Chapter Summaries

Locke used the Lucky Four-Leaf Clover Ring to contact Witch Sophia across the distance to the Starfield Sea, where he felt the region’s immense Magical Tides. He told her he had become a Formal Wizard and asked for guidance on cultivating a tactical-grade Magic Plant for the Cloud Marsh Cup, while Sophia prepared to answer him.

• Locke examined the ring and judged that Witch Sophia’s Magic Pressure was near ten thousand, putting her close to becoming a Second-Ring Wizard.
• Locke activated an Ecological Niche Communication Spell and used one of the ring’s three stored contacts to reach Sophia in the Starfield Sea.
• Locke sensed the Starfield Sea’s powerful Magical Tides and learned that the communication spell linked ecological niches through resonance.
• Locke told Witch Sophia that he had become a Formal Wizard and would enter the Cloud Marsh Cup, then asked for guidance on cultivating a tactical-grade Magic Plant controllable by three to five wizards.
• Witch Sophia recognized Locke’s Liquefaction Stage Magic Pressure and told Senior Brother Naxos that her student was contacting her.
• Senior Brother Naxos encouraged Witch Sophia to speak with Locke, and she revealed that Locke was about twenty-one years old.

Witch Sophia met Locke through the Ecological Niche Communication Spell and praised his rapid progress and skill at securing research funding. She warned him to avoid Wizard Sura’s old conflicts and began offering guidance for the Cloud Marsh Cup, First-Ring Crystallization, and tactical Magic Plants.

• Witch Sophia left the laboratory and used the Ecological Niche Communication Spell to speak with Locke.
• Witch Sophia praised Locke for becoming a Liquefaction Wizard in two years and explained how changes in Magic Pressure could reflect a wizard’s growth.
• Locke told Witch Sophia about his research group, his plans to enter the Cloud Marsh Cup, and his funding from the Plutarch Family.
• Witch Sophia praised Locke’s ability to secure projects and warned him to treat Wizard Sura as an ordinary financial backer while keeping his ties to Alicia.
• Witch Sophia offered to explain how to become a First-Ring Crystallization Wizard and share information about tactical Magic Plants from the Starfield Sea.

Witch Sophia taught Locke that compressing the Permanent Defense Field was essential for advancing to the First-Ring Crystallization Stage and explained how wizard academies concealed this knowledge. She then began offering suggestions for Locke’s Cloud Marsh Cup topic, drawing on her experience teaching Breeding Science.

• Witch Sophia explained how compressing the Permanent Defense Field helped increase a wizard’s soul limit and sent Locke the relevant practice techniques.
• Locke learned that Witch Sophia had independently developed a promotion method similar to information available in the Starfield Sea.
• Witch Sophia explained that wizard academies in the Lower Wizard Land sealed away the Compression Method, creating a Knowledge Blind Spot for Locke.
• Witch Sophia advised Locke to attend academic exchanges and lectures so he could learn about knowledge that others might otherwise conceal.
• Witch Sophia began suggesting Cloud Marsh Cup topics based on her experience teaching Breeding Science.

Witch Sophia gave Locke guidance for the Cloud Marsh Cup and shared a promising but unfinished tactical Magic Plant project from her research team. Locke left with the project data and the choice of whether to develop it in the Land of Six Towers.

• Witch Sophia sent Locke a large store of information, sealed in a spell model in his Sea of Consciousness because it was too vast to read directly.
• Witch Sophia explained that the Cloud Marsh Wetland favored refined, controllable magic and warned Locke that his choice of Magic Plant could affect his chances in the Cloud Marsh Cup.
• Witch Sophia shared a project concept for a tactical Magic Plant platform that used Chain Magic Vines to link and stack multiple wizards' Permanent Defense Fields.
• Witch Sophia explained that she and her senior apprentice brother had abandoned the project after developing only its initial framework and basic data.
• Locke recognized the project suited his Permanent Defense Fields and the Cloud Marsh Wetland's tastes, while Witch Sophia cautioned that completing it would be difficult and left the choice to him.

Locke weighed whether to use the Starfield Sea project for the Cloud Marsh Cup while juggling research, teaching, and cultivation. After completing the Diamond Succulent research with Wizard Takla, he sent Takla to represent him in the Light and Shadow Cup and then went to meet Alicia.

• Locke decided to make the difficult Starfield Sea project his main research direction while waiting for Montgomery, Barbara, and Tacitus to finish their proposals.
• Over the next month, Locke balanced cultivation, teaching more than forty Wizard Apprentices, and several research and potion projects while sleeping only twice.
• Locke and Wizard Takla completed the Diamond Succulent's supporting [bomb] magic and learned the First-Ring Botanical Magic [kindred branches].
• Wizard Takla asked to join Locke's project team, but Locke warned that the competition's workload could endanger his health, so Takla agreed not to join.
• Locke assigned Takla to represent him in the [Light and Shadow Cup], secured a travel subsidy, and told him to bring capable commoner students along.
• Locke said Alicia had invited him to White Dragon Street and left to meet her.

Locke and Alicia discussed her plans to reform the Land of Six Towers, Locke’s research group, and their shared potion business. A new proposal from the research group resolved Locke’s hesitation about pursuing a project connected to the Starfield Sea.

• Alicia told Locke that his contest victories had quieted rumors about his work, then discussed reforming the Plutarch Family and the Land of Six Towers.
• Alicia asked Locke to include capable family wizards in his research group, while Locke described the group’s conflicts and mediocre proposals.
• Alicia suggested Locke visit the Joseph Magical Puppet Shop to prepare for the Cloud Marsh Cup and offered to discuss his Mastermind Control Potion research.
• Locke proposed improving Alicia’s One-Horned Ox-Rhino Bloodline and strengthening her through combined potions; Alicia suggested they open an Augustus Series Potion Specialty Shop together.
• A letter informed Locke that Montgomery, Witch Barbara, and Wizard Tacitus had produced an excellent project proposal, allowing him to proceed with his Starfield Sea project.

Locke and Alicia visited the Joseph Golem Shop, where a Dwarf Wizard explained its services and the Full-Metal Demon Hatching Workshop. Alicia summoned ten Level 1 Steel Golems for a test, and Locke prepared to assess his new Plant Magics and Magic Plants against them.

• A Dwarf Wizard showed Locke and Alicia the shop and praised Kerei Shiro’s golem research and businesses.
• The Dwarf Wizard described the testing prices, and Alicia paid 9,000 Magic Stones for the highest-level sparring test.
• The Dwarf Wizard explained that the Full-Metal Demon Hatching Workshop could deploy golems ranging up to Crystallization-stage strength, subject to its energy supply.
• After the Dwarf Wizard left, Alicia summoned ten Level 1 Steel Golems and told Locke to test himself first.
• The Steel Golems descended from the workshop, targeted Locke and Alicia, and announced that the combat test could be stopped at any time.

Locke tested his Plant Mimicry: Green Dragon and other botanical spells against a full army of Steel Golems, studying their strengths and weaknesses as mechanical constructs. After destroying the army, he left Alicia to train with Flesh Golems and went to work on a project related to her grandfather.

• Locke used Plant Mimicry: Green Dragon to evade the Steel Golems, then tested their flight, weapons, defenses, and resistance to toxins and mental magic.
• Locke asked Alicia to release two hundred Flying Iron Golems, and he observed their battle formation, support units, size, energy systems, and mechanical weaknesses.
• Locke hampered the golems with Ironwire Ox-Tendon Grass and tested his Diamond Succulents and Photosynthesis, ultimately annihilating the golem army.
• Locke treated and stored his damaged Diamond Succulents, then told Alicia it was her turn to train; Alicia chose Flesh Golems because the Steel Golems needed repairs.
• Locke left to work on a project related to Alicia's grandfather, while the Dwarf Alchemist in Joseph's Golem Shop reacted to the tremors and recognized Locke as dangerous.

Locke entered the Demonkin world, where he and Great Wizard Sura planted thirty Red-Earth Holly trees to support Sura’s project and empower native Mage Saints. A hidden observer learned that Locke was the second foreign Demon God and decided to suspend his plans until Locke left.

• Locke ordered the attendants watching Great Wizard Sura’s true body to leave, then used the White Dragon Ring to enter the Demonkin world.
• Locke turned the Demonkin on a hill into golden statues with his Anti-Life Force Field and Golden Force Field, then flew toward Mage Saint Hall City.
• Locke met Great Wizard Sura and used the money Sura had provided to transplant thirty Red-Earth Holly trees in the city.
• Locke and Great Wizard Sura completed the planting, and Locke proposed strengthening forty Mage Saints with Apprentice Level Illusory Butterfly Bloodline Modification Potions before inscribing runes on their souls.
• Jell Fisher nearly got caught spying on Locke, then agreed with the voice in his soul to suspend their plans until the second Demon God left Mage Saint Hall City.

Locke helped Great Wizard Sura strengthen thirty-one Mage Saints, then learned that the dragon bloodline in his body was not the Golden Two-Headed Dragon Bloodline he had believed it to be. Great Wizard Sura warned that Locke still faced the danger of split consciousness and demanded to know who had misidentified his bloodline.

• Locke carved a crude version of Forest Sanctuary runes into thirty-one Mage Saints, strengthening their souls enough for them to cast First-Ring Magic.
• Great Wizard Sura called the mages his servants and planned to use them to counterattack the Demonkin and search for the demon acupoint.
• Great Wizard Sura offered Locke help with the Cloud Marsh Cup and warned him that his supposed Golden Two-Headed Dragon Bloodline could cause split consciousness.
• Great Wizard Sura tested Locke's bloodline, but an evil dragon power erupted, wounded him, and broke two fingers on his left hand.
• Great Wizard Sura told Locke that his bloodline was not the Golden Two-Headed Dragon Bloodline and asked which Bloodline School wizard had identified it that way.

Great Wizard Sura explained that Locke’s bloodline was a powerful but unidentified Twin Bloodline and gave him a spellbook and a Universal Bloodline Spell to develop it. Locke returned through the Plane Gate to the White Dragon Tower, intending to consult Alicia before using the spell.

• Great Wizard Sura dismissed the claim that Locke had the Golden Two-Headed Dragon Bloodline and said his True Dragon bloodline was a high-level Twin Bloodline.
• Great Wizard Sura explained that Locke needed the Shadow Pool and Conjuration School spells to eliminate his bloodline’s side effect, but only Alicia could authorize access to the pool.
• Great Wizard Sura gave Locke a Spell Model for the First Ring Universal Bloodline Spell, Berserk Spell, and warned that using it without a powerful bloodline could be fatal.
• Great Wizard Sura demonstrated the Berserk Spell and explained that Alicia used a more complex Second Berserk Spell, while Locke’s dragon bloodline could yield greater effects.
• Locke accepted the blood essence containing the Spell Model but decided not to use it before consulting Alicia.
• Locke passed through the Plane Gate, left the Mage Plane, and returned to the White Dragon Tower.

Locke’s research group completed and submitted a proposal to the Cloud Marsh Cup, then began work on producing the proposed tactical Magic Plant. After Locke revealed a mature Chain Magic Vine subspecies he had cultivated, the group gained confidence and started preparing to develop more.

• Locke announced that the research group had completed its project proposal, and Montgomery agreed to deliver it to the White Wizard Association’s Hurricane Eye Array Magic Gate.
• Locke told the group to begin cultivating vine subspecies immediately and use the Finite-Element Cultivation Method to assemble the finished Magic Plant.
• Montgomery suggested preparing a backup plan, but Locke rejected the idea and demonstrated his first Chain Magic Vine subspecies.
• Barbara tested the vine, confirming its strong defense and ability to recover after being weakened.
• Montgomery and Tacitus praised Locke’s work, and the research group began cultivating more subspecies with renewed confidence.

Locke consulted Alicia about the safety and use of Great Wizard Sura’s True Blood, then learned that Eric had secured family funding for a Golden Cup project built from plagiarized research, including Locke’s work. Locke and Alicia discussed their potion research and agreed to establish a jointly owned Augustus-series Potion Shop, with the Plutarch Family supplying the funds.

• Locke visited Alicia’s office, where she examined Great Wizard Sura’s True Blood and explained that its flawless condition made tampering unlikely.
• Locke absorbed the True Blood, gaining an externally attached bloodline factor that gave him an additional spell slot he could remove at will.
• Alicia told Locke that Eric had received 700,000 Magic Stones for a Golden Cup project application assembled from plagiarized papers, including Locke’s research on the Diamond Succulent.
• Locke predicted that Eric’s application would fail the competition’s first round, while Alicia said she trusted Locke’s serious bid in the Cloud Marsh Cup.
• Locke and Alicia discussed the Mastermind Control Potion and improved One-Horned Rhino potion formulas, with Alicia estimating the changes could increase the formula’s effectiveness by at least thirty percent.
• Locke and Alicia agreed to open an Augustus-series Potion Shop as joint partners, with the Plutarch Family providing the initial investment.

Locke successfully refined and consumed a Mastermind Control Potion, strengthening his Psionic Pool and bonds with his Magic Plants, then prepared to gather materials. At Boniface University, the Cloud Marsh Cup committee approved his team’s controversial proposal for a Magic Plant that could combine Permanent Defense Fields, ranking it sixth and granting it 500,000 Magic Stones in funding.

• Locke’s first attempt to refine the Mastermind Control Potion failed and produced a highly corrosive liquid, which he bottled for later study.
• Locke successfully refined a Mastermind Control Potion with Primordial Fire and drank it, expanding his Psionic Pool and strengthening his connections to his Magic Plants.
• Locke noted that his Forest Sanctuary could support First-Ring Magic Plants again and planned to buy materials for his research group.
• Wizard Trix and the Cloud Marsh Cup committee reviewed the competition rankings, including Locke’s team’s proposal from the Land of Six Towers.
• Wizard Nara questioned the proposal’s ambition, but Wizard Trix explained that the judges had ranked it sixth despite believing it could merit a top-three place.
• Wizard Trix approved Locke’s team’s proposal and awarded it 500,000 Magic Stones in funding.

Locke’s research group passed the Cloud Marsh Cup qualifying round in sixth place, earning funding and prompting Locke to promise better accommodations and cultivation resources for its students. In Mage Saint Hall City, Great Wizard Sura learned of their success and decided Locke deserved substantial support for the finals, no longer viewing him as an expendable pawn.

• Locke received fifty Magic Crystal Cards after his research group passed the qualifying round, then promised the students improved dormitories, food, and cultivation subsidies.
• Montgomery reported that the group had cultivated seven Chain Magic Vine subspecies and proposed using Fast-Growing Vine grafts and the Elemental Pool to speed their work.
• Tacitus planned to reorganize the students’ tasks, while Witch Barbara joked that she was still trying to find ways to improve their efficiency.
• Great Wizard Sura learned from Alicia that Locke’s team had passed the qualifying round in sixth place using ordinary Wizards from the Land of Six Towers.
• Great Wizard Sura praised Alicia for supporting Locke and decided to provide him with additional investment to help him perform well in the finals.

Eric and Yurian learned that Locke's research group had advanced in the Cloud Marsh Cup and discussed using their family's sponsorship to get Plutarch heirs into the group. Meanwhile, Lisa asked Gregory to help her eldest son Andrew join Locke's project, but Gregory refused to interfere with Alicia's management of the family.

• Yurian explained that Locke's sixth-place finish after the third round marked him as a wizard with the potential to become a Second-Ring Wizard, shocking Eric, who had thought Locke was competing only for money.
• Eric and Yurian decided to ask Locke to include Plutarch family apprentices in his research group, with Eric planning to offer Magic Stones for a place.
• Lisa praised Alicia's support of a project that had reached the Cloud Marsh Cup finals and reprimanded her sons for their reckless personal lives.
• Lisa asked Gregory Nick to arrange for Andrew to join Locke Augustine's research group, but Gregory refused to interfere in Alicia's family leadership.

Alicia secured Locke three million Magic Stones, additional Magic Crystal Cards, and a top-level laboratory to support his Cloud Marsh Cup research. As Locke set his sights on winning the championship, Alicia warned him that hostile family wizards were beginning to target his research group.

• Alicia gave Locke approval for three million Magic Stones and said the Plutarch Family would add three hundred Magic Crystal Cards without changing the original contract.
• Alicia promised Locke a top-level laboratory and access to family project data, with the Primordial Fire as a reward if he placed in the top three.
• Locke considered buying advanced cultivation equipment and materials to speed up his research, and resolved to aim for the championship rather than third place.
• Locke asked Alicia why family wizards were provoking his research group, and she explained that they had demanded places in it to benefit from his success.
• Alicia warned Locke that family wizards would ostracize and harass the researchers he had chosen, but said she could now openly grant his group special privileges.

Locke and the others watched as Constructors installed a Dragon Crystal Ecological Dome and brought advanced breeding equipment to their first-class laboratory. With the new facilities ready, the researchers prepared to expand their experiments, while Locke planned to learn how to use the sequencing scanner.

• Constructors installed the million-Magic-Stone Dragon Crystal Ecological Dome, whose magic enriched the garden and accelerated the growth of Chain Magic Vine variants.
• Montgomery read the equipment manuals and explained that operating the dome would require one hundred thousand Magic Stones' worth of dragon blood each month.
• Locke told Barbara, Tacitus, and Montgomery that the Root Crown Court had also supplied a Holographic Magic-Plant Sequencing Scanner and a super-large Radiation Cauldron at half price.
• Constructors installed and activated the Radiation Cauldron, which would let many Breeders work together and help Formal Wizards control larger-scale cultivation methods.
• The group examined the scanner, and Locke resolved to learn to use it even though his Synthesis Cube made it less necessary for him personally.

Locke and his research group developed a powerful Variegation Mutation Chain Magic Vine that linked and combined four wizards’ Magic Pressure. They planned to continue refining their Magic Plants, aiming to make them stack Permanent Defense Fields for the Cloud Marsh Cup, while selling successful subspecies to fund their work.

• Locke used Plant Factors and Variegation Mutation to cultivate a black-iron Chain Magic Vine that connected the mana of four wizards and resisted their attacks.
• Witch Barbara, Tacitus, and Montgomery praised the vine’s combat potential but noted that it could not yet stack Permanent Defense Fields against mythical Treants.
• Locke explained that Variegation Mutation created strengthening spell patterns but made Magic Plants harder to grow and less able to recover.
• Locke gave the group seeds and selected three promising subspecies for further targeted cultivation and limited-element breeding.
• Locke proposed selling their tactical Magic Plant subspecies to raise funds for the research group and its members.

Locke joined the Cloud Marsh Cup finals group through the Cloud Marsh Wetland’s water hyacinth network and learned that the other contestants used it to discuss the competition. When Alaric and Karel Knight tried to learn how far Locke’s Magic Plant project had progressed, he withheld information, leaving the competitors to speculate about each other’s experiments.

• Locke used [Dragon Might] to keep people from bothering him in the White Dragon Tower.
• An Azure Mist Silkvine connected Locke’s Gray Mist Slate to the Cloud Marsh Cup finals group, and Locke agreed to join.
• A contestant who had missed the finals left the group, while Alaric and other members welcomed Locke and explained that the group had existed before.
• Locke realized the Competition Committee’s earlier notices had never reached him, but decided that previous Cloud Marsh Cup records were enough to guide his work.
• Alaric and Karel Knight asked Locke about the progress of his Permanent Defense Field Magic Plant, and Locke answered with two emojis instead of revealing anything.
• Alaric and Karel speculated about the contestants’ research progress, and Karel urged Alaric to spend more time experimenting.