HLnovel Chapter 629: Three Phases of the Moon, the Forbidden Forest Concept, and the Revolution Arrow
Chapter 629: Three Phases of the Moon, the Forbidden Forest Concept, and the Revolution Arrow
Half-dragon maid Ginny said to Locke, "Young Master, as you instructed, I rented a room for Lord Warwick and also allowed him to borrow some books using my identity. However, he seems to be urging things along quite urgently."Locke smiled faintly and said, "As long as he hasn't left yet, it means he isn't actually that desperate."
"The important thing is that I need to fully complete the upgrade of my Forest Sanctuary before taking action. If my strength hasn't reached its peak and I move rashly, even if an opportunity presents itself, I won't be in a position to seize it."
Locke said to Ginny, "This isn't something that can be rushed anyway. Tell Warwick to prepare to wait another half a month for me."
Half-dragon Ginny blinked, then nodded and said, "Yes, my Young Master."
"I'll do my best."
Locke looked at the Elf Queen and said, "I still need to transplant approximately four hundred and ninety-four magical plants into my Forest Sanctuary."
"I'll go purchase the specific trees myself. Afterward I can pay your tribe thirteen thousand magic stones as wages for the hire."
Elf Queen Sabrina mentally calculated the total number of magical plants Locke needed, the total biomass, and the scale of the forest, and felt a quiet surge of astonishment. The scale of this undertaking was truly enormous.
It was almost at the level of artificially constructing an ancient primordial forest.
The sheer investment of resources, the depth of effort, and the height of technical skill involved were things an ordinary First Circle wizard like herself would not even dare to dream of.
The moment Queen Sabrina thought about the possibility of her elf tribe participating in such a magnificent endeavor, she felt a stir of excitement in her heart.
Transplanting and raising a forest this powerful would be one of the greatest things she and her tribe had ever accomplished in their lifetimes.
Elf Queen Sabrina said, "My Lord Augustine, I am of course willing to be hired by you and help with this work. But truly, do you not need our tribe to take up permanent residence in this forest? The forest you are envisioning has already grown quite large. And your current forest still lacks animals."
Locke gave a slight shake of his head. "Say no more. I know what I'm doing."
Queen Sabrina bowed to Locke again and said, "My Lord Augustine, as you say. I overstepped. With my shallow knowledge, attempting to offer an evaluation was truly foolish."
Locke left the half-plane, summoned the cloud whale, and headed to Dragon Blood Market Castle. He entered the Golden Peach Garden and found Trader Bruce. At the sight of Locke, Trader Bruce's eyes immediately lit up.
Trader Bruce said, "My Lord Augustine, what would you like to purchase this time?"
Locke said, "I need a series of magical plants: Thorn Queen, Sentinel Holly, Sunny Sky Birch, Wind-Whisper Dandelion, Ley Fern, and Prism Sunflower."
Trader Bruce's expression turned serious, because the sheer variety of what Locke was listing was clearly the mark of a major undertaking.
More remarkably, as a botany wizard himself, he could certainly sense what Locke was planning from the list.
Most of these magical plants were functional varieties.
And all of them were typical ecological-use magical plants. Having handled so many transactions as a trader here, Wizard Bruce could not fail to recognize what was hidden behind Locke's purchase list.
Wizard Bruce bowed to Locke respectfully. "Mr. Augustine, thank you for your trust in me. You've made multiple large purchases here without splitting them among different sellers."
"Please follow me. This is the storefront, not a convenient place to talk."
The two of them walked into a private room on the second floor of the Golden Peach Garden, and Wizard Bruce said to Locke, "You have previously purchased over four hundred European beeches from me, and European beeches have the effect of absorbing water and heavy metal elements from underground. Sentinel Holly possesses special roots that transport underground water and heavy metal elements. Sunny Sky Birch can absorb sunlight and convert light energy, spreading it throughout the forest."
"The gem holly you purchased earlier can release forest energy and lower the forest's temperature. Thorn Queen is a typical magical plant that digests decaying matter..."
"Wind-Whisper Dandelion and Prism Sunflower are both supplementary herbaceous magical plants. Wind-Whisper Dandelion can stir gentle breezes within the forest to carry seeds, while Prism Sunflower can enhance the utilization of sunlight within the forest's interior."
Trader Bruce asked quietly, "From Sunny Sky Birch to Prism Sunflower to European Beech to Sentinel Holly to Thorn Queen to Wind-Whisper Dandelion."
"You can already create a completely closed-loop pure magical plant ecological chain."
"Energy producers, nutrient converters, energy transport networks, defenders, regulatory hubs, energy dispersers, reproductive propagators. You have all seven key components for forming a pure magical plant ecology. Are you trying to build a complete magical plant ecosystem?"
Trader Bruce said, "This is the standard of a Grand Magic!"
Locke glanced at him.
Only then did he realize that the demands he had been building his Forest Sanctuary toward had, without him consciously intending it, begun to approximate the state other wizards aimed for when constructing a Grand Magic.
Of course, that wasn't to say this was already sufficient to construct a Grand Magic, since the structure merely resembled one.
Constructing a Grand Magic required far more resources.
And if he were going to construct his Grand Magic, he would need to do so within a medium-scale plane. Doing it within this half-plane would be largely meaningless.
"Bruce has reminded me of something." Locke thought, "If my Forest Sanctuary is successfully built and I complete the Forest Alliance Curse, then the Grand Magic I construct in that medium-scale world can use the Forest Alliance Curse to separate a portion from my Forest Sanctuary and send it out."
"At the same time, I could also use the Forest Alliance Curse to connect with other forests. Creating a great forest alliance." Locke continued thinking, "Even among Grand Magics, there are differences in strength and in ceiling. A Grand Magic built this way would absolutely be extraordinarily powerful!"
"The key is finding the right positioning for my Grand Magic within the world. The better the positioning, the more..."
Locke suddenly had a flash of realization. The image of the Forbidden Forest appeared in his mind.
Was the Forbidden Forest itself a wizard's Grand Magic?
The Forbidden Forest bore the responsibility of serving as the ecological preserve and guarantor of species diversity and civilizational diversity within the wizard world. If his own Grand Magic used the Forbidden Forest as its blueprint, and he also constructed a Forbidden Forest in some other medium-scale world, would that work?
No. That idea had merit, but it was still too rough.
Locke quickly recognized that he needed to understand his own strengths and weaknesses, to truly know himself.
The Grand Magic, in the process of exploration, was also the process of understanding the self.
Locke said to Wizard Bruce, "I do indeed intend to create a pure magical plant ecology. In any case, I need two hundred Sunny Sky Birches, two hundred Sentinel Hollies, one hundred Thorn Queens, three thousand Wind-Whisper Dandelions, and three thousand Prism Sunflowers."
"And one gift package of apprentice-level green fertilizer and wind-fixing elemental magical plants for ecological restoration, worth one hundred thousand magic stones."
Both Wind-Whisper Dandelion and Prism Sunflower were apprentice-level magical plants, so he could buy a large quantity in one go.
Sunny Sky Birch would be extremely useful for him. It could serve as a cell combination for Type 2 Tyrant Element and also be used to provide energy to the forest.
Sentinel Holly was a resource-type holly. Similar to Gem Holly in nature but not comparable to Scorched Earth Holly on a per-plant basis, though it was significantly cheaper than Scorched Earth Holly.
Thorn Queen was a semi-combat magical plant, a thorny giant tree covered in thickets, capable of digesting decaying and withered trees within the forest. It occupied the decomposer ecological niche within the forest.
It was foreseeable that if his plan came to fruition, his Forest Sanctuary would transform from an artificial forest into an energetically closed, self-cycling pure magical plant ecosystem with the addition of magical fungi.
These were two entirely different concepts.
Although the problem of fauna within the forest still remained unsolved, it would already be sufficient to function as a proper forest.
After all, in the wizard world there were indeed special natural forests that had gone thousands or even tens of thousands of years without a single magical creature.
So animals were not necessarily a requirement within a forest.
That was simply a direction Locke felt he should develop toward in the future, not something that needed to be completed at the First Circle stage.
Based on the knowledge Locke had accumulated from studying various ecological spells, even at his current level of practice, it was already enough to construct a Second Circle-level magical plant forest.
Trader Bruce was rapidly calculating. "The total comes to two million three hundred thousand magic stones. It isn't that our unit prices are expensive, it's simply that you are purchasing a large quantity of magical plants. The First Circle plants in particular have almost depleted the production capacity of one of our Golden Peach Garden's colonial worlds."
"However, delivery can still be completed today. If you were to purchase any more, you might need to wait an entire growing cycle before the plants would be available."
Locke had already calculated beforehand and knew that the other party quoting him two million three hundred thousand was already doing him a favor.
A considerable discount had been applied.
His initial estimate had been two million six hundred thousand, and the other party had reduced it to two million three hundred thousand.
He hadn't expected Trader Bruce to give him such a generous price.
After Trader Bruce and Locke signed the contract, Bruce bowed to Locke and said, "My Lord Augustine, thank you for completing such a large transaction with us."
"I happen to have a gifting allowance available right now. As a gesture of gratitude for your patronage, I would like to give you a rare magical plant."
Trader Bruce voluntarily reached into his star realm ring and took out a Dawn Wizard Peach tree. The entire peach tree appeared to be bathed in light.
"As you can see, this peach tree may not compare to the Golden Palace Legacy Branch, but it is a special rare First Circle magical plant that requires daily exposure to sunlight at a high mountain summit, with the total annual sunlight hours meeting a certain threshold, in order to grow. Its price falls between two hundred thousand and three hundred thousand magic stones. Consider it a gift. I have one gifting allowance per year, and I'll give it to you... my most valued client."
"This magical plant can also be used in conjunction with Peach Bow Thorn Arrow. I was thinking that you can't rely on just one peach tree-type magical plant to use Peach Bow Thorn Arrow. What if you needed to use it twice simultaneously, or one of them temporarily became unavailable? In that case, you would have this Dawn Wizard Peach to use for Peach Bow Thorn Arrow."
Locke looked at Trader Bruce with mild surprise but didn't decline. After all, he had purchased so many magical plants here.
He extended his hand, and the Dawn Wizard Peach was immediately suppressed by Locke's magical pressure and the power of the Ancient Life Tree within him. In just an instant, the spell model of Peach Bow Thorn Arrow imprinted itself upon the tree. The peach tree, which radiated a faint white glow reminiscent of dawn, fell into Locke's hand and gradually transformed into a peach wood bow.
Locke noticed that different peach tree-type magical plants, when used with Peach Bow Thorn Arrow, did indeed produce different peach wood bows.
The bow formed from the Golden Palace Legacy Branch was more domineering and powerful.
The bow formed from the Dawn Wizard Peach was less powerful, but carried a quality of purity, as though an additional lamp had been lit in the quiet room.
Locke paid for everything, then had Wizard Bruce tally up the goods and sent people to spend half a day loading them one by one into the half-plane within his right eye.
Afterward, he and the elf tribe got back to work in full force, beginning to transplant all the newly purchased magical plants into his Forest Sanctuary one by one, establishing a genuine energy cycle.
At the same time, Locke also visited the Feathered Serpent Pavilion, spending two million magic stones to use the Queen's Chessboard twice, occupying it for two days.
He used the Queen's Chessboard's primordial force source tracing to analyze the radiance he had captured within the four Full Moon Growth instances during the Night Meteor, which he had stored within the witch porcelain.
The starlight of the Sacred Dragon Star, and the moonlight of three moon planes.
Two days later, a weary Locke looked with faint exhaustion at the four pieces of witch porcelain that had crumbled in his hands. The storage vessels had naturally collapsed, and the four Full Moon Growth instances had dissipated along with them.
They had been used past their limit.
But the result was that he had genuinely analyzed a vast amount of information about the four planes.
Locke stepped out from the Queen's Chessboard, asked the half dragon proprietor for a free private room, then cast a spell and summoned an ordinary Full Moon Growth.
"The main gains lie in what I've learned about the lunar phases."
"The first moon plane has two phases, the Light Phase and the Dark Phase. As the phases shift, the lunar gravity changes with them."
The Full Moon Growth in his hand had always resembled a crude moon simulator, with a very low degree of accuracy. It never changed, like a perpetually full moon.
Not realistic at all.
But now the Full Moon Growth in his hand began to show clear alternations between light and dark. In the Light Phase, the full moon hung bright like a glowing lantern.
When it shifted into the Dark Phase, the moon's luminescence vanished entirely, like an extinct star.
"The moon's radiance comes from reflecting a light source. All the light of every moon plane is fundamentally reflected brilliance from the various primordial force planes..."
"But the reflected radiance becomes a special moonlight, already saturated with the world energy of the moon plane itself."
As Locke's understanding of the moon's light and dark phases deepened, the Full Moon Growth in his hand became increasingly like a real moon, with its waxing and waning.
Breathtakingly beautiful.
And the lunar gravity grew significantly more powerful.
Locke said, "By using Full Moon Growth as the core and reflecting the radiance of natural primordial force, I can obtain the most powerful lunar gravity."
Due to limitations of time and resources, he had focused most deeply on the first and most important and powerful of the three moon planes, the one with the light and dark phases.
Then came his research into the second moon plane. The Full Moon Growth in his hand, in addition to its light and dark alternation, began to show changes in shape, no longer fixed as an ordinary full moon.
At least eight distinct lunar phase changes appeared.
New moon, unseen, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, last quarter, waning crescent.
These eight lunar phase changes corresponded to the moon's cycle of waxing and waning.
Then came his research into the third moon plane. Due to how resources had been allocated, his study of the third plane was the shallowest of all.
The lunar phase of the Full Moon Growth in his hand now possessed not only light and dark alternation and the eight cycle phases, but the moon in his hand also turned blood red.
This was the color change of the moon.
What a pity that his initial collection had already been flawed, and yesterday when using the Queen's Chessboard he had also made an operational error. While analyzing the primordial force structure of the black moon and the blue moon, the witch porcelain holding the Full Moon Growth had suddenly shattered.
And so he had been forced to stop there.
"Thanks to the Night Meteor, it spared me countless hours. By collecting starlight and using the Queen's Chessboard to reverse-analyze the starlight of the three major moon planes, I obtained highly detailed firsthand lunar phase data."
Locke looked at the Full Moon Growth in his hand. "This spell model of mine has therefore been refined to an extraordinarily advanced degree. It is already sufficient to serve as a blueprint spell. I simply still need to give Full Moon Growth an offensive capability."
Locke raised Red Moon Growth. In an instant, existing as an entire forest himself, he felt a surge of burning intensity in that crimson light.
"The red version of Full Moon Growth can cause the liquids within all magical plants illuminated by it to boil."
"That is already close to offensive capability. If I develop in this direction, I can transform it into an attack spell. That would allow it to serve as a blueprint spell."
Locke said, "But a problem has now emerged. I currently have three candidate blueprint spells: Full Moon Growth, Peach Bow Thorn Arrow, and Forest Sanctuary, the Forbidden Forest. And I still haven't figured out how to incorporate my potion studies system, my archaeology system, and my bloodline system into my Grand Magic. That means I can only choose two from the three spells, and whichever two are chosen will each need to incorporate either my potion studies system or my archaeology system, as well as my bloodline power."
"I really should give this serious thought. Of course, I am already far luckier than ordinary wizards. Because of the demon dragon bloodline, I can create two Grand Magics, and I have Teacher. In order to properly contemplate how to unify two Grand Magics, there's no need to walk four extra major levels at the Second Circle stage."
Locke looked at the Full Moon Growth in his hand with great satisfaction. He spent an entire day specifically fine-tuning the Porcelain Moon Growth based on the refined Full Moon Growth spell model.
Very quickly, he transferred the upgraded spell model onto Porcelain Moon Growth.
At that moment, this Full Moon Growth bearing the natal witch porcelain of Cancer, having undergone a spell model upgrade, saw its power achieve an entirely new transformation.
And the things Locke had gained from the Queen's Chessboard and the Night Meteor had not yet been fully digested.
He would slowly absorb them over time and further refine things in the future.
Of course, Locke planned to wait until he entered the Abyss Ruins before doing so.
At the same time, Locke summoned the Golden Palace Legacy Branch and the Little Diamond Jujube Pendant. The two magical plants automatically transformed into Peach Bow Thorn Arrow and came into his hand.
The surface of the peach wood bow immediately revealed a white divine dragon coiling along it, vivid and lifelike.
At the same time, the Sacred Dragon's eyes glowed red, like the starlight of the Sacred Dragon Star.
"The Sacred Dragon Star is absolutely not a favorable star for those who desire stability. On the contrary, it is a star of upheaval. The Sacred Dragon Star represents the power of revolution, bringing constant small changes, and through those constant small changes, allowing certain things to endure." Locke used the Queen's Chessboard to trace the primordial force changes within the Sacred Dragon Star's starlight, coming to understand the fundamental nature of the Sacred Dragon Star's light.
"So the Peach Bow Thorn Arrow blessed by the Sacred Dragon Star can shoot arrows of revolutionary demon-slaying."
But...
Locke drew the bow empty. In an instant, a brilliant Sacred Great Sun descended, like the first ray of dawn rising after a long night. But his left hand gripping the bow was seared with a vivid red mark.
His entire hand was covered in blisters.
"The one who draws the bow will also suffer the backlash of Peach Bow Thorn Arrow. The power of revolution can destroy all fixed and established things."
Locke thought of something and glanced toward the Queen's Chessboard chamber. What a pity he was currently penniless, otherwise he would enter the Queen's Chessboard right now, place both the Peach Bow Thorn Arrow and abyssal energy inside it simultaneously, and observe the differences between them.
Because the Sacred Dragon Star's starlight was a kind of chaos, and abyssal energy was also a kind of chaos.
Yet the two forces were completely different.
Their natures were polar opposites.
Could it be that chaos also had a positive dimension?
Locke fell into deep thought. What a pity that not only did he have no money right now, his loan had not been repaid, and the borrowed funds from Wizard Kelt had not been returned either. So he could not use the Queen's Chessboard again.
But regardless, his Peach Bow Thorn Arrow had made substantial progress. It had inherited more of the Sacred Dragon's power.
He had gained mastery of the Revolution Arrow.
"The Sacred Dragon's inheritance is like a key that opens the door to the Sacred Dragon's power system."
Locke said, "From this point on I can use the power of the Sacred Dragon and develop it further. But how far it can be developed still depends entirely on the wizard's own level."
Locke blinked his right eye three times. A magical radiance flickered, and he returned once more to his half-plane. He saw the elf tribe, who had been working hard for two days.
By now they had completed half the work and were close to placing all four hundred-plus First Circle magical plants into the Forest Sanctuary according to Locke's previous plans.
...
On the seventh floor of the Origin Academy Castle, inside Witch Yekaterina's office, an ordinary full wizard messenger bowed to Witch Yekaterina and handed her a letter.
"Lady Throne, this is the correspondence between Locke Augustine and sun ring Wizard Lana Alvarez of the Rose Council."
"It appears to be an ordinary academic consultation, with that sun ring wizard very kindly providing guidance to Mr. Locke."
Witch Yekaterina read through the history of the two parties' correspondence, and her expression became extremely dark. She tapped the surface of the desk with the knuckle of her index finger. "Lana Alvarez... if you dare to lead my student astray, I will make you pay for it."
The messenger was startled. "Could it be that that sun ring wizard harbors ill intentions and is deliberately misleading My Lord Locke Augustine?"
Witch Yekaterina closed her eyes and said, "That is not the case."
"Her intentions are good. But good intentions do not guarantee good results."
"Lana Alvarez, a sun ring wizard who relies on inherited wizard formations and Grand Magic passed down from her ancestors. Does she think herself qualified to instruct my student? She is far too foolish and lacking in ability. The content she conveys is misleading at best, and would likely only succeed in deceiving her own students."
"She is simply not worth mentioning."
The messenger wizard felt a jolt of surprise. "Augustine is the wizard our Academic Committee is sending to participate in the Plane Conquest Competition in six months. Every wizard in the Academic Committee is quietly watching his every move during these six months."
"Should I perhaps give him a private reminder?"
Witch Yekaterina said, "No need. You continue to help him send his letters to Lana Alvarez as usual."
"Things teach people lessons after one encounter. People trying to teach people never gets through."
"Since that is the case, let him continue developing on his own."
"Very well. You may go."
After the wizard messenger departed, Wizard Douglas carefully stepped into the office.
Entering the office for the second time, Douglas approached with something close to a pilgrim's reverence.
Wizard Douglas bowed to Witch Yekaterina and said, "My Lady, you sent for me."
Witch Yekaterina gave a casual nod. "I heard from Witch Mason that you possess a special permanent defensive force field."
"Let me see it."
Wizard Douglas was inwardly startled. He hadn't expected this to have been noticed by Witch Mason, who had then reported it to Witch Yekaterina.
With no choice, Wizard Douglas cast Five Elements Reversal in front of Witch Yekaterina.
Five elemental forces appeared around him, wind, water, fire, earth, and lightning.
The five forces circulated ceaselessly around his body.
Forming five defensive force fields.
After seeing this, Witch Yekaterina gave Wizard Douglas a look of deep significance and said, "Well, it is rather... antiquated. Wall of Sighs, Primal Water Barrier, Lava Shield, Earth Crystal Pillar, and Lightning Armor."
"All ancient magic."
"The spell models are far too outdated. Go find your current team leader and have him update the spell models for your five defensive spells. Once updated, your combat power should increase by at least twofold under equivalent magical pressure."
A flash of joy crossed Wizard Douglas's eyes, and he hastily said to Witch Yekaterina, "Thank you, Teacher."
"The Wizard King Teacher said this magic had already been improved as far as it could go. Yet in Lady Throne's eyes, it is full of places that can be improved."
"Lady Throne is truly superior in every way."
Witch Yekaterina watched him leave, and her eyes darkened slightly. The main reason she had not killed him before was a significant one.
The emerald cat's eye stone was a magical gemstone that had vanished for a very long time.
Yet this fellow had one in his possession. That meant he had come into contact with some very old entity at some point.
Furthermore, the Twin Demon Realm's black wizards that day had targeted a very unusual group of people. Based on various clues after the fact, Witch Yekaterina had deduced that the Twin Demon Realm seemed to have been trying to capture certain ancient beings that had awakened from a primordial era.
And this fellow had conveniently revealed himself to her, allowing her to perceive that he was connected to some ancient existence.
Witch Yekaterina said quietly, "Very well."
"Let me see exactly what it is."
"Finally, I can get to the bottom of the Twin Demon Realm's purpose."
The Twin Demon Realm's captives from that day had all been killed by the world energy of the demon realm. The instant they had pledged themselves to the demon realm, their entire being had belonged to it.
They could no longer be considered human.
They were nothing more than puppets of the demon realm. If the demon realm wished them dead, they would die.