837: Thirty-Five Million Magic Stone Income and the Determination to Go Further!
The Wizard World, the edge of the Golden Crown Mountain Region, the imperial capital of a mortal empire.
The bodies of the three Second Ring Black Wizards in the physical world turned into sand swaying in the wind, vanishing into thin air, and Hussein did not find this scene strange at all.
He folded his arms, looked at Locke, and said: "Locke, your moves are truly sharp. Four Seasons Magic, World War."
The blood mirror formed by Hussein's right eye had glimpsed the entire process of the World War between Locke and the three Black Wizards.
It could only be said that for average wizards, initiating a World War was never as easy as it was for Locke.
This was something Hussein could not figure out.
It was as if the Ultimate Magic Locke attained was significantly different from the Ultimate Magic he himself had attained.
Locke said to Hussein: "It was alright. These three Black Wizards brought me quite a few good things. So there's no need to say thank you to me."
Hussein smiled: "It was I who used the Sacred Blood Sacrifice Hand to help you curse them, further lowering their magic pressure, and I even helped you dismantle one of their hidden trump cards in advance."
Locke asked: "How so?"
Hussein turned serious and asked Locke: "What if those three Black Wizards had used a Vampire transformation curse to lure your subordinates into turning into Vampires to enjoy a form of alternative immortality?"
Locke immediately frowned.
Hussein said: "I foresaw this scene. After all, I know that for mortals, immortality—even if it's just an alternative immortality that means being eternally cursed in pain—is extremely tempting to many of them. Unless, I take away another thing from them while they enjoy that eternal curse."
"Intelligence."
Hussein pointed at the three Sacred Blood Sacrifice Hands formed from three drops of blood at his feet—three large hands composed of fresh blood. This was standard for Blood Tribe magic, but when used by different wizards, the power was simply incomparable.
"This is the [Original Blood Curse] I invented. Spread through bloodlines and reproduction, I cursed the three Vampire clans of the Heidenburg Plane, stripping them of their intelligence. So, in the eyes of you and your apprentices, these Vampires are just a pack of beasts with little intelligence left."
A Tiger Eye appeared on Locke's forehead, scanning the three tentacles. He sensed the terrifying curse contained within them; the high-level curse geometric formulas were so complex he couldn't understand them at all.
Every step was filled with strokes of genius.
Clearly, this was a spell Hussein had invented independently.
Hussein pointed at the curse and said: "This is a curse that can strip sinners of their intelligence. The heavier the sins on one's body, the stronger the power of the curse. The intelligence of the Vampires in that world was stripped away by me. Thus, you don't need to worry about your Rangers being turned against you."
Locke knew what he was talking about.
After all, the prerequisite for enjoying a severely flawed 'immortality' was, at the very least, retaining a significant degree of intelligence.
If being transformed into a Vampire meant becoming little more than a semi-beast, or suffering obvious intellectual degradation leading to personality distortion or severe alteration, then the temptation of being transformed into a Vampire would naturally be infinitely reduced for them.
Locke thought about it and realized that Hussein's preemptive move had indeed been a great help to him.
Moreover, this Original Blood Curse had already been integrated with a Grand Magic Rune; it seemed to be Hussein's core magic.
'The earlier a wizard can construct a power system, the faster their ring ascension speed will be during the Second Ring stage, and the fewer resources they will need.'
Locke watched as the three tentacles reverted to blood and returned to Hussein's body, realizing that to achieve this step, Hussein had likely already completed the preliminary construction of his power system.
'Hussein's magic pressure is barely over 10,000, but before I even engaged with the three Black Wizards of the Pale Pilgrimage, his progress in power system construction had already surpassed mine.'
Locke sensed the fearsomeness of a super genius like Hussein.
'If he continues to progress in power system construction while I lag behind, his magic pressure might catch up to mine in a very short time.'
'I still need to work hard.'
'In next year's special grant proposal applications, those with more seniority than me are certainly strong opponents. But those with talent no weaker than Hussein's, like Zeno and Antoine, they are my biggest rivals.'
The path of a top-tier genius in the Wizard World was not an easy one.
Every step was filled with competition; one slight misstep and one could fall off this track and enter a lower-tier secondary track.
However, he didn't need to worry too much.
Because he was about to crack the secret of Ancestral Evolution. Having a second mode of evolution, he could definitely produce a bunch of projects and publish a bunch of papers because of it.
Locke asked Hussein: "So, have you published a paper on your Original Blood Curse?"
Hussein coughed.
"There aren't many Curseology journals in the Yunze Wetland. There's no point in me submitting to those off-brand journals. If I'm going to submit, it has to be to the Southern Wizard Capital or the Star Domain Sea. The submission fee for the latest Star Domain Sea journals has increased from forty thousand magic stones to fifty thousand magic stones."
"And if it's a Second Ring journal in the Star Domain Sea, the requirements are even higher. My goal is to secure a second district and strive for a tier 1. So, I still need to accumulate some good pre-experimental data, then save it up to publish a wave in the Star Domain Sea's Second Ring tier 1 journal, [darkness and curses]."
Locke had heard of the famous "darkness and curses."
According to his colleagues at Golden Crown Mountain, it was the favorite journal of bad wizards and wizards who liked using curses. It contained a bunch of terrifying curse magic, some even capable of using a single curse to transform a world into a hell. Thus, many Holy Masters would occasionally report this journal to the White Wizard Association when they were in a bad mood.
However, despite being reported for so many years, "darkness and curses" was still around.
Locke asked: "Why not submit to 'Law and Contract'? That's also a top-tier tier 1 journal in the Star Domain Sea."
Hussein said: "I'd like to. But the articles in 'Law and Contract' are too biased toward Contractors. And this Original Blood Curse I invented is biased toward Curse Masters."
Locke nodded, took out his Ganoderma Magic Plant, and saw that Old Pirate Henry was contacting him.
He pointed the Ganoderma Magic Plant forward, and immediately a beam of light appeared from its tip, shining ahead.
A small void aircraft, shaped similarly to a whale, soon appeared in the sky.
The one-eyed Old Pirate Henry, bringing with him his indestructible stubbornness and hearty laughter, descended from the sky.
"Hahaha... Locke, I've arrived."
A void aircraft, through a mechanism similar to a Light Transmitter, jumped to these phase coordinates via magical light transmission.
"Locke, this is our pirate light-transmission void ship. How is it? I told you we could move rapidly within a Wizard Land."
"By using magical light for jumps every time, we can move quickly. With this small aircraft, we can bypass the magical defenses scattered throughout the Yunze Wetland and easily traverse the Yunze Wetland to plunder at will."
Old Henry jumped down from the whale ship, then his expression changed slightly. As an Old Pirate who had braved through mountains of blades and seas of fire, he was very sensitive to the scent of blood.
At this moment, he sensed that some kind of great battle had just taken place here.
Old Henry's expression shifted abruptly because the prosthetic Magic item on his left hand was emitting a bright red light. Based on reading the color of this light, he understood that more than one Second Ring Wizard had died here.
Old Henry became nervous.
"What, do you still have enemies here? Do you want to get on my light-transmission void ship to evade them?"
While speaking to Locke, Old Henry used the corner of his eye to size up Hussein.
Locke said: "No need. There were indeed three Second Ring Wizard enemies, but I just killed them all. It's a coincidence; I just finished killing them when you happened to arrive, Henry."
Old Pirate Henry forced a smile.
"It certainly is quite a coincidence. Maybe the weather is just good today."
He pointed his right hand at the poison blade on his left hand and said: "This Magic item is just too difficult to use. I've been wanting to change this function that senses how many Official Wizards have died nearby. It can only show how many people died, but it can't distinguish whether they were killed by our own people or the enemy. Hahaha..."
Locke gave Old Henry a strange look.
"Old Henry, why is your hand shaking?"
Old Pirate Henry furrowed his brows, his hand still shaking, and said: "I recently did an experiment related to neurotoxins, and it damaged some of my sympathetic nerves. It's fine, it won't affect my piloting."
"Ahem... and this is?"
Hussein said with a smile: "Mithril Law Firm, Hussein. I am a lawyer."
Old Pirate Henry immediately breathed a sigh of relief and began to smile.
"A lawyer? Lawyers are good. Lawyers are reasonable."
"Locke, Mr. Hussein, shall we set off now?"
Hussein looked at Locke.
Locke asked Hussein: "Will the people from the Pale Pilgrimage continue to hunt you down?"
He was mainly worried that after they entered the void, the people from the Pale Pilgrimage would continue to chase them because they were pursuing Hussein.
Hussein said in a low voice: "You can rest assured about that. The three people you just killed were direct descendants of the Progenitor Wizard. Currently, only they can find me through [Claiming Ancestry]."
"But they must be very close to do so. Because I used the bloodline power of my Debt Slaves combined with a Confusion Curse to confuse [Claiming Ancestry]."
"I just had bad luck and accidentally ran into them. As a result, they used their bloodline power to track my aura, planted a Blood Curse, and followed me all the way. I tried to shake them off, as I didn't want to get too entangled with them. Unfortunately, there was a path to heaven they wouldn't take, and they insisted on barging into the gateless hell."
"As long as I don't get close to these direct descendants of the Progenitor Wizard again, there shouldn't be much of a problem. Moreover, I suspect only this branch of descendants called [Blood Hand] can find me."
Hussein said seriously: "Because the inheritance I obtained is the Inheritance Blood of the Blood Hand Clan."
On the other side, the Old Pirate blinked. "Blood Hand, Blood Eye, Blood Foot, Blood Wing, Blood Heart, and Blood Soul—these are the six major direct descendant lineages of the Blood Demon Palace within the Pale Pilgrimage. You took the Inheritance Blood of the Blood Hand Clan? Hiss~ Then you must be the Progenitor Wizard's blood bag?"
Old Henry silently moved a bit further away from Hussein.
The Progenitor Wizard's blood bags were not to be trifled with.
The Progenitor Wizard was cruel, bloodthirsty, and exceptionally violent. Every time he woke up, he would sweep through the Wizard World, bringing disaster upon it.
He had heard that the Progenitor was also very picky; wizards who lacked talent or whose personalities weren't violent enough were not worthy of being his blood bags.
Therefore, every one of the Progenitor Wizard's blood bags was absolutely a brilliant and extraordinary super executioner.
Old Henry turned to look at Locke and swallowed hard. An Eye Demon Wizard and such a person actually seemed to be on good terms.
It made sense, it made sense.
If the Eye Demon Wizard hadn't taken the path of Life Magic, he himself would probably have been targeted by the Progenitor Wizard and lured into a trap to obtain a portion of Inheritance Blood.
Old Henry shuddered again.
Wait, that's not right.
Each of the six major clans has only one portion of Inheritance Blood, corresponding to the sole blood bag during one cycle of the Progenitor's awakening and slumber.
During the clans' slumber periods, many affairs were presided over by the six blood bags.
The status of a blood bag within the six major clans was very strange. On one hand, the clans felt they were merely the Progenitor's Blood Servants; on the other hand, because they were the Progenitor's Blood Servants, it actually gave them a certain level of status within the clan.
The Blood Hand Clan must be very anxious right now to call back the blood bag belonging to their clan.
At this moment, Old Henry silently marked Hussein as a very dangerous individual in his heart.
Now things were becoming ironic.
For thousands of years, the Progenitor's blood bags had only circulated among the Black Wizard groups. This time, for some unknown reason, such a thing as a lawyer from a top-tier red-circle law firm in the White Wizard Society like Mithril Law Firm becoming the Progenitor's blood bag had actually occurred.
Locke told the two, "I still need to go to the Dragon Blood Assembly to recruit some hands and prepare a void aircraft. So, I might need you two to wait for half a month."
"But it's fine. I have already arranged for my student to prepare a residence for you both at Golden Crown Mountain. If you need anything, or require a laboratory, you can talk to me or my student, Gregor."
Hussein, who had already gained some fame in the White Wizard Society, didn't say much and simply nodded.
"Mhm, I'll just take the opportunity to lie low at Golden Crown Mountain."
As for Old Henry, he coughed, thought for a moment, and agreed.
At that moment, five Second Ring Wizards from the Everlasting Hall of Glory were rushing over in a magic carriage from the distance.
To prevent things from getting complicated, Locke boarded Old Henry's special pirate ship with Hussein. Using light transmission, they transformed into a beam of magical light and jumped directly toward Golden Crown Mountain.
The five wizards from the Everlasting Hall of Glory stepped out of the magic carriage. They were either Lecturer Wizards of the Everlasting Hall of Glory or contract-based wizard mentors.
They exchanged looks with one another.
"A great battle just occurred here; it seems more than one Second Ring Wizard has died."
"A Second Ring Great Wizard died? Oh, it seems those who died were all Black Wizards."
After finding the Second-Class Wizard Apprentice inside the palace and learning about the situation from him, they all breathed a sigh of relief and looked at each other.
"It seems a friend from Golden Crown Mountain happened to be passing by and dealt with those three reckless Black Wizards for our Everlasting Hall of Glory."
"As expected of Golden Crown Mountain. Even among ordinary Second Ring Wizards, they killed three Second Ring Wizards in one move. A Second Ring Great Wizard is an ancestor-level figure in many lower Wizard Lands, yet he killed three in one go."
"Based on the description, the one who acted seems to be the Eye Demon Wizard of Golden Crown Mountain. He did us a favor. If there's a chance in the future, we should thank him. Let's consider this as us owing him a favor."
...
After Locke and the others left, a little girl wearing a stiff, washed-out grey-white coarse cotton dress that reached just below her knees stepped out onto the streets of the mortal imperial capital.
She had two twin tails and stared directly at the palace—where the five Second Ring Wizards were—with her naked eyes.
"I thought the Wizard World would still be so boring after all these years. Who knew that after this revival, so many interesting characters would suddenly appear?"
The little girl curled her lips into a smile. "It seems there's something to play with. Teacher Yekaterina, you didn't expect this, did you? I'm back. Hahaha... I told you, you wouldn't be able to kill me."
"Hahaha..."
"I have to thank this ever-rising magic tide for making my original seal no longer indestructible. Teacher Yekaterina, you cut off my path to advancement and betrayed me, your student. I will make sure your reputation is ruined! I see it; your Academic Lineage is in a fierce battle with that other lineage."
"Then, I'll start by destroying your Academic Lineage."
...
Half a month later, Golden Crown Mountain, Witchs Kitchen.
Witch Scarlett sat before Locke and handed him eighty million in payment for the goods.
Witch Scarlett felt her hands trembling; she had never held such a large sum of money in her life.
If anything went wrong, she wouldn't be able to repay this money even if she worked as a Debt Slave for ten lifetimes.
So, after she handed the magic stones to Locke, she visibly breathed a sigh of relief.
Locke asked curiously, "Wasn't it seventy million magic stones?"
Witch Scarlett took a sip of green fish tea, cleared her throat, and said to Locke, "Lord Augustine. Alsace has decided to switch to a new cooperation contract with you, so it's now a 60-40 split. You get sixty, and we get forty."
"Alsace can continue to provide you with the sales and production chains. This is an order from the higher-ups of Alsace."
"Therefore, the net profit this time is fifty million magic stones. According to the new contract, you get thirty million in profit, and we get twenty million. Additionally, since the upper management of Alsace considers you a high-quality partner, they have specifically granted you an extra five million magic stones this time, making it a total of eighty million magic stones."
During this half-month, Locke had sent a clone to personally escort the shipment.
However, nothing actually happened. After the goods arrived at the Alsace headquarters, they were immediately sent to various places through Alsace's logistics system.
Solas Lightfoot wasn't stupid enough to attack Alsace's logistics system.
After all, in essence, Alsace was a platform providing a complete set of logistics, manufacturing, and sales for Breeders and other wizards. If Solas Lightfoot dared to hire people to attack Alsace's ground logistics, even the Rose Throne behind Solas Lightfoot might not be able to protect him.
After all, behind Alsace was a group of Fourth Ring Wizards.
Locke calculated that he needed to set aside a sum to repay his loan, but the remaining forty-five million plus magic stones were his.
Witch Scarlett said to Locke, "Our first Second Ring Wizard shoes have achieved great results. Perhaps we can increase the price later? How about we raise it to be like Blue Ribbon, starting at three million magic stones per pair?"
Locke thought for a moment and asked, "What would happen if we raised the price?"
Witch Scarlett pondered and said, "Sales might be cut in half. The reason our Wizard Shoes sold so well this time was because the price was low."
"But our Wizard Shoes currently still have a certain gap in quality compared to Blue Ribbon. However, even if sales are halved, I believe our income could increase by at least another third, or even half."
"After all, we would be tripling the sales price."
Witch Scarlett seemed very satisfied with the current situation, a smile playing on her lips.
"I should be able to be rated as a Platinum Trader at the end of the year. This is all thanks to your great help."
"It is truly my honor to be your partner."
"With this sales volume, we have already become a somewhat famous Wizard Shoes Shop Alliance in the Star Domain Sea. We can definitely afford to raise our prices now."
"Next, we can sit back and relax and start making money."
Locke frowned and tapped his fingers on the table, feeling dissatisfied with this partner for the first time.
"Scarlett, and then? What other plans do you have after that?"
Witch Scarlett showed a look of astonishment.
"And then? Lord Augustine, isn't this enough? The pure magic plant wizard shoes you pioneered achieved such success on their first appearance. You can completely establish yourself as a famous wizard shoe designer now."
"Your Wizard Shoes are just too successful. I heard that there are even journals that want to interview you."
Witch Scarlett took another sip of green fish wizard tea.
Locke frowned, gave her a deep look, and then said, "No, this is not enough. We need to go further."
"We can only be considered a third-rate Wizard Shoes Shop Alliance right now. We need to enter higher markets and gain a better reputation. Not just that, I want to revolutionize this market."
"The original Wizard Shoes market has high prices and many additional fees. A large number of wizards in the Three Ze Lands who want to explore the void need to buy Wizard Shoes but are forced to give up because of the price."
Witch Scarlett asked, "Lord Augustine? What do you mean?"
Locke said, "The price of Second Ring Wizard shoes should be defined by us. This first great blood wave pineapple wizard shoes is my work, so the price remains unchanged. In the future, once my Shop Alliance grows, I will not only further optimize them but also further lower their price."
"I want to make Wizard Shoes no longer expensive, no longer an exclusive item for a few wealthy wizards, but something every wizard in the Three Ze Lands can afford to wear."
"Just like the founder of Solas Lightfoot, Wizard Solas, who hundreds of years ago wanted to make the best shoes in the world so that Wizard Shoes would no longer be just an ordinary Magic item but a Magic item that helps wizards explore the void. He did achieve it back then, but he stopped there, and his Wizard Shoes only became more and more expensive."
Locke said to Witch Scarlett, "Scarlett, I am now going to push for a second-rate Wizard Shoes Shop Alliance. I want to surpass Blue Ribbon, surpass Solas, and surpass Melchior in the Second Ring market. In the future, I will become the best Wizard Shoes Shop Alliance."
Witch Scarlett was stunned.
"The Wizard Shoes market is one of the backyard markets of two Third Ring Wizards. Although the market isn't huge, it's a savings pool for them to collect large amounts of funds. If that's the case, we might directly clash with those two Third Ring Wizards... wait..."
Witch Scarlett realized something.
The Academic Lineage Locke belonged to was in a hostile relationship with those two Third Ring Wizards.
In other markets, if Locke were so reckless, he might suffer a crushing blow from High-Ring Wizards. But in this Wizard Shoes market held by the Rose Throne, Locke was uniquely permitted to cause such trouble.
Because others would only see this as being directed by the Red Dragon Throne.
Even those two Third Ring Wizards could only compete fairly.
Witch Scarlett hadn't expected Locke's ambition to be so great.
Locke said to Witch Scarlett, "Wait for my second wizard shoe work. The quality of that one should be much higher, and only then can we raise the price. Raising the price now would be cutting off our own path. Our future is more than this."
Witch Scarlett said, "Alright, Lord Augustine. Whatever you want to do, I will do it with you."
The fire of struggle ignited in Witch Scarlett's eyes.
So be it.
Fortune favors the bold.
As long as Locke wanted to go for it, she would follow.
That way, she would have a better chance of becoming a Second Ring Wizard!
Moreover, in the eyes of others, she had now taken a side with the Red Dragon Throne, which would instead grant her the protection of the Red Dragon Throne's Academic Lineage, preventing others from playing dirty tricks on her.
Witch Scarlett had seen too many tragic cases where traders offended High-Ring Wizards and were directly fired or designed to be turned into Debt Slaves.
But now she also had a High-Ring Wizard behind her; she had backing. Since that was the case, why not open fire on those high and mighty interest groups?!
Witch Scarlett thought for a moment and suddenly suggested to Locke, "If you are so confident in your second work, can you tell me what aspect it's in? Solas Lightfoot and Melchior have been holding theme events recently. Although we are a simple little Shop Alliance, if they can hold them, so can we. They hold large theme events with famous explorers; we can hold small theme events with somewhat famous explorers."
Witch Scarlett smiled. "Anyway, a small boat is easy to turn around."
Locke thought for a moment, recalling the giant golden hand that reversed energy used by that Aberrant Dragon, and said, "Then, the direction of the second Wizard Shoes should be some kind of Gold Magic."
"A type of Wizard Shoes that can remain unaffected by surrounding energy, spirituality, and matter, suitable for certain polar explorations."
"They can adapt even to the toughest and most complex Plane environments. We can make First Ring and Second Ring versions, even an Apprentice version. One set, three versions."
Witch Scarlett said in surprise, "That is indeed a good direction. This would be a polar exploration type of Wizard Shoes. This kind of Wizard Shoes is widely followed among the explorer community! This is the very root of Solas Lightfoot!"