625: Sky Garden Project
The remnant Black Wizards of the Twin Demon Realm had all fled back into the Twin Demon Realm, and those who remained were all killed by Witch Catherine's Great Magic.
The Third Ring Wizards from the Senate, the Patrol Executive Team, and the Academic Committee gathered around Witch Catherine; this was also the first time Locke had seen so many high-level figures from Golden Crown Mountain.
The Third Ring Wizards expressed their gratitude to Witch Catherine, thanking her for protecting the Cloud Arena.
However, one Third Ring Wizard from the Senate suddenly asked, "Lord of the Throne, why did you suddenly slow down the beast tide's offensive when we could have almost completely annihilated them, allowing some powerful wizards from the Twin Demon Realm to escape?"
"Those Black Wizards who escaped—who knows how many of our White Wizards they will kill in the future Demonic Realm War? You shouldn't have let them go."
Witch Catherine gave him a cold look. She didn't speak, but instead, one of her former students, a regular Third Ring Wizard from the Academic Committee, rebuked him, "You wizards from the Senate neither discovered the Black Wizards' plan beforehand, nor did you actively pursue the Black Wizards just now; instead, you were busy fighting over the night meteor."
"Lord of the Throne gave up the chance to record the night meteor in order to pursue the Black Wizards. This contribution is something everyone has witnessed."
Many Third Ring Wizards nodded repeatedly, all acknowledging Witch Catherine's contribution.
A Third Ring Wizard who had remained neutral until now suddenly spoke up. "I believe Witch Catherine should not just be a regular member of the Academic Committee, but should serve as Vice Chair to contribute further."
The Third Ring Wizards were sharp people; they glanced at each other, seeing the surprise in each other's eyes.
Because the Third Ring Wizard who had spoken previously was famous for never joining any faction and being a neutral wizard.
Even such a person had spoken up for Witch Catherine.
Furthermore, since Witch Catherine had just performed a great service, none of the Third Ring Wizards denied it, and some even spoke up to support her.
Seeing this, the wizards from the Academic Committee could only go along with Witch Catherine.
The position of Vice Chair of the Golden Crown Mountain Academic Committee required very high seniority, which Witch Catherine originally lacked, but she had now rapidly attained this position.
At the same time, Witch Catherine's student spoke up again, "This time, it should be the wizards from our Academic Committee who have won the opportunity to participate in the Plane Conquest Tournament. Everyone, it seems that the development direction of Golden Crown Mountain for the next hundred years will still be decided by our Academic Committee."
Dean Gaia nodded with satisfaction. "Indeed, since the Academic Committee has won, then we will continue to invest resources into Breeding Science and Botany."
This was well-received by the Patrol Executive Team as well.
The only ones unhappy were the Third Ring Wizards of the Senate.
The Third Ring Wizards of the Senate all had dark faces; their trump card, Antoine, had actually lost to a talented First Ring Wizard from a small place who had just enrolled in the Academic Committee this year.
Could it be that the saying "the waves behind the Yangtze River drive the waves ahead" was really happening in this world?
At this moment, these Third Ring Wizards of the Senate were somewhat suspicious that Locke was also a trump card cultivated externally by the Academic Committee.
Dean Gaia glanced at Witch Catherine and said, "In that case, let's establish a new commercial street for magic plant-related industries."
Witch Catherine spoke up at the right moment, "Dean, I have proposed before that we could build a Sky Garden with an industry value of over a billion magic stones, creating the highest-grade magic plant garden belonging solely to our academy."
"In this way, it will certainly allow our Golden Crown Mountain's Breeding Science to achieve maximum development."
"Moreover, a magic plant garden has many wonderful uses; this has been proven by the only public Sky Garden in the Yunze Wetland. We at Golden Crown Mountain should have a Sky Garden of our own, which can further enhance our foundation and increase our advantage in the fields of Breeding Science and efficient agriculture."
Witch Catherine said, "A Sky Garden can cultivate special magic plants. Once we possess our own Sky Garden, no other Wizard Academy in the entire Golden Crown Mountain Region will be able to keep up with us in the field of Breeding Science. They will even have to beg to be allowed to use our Sky Garden."
"I believe this is far more useful than building a commercial street."
At this point, the wizards from the Academic Committee and the Patrol Executive Team also stepped up to take sides, expressing their approval.
"I strongly agree with the Lord of the Throne. The Sky Garden can also be used as a super-large meteorological weapon, which will be very useful in the five major external wars!"
"Besides that, the Sky Garden has another function for our Golden Crown Mountain: it can expand the total area of magic fields near Golden Crown Mountain out of thin air. Everyone knows that land in Golden Crown Mountain is worth its weight in gold, and many wizards' research is limited by the finite magic fields of Golden Crown Mountain, unable to proceed."
"If a Sky Garden can create some magic fields out of thin air in mid-air, it would be a huge help in alleviating the land Plane issues of our Golden Crown Mountain!"
"Now that you mention it, that is true. It seems the cost-effectiveness of building a Sky Garden near Golden Crown Mountain is very high. The Sky Garden can also improve our utilization rate of sunlight..."
"I have several experiments that do indeed require a Sky Garden to be conducted..."
Seeing this, Dean Gaia immediately realized the extent of Witch Catherine's influence in Golden Crown Mountain.
The people from the Senate were stunned.
Because just now, even people from their own Senate had spoken up for the Sky Garden plan.
As for the Patrol Executive Team, many of their wizards also needed a Sky Garden for experiments, and to get a spot in the public Sky Garden, even a Third Ring Wizard's research group had to wait in line for a long time.
Therefore, they also supported the Sky Garden plan.
Dean Gaia said, "Very well, since everyone unanimously supports the Sky Garden plan proposed by Witch Catherine, I have no reason to refuse."
"The next major project for our Golden Crown Mountain will be... the Sky Garden."
"Witch Catherine, since you proposed this project, you shall lead the entire project."
The corners of Witch Catherine's mouth curled up. She said, "Dean, please rest assured, I will ensure that our Golden Crown Mountain possesses its own Sky Garden as soon as possible."
Dean Gaia looked deeply at Witch Catherine. "Of course, I am very confident in your abilities. It has been this way from the beginning; as long as it is something you want to do, there is nothing you cannot accomplish."
"By the way, your student's performance in the competition was also excellent."
"Help me pass on a message to him: congratulations on winning the championship."
Locke, standing to the side, was speechless.
Wasn't he right there? Did she really need to send a message?
However, the Dean was, after all, the highest authority of Golden Crown Mountain, and it was clear that she needed to maintain a certain distance from young First Ring Wizards.
After all the Third Ring Wizards had left, Witch Catherine glanced at Locke and also left.
At the same time, Dean Gaia's voice appeared in the Cloud Arena. "The Demonic Realm War is over, the competition resumes."
"Wizards injured in this incident will receive free treatment..."
Thanks to Antoine's automatic concession, Locke was considered to have won against him.
For the next five matches, Locke didn't spend much effort; his battle with Antoine had already left an indelible impression on the minds of these First Ring Wizards, so Locke won the matches easily.
Soon, all matches concluded, and Locke unsurprisingly won the championship.
On the podium, Locke stood as the champion, Antoine as the runner-up, and Witch Julian as the third-place winner; the three of them stood on the podium and were awarded their wizard badges.
After the award ceremony, Antoine glanced at Locke and turned to leave.
Witch Julian said to Locke, "Wizard Augustine, the first time I heard about you was from Daniel."
"Daniel said you are a very good person."
"Seeing you in this competition, it is indeed true."
Locke was surprised for a moment, then said to Witch Julian, "Speaking of which, how is Daniel doing now?"
"I saw that the product he released, [Ball Trajectory Tracking Mist], is selling very well, ranking in tenth place."
That was a special mist technology that could visualize the trajectory of moving objects using mist, and combined with the characteristics of divination spirit mist, find the most suitable trajectory and hitting angle, or even running posture; therefore, it sold very well in this Sports Festival.
It even made it onto the total sales list.
The quality of this item was even higher than his own wizard shoes. His wizard shoes were at the top of the sales list this time, not because the quality was truly that high or the function was so popular.
It was really because he had marketed them himself too successfully.
In a sense, he could be considered a marketing genius, using his status as the champion to push the first pair of wizard shoes he developed to a height they shouldn't have reached.
But this time, relying on the special mist he developed, Daniel seemed to have successfully saved his life, and he could even earn some money.
As long as there was money, he could continue to work on his fund projects without falling into a vicious cycle.
Witch Julian laughed, "Of course, he successfully escaped his debt crisis. I lent him some money before, but it seems he has the money to pay me back now."
Locke nodded. "That's good."
"I haven't seen him for a while recently, and I thought he had given up."
Witch Julian smiled, "He is not the type of person who gives up easily."
At this time, the Sports Festival concluded with grand award ceremonies, and the various wizards boarded void battleships, preparing to leave the Cloud Arena.
As Locke prepared to leave the Cloud Arena, he saw Witch Camilla with a look of sadness on her face, and there seemed to be tears in the corners of her eyes.
Beside her was a witch who looked dazed and foolish.
Locke glanced at her and discovered that this witch looked very similar to Witch Camilla.
The two were walking on the same path, going to board a void battleship at the same docking area.
Locke looked at the witch, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Camilla, who is this..."
Witch Camilla sighed. "This is my twin sister, Zelia. Her talent was originally very poor, but who knew that half a year ago, she suddenly became a Official Wizard. I was so excited. This time, I took the initiative to buy her a seat, wanting to take her out to see the world. Who knew it would harm her."
"Those damn fire thieves from the Twin Demon Realm, I don't know why they targeted the sister of a regular First Ring Wizard like me. They used a special ritual to make her echo appear, and then harvested most of her echo. By the time I arrived, she was already dazed and foolish. Although she is still a First Ring Wizard, I don't know why, but it's as if a part of her soul is missing; her intelligence and memory are fine, but her reactions are very slow, she can't speak, and she is just dazed and foolish."
"It's as if she has turned from a human into a beast."
Locke pondered as he looked at this scene. Recently, in order to pass the fourth Heavenly Stairway and increase his mental power, his Potionology had improved by leaps and bounds. Through observing her state, he confirmed one thing. "It is likely that her soul is incomplete."
"And it is the part of the soul related to self-cognition that is missing."
"It's like low-level animals gradually evolving into high-level animals. The souls of this world also have an evolutionary history; at first, there was no soul, only the predecessor of the soul—the spirit essence."
"Later, there were the souls of simple animals, followed by souls with logical reasoning capabilities, and the human soul is a high-level soul entity. But your friend seems to have damaged that last part of the soul that evolved..."
"This has caused her to turn from a human into a beast."
Witch Camilla became excited. "You have a way? Then why did those Potion Masters who came to treat my sister just now shake their heads? Even a Second-Ring Apothecary said she couldn't be cured."
Locke said, "It is because I study Abyssal Potionology, and Abyssal Potionology happens to have a deeper study of the soul."
"That is why I know this."
"This problem is indeed very difficult to treat. So that Second-Ring Apothecary was not brushing you off; it is indeed outside the scope of conventional Potionology treatment."
"It is only natural that he could not confirm your sister's condition."
Locke said, "If we can make your sister regain that part of her human soul, it should be possible to treat the problem of her soul being partially harvested by the Black Wizards."
"But I really don't have the ability to cure it..."
"By the way, I owe you 100,000 magic stones now."
"Tomorrow, I will have my student bring you ten magic crystal cards. As payment for the four pieces of witch porcelain you gave me."
Witch Camilla fell into deep thought. She thought of the [dragon viewing peach], one of the twelve specialties of Golden Crown Mountain.
Letting her sister eat a dragon viewing peach might be able to make up for the humanity she was missing.
However, such a thing could only be done after returning to Magic Hub City, to ask if Magic Hub City had any way to trade with Golden Crown Mountain.
The dragon viewing peach was an important specialty of Golden Crown Mountain, possessed only by Golden Crown Mountain, so she didn't know in her heart whether Magic Hub City could ask Golden Crown Mountain for a dragon viewing peach.
Witch Camilla gave Locke a grateful look. "Thank you, Locke."
"I owe this to you this time."
Locke said, "Thank you, you gave me four pieces of witch porcelain in time before."
Locke nodded at her, then they parted ways, and then Locke boarded the void battleship, returning to the ground.
He had to rush to report to Group 2 tomorrow, understand the research content of Group 2, and the Abyss exploration was about to begin.
Recently, he needed to write a project application for the first-class project fund as soon as possible.
In addition, before conducting the Abyss exploration, he needed to organize his recent gains and also think about the blueprint for his Great Magic!