570: The Reaction of Golden Crown Mountain, 6.5 Million Magic Stones in Horizontal Income!
In Group Six, Team Leader Celtic was drinking wizard wine with the leader of Group Three, Witch Esther. The wizard wine from Yuze Marsh, the city of wine, was truly delightful and refreshing to drink.
wizard wine was an invention of Potion Masters. Over 70% of Yuze Marsh was swamp, which led to the development of a rich wine koji culture. Advanced Breeding Science and advanced Potionology, combined with the unique geographical environment, created the most developed Enology in the Wizard World.
Team Leader Celtic was savoring the wonderful taste of the wine when Witch Esther suddenly held up a Wish Lingzhi and said to him, "Young Celtic, do you know that Locke from your Group Six has released his work on Alsace's platform?"
Team Leader Celtic was stunned for a moment, then smiled. "Oh, right, today is the September 1st True Love Festival organized by the Rose Council. What is it, Esther? Have you set your sights on some wizard? Do you want to buy a magic bouquet too?"
Esther gave him a cold look. "One more word and I won't be so polite. Forget it, see for yourself."
"Locke's work, the Five-Headed Snake, has reached fifth place on today's total sales chart! The Five-Headed Snake magic plant is a vine-type defensive magic plant; it's not even a magic bouquet."
When Team Leader Celtic saw the screen Esther showed him, he sobered up instantly. Second Ring Wizards could view both the First Ring and Second Ring interfaces of the Alsace Shop Alliance's collaborator interface.
At this moment, within the First Ring interface, the ranking of Locke's Five-Headed Snake magic plant was prominently displayed as fifth on the main sales chart.
Celtic's intoxication vanished as he quickly calculated the profits. "Tens of millions in sales? The profit Locke can get is at least two million, maybe even three million."
"Good heavens, as a First Ring Wizard, just by selling a single work like this, he can earn the equivalent of ten Third-Class Funds from the True Knowledge Institute, or six Second-Class Funds?"
It was said that ten times the amount of Horizontal Income was only equal to one times the amount of vertical income, because vertical income represented more than just money—it also included equipment usage rights, relevant status, the ease of applying for funds in the future, and one's professional resume.
However, the money earned from horizontal projects was cold, hard cash.
At this moment, Team Leader Celtic gave a bitter smile. "This guy can make more money than even a Second Ring Wizard like me."
"But if it's Locke, it's normal for him to earn this much. He is a talent, and my Group Six is like a tiger with wings with him in it. Sigh, thanks to the Lord of the Throne's trust in me, she assigned such a great figure to my group."
Team Leader Celtic began to show off.
Witch Esther gave him a cold look. "Don't be so quick to gloat. Locke is indeed a talent, but the problem is that you are this talent's direct superior."
Celtic's expression changed slightly as he quickly took out a lingzhi magic plant from his astral ring and opened the communication interface. He saw his contact list being bombarded with messages from the leaders of the Senate at Golden Crown Mountain.
Although no Third Ring Wizards had intervened yet, the message bombardment came from Real-Forged Sun Ring Wizards or Fake-Forged Moon Ring Wizards—all very powerful existences among Second Ring Wizards.
Among them was one of the three Vice Ministers of the Senate's Student Affairs Department, a Real-Forged Wizard at the Second Ring stage—a Sun Ring Wizard. He asked directly, 'Celtic, did you know that your group member cooperated with Alsace without authorization? The wizards from the Rose Council have come to ask me if this was Golden Crown Mountain's intention.'
'They suspect us of intentional sabotage, ruining the Rose Council's multi-million magic stone marketing investment for the True Love Festival and their deep accumulation from past generations. They asked me if I can take responsibility for this. Do you know about these things?'
'Reply to me quickly! Celtic!'
Celtic's face paled slightly. "This is like poking a hornet's nest. Are the people in the Senate crazy? They're all sending me messages like mad."
Esther took a sip of wizard wine and pointed a finger at the ranking list. "It's not that the Senate people are crazy; it's the Rose Council people who are going crazy. Look at the rankings. The True Love Festival isn't just a festival for the Rose Council to make money; it's also a festival to promote their Rose Floriography."
"The advertising fees they spent on Alsace alone this time are in the tens of millions. Some products seem to sell well, but in reality, tens of millions come in and tens of millions go out. The money is just passing through, all used to buy ads."
"As a result, four items on the rankings this time are actually not magic bouquet works. Especially little Locke's work, which is already in fifth place. If it breaks into the top three, I suspect a Third Ring Wizard from the Rose Council would be coming to our door personally."
Esther continued, "If it were just little Locke's work on the list, it wouldn't matter; it would just be an isolated case. But now, four people have made the list at once, making it look like our four factions have united to intentionally cause trouble. Especially since little Locke and Diana from Boniface are both currently with the Lord of the Throne."
"Speaking of which, three of these four people were the top three in the Yunze Cup. I imagine the wizards in the Yunze Cup Tournament Committee office at Bonifacius University are quite happy right now."
This matter was a minor blow to the Rose Council, but for Bonifacius University, it was a major boost to the prestige of the competition they hosted.
Esther checked the forums on the Water Hyacinth Network and indeed saw many wizards and even Wizard Apprentices discussing the matter, constantly praising the three Yunze Cup contestants to the skies.
"What do you plan to do, Team Leader Celtic?" Esther had a look of watching a show. "Are you going to take the heat yourself, or push little Locke out to explain to the wizards of the Senate's Student Affairs Department?"
Team Leader Celtic immediately screenshotted all the bombarding messages from that Sun Ring Wizard of the Student Affairs Department and forwarded them to Witch Yekaterina.
Thirty seconds later, Witch Yekaterina sent back a '?'.
Team Leader Celtic smiled at Esther. "I choose neither. I'll just forward the messages the Vice Minister of Student Affairs sent me to the Lord of the Throne. They don't dare bother her; they only dare bother an ordinary Second Ring Wizard like me."
"But the Lord of the Throne is quite concerned about Locke, so leaving this matter to her to handle will be fine."
Esther looked at Celtic in surprise. "Young Celtic, you actually dare to go to the Lord of the Throne now. It seems she is far too easy to talk to. You were almost pressured by the higher-ups to resign before, and it was the Lord of the Throne who gave you the chance to stay. After that, you seemed very afraid of the academy's senior management."
Team Leader Celtic smiled and said helplessly, "This is my 'hitting rock bottom and bouncing back.' Besides, Locke is my trump card now. As his direct superior, I certainly can't let these complicated academy struggles affect him."
Soon, the aggressive tone of the Sun Ring Wizard from the Senate's Student Affairs Department suddenly softened, and he sent a message to Celtic: 'Wizard Celtic, I only wanted to ask you whether we at Golden Crown Mountain were in the wrong or if it was purely a coincidence, so I could decide my attitude toward the Rose Council wizards.'
'Why did you have to send my messages to Witch Yekaterina?'
'This matter doesn't require a Third Ring Wizard to handle. You've completely misunderstood me. Please help me explain to the Lord of the Throne.'
Team Leader Celtic sent a helpless expression followed by a sweating emoji, stating: 'Minister, I am just an ordinary Second Ring Wizard. This matter has exceeded my authority. You should explain to the Lord of the Throne yourself.'
Celtic immediately closed his message interface and simultaneously saw a message from the Vice Minister of the Academic Affairs Department.
The Vice Minister of the Academic Affairs Department said to Celtic, "A wizard under you named Locke Augustine has a magic plant that topped Alsace's 24-hour sales chart for the True Love Festival. We have decided to reward him with a water jade peach."
"Although it's just an Alsace ranking, his actions demonstrate the level of Breeding Science at Golden Crown Mountain as a high-efficiency agricultural zone. It is worth encouraging."
"Therefore, the Academic Affairs Department intends to grant him a special reward."
Celtic and Esther were not surprised by this, as most wizards in the Academic Affairs Department were part of their Academic Committee, so the department belonged to the Academic Committee faction and would naturally favor them.
Meanwhile, the Executive Patrol Group, one of the three major local powers of Golden Crown Mountain, remained neutral and completely ignored the matter.
In the end, this was just a horizontal project.
It did not involve the fundamental interests of the three factions.
After replying to the Vice Minister of the Academic Affairs Department, Celtic sent a congratulatory message to Locke.
Seeing this, Esther also thought for a moment, hesitating whether to congratulate Witch Diana, who was undergoing joint training in their group, but she ultimately decided against it.
Because it wasn't necessary.
First, Witch Diana had only just arrived in their group; as a Second Ring Star Ring Wizard, Esther had no need to curry favor with her.
Second, Witch Diana was not from their university; it was just joint training.
Most importantly, as a Star Ring Wizard, Esther had long since established herself at Golden Crown Mountain. Her status and strength were far higher than an ordinary Second Ring like Celtic.
Therefore, she had no need to do something that would lower her status.
Unlike Celtic, she didn't need a wizard talent to complete projects just so she could stay at Golden Crown Mountain.
Every Second Ring Wizard represented the future of a First Ring Wizard, and they naturally needed to maintain a certain air of authority before a First Ring Wizard.
This was also to ensure that First Ring Wizards maintained respect for truth and magic.
At the same time, inside the Yunze Cup Tournament Committee office at Bonifacius University, Director Morrison was beaming with joy. He was talking to the Mekani machine soul through a Second Ring Magic item, a Space Mirror, in front of him.
At this moment, Director Morrison laughed heartily.
The machine soul girl looked at him in confusion. "Lord Morrison, why are you so happy?"
Morrison's eyes were full of smiles. "Remember Edgar David, Witch Diana, and Locke Augustine? The works of these three topped Alsace's 24-hour sales list during the Rose Council's True Love Festival. I imagine the mid-to-high-level officials at the Rose Council's academy must be very shocked and angry right now."
"I must contact people immediately. This is the best publicity for our commercial event, the Yunze Cup. We must seize this dramatic development to promote the Yunze Cup and create rumors about the runner-up, champion, and third-place winner of the Yunze Cup joining forces to slaughter the leaderboard."
"The headline will be 'The Three Gods of the Yunze Cup Slaughter the Leaderboard!'"
"Good, this name is simply too good!"
Director Morrison was a man of action. He immediately contacted the editor-in-chief of the Frog Newspaper, one of the largest news outlets in the Yunze Wetland, and took the initiative to send the hot topics, key points, and related information to him.
The two were already old friends.
He also included a transfer of 5 magic crystal cards from the Fairy Bank as a gift.
The other party immediately sent him an 'OK' emoji.
The machine soul girl's eyes darted around. She suddenly recalled those three wizards who possessed Second Ring characteristics. She pursed her lips, painfully remembering being pursued by Locke; she had almost been caught back then.
The machine soul girl thought for a bit and, while Director Morrison was happy, asked tentatively, "Well then, Lord Morrison, regarding my request for a new Alchemy Chip, can you agree to it? It only takes about a million magic stones to complete my computing power upgrade..."
When Director Morrison heard about money, he was startled and immediately reacted, frowning. "What do you need that much money for? A million magic stones can buy a hundred ordinary First Ring Magic items. Although their power is smaller, it could also buy about five to six First Ring Magic items at the Crystallization Stage."
"You want so many magic stones... it's not just a matter of money. If your computing power is enhanced and your combat power increases too much, it will affect future Yunze Cup matches. How about this, I'll approve 300,000 magic stones for you. That's the limit. Go play with those magic stones."
The Yunze Cup Tournament Committee had its own event fund. After all, this was a profitable commercial competition, which was why Director Morrison could be so generous—it wasn't his money anyway.
Spending 300,000 on the machine soul was essentially taking wool from the sheep to clothe the sheep.
The machine soul girl sighed. "This is way too stingy."
...
At Golden Crown Mountain, inside the dormitory, Locke saw a congratulatory message from Witch Scarlett: "Congratulations! Although I expected it, I didn't think the sales of the Five-Headed Snake would be this good."
"You have earned a total of 6.5 million magic stones!"
"What an exaggerated amount. However, after the efforts of my team and me to stimulate and fully excavate the potential, along with the traffic I purchased for you, I estimate the sales of the Hydra and Five-Headed Snake have reached their limit for now. It won't be easy to make much more money in the immediate future."
This was related to Locke's marketing strategy and Alsace's marketing policies.
Regardless, this single day had indeed squeezed out the potential of the two products in the Golden Crown Mountain Region and part of the potential in the Yunze Wetland. Because of this, Locke was able to earn a massive 6.5 million magic stones in a single day!
With this batch of magic stones, Locke began to think about where to rent a queens chessboard.
Even though the queens chessboard was a Third Ring Magic item, as long as he had the money, he could still rent the equipment outside of Golden Crown Mountain. He could use it to complete the analysis of the force layer and publish research related to tyrant element no. 2, while also conducting some of his own research on the Overlord Element.
At the same time, Locke needed to continue buying First Ring magic plants to fill his Forest Sanctuary.
The assimilation of trees by the Forest Sanctuary took a certain amount of time, so the earlier he transplanted more trees, the better.
Some things grew stronger the older they were, and the Forest Sanctuary was exactly that kind of thing!
Additionally, with these resources, he could feel at ease learning the Peach Arc Thorn Arrow and even inquire about information regarding mid-scale Planes or higher.
After all, to advance to a Second Ring Wizard, he still needed a mid-scale Plane!
"Besides, with this money, I no longer need to wait a month. I can conclude the Second-Class True Knowledge Institute Fund project in my hands this month and apply for a First-Class True Knowledge Institute Fund project from the academy," Locke said. "Money really is the accelerator for everything."
"With money, the great yellow duck crown pineapple in my hands can also be cultivated in batches and sold to those lightning wizards for their research. Unfortunately, the Thunderbird and Lightning Bee industries aren't particularly large, so the economic value of the great yellow duck crown pineapple isn't very high; it can only be considered a pittance."