891: Taking the Potionology Throne as Master and Fifty Million Magic Stones in Profit!
In the deepest part of a secret room within the True Knowledge Institute of the Rose Council's academies in the Yunze Wetland, Wizard Hades stepped into this hidden chamber.
The interior of this stone room was covered in wizard formations, where the hidden true form of all things was forced out.
Dressed in a black robe and possessing an aquiline nose, Wizard Hades scanned the people in the room with cold eyes; his expression turned slightly startled when he saw Witch Rosetta.
At this time, Witch Rosetta had half a star ring behind her, like fragments of matter captured by gravity in the void of stars; these star fragments surrounded her soul.
The [star ring] is the hallmark of a Star Ring Wizard and the sign of the successful forging of Ultimate Magic.
Wizard Hades nodded slightly. "Not bad. Junior Sister, Teacher will be happy for you. You're about to become a Star Ring Wizard; that was fast. How old are you even?"
"Becoming a Star Ring Wizard requires describing one's own power."
Witch Rosetta nodded and said, "Indeed, and I've found there's also a risk of Ultimate Magic collapsing at any moment. It's a critical process. Senior Brother, why have you come to see me?"
Wizard Hades was silent for a moment, then suddenly changed his attitude.
"Junior Sister, you calculated very accurately. I found out you've had private dealings with wizards from Golden Crown Mountain, and some wizards have reported you to me."
Wizard Hades weighed his attitude; one attitude for an ordinary Second Ring Wizard, but another entirely for a Star Ring Wizard.
As a Sun Ring Wizard, Wizard Hades naturally knew that the [star ring] mark of Ultimate Magic represented a wizard's ability to describe their entire power with a symbol system, reaching an academic and magical level that would have been inconceivable to wizards of the past.
A wizard of this level in a past era could have become royalty, a Wizard King of a region, a Wizard General, or a capable subordinate of a Wizard Great Lord.
Wizard Hades had originally intended to question Witch Rosetta, but seeing her at a critical moment of breakthrough, he naturally had to consider not affecting her progress.
"Conflicts between two Academic Lineages are generally reflected in key journals, major project applications, and awards, which are deeply linked to the market. The Wizard Shoes market has always been our private territory; Solas and Melchior involve the livelihoods of many Magic Weavers."
"Junior Sister, are you confident in managing these two Shop Alliances well?"
"Though it's just a small market, if we fail here, Teacher will likely be angry. Besides, you wouldn't be able to explain it to Lord Solas and Lord Melchior."
Witch Rosetta nodded to him. "Senior Brother, I am confident in managing these two Shop Alliances. Using the enemy was a move of necessity."
Wizard Hades nodded.
"It's good that you know what you're doing. However, let me ask you: what is this mass layoff plan all about?"
A hint of surprise appeared in Witch Rosetta's eyes. "I didn't expect Senior Brother to concern himself with such small matters. It's merely an internal management method. I believe we don't need so many people, and by replacing them, it allows the talent below to rise. I believe it's purely beneficial for those unemployed Magic Weavers of the Rose Council."
A smile appeared on Wizard Hades' face, and he nodded slightly.
"Currently, I am the spokesperson for our Academic Lineage. But you should know how difficult it is to be this leader. Although I can access many resources, there are just as many people asking for money, and many mouths waiting for me to feed them."
"Our Academic Lineage indeed has many people currently unable to find work who are reaching out to me for help."
Witch Rosetta smiled and said, "Then have them submit their resumes to Solas and Meileqi Magic Step. However, they must undergo a fair assessment."
"Everything will be based on merit."
"I believe that in the original two Shop Alliances, there were too many people eating and too few people providing the food. It wouldn't work without clearing them out; like rotting flesh, it must be cut away."
Wizard Hades nodded with satisfaction.
"It's good that you understand my difficulties. Since you understand mine, I understand yours as well, Junior Sister. It seems you are indeed more suited to be the administrative executive of the two Shop Alliances than those two Moon Ring Wizards. Furthermore, you've already obtained the approval of the boards of directors of both Shop Alliances."
Witch Rosetta appropriately showed a bit of surprise.
"Seeing Senior Brother arrive so aggressively, I thought you were here to hold me accountable."
Wizard Hades coughed, as that had indeed been his original intention.
After all, Witch Rosetta's actions had indeed sold out her own people, and he had found out about it.
But who knew that Witch Rosetta would reveal she was about to break through to the Star Ring, raising her status and value? Secondly, Witch Rosetta had done him a favor by solving a problem that was currently giving him a headache.
The employment of those below had always been a headache for the high-level members of their Academic Lineage.
Witch Rosetta said to Wizard Hades, "Senior Brother Hades, I would like to ask you for one more Shop Alliance."
Wizard Hades was slightly taken aback.
Witch Rosetta said, "It's the Olaye Shop Alliance."
The expression on Wizard Hades' face relaxed slightly.
"What do you want that Shop Alliance for? It specializes in selling magic plant weapons and has been losing money for years; I poached it from the wizards over at Golden Crown Mountain."
Witch Rosetta smiled and said, "Senior Brother has forgotten that I am not only a Magic Weaver genius but also a Breeder genius and a Floramancer genius. This year, I've signed up for competitions in three different industries. Therefore, I also want to try running a magic plant weapon shop."
"After all, my opponent, Locke Augustine, is a Breeder genius."
Wizard Hades said nonchalantly, "Suit yourself. It's just an unwanted shop that loses money every year. If you want it, you'll be responsible for it from now on."
Witch Rosetta knew she could get it because that Shop Alliance was already looking for someone to take it over.
'This way, I have the well-known flower shop [Human Prosperity], two well-known wizard shoe Shop Alliances, and the Olaye Magic Plant Shop Alliance.'
'With this, I can advance or retreat as I please. Among these three industries, as long as I develop any one of them, it will be considered a success.'
Her logic was that the failure rate of doing one industry was higher than the failure rate of doing three industries and failing in all of them simultaneously.
To raise her status within the Academic Lineage, she needed contributions and performance.
To be an enemy to Locke, simply doing well with the wizard shoe Shop Alliances was not enough.
Witch Rosetta said, "Lately, I need to focus my energy on breaking through to the Star Ring; the struggle with Locke isn't urgent for the moment. He is currently in the spotlight and naturally full of himself. A person is most likely to expand and collapse when they are complacent and successful."
"Let him be smug for a few days. Of course, this might be useless; given his character, he likely won't indulge himself in this minor success."
Witch Rosetta gave an order through the Ganoderma Magic Plant: 'Solas Lightfoot must increase revenue and reduce expenditure. Stop supporting those few people from the True Knowledge Institute at Golden Crown Mountain.'
...In the Golden Crown Mountain Region, Wizard Brandy was surprised to find in his dormitory that the medium-to-large Wizard Academy [White Wax Jungle] in the Rose Council district had actually stopped its sponsorship of him.
Wizard Brandy frowned and asked the other party why they were violating the agreement.
Soon, the contact from [White Wax Jungle] sent him a message.
"We are very sorry, Wizard Brandy. The main reason is that our High-Ring Wizard, who was originally very optimistic about you, has now taken an interest in a better project, which is the Magic Plant Crystallization direction. This is a new technology proposed by the Rose Council; compared to it, our High-Ring Wizard believes that the symbiosis research between Arctic Ice Peach and magical creatures seems far too ordinary."
"Currently, Breeders throughout the entire Yunze Wetland are conducting research in this direction."
"So, we are very sorry."
Wizard Brandy's eyes were full of anxiety; he had also been burning with worry lately, feeling that if he didn't start research in this direction, he would fall behind others.
Most importantly, he was looking for an opportunity to enter this circle.
But he couldn't find one.
He was going crazy.
Wizard Brandy quickly replied to the staff at [White Wax Jungle]: "I can also do research on Magic Plant Crystallization!"
There was no reply.
Wizard Brandy frowned and stood up, pacing in circles with anxiety. At this moment, his mind was a complete blank, filled only with worry; he wanted to find an opportunity to enter this research direction.
"This research is so popular right now. If I can find a way to do this research, wouldn't applying for a special grant be a breeze?"
Wizard Brandy saw on the Ganoderma Magic Plant that at least three people believed he had a way to purchase the key equipment for this technical route or had key information, and they had sent messages to test him.
After replying to them one by one, his heart became even more anxious.
"This is just too popular. I must keep up."
...At the True Knowledge Institute on Golden Crown Mountain, Wizard Droma was also looking at the various exchange groups in the Ganoderma Magic Plant with burning anxiety, as they discussed Magic Plant Crystallization technology.
This technology was in full swing, seemingly becoming the hot topic of the entire Yunze Wetland in an instant.
A wizard suddenly posted a column in the technical exchange group of the Golden Crown Mountain Advanced True Knowledge Institute; it was actually an interview column from Little Breath Mountain regarding the Sun Ring Level group Prophecy Magic direction.
In this column of the Magic Daily, there was a wizard's profile picture; this wizard was talking eloquently to a reporter and said directly to all subscribers: "I believe the next ten years will be the decade of Magic Plant Crystallization technology. Traditional Magic Plant cultivation and Magic Plant Preservation Technology will likely fail to keep up with the times; the traditional Spirit Breath Cultivation Method, as well as previous traditional Magic Plant cultivation methods, will likely be completely unable to compete with this Magic Plant Crystallization technology."
"Undoubtedly, traditional Magic Plant technology has indeed not seen a major innovation for many years. I believe this current technical development is the biggest trend in the last ten years."
Wizard Droma stood up abruptly.
"It seems this technology is very likely the advantageous research route for this year's special grant project applications."
"The topic I originally prepared seemingly cannot be continued."
Wizard Droma thought of a problem: if other wizards took this technical route and he didn't, then his special grant for this year would surely be out of the question.
He couldn't afford to wait for a second application for a special grant.
If he lost this chance, who knew how many years it would be before he could apply for a Second Ring Level fund again.
A Second Ring project was extremely rare.
Wizard Droma thought of his own group leader, who hadn't applied for a Second Ring project in years and was currently very depressed, facing a potential job transfer by the Red Dragon Throne at any time.
"No. I also have to find a way to see if there's a way to do this project."
...On Golden Crown Mountain, in Locke's clone's underground laboratory in the Dune Plane, on the tenth floor, he used the fragrance of the Super Jaeger Dream Flower to bring a golden dragon claw air pineapple into the Dream Void and completed the graft using the Approach Grafting method.
"Using Approach Grafting to fish for the power of the underworld iron tree can still lower my production costs. Although because of the special Imaginary Root, I cannot produce Golden Dragon Claws by grafting One-Ring Magic Plants onto the underworld iron tree."
"But I can use limited resources to force the growth of Magic Plants, then graft semi-finished Golden Dragon claws, and fish for the power of the underworld iron tree to enrich my Golden Dragon claws. Using this method, I can produce four golden dragon claw air pineapples with one piece of verdant spirit breath."
Originally, one piece of verdant spirit breath could only produce one golden dragon claw air pineapple.
For Breeders with lower skill levels, they might need two or three pieces.
But by using this method and cooperating with a skilled group of Breeders, the price can be lowered as much as possible.
Locke calculated that based on this profit margin, each pair of Golden Dragon claws could earn him about five hundred thousand magic stones.
He had currently sold 180 pairs of golden dragon claw air pineapples; this single transaction alone could potentially earn a net profit of around fifty million magic stones.
Furthermore, his Wizard Shoes had completely occupied the territory. In the future, both Meileqi Magic Step and Solas Light Foot (30k) would find it difficult to truly drive him out of the market.
Locke saw many wizards in the back-end requesting him to open up equity in Augustus and allow external capital inflow. This would cause the value of his Shop Alliance to skyrocket several times over in a short period.
He would likely increase his income by sixty to eighty million magic stones out of thin air.
To be precise, this time he had simultaneously struck the two major wizard shoe brands in the Yunze Wetland and sold 180 pairs of pure Magic Plant second ring wizard shoes in a single day. This itself significantly tore into the base of the two major Shop Alliances.
Of course, the reason he could achieve such a large market and success was mainly because he sold them cheaply.
And this point made many wizards in the Yunze Wetland start to get restless, prompting many Breeders in the Yunze Wetland to enter the pure Magic Plant wizard shoe market.
It sparked their interest in buying shares in Augustus.
Unfortunately, Locke had never sold any shares of Augustus to the public.
"There's no need to sell. My cash flow is so healthy right now that I don't need to accept external funds and have other wizards bossing me around."
"After this, Augustus will have truly established a firm foothold in the Yunze Wetland. Although I am only a Second Ring Wizard, my Augustus brand possesses super-hit products within the First Ring and second ring wizard shoes. Super-hit products are the stars of Wizard Shoes."
"The two major Shop Alliances will never be able to stifle me like they did before."
"This transaction involves a volume of over a hundred million magic stones."
Locke became cautious.
"With these orders, it shouldn't be difficult to get a loan from the Wizard Bank. However, I must be careful; any slight slip-up could lead to me owing a massive debt."
His current problem was that the money earned by the Augustus Wizard Shoe Shop Alliance clearly exceeded his magic level. It was only because he was protected by his status as a Senior Researcher of Golden Crown Mountain that he could still keep things under control.
If his Augustus Wizard Shoe Shop Alliance could continue to release super-hit products, it would likely put immense survival pressure on the two first-class Shop Alliances.
But for now, he could only stop here.
Because he was just an ordinary Second Ring Wizard, not even a Star Ring Wizard.
"The current augustus wizard shoes have already occupied enough market share. It's unlikely to be destroyed by other Shop Alliances. I just need to release new products methodically. This can be considered fulfilling my teacher's wish."
Locke pondered, "Ultimately, Solas Lightfoot and Melchior have Third Ring Wizards behind them, as well as a community of Magic Shoemakers; they are too big to fail. So far, I can't destroy them, nor do I have a reason to eliminate them."
He was just here to make money, not to cause trouble.
Next, he just needed to use Augustus, this cash flow monster, to absorb wealth, then slowly expand, enlarge his base, and cultivate his loyal users.
Locke thought, "However, in the short term, since Witch Rosetta wants to control the two major Shop Alliances, she certainly won't have time to deal with me. She won't be able to deal with me in the short term anyway; Augustus has completely grown up. So, for the time being, I don't need to worry about pressure from the outside world."
"On the contrary, I should worry about the temptations from the outside world."
Locke had already seen many messages in the back-end from wizards claiming to be veteran diviners, recommending stocks to him.
There were also some wizards recommending themselves, believing they had very promising projects and wanting him to invest his money in them.
What a joke.
He needed money to fund his own research; how could he have spare cash to bother with them?
"With the deposit money from pre-sales, plus the loan from the bank, it will be easy for me to put together the payment for producing the Golden Dragon claws."
Locke pondered, "I just don't know if Witch Scarlett can cooperate well with me on that side."
"People often fall at the last step. I've got the orders, and there's no problem with production, but I'm afraid there might be an issue with Alsace's cooperation, which could prevent me from completing the delivery, leading to a break in the capital chain, and then I'll be in trouble."
"Currently, the cost of a pair of golden dragon claw air pineapples is about 1.5 million, with a net profit of only about 500,000. It can't be helped; after all, the main reason I could gain such a big advantage this time was because Solas Light Foot and Meileqi Magic Step were being unreasonable. My Shop Alliance has just started; if I sell them too expensively, I'm afraid the goods will be stuck on my hands."
"But there is indeed room for price increases. I can gradually raise the price in the future. As the reputation of the Augustus brand gradually improves and the value of the Shop Alliance increases, the price should return to a relatively normal track."
Locke tried to contact Witch Scarlett.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, someone sent him a voice call request.
After Locke accepted the voice call request, a High Elf witch appeared before him. She wore a simple crown and green royal robes, her face bore a noble expression, and she had a pair of green eyes.
"Hello, are you Breeder Locke Augustine?"
Locke nodded slightly.
"Yes. This Sun Ring Wizard lord, you are..."
Locke responded cautiously. After all, this High Elf witch he had never met before was a Sun Ring Wizard, her whole body enveloped in a massive magic pressure like a solar corona.
Her Ultimate Magic appeared so perfect, tempered through countless trials and verified by endless time.
"I am Queen Ella Grant of the High Elves from the Elf Great World."
The Elf Queen smiled gently.
"Since the Elf Great World joined the Wizard Civilization 2,300 years ago and became a part of it, we have continuously sent outstanding talents to the Wizard World, making many contributions to the Wizard Civilization."
"That is truly a long past. The Elf Great World originally favored making contracts with the Abyss to gain power. The emperor of the Elf Empire at that time was a powerful Third Ring Warlock. He signed a contract with a Fourth Ring Greater Devil from within the Abyss."
"We eventually launched a long war and finally defeated him. But I've digressed."
"I got your contact information from that child Scarlett. She is young and lacks experience, and she was somewhat neglectful of a Breeder with as much potential as you. Therefore, from today onwards, I will personally handle the coordination with you on Alsace's side."
Locke was stunned for a moment.
"Alsace actually let a Sun Ring Wizard coordinate with me."
Queen Ella Grant chuckled, then covered her mouth and laughed softly.
"Not every Second Ring Wizard can find a blue ocean market."
"Locke Augustine, your potential has made me decide to personally cooperate with you, making an exception."
"Just as Solas and Melchior almost received the same exceptional treatment from us at Alsace when they were your age. However, you are right; even if Witch Scarlett were replaced, the person taking over wouldn't normally be me; it would likely be a Star Ring Wizard."
Queen Ella Grant said elegantly, "Alsace can advance all the payments for those goods for you. At the same time, we will give priority to both the production and supply chains. Currently, Alsace considers Augustus to be a high-quality client."
"We will continue to ensure our cooperation with you."
Locke bowed to her.
"Thank you, Great Wizard Ella Grant."
The words of this Sun Ring Wizard had provided many privileges for his Augustus Shop Alliance, such as advancing over a hundred million in payments for goods, and prioritizing the protection of his supply and production chains, solving his biggest current worry—the fear that he wouldn't be able to handle this business deal.
After all, business deals come in all sizes, and this wizard shoe business was almost exceeding his limits.
Locke then discussed the current plans and arrangements with Queen Ella Grant. Queen Ella Grant stated that she would arrange for her student to come and collect the seeds from Locke's side.
Queen Ella Grant said, "However, regarding the seeds, you need to produce 400 of them yourself first. Is that a problem?"
Locke nodded.
"Yes, it's just four hundred seeds; it's not a big problem. I've already asked Witch Scarlett to stop the pre-sales, as any more would likely put too much production pressure on me."
180 pairs of Wizard Shoes meant 360 seeds, but considering there would definitely be a failure rate in cultivating seeds into adult Magic Plants, especially for such difficult-to-produce Magic Plants, Locke needed to provide at least 400 seeds, or ideally even more.
Locke noticed that Queen Ella Grant was quite easy to talk to, which was why she only asked him to produce 400 seeds. This was likely considering his production capacity and shifting the pressure to Alsace's production base in the Elf Great World.
After all, the difficulty of growing 360 qualified top-tier second ring magic plants from 400 seeds was completely different from growing 360 from 500 seeds.
His first type of second ring wizard shoes had essentially taken a shortcut, just planting a bunch of First Ring Magic Plants.
But now, he was facing the cultivation of hundreds of top-tier ordinary second ring magic plants.
Whether it was seed production or the production of adult Magic Plants on Alsace's side, the pressure was actually very high.
'Even though those First Ring High Elf wizards from Alsace have high success rates in planting Magic Plants due to their Ultimate Magic, racial talents, and Alsace's special secret methods—I think it's mainly because they have special Ultimate Magic.'
'But the business is mine, after all. It's best if I can produce as many seeds as possible. Even if I use the Cutting Cultivation Method to clone them into cheap, fast-growing seedlings and obtain the corresponding seeds, I'll have to invest at least ten million magic stones, all things considered.'
One of the difficulties in growing second ring magic plants from seeds is that the seeds of Magic Plants produced in such large batches generally cannot be the normal seeds of a second ring magic plant.
Because it's rare for a second ring magic plant to produce a large number of seeds; generally, large quantities of seeds are non-reproducible, and a single flowering and fruiting of a second ring magic plant only yields one or two reproducible seeds.
So the mass-produced seeds cultivated by Breeders are basically naturally weak seeds grown from fast-growing seedlings. Breeders then use secret techniques, magic, and verdant spirit breath to supplement their vitality and cultivate them.
Therefore, in fact, mass-produced second ring magic plant products are indeed inferior to plants that have been carefully cultivated by Breeders.
Although according to industry practice, Breeders will claim that there is no difference in the traits of these Magic Plants.
Of course, generally after processing by a Breeder, such Magic Plants are basically qualified, but there are subtle differences between the two.
After all, Breeders can use verdant spirit breath to make up for the life potential within seeds that are naturally deficient.
Queen Ella Grant said, "I will arrange for Witch Scarlett to transfer ten million magic stones to you first. That should be enough."
Queen Ella Grant was indeed a Sun Ring Level Breeder; she quickly calculated the approximate cost Locke would need to cultivate these seeds.
Queen Ella Grant said, "Witch Scarlett will continue to keep in touch with you, but this is mainly because I am too busy, have many clients, and many projects on hand. She will handle many things on my behalf."
"Of course, if you have any special needs, you can also tell me."
"In addition, you can rest assured about our Breeders in the Elf Great World. Our breeding level in the Wizard Civilization is among the best and we have unique secret techniques. The Elf Great World also has a large number of verdant spirit breath mines. As a Breeder, you should understand what this means."
Locke nodded.
verdant spirit breath mines are the key.
Because for a Breeder, whether it's quickly stimulating the growth of second ring magic plant seeds, making second ring magic plants thrive, or breeding and improving varieties of second ring magic plants, verdant spirit breath is required.
Other Spirit Breaths aside, verdant spirit breath is like a necessity for the breeding industry; once it's lacking, the entire Second Ring breeding industry will come to a direct standstill.
Therefore, the Elf Great World having sufficient verdant spirit breath means they have a developed breeding industry.
Queen Ella Grant smiled. "You should be busy for a while."
"Your Augustus is only a short distance from success; you must not give up halfway."
Locke nodded. "Okay. Lord Grant."
The two hung up the visual communication.
He quickly called Douglas, Witch Mason, and others to discuss with them, deciding to start working hard on breeding the reproducible seeds of the golden dragon claw air pineapple once the funds from Witch Scarlett arrived.
Strive to get it out and delivered as soon as possible.
To avoid any complications from delays.
A week later.
On the tenth floor of the underground research institute of Dune Plane No. 2, Solas Lightfoot and Meileqi seemed to have retreated; recently, things had indeed been much quieter.
Locke's seed breeding task was in full swing.
Meanwhile, Locke's clone headed to the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion.
On the second floor of the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion, Madam Tataroni bowed elegantly to Locke, slightly curling the tip of her silver dragon half-dragon tail, and said to Locke, "Lord Augustine."
At the same time, standing beside her was the family wizard servant of the Sea Queen Throne who had come before.
This Second Ring witch looked at Locke with a cold gaze.
"We meet again, Mr. Augustine. Madam Tataroni said you wanted to answer the question a second time. So I've come; do you have a result now?"
"Please tell me, what is a potion?"
Madam Tataroni looked at Locke, a bit nervous, clenching her fists, fearing that Locke would again fail to provide an answer that satisfied the Sea Queen Throne.
Locke didn't speak but took a step back.
He spread his right hand, and a ball of Primordial Fire burned vigorously in his palm.
Then, the flame suddenly shot up, and one ball of fire split into five colors of flame; five balls of fire appeared on his five fingers respectively.
Wind, water, fire, earth, and wood.
Magic Flame Mutual Generation and Restriction Extraction Method!
The five colors of flame burned like candles on his fingers. Locke reached out into the void, grabbing toward the "potion" the Second Ring witch had just spoken of.
Madam Tataroni was stunned.
In the next moment, the words the Second Ring witch had just spoken, the vibrating sound remaining in the air—the word "potion"—entered Locke's palm, and a portion of spirit macro was forcibly extracted by him.
Locke handed half a golden phantom to the Second Ring witch.
The Second Ring witch immediately put it into a Time Crystal glass bottle, carefully tore a spell scroll, and sealed it.
The Second Ring witch looked up and said to Locke, "Congratulations, Mr. Augustine. From today on, you are the student of the Throne Lord."
Madam Tataroni didn't quite react, asking, "This... what happened? Wasn't the question 'what is a potion'?"
Locke looked at the silver dragon half-dragon shopkeeper and replied, "Madam Tataroni, it's like this. The Sea Queen Throne sent her family wizard to question me. What she really wanted to ask was not what a potion is, but to test my level in Spirit Macroology."
"I only realized this after going back and thinking about how you mentioned the Sea Queen Throne's specialty is the [Name Potion]. What I had to do was extract the hidden true form from the pronunciation of the word 'potion'."
"To demonstrate my level of Spirit Macroology. Unfortunately, it's just a tiny bit; with my current level, it's truly difficult to extract anything useful. It's only half a piece of spirit macro."
Now the Second Ring witch's face showed some warmth. She smiled at Locke and said, "Half a piece of spirit macro is already enough. In fact, you only needed to demonstrate your level of extracting spirit macro. That's what the Throne Lord was testing. If you had really answered what a potion is in front of me, I wouldn't have known how to respond."
"Your Potionology level is already above mine, and your understanding of potions is also above mine. So, if you were to tell me what a potion is, I would really be at a loss. Fortunately, Mr. Augustine, you quickly realized what the Throne Lord truly wanted to test."
"Actually, considering you just became a Second Ring Wizard, the Throne Lord didn't even require you to produce spirit macro. This time she specifically instructed me that if you really refined spirit macro from the pronunciation of my two words, I should bring it back for her to see."
The Second Ring witch made a gesture of invitation to Locke.
"Please follow me. The Throne Lord is currently a guest at the Root Crown Court. So, we need to take a magic carriage to find her."
"From today on, you are her student in Potionology."
Madam Tataroni nodded to Locke with a smile, bowed slightly, and said, "Congratulations, Lord Augustine."
Locke nodded to Madam Tataroni and immediately followed.
He boarded the witch's magic carriage, which soon drove toward the Root Crown Court.
One day later.
Yunze Wetland, Root Crown Court.
The architectural style of the entire Root Crown Court consists of a large number of wooden houses, but these wooden houses all have complex structures, massive frameworks, and generally have supporting structures.
Outside the towering wooden halls are roots of ancient trees growing, acting as supporting structures wrapped around the walls to support the buildings.
Moreover, these wooden houses are enormous in area; pedestrians walking inside feel as if they are walking in a giant's palace.
Locke followed the family wizard maid into a magnificent wooden hall. This was clearly a classroom, a Potionology classroom, with a large number of students and Official Wizards from the Root Crown Court.
The lowest level here was First-Class Wizard Apprentice, and there were many First-Ring Wizards and ordinary Second Ring Wizards, even Star Ring Wizards and Moon Ring Wizards.
They all sat in the classroom like students, listening to the Sea Queen Throne's lecture.
The Sea Queen Throne's family wizard hesitated for a moment but still walked through the classroom to the Sea Queen Throne's side and handed the Time Crystal bottle containing the half-piece of spirit macro to her.
This was also the first time Locke saw the Sea Queen Throne.
Unlike the majestic and inscrutable Witch Catherine, and unlike the seemingly approachable but actually incredibly powerful Rose Throne, the corners of the Sea Queen Throne's wizard robes were deliberately shredded into strips like tassels.
She had a head of colorful dreadlocks.
She wore exaggerated black eyeliner and eyeshadow, and her pupils were covered with red contact lenses.
She held a magic pencil and was twirling it in her hand by moving her fingers.
Locke never imagined that a Throne Wizard would have such an image.
The most exaggerated Third Ring Wizard he had seen before was Master Milade of Casiros Art University, but she wasn't a Throne Wizard.
And, she just likes to rap, but at least she claims to be an art master, a guardian of the human soul, standing at the peak of art, with a taste no one could appreciate.
The Second Ring witch whispered to the Sea Queen Throne, "Throne Lord, this is the work refined by Locke Augustine. Would you like to take a look?"
The Sea Queen Throne propped her face with her fist and casually glanced at the work. "Hmm? Didn't you say that kid wasn't very good? This is fine!"
"This kid's progress is decent. That last answer made me think he was just another mediocre person."
The Sea Queen Throne's annoyed gaze swept over the many wizards present.
"Many of you ask me, how can one become an excellent Second-Ring Apothecary?"
"Haven't I made it clear?!"
"If you're a genius, you can become an excellent Potion Master. If you're not a genius, no matter how hard you work, you'll stop at being a Second-Ring Apothecary. How am I supposed to fool you?"
"Am I supposed to say that as long as a person works hard, they can become a Second-Ring Apothecary?"
The Sea Queen Throne twirled her pen and said, "I'm not as hypocritical as some people, I don't like to waste your time."
"Finding your own talent is something you wizards should do yourselves. To become an excellent Second-Ring Apothecary, the most important thing isn't hard work, but having the aptitude to become a Second-Ring Apothecary."
The Sea Queen Throne suddenly pointed at Locke. "He is the genius I'm talking about. I gave you almost the same task of extracting the spirit macro of the word [potion], but look at his work."
"You should understand what I meant before."
The Time Crystal glass bottle in the Sea Queen Throne's hand floated up automatically.
Suddenly, Locke felt many eyes looking at him.
Some gazes were even filled with anger.
Locke suddenly fell silent.
The instructor he had asked the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion to find for Potionology... seemed to have quite a personality.
Moreover, she loved to provoke enemies... which conflicted greatly with his own personality.