Chapter 581

Chapter 578: Winning over Locke’s New Journal

After Locke ate the white peach and returned to his dormitory, he slept in his bedroom for three whole days. When he got up again, he found that three days had passed.

When Locke thought about the points that would be deducted from him, his expression changed slightly.

But when he opened the Ganoderma Lucidum Magic Plant, he found that his direct superior, Team Leader Celt, had used his authority to sign in for him.

Although this matter was a bit against the rules, Team Leader Celtic reminded himself not to tell anyone.

Locke immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Even though he didn’t need to worry about being eliminated due to points issues, he still had to worry about not being able to get the water jade peach that should have belonged to him because of points issues.

Now, this worry has been resolved.

Locke got up, washed up, and then went to the living room.

Locke looked at the time on the standard alchemy clock (standard furniture in the academy) made by the alchemist apprentice in the living room, and then he realized that it was already noon.

Moreover, he had been in a coma for three days and three nights.

“Using the Queen’s Chessboard will probably consume more than just magic pressure. If it were just magic pressure, I should be able to recover basically after replenishing it multiple times and resting for a night at most.” Locke looked thoughtful.

Entering the Queen’s board carries a certain amount of risk in itself.

But as a wizard, it is impossible to completely avoid risks.

All creatures in the frosty sky compete for freedom. Only by constantly moving forward can one become a high-ring wizard and pursue the path of truth.

Fortunately, I also gained a lot.

Two wood elf maids hurriedly brought breakfast to Locke. At the same time, a dark elf servant reported to him that while he was resting, several wizards delivered several letters to him.

Locke held the three letters in his hand. He didn’t expect that so many people sent him letters after he had only slept for three days.

The first letter was from the Fund Management Department of the White Wizard Association. They had approved my application for defense and agreed with me to conduct the final defense in half a month.

There is no other way. We must gather three respondents to hold a defense.

Those second-ring wizards also have limited time, and it is impossible for them to travel all the way just for a first-ring wizard.

So, I can only make up their time.

The second and third letters were all addressed to Gregor and Williams. After Locke asked them to participate in the breeder competition, he asked them to fill in their own addresses.

This way, as a mentor, I can easily inform them and know their progress in the competition at the first time.

Second, it is a form of protection.

Locke, who had experienced the inside story of the previous competition, did not dare to bet on human nature in this regard.

There is no need to reveal the addresses of the two apprentices.

Just write your address directly to save yourself the hassle.

Locke opened the two letters and nodded with satisfaction. Gregor and Williams both successfully passed the second round and ranked at the top.

Gregor’s performance was just average, ranking 57th.

Williams finished eleventh.

Even though she had her own assigned topics and experimental data, her ability to achieve this ranking was definitely inseparable from her hard work and talent.

“Great, now they can both advance to the third round.” Locke smiled. “The timing is amazing.”

“The time I participated in the Apprentice Breeder Competition seems to be still vivid in my mind, as if I participated last year. Come to think of it, I have been an official wizard for a short time.”

“Back then, I won first place in the Apprentice Breeder Competition. Can I replicate my past glory with these two students?”

“A wizard mentor can completely interfere with the progress of a student’s work through guidance. According to the information I previously investigated, the Apprentice Breeder Competition is ostensibly a competition between apprentices, but in reality it depends on the ability of the teachers behind the scenes, and only secondarily on the student’s own level.”

Locke said indifferently: “Let’s see the level of Williams and Gregor.”

Locke looked at Ginny, the red dragon half-dragon maid assigned to him by Ekaterina, and said, “Ginny, please help me deliver these two letters, as well as this set of questions and book lists, to Gregor and Williams respectively. Tell them that if they have any questions, they can come and ask me.”

“Also, tell them to just give their best in the finals. Don’t worry about the rest.”

Ginny saluted Locke and said, “Yes, young master.”

“But, young master… there is something I want to tell you. While you were asleep, a dark wizard with his face covered came to Golden Crown Mountain and came to you.”

“He said it was an old friend of yours, named Warwick. I told him you were busy and couldn’t come out to meet him at the moment, but he seemed very angry and thought I had neglected him and left.”

Locke was stunned for a moment, because the two-year agreement between him and Warwick had not yet expired, and there was only a year and a half left.

But why did Warwick come looking for her in advance?

Locke glanced at Ginny and said, “Oh, he’s just a little sensitive. It’s not that he has any objection to you.”

Ginny smiled and said, “My young master, you are so considerate. I really thought I had neglected him.”

“Before he left, he told me to meet him in Room 31 of the Witch Kitchen in the Dragon Blood Gathering Castle at 4:00 PM three days later. If you don’t show up by then, he’ll leave on his own.”

Ginny said, “Ah, if you calculate the time, it’s almost this afternoon. It’s noon now, and there are only three hours left until the agreed time.”

Locke was a little speechless.

He still remembered that he had added him as a friend on the Gray Mist Slate, so why did he take the initiative to come and find him in person? Did the plan change at the last minute?

Locke nodded and said, “I understand, Ginny. Go ahead.”

Locke frowned, thought about it carefully, and decided to go to the appointment.

This is Golden Crown Mountain, the territory of the White Wizard. In this regard, I have no worries.

If that’s the case, there’s no reason not to go.

Warwick has the historical materials and coordinates of the abyss ruins that he wants.

If I think about it carefully, the location marked by the coordinates of the Abyssal Ruins could not be a medium-sized Abyssal plane?

That would be interesting.

In the endless void, wizards can generally only use the world stones inside the medium-sized world to advance to the second-ring wizard. Otherwise, with the personal strength of a first-ring wizard, he will definitely not be a match for the more advanced world, which will be counterproductive.

But there is only one world that is special – the bottomless abyss.

Because the Abyss is a super-giant unique plane formed by the convergence of countless planes of different sizes, it is the only plane that can be used to advance to a second-ring wizard.

Of course, using the Abyss Plane to advance to a second-ring wizard does test the wizards’ imagination. Using the World Stone of the Abyss Plane to create great magic, it is not certain who will be the host and who will be the guest at that time.

But this is indeed a direction that can be explored, especially since I have a certain understanding of Abyss Pharmacy and Abyss Energy System.

Locke was about to get up when he heard someone knocking on the door. He ordered the maid to open the door, but saw that the person standing outside was an ordinary second-ring wizard.

“Please don’t be surprised, Mr. Augustine.” The second-ring wizard smiled and said, “I am Bartolomeo Hayes, the wizard instructor at Quinjol University.”

“I came here specifically to visit breeder Augustine.”

Locke was stunned for a moment, then calmly asked the servants to entertain the second-ring wizard.

The two sat down at the long table in the living room.

Locke asked curiously, “Master Hayes, what brings you here to see me? What is it that’s worth you coming all the way from Jonquil University?”

Wizard Hayes smiled and said, “Actually, I didn’t come here on purpose. There just happened to be a medium-sized wizard organization nearby that invited me to give a lecture. I thought it was close to Golden Crown Mountain, so I stopped by to meet you.”

“I’m actually here on behalf of the Region 2 journal, Life and Reproduction.”

Locke was stunned for a moment, then blurted out, “Is this journal among the journals in Area 2?”

The main reason was that I had asked Schneider to submit my manuscript, and I had also glanced at the name of Yunze Wetland’s second-zone journal.

There are 46 journals in total for the first ring and second zones of Yunze Wetland.

But there seems to be no “Life and Reproduction”.

As soon as Locke said this, he immediately reacted and said, “I have no intention of neglecting you, Mr. Hayes.”

Wizard Hayes waved his hand, his smile a bit awkward, but still easygoing. “This is indeed a problem with our Life and Reproduction journal. To be honest, Life and Reproduction is a journal that has just been promoted to the First Ring, Second Zone. It was founded by my teacher, Barbatos, a young cadre wizard and a Third Ring wizard.”

“It was originally a Zone 3 journal for many years, but was recently promoted to Zone 2.”

Locke nodded slightly, and thought quickly, “Young Cadre Wizard is a second-ring title. For a Sun-ring wizard, it’s a good title, but for a Third-ring wizard, it’s just ordinary.”

“The highest title for a third-ring wizard is Throne Wizard. Since the other party emphasized that his teacher was a young cadre wizard and a third-ring wizard, it means that he is an ordinary third-ring wizard.”

“It’s a journal published by an ordinary third-ring wizard… then it will be very difficult to climb the zone in the early stage.”

For example, Ekaterina the Witch has her own journal, the Second Ring Zone, First District journal “Volcanic Plants”.

She didn’t publish a journal.

Therefore, her students cannot submit to the journal she organizes, otherwise her journal’s submission box would be filled with wizards from various major academies of true knowledge submitting articles every day.

This is probably the reason why she did not publish a journal.

Locke had already guessed why the other party, as a second-ring wizard, would condescend to come look for him, a first-ring wizard.

Wizard Hayes said, “It’s like this. My teacher, Wizard Barbatos, has always wanted to organize a one-ring, one-area journal as a backup for our sect.”

Wizard Hayes said frankly.

Locke nodded slightly. Many journals were indeed the private domain of the teachers and students of the major high-ring wizards. It would be much easier for their teachers, students and friends to get on the journals.

Wizard Hayes smiled and said, “However, if you want to upgrade a journal, you need influential, high-quality articles and an excellent source of submissions. And to attract excellent submissions, you need credibility, and to gain credibility, you need an excellent source of submissions.”

This is a closed loop.

Only by breaking this closed loop can a journal be established, otherwise it will just be a fake journal that no one cares about.

Wizard Hayes said, “I know that Life and Reproduction might not be something that an excellent wizard like you would consider very attractive, but I still came here to ask you to contribute to my work.”

Locke frowned and said, “If I were to write a piece myself, I would only submit it to Region 1, and only to a few top journals in Region 1.”

Wizard Hayes quickly said, “Of course. Your corresponding author is Witch Ekaterina, and our journal wouldn’t dare accept an article with Lord Throne as the corresponding author…”

“Even before accepting it, we will find a way to confirm with the Lord of the Throne, and only after obtaining approval will we dare to include it.”

Wizard Hayes said tiredly, “You can’t imagine how difficult it is for us to publish a journal. If it were a top journal in the first and second zones, it would be fine. But if a newly promoted journal like ours dared to publish an article in which they are the corresponding authors without the Throne’s consent, it would violate some unspoken rules.”

“It’s not uncommon in the past for journals to take shortcuts and try to take advantage of the throne. However, without exception, those journals were boycotted by everyone. No one submitted articles to them, and no one was interested in them. Eventually, they were revoked by the White Wizards Association.”

“But I noticed, Breeder Augustine, that you seem to have submitted to several Zone II journals before, with your students as the first author and yourself as the corresponding author.”

“My target is the articles you would like to submit to a Zone II journal.”

Wizard Hayes looked at Locke tentatively.

The two smiled at each other.

Wizard Hayes laughed. “Then let’s not beat around the bush. My target is those journals, and I think they’ll be very beneficial to you, too. You publish journals to earn contribution points, which can be exchanged for many useful things.”

“For example, 30,000 contribution points can be exchanged for a colonization license for a medium-sized plane. Of course, those planes are usually those that have been developed many times.”

“Thirty thousand contribution points require 20 articles in Zone 1 journals, but can also be obtained through 38 articles in Zone 2 journals.” Wizard Hayes knew what Locke wanted most at the moment, because this was what he wanted most not long ago.

“Also, the White Wizard Association has a rule that only contribution points earned through journals can be used to redeem colonization licenses.”

“For wizards who want to exchange their colonization licenses, the ratio of District One journals to District Two journals, and District Three journals is also strictly limited.”

“Journals from Region Four don’t count.”

Locke listened as Wizard Hayes spoke of this knowledge in detail.

I have gradually understood most of what he said.

But there is one thing I really didn’t know before.

That is, the planes that can be colonized using the colonization licenses exchanged for contribution points are all developed colonization planes.

This made Locke frown.

During the process of the great wizard Sura creating his own great magic, the great wizard Sura had an argument with his ghostwriter. During the argument, Locke learned that after a wizard used the resources of that world to upgrade, the world would gain some of his characteristics, and he would also gain some of the characteristics of that world.

Then for those who come later, the world is no longer pure.

This allows the great magic of later wizards to be slightly influenced by the personal traits of the first wizard to use this world.

Although this effect is very mild, so mild that most wizards can tolerate it, some wizards still care about it.

Especially for those wizards who are not just targeting the second ring.

Great magic is of great importance, so for Locke himself, the world plane used to construct great magic should preferably be a brand new world that has not been touched by wizards.

It turns out that even the planes under the colonization licenses exchanged within the contribution point system have already been developed by humans.

Locke was a little dazed for a moment.

The demand for contribution points in my heart suddenly dropped sharply.

If a wizard publishes dozens of articles in the second zone and more than ten articles in the first zone, and finally only obtains such a plane, then unless it is absolutely necessary, it is better to wait a little longer.

After all, now is not the time to rush.

White wizard society has an entire system of clerics associated with it, specifically designed to allocate this type of resources.

You should be able to get the resources you want.

Wizard Hayes didn’t seem to notice Locke’s distraction and continued, “And there’s one advantage to submitting to our journal. We don’t have a seniority bias.”

“Just as you, the submitters, have no seniority bias, our journal also has no seniority bias. Your rejected manuscripts can be directly published in our journal.”

Locke glanced at Wizard Hayes and thought for a moment, “But… I want to see the previous submission information of Life and Reproduction.”

At least you have to make sure that this journal is not a particularly bad one.

If an article with your correspondence name is submitted to a journal with a lot of connections, it will be bad for your reputation.

However, if it is true as the second-ring wizard said, that it is a journal founded by the third-ring wizard Barbatos, and he also hopes to be promoted to the first zone and create convenience for their sect, then it will not be a loss for him to cooperate with him.

This way there is no seniority bias on either side.

Wizard Hayes showed a look of understanding and handed Locke the information he had prepared in advance. “Take a look, Breeder Augustine.”

“My teacher is a newly promoted third-ring wizard, so this journal has just been promoted from zone three to zone two.”

“I’ve been following my teacher since I became a formal wizard. After he was promoted to a third-ring wizard, he immediately found a colonization license for a medium-sized plane for me. Thus, I also became a second-ring wizard.”

Wizard Hayes smiled and said, “We have great ambitions, so we are not the type to seek mere compromises.”

After Locke reviewed the information and confirmed that this was indeed a journal on the rise, he said, “Okay, Mr. Hayes. I’ll consider submitting to Life and Reproduction next time.”

Wizard Hayes nodded and said happily, “Our journal is also preparing to become a Zone 1 journal. We very much welcome young talents like Wizard Augustine to submit articles.”

“As the editor-in-chief of Life and Reproduction, I can promise you that our journal will always receive your submissions as soon as possible and seriously consider whether to publish them.”

Locke saluted Wizard Hayes.

This is actually a value exchange.

What this means is that I would consider submitting to Life and Reproduction, which currently lacks the qualifications. In exchange, this journal will seriously consider articles bearing my name in the future and give them priority.

If I’m lucky and Life and Reproduction becomes a first-tier journal, my favor will still exist.

Then, as the corresponding author, you can obtain some slight privileges in this first-tier journal.

This will become a kind of accumulation of your own.

(End of this chapter)