Chapter 77

Chapter 77 The Difficult Road

Chapter 77 The Hard Road

Yuli held her forehead with her hand, a helpless look on her face. “Locke, you really shouldn’t talk about a woman’s age.”

She turned serious and answered earnestly, “This is the curse of aging. You will soon learn the huge gap between a formal wizard and a first-class apprentice…”

A deep fear crossed Yuli’s elderly face, as if she had contemplated some unspeakable horror. “You won’t understand why the gap is so huge. Then, you’ll discover that within that already enormous gap, it’s extremely difficult to improve your mental strength.”

“Even meditation has become very unreliable.”

“After years of stagnant progress, and under the relentless pressure of my wizard mentor, Harun Vera, who repeatedly looked at me with disappointment and ultimately gave up on me, I chose to undertake dangerous research. I was cursing my soul with aging, and by removing the curse, I was increasing my mental strength.”

“Let your soul repeatedly be cursed and then be freed.”

Locke frowned. Even though he hadn’t seen Yuli’s specific operation, just hearing the description made him feel it was extremely dangerous.

It’s like walking a tightrope.

If there is even a slight lack of control, the soul will be cursed to death by itself.

This is no different from taking lethal poison every day.

Yuri Burns lowered her head and sighed. “But my talent is ultimately insufficient. My experiment went out of control, and the aging curse backfired on my soul. I barely managed to save my life, but my future was completely ruined.”

“I also changed from a woman who was pursued by many male wizards to an ugly old woman.”

“Not only that, I’m also caught up in the ongoing investigation of the White Wizards Association’s ethical review mechanism because some of my experiments violated ethical review.”

“It made it difficult for me to find a normal job, and only Madam Irina took me in.”

Yuli Burns smiled helplessly and said, “Locke, it’s funny, before the incident, I was still complaining about the rules and regulations set by the White Wizard Association, which restricted my development.”

“But after the incident, I realized that the White Wizard Association asked us to conduct an ethical review in order to protect ourselves.”

“People who indulge in their own power can easily lose themselves and eventually let that power backfire on them.”

Locke hadn’t expected the path to becoming a first-class wizard apprentice to be so difficult, so he offered her some words of comfort. “Yuli, anyone who can become a first-class wizard apprentice must have a lot of talent.”

“I believe you will find a way to get yourself out of this embarrassing situation. As long as you are alive, there will always be a way to make a comeback.”

“It’s not like there aren’t potions that can remove the curse from you.”

Yuli laughed hoarsely. “Locke, you are so kind.”

“Thank you, but we are different. You won’t understand. You don’t understand the pain of people like us. A genius like you will never understand these things.”

Yuli whispered, “I am an apprentice in the field of potions myself, and I know what’s going on with me. I have cursed my soul for too long. For at least five years, I drank a bottle of aging potion and more potions to break the curse every day. The aging curse is deeply entangled with my soul…”

“A normal first-ring potion master would retreat if he saw me in this state.”

“They’re afraid I’ll ruin their reputation.”

A trace of resentment flashed in Yuli’s eyes, that was hatred for her wizard mentor. “If my wizard mentor, Harlan Vera, had stopped me at that time, everything would have been different, but he didn’t.”

“He’s always like that.”

“In his eyes, there are only those bright and beautiful students.”

Yuli quickly suppressed her anger and nodded to Locke apologetically. “I’m sorry, Locke, I shouldn’t have lost my composure in front of you.”

“I talked too much today.”

“I’m sorry,” Yuli pleaded, “It’s my own fault. Please don’t spread the nonsense I just said… Okay…”

Locke nodded and waved his hand, “I didn’t hear anything.”

“Well, Manager Yuli, I wish you good luck. We’ll have a pleasant cooperation.”

Locke stood up and walked out of the store.

He still had a lot of things to deal with. The application to expand the botanical garden had to go through the ethical review process of the White Wizards Association, which was another hassle.

And this time, if I want to expand the botanical garden, I have to reduce its scale to medium.

It was unlikely that Witch Sophia would help him pass the review quickly. The White Wizard Association would not be too strict in reviewing the botanical gardens of second-class wizard apprentices, but they would be extremely careful in reviewing the botanical gardens of first-class wizard apprentices.

It has only been fifty years since the Qinghuan Society caused the abyss plant disaster in the southeast corner.

Manager Yuli stood up to see them off.

After leaving Li Jin Secret Language, Locke once again went to the slave warehouse in the Chimera Market and found Benny, the dark elf waiter from last time, preparing to buy another batch of Minotaur slaves.

At least five more minotaurs should be added.

On the street where the slave warehouse was located, the dark elf Benny cautiously said to Locke, “Respected Lord Locke, the current value of the Minotaur noble slaves has returned to 10 magic stones per person.”

“But the quality of our shop remains the same. Every Tauren noble slave has undergone rigorous re-education in enchantment spells. They will never betray their masters, and their intelligence has not been affected.”

Locke frowned in dissatisfaction. “Wasn’t it 5 magic stones before?”

Dark Elf Benny, frightened by the magical pressure Locke unintentionally radiated, sweat dripped down his forehead. “Dear guest, nine months ago, a large number of high-quality orc slaves entered the market, driving down prices. However, prices have now returned to normal.”

“Although the slaves in our shop are expensive, their quality is absolutely guaranteed.”

Locke nodded slightly. This was true. After all, he couldn’t employ some mentally unstable slaves in his botanical garden. Most of the work in his botanical garden required a certain level of intelligence and comprehension.

Locke said, “Okay, here are fifty magic stones, and I want five Minotaur noble slaves.”

Dark Elf Benny breathed a sigh of relief. “Dear guest, you recently purchased two slaves with the bloodline of ancient creatures. Are you interested in researching this area?”

“Recently, there is a mermaid slave with the blood of an ancient creature in the store.”

Locke said: “Not for now.”

I haven’t even finished studying the two catwomen from last time, so there’s no need to buy any more mermaids. That’s not how you should spend your money.

Money should be spent wisely.

There will be plenty of places to spend magic stones in the future.

(End of this chapter)