897: Sea Queen Throne's Class
Locke saw a message from Wizard Saronirus, stating that the Wind Seeker Holy Land academy from Dragonfall Land would be attending the Golden Holy Grail's flying magic plant tournament to scout for excellent flying magic plants for large-scale production.
Locke was stunned for a moment, then quickly searched for information about the Wind Seeker Holy Land in the public free library on the water gourd system. He soon found information about the academy in a virtual magic book.
Locke quickly scanned through several publicly available free magic books to confirm the attributes of the Wind Seeker Holy Land.
The predecessor of this large-scale Wizard Academy was a top-tier Shop Alliance, so it retained many of the genes of a Shop Alliance. This seemed to be the current status of most wizard academies in Dragonfall Land.
Wind Seeker Holy Land was a Wizard Academy specializing in flying magic items. Its primary colleges were the Alchemy School and Enchantment School, as well as the wind magic within the Evocation Academy.
Wind Seeker Holy Land even operated the construction of some wizard airships and void battleships, serving as the final assembly plant for these two pinnacles of magical technology and the production site for several key components.
However, the Wind Seeker Holy Land had recently been investing more resources into intra-world aircraft—that is, aircraft used within a single Wizard Land.
Because it was generally impossible to use a void battleship or a wizard airship to move within a Wizard Land, other flight equipment was required.
For example, in his daily travels, he either took a magic carriage or rode a Rainbow Sparrow or a Cloud Whale.
Therefore, wizards generally needed to use aircraft that were geared toward individuals or small groups when traveling within a Wizard Land.
Wizard Saronirus sent him a second message.
'The Tournament Committee for the Golden Holy Grail has brought in a Chief Wizard Mentor from the Wind Seeker Holy Land in Dragonfall Land.'
'There's probably some economic collusion involved. Wind Seeker Holy Land's products usually lean toward alchemical machinery, with a few being biological aircraft or energy-body aircraft, but they almost never involve flying magic plants. But this time, that's changed. Wind Seeker Holy Land will come to select winning works, and after performing Magic Plant enlargement breeding, they will enter into commercial cooperation.'
Locke was taken aback, then sent a reply to Wizard Saronirus.
"Thank you for the advance warning, Mr. Saronirus."
On the other side, Wizard Saronirus, whose neck was covered in gold rings, was satisfied with Locke's attitude.
"It was no trouble at all. Besides, in the Golden Holy Grail, your interests and mine are aligned."
Wizard Saronirus had made a grand promise to the Golden Holy Grail Tournament Committee on Locke's behalf, using his own credit as a guarantee. This was the only reason the committee had agreed to support Locke with five million magic stones in advance.
If Locke's work failed to win the championship in the end, although nothing would happen to Wizard Saronirus, the value of his reputation would be indirectly diminished in the future.
Credit was quite important in the White Wizard Society; after all, credit could be exchanged for money.
Locke began to ponder. He hadn't expected such a curveball in the Golden Holy Grail, which he had thought was a sure win, with the Tournament Committee bringing in people from the Wind Seeker Holy Land academy in Dragonfall Land.
This would certainly force the original contestants to show their true skills in a short amount of time if they wanted to win this competition.
magic plant enlargement technology...
That was a technology that could make Magic Plants grow large in a stable manner while roughly maintaining their original traits. It was relatively niche because its applications were narrow.
It was mostly used in flying magic plants designed for multi-passenger transport.
It seemed that as long as one could win the championship of the Golden Holy Grail's flying magic plant competition this time, the winning work would have the chance to cooperate with Wind Seeker Holy Land and become a commercial aircraft for multiple passengers.
Locke looked at the information he had pulled up.
The wizard academies in Dragonfall Land were more commercialized, so he estimated that Wind Seeker Holy Land would cooperate with the winning wizard by jointly establishing a Shop Alliance and producing the product together. This had always been the style of that Wizard Academy.
'Wizard Saronirus is right. Wind Seeker Holy Land in Dragonfall Land rarely invests in flying magic plant products. I wonder how the Tournament Committee managed to bring in their Chief Wizard Mentor.'
'There's likely some internal collusion.'
'And why at this time, when the Tianjiang Riverbank is being plagued by Magic Winter?'
Locke shook his head slightly. "It seems sending only Barrett won't be enough."
"Cooperating with Wind Seeker Holy Land would just be icing on the cake for me, but I've had my sights on the Golden Holy Grail championship for a long time. Now that this has suddenly happened, if I don't send a clone over, I might not be able to secure first place."
Locke thought for a moment. The Great Green Leaf Dragon Finch series of Magic Plants was vital to his subsequent plans, so he had to ensure a steady win for its debut.
Otherwise, it would diminish the value of his Great Green Leaf Dragon Finchs.
Combat records were part of the value of such Magic Plants, so he needed to maintain the combat records of the Great Green Leaf Dragon Finch series.
Locke mused, "My clone cannot leave Golden Crown Mountain for now. Sea Queen Throne's Potionology class and the internal academy application for the special grant project are about to begin... I can't leave Golden Crown Mountain at this time."
"It will be more than half a month before my main body returns."
"But the Golden Holy Grail is about to start."
Locke pondered for a while.
"It seems I must refine a clone potion as soon as possible to create a second clone. I currently have two Ultimate Magics, so I can have two clones."
The moon and the golden tree faintly appeared behind him.
"I could create another clone using the ancient tree fruit clone magic without a clone potion. However, a clone created by a clone potion has the ability to share the damage from any injury taken by my main body or another clone. That ability is quite appealing to me."
"The clone potion is considered a relatively difficult potion."
"A clone created using it possesses abilities that ordinary clone magic does not have."
"Sea Queen Throne's class is about to start. I hope I can learn to concoct the clone potion."
...
Half a week later.
Inside a towering wooden building in the Root Crown Court, Sea Queen Throne looked at the sixteen students below and frowned slightly. In addition to the ten members of the fast-track class she had agreed upon with Wizard John, five uninvited auditors had somehow squeezed their way in.
This was Wizard John's arrangement.
Sea Queen Throne was very displeased by this behavior of squeezing in at every opportunity, but she didn't say much.
Once everyone was seated, she turned and wrote [clone potion] on the blackboard with magic chalk.
"The clone potion is a classic potion enough to change the history of potions."
Sea Queen Throne walked in from outside the classroom as she spoke. At the same time, everyone looked in astonishment at the Sea Queen Throne who was already standing inside the classroom.
The body of the Sea Queen Throne who had been in the room suddenly shattered, turning into countless golden light and shadows. Then, those golden light and shadows flowed toward the Sea Queen Throne who had just entered the classroom, and the two merged into one.
This Sea Queen Throne said, "After consuming a clone potion, if there is no Ultimate Magic to govern it, a clone can be created for a short period of time. It possesses a relatively independent consciousness and can temporarily perform the functions a clone should have, effectively creating a temporary clone magic."
"If it is governed by a Ultimate Magic, a permanent clone can be created. This clone can share damage with the main body and is difficult to identify. But you are all Potion Masters; did none of you notice just now that the person in the classroom was not me?"
Sea Queen Throne calmly scanned the sixteen ordinary Second Ring Wizards, who had varying levels of magic pressure, and shook her head slightly, saying with some disappointment, "It seems no one did."
A baby-faced Second Ring witch—Locke remembered her name was Eve Roland—said in a rather timid tone, "But Throne Lord, you are a Throne Wizard. It's only normal that we couldn't identify that as your clone, right? Am I... wrong?"
Several Second Ring Wizards around her nodded involuntarily.
Even the wizards who didn't express themselves had looks of agreement in their eyes.
Locke, however, frowned. When he had first entered the classroom, he had felt an imperceptible sense of oddness from Sea Queen Throne. He had activated his Innate Magic Eye to scrutinize her, but even his Innate Magic Eye had failed to see that the Sea Queen Throne was merely a clone.
From any angle, the two were identical.
This was a rare occurrence even among clone magic. Normally, the difference between a clone and the main body could be quite large; for instance, the difference between an ancient tree fruit clone and the main body was significant.
But a clone created using a clone potion was so special that even the Three-Eyed Tiger-Eyed Cat's Innate Magic Eye could not distinguish it. This could only mean that the difference between such a clone and the main body was extremely minute.
The difference was so small that even his Innate Magic Eye could not clearly differentiate them.
Sea Queen Throne raised her eyebrows, showing clear dissatisfaction as she twirled the pen in her hand.
"When exploring the void, our enemies won't care whether you are a Second Ring Wizard or a Third Ring Wizard."
"As Potion Masters, failing to see through the changes between things is your problem. Moreover, that was merely the effect of a single bottle of clone potion. If you only had a bit more patience for details, you could have easily identified that it was not my main body."
The witch Eve Roland immediately stood up and bowed to apologize.
"I am sorry, Throne Lord. I was foolish. I didn't do it on purpose."
Sea Queen Throne stopped dwelling on the issue.
"The clone potion involves the very important Similarity Law in Potionology—that is, if one object is similar to another, a special mystical connection can be formed between the two objects."
Sea Queen Throne took out a Two-Chirp Cicada spirit macro. She ran her finger over the spirit macro, and suddenly a surge of immense power erupted from its center, turning one spirit macro into two.
The original Two-Chirp Cicada spirit macro had the appearance of a cicada with two bodies, but now it had become two separate cicada insects that were attracted to each other.
"You are all Potion Masters, so you surely know the basic logic of Potionology. Potion materials that share similarity, contact, and interaction with each other can become the contents of a potion recipe and determine the specific effects of that recipe. These are the Three Laws of Potion Recipes."
"Namely, the Law of Similarity of Potion Materials, the Law of Contact of Potion Materials, and the Law of Action of Potion Materials."
"These three laws, through simple deformation and transformation, also frequently appear in other disciplines. You should know this as well."
"The clone potion is specifically used to prove the existence of the Law of Similarity. Although the Law of Similarity had already been applied in various Ultimate Magics before that, there had always been a lack of direct and reliable evidence to prove that magical substances truly resonate because of similarity, or even more complex influences."
"The Two-Chirp Cicada spirit macro is extracted from a type of magic creature cicada with two bodies and two heads. By cutting it open, one spirit macro can become two spirit macros. Because the two are too similar, even when cut, a close connection still exists. Transforming this spirit macro into ritual work becomes the key to this potion."
"Therefore, the greatest difficulty of the clone potion lies in cutting the spirit macro."
"And to cut the spirit macro, one needs strong Spiritual Cognition."
Sea Queen Throne said, "As long as you can overcome this step and combine it with a certain level of Potionology magical flame mastery, you can very simply refine a bottle of the purest clone potion. But my requirement is not just that."
Sea Queen Throne reached out and grabbed, and immediately two spirit macros were caught in her hand. Then, under the gasping gaze of the crowd, the two spirit macros she had separated were actually forced back together again.
"Cut two Two-Chirp Cicada spirit macros separately, then, as I just demonstrated to you, stagger and combine the two cut Two-Chirp Cicada spirit macros. That is, combine the left half of spirit macro one with the right half of spirit macro two to form a brand new spirit macro. In this way, the two Two-Chirp Cicada spirit macros will likewise form a resonance due to similarity."
"Transcribe such a spirit macro into ritual movements and incorporate these movements into the refining process. The clone potion refined this way is what is called flawless. Even the wizards best at perceiving enemies won't be able to judge whether this is a clone or the original body based on their perception."
Sea Queen Throne unintentionally glanced at Locke.
Sea Queen Throne said, "This is a special secret method unique to me. I am telling it to you because I want you to complete the potion using this method. Alright, I have taught you the method. You can find the rest by reading books. Now, you can try refining the clone potion."
"The content of the next class will be primarily based on the needs of the first person to refine the clone potion."
A mocking smile appeared at the corners of Sea Queen Throne's mouth.
"After all, there are so many people here with different needs. We can only teach according to the student with the fastest progress. When I teach students, I only guide the one who progresses the fastest."
Her remarks caused exclamations from the wizards below.
A young Second Ring Wizard named Alex Walker, with a magic pressure of fourteen thousand, quickly raised his hand. After getting a nod of approval from Sea Queen Throne, he stood up and said, "But Throne Lord, even the refining method for the ordinary clone potion you taught us before is extremely difficult to achieve. Let alone the special refining method for the clone potion you just taught us."
"And you only taught us once... No one can possibly do this."
Sea Queen Throne sighed.
"If no one can do it, then I can just find some random content to teach in the next class."
She sighed a second time.
"The main difficulty of the clone potion lies in separating the Two-Chirp Cicada spirit macro. As long as you overcome this point and combine it with decent magical flame control, you can concoct a bottle of clone potion. And to separate the Two-Chirp Cicada spirit macro, you need sufficient Spiritual Cognition."
"Of course, there is also a clever trick you can practice. Use one Two-Chirp Cicada spirit macro as a blade and strike the middle part of another Two-Chirp Cicada spirit macro. Utilizing the structural similarities between the two Two-Chirp Cicadas, let them collide and automatically break into four spirit macro parts."
Wizard Alex Walker had a look on his face as if he were listening to a book from heaven.
"But... Teacher Throne... this..."
Sweat appeared on his forehead.
Because extracting a spirit macro from an object is already difficult, and extracting a spirit macro mark is even harder. To make one spirit macro collide with another and split into four uniform spirit macros is essentially a practice of altering the spirit macro.
They weren't even Second Ring Apothecaries; how could they do it?
Learn to run before learning to walk?
Wizard Alex Walker quickly bowed to Sea Queen Throne and said, "Throne Lord, please excuse my bluntness, but are your requirements for us perhaps too high? Not a single person in this rapid advancement class is a Second-Ring Apothecary. And what you are asking us to do has already exceeded the level of an ordinary Second-Ring Apothecary."
Sea Queen Throne frowned. "Anyone is free to leave my classroom."
Wizard Alex Walker was so frightened that he immediately sat back down.
The fifteen Second Ring Wizards looked at each other. They each took out their prepared Two-Chirp Cicada spirit macros, all sitting there with bewildered expressions as they looked at the spirit macros in front of them.
How was this supposed to be done?
The brains of these Second Ring Wizards had already stopped turning.
Locke looked at the Two-Chirp Cicada Spirit Macro Rubbing in his hand. He knew this required increasing his Spiritual Cognition. Without enough Spiritual Cognition, even with this clever trick, it would be difficult to achieve.
He used a spirit macro quill on the spot to draw two spirit macros according to the image on the rubbing.
Next, Locke looked at these two spirit macros. He wrapped one spirit macro in mana and then manipulated it to strike directly.
The next moment, the two spirit macros collided.
Locke felt one spirit macro about to be cut open like tofu. Just as it was about to be cut into four uniform parts, he suddenly felt a wave of dizziness, and so one spirit macro veered slightly.
The two spirit macros crashed into each other.
Shattering simultaneously.
Turning into upward-drifting light particles, they vanished into the air.
A wizard beside him looked over.
Locke didn't mind and immediately used the spirit macro pen to rub two more spirit macros onto the spirit macro paper.
He wasn't embarrassed.
After all, for an experimental discipline like Potionology, having resources and materials is, in a sense, a type of talent.
Having the conditions to experiment a few more times was also a kind of 'talent' for him.
However, this Spirit Macro Rubbing was a rubbing to begin with, and a second-hand one at that, so it probably wouldn't last many more times. He still needed to be careful.
Every tracing consumed the spirit macro residing within it.
Once it was exhausted, the rubbing would shatter.
A wizard from the Root Crown Court beside him murmured in a low voice.
"This is too hard. Throne Lord's requirements are practically more perverted than the ones I usually give my students. Those students of mine are always saying I'm strict and harsh, but looking at it now, I'm practically too merciful."
The wizard looked at Locke and whispered, "Brother, don't you agree? No matter how perverted our requirements for our students are, they aren't this perverted. This is like telling us 1+1 is greater than 2 and then asking us to calculate multiplication and division. Shouldn't she first tell us how to increase our Spiritual Cognition? Start with the basic theoretical knowledge..."
Locke asked him in a low voice, "Brother, do you usually start teaching your students from basic theoretical knowledge too?"
The Second Ring Wizard from the Root Crown Court immediately reacted instinctively, "How could there be so much time for them? Of course, I let them do it first."
"Cough, cough, cough..."
The Second Ring Wizard coughed and said awkwardly, "I'll think about how to do it again."
A group of people, including Locke, pondered over the spirit macros for a long time.
The witch Eve Roland couldn't help but stand up again and say, "Throne Lord, this is truly too difficult. How can it be done? Not one of the sixteen Second Ring Wizards present has started. Could it be that all sixteen Second Ring Wizards are fools?"
"Throne Lord..."
Sea Queen Throne wasn't annoyed. She just walked down from the podium and walked among the crowd, saying, "What if I told you that the clone potion was originally the work of just a Crystallized Wizard?"
The crowd broke into a huge uproar.
The witch Eve Roland's pupils suddenly shrank. After a brief moment of shock, she immediately shook her head.
"That's impossible. Spirit Macroology is a field that only Second Ring Wizards can touch. A mere First-Ring Wizard—what difference can they have from a child in front of us Second Ring Wizards?"
"Just a mere child. How could the clone potion be the work of only a Crystallized Wizard?"
Eve Roland could not accept this result at all.
Sea Queen Throne said calmly, "So we return to my earliest point. Potionology is a discipline that only talented wizards can learn."
"That Crystallized Wizard's name was [Adrian Franklin]. This part of history is too remote, and most books no longer record it. It's normal that you don't know. Franklin had a pair of special eyes from a young age, and his soul was very unique, so he could directly see... spirit macros with his naked eyes."
"And other things. As a price, he did not have normal human vision. He lived in the world of spirit macros from a young age."
Eve Roland shook her head slightly, obviously unable to imagine the feeling of a person living in the world of spirit macros from childhood. Whether that was a misfortune or a blessing, it was unknown.
Sea Queen Throne said, "Although Wizard Adrian Franklin later joined the Abyss and became one of the higher-ranking Demon Gods..."
"...he was indeed an excellent Potion Master before he joined. The clone potion was his invention during the Crystallization Stage. Of course, its normal difficulty is at the Second Ring level. But it cannot be denied that for those with talent, the clone potion should not be any kind of problem."
"Today's class ends here. You can contact me privately to submit your work."
"I will announce who was the first to make this potion before the next class."
Sea Queen Throne waved her hand, and immediately all the writing on the blackboard vanished.