Chapter 1164

Chapter 1140 Catherine’s Past!

After ending the call with Arthas, Locke immediately calculated on his office desk and found that if he completed the transaction this time, he would be guaranteed an income of over 100 million magic stones. If he could reduce costs and other expenses, he could potentially earn 150 million magic stones in the end.

Locke’s eyes became serious because the biggest reason he could earn so much at once was his good luck, which happened to coincide with the intersection of the Venom World and the Cloud Marsh Wetlands.

“What if I could get the toxins from the Venom World?”

Locke’s eyes lit up slightly. “Just making money once isn’t enough. I’m now a potion maker who can refine blue potions, and I’ve mastered various techniques for modifying, recombinating, and layering spirit macros. Although I’m only just getting a glimpse into the spirit macros in potion-making, I can already give it a try.” “

But I need to get the main toxins from the Venom World as soon as possible,”

Locke pondered. He was currently very busy and obviously didn’t have time to travel to the near-earth void or wander around the Cloud Marsh Wetlands searching for scattered snake venom.

“I’ve got it.”

Locke walked out of the office and found the Celtic wizard in the field. He said to him, “Mr. Celtic, I wonder if I can have the documents that you, Gordon, the Mario brothers, and Mr. Wood wanted to write to me?”

The Celtic wizard put down his work. “I can give you mine now. I can get the reports from the other four wizards for you. Locke, I didn’t expect you to be my team leader now.”

“Life is unpredictable. There’s no one else here now. You’ll have to take good care of me from now on.”

The Celtic wizard smiled at Locke and said half-jokingly, “This is my last chance to stay at Golden Crown Mountain. I’m about to be fired.”

Locke nodded. “In my heart, you will always be my team leader, Mr. Celtic.”

Locke took the report he was reading. It was seventeen pages long. It was clear that although the thinking was rather average, even a bit poor, it was still quite serious.

His report focused on creating a wizard’s robe that resembled a flowerbed covering a wizard’s body. Mushrooms would then be planted on this flowerbed, allowing the wizard to simply walk around wearing a multitude of mushrooms.

This so-called wizard’s robe could be constructed from materials like sawdust, corncobs, cottonseed hulls, or straw. Bonifacio University could provide these resources, as using these materials was precisely their research area. Therefore, obtaining their assistance would significantly reduce the difficulty of developing a purely magical plant-based wizard’s robe.

After reading the report, Locke instantly understood why Celtic wizards were so easily dismissed by Golden Crown Mountain.

It wasn’t that their thinking was flawed, but rather that they were too complacent and perfunctory.

Locke noticed revisions on the 17 pages of the report, indicating that the Celtic wizard had taken the report very seriously. However, his seriousness lay in the effort after determining the direction, not in the deeper exploration of that direction.

His plan was indeed feasible.

But even if he painstakingly completed it, was it a pure magical plant wizard’s robe, or a robe covered in mushroom magical plants?

This discrepancy only showed that the Celtic wizard’s thinking was limited to how to complete the task, rather than spending more time thinking about and deeply understanding it. With this mindset, it would be difficult for him to perform Star Rings and forge the ultimate magic.

The Celtic wizard looked at Locke, waiting for his evaluation, and asked, “How is it, team leader? Is my writing acceptable?

“

Locke didn’t answer him. Instead, he took out the Ganoderma lucidum plant and

searched for related items on the famous wizard robe shop alliance platform, [Bonifasius Firebird]. After about five minutes, Locke showed the Celtic wizard two wizard robes listed by Georgina, the witch from Bonifasius University, on the platform.

The Celtic wizard was initially puzzled, but upon closer inspection, he was astonished. One robe was made of corncob fabric, decorated with buttons made of jade mushrooms. The other was made of cotton, but with a small flowerpot on the shoulder containing a sunflower plant, giving it a sunny and vibrant look.

The Celtic wizard’s lips twitched slightly. It seemed that his idea had already been conceived by the wizards from Bonifasius University, who had provided a more reasonable and complete solution.

If Locke were to use this approach to complete the project specifically assigned to him by the witch Catherine—a project that the previous two Moon Ring Wizard supervisors had failed to finish—then Locke would undoubtedly face a severe reprimand from Catherine.

The Celtic wizard coughed. “So this kind of thing already exists.

” “Team leader, I’m truly ashamed of myself,”

Locke said. “Mr. Celtic, please don’t take it too seriously. I just wanted to know the magical levels and general personalities of the wizards in our research group. At least this report tells me that you are still the diligent team leader. Mr. Celtic, could you please ask the other four wizards for their reports? Besides that, there’s something else I’d like you to do for me.”

“I hope you can spread the word among your friends that I’m currently capturing snakes with special venom for potion-making research. This will be my main activity going forward.”

The Celtic wizard glanced at Locke with surprise, not understanding the purpose of this.

Building a persona on social media?

While some wizards do this, mainly to enhance their recruitment appeal or attract funding, given Locke’s current status, it seemed unnecessary for him to do such a thing.

The Celtic wizard asked疑惑地問道：“Team Leader Locke, are you interested in the Venomous World?”

“Alright, I’ll do it. Although I don’t quite understand your purpose.”

Locke nodded. He saw that the witch Catherine wanted him to go to the seventh floor of the Hall of True Knowledge immediately, so he said a few words to the Celtic wizard and quickly left.

Watching Locke’s departing figure, the Celtic wizard scratched his head. “How strange. Why would he deliberately spread this kind of information in his social circle?”

“I’m increasingly unable to understand Locke’s actions. This is what a high-ring wizard is like,”

the Celtic wizard sighed. His former team member who had entered Golden Crown Mountain was now his direct superior. He could only adjust his mindset, work diligently, and seize this last chance to remain on Golden Crown Mountain.

Fortunately, Locke was a good person, and they had a good relationship; he didn’t need to worry about being discarded after using him.

The Celtic wizard relaxed and began diligently cultivating some low-cost mushroom magical plants based on what he had read in the materials. He could ask Locke for reimbursement for the materials later.

Meanwhile, Locke arrived at the True Knowledge Institute on a cloud whale and went to the seventh floor. He walked through the corridor that had once been incredibly dangerous to him, and now, looking at the corridor garden, Locke felt that although he still needed to be careful, it was no longer the forbidden area it once was.

Locke knocked on the office door, which opened automatically. He went inside. “Teacher, because the competition along the Tianjiang River changed its format, my roommate Daniel was recalled by the deacon group. I’ve made other arrangements for Silver Peach Garden, and business there is stabilizing.” “

The second Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow service station has been completed. The wizard war between the Tide Wizard Tower and the White Ice Tower has ended, and Rose Building has been sealed off. Therefore, Silver Peach Garden no longer faces competitive pressure and has returned to the ranks of the best magical plant shop alliance.”

“Silver Peach Garden even absorbed a portion of the market share vacated after Rose Building was sealed off and reopened a hundred shops.”

Locke closed the door as he walked in. He looked at the office in surprise, only to find that the witch Catherine, who should have been there, was not present.

“Teacher?”

Locke looked at the empty office with a strange expression. “Didn’t the teacher ask me to come? Why is no one in her office right now?”

Locke picked up the Ganoderma lucidum plant but found a message from the witch Catherine, saying that there was an emergency and she had traveled to the Near Earth Void via Little Peach Mountain, so she was not in the office and asked him to come at the same time next week.

Above Little Peach Mountain, in the Near Earth Void, Catherine arrived at a wizard airship that had lost power and was docked in the Near Earth Void orbit. Countless venomous snakes were attacking the airship. As Catherine stepped onto the deck, a thin, silvery snake slithered out from a crack in the deck.

The doors of the interior of the wizard ship opened, and the wizard Trajan emerged with a group of more than fifty wounded explorers.

Catherine raised an eyebrow.

The wizard Trajan immediately said, “Teacher, I think we don’t need to go to the three void locations you asked me to explore. According to my intelligence, those three locations have already been occupied by wizards from the Rose School. Furthermore, they may have collaborated with black wizard pirates to attack us. One of our original wizard warships was refined by the pirates, who seized control of it. We could only return to the wizarding world by seizing other people’s void warships and wizard airships. Those black wizard pirates chased us all the way to the wizarding world and refined our wizard airships into magical artifacts specifically designed to attract the Serpent Clan.”

The witch Catherine raised an eyebrow. “Those dark wizards are quick with their research; they’ve found a magical artifact that can attract the Serpent Clan so soon.”

Trajan sensed something and looked towards the void not far behind him. There, a vast fleet of thirty void warships appeared. However, these warships lacked the insignia of the White Wizarding Association, and because there was no uniform standard, each warship looked different, making the entire fleet appear pieced together.

Clearly, it was the pirate fleet of the Void Pirate Wizards.

Trajan’s words sounded casual, but Catherine knew that in this desolate, endless void, even the void warships beneath their feet were constantly being refined and seized by the Alchemist pirates. The difficulty of stealing ships and returning was immense.

If Trajan hadn’t been leading the group, and if they hadn’t been away for so long, not too far from the wizarding world, they might have been surrounded and killed in the void.

In the void environment, alchemists were far, far enhanced.

Because the wizards’ only reliance was on the void warships beneath their feet, and these void warships were the culmination of the Alchemy school, the pinnacle of this magical development.

Catherine the Witch sneered. “You dare come again?”

With a wave of her hand, an arrow from a sacred peachwood bow shot forth from her mind, obliterating all the surrounding serpent clan forms. The pirate warships in the distance, seeing a third-circle wizard intervene, made a swift and decisive move, immediately turning tail and fleeing.

Seeing this, Trajan’s tense nerves finally relaxed.

“I wonder what connections the Rose School has made, getting involved with the pirates.”

Catherine the Witch remained silent for a moment. “I know why. Anna and I once disguised our identities and left our names on the Chaos Mothership. We deceived the Grand Captain and seven legendary pirate wizards. Back then, we were still Sun Ring Wizards.”

“Hmm—she must have used our former identities to mobilize those pirates.”

“Later, when we rose to high positions, I gradually cut off contact with them. I didn’t expect her to still maintain contact with the pirates.”

“Trajan, let’s go. I won’t blame you for this. It’s not that you’re incompetent, but that Anna is unscrupulous.”

Wizard Trajan immediately asked. “Teacher, where to?”

Witch Catherine said, “The Holy Court of Wizards.”

On the seventh floor of the Hall of True Knowledge, Locke was about to leave when he saw that the door was covered with magical vines.

“Is this Teacher’s magic?” Locke’s hand touched it, but was repelled by the magic, preventing him from leaving.

When he turned around, he saw that the wall behind the chair where the witch Catherine usually sat, which had been empty in the office, suddenly distorted. It turned out to be an illusion, and a terrifying golden dragon walked out from it.

Fafnir, the golden dragon, casually picked up a wizard’s sword hanging on the office wall. He placed it on his dragon fang. “Kid, come with me.”

Fafnir extended his dragon claw towards Locke and pointed it at Locke’s forehead. Locke then saw a reflection of himself emerge from the magic mirror in the office. This “self” walked through the office door and headed outside, its magical pressure almost identical to his own.

Locke turned around and saw the golden dragon grabbing at him.

The next moment, a magical lightning bolt formed from a magical collision appeared within the dragon’s claw. Fafnir looked surprised.

“Hmm?”

Locke held the Fangtian Huatong in his left hand and the great magic sword Hulan Longque in his right, his sword like toothpicks, blocking Fafnir’s dragon claw.

Fafnir narrowed his dragon eyes. “Hmm—”

“You demon dragon brat, you really annoy me.”

“This foolish aura of magic—”

Fafnir smirked. “You should have sensed my hostility by now. I never imagined that the brat who couldn’t withstand a single glance from me could now withstand a single blow from me. I underestimated you.”

Fafnir’s dragon claws tightened, attempting to suppress the jungle with his magic and carry Locke away.

Locke asked, “This unfamiliar dragon senior, are you my teacher’s assistant?”

While it’s exaggerated for a Throne Wizard to have a three-ringed dragon as an assistant, it’s still within the realm of possibility.

The next moment, Fafnir roared in fury. “You dare underestimate me? You dragon brat, I’ll teach you a lesson! Come with me!”

Fafnir’s dragon claws radiated magical light; his magical pressure seemed boundless. He appeared to be the most powerful and terrifying being in the world, the most ferocious beast at the center of heaven and earth, the most powerful creature in the world.

As he continued to increase his magical pressure, attempting to grab Locke, a sharp pain struck him.

Fafnir, the Golden Dragon, looked at his left claw, only to see, beneath its golden magical glow, that Locke had driven the White Tiger Sea Sands into it. The White Tiger Sea Sands, entwined with the protection of the Four Saints, pierced his claw, which was protected by dragon scales, like a nail. Fafnir’s second attack not only failed to take Locke away, but a drop of blood fell from his claw.

Fafnir was stunned. “Has that brat from back then grown to this extent?”

Locke temporarily repelled the golden dragon’s attack. He quickly bowed to Fafnir, suppressing the boundless malice Fafnir felt against him through his superhuman intuition as a dragon.

Golden dragons are connected to each other.

And between golden dragons and dragons, there might be a blood feud.

Locke could clearly feel Fafnir’s disgust for him.

Locke quickly bowed. “Golden Dragon Lord, is it my teacher who asked you to take me somewhere? Please explain clearly. Although you are a third-ring being, even if I mobilize all my magical power, you cannot take me away instantly. In this Golden Crown Mountain, if our conflict attracts attention, it will be bad.

” “You want to take me away, is it really my teacher’s will?”

The golden dragon Fafnir snorted coldly and attacked Locke with another claw. Locke used the Great Prosperity Tree to maximize the enhancement of his White Tiger Sea Golden Sand, and simultaneously used the Four Saints’ Blessing to empower the White Tiger Sea Golden Sand, attacking Fafnir’s dragon claw.

He didn’t want this to happen.

The first strike from this golden dragon that suddenly appeared in his teacher’s office could shatter his permanent defensive force field.

Locke wasn’t one to sit idly by and wait for death, so he could only instinctively fight back.

At this moment, Locke wanted to use his full strength to attract the attention of the Golden Crown Mountain, but the next moment, his White Tiger Sea Golden Sand pierced through the golden dragon Fafnir’s claws, then directly through his throat and his dragon body.

Immediately afterward, Fafnir’s original body was completely pierced through. The next moment, a creature that resembled a dragon but wasn’t, entirely black and shrouded in resentment, suddenly appeared before his White Tiger Sea Golden Sand. This White Tiger Sea Golden Sand was imbued with the Four Sacred Cycles of David’s Qi, as well as the magical pressure of all his Trees of Prosperity.

Therefore, the White Tiger Sea Golden Sand transformed into a beam of white light, piercing the strange creature’s heart. The strange creature let out a weak roar, and the next moment, its entire body collapsed.

Locke froze for a moment, realizing in that instant that this might be a trap set by his teacher. Then, Fafnir suddenly appeared beside him, grabbing Locke in his hand and pulling him towards the illusion wall where Locke had been standing. He smashed through the illusion wall and rushed into a dimensional portal behind it.

The next moment, Locke opened his eyes to find himself surrounded by a crimson expanse, swirling with countless star-like magical lights.

The golden dragon Fafnir looked up and said, “Red Dragon Throne, this student of yours is truly difficult to invite. I even bled and was injured trying to persuade him. What do you think?”

“How will you compensate me?”

The witch Catherine’s voice echoed in the space.

“Fafnir. I told you to politely invite him. But you attacked him. And to make matters worse, your first two spells failed to capture my student. Mr. Fafnir, you’ve made quite a spectacle

of yourself.” The golden dragon Fafnir scratched his head with his dragon claw.

“To crush an ant with the right amount of force without killing it is a very difficult task for me.

Besides, only by forcing him to kill the Dragon Abomination will this debt be settled.”

In an office in the Starfield Sea, a witch with only whites in her eyes and no pupils, holding a crystal ball, suddenly said, “The Dragon King died at the hands of Locke Augustine. It seems that the dragon forces around the witch Catherine must be the Dragon Abomination clan lurking around her, wanting to assassinate her. The witch Catherine entered the No Man’s Land and eliminated the Dragon Abomination clan’s habitat that threatened their recruitment area for Golden Crown Mountain. The Dragon Abomination clan infiltrated Golden Crown Mountain intending to assassinate the witch Catherine, but finding no opportunity to do so, they wanted to assassinate Locke Augustine instead.”

“It all makes sense.”

The witch turned to the breeder sitting in the office and said, “Breeder, it seems we were overthinking Catherine’s identity.”

Catherine, dressed in a red wizard’s robe, the hem of which trailed behind her, stepped out of the world.

Her

robe resembled the most magnificent evening gown. She looked at Fafnir and said, “Well, I told you my student would amount to something. You didn’t seem to have much faith in him back then.”

Fafnir’s eyes flickered, and he chuckled a few times. “He’s certainly promising. But who said I didn’t have high hopes for him?

I just had high expectations for him, so I encouraged him.”

The witch Catherine introduced him to Locke: “This is Fafnir, the Golden Dragon, a true dragon. The two times he attacked you, he slowly increased his magical pressure before striking, but he underestimated your power and was thus able to counterattack. Why don’t you thank Mr. Fafnir for his guidance?”

Locke immediately bowed to Fafnir. “Mr. Fafnir, thank you for your guidance just now,”

the Golden Dragon Fafnir said somewhat embarrassedly, scratching his head.

“I didn’t do anything just now. That was a dragon abomination, a special dragon race that only exists in the Dragon Mountains of the Heavenly Barrier Lands. It’s a special race formed from the offspring of a true dragon and a god, and they suffered some unknown curse.

That branch of the dragon abominations’ homeland was destroyed by the witch Catherine, so it infiltrated Golden Crown Mountain and entered this office, intending to assassinate Catherine.” “

However, this is exactly what we wanted. Because their hatred for us can actually help us cover up many things.”

Locke quickly searched for information on dragon abominations and found that dragon abominations reach the second ring upon adulthood, and a few special dragon abominations can even possess power comparable to a peak Star Ring wizard. But

that’s not the main point.

The main point is that the dragon abominations can possess the skin of others after eating them, disguising themselves as them. Moreover, dragon abominations are naturally hostile to wizards. They are extremely dangerous creatures that only appear in the Heavenly Barrier Lands, and if an ordinary wizard encounters such a creature, they will definitely suffer a great loss.

It’s just a pity that the dragon abomination just now seems to have been tricked and killed by the witch Catherine and the golden dragon Fafnir.

Locke sensed that his teacher seemed to be orchestrating a massive conspiracy.

Unlike his other teacher, Neptune, his teacher, the witch Catherine, seemed far too ambitious. He wondered what her ultimate goal was, who her enemy was, and whether this elaborate setup was to target the Rose School.

Locke looked up at the sky, where a strange power filled the air, as if from another dimension.

“Teacher, where is this—”

Locke asked.

Catherine approached and said, “This is a place none of your senior brothers have ever reached. This is my ultimate secret place. Besides me, you are the second wizard to have arrived here. This is a part of my past.” “Locke

, your Universal Truth-level pseudo-forging is both your advantage and a significant challenge to our original plan. Once you reach the Moon Ring, washing away the Moon Ring-level magical pressure with a little precious magical resources won’t be a problem, but the question is, while the Moon Ring-level magical pressure can be washed away, can the immense magic you’re currently in pseudo-forging state also be washed away?”

Locke nodded; he had considered these questions before.

The witch Catherine said, “As far as I know, both the Macedonian witches and Edgar used special magical resources, such as potions or the Magic Spring, to cleanse their magical pressure. Then, their elders, using crown magic, painstakingly and precisely destroyed part of their pseudo-forged ultimate magic. They then used a large amount of magical materials to restore their ultimate magic.” “

In this way, they could use lunar ring-level clones, while their ultimate magic remained at the pseudo-forging stage.”

“They could re-forge it.”

“That’s how they did it, and that’s the resource they could enjoy. It’s also the resource you, as a direct descendant of Mount Golden Crown, can enjoy.”

“This resource is already so coveted that wizards from the outside world flock to it; just hearing about it seems miraculous.”

The witch Catherine said, “I originally intended to arrange it this way for you. But Locke, you are far too outstanding in this area, exceeding my expectations. Your pseudo-forging is at the Universal Truth level. Do you know what that means?”

“In an era of despotism, you would already possess the qualities to become a Wizarding Lord,”

Locke said, bowing to Catherine the witch. After rising, he continued, “In an era of despotism, I would indeed possess the qualities to become a Wizarding Lord, but I would more likely remain a wizarding slave. In that era—weren’t all the great magics of everyone supporting the great magic of the Wizarding Lord?”

Catherine the witch raised an eyebrow.

She met Locke’s gaze, but saw only a firm and clear look in his eyes, devoid of any interest in the so-called Wizarding Lord, his eyes filled only with a thirst for and pursuit of true knowledge.

The witch Catherine said, “I once told the top-ranked academy heads of the Rain Swamp that I wanted to forge an Emperor-level pseudo-forging, but failed. Actually, I lied to them. I really have no interest in Emperor-level pseudo-forging. You and I are both resolute in our minds, only willing to pursue true knowledge.”

“Universal Truth-level pseudo-forging, if done the way I described, would be a huge waste. However, pseudo-forging has homeostasis. The magical pressure of the Moon Ring level is easy to handle, but the forging progress of your Great Magic is difficult to manage. Homeostasis will protect your pseudo-forging, making its overall framework difficult to change. This is both a protection and a limitation. The higher the level of pseudo-forging, the stronger the homeostasis is likely to be. And this place of the past is related to my ultimate secret.”

The witch Catherine said, “I have considered many times whether to bring you here.” “

This matter did indeed make me hesitate.”

“In the end, I made up my mind to bring you here. Because only here is there even a sliver of possibility.”

The witch Catherine pointed to the depths of the Land of the Past and said, “The past of ordinary people is meaningless, but my past is special.”

“Locke, you’re distracted.”

Locke quickly bowed to the witch Catherine. “I’m sorry, teacher, I just feel that the magical power here is extremely special, seemingly different from any kind of magic in the wizarding world. It seems to contain a unique kind of magic, and I suspect it doesn’t even belong to the magic of a third-ring wizard.”

The witch Catherine nodded and continued, “Even I haven’t fully sorted out my past, which is why I need to cooperate with the dragons.”

“You go into the deepest part of this past. If you can gain some kind of recognition, then you can receive guidance and find the path for your future.”

Locke wondered inwardly what his teacher’s true identity was.

The witch Catherine said, “But I only said it’s a possibility. Every wizard might gain some unique abilities in the Past Land. I just think your great magic might gain some special power in the Past Land.”

“The Past Land is something within True Forging,”

Fafnir the Golden Dragon immediately suggested. “Your Majesty, Red Dragon Throne, may I also go in for a look?”

The witch Catherine said, “Forget it. You’ve already been rejected by the Past Land. You’re a natural third ring, relying on the True Dragon race’s third ring, not your personal third ring. You’re actually only at the level of an ordinary second ring, which is unforged. However, being able to reach third ring through your race is already an advantage; you can go and secretly rejoice.”

“The final stage that many human wizards strive for is just like you True Dragons.”

“Your race is the darling of the endless void.”

“The very existence of your race is True Forging.”

“But you alone are not yet qualified to use the Land of the Past,” said Catherine the Witch.

She looked at Locke and said, “Locke, as your teacher, I must remind you that the Land of the Past is dangerous. It is not a warm harbor, but a stormy sea. Even if you gain the qualification to use it, I still cannot guarantee what you will gain; I can only know the general direction. Similarly, I do not know what dangers you will encounter.”

“Because of my past, even I haven’t fully sorted it out,”

Catherine said, a hint of doubt flashing in her eyes. Locke was completely baffled by her doubts; this was something he had never understood before.

Locke made up his mind and bowed to Catherine the Witch. “Teacher, you have used many methods to allow me to come here.” “

Your previous plans were all for your own purposes, but this plan, as a whole, seems to be for my sake. I can feel your painstaking efforts, and I am willing to try,”

Catherine the Witch nodded with satisfaction. “Then, Locke, go ahead.”

Locke immediately headed deeper into the past of the witch Catherine. In an instant, he felt himself in a half-asleep, half-awake state, with strange magical threads flowing towards him.

The wizard Sera, lacking money, could only find odd jobs at the Dragonblood Market.

The support he received from the Death Witch Doctor and the White Wizard Association of the Southern Wizarding Capital was contingent on him staying in the wizarding lands along the Tianjiang River and the Southern Wizarding Capital. His sudden change of plans, insisting on staying at Golden Crown Mountain as a tourist, meant facing enormous financial burdens.

This was a region with even higher costs than the Southern Wizarding Capital!

To stay at Golden Crown Mountain and stay close to Locke, he had to spend a huge amount of magic stones every day on entrance tickets. The exorbitant accommodation costs at Golden Crown Mountain left him dumbfounded. He gritted his teeth, only to find that he didn’t know a single wizard there and couldn’t find anyone to take him in.

So, he had no choice but to hand over large amounts of magic stones to the despicable “Golden Crown Mountain Capital” every day.

A wizard from the Star Ring tossed a document onto the table where he was eating.

“Sera, there’s a batch of bricks that needs moving. Use your undead to move this batch of magical ore. By the way, the wizard boss said that if we use undead, he’ll have to pay a fee to purify the negative energy, so that fee will be deducted from my payment in advance. Our boss will deduct it from your salary.”

Sera was dumbfounded, quickly putting down his noodles and asking, “Shouldn’t our boss cover this? Why is it being deducted from my salary?”

He was already dreading the thought of the entrance fee he’d need to buy to stay at Golden Crown Mountain tomorrow. To get close to Locke, he needed a ticket; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to enter many areas.

The wizard from the Star Ring glared at him, clearly feeling guilty, and tried to manipulate Sera.

“What kind of job can a psychic wizard like you find in Golden Crown Mountain? We’re afraid your negative energy will interfere with the crops if we ask you to help with farming, and we’re afraid you’ll pollute the downstream if we ask you to dig river channels.”

“What are your strengths? If you can find a job, go find one yourself.”

“Last time you used the undead to help with an experiment, and it interfered with their results. That wizard boss even went to the Holy Wizard Court to demand compensation from us. That debt will be added to your salary.”

Sera’s face darkened. If it weren’t for the millions of magic stones he’d already spent on the séance with Locke, he would have left immediately.

Because of his unique status—he wasn’t a typical wizard in Golden Crown Mountain—he had essentially entered the money-consuming system tailored for him by the Golden Crown Mountain tourist area.

After all, any deviation from the standard of living comes with a price.

Sera looked down at his psychic conduit.

“Hmm?

“

“Locke’s going to catch snakes?”

His eyes lit up.

Great.

If Locke were to go snake-catching, it would mean he’d be stuck in a fixed routine and lifestyle, and his purpose would become simple: he could simply join in, achieving spiritual lock-on and completing the preliminary work for the séance.

He looked at the Star Ring Wizard, immediately hardening his stance and throwing his work clothes aside. “I quit. Find someone else.”

“I’ll never do this kind of work again.”

If Locke went snake-catching, things would be much simpler; he wouldn’t even need to approach Locke.

Since Locke was catching snakes—the actions and purpose were fixed—it wouldn’t matter if he did it too.

Given the wizard’s abilities, he’d likely collect a large number of different types of snakes; he could simply follow Locke’s plan, so he didn’t need to stay on Golden Crown Mountain.

The Star Ring Wizard watched Sera leave in a huff, pondering, “What’s going on? I was clearly increasing the pressure little by little. Every time I crossed his line, every time I tested his boundaries, he tolerated it, as if he had some reason to stay. Most likely it was for job hunting; there are always people like that at Golden Crown Mountain every year. But why did he suddenly become so assertive? Was I wrong? Wasn’t he buying the attraction tickets to make connections?

“

Every year, a large portion of Golden Crown Mountain’s attraction tickets are sold to wizards trying to use connections to get to know the inside wizards.

The Star Ring Wizard thought about it and then didn’t care anymore. He simply sent a message to the boss under the Green Dragon lineage, saying that a cheap sucker had quit and a new wizard needed to be reassigned.

In the past of Catherine the Witch, Locke entered the deepest part, where he saw a swirling galaxy and brilliant flames; some kind of power manifested from the deepest part of the past.

Catherine the Witch nodded in agreement, indicating that her past recognized Locke, acknowledging him as her student.

The rest is up to Locke’s fate.

None of her other students have yet gained recognition from her past.

Fafnir, the true dragon, looked at the witch Ekaterina and said, “What if Locke reveals our plan? If he does, I’ll kill him?”

The next moment, Fafnir saw a look in Ekaterina’s eyes—a look that dragons would never forget.

Fafnir took a half-step back.

—

“I was just kidding.”

“Your murderous intent towards me is also a joke, isn’t it? Hahaha—” “

Hmm—now you’ve covered everything up, even the possibility that I might have been discovered near you, you deliberately used the Dragon Clan’s instigation to smooth things over. As long as Locke doesn’t tell anyone, no one will know he was here. Your cooperation with us is our dragon clan’s ultimate plan.”

Ekaterina warned, “Fafnir, don’t make unnecessary probes. I know what you’re plotting.”

Jinlong Fafnir chuckled awkwardly

.