Chapter 909
The Second Lesson of the Sea Queen
Chapter 909 The Second Lesson of the Sea Queen
At the boundary between light and darkness, in the old ruins city, inside a stone building shaped like an octopus, a young alchemist was walking outside when he looked up in surprise and saw a golden magical aura flying towards him from the sky.
"Huh? It's a message from the [memorandum] created by Mr. Exupéry. Could it be that something happened at the Corridor of the Past in the Merry Ruins?"
The young alchemist took out something resembling a silencer pen from his astral ring. He raised the silencer pen in his hand, and instantly the golden magical aura floating in the air was absorbed into it.
The excessively young alchemist looked at the silencer pen in his hand and immediately grinned.
"Mr. Exupéry's memo is really useful."
"It actually works. It was just something he made a month ago. I thought it was just a whim of his."
"This is... the combat log."
After the young alchemist examined the contents, his expression changed slightly.
"This is..."
"Russell's Throne, and a young wizard I've never seen before."
"The Golden Construct of the Eye Demon was actually defeated in such a way. This must be shown to the teachers in the genius class..."
……
At the boundary between light and darkness, the ancient ruins of Meili, beyond the corridor of yesteryear.
Locke and Russell emerged from this corridor of the past, and the corridor behind them, which had always been filled with the aura of golden magic, suddenly disappeared downwards.
The corridor simply vanished from the spot.
Locke was surprised when he turned around, but he quickly realized that the corridor at the boundary between light and darkness was likely a wizard's secret realm.
In other words, it was an important wizard resource point.
If Russell's throne hadn't been meant to take him in, he would never have been able to get in.
Locke glanced at Russell's throne. The person in front of him was definitely not easy to get along with. He seemed to be asking him if he wanted to join the Golden Spell project, but in reality, he had chosen him. In order to get him to agree, he even used his authority to take him into a wizarding secret realm at least at the second level of the boundary between light and darkness.
Locke somewhat understood why this student of the throne would suddenly betray him.
After Locke figured this out, he wasn't particularly afraid. After all, he had the Red Dragon Throne behind him, and he was a student of the Red Dragon Throne. With his teacher as his backer, he would be much safer when interacting with other thrones.
After Locke and Russell left the Corridor of the Past, on their way back to the location of the Golden Grail Tournament, they unexpectedly encountered the wizard Leon Newman from Ancient Vine Village, as well as an acquaintance of theirs... Rose the Witch.
The wizard Leon Newman seemed to have had some kind of argument with the witch Rose, both of them were a little red-faced, so when Locke and the Russell Throne approached them, neither of them even reacted for a moment.
The wizard Leon Newman said to the witch Rose, “Enough. I don’t need you to belittle me. If you think you can belittle me and make me work for you with your attacks, you’re delusional.”
Rose the witch narrowed her beautiful eyes, suppressing her anger.
"I am objectively evaluating your abilities and analyzing your future. With your abilities, you are not on the same level as Locke or me."
Wizard Leon Newman sneered, "You're saying that with my abilities, I could never defeat Locke Augustine on my own? Nor could I defeat you? Just because you beat me in the Rainbow Cup, and Augustine beat me in the Golden Cup, you think my potential can't possibly match either of you..."
Rose the witch was a little confused.
"Is not it?"
"This is the objective reality..."
Wizard Leon Newman immediately retorted, “We wizards of Ancient Vine Village are never afraid of a challenge! So what if you lose two in a row? You just wait, Rose the Witch. I will continue to challenge you. Boasting is certainly the right of the victor, but if you lose next time, I will laugh at you just the same way.”
Rose the witch was dumbfounded.
"I...you...I didn't mean to insult you, you..."
Wizard Leon Newman turned to leave, and in that instant he saw the expressionless Russell Throne. He paused for a moment, then immediately bowed to the Russell Throne, and as he stood up, he glared at Locke.
Locke was speechless.
What does this have to do with me?
Locke looked at Rose the Witch, who in turn looked at Russell's throne with surprise, bowed to him, then crossed her arms and watched as the wizard Leon Newman stormed off.
After Leon Newman had walked away completely, Locke said to Rose the Witch, "I didn't expect to meet you here. Leon Newman is a straightforward and simple man. Of course he would be angry if you spoke to him like that."
"However, he doesn't have any bad intentions. It's just that you provoked him like this, and he might target you and me in the future."
Rose the Witch snorted coldly.
"It doesn't matter. He'll just be second or third forever anyway. With his talent, even if I wait for him for ten years and stay in the same place, he still won't be able to catch up with me."
Rose the Witch couldn't contain her anger and said, "I hate arrogant people the most."
She looked at Locke and said, "By the way, my former business partner, now the new administrative director of Silver Peach Garden, it seems we're going to have a showdown along the Tianjiang River as well."
Rose the Witch said, "I advise you to go to the Tianjiang Riverbank as soon as possible. Don't let your negligence there cause you to lose her favor before the Red Dragon Throne."
Rose the Witch seemed to have thought of something, and a malicious smile curled at the corner of her lips as she said, "Your greatest guarantee of maintaining your position on the Red Dragon Throne is about to disappear."
Locke looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Rose, as things stand right now, you seem to be at a disadvantage in both the Wizard Shoe Shop Alliance and the Magic Plant Shop Alliance. You'd better not be so optimistic."
"After all, I don't like arrogant guys either."
A red light flashed in Rose's eyes.
"you……"
She glanced at Russell's throne and said, "There's no former ally I can't handle. Locke, good luck."
She turned and left, failing to sign Leon Newman, and instead being berated by him, which greatly annoyed Rose.
She never expected that Leon Newman, that idiot, would dare to curse her directly.
Locke watched her retreating figure, frowning. He wondered what the Rose Throne's academic lineage was planning to do, and why Rose would say such things.
Forget it.
Locke pondered, "Rose is acting erratically; it's best not to believe everything she says. After all, it's what the enemy is saying."
Russell laughed at Locke and joked, "It seems that beautiful witch is bothering you. Youth is wonderful; I was just as lively as you when I was young."
Locke was genuinely bewildered and somewhat frightened: "Your Majesty, you've misunderstood my relationship with her."
The Russell Throne chuckled. “I was just as popular as you were when I was young. But things have been very different since I became a Supreme Court Justice.”
Russell's expression turned serious.
"However, that witch seems to be on the verge of becoming a Star Ring Wizard. I saw the flames from the second forging."
"That's a flame that only appears when a powerful magic spell is forged a second time."
Locke also looked serious.
Rose the Witch is undoubtedly ahead of her in terms of magical level advancement, which has certainly put some pressure on her.
However, obtaining information about the Golden Curse at the border between the obscure and the bright was an unexpected bonus.
With this information, I may be able to continue to improve the two great magic spells.
Locke inquired of the Russell Throne, "Your Majesty, are there any traces of archaeological wizards appearing in the area where light and darkness meet?"
"Of course," said the Russell Throne. "The border between darkness and light possesses the most historical resources of the major wizarding lands in the Eastern Boundary."
"This is a holy land for archaeological wizards. Many unauthorized archaeological wizards use this method to smuggle themselves in. The witcher squad here also has the special duty of hunting them down."
Locke made no attempt to hide his thoughts.
"Then, are there Black and White Magic Codexes at the boundary between the Dark and the Light?"
The Russell Throne looked at him and said, “No. Even if a Black or White Grimoire fell into our hands, it would be traded away. But that kind of situation is extremely rare. Every Black or White Grimoire is a treasure in the dark wizarding world, a rare gem, a true priceless treasure.”
"You're an archaeology wizard too, aren't you? The Black and White Grimoire is related to something called Historical Aura. Aura is man-made, and I don't know the specifics. Wizards who haven't come into contact with the Black and White Grimoire don't have the means to create or store Historical Aura. Therefore, ordinary wizards can only progress to the first level of archaeology wizard."
"And a first-level archaeological magic model is insufficient to explore the secrets of the boundary between darkness and light."
Locke nodded slightly; that was indeed the case.
If it weren't for the fake tomb of the archaeological patriarch he discovered in the Three Caves World, he truly wouldn't have mastered the power of history.
After thinking for a moment, the Russell Throne suddenly spoke up: "But if you are interested, you can go and take a look at the Cold Mountain Ruins. I once heard that fifty years ago, a Sun Ring-level archaeology wizard organized a team to go to the Cold Mountain Ruins to steal the tomb of a wizard king from the Age of Stars. As a result, the entire team, and even the entire academy, died in that ruin."
"But if you're going, I hope you can finish the special grant you have on hand before you go."
Locke asked, "Why?"
"I don't want you to die before you finish the Golden Spell project I gave you," said the Russell Throne.
"Among the five ruins at the border of darkness and light, only three ruin city clusters are actually normal living areas comparable to other wizarding lands. Two of these ruin city clusters, including the Cold Mountain Ruins, are extremely dangerous areas. Ordinary second-ring wizards face a high risk of death there. Only wizards with Star Rings or higher who possess Star Rings can go there safely."
Locke hadn't expected it to turn out this way.
"If that's the case, why is that area still considered a cluster of cities?"
Russell said, “One is that there are abundant resources in these places, and the other is that although these two places are out of control, compared to the other barren wildernesses at the border of light and darkness, these two places still have some low-level wizard apprentices and mortals who can survive under the protection of high-ring wizards.”
"It's just that the Cold Mountain Ruins are more like a doomsday scenario. There's no need for them to go there. Even our demon-hunting forces at the border of darkness and light rarely set foot in them. The Cold Mountain Ruins are also a place where archaeological wizards often sneak in without permission."
"It is unknown how many archaeological wizards died among them."
The Russell Throne smiled slightly. "It seems you're not part of the archaeological wizarding circle. Otherwise, you should have heard of the Cold Mountain Ruins long ago." "It's a sacred place that every archaeological wizard wants to conquer, and also a graveyard for you archaeological wizards. I know of quite a few archaeological wizards who have died there. And in the example I just told you about, fifty years ago, they did indeed seem to have brought the Black and White Codex into the Cold Mountain Ruins."
"But the black and white magic book has disappeared without a trace."
"It could have been destroyed by a dangerous force within the Hanshan Ruins, or it could have already been acquired by someone else."
Locke bowed to Russell's throne.
"Thank you for your guidance, Your Majesty."
After Locke bowed to him and said a few more polite words, he bid him farewell. After all, the Golden Grail War was over, and he needed to return to Cloud Marsh Wetlands. He also needed to send an avatar to Dragonfall Land to complete the final contract with the Windbringer Holy Land.
Locke frowned after leaving.
"Did the Russell Throne realize that I wanted to use the power of archaeology to obtain the trajectory of the sun? But he shouldn't know that I have a parallel history spell."
Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to tell me about the ancient ruins of Hanshan.
Since the Cold Mountain Ruins are so dangerous, and he needs to complete the Golden Curse himself to fully revive Golden Wheat.
Of course, it's also possible that he just had a vague guess about it.
In any case, this person is much more complicated than he appears, so it's best to keep a certain distance from him.
After Locke left, a golden three-headed dog appeared behind Russell's throne.
The Golden Cerberus asked the Russell Throne, "That young wizard was indeed interesting. But is this a good idea? After the path of the Junior Prodigy Class was already decided and the future direction of alchemy was set, you brought people outside the Junior Prodigy Class into the Third Ring Secret Realm, the Corridor of the Past. That is the most core resource at the boundary between the Dark and the Light."
"It is also the safest secret realm, one of the secrets to our enduring strength."
"You actually brought in some random outsider."
"His magic level is low," said the Russell Throne. "Even if he enters the Corridor of the Past, he won't be able to see its true form. The Corridor of the Past can unlock the full potential of a wizard's golden bloodline. I brought him in to observe his potential in golden magic."
"As for what you mean by what's above... what's above doesn't really mean anything. They'll take any opportunity that comes their way. Around the time they decided on the development path, they suddenly wrote to me asking for advice on the topic of the ancestral golden foxtail grass and the green foxtail grass. This makes me think that this is more than just a coincidence."
The golden three-headed dog let out a muffled laugh.
"Is this why you interfered with the selection of topics for their top-tier grant?"
Russell asked him in return.
"Interference? He initiated the relationship with me. Secondly, I don't believe I can distort Augustine's will with just this method. In the Corridor of the Past, he himself wanted to get on my side."
"However, this is just a casual move I made. I've already lost the power struggle in the council at the border between the obscure and the bright. Making casual moves like this occasionally won't threaten anyone."
The three-headed golden dog said, "Do as you please. As the divine beast that guards the boundary between darkness and light, I will always remain neutral."
……
Locke found Barrett and returned to the Wizard's Inn with him.
He and Barrett first took a nice bath together in the bathhouse behind the wizard's inn to relax.
Locke rubbed his temples.
Spending the day with Russell's throne was really stressful.
He needs to constantly resist the influence of Russell's throne on him, and prevent his overly assertive thinking from influencing him in turn.
Barrett the wizard looked at Locke with some concern. He remained in the bathtub and asked Locke, "Team leader, why do you seem so restless since you came back tonight? Did something happen?"
Locke said, "It's nothing. I'm just a little confused, and there are some things I haven't sorted out."
"The different thrones seem to have completely different ways of doing things and personalities. Today I met with Throne Russell, who is completely different from Throne Red Dragon and Throne Sea Queen."
The pressure of being next to that Russell on the throne is indeed immense.
He may seem to speak gently, but his thoughts are actually very intrusive and can subtly bring pressure to those around him.
If you disagree with him, the pressure will increase.
No wonder his former student council couldn't stand him.
Of course, as an outsider, I don't know the details of what happened, so I can't comment.
Barrett was overjoyed to learn that Locke had spent almost an entire afternoon conversing with the Russell Throne.
“Team leader, I’ve been living in the border area between the dark and light worlds these past few days, and I’ve often heard the people there praising Justice Russell. The fact that you were able to spend an afternoon alone with that justice is truly… amazing.”
"The wizards and mortals at the border between darkness and light must envy you so much."
Locke smiled and said, "No, you wouldn't think that way if you actually came into contact with it."
Barrett looked puzzled.
Locke then began to think.
I also consulted some information about the Cold Mountain Ruins through the Water Hyacinth System. According to the information and Russell's Throne, it was indeed inconvenient for me to go there before becoming a Star Ring Wizard.
You can go there after you become a Star Ring Wizard.
For now, I can focus my attention on the top-tier funding projects.
At the same time, Locke was forced to recall the battle with the golden construct of the Eye Demon in the corridor of the past, and these memories were forced to appear in his mind again and again.
As these memories recurred, the Golden Vision Spell was so deeply etched into his mind.
"Ever since I entered the Corridor of the Past and came out again, I seem to have become more sensitive to golden magic."
Locke looked up at the golden sun in the sky, and saw that the sun above the open-air bath of the wizard's tavern once again gave him a fleeting glimpse of the ancient city complex that seemed to come from another world.
not good.
Locke closed his eyes.
These illusions have even taken over, influencing one's judgment, occupying one's thoughts, and forcibly taking away one's attention.
Once you get back, it would be best to concoct some magic potions yourself to suppress this trend.
I've seen too many illusions in this place where light and darkness meet. If this continues, I might not be able to distinguish between reality and illusion.
I wonder if this is a side effect of entering that corridor of the past.
Locke said to Barrett with his eyes closed, "Barrett, we'll take the wizard airship back tomorrow."
Barrett was a little puzzled as to why Locke was in such a hurry to leave, but he didn't object. "Okay."
……
Locke's clone of the Ancient Tree Fruit arrived at the academy located in the Root Crown Court of Cloud Marsh Wetlands, and went to the Sea Queen's office to hand over his second clone potion creation to the Sea Queen.
The Sea Queen did not take the clone potion. Instead, she looked at Locke, frowned, and said, "I know you will do your best and work hard to refine the clone potion, but there is no need to go to such lengths."
Locke paused for a moment.
"Lady Helen..."
According to the Sea Queen's request, he and she are not in a master-disciple relationship, but are currently only in a relationship of assistance formed through the Feathered Serpent Pavilion.
Therefore, I cannot call her teacher.
The Sea Queen said, "You are covered in spiritual energy, as if you just crawled out of the Spirit Pool."
"Indeed, some potion masters mistakenly believe that if a potion master can immerse himself in the Spirit Pool, he may be able to improve his talent in potion making."
"But... such a view is too extreme, and it's more likely that your soul has been devoured by those spiritual forces. Let me see the work you've created under such desperate circumstances."
The Sea Queen took the bottle of clone potion from Locke's hand. "Hmm? Surprisingly not bad, quite unexpected. I thought that with all your hard work, the potion you made would be just so-so."
The Sea Queen inhaled the scent of the potion with satisfaction, then examined the spirit within.
"Not bad, you've made a very good potion. This shouldn't be your first time making a clone potion, otherwise many details wouldn't be so perfect."
"You have indeed modified the Linghong modification of Ermingchan according to my requirements. Now we can move on to the next step."
Locke bowed and said, "Lady Helen, thank you for teaching me the Spirit Combination Technique. Lady Helen, will you be teaching a new potion in the second lesson?"
Helen Throne said, "No. It's still the clone potion."
"The Doppelganger Potion is a classic potion, and many variations can be created from it. The Archangel Potion is the most difficult potion among ordinary second-level potions. With your current level, I think it would normally take you fifteen to twenty years to learn the Archangel Potion."
"You have completely underestimated the difficulty of the fifth round of the Quetzalcoatl's Ladder. However, as long as you follow me and learn all the variations of the Doppelganger Potion, it will become possible for you to learn the Archangel Potion within ten years."
"You're lucky to have met me. Otherwise, no matter how talented you are, if you were to learn on your own and go astray, you would have wasted decades of your life. And if you had met a muddle-headed potion master teacher, you would have been truly ruined."
Helen's Throne notified the wizards in the Rapid Advancement Class through the Water Hyacinth System that they would be having a second lesson, and it would be about the Doppelganger Potion, albeit an advanced variation.
Immediately, the group was filled with groans of despair.
Many wizards told the Throne Wizard that they hadn't even learned how to make a basic clone potion, so how could they possibly continue to the second lesson?
But Neptune seemed to be in a very good mood upon seeing this content, and began to hum softly.
The Sea Queen laughed and said, "These wizards who have no talent, I don't know why, insist on taking my classes."
Locke even had a feeling that His Majesty the Throne was doing it on purpose.
(End of this chapter)