Wizards: Starting with Synthetic Gems

Chapter 837 Thirty-five million magic stones in income and the determination to go further!

The Wizarding World, on the edge of the Golden Crown Mountain region, the capital of the Mortal Empire.

The bodies of the three second-ring dark wizards in the mortal world turned into sand drifting in the wind and disappeared. Hussein was not surprised to see this.

He crossed his arms, looked at Locke, and said, "Locke, you really made a swift move. Seasonal Magic, World War."

Hussein's right eye, transformed into a blood mirror, witnessed the entire process of Locke's world war against the three dark wizards.

It can only be said that even for ordinary wizards, starting a world war is not as easy as it is for Locke.

This is something Hussein cannot understand.

It's as if the ultimate magic Locke proved was very different from the ultimate magic he proved.

Locke said to Hussein, "It's alright. These three dark wizards brought me quite a few good things. So there's no need to thank me."

Hussein laughed and said, "I used the Holy Blood Sacrifice to curse them for you, which further reduced their magical pressure and also helped you dismantle one of their backup plans in advance."

Locke asked, "What do you mean?"

Hussein became serious and asked Locke, "What if those three dark wizards used a vampire transformation curse to attract your subordinates, turning them into vampires and allowing them to enjoy a different kind of immortality?"

Locke frowned immediately.

Hussein said, “I foresaw this. After all, I know that for mortals, immortality, even if it is just an alternative form of immortality, which is to be eternally cursed with pain, is very tempting for many of them. Unless, I let them enjoy the eternal curse while taking something else away from them.”

"wisdom."

Hussein pointed to the three holy blood sacrificial hands formed from the three drops of blood at his feet. These were three large hands made of blood, a standard feature of vampire magic. However, the power they possessed was completely different depending on the wizard who used them.

"This is the Primal Blood Curse I invented. Through bloodlines and reproduction, I cursed three vampire clans in the Heidelberg Plane, robbing them of their intelligence. So, in your eyes and those of your apprentices, these vampires are nothing more than a bunch of beasts with little intelligence left."

A tiger's eye appeared on Locke's forehead. It swept over the three tentacles and sensed the terrifying curse contained within them. The high-level curse's geometric formula was so complex that Locke couldn't understand it at all.

Every step was filled with ingenious ideas.

Clearly, this was a spell that Hussein invented on his own.

Hussein pointed to the curse and said, “This is a curse that can steal the wisdom of sinners. The deeper the sins, the stronger the curse. I stole the wisdom from the vampires of that world. That’s why you don’t need to worry about your Rangers being turned.”

Locke knew what he was talking about.

After all, to enjoy a severely flawed form of 'immortality,' one must at least retain a considerable degree of intelligence.

If they were to be transformed into vampires, they would be on the verge of becoming half-beasts, or their intelligence would be significantly degraded, leading to personality distortion or severe changes. Naturally, the allure of being transformed into a vampire would be greatly diminished for them.

Locke pondered for a moment and realized that Hussein's preemptive move had indeed been of great help to him.

Moreover, this original blood curse has been infused with extremely powerful magic runes, seemingly Hussein's core magic.

'The earlier a wizard can build a power system, the faster they can advance through the second ring stage, and the fewer resources they need.'

Locke watched as the three tentacles returned to blood and went back into Hussein's body, realizing that Hussein had probably completed the initial construction of his power system.

'Hussein's magic pressure is just over 10000, but before I even fought the three dark wizards of the Pale Pilgrimage, he had already surpassed me in the progress of building his power system.'

Locke realized how terrifying Hussein's extraordinary genius was.

'If he continues to improve in building his power system, while I continue to lag behind, his magical pressure catching up to mine might only happen within a very short time.'

I still need to work harder.

"Among next year's grant applications, those with higher qualifications than me are certainly formidable competitors. But those whose talent is no less than Hussein's, such as Zeno and Antoine, are my greatest rivals."

The path to becoming a top genius in the wizarding world is not easy.

Every step is fraught with competition; a slight misstep could send you off track and into a sub-track.

However, you don't need to worry too much.

Because he is about to unlock the secret of atavism and possess a second evolutionary mode, he will definitely be able to create a bunch of projects and publish a bunch of articles.

Locke asked Hussein, "So, has your Primal Blood Curse been published yet?"

Hussein coughed.

"There aren't many journals on curse studies in Yunze Wetland, so submitting to those no-name journals won't help. I can only submit to Southern Witch Capital or Star Domain Sea. The price for a recent submission to a Star Domain Sea journal has increased from 40,000 magic stones to 50,000 magic stones."

"Moreover, if it's a second-tier journal in the Star Domain Ocean, the requirements are even higher. My goal is to secure a second-tier journal and strive for a first-tier journal. Therefore, I need to accumulate some good preliminary experimental data, and then publish it in the Star Domain Ocean's second-tier, first-tier journal, [Darkness and Curse]."

Locke had heard of the fame of "Darkness and the Curse".

According to Jinmianshan's colleagues, it was the favorite journal of bad wizards and wizards who liked to use curses. It contained a bunch of terrible curse spells, and a single curse could even transform the world into a hell. So, when many holy wizards were in a bad mood, they would report the journal to the White Wizard Association.

However, despite being reported for so many years, "Darkness and Curse" is still around.

Locke asked, "Why not submit to 'Law and Contracts'? That's a top-tier journal in the Starfield Sea."

Hussein said, “I also want to vote. But legal and contractual articles are too biased towards contract masters. And this original blood curse that I invented is biased towards curse masters.”

Locke nodded, took out the Ganoderma lucidum plant, and saw that the old pirate Henry had contacted him.

He pointed the Ganoderma lucidum plant forward, and immediately a beam of light appeared at the top of the plant, shining in front of him.

Soon, a small, whale-shaped void flying vehicle appeared in the sky.

Henry the One-Eyed, old pirate, descended from the sky with his invincible stubbornness and hearty laughter.

"Hahaha... Locke, I've arrived."

A void spacecraft, via a mechanism similar to a teleporter, teleported to this phase coordinate using magical light.

"Locke, this is our pirate's Light Teleport Void Ship. What do you think? I told you it could move quickly within a wizarding territory."

“Each time we use the light of magic to leap, we can move quickly. With this small flying vehicle, we can bypass the magical defenses that are scattered throughout the Cloud Marsh Wetland and easily cross the Cloud Marsh Wetland to plunder at will.”

Old Henry jumped off the whale ship, then his expression changed slightly. As a veteran pirate who had braved countless dangers, he was extremely sensitive to the smell of blood.

At that moment, he realized that some kind of great battle seemed to have just taken place here.

Old Henry's expression suddenly changed, because the prosthetic artifact on his left hand was emitting a bright red light. Based on the color of the light, he knew that more than one second-circle wizard had died here.

Old Henry became nervous.

"What, are there still enemies here? Do you want to board my Light Transmission Void Ship to hide from them?"

While talking to Locke, old Henry glanced at Hussein out of the corner of his eye.

Locke said, "No need. There were indeed three second-ring wizard enemies, whom I just killed. It was just a coincidence that you arrived, Henry, right after I killed them."

Henry the old pirate managed a weak smile.

"It is quite a coincidence. Maybe it's because the weather is nice today."

He pointed to the poisoned blade in his left hand with his right finger and said, "This magical artifact is so useless. I've wanted to change this function of sensing how many official wizards have died around me for a long time. It can only show how many people have died, but it can't distinguish whether they were killed by our own people or by the enemy. Hahaha..."

Locke gave old Henry a strange look.

"Old Henry, why are your hands shaking?"

Henry, the old pirate, raised his eyebrows and said with trembling hands, "I recently did an experiment related to neurotoxins, which damaged my sympathetic nervous system a bit. It's okay, it won't affect my ability to sail the ship."

"Ahem... And who is this?"

Hussein smiled and said, "Mithril Law Firm, Hussein, I am a lawyer."

Henry, the old pirate, immediately breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.

"Lawyer? Lawyers are good, lawyers are reasonable."

"Locke, Mr. Hussein, shall we set off now?"

Hussein looked at Locke.

Locke then asked Hussein, "Will the Pale Pilgrims continue to hunt you down?"

His main concern was that after he entered the void, the Pale Pilgrims would continue to chase after Hussein.

Hussein said in a low voice, "You can rest assured about that. The three people you just killed were direct descendants of the Primordial Wizard. Currently, only they can find me through the [Claim Ancestor] method."

"But we must be very close. Because I used the power of my debt slave bloodline, along with a confusion spell, to confuse [the one who claims ancestry].

"I was just unlucky and accidentally ran into them. As a result, they drew on my bloodline power and energy, planted a blood curse on me, and then followed me all the way. I tried to shake them off and didn't want to get entangled with them anymore, but unfortunately, they chose to forge their way into hell, even though there was a path to heaven."

"As long as I don't get too close to the direct descendants of these ancestral wizards again, there shouldn't be any major problems. Moreover, I suspect that only this branch of descendants called [Blood Hand] can find me."

Hussein said solemnly, "Because the inheritance I received is the bloodline of the Bloodhand Clan."

The old pirate on the other side blinked. "Blood Hand, Blood Eye, Blood Foot, Blood Wing, Blood Heart, and Blood Soul—these are the direct descendants of the six progenitor wizards of the Blood Demon Palace during the Pale Pilgrimage. You took the Blood Hand Clan's inherited blood? Hiss~ Then you must be a progenitor wizard's blood pack?"

Old Henry quietly distanced himself from Hussein.

The blood packs of the Primordial Wizard are not to be trifled with.

The progenitor wizard was cruel, bloodthirsty, and exceptionally brutal. Each time he awakened, he would sweep across the wizarding world, bringing disaster to it.

I heard that he is very picky about his tastes, and that a wizard who is not talented enough or cruel enough is not qualified to be his blood bag.

Therefore, every blood pack of the progenitor wizard was an absolutely brilliant and super executioner.

Old Henry turned to look at Locke, swallowed hard, and realized that the bewitching wizard and this kind of person actually had a good relationship.

Of course, of course.

If the Eye Demon Wizard hadn't chosen the path of life magic, he himself would likely have been targeted by the Primordial Wizard, who would have set a trap to lure him into obtaining a share of the inherited blood.

Old Henry shuddered again.

its not right.

Each of the six clans possesses only one bloodline, corresponding to the awakening of the progenitor—the sole blood pack that has been dormant for a single cycle of reincarnation.

During the clan's dormancy, many affairs were handled by six blood packs.

The Blood Pack's status among the six clans is quite peculiar. On one hand, the clans consider them merely blood servants of the progenitor; on the other hand, because the Blood Pack is indeed the progenitor's blood servant, it has granted them a certain status within the clan. The Bloodhand Clan must be very anxious right now, wanting to reclaim the Blood Pack that belongs to their clan.

At this moment, old Henry silently marked Hussein as a very dangerous person in his heart.

Things are getting ridiculous right now.

For thousands of years, the progenitor's blood packs have only circulated among the dark wizard community. This time, for some unknown reason, a lawyer from a top-tier red-circle law firm in a white wizard society like Mithril Law Firm has become the progenitor's blood pack.

Locke said to the two of them, "I still need to go to the Dragonblood Gathering to recruit some more people and prepare the Void Flight Vehicle. So, you two may have to wait another half a month."

“But it’s alright, I’ve already arranged accommodations for you two at Golden Crown Mountain with my students. If you need anything, or if you need a laboratory or anything like that, you can contact me or my students,” Gregor said.

Hussein was already quite well-known in the white wizarding society, so he didn't say anything, just nodded.

"Yes, I'm just taking shelter from the storm at Jinmian Mountain."

Old Henry coughed, thought for a moment, and then agreed.

At this moment, five second-ring wizards from the Hall of Everlasting Radiance were rapidly approaching in a magical carriage.

To prevent things from getting complicated, Locke and Hussein boarded Old Henry's special pirate ship, then used teleportation to become a magical beam of light and fly directly towards Mount Golden Crown.

Five wizards from the Hall of Everlasting Radiance stepped down from the magic carriage. They were either lecturers or contracted wizard mentors from the Hall of Everlasting Radiance.

They looked at each other.

"A great battle has just taken place here, and it seems that more than one second-circle wizard has died."

"The second-ring archmage is dead? Oh, it seems like most of the dead are dark wizards."

The group found the second-class wizard apprentice inside the palace. After learning the situation from him, they breathed a sigh of relief and exchanged glances.

"It seems that some friends from Golden Crown Mountain happened to be passing by and helped our Eternal Radiance Hall deal with those three reckless black wizards."

"As expected of Golden Crown Mountain. They are all ordinary second-ring wizards, yet he killed three of them with a single move. Second-ring archmages are considered ancestors in many lower-level wizarding areas. He killed three of them in one go."

"Judging from the description, the person who made the move seems to be the Eye Demon Wizard from Golden Crown Mountain. He did us a favor, and we should thank him when we have the chance. Consider this a favor we owe him."

……

After Locke and the others left, a little girl wearing a stiff, grayish-white coarse cotton dress with the hem only reaching below her knees walked out from the streets of the mortal capital.

She had two ponytails and stared directly and nakedly in the direction of the palace, where the five second-ring wizards were located.

"I thought the wizarding world was still so boring after all these years. Who knew that after this revival, so many interesting characters would appear?"

The little girl smirked. "Looks like this is going to be fun. Teacher Ekaterina, you didn't expect this, did you? I'm back. Hahahaha... I knew you couldn't bring yourself to kill me."

"Hahaha……"

"Thanks to this ever-rising magical tide, my original seal has become less indestructible. Teacher Ekaterina, you have cut off my path to advancement and betrayed me as your student. I will make you utterly disgraced! I see that your lineage and that lineage are locked in fierce combat."

"Then let's start by destroying your academic lineage."

……

Two weeks later, at Golden Crown Mountain, in the Witch's Kitchen.

Scarlett the Witch sat down in front of Locke and handed him the eighty million in payment.

Scarlett the Witch felt her hands trembling; she had never received such a large sum of money in her entire life.

If anything goes wrong, even if she were a debt slave for ten lifetimes, she still wouldn't be able to pay back this money.

So when she handed the magic stone to Locke, she visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

Locke asked in surprise, "Wasn't it seventy million magic stones?"

Scarlett the Witch took a sip of herbal fish tea, cleared her throat, and then said to Locke, "Lord Augustine. Arthas has decided to exchange the cooperation contract with you, so now it's a 60/40 split, you get 60% and we get 40%."

"Alsace can continue to provide you with the sales and production chains. This is an order from Alsace's top management."

"So, the net profit this time is fifty million magic stones. According to the new contract, you will receive thirty million in profit, and we will receive twenty million magic stones. In addition, Arthas's upper management has recognized you as a high-quality partner, so they have given you an extra five million magic stones as a special discount this time, so the total is eighty million magic stones."

During this two-week period, Locke sent out clones to personally escort the shipment.

However, nothing actually happened. After the goods arrived at the Alsace headquarters, they were immediately sent to various locations through Alsace's logistics system.

Solas wasn't foolish enough to attack Arthas's logistics system.

Ultimately, Arthas is essentially a platform that provides breeders and other wizards with a complete logistics, manufacturing, and sales system. If Solas Lightfoot dares to hire people to attack Arthas's logistics on the ground, even the Rose Throne behind Solas Lightfoot might not be able to withstand it.

After all, Arthas was backed by a group of fourth-ring wizards.

Locke calculated that he needed to take out a sum of money to repay the loan, but the remaining 45 million magic stones were all his own.

Scarlett the Witch said to Locke, "Our first pair of second-circle wizard shoes has achieved good results. Perhaps we could raise the price a bit? How about we raise it to three million magic stones, like the blue belt wizard shoes?"

Locke thought for a moment and said, "What would happen if we raised the price?"

Scarlett the Witch thought for a moment and said, "Sales may be halved because the reason our wizard shoes sold so well this time is because of their low price."

"But the quality of our Wizard shoes is still somewhat inferior to that of Blue Ribbon shoes. However, although sales will be halved, I believe that revenue can increase by at least a third, or even half."

"After all, we've already tripled the selling price."

Scarlett the Witch seemed quite content with the status quo; a smile played on her lips.

"I should be able to qualify as a platinum trader at the end of the year. This is all thanks to your great help."

"It is my honor to be your partner."

"With this sales volume, we have already become a well-known wizard shoe store alliance in the Starfield Sea, and we can definitely raise our prices."

"Now we can relax and start making money."

Locke frowned and tapped his fingers on the table, feeling dissatisfaction with his partner for the first time.

"Scarlett, and then what? What are your plans?"

Scarlett the Witch looked astonished.

"And then? Lord Augustine, isn't that enough? Your first creation of pure magical plant wizard shoes has achieved such success on its very first appearance. You can certainly call yourself a renowned wizard shoe designer."

“Your wizard shoes are such a success. I’ve heard that newspapers even want to interview you.”

Scarlett the Witch took another sip of the bluefish wizard tea.

Locke frowned, gave her a deep look, and said, "No, that's not enough. We need to go further."

"Right now, we're just a third-rate alliance of wizard shoe stores. We need to enter a higher market and gain a better reputation. Not only that, I also want to revolutionize this market."

"The original market for wizard shoes was expensive and had many additional fees. Many wizards in the Three Swamps wanted to explore the void and needed to buy wizard shoes, but they were forced to give up because of the price."

Scarlett the Witch said, "Lord Augustine? What do you mean?"

Locke said, "The price of the second-ring wizard shoes will be determined by us. This first pair of Bloodwave Pineapple Wizard Shoes is my creation, so the price will remain the same. Even in the future, when my shop alliance is established, I will not only further optimize it, but also further reduce its price."

"I want to make wizard shoes no longer expensive, no longer an exclusive item for a few wealthy wizards, but something that every wizard in the Three Swamps can afford."

"Just like the founder of Solas's Barefoot, the wizard Solas wanted to make the best shoes in the world hundreds of years ago, so that wizard shoes would not just be ordinary magical artifacts, but magical artifacts to help wizards explore the void. He did achieve that at the time, but that was all he did, and his wizard shoes became more and more expensive."

Locke said to Scarlett the Witch, "Scarlett, I'm going to challenge the second-rate wizard shoe shop alliance, to surpass Blue Ribbon, Solas, and Melochy in the second-circle market. In the future, I want to become the best wizard shoe shop alliance."

Scarlett the Witch was stunned.

"The Wizard Shoe Market is one of the backyard markets of the two third-ring wizards. Although the market isn't large, it's also a reservoir for them to accumulate substantial funds. If that's the case, we might very well be facing those two third-ring wizards directly... wait..."

Scarlett the Witch realized what was happening.

Locke's academic lineage is hostile to those two third-ring wizards.

In other markets, if Locke were to act so recklessly, he would likely face a crushing blow from the high-ring wizards. However, the wizard shoe market held by the Rose Throne is the only one that allows Locke to act so recklessly.

Because others will only see this as an instruction from the Red Dragon Throne.

Even those two third-ring wizards could only compete fairly.

Scarlett the Witch never imagined that Locke's ambitions were so great.

Locke said to Scarlett the Witch, "Wait for my second wizard shoe design. The quality of that one should be much better, so we can raise the price. Raising the price now would be suicide. Our future is not just about this."

Scarlett the Witch said, “Yes, Lord Augustine. Whatever you wish to do, I will do it with you.”

A flame of determination ignited in Scarlett the Witch's eyes.

That's it.

The bold ones will be starved to death, and the timid ones will be starved to death.

She would go with Locke if he wanted to.

That way, she'll have a better chance of becoming a second-circle wizard!
Moreover, although she is now seen by others as siding with the Red Dragon Throne, she will instead receive protection from the Red Dragon Throne's lineage and will not be harmed by anyone.

Scarlett the Witch had seen too many tragic cases of traders offending high-ring wizards and being fired or tricked into becoming debt slaves.

But she also has high-ranking wizards behind her, and she has people too. So why not attack those high-ranking privileged classes?!

Scarlett the Witch pondered for a moment, then suddenly spoke to Locke, suggesting, "If you're so confident in your second project, could you tell me what aspect it is? Soras Barefoot and Melochy are currently running themed events. Although we're just a small, humble shop alliance, if they can do it, so can we. They run large themed events and invite well-known explorers, so we'll run smaller themed events and invite lesser-known explorers."

Scarlett the Witch smiled and said, "Our boat is small, so it's easy for us to turn around."

Locke thought for a moment, recalling the golden hand that reversed energy used by the mutated dragon, and said, "Then, the direction of the second wizard shoes should be some kind of golden magic, right?"

"A type of wizard's shoe that is unaffected by the surrounding energy, spirituality, and matter, suitable for a certain kind of polar expedition."

"It can adapt to even the most difficult and complex dimensional environments. It can make the first and second ring versions, and even the apprentice version. One set, three versions."

Scarlett the Witch exclaimed with delight, "This is indeed a great direction! This is the polar exploration type of wizard shoes. These kinds of wizard shoes are very popular among explorers! This is the root of Solas's barefoot style!"

(End of this chapter)