Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems

Chapter 627: Ecological Corridors and the Subspace Zone

Locke observed carefully and discovered that the half-plane situated within the special region of the void known as the subspace zone naturally carried magical tides within it.Witch Victoria smiled and said, "Because it is located within the special subspace zone, the materials inside cannot leak out into the void. So as long as I channel the magical tides from the outside world into this half-plane, it can be given an environment comparable to the baseline magical tide environment of Cloud Marsh Wetland."

"So, was those two million magic stones well spent or not?"

Locke's eyes brightened slightly. "Well spent!"

If that was the case, then two million magic stones was absolutely worth it.

This was a magical field of ten thousand acres operating at a Cloud Marsh Wetland level magical tide environment.

Only a region like this could support the magical plant forest he had been envisioning.

Locke decisively took out two hundred magic crystal cards and handed them to Witch Victoria. "Witch Victoria, here are two hundred magic crystal cards. Let us sign a contract."

Witch Victoria looked at the two stacks of magic crystal cards on the table and paused for a moment. Two million magic stones was small change to her, but it was still quite a substantial sum for a First Circle wizard.

Witch Victoria hesitated briefly, then asked, "Where do you live right now? Is it Golden Horn Town?"

Locke looked at Witch Victoria in puzzlement and said, "No, Witch Victoria. It's the dormitory assigned to me by the academy. Why do you ask?"

Witch Victoria took a sip of her wizard tea, smiled, and said nothing more. "Oh, it's nothing. I simply think you are quite impressive for your age."

"Very few First Circle wizards can pull out two hundred magic crystal cards all at once. These two hundred cards could fund two decent projects for a First Circle wizard. Of course, if you were actually trying to run serious projects, this amount of money is still far too little."

"We can't sign a contract. This product of mine is currently only a laboratory item. However, I can simply treat this as a direct transaction. Your teacher is my best friend, so you don't need to worry about any after-sale issues."

Witch Victoria pointed to Locke's right eye, meaning that she was handing the contact lens directly over to him as part of the transaction.

Only then did Locke understand. Witch Victoria had asked where he lived simply to get a sense of his financial strength and background. Since he was living in an academy-assigned dormitory, it meant that the large sum he had produced was not due to some powerful family backing him, but money he had earned himself.

That was why Witch Victoria had said he was impressive for his age.

Golden Horn Town...

That seemed to be a well-known wizard town on Golden Crown Mountain. Many of Golden Crown Mountain's local wizards probably lived there.

Witch Victoria said, "Mm... since you paid so readily, I'll throw in a set of magical golems as a gift."

Locke was about to speak, but saw Witch Victoria extend her finger toward the pupil of his right eye and press it lightly.

In an instant, a beam of radiance fell into his right pupil.

When that radiance landed, it became a complete set of one hundred clay golems of varying sizes.

Locke looked at the clay golems and noticed they were stamped with the Quinn Jol University emblem.

Witch Victoria smiled and said, "This is a set of agricultural golems worth five hundred thousand magic stones. They can till land and maintain magical fields for you."

Locke said, "Witch Victoria, this is far too generous. I cannot accept it."

Witch Victoria smiled and said, "Think nothing of it. This is simply a first-meeting gift."

"Since your teacher sent you to see me, it means you and she are not just in a collaborating relationship arranged by the academy. You are her true student. As her best friend, I naturally need to give her student a proper gift."

Witch Victoria noticed that Locke looked a little worried and couldn't help but laugh. "Relax. Your teacher has already paid for this gift with something of equivalent value. Before, one of my last accepted disciples went to her and received a first-meeting gift of comparable worth."

"I am simply returning the gesture."

"This set of agricultural golems was crafted by alchemists at Quinn Jol University. The clay golems of Cloud Marsh Wetland are the most renowned in existence, and among them the most famous are those made by Quinn Jol University. These clay golems are capable of a wide range of fine operations and will not disappoint you."

"The alchemic chips inside have been loaded with a great deal of data on the use of breeder equipment and agricultural equipment, allowing them to handle the vast majority of simple tasks, though they cannot fully replace the help of students."

"Mm... certain special things that only wizards can do will still require students to handle personally. Locke, do you have students?"

Locke thought for a moment. "Yes, two."

Witch Victoria gave a small nod. "That's far too few. The fact that you need a half-plane this large suggests that your planting area is enormous. If that's the case, two students is nowhere near enough."

"Wait, you're also a researcher at the Origin Academy, aren't you? Well, that explains it."

"Once you obtain a teaching position in the future, you will be able to have a large number of students." Witch Victoria said, "For now, you can start by making use of the agricultural golems I've given you."

Locke thought it over and agreed that as the number of magical plants his Forest Sanctuary needed to transplant continued to grow, he would genuinely need more students to help him.

Counter-intuitively, it appeared that the higher his magical level became, the more students he would need.

No wonder so many high-circle wizards liked to have large groups of students around them.

There were many tasks that only a wizard could perform, and those tasks had to be carried out by wizard apprentices.

"Having my two students, plus the dozen or so students under Witch Mason and the others, as well as the five Tier 1 wizard apprentices I obtained through previous transactions, and then hiring some additional people from intermediary agencies on the market, should be enough to get the work done," Locke considered.

He had long been reluctant to reveal the existence of his Forest Sanctuary, but now that he himself had grown stronger and the Forest Sanctuary had grown stronger alongside him, letting others know about it was no longer a matter of concern.

To put it plainly...

At this point, his Forest Sanctuary had already grown to the point where its durability was somewhat greater than his own.

Attempting to directly destroy a Forest Sanctuary with an Ancient Life Tree at its core was an enormously difficult undertaking, almost equivalent to making an enemy of an entire ancient forest with a backbone and a will of its own.

After thanking Witch Victoria, Locke turned and left the shop. He now had six hundred magic crystal cards remaining.

On top of that, in half a month he would receive another thirty magic crystal cards wired from the Goblin Family Bank. He was doing very well financially at the moment.

Locke first returned to his dormitory to look over the hundred clay golems inside the half-plane, confirmed there were no issues, and got a basic understanding of their functions. He then called for Gregor and Williams.

At this point, Williams's magical pressure had already reached 790, very close to 800. Gregor's was at 750. Gregor had made good progress over these past six months.

Locke told the two of them about his plan to move the Forest Sanctuary into the half-plane, and both expressed their willingness to help him complete this massive undertaking.

Williams said, "But Teacher, just the three of us might be a bit too few, don't you think?"

"I feel like it could take us several years to move everything."

Locke said, "I have a full set of agricultural golems worth five hundred thousand to help with the moving. But throughout the process, the maintenance work and various details will all need people to handle."

"Of course, we are indeed a bit short on hands."

Locke thought it over. "I will call on Witch Mason and the others, and ask them to bring their students along. If we still don't have enough people, I can hire from the market."

However, Tier 1 wizard apprentices hired from the market would be a mixed crowd of unfamiliar people, and even if he no longer needed to guard the secret of the Forest Sanctuary with the same urgency as before, letting those outsiders have access to it was still not ideal.

Perhaps he could ask Wizard Kelt. He had been operating here for a longer time and had more students. It might be possible to borrow some people from him.

Gregor hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand with a look of hesitation on his face.

Locke said, "Go ahead."

Gregor said, "Teacher, I've recently gotten into the tea arts industry. I'd like to... give being a tea artisan a try, so I privately signed up for a tea arts course. I don't know whether you approve, but I might not be able to help you with work recently..."

Locke blinked. "This is the first time I've seen you take such initiative on your own. But of course you can. Where did you sign up for the course?"

Gregor said, "Teacher, I registered at Preston White Dragon Tea Room in Dragon Blood Market. I heard the instructor is a First Circle wizard, Lady Afra Valentine."

Locke furrowed his brow slightly. Wasn't that an establishment run by Witch Preston's family?

He took out his Wish Lingzhi and sent a message directly through the water hyacinth network to Witch Preston, whom he had already added as a contact before, briefly explaining the situation.

Witch Preston sent back a reply almost immediately. "Hmm? Afra Valentine? That's a wizard from another school. And she's just an ordinary First Circle wizard, very limited in ability."

"Though her marketing skills are quite good. She's very good at packaging herself, which is why I let her go sell tea arts courses. But honestly, her fundamentals are rather mediocre. I think she's doing students a disservice. Your student wants to take her course? Oh, it would be best not to. Give me his name and I'll arrange a proper teacher for him."

Locke sent the name to Witch Preston.

Witch Preston sent back an OK expression, then followed it up with a message. "Third-place Witch Juliana has declined to participate in the Plane Conquest Competition. That person really doesn't think about Golden Crown Mountain's collective interests at all. So the ones coming with you to the Plane Conquest Competition will be me and Antoine."

"I can't figure out why that Antoine agreed to go along."

"Locke, little brother, let's get along well at the competition six months from now. My parents said participating in the Plane Conquest Competition is very beneficial for constructing a Grand Magic, so they told me not to turn it down."

Locke sent her a thumbs-up expression.

Then he looked up at Gregor and said, "Gregor, I asked a friend about the teacher you originally enrolled with, and she turns out to be quite unreliable."

Gregor's expression shifted slightly. "Then what do I do... Teacher, I already paid, a thousand magic stones."

Locke said, "I've arranged a different teacher for you. Just go attend the new class. You don't need to worry about the rest."

Gregor looked at Locke with an expression of awe.

He never imagined that Locke could be this well-connected inside a single shop at Dragon Blood Market.

With just one message to someone, he had arranged a better teacher for him.

Gregor immediately bowed to Locke. "Thank you, Teacher."

Locke gave a small nod. "But for the time being, you still need to help me with work. At the very least, you have to help me finish moving the Forest Sanctuary."

Gregor nodded immediately. "Of course, Teacher."

And so, the next day, Locke called everyone together and began the relocation of his Forest Sanctuary.

Witch Mason and the others brought their students and entered Locke's Forest Sanctuary for the first time. Looking at the ancient forest before them and the hundreds of First Circle magical plants within it, they couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder.

First of all, Locke was truly extraordinarily wealthy.

Just at a glance, they estimated that Locke's investment in his Forest Sanctuary was somewhere between three and four million magic stones.

Second, all throughout the forest there flowed a strange power.

It was two varieties of Myst's Power, and also a kind of ancient power the forest had absorbed from the Night Meteor.

Witch Mason looked up at the Ancient Life Tree at the heart of Locke's forest, letting out a quiet gasp of admiration. "An Ancient Life Tree! So this truly exists in the world, this remarkable magical plant."

Wizard Barrett and Witch Freya also wore expressions of wonder.

Their students followed behind them.

Locke said, "Mason, I remember that at Quinn Jol University there is a wizard named Edgar David. I competed with him during the Cloud Marsh Cup before, and he had quite a few Ancient Life Trees in his possession."

Witch Mason laughed and said, "But this is our first time seeing one in person."

"Thank you, Locke, our little team leader. I never expected you to trust the three of us this much."

Locke said, "Well, we are a team, after all."

Witch Freya turned a stern face toward the five students behind her and said severely, "All of you, be careful in there. Don't be clumsy. If you damage anything and ruin something important for our team leader, I will not let any of you off."

Witch Freya was quite strict with her students. "Do you hear me!"

The five Tier 1 wizard apprentices immediately went stiff with anxiety, hastily assuring her that they would work carefully and follow Teacher Augustine's instructions completely.

Wizard Barrett said, "Freya, you're a bit too strict with your students, aren't you? You were just complaining to us before about how Wizard Kelt was too harsh in the past."

Witch Freya said with an exasperated expression, "That's because you haven't seen what it's like when my students cause trouble and I have to clean up after them. I gradually realized that if you aren't strict with students early on, then when they make a mistake that puts everyone in an impossible situation, it becomes your responsibility as their mentor."

Witch Freya looked at Locke and said, "Little team leader, where do we start?"

Wizard Barrett scratched his head and said, "Locke, your forest is already a seamlessly integrated whole. I don't think we can move it tree by tree. That would break up the cohesion of the trees. How about we use the golems and all these Tier 1 wizard apprentice students to dig out the entire forest together and then move it into your new Zephyr contact lens half-plane?"

Locke gave a small nod. "That was my thinking too."

"Since setting up spell formations requires wizards, I need enough students and the three of you to come and help me set hardening enchantment formations at the base of every patch of soil beneath the forest. Then I plan to divide the forest into over three hundred sections and move it into the new half-plane piece by piece using the golems and students. It is a time-consuming undertaking, but I want to finish it as quickly as possible."

"Ideally within one week."

He was about to head out to explore the Abyss Ruins very soon.

Wizard Barrett fell into thought. "Finish within one week? With this many people, finishing within a month would already be impressive."

Witch Mason looked at Witch Freya and said, "Freya, why not call some of your friends over to help?"

Witch Freya waved her hand quickly. "No, no. The little team leader's Forest Sanctuary is a secret. My friends are just drinking-and-eating companions. Having fun together is one thing, but relying on them for something this important is absolutely out of the question."

"If something went wrong..." Witch Freya glanced at Locke and threw up her hands. "I would be sick with guilt."

Witch Mason furrowed her brow and looked at Locke. "Locke, there is one other option."

Locke said, "What is it, Mason?"

Witch Mason said, "I'm good friends with the female chieftain of a green elf tribe in the Golden Crown Mountain district. Their tribe has dozens of female elves who are the equivalent of Tier 1 wizard apprentices. I can ask her for help. She is my closest friend, so she is absolutely trustworthy. With their help, it would definitely be possible to finish the relocation within one week."

Locke gave a small nod.

It seemed these three group members of his each had their own connections.

But that was quite natural. They were all First Circle crystallization-stage wizards at the Origin Academy, and each naturally had their own social circles through which they could mobilize considerable resources.

Bringing them together to pool their ideas meant solutions to problems could be found quickly.

And so Locke got to work alongside the others right away, while sending Witch Mason off immediately to go find the friend she had mentioned and bring them over to help.

Locke and the others began by digging around the base of the trees with iron spades, and worked on attaching soil-hardening enchantment formations to the soil around the root balls of the trees to make transportation easier. Everyone got to work busily.

While busy with this, Locke also didn't forget to write a letter to the sun ring wizard from the Rose Council.

Inside an independent office at the Rose Council, Master-level flower-language wizard Lana Alvarez looked up at her student who had come in the next day and, without warning, stopped listening to his progress report mid-sentence, instead asking this First Circle wizard collaborative student from the Origin Academy, "Fleming, I have a letter here from a First Circle wizard at Golden Crown Mountain."

"He keeps writing to me asking about details from an article I wrote thirty years ago. Do you think I should write back?"

Fleming wiped the sweat from his forehead. Lana was his supervising mentor and his teacher.

Fleming had no idea why Lana would suddenly ask him this in the middle of listening to his research progress report on a Tier 4 funded project.

His mind went completely blank as he tried to figure out whether Lana was testing him with this question.

"Teacher, isn't this wizard from Golden Crown Mountain being rather bold? He actually dared to write a letter to a sun ring wizard with questions? It's not as though you're his teacher."

Lana nodded, finding this entirely reasonable. "That's why I ignored him before. But then he kept writing, so persistent about it. Oh, and by the way, he also offended quite a few flower-language wizards on the September 1st True Love Festival."

"He offended our Rose Council."

Wizard Fleming immediately believed he understood Lana's sentiment and launched into an expression of indignation on her behalf. "We haven't even dealt with someone this audacious yet, and he should already count himself lucky. Yet he still has the nerve to write letters to you, Teacher... you could write back and give him a thorough scolding."

Lana's expression shifted. She shot Wizard Fleming a sideways glance and said, "Fleming, your mind is truly too narrow. You have talent but no virtue. That is precisely why I think so little of you."

"This wizard has read an article I wrote thirty years ago and has written to me repeatedly without giving up. Naturally I must write back to him. How could I possibly be as petty as you? What do you think a sun ring wizard is!"

Wizard Fleming was so startled that he bowed immediately to Lana, while inwardly he was on the verge of tears.

"How is it that everything I say gets me scolded!"

"Wasn't it her who got the ball rolling, making me think she wanted me to criticize that wizard? I was only following her lead!"

"I can't take this anymore! Lana is so unpredictable in her moods. When she looks over my progress report later, she's definitely going to scold me again. I can't take this anymore, I want to drop out!"

Wizard Fleming thought miserably, "This is even more terrifying than when I was trying to advance to become a full wizard. My luck is truly terrible."

"Lana's moods shift without mercy or pattern, changing repeatedly and unpredictably like a chaotic system beyond all forecasting. I am a full wizard, for goodness' sake. Could you please stop scolding me so much!"

"If only I had thought to ask Lana's previous outgoing collaborative wizards and the ones who had dropped out before I came here. A terrible oversight. I was just far too busy before."

Lana picked up her magical quill and began writing on an envelope. "Dear Wizard Augustine, you have moved me with your tenacity. You have a true spirit of inquiry."

"That article was merely something I wrote thirty years ago. I have better work now."

"I have discovered in nature something between different forests known as an ecological corridor. I believe that for different forests to interact more effectively and maintain a better exchange of energy, ecological corridors must be artificially constructed. I recommend you read the following list of works. I will include these articles with my reply. These are all my recent writings, which you would certainly not be able to find at Golden Crown Mountain."

"Although I don't know what you are researching this for, I hope you will make good use of my findings."

"In this world, I am very fond of wizards like you who are so deeply captivated by ecological corridors."