768: The Key to Second-Ring Potionology: spirit macro and Witch Rosetta's Trap
The Rose Witch took out a dark red seal from her astral ring. The seal looked like a wooden carving, but as soon as it was brought out, it immediately drew the attention of many wizards. Among them were Second Ring Apothecaries, and even the Director of the Demon Hunting Department of the Cloud Marsh, who, as a rare Third Ring Wizard and Potion Master in the Cloud Marsh, immediately looked over.
The Director of the Demon Hunting Department said, "The Rose Throne is truly willing to invest. You two young wizards, why haven't you thanked the Rose Witch for this prize yet?"
"This is a spirit macro."
The Rose Witch nodded to the Director and said, "Director, you must be joking. In front of a master of Potionology like yourself, this [spirit macro] of mine is but a joke; you could refine one at will."
The Director of the Demon Hunting Department replied, "I wouldn't say 'at will.' Rose Throne, do not flatter me; don't make it seem like I have the ability but refuse to treat everyone. No matter how skilled I am, the fixed time required to refine this spirit macro—which is vital to Potionology—cannot be further shortened."
"It is a matter of painstaking effort. My two students are grown now and won't help me refine spirit macros anymore."
Witch Catherine reminded Lock, "Lock, go ahead and thank the Rose Witch. A spirit macro is the key to refining Second-Ring Potions. Oh, that's right, you've successfully refined a Second-Ring Potion twice before, haven't you?"
"The Blank Potion."
At the rectangular table, the Director of the Demon Hunting Department stroked his white beard. When Potionology was mentioned, he forgot about the vortex of conflict before him and interjected, "Blank Potion? I've never heard of it. Red Dragon Throne, this student of yours isn't very old, yet he has successfully refined Second-Ring Potions twice? That is no simple feat. Doesn't that mean he is very close to obtaining an Expert-level Potion Master certificate?"
Witch Catherine smiled without saying a word.
The Rose Witch's expression shifted slightly as she gave a cold snort. The idea that Witch Catherine's student might suddenly be able to earn an Expert-level Potion Master certificate—a highly valuable professional credential—made her extremely displeased.
The Rose Witch looked at Witch Rosetta and said, "Rose, you should also go and take the exam for an Expert-level Floramancer soon."
Seeing the two High-Ring Wizards bickering, Lock stood beside Witch Catherine, smiling bitterly in his heart.
Teacher, I have indeed successfully refined potions twice, but that Blank Spirituality Potion was refined using the Reverse Refining Method.
Strangely, when he followed the Reverse Refining Method passed down by Wizard Otto to refine the Blank Potion, he succeeded on the first try. Yet for some reason, every attempt to refine a clone potion ended in failure.
He had wasted a direct total of 1.5 million magic stones!
Now, it seemed to involve something very important—the spirit macro!
At the rectangular table, the Director of the Demon Hunting Department said in a low voice, "However, the age doesn't quite add up. Logically speaking, no matter how much of a genius you are, after becoming a Second Ring Wizard, it takes a long time to proficiently observe a [spirit macro], another period to master it, and an even longer period of practice to successfully draw one."
"To learn how to use a spirit macro requires a vast amount of resources for repeated potion refining, sensing the deeper attributes of things through failure... this requires both resources and age."
"Unless this young Potion Master... isn't using his own [spirit macro], but someone else's."
The speaker intended nothing, but the listener took it to heart.
Lock's body trembled slightly. Although he hadn't yet had the chance to visit the paid or free areas of the Golden Crown Mountain library to research knowledge regarding [spirit macros], he realized at this moment that he was likely using Wizard Otto's spirit macro.
Because he could only successfully refine the Blank Potion by using the second-ring magic item, the bronze cauldron, gifted to him by King Otto.
If that was the case, perhaps the patterns on the surface of that bronze cauldron contained the [spirit macro].
Lock bowed to the Rose Witch. "Witch Rosetta, my teacher asks me to thank you."
The Rose Witch propped her chin with her right hand and nodded slightly, her eyes narrowing as she said, "Actually, there's no need to thank me. I'm not necessarily giving it to you. I'll only give it to you if you win."
The Rose Witch continued, "Cunning boy, the stakes are set."
"Can you exchange pointers with my granddaughter now?"
Witch Rosetta looked at Lock expressionlessly. At this moment, a massive weaving machine emerged behind her. The machine seemed to be located in the far distance, making it difficult to see clearly with the naked eye.
But soon, the weaving machine moved from far to near, getting closer and closer until every detail appeared in Lock's vision like an explosion of information.
The body was grayish-black, made of special snow-forged magic-patterned steel, and its surface was extremely beautiful. Pillars of water shot out from two rows of nozzles on the weaving machine like ten fountains. Large amounts of thick thread were drawn by the water flow into the rotors, where they were then spun into fine yarn.
Witch Rosetta's magic pressure was 19,999, placing her at the very edge of being a Star Ring Wizard. She was only one step away from completing the currency conversion of her Great Magic to enter the Void Forging stage.
Many wizards present were whispering to each other, especially the three Directors of the White Wizard Association, the Third Ring Wizard representatives sent by the seven top universities to attend the banquet, and the wizard directors from the ten top Shop Alliances; they all began to nod in succession.
As the personal disciple of a Throne Wizard of the Cloud Marsh, performing a 'demonstration of magic' at his own celebratory banquet was not considered excessive.
It actually carried the ancient flair of wizards from the Enlightenment Era.
Moreover, at this moment, they could see the respective levels of the students personally trained by the two famous Throne Wizards of the Cloud Marsh.
It was quite an interesting occurrence.
In particular, the wizard director of the Alsace Shop Alliance looked at Lock with a smile. He had recently heard that Lock's brand of wizard shoes had earned a lot of money for the Alsace Shop Alliance.
Alsace was essentially a major landlord.
However, after Solas Lightfoot and Melchior Magic Step grew large, they broke away from this major landlord; there was no helping that.
Although they later quickly supported the Blue Ribbon Shop Alliance in the field of wizard shoes, it was a pity that Blue Ribbon was a subsidiary alliance of Solas Lightfoot and was controlled by them.
Therefore, for the Alsace Shop Alliance, their interests lay with individual sellers and small Shop Alliances, rather than those large-scale Shop Alliances.
At this moment, the shuttleless weaving machine behind Witch Rosetta rotated, rapidly refining various raw materials into silk threads.
Witch Rosetta wore a wizard robe decorated with Black Demon God Roses, looking graceful and elegant. A touch of disdain and frivolity appeared on her beautiful face as she raised her right hand, her middle finger and thumb touching, and a silk thread appeared in her hand.
"I heard that you clashed with Witch Georgina during the Silent Grail Competition? Hmph, her level is only average. So I believe that made you look down on my Textile Studies."
"My Textile Studies is rooted in alchemy. What is Textile Studies? Our Great Magic consists of various weaving machines, but there are over a hundred different types of weaving machines alone, not to mention the specific differences within the same type. Behind me is the shuttleless high-pressure water-jet weaving machine developed by the Rose Council."
"This weaving machine can maximize our weaving efficiency and has greatly expanded the selection of raw materials that can be spun into silk threads. This is the [Water Cannon Loom]."
Witch Rosetta looked at Lock, her eyes full of frivolity.
"The ridiculous New Textile Studies of Bonifacius University places too much importance on weaving methods while neglecting weaving materials. Therefore, your clash with her last time really didn't show the true power of our Textile Studies."
Lock sensed the undeniable tone in her voice. He had originally intended to give her some face since she was a guest, but now his expression turned cold as well.
"Talk is useless. Present your challenge."
Witch Rosetta pinched a strand of silk thread. The Water Cannon Loom behind her let out a roar like a cannon, and then various silk threads behind her began to twist into yarn under the action of high-pressure water.
Lock looked at her Water Cannon Loom and immediately fell into thought.
"Is it a magic that primarily utilizes water as the main energy source, just like Wizard Chad?"
"This Great Magic is indeed very interesting."
"This Rose Witch is my teacher's academic rival, and her granddaughter has a magic pressure of 19,999, which means she possesses at least four Grand Magic Runes. As for whether she has more, I think it's highly probable. I just don't know exactly how many Grand Magic Runes she has."
"But it's at least four."
As a personal disciple of a Throne Wizard, the probability of not having an extra Grand Magic Rune was extremely low and could be disregarded.
The difference between Second Ring Wizards is not just the gap in magic pressure, which brings a fundamental disparity, but also the gap in the forging of Great Magic Spell Models brought by Grand Magic Runes.
Of course, if one added the wrong Grand Magic Rune, increasing the energy dissipation of the Great Magic and lowering the instantaneous magic pressure multiplier, such things could also happen.
At this moment, Witch Rosetta pinched a strand of transparent water-thread and said, "Look, water can be woven into thread."
Then, as the weaving machine behind her rotated, beams of light were also woven into threads by her.
"Light can also be woven into thread."
"Wind can also be woven into thread."
Witch Rosetta reached out and grabbed a mass of air, tossing it into the weaving machine behind her. The machine roared as various precious alchemical raw materials stored inside—Astral Silver, Dragon Rage Steel, Blood Gold, Wind Element Gel—were added. There were at least a hundred steps inside the weaving machine, each handled by a mechanism within the machine.
Smelting metal, refining the form, organizing into yarn, coarse spinning, fine spinning, and turning into silk thread.
Finally, she held up a silk thread in her hand. The thread was semi-transparent, like an air gel. Holding that segment of thread, she smiled slightly, then grabbed both ends of the thread in front of Lock and began to pull outward. The thread stretched suddenly, seemingly without end.
Suddenly, she let go, and the line instantly snapped back to its original state.
Incredible elasticity!
At the same time, that segment of thread drifted with the wind, as if it had no mass at all.
Lock watched this scene calmly and began to analyze.
First of all, the special Textile Water Line type of thread should be an ability inherent to her Great Magic. Essentially, it is a form of magic that possesses the power to convert water resources into water threads and form a positive cycle through some means.
The Tiger Eye on Locke's forehead opened; the eye of the Three-Eyed Tiger-Eyed Cat shone like a divine light upon Witch Rosetta. Witch Rosetta frowned slightly, disliking the feeling of being seen through.
At this moment, Locke used the power of his ancient creature bloodline to enhance his insight. He saw what appeared to be a river behind that Water Cannon Loom.
'By weaving the waters of a river into threads, one can comb the river. In my view, this Great Magic of Witch Rosetta is fundamentally placed in the middle section of the largest river in a Colonial World, combing water threads for that river to keep its waters calm.'
Locke quickly made a judgment.
'And those Textile Light Lines and Textile Wind Lines should be realized through the subsequent addition of Grand Magic Runes. In truth, it's not that light and wind are actually turned into threads; looking closely, many alchemy materials have been added.'
'So, she's only utilizing a portion of the wind and a portion of the light.'
'Logically, she must have at least two more Second Ring Spell Models with Grand Magic Runes added. Old Textile Studies focuses on materials, so they are likely also special types of silk threads.'
Locke made his assessment.
However, since this wasn't an actual battle, neither side would reveal all their methods, so Locke couldn't see anything more.
At this moment, Witch Rosetta curled her lips into a smile.
"Why be confined to every blade of grass and tree in the present world? This wind, this water, these mountains, and this wood can all become threads for our Textile Studies."
She took out a second ring magic plant, a [Great King Jade Vine]. The vine was like green jade throughout, extremely beautiful, and its overall shape resembled a large swallow; it looked like the most beautiful jade-quality Magic Plant in the world.
At this moment, the vine seemed to sense its fate as its branches and leaves trembled slightly. In the next instant, it was thrown into the Water Cannon Loom by Witch Rosetta.
After the vine entered the Water Cannon Loom, it immediately entered different magical water pools within the machine, where it was quickly soaked and degummed. Then, a device inside the loom scraped away the xylem to separate the long fiber bundles, followed by an iron comb for straightening.
The entire process was as smooth as flowing water. All the long fiber bundles of this second ring magic plant, the Great King Jade Vine, were mixed with those Air Lines, turning into a thread that looked like jade.
Locke watched her dazzling and self-satisfied operation, feeling somewhat annoyed.
'This person talks big, but she might not actually be more powerful than Witch Georgina as she claims. It's lucky she's just exchanging pointers and testing me right now. If this were a competition, I wouldn't give her this much time; one Great Magic and she'd be knocked out of the match.'
'If this were a life-and-death battle, I would have already smashed a fist into her face by now. Calm down, calm down, don't let myself seem too lacking in composure.'
Locke tried hard to persuade himself.
'Everyone is a civilized person, there are White Wizards everywhere, and it's not good to break the law in front of so many big shots.'
'The three Directors of the White Wizard Association are still here.'
Locke maintained a fake smile and made a 'please' gesture toward Witch Rosetta.
"Please, continue."
Witch Rosetta raised her chin proudly. With a grab of her right hand, several silk threads that were neither quite jade nor quite cloud appeared in her hand.
A large handful.
Witch Rosetta said, "This is a special silk thread I designed, the [Cloud Whisker Thread]. These cloud threads have almost no weight and will drift in the air."
"If they encounter a magical attack, they will retreat backwards."
"Even if I don't use any magic to drive them, these threads will dance automatically in the air like a dragon's whiskers. Therefore, I call them Cloud Whisker Threads."
The loom behind Witch Rosetta moved, and soon a large piece of Cloud Whisker Cloth woven from the Cloud Whisker Threads floated above Wizard Town.
In just a moment, it was as large as a room.
Locke was stunned for a moment.
'She's showing off her efficiency to me. Although she didn't say it explicitly, I know that this Cloud Whisker Thread is an excellent material for making Second Ring Wizard Shoes.'
She's not easy to deal with.
This is a blatant show of force toward him.
These Cloud Whisker Threads seemed to be woven from threads made of the wind element combined with the plant fibers of a second ring magic plant, the [Great King Jade Vine], plus the water threads from the loom. The three threads merged into one to become a single Cloud Whisker Thread.
The wizards present had actually all seen through Rose Witch's true intentions.
The Director of the Organization Department of the Yunze Wetland suppressed a laugh while secretly thinking: 'Locke defeated Witch Georgina, who was promoted by New Textile Studies. So, for the Textile Studies wizards who want to bring glory to Old Textile Studies, the best way is not to go challenge Witch Georgina under the heavy protection of Bonifacius University.'
'It is to go and duel Locke Augustine, the one who defeated Witch Georgina and won first place in the Silent Grail Competition.'
'As long as they defeat him, they can say that their Old Textile Studies has surpassed New Textile Studies.'
Schools of thought always fight back and forth just for a bit of reputation.
Of course, Witch Rosetta wasn't just using Locke to show off and suppress New Textile Studies; her primary goal was still to cause trouble for Witch Catherine.
So, this was killing two birds with one stone.
No, it might be three birds with one stone.
Witch Rosetta made a 'please' gesture toward Locke.
"Breeder Augustine, please shoot down this piece of Cloud Whisker Cloth of mine."
"I am a well-known designer of wizard shoes, and this Cloud Whisker Cloth is a vamp material I developed for a new model of Second Ring Wizard Shoes. Junior Locke has only recently become a Second Ring, so I have come specifically to offer some guidance."
Locke smiled.
This was a personal grudge now.
A conflict between a Magic Shoemaker and a Breeder like himself who had suddenly charged into this market and swept the field.
Locke summoned his golden tower branch as well as his Little Vajra Jujube. Since he only needed to hit it and not destroy it, he didn't use his full strength.
Locke drew his bow and was about to shoot. 'The main difficulty should be that Cloud Whisker Cloth; the material is special and extremely light. Moreover, that characteristic of automatically retreating when encountering a magical attack makes it a top-tier material for wizard shoes.'
'Is she trying to use my attack magic, a competitor's, to conduct a test? That's meaningless.'
'So the point is to overcome this characteristic?'
'Although it's difficult, as long as I temporarily modify the Spell Model so that the shot of the Peach Arc Thorn Arrow splits into two arrows at the moment of release for a pincer attack, it should work.'
'For me as a Second Ring Wizard, this is an ability I can gain by quickly modifying a Spell Model during combat.'
'Of course, for my current self, it is indeed a bit forced and requires concentration...'
Locke drew his bow and notched an arrow. Under the watchful eyes of his five senior brothers and sisters, he was just about to release that shot.
Wizard Turazin opened his mouth as if to say something but hesitated.
But at that exact moment, a [Dragon Head] seemed to appear before Locke's eyes. Its dragon eyes glared with fury, possessing black horns and red eyes, looking like both a demon and a god, giving Locke a fright.
In an instant, Locke's Super Intuition ability was activated. In the next moment, he sensed something was wrong.
No.
This Cloud Whisker Cloth was not simple.
Locke frowned.
Witch Rosetta frowned.
A Tiger Eye appeared on Locke's forehead. Looking down from above and observing carefully, the insight of the Three-Eyed Tiger-Eyed Cat was extremely powerful.
If catching the flow of plane power with the naked eye was like using a normal human eye, then the eye of the Three-Eyed Tiger-Eyed Cat was like adding an electronic telescope.
Now, with the support of this powerful vision, Locke quickly noticed something was amiss.
'That's not right.'
Locke realized.
He looked at the Cloud Whisker Cloth above everyone's heads. The cloth cast a shadow, but what supported it from beneath was not a Textile Studies root realm, but a Botany root realm!
'This isn't a piece of cloth at all.'
Locke finally realized where he had almost been set up.
'For weavers, a Magic item is a Spell Model. This cloth is a spell, a Spell Model connected to the Water Cannon Loom. But Witch Rosetta's Water Cannon Loom isn't a pure Textile Studies Great Magic at all; it uses Textile Studies magic as the main body while adding Botany Spell Models as support.'
'The proof is that the main body of that loom is only a semi-magic item; another part is made of Magic Plants. I should have thought of this sooner.'
'That cloth, using some unknown Spell Model, is anchored to the Botany root realm. If I use Botany magic to attack that cloth, it's equivalent to standing at a lower position in the Botany root realm and attacking a Magic item at a higher position in the Botany root realm.'
Locke now understood.
While it wasn't impossible to attack, it would be difficult for him to hit, as if he were forced to fight from the bottom up. And that Cloud Whisker Cloth was already hard to hit to begin with.
Thus, it was a double difficulty.
Under the warning of his Super Intuition, Locke used his Tiger Eye to observe the clues and figured out this entire trap.
That was why she needed to set a test for him and limit his type of attack magic.
Had he switched to any attack magic other than Botany, this trick of hers wouldn't have worked.
A root realm is a platform, but this platform has high and low points.
The magnitude of support is the same, but because the magic pressure is different, everyone's Great Magic sits at different heights on this trapezoidal platform!
At this moment, Witch Rosetta's magic pressure was 19,999, so her Great Magic was definitely at a higher position in the Botany root realm than his Great Magic, the Moon of Evolution!
Rose's magic pressure was increased to 19,999; the version was strengthened because the author had written her too low in the previous text.