Chapter 964

Chapter 958 Everyone, my day has 72 hours!

In the office of the Fund Department at the White Wizarding Association branch headquarters in Yunze Wetlands, several wizards were processing 131 applications for special-grade grants from ten major regions.

However, the Three Swamps only had 50 special-grade grant slots each year, and these slots had to be divided equally among the three wizarding territories.

That is, each wizarding territory only had about 16 slots. If the Thunder Swamp lowlands took more slots that year, then Yunze Wetlands and Rain Swamp might have fewer.

Of course, for a wizarding territory, this was already more than enough.

This was because the White Wizarding Association allocated between 1 and 5 standard special-grade grants to each wizarding territory annually, and the number of grant projects the Three Swamps received each year far exceeded the number of special-grade grant projects a normal wizarding territory could obtain.

At this moment, the fewer than ten Sun Ring, Moon Ring, and Star Ring wizards in the office, along with a Deputy Director of the Third Ring Wizard Fund, were determining which projects would receive special grants.

High-ranking Second Ring wizards were rapidly processing documents.

A Moon Ring witch softly read aloud to the Third Ring Wizard Director the results of the staff’s collective discussion and processing, requesting the Director’s evaluation to assess the rationality of their judgments.

From over a hundred submitted applications, they narrowed down the seventeen applications to be approved.

Normally, at this stage, the results would be sent to the White Wizard Association’s regional headquarters in the Starfield Sea, and then the funds would be disbursed.

Under normal circumstances, the lists of recipients sent by their White Wizard Association branches would not be rejected by the White Wizard Association’s regional headquarters in the Starfield Sea.

The Moon Ring Witch said, “The Rose Council approved the project application submitted by Wizard Ducat, mainly the Crystallization of Imaginary Roots project. The aim is to use crystallization of imaginary roots to reverse-engineer the mysteries of special imaginary roots and clarify the formation mechanism of these special imaginary roots, which is still not fully understood.”

The Third Ring Wizard Director nodded slightly.

It was a standard procedure; the development path for crystallization magical plant technology was originally mandated by the Star Domain Sea to be vigorously developed in the Eastern Boundary Region, using Cloud Marsh Wetland as a pilot area and gradually expanding to the entire Eastern Boundary Region.

The Moon Ring Witch said, “The second approved application is from Wizard Ducarlo of Echo Valley in the Tenth District. His project application is also related to the crystallization technology of magical plants. It mainly focuses on the echo resonance of the crystals inside the magical plants, exploring the special performance of the magical plants under sonic attacks. He believes that the magical plants can enhance the sonic magic of their spellcasting school and has proposed special applications…”

“The third approved application is from Wizard Gunter of the Cyrus Pioneer Military Academy in the Ninth District, also on the development path of magical plant crystallization technology…”

The Moon Ring Witch announced three applications that their office considered approved, but all of them were about magical plant crystallization technology. This made the third-ring wizard deputy director frown slightly, because he did not expect that their Cloud Swamp Wetland had so many talented wizards and a long history and culture. As a result, once the Star Domain Sea pushed out the crystallization magical plant technology route, all the talented wizards in their Cloud Swamp Wetland were swept up by this broken technology development route.

The Moon Ring Witch looked up at the deputy director’s expression, but continued to read the documents in her hands.

There’s no way around it; it’s work.

Besides, not every year’s list of approved applications for the top-tier funding program can satisfy everyone.

Yunze Wetland has so many slots, evenly distributed across ten districts, so sometimes lucky ones do get selected.

Furthermore, sometimes the overall academic level is low, and sometimes it’s high, causing applications that would have been approved in previous years to unfortunately be rejected that year, forcing applicants to wait another year.

The Moon Ring Witch continued, “The application approved by Storm Tower is a project by Angela, the witch of the Miss family. It explores the different growth trends of crystallized magical plants under varying weather conditions. The highlight is the discovery of a crystallized second-ring magical plant that can gather lightning energy, potentially creating a new technological route for building the Lightning Spark Tower at Storm Tower and providing new construction materials.”

“Because conventional lightning towers use various types of lightning magic stones developed by the alchemy school.”

The Lightning Spark Tower is a fundamental magical facility of Storm Tower. Once established, it can enhance the lightning magic belonging to Storm Tower in a region and, when necessary, transform into a wizard tower to provide support, defense, and ranged attacks.

The Lightning Spark Tower can even partially alter the surrounding dimensional laws, creating an environment favorable to lightning magic and unfavorable to other magic.

Furthermore, many advanced lightning spells from Storm Tower and its lineage require Lightning Spark Towers to be cast. The more advanced the lightning spell, especially those involving large-scale warfare, the more Lightning Spark Towers are needed. Therefore, for these wizards, the significance of this research utilizing crystallized magical plants is considerable.

Storm Tower, being the ancestral home of the third-level discipline of Electric Tower Science, naturally has an unusual obsession with developing different Lightning Spark Towers.

The Moon Ring Witch continued reading, “The project approved this year by Cassilos University of the Arts is also related to crystallized magical plant technology… Boniface University’s application is from Georgina the Witch; she’s working on a project using crystallized magical plants to create different natural plant fibers… and…”

At this point, the third-ring wizard deputy director couldn’t hold back any longer.

Five of the seven top wizarding academies in Cloudze Wetlands had already been mentioned, and their applications were all related to crystallized magical plants, giving them a way to exploit crystallized magical plants from different angles.

Of the ten regions, three are all medium-sized academies. It’s one thing if a few applications are related to the Crystallization Magic Plant technology route, but how come even the wizards from the True Knowledge Academy, the top academy in Yunze Wetlands, couldn’t stop mentioning Crystallization Magic Plants in their applications?

The Deputy Director of the Third Ring Wizard couldn’t help but raise his hand. “Wait a minute, I want to ask how many of these seventeen applications you approved are related to Crystallization Magic Plants?”

The Moon Ring Witch replied, “Fourteen.”

The Deputy Director of the Third Ring Wizard couldn’t help but say, “This is absurd.”

“These people are really disgracing Yunze Wetlands. Surely the seven top academies didn’t send a single application unrelated to Crystallization Magic Plants this year?”

He was somewhat suspicious.

Because the competition among wizards from the seven top academies is so intense, it’s understandable that they would be forced to choose the easiest projects to pass, conforming to the crowd.

He even suspected that such intense competition might have side effects, such as scaring away many people who originally wanted to try new things, forcing them to be afraid to change their path for fear of backlash.

The Moon Ring Witch shook her head slightly.

“No, that’s not it. The application submitted by the wizards from Quinnjoll University was written by Edgar David. His project is to resurrect the legendary ancient tree people—the [Sun Tree]—using branches from the Tree of Life.”

“Legend has it that when the world is plunged into darkness, the Ancient Tree of the Sun releases its light and heat to temporarily replace the sun’s function. Its only recorded appearance is during the Dark Ages. However, it mysteriously became extinct. Wizard Edgar successfully proved that by using special magic stones and planting branches of the Ancient Tree of Life, it’s possible to cultivate an Ancient Tree of the Sun, and he believes the earliest Ancient Tree of the Sun was born in this way.”

The Third Ring Wizard’s expression softened slightly, and he nodded.

“This is the normal level of our Second Ring Wizards in Cloud Marsh Wetlands,”

said the Moon Ring Witch. “And there’s Wizard Locke Augustine of Golden Crown Mountain. His application is to use the golden magic of the boundary between light and darkness to enhance his successfully developed atavism magic, achieving the maximum evolutionary potential of magical plants.”

Upon hearing this, the Third Ring Wizard looked up at the Moon Ring Witch in surprise.

His expression suddenly became strange, because Locke’s research was a project that could break the Second Ring’s infinite cycle and potentially reach the Third Ring.

This was no longer just ordinary research; it was a project that would lay the foundation for this wizard’s future.

Unexpectedly, this year’s special-level research grant for Yunze Wetland received an application of this caliber.

At this moment, a faint smile appeared on the face of the Third Ring Wizard.

“Not bad, that’s acceptable.”

“We can report back to the higher-ups now. By the way, you mentioned there was another wizard’s application unrelated to crystallized magical plants?”

The Moon Ring Witch nodded. “Yes, sir. It’s Wizard Mike from Kungudin Academy. They mainly focus on researching the energy-locking structures of certain magical plants, aiming to incorporate these structures into architectural studies to discover more efficient building structures. They’re currently researching the variegated sea anemone to analyze its unique support structure in seawater…”

“This unique support structure is extremely useful for building on cliffs in towering mountains. However, the reason we approved their application is mainly because Kungudin Academy and our association signed a special 30-year welfare agreement. During this period, all their project applications and article publications will receive preferential treatment.”

The third-ring wizard nodded slightly; it turned out to be Kungudin Academy, which had recently arrived in Yunze Wetlands.

The third-ring wizard deputy director suddenly smiled and asked the moon ring witch, “So, of these three project applications, which one do you think is the best?”

The moon ring witch was somewhat flattered, because she and the director had only a working relationship; they weren’t even in the same house.

Normally, the director wouldn’t even bother talking to her, so this conversation was essentially a form of guidance.

Being able to converse with a third-ring wizard in her daily life was essentially a perk of her job.

Any second-ring wizard who could have a one-on-one conversation with a third-ring wizard leader for a period of time would receive some improvement,

especially on matters unrelated to their job duties.

This type of question was essentially testing her comprehensive understanding and judgment of magic, so the moon ring witch seized the opportunity and didn’t give any random answers or simply make excuses.

“Sir, I believe… of the three applications, the highest quality is Edgar David’s project application, followed by Locke Augustine’s, and then Wizard Mike’s application. The reason is that Edgar David’s project application requires the restoration of the extinct Ancient Tree of the Sun. And the Ancient Tree of the Sun is a rare Star Ring-level magical plant.”

“The difficulty of developing it is unimaginable. Even I don’t think I can complete such a task. Perhaps it’s a matter of specialization.”

The third-ring wizard smiled at her, shook his head slightly, and remained silent.

Some things are wrong once spoken, wrong once answered.

A wrong person, hearing the right thing, is very likely to make a wrong judgment, leading to even more wrong conclusions. In the end, because of so many deeply ingrained wrong conclusions, they may not even have the opportunity to come into contact with the right thing.

Therefore, sometimes a blank sheet of paper is better than a head full of flawed theories.

The deputy director shook his head slightly.

“I won’t give you the correct answer to this question; you can interpret it however you like. You can go and think about it carefully. You’ve been working for me for almost ten years. Your progress has been slow lately, hasn’t it?”

The Moon Ring witch swallowed hard, a hint of panic in her voice. She had assumed that with her Moon Ring level, she could offer insightful critiques of these lower-ring wizards, and with careful consideration, she should have no problem.

But why was her answer still unsatisfactory to her superior?

Where did she go wrong?

Had she misordered the order?

The Third Ring wizard glanced at her; this was why he hadn’t offered any guidance.

If he had given her the correct answer, this usually self-satisfied subordinate would have given up on thinking for herself. But by not giving her the answer, firstly, everyone would have their own answer, and secondly, it was better for her to try to think, rather than wanting nothing at all.

Of course, even so, this witch’s talent was limited, and she might not be able to break through to the Third Ring wizard level in the future.

However, how many people in the endless void could actually break through to become a Third Ring life form?

Most civilizations were stuck in the Second Ring, endlessly circling around.

The Moon Ring Witch bit her lower lip, deep in thought.

“Director, can all these applications be approved?”

The deputy director chuckled. “I was going to reject a few applications and send them back for rewriting, but since they’re ready to be submitted, let’s approve them all. Send the emails to these wizards through the Water Hyacinth System as soon as possible. I think these wizards are getting impatient waiting for the results.”

“Put yourself in their shoes; we should consider the feelings of those young people. When I was their age, I wasn’t very patient either,”

the deputy director laughed.

…

The next day, Locke received an email in the Water Hyacinth System. It was a reply from the Funding Department of the White Wizard Association in Cloudze Wetlands, congratulating him on passing the special-grade funding application, gaining access to the key laboratory, and a one-year usage right to the [Dream Engine].

At the same time, Wizard Trajan also sent a message congratulating him. Locke glanced at it and found that many wizards in his lineage had congratulated him.

Locke replied to them one by one.

Wizard Trajan quickly sent a message.

“The teacher asked me to take you into the key laboratory for the first time, to familiarize you with the layout. There are quite a few procedures to go through, because the disguise god of the Persepolis gods, [Maoqiu Chris], previously infiltrated and sabotaged the major key laboratories in the Southern Realm, so the approval process is quite strict now. Each key laboratory has a project that could potentially change part of the situation on the front lines. For example, our breeding laboratory on Golden Crown Mountain is currently working on a project to increase food production.”

“Therefore, I need to spend another week helping you complete the procedures. During this week, you need to make some preparations. At least one clone or your main body should stay on Golden Crown Mountain as much as possible, without going anywhere or conducting any experiments. It’s best to only conduct thought experiments. If you can’t pass the procedures, you may have to go through them again for another half month. There’s no way around it, there are just too many security measures now.”

Locke was stunned for a moment. A laboratory with such strict security measures must be very important to the wizarding world.

“It’s okay, I can wait, senior brother. Just increasing food production? The laboratories in the small wizarding academies below can do that, right?”

Wizard Trajan sent a message.

“Haha…that’s just ordinary food. The core of Golden Crown Mountain’s high-value agriculture revolves around three rice, twelve peaches, and six teas. But only the three rice is mainly sold as a staple food, because the main function of our magic rice is to enable a wizard, or a high-energy life form, to maintain their magic power in a low-magic environment and overcome low-magic tidal concentration gradient environments…”

“Rice that can fill your stomach is certainly good, but our Golden Crown Mountain magic rice is designed to solve the energy replenishment problem for high-energy life forms in low-magic or even non-magic environments.”

“You know that the grains of grass-like magical plants always have a relatively high energy density. But in essence, filling your stomach is also a way to replenish energy. Mortals rely on eating rice to maintain the energy needed for movement, while wizards need to find things that can efficiently replenish their energy in the endless void.”

Locke nodded slightly, as if he were in the wizarding world, where he could eat normal food to fill his stomach during his apprenticeship, but he also drank a lot of magic potions, magical dishes, and magical materials to enhance his energy, replenish his physical strength, and restore his stamina.

During my first stage as a first-ring wizard, I entered the Land of Six Towers. There, I used the six white towers to gather magical energy to replenish my power and also relied on high-energy food to replenish my magical pressure.

At Mount Golden Crown, because the inherited magic array there can draw energy from celestial fire and convert it into a high-concentration magical tidal gradient, wizards living in this environment can restore a certain amount of their magical pressure by obtaining magical tidal energy from the air.

On Mount Golden Crown, he could maintain his magical pressure and recover some of his lost magical pressure by absorbing the high-density energy from the air.

Although he sometimes needed to eat foods with high energy density,

regions like Mount Golden Crown were extremely rare in the endless void.

Even regions like the Six Towers were scarce. In the wizarding world, in wizarding lands like the Southeast Corner, the concentration of magical energy in the air was too high for a wizard to sustain themselves by simply drinking dew and air. This was especially true for higher-level wizards, otherwise they would have absorbed all the magical energy in the entire wizarding land.

Therefore, in such regions, it was indeed necessary to find ways to quickly replenish wizards’ magical pressure and meet their daily needs for high-energy-density food.

Locke pondered for a moment and realized that while potions would work, they were very expensive.

Not all wizards could replenish their energy by brewing potions like he could, and besides, he couldn’t possibly maintain his daily magical pressure by brewing second-level potions anymore.

Because the cost of second-ring potions has skyrocketed, far exceeding that of first-ring potions.

Locke pondered for a moment and realized a problem: if he planned to leave Golden Crown Mountain for an extended period and travel to other regions, he would indeed find himself unable to replenish his mana pressure. This was

especially true after leaving Cloudswamp Wetlands.

His mana pressure was simply too high, while the mana pressure in some surrounding environments might even be lower than his.

If a Star Ring Wizard entered the Endless Void and approached a small-scale world, he would quickly discover that the so-called small-scale plane was merely a slightly larger sphere floating in the Endless Void.

‘In that case, the application environment for Magic Rice might be wider than I thought. I only travel frequently in various high-energy-density environments; even when I go to low-level wizarding areas, my stay is no more than a few months. But if a high-ring wizard stays there for a long time, in order to maintain their mana pressure and prevent it from declining, they will need to purchase large quantities of Magic Rice.’ “

Therefore, the food problem remains very serious for the wizarding world. A food shortage could severely disrupt communication and exchange between the various wizarding lands.” “

Similarly, magic rice is probably essential for long-term planar exploration.”

Locke told Trajan, “I understand, senior brother. I’ll have my main body cease all activities during this time to prevent any unnecessary complications during the subsequent security checks.” Trajan sent

back a string of laughing emojis.

“It’s alright. When I first learned that the key laboratory at Mount Golden Crown was just to increase the production of magic rice, I also thought it was a bit childish. But later I realized that this rice is the most important thing for mortals, and it’s also very important for us wizards. Without this rice, the territory of our wizarding civilization would shrink by at least a third.”

Wizard Trajan said to Locke, “Anyway, let your main body rest well recently. I’m going to handle the procedures for you now. Don’t let your main body do anything within a week, because it might cause the process to get stuck.”

“Once it gets stuck, no one knows what will happen. Because in my experience, it’s very difficult to get those multiple departments to complete their self-inspection and figure out exactly where the problem is. In most cases, there will be mutual buck-passing, which will cause trouble.”

Locke sent a message to Wizard Trajan: “Okay, I understand, senior brother.”

His main body stayed in the dormitory.

Since that’s the case, his main body can just meditate in the dormitory for a week.

Until he completes the procedures to enter the key laboratory and receives all the relevant information about the sub-project from the witch Catherine.

That must be a project related to the wedding ring.

Locke pondered, “And I wonder what one of the three key laboratories on Golden Crown Mountain looks like. So many wizards are vying to work there; there must be a reason. Even the God of Disguise attacked those key laboratories of the wizarding civilization. That’s a fourth-circle wizard’s laboratory; could it have even more advanced equipment?”

At this moment, Locke’s clone left the dormitory and headed to the second group of dune planes to find Douglas.

One of his clones was still in Dragonfall Lands, conducting business negotiations with the Windseekers’ Holy Land.

The negotiations with the Windseekers’ Holy Lands were extremely complicated. The other side seemed to have a lot of patience in business negotiations, so every percentage point of the dispute required a lot of time to discuss and explore the possible distribution of profits.

That might be the way the wizards of Dragonfall Lands did things, but in any case, if it weren’t for the tradition of the wizards of Cloudswamp Wetlands using clone magic, allowing one person to work for 72 hours a day, he probably would have been dragged out and forced to agree.

Meanwhile, in the Windseekers’ Holy Lands’ meeting room in Dragonfall Lands…

Locke smiled at the several second-circle wizards from the Windwalker’s Sanctuary before him. They wanted him to provide the Attila’s Chain Lightning spell enchantment scroll for free or at a low price, but had no intention of purchasing his spell usage license.

He had come to understand something over this period: for the wizards of the Dragonfall Lands, every possible advantage was incredibly tempting, hence their insistence on this issue.

However…

Locke, observing the two growing increasingly agitated wizards, began to ponder: ‘Strange, why don’t the wizards of the Dragonfall Lands use clone magic to create clones, but instead send two second-circle wizards using their original forms to discuss this with me? Although using both the original form and clones simultaneously would consume more than twice the normal energy, this can be mitigated with potions and sheer willpower; over time, one adapts.’

‘Cloning magic is still more beneficial than harmful.’ ‘

It’s just that it’s slightly more tiring, and the drain on the Light of the Mind is greater.’ “But these can all be compensated for, for example, by finding areas with a high concentration of magical tides…etc…”

Locke smiled wryly, “Yes, I was prejudiced. The biggest side effect of clone magic is the excessive consumption of mental light, which means it is very dependent on a high concentration of magical tides in the surrounding area to replenish mental light. The Three Swamps Land is backed by Cloud Lake, a natural gathering place of magical power, so it naturally has this condition. But the problem is that the natural endowment of the Dragonfall Land is somewhat lacking.” “

So the wizards here naturally don’t like to use clone magic. But judging from the way they can stay up for days and nights to discuss a problem with me, they seem to have other ways.”

The two wizards from the Windbound Holy Land had beads of sweat on their foreheads. They looked at each other and then gave the Star Ring Wizard from Cloud Swamps a thumbs up in their hearts. They both wore special magical artifacts that enhanced their endurance, allowing them to work at maximum efficiency for 24 hours a day. The only price was that their bodies bore a huge burden every moment, requiring them to consume large amounts of magical rice or other high-energy foods every day to replenish their bodies’ consumption.

But this wizard in front of me doesn’t seem to have a crystal artifact like the [Advanced Concentration Crystal], so the fact that he could hold out for so long is truly amazing.

One wizard felt that even with his enhanced focus on the wafers to boost efficiency and maintain peak energy, his body was starting to give out.

“Wizard Augustine,” he said, “our Windbound Sanctuary has agreed to a collaboration between Aladdin and your Silver Peach Garden to develop a combat-oriented flying magical plant centered around the [Great Azure Leaf Dragon Sparrow]. We’ve agreed to your conditions, but this is the first time our Windbound Sanctuary has dealt with flying weapon magical plants, and we’re really unsure of our capabilities. Our bottom line is that you should at least provide Attila’s Lightning Chain free.”

The wizard exchanged a glance with another wizard, communicating through their eyes, then looked at Locke with seemingly sincere eyes.

“If this drags on any longer, none of us can stand it, and it’s a waste of both of our time, especially the time of a genius wizard like yourself. I think Mr. Augustine should make some concessions on the Attila Lightning Chain.”

“After all, we don’t know how well the Great Azure Leaf Dragon Sparrow will perform in the market for flying magical plant weapons; we’re not entirely confident…”

Another wizard took the opportunity to wipe the cold sweat from his brow. He looked at the wafer on the back of his hand; it was a blue, embedded crystal chip, and with his deliberate activation, it showed that it still had 24 hours of operation left.

This wizard suddenly realized something terrifying: if this implanted alchemical item suddenly failed, his highly efficient work ability gained from the Advanced Concentration Wafer would instantly vanish, and all the fatigue would overwhelm him, potentially rendering him unable to work for a month.

The solution was to get up and find a way to leave the meeting room before the wafer ran out of energy, and then find a magic charging station to recharge it.

The entire Dragonfall Lands have an exceptionally high demand for magical energy, so every day, large quantities of alchemical items that can replenish magical energy are imported from other wizarding lands and colonies through various means. Furthermore, due to the existence of the crystal wafers and other rechargeable magical artifacts, magical energy charging stations, similar to gas stations, are set up throughout the Dragonfall Lands.

The wizard said to Locke, “Mr. Locke, I have some urgent business to attend to and need to leave.”

Although Locke didn’t know about the crystal wafer artifacts, he immediately sensed that the wizard was about to give up and wanted to get some fresh air; he couldn’t let him get away with it.

Locke chuckled, “Wait, Wizard Takla. While everyone was having tea and resting, I prepared a document and would like to ask you two to take a look. It won’t take long; let’s look at it together and see if we can resolve our current differences.”

“By the way, this is my clone. So I’m not in a hurry, because I currently have two clones, plus my main body, I can have three operational units. Therefore, you don’t need to worry about wasting my time; after all, I have 72 hours in a day.”

The two exchanged glances, both seeing apprehension and fear in each other’s eyes.

The wizard from Yunze Wetlands was too ruthless.

He had two clones!

His day had 72 hours!

The two looked at each other speechlessly. They were using their own efficient working time to directly compete with Locke’s 72 hours in a day—it was a huge disadvantage, especially since he had been kept up for so long without wavering at all, even using his spare time to prepare a document.

The two were already starting to waver.

Moreover, because Locke wanted to continue the meeting, Wizard Takla couldn’t find an excuse to leave the meeting room to replenish the magical energy of his crystal.

This made him increasingly anxious.

Locke glanced at the wizard Takla, knowing he seemed anxious, meaning the negotiations should end soon.

Negotiating with the wizards of the Windseeker Holy Land was proving incredibly difficult.

Fortunately, he had multiple clones, giving him plenty of time to stall.

He absolutely couldn’t bear the entire cost of enchanting the Great Azure Leaf Dragon Sparrow with Attila’s Lightning Chain; that would be a huge loss.

He had sought cooperation with the Windseeker Holy Land precisely because of their technology, experience, and the ability to share costs. Ideally, the Windseeker Holy Land should bear this cost entirely, and Locke was completely confident in this.

The fact that they had been negotiating this issue for so long indicated they hoped for concessions.

And their desire for concessions likely stemmed from the Windseeker Holy Land’s shared interest in enchanted plants for Attila’s Lightning Chain enchantments.

The two wizards exchanged glances and secretly contacted their superiors to inquire about the next steps.

An hour later, in the same meeting room, both men received a message from their leader: they could cover the cost of enchanting Attila’s Lightning Chain, but they wanted to discuss with Locke whether the technology could be applied to other Windwalker Sanctuaries’ flying machines.

The Wizard Takra immediately told Locke this request with a smile. Just when he thought Locke would most likely agree and compromise, Locke pondered for a moment and said, “I refuse. Attila’s Lightning Chain can currently only be applied to the Great Azure Leaf Dragon Sparrow.”

“Unless the Windwalker Sanctuaries are willing to pay extra for a usage license. Because our current cooperation is based on Aladdin, but I remember Aladdin currently only has two products.”

The Wizard Takra smiled wryly, because negotiating with Locke was also a tough battle for him. He had

initially thought Locke was easy to talk to because of his youth, and that they could get a bargain, but it turned out the other party was far too assertive.

The wizard Takla smiled wryly, “Is there really no room for negotiation? Then we can only continue negotiating, hoping to resolve our differences soon.”

Locke said, “Alright, I happen to have an avatar going to the Abyss. Our Cloud Marsh Wetlands have a wide variety of avatar magic, so even though we’re negotiating here, my avatar can still go to the Abyss to take care of some business.”

The two second-ring wizards exchanged a glance. Was this the confidence of a Star Ring wizard?

They both smiled wryly.

Usually, relying on their crystal artifacts, they held the upper hand in similar negotiations with wizards from other wizarding lands.

Who could outlast them?

But now, the one holding the upper hand in the negotiations was this wizard from Cloud Marsh Wetlands.

The two rarely negotiated with wizards from the Three Marshes Lands, since Dragonfall Lands was located on the edge of the Eastern Boundary, relatively far from the Central Boundary.

Therefore, their sudden encounter with them immediately made them feel uncomfortable.

The wizard Takla was still puzzled.

‘I remember that the clone spell consumes a lot of Mind Light, yet he was able to send a clone into the abyss. He truly is a Star Ring Wizard… Mind Light is indeed powerful.’

…

At Golden Crown Mountain, Locke found Douglas and said to him, ‘Actually, I sensed a long time ago that you possess an ancient soul.’

Douglas’s expression shifted slightly, seemingly anxious. He opened his mouth as if to speak.

Locke waved his hand, saying, “But I don’t care about such things at all. There’s nothing strange about it. Even if that ancient soul was a third-ring wizard in its previous life, don’t forget, I’ve defeated even the reincarnation of a third-ring wizard in the arena. Why should I care about an ancient third-ring soul? I’m not telling you this to pry into your secrets, but to tell you that I wasn’t confident in retrieving that treasure before. After all, that place was already under the watchful eye of the Dark Lord.”

“But it’s different now. I’m a Star Ring Wizard now. I think if we make some preparations, we should be able to bypass the Dark Lord and obtain that treasure.”

Since his main body was essentially prohibited from doing anything for a week, he could focus all his energy on having his clone take Douglas to retrieve the treasure they hadn’t been able to obtain before.

Douglas was somewhat excited, because only by obtaining that treasure could he advance to the second-ring wizard level and awaken his teacher—the Wizard King Lagmamon.

Douglas said to Locke, “Thank you, boss…”

Douglas bowed to Locke. “It wasn’t that I intentionally hid it from you before, it’s just that after I accidentally leaked the information, Brandy the Wizard’s attitude towards me…”

“This made me very afraid that if I told you this information, you would become like that too. But I didn’t expect that; it was really my own narrow-mindedness.”

Even though Locke knew he might have obtained the inheritance of the ancient wizard king, Locke wasn’t tempted in the slightest.

In Douglas’s eyes, this was the difference between Locke and Brandy in their character.

Douglas said, “But the Dark Evil King is a third-ring level being. How can we deceive him, bypass him, and take the treasure?”

(End of this chapter)