Marsh Wetlands' two top wizard shoe shop alliances and the six second-class wizard shoe shop alliances below them.
He was trying to revolutionize the market.
Ordinary mediocre breeder wizard shoe designs would simply not work.
So for a very long time to come, he would truly have to rely on himself alone.
Witch Scarlett could see Locke's difficulty, and holding the Black Giant Hummingbird Bromeliad wizard shoes, she smiled. "It is all right. With these wizard shoes, it is already enough to establish our victory."
"I will begin pre-orders right now."
Locke checked the time, as there was a banquet to attend today. He said to Witch Scarlett, "All right. I will leave it in your hands then."