Chapter 916
Super Planet Type Dimensions and Special Funding
Chapter 916 Super Planet Type Dimensions and Special Funding
Locke used the Golden Wheat to absorb Douglas's magical radiance, then placed his body into his Astral Ring before quickly leaving.
His Ancient Tree Fruit clone encountered Antoine at the Feathered Serpent Pavilion.
Inside the quiet room of the Feathered Serpent Pavilion, Antoine said to Locke, "That's roughly the situation. We need eight Name Potions to carry special names and enter a special area within the World Ruins located in the Siming Waters."
Locke nodded and asked casually, "What are you going to do in that special area of the wizard's ruins?"
Antoine stated bluntly, "In the world ruins in the Siming Waters, we encountered a peculiar set of fluctuations. After analysis, it is very likely a force energy fluctuation signal from a special plane. Do you know what a planetary type plane is?"
"Some special planetary planes radiate energy outward in the form of specific fluctuations; otherwise, the plane's energy would be too high due to its special size. Therefore, many special mechanics fluctuations are themselves studied from planetary planes. We now suspect that a unique planetary plane is hidden behind that world ruin."
Locke only half understood what he was hearing.
"Isn't this what astronomical wizards study? Perhaps you could collaborate with the wizards of Storm Tower."
Antoine chuckled and said, "Forget about Storm Tower. We don't even know if their Wizard Smith is still alive from the black market of the Twin Demon Realms. It would be ridiculous if he were sold to a colony."
"The endless void is so vast that finding someone is both easy and difficult."
"Finding astronomical wizards would certainly be helpful to us. But having so many wizards from the Temple of Truth on Mount Golden Crown exploring that plane together, searching for that possible superplanet, would be more than enough."
Locke asked doubtfully, "A super planet?"
Antoine nodded and said, "Yes. Based on the waveforms we captured, it is almost certain that it is a planetary plane, but it does not belong to the scale or magnitude of any planetary planes that the wizards have discovered before. However, so far, everything we know is deduced from the Queen's Chessboard."
"But if our operation this time can yield crucial discoveries within that world's ruins, then just studying that super-planetary dimension would certainly be enough to support some of us in obtaining top-tier funding programs."
Locke paused for a moment.
Then, Antoine laughed and said, "You didn't expect that, did you? Most wizards on Mount Golden Crown now believe that only those who follow the magical plant crystallization technology route can obtain this year's special grant program for Mount Golden Crown."
"But they certainly didn't expect that we would make such a big discovery when we entered the Siming waters. However, the premise is that these discoveries are real; if they are fake, then they are of no use."
Locke nodded. While Antoine was speaking, he used the Potion Extraction Method to extract the spiritual essence from the relic fragments Antoine had brought him, and at the same time, he concocted eight bottles of Name Potion.
"Here you go, these are eight bottles of Name Potion. And this is the bottle of Doppelganger Potion I promised you."
Antoine looked surprised.
"Hmm? That's fast."
"In just half an hour, you were able to concoct eight bottles of second-level magic potions using such rudimentary conditions."
Locke paused for a moment, then realized that Antoine was an amateur, which was why he thought the Name Potion was a second-circle potion. Potions masters like them would never think that such a thing could be a second-circle potion.
With my current spiritual awareness, I could easily concoct something like this. However, it's also because my potion-making skills have improved rapidly since I started learning potions from the Sea Queen.
Locke's spiritual awareness was nearly exhausted at this moment, but the reason he was able to refine eight bottles of Name Potions in half an hour was because he used the technique that the Sea Queen had taught him before, which collided the two Spirit Potions he extracted from the relic stone with each other, turning the two Spirit Potions into four.
In any case, the Name Potion is essentially just a version of the Potion macro, only another way of displaying the macro, and doesn't need to be very precise at all.
Locke nodded and said, "It's alright. As agreed before, you need to give me five million magic stones."
Antoine nodded and handed him five hundred magic crystal cards.
Locke smiled. As expected of a reincarnated third-ring wizard, he was truly generous, giving him five million magic stones without batting an eye.
After all, something as cheap as Name Potion isn't worth that much.
Selling it for 10,000 magic stones wouldn't be very reasonable.
It's just liquid spirit macro.
However, I wouldn't say I was wronging him, since Antoine's request involved confidentiality and quality requirements.
If he were to ask someone else, there would be a risk of his secret being leaked.
Antoine smiled at Locke and said, "With these, we won't be attacked by the guards in the ruins. But after knowing all this, aren't you a little worried? You know, there's only one top-tier funding project a year."
Locke poured himself a cup of herring tea and took a sip.
"What do I have to be nervous about?"
"Your super planetary plane hasn't even been seen yet, so it's not easy to convince the judges with something that's just a rumor. Besides, even without the discovery of your super planetary plane—and if it were even possible to discover it, there would still be a magical plant crystallization technology route."
Antoine asked in surprise, "You haven't gotten into that technical route yet? Why? Is it because you don't have the resources? If you don't have the resources, I can introduce you to some. In my foolish past, I knew some shady friends, and they have a lot of connections."
Locke shook his head.
"It's just that my energy is limited."
Antoine smiled, a surprised expression on his face.
"It's because of interesting people like you that I feel like I'm truly living in this world."
"Wonderful. This is the first time I've ever seen such a confident wizard."
Locke said, "It's not confidence, but self-awareness, knowing that I don't have the energy to be distracted."
Antoine said in a low voice, "Alright. Now that you know how to make clone potions, I'd like you to help me make other potions, specifically double clone potions."
Locke said, "I don't know what that is; I've never heard of it."
Antoine said, “Ordinary second-circle wizards might not have heard of it. It’s a variant of the Double Doppelganger Potion. I don’t need it right now. I didn’t originally intend to say it, but it doesn’t matter now. If you can make it, I can pay a high price for a bottle of Double Doppelganger Potion.”
Locke nodded after hearing this and stood up.
"Sure. Antoine, good luck."
Antoine raised the wizard's tea, making a toasting gesture.
"Then I wish you good luck. I hope your research will be fruitful."
"Let's have another showdown over the top-tier funding. If I can confirm the existence of that super planet through that special fluctuation, then you should know that it means I'll definitely get the top-tier funding."
"Moreover, this will also be of great benefit to our Golden Crown Mountain and our Senate faction."
Locke nodded.
Antoine's position in the Senate was clearly higher than his position on the Academic Committee, so he knew many of the Senate's development directions.
'Indeed, I was too focused on the conflict between the Rose School and my own. I forgot that the world is dynamic; whoever falls behind will fall behind in every step. The Senate is certainly trying to regain the power it lost after the Three Rivers Tournament and the Silent Grail War.'
Locke left the Feathered Serpent Pavilion and headed to the Witch's Kitchen.
Because I had arranged to meet Warwick the Wizard at the Witch's Kitchen today.
……
In the Witch's Kitchen, in Room 1, the witch Droma meets with a Moon Ring witch from the Rose Council. Droma sits opposite him and seems very excited.
“My lord, if you entrust this project to me, I will certainly complete it perfectly according to Master Patrick Finch’s ideas.”
The Moon Ring Witch, dressed in a bright red and purple rose wizard's robe, smiled and said to the witch Droma, "This project I have is prepared by Master Patrick Finch for outstanding young people like you. The project materials are very complete, and the preliminary experimental data are also available. With a little organization, we can write a special grant application in a week at most, and we are guaranteed to receive the special grant."
"But why should we help you?"
The wizard Zhuoma immediately calmed down, and said somewhat awkwardly, "I am just a lowly wizard on Golden Crown Mountain. I really don't have anything I can do to help Master Patrick Finch."
The Moon Ring Witch chuckled.
“What are you thinking? Our Master Patrick Finch is not from the Rose School, and there is no conflict between him and the school behind you. The Rose Council and Mount Golden Crown are not hostile to each other, and can even be allies in many cases.”
"The seven top wizarding universities in Yunze Wetland are constantly splitting and uniting, so who is a long-term enemy? What do I need you for? I'm not a dark wizard either."
Zhuoma realized she had misunderstood and immediately put on an apologetic smile.
"I'm sorry, sir. I was overthinking it. But I'm hardworking and resilient, and I will definitely do whatever I want to do."
The Moon Witch stood up and said, "Let's leave it at that for now."
The sorceress Zhuoma paused for a moment, then looked up and asked, "Huh?"
"grown ups……"
The Moon Witch said, "I only asked to meet you today for a brief encounter. I still have to meet some other wizards. I need to find the best young wizard for Master Patrick Finch, so that his hard work won't be wasted."
"If you have anything to say later, you can continue to contact me."
The Moon Ring Witch left Room 1.
The sorceress Zhuoma immediately followed, wanting to speak, but at that moment, she unexpectedly saw Locke.
His heart skipped a beat.
Could the best wizard that the wizard of the Rose Council was talking about be Locke Augustine?
To the relief of Wizard Zhuoma, Locke brushed past the Moon Ring Witch, merely nodding politely to her as a sign of the respect due to a wizard of a higher magical level.
The Moon Ring Witch of the Rose Council glanced at Locke with curiosity. Turning to Droma, she asked, "That wizard must be Locke Augustine, right?"
The sorceress, Droma, nodded stiffly, feeling somewhat guilty.
The Moon Ring Witch laughed and said, "I've heard of him in the Rose Council. He once gave a test to a wizard in a key laboratory at our Rose Council's Breeding Academy. Later, one of our Sun Ring Witches revealed the true nature of that test that stumped so many of us after he left."
"It seems to be a special kind of spiritual energy."
"I was very impressed with him."
"I remember him as an excellent breeder."
The wizard Zhuoma immediately whispered, "But...but...I heard that this wizard hasn't done any research on magical plant crystallization at all. Although everyone has only started for a month or two, in the current situation, whoever starts a month first will have the advantage. By the time this wizard starts his research, the relevant equipment in his laboratory may not even be fully in place yet."
"Moreover, I heard that he himself is not very interested in the magic plant crystallization technology."
The Moon Witch's expression immediately vanished, and she nodded.
"That's a pity. It seems he won't get the special grant this year. Well, the difficulty level has inexplicably increased, making it even harder than the regular second-tier grant."
Droma knew she meant that when a second-circle wizard first applies for the second-circle grant, their application will be bundled into the weak group, and will not appear in the same group of books held by the judges as the Sun-circle wizards and Moon-circle wizards.
This will greatly increase the chances of your application being approved.
Many wizarding colleges prefer to recruit wizards who have just become second-circle wizards, and this is because they want to take advantage of the fact that it's easier for someone else to get a second-circle grant on their first application.
The number of grants a wizard in a college can apply for is also part of the strength of that wizarding university.
The Moon Ring Wizard said, "That's true, he's still young. He's very ambitious, but once he hits a few more walls, he'll realize that it's easier to walk the path with everyone else."
"These days, why bother with traditional breeding and magical plant research? Only by pursuing magical plant crystallization research can you embrace the times. Anyone who doesn't follow this path will be abandoned by the times. It's like in the mortal world, before the invention of farming tools, people had to use their hands to grow crops, but after the invention of farming tools, mortal farmers use farming tools to grow crops."
The Moon Ring Witch chuckled softly.
"But many wizards still believe that growing crops with farm tools is soulless. The current magical plant crystallization technology is also encountering these problems, and many wizards have publicly expressed their opinions on this research direction."
The sorceress Zhuoma was deeply moved by what she heard.
“Crystallized magical plants are indeed the future. As long as crystallized magical plants can be successfully researched, Master Patrick Finch might even become a fourth-circle wizard in the future.”
The Moon Ring Witch said, "Currently, the magic plant crystallization technology improves every six months. Based on this pattern, the technology is developing very rapidly, and there seems to be no upper limit."
A smile appeared on Droma's face.
"It's a real shame that Locke didn't pursue this technical path. Hopefully, he'll come to his senses in the future."
The Moon Ring Witch glanced at the Wizard of Droma and suddenly said out of the blue, "If you don't enter now, you'll fall behind when you do. In the wizarding world, falling behind even once means falling behind at every step."
"Everyone else is embracing the times, but you are not, and you will be abandoned by the times."
Suddenly, the wizard Zhuoma felt as if something had been stuffed into his head, and he became very agitated. He desperately wanted the project that the Moon Ring Witch had.
Even if he could get a top-tier funding project, it would be of great help to him.
What made his expression change drastically was that he saw the Brandy Wizard walking to the door, and the Brandy Wizard clearly made eye contact with the Moon Ring Witch of the Rose Council.
Clearly, the Moon Witch was waiting for the Brandy Wizard.
The Brandy Wizard glanced at the Droma Wizard, and his eyes also showed a hint of caution.
The Moon Ring Witch glanced at the witch Droma and continued, "As your senior, I have something to tell you: in anything, only those who get the first bite of food benefit the most."
"If you don't get ahead of others, once you miss your chance, it's gone forever, and you'll never have another chance to make up for it..."
Both the Brandy Wizard and the Droma Wizard became nervous.
There was a clear sense of anxiety in their eyes.
……
Inside room number 3, Locke met Warwick. Warwick was extremely anxious. He looked at Locke with a fawning smile and said, "Locke, it's been a long time."
"Now you are a second-circle Grand Wizard."
Warwick still looked like a silver werewolf, with a silver, naturally occurring demonic eye on his forehead.
"Let me see that travelogue you mentioned."
Locke placed the travelogue on the table, and after Warwick read it, he immediately scanned it with his innate magical eye and said, "Is this the travelogue? It is indeed shrouded in powerful archaeological magic."
“But I can use the magic on the abyss side to bypass it.”
The Eye of Wisdom on his forehead suddenly emitted a dazzling silver light, and Locke looked at him as if he saw an endless spiral vortex in his eyes.
The silvery spirituality connects to nowhere, endless and infinitely overlapping.
Warwick Wizard took a half step back. "There's a clue."
"This person has traveled to the Endless Abyss."
Warwick seemed somewhat delirious. "He has ventured into the depths of the Abyss, and he has left many traces there."
Locke looked at the spirituality in him and immediately realized that his belief that the essence of the Abyss was chaos during his first stage of cultivation was probably a erroneous and superficial understanding.
Because the abyssal power emanating from the Warwick wizard before us doesn't seem to be chaotic, but rather gives off a feeling of infinite possibilities.
Could it be that this is a kind of infinity?
No.
Locke immediately realized that this was because he had been thinking about the spell model of the Tree of Prosperity recently, so he was looking at the power of the abyss from the perspective of the study of the four seasons.
"The power of the abyss seems to possess a certain multi-layered nature."
Locke said in a low voice, "I thought that after becoming a second-circle wizard, I would completely sever my connection with this power, but I never expected to discover new possibilities from the power of the abyss."
At this moment, the wizard Warwick stepped forward, his Eye of Wisdom on his forehead observing the past and present of the travelogue and seeing through its secrets.
"This man possesses the rank of Baron of the Abyss. He once walked in the Abyss and left his mark there. He is... Maxwell."
Locke immediately looked at the wizard Warwick, his eyes serious.
Warwick sat down, panting, and looked up at Locke with great anticipation.
"How was it? Was it helpful to you?"
Locke began using the water hyacinth system to access information but found no records of the wizard's works.
Maxwell...
Isn't that the name of the legendary archaeologist who left a line of text in the fake tomb of the Loom Princess, pointing out the Tower of the Sun's act of tampering with history?
Is it a coincidence?
No, it shouldn't be.
But if this travelogue records a historical war from 500 years ago, then Maxwell, the archaeologist, was actually a figure from this era.
Locke sat down and began to think.
Warwick did not disturb Locke, who was deep in thought.
Half an hour later, he couldn't help but speak up: "It's possible that he didn't use his real name when he published his work, but another name. If someone uses a pseudonym the moment they enter wizarding university, then all their subsequent publications will also use a pseudonym. If we use special magic to find out their real name, we can't pinpoint them through their academic works."
Locke said, "It can be like this?"
Warwick looked surprised.
"This is fundamental for archaeologists. I just didn't come from a good background, so I didn't pay attention to this aspect at first, and now it's too late even if I wanted to. But Locke, aren't you the least qualified person to say that? Is your real name really Locke Augustine?"
Locke looked at the wizard Warwick and asked in surprise, "Isn't that so?"
Warwick the wizard spread his hands and said, "Your real name is protected by magic, and I cannot know it. Aren't you the only one who can know it?"
Locke fell silent again.
The information Warwick the Wizard gave him left him somewhat bewildered once again.
What do you mean my real name isn't Locke Augustine?
The key point is that if the other person is referring to their name from a past life, that name cannot be protected by magic. A name protected by magic can only be...
Could it be that……
Is it the real name of this body?
Locke's heart sank. He had initially thought there was no need to go back to Corfu, but now it seemed that he still needed to make the trip.
Locke asked old Warwick, "Knowing his name is useless. Is there any way to get more information about him?"
Old Warwick spread his hands.
"Well... I don't have any better ideas either."
(End of this chapter)