Chapter Summaries

Locke finalized a revenue-sharing contract with Wizard Terrence to commercialize the Nine-Headed Snake and reflected on the fierce competition among researchers at Golden Crown Mountain. At midnight, team leader Celt told Locke that Witch Catherine had summoned them, and they hurried to meet her.

• Locke signed a revenue-sharing contract with Wizard Terrence and received fifty Magic Crystal Cards for the Nine-Headed Snake project.
• Locke met Wizard Daniel and Wizard Franklin, who discussed Daniel's divination spirit fog project and its prospective contract with the Shop Alliance.
• Locke returned to the laboratory determined to keep advancing his research so he could compete for a Special Fund Project.
• Team leader Celt arrived at midnight and told Locke that the Catherine Throne had summoned them.
• Locke's colleagues congratulated him on his project results, and Celt admitted that he had misjudged Locke and praised his value to Group Six.

Locke visited Witch Catherine on the seventh floor of the Truth Institute to receive her recommendations for a special-plane contract. Catherine revealed that she had been monitoring Group Six and warned Celt over its failures, then questioned Locke about why he had included data that weakened his research conclusions.

• Locke and team leader Celt crossed Catherine’s lava-filled floor, where Locke nearly approached the dangerous Second-Ring Magic Plant Red Demon God before protecting himself with Mister’s Power.
• Catherine welcomed Locke and offered him three suitable special planes, recommending the Ancient Sky Illusory Realm or the Emerald Dream.
• Catherine told Celt to dismiss Zewen Watts and Alexei Patterson for falsifying experimental data and warned Celt that he had failed to manage Group Six.
• Catherine revealed that she had learned about Group Six through Mason and had arranged for Mason to give Locke concert tickets, showing Celt that she knew about his past conduct.
• Catherine praised Locke’s performance and asked why his paper included data unfavorable to his conclusions; Locke said he believed all authentic data should be included.

Witch Catherine identified Locke’s unusual research instincts as the True Dragon Clan’s Super Intuition and explained Golden Crown Mountain’s hidden dragonblood society and its power structure. She gave Locke a Second-Ring Angel’s Tear Bracelet to protect his perception and limit the risks of relying too heavily on the talent.

• Witch Catherine recognized Locke’s experimental intuition as True Dragon Super Intuition, and Locke admitted that he felt discomfort when pursuing wrong research directions and vitality when pursuing right ones.
• Witch Catherine sent Wizard Celt away with six months to produce satisfactory results, then explained that Golden Crown Mountain’s Academic Committee was largely controlled by a secret society of dragonblood wizards.
• Witch Catherine told Locke that his Immortal Dragon Scale had helped prompt Golden Crown Mountain to invite him and that he was already being tested for membership in the society.
• Witch Catherine explained the limits and risks of Super Intuition and divination, then gave Locke her Second-Ring Angel’s Tear Bracelet to cloud divination and restrain excessive use of the talent.

Locke chose to form a contract with the Emerald Dream rather than the Rain God Celestial Realm or the Ancient Sky Illusory Realm. After signing the contract, he unexpectedly drew the Emerald Dream’s intense favor and was invited to take its Emerald Trial.

• Witch Catherine explained the benefits and dangers of the Rain God Celestial Realm, the Emerald Dream, and the Ancient Sky Illusory Realm.
• Locke ruled out the Rain God Celestial Realm because its contract claimed his soul and corpse after death, and he asked Catherine about the powers the other planes could lend him.
• Locke chose the Emerald Dream because he wanted to develop Botany and avoid relying on his dragon bloodline or sacrificing body parts.
• Catherine revealed that she had made a similar choice and gave Locke a Book of Rituals; Locke read it and signed a contract with the Emerald Dream.
• The Emerald Dream’s World Power invited Locke to its Emerald Trial, leaving him drowsy as Catherine wondered what about him had attracted the plane.

Locke entered the Emerald Dream after its World Will conscripted him, and discovered that its giant plants were concentrations of plant spirits that strengthened his Magic Plants. There he met Grace Jeffries of the Hand of the Jungle, who warned him that nightmares were nearby and that the plane required them to fight.

• Witch Catherine and Fafnir discussed Locke's strengths and weaknesses while he lay unconscious, and Catherine arranged for a servant to guard him during his Emerald Sleep.
• Locke explored the Emerald Dream, learned that its plants were made of plant spirits, and found that he could wield the Nine-Headed Snake without his usual time limit.
• Locke observed the peaceful creatures living in the plane and wondered why its World Will had summoned him.
• Locke met Grace Jeffries, a First-Ring Botany wizard from the Hand of the Jungle, who explained that she was doing community service in the Emerald Dream.
• Grace warned Locke to keep quiet because nightmares were nearby and told him that the plane wanted them to fight.

Locke and Witch Grace encountered Isisdal, a corrupted Life Ancient Tree turned Nightmare, in the Emerald Dream and escaped after Locke discovered his powers could resist its contamination. Witch Grace explained how pollution-born Nightmares formed and revealed Isisdal came from the deadly Blue Rice Blast Incident.

• Locke and Witch Grace fled Isisdal’s attack as its black sewage corrupted the Emerald Dream and turned the Purple Demon Leopard King hostile.
• Locke damaged Isisdal with Mister’s Power, while Witch Grace’s Potato Shield failed to protect her from the Nightmare’s corruption.
• Witch Grace agreed to share the Hand of the Jungle’s classified Nightmare knowledge after Locke argued that protecting the environment was every wizard’s responsibility.
• Isisdal created a War Nightmare from an animal heart, and Locke used Gold Sandfall and the Underworld Ferryman to escape with Witch Grace.
• Witch Grace explained that Nightmares arose from polluted magical plants and disclosed that Isisdal formed during the Blue Rice Blast Incident, which killed or disabled thousands of Wizard Apprentices.

Locke learned from Grace how magical pollution created the Nightmares and the tragedy behind the Blue Rice Blast Incident. He defeated and purified Life Nightmare Yixisida’ar, received its life soul essence and reincarnation seed, and then left the Emerald Secret Realm.

• Grace explained how Huan-Element Heavy Particles polluted the Spiral Basin for decades, causing the Blue Rice Blast Incident and creating Nightmares from polluted creatures.
• Grace showed Locke her Nightmare’s Bane sword and left the breadfruit tree, while Locke chose to search for Life Nightmare Yixisida’ar alone.
• Life Nightmare Yixisida’ar tracked Locke to his hiding place, and Locke revealed his Primordial Runes before destroying its corrupted Magic Creature army and defeating the War Nightmare.
• Locke used Mister’s Power and the power of a ferocious beast to pierce Yixisida’ar, purifying the Nightmare and restoring it to its original form as a Life Ancient Tree.
• Yixisida’ar thanked Locke and left him its life soul essence and a reincarnation seed before Locke exited the Emerald Secret Realm.

After waking from a weeklong sleep, Locke discovered the Emerald Dream had granted him the power to gigantify Magic Plants through Ritual Magic. He created his strongest spell yet, the Glorious Fern Spear, then reflected on Ritual Magic as a way for First-Ring Wizards to study World Power and prepare for the Second Ring.

• Locke woke in Witch Catherine's guest lounge and learned that he had slept for a week in the Wizarding World.
• Locke examined Isisdal's soul essence and the Life Ancient Tree seed, then learned that Ginny had been assigned to serve him.
• Locke used Ritual Magic to draw on the Emerald Dream's World Power and enlarge Flash Sea Golden Sand to twice its size for one minute.
• Locke combined two gigantic Sea Golden Sand spears with his other powers to create the Glorious Fern Spear, his most powerful offensive spell to date.
• Locke questioned Ginny about Ritual Magic's origins and concluded that its greatest purpose was helping First-Ring Wizards learn about World Power and Great Magic.
• After the gigantification ended, Locke realized he had missed a week of laboratory work and worried that Witch Catherine might not have requested leave for him.

Locke lost seventy points after missing a week of attendance, but Celt rewarded his research success by making him team leader and assigning three Formal Wizards to work with him. Locke organized the new team around a shared research project and promised to help his colleagues secure Second-Class Fund projects, while his new student Dora Williams volunteered for a competition that Gregor feared entering.

• Witch Catherine watched Locke uncover the purpose of Ritual Magic and explained to Fafnir that she wanted him to discover the truth for himself; Fafnir questioned her methods and vanished.
• Locke signed the attendance sheet and learned that he had lost seventy points during his week in Emerald Sleep; Celt gave him a Jadewater Peach and introduced his new student, Dora Williams.
• Celt assigned Mason Witch, Wizard Barrett, and Witch Freya to assist Locke with pineapple-type magic plants and named Locke his right-hand man in Group Six.
• Locke persuaded the three researchers to abandon their private arrangement and work together on his research, promising to help each of them find a Second-Class Fund project.
• Locke asked Gregor about entering an Apprentice Level competition, but Gregor refused because of his past defeat, while Dora volunteered for the Cloud Marsh Wetland competition.

Locke encouraged Gregor and Williams to enter the Breeder Competition, then gave them research on plantain-type Flying Magic Plants to study. He brought them to an Arthas plantation to stabilize the Nine-Headed Snake’s traits and develop a simpler Three-Headed Snake, while planning for the Tree of Life seed and the Four Elements Ring.

• Locke urged Gregor to overcome his fear of failure by competing for the sake of learning, and Gregor accepted his advice.
• Locke learned that Williams was a twenty-year-old Potion Master, Breeder, and Botany wizard, then gave her an Advanced Bloodweeping Nightshade Potion after she recognized his finite-element cultivation method.
• Locke assigned Gregor and Williams plantain-type Flying Magic Plants for the Apprentice Level association Breeder Competition and gave them his research documents.
• Locke took Gregor and Williams to an Arthas plantation, where Cassius granted him ten acres of Magic Field and spoke with him about choosing between the Truth Institute and the Store Alliance.
• Locke planned to backcross the Nine-Headed Snake to stabilize its traits and simplify it into a Three-Headed Snake, then use the Tree of Life seed and Four Elements Ring to improve his Forest Sanctuary.

Locke began cultivating and backcrossing the Nine-Headed Hydra Magic Plant while learning Cloud Marsh Wetland’s nutrition-soil practices and managing the cost of his research. After early tests showed the plant’s traits were stable, an Arthas brand operations specialist arrived to discuss sales and set up its Shop Alliance interface.

• Locke decided he could not afford the Four Elements Ring because his research project required most of his savings.
• An Arthas employee explained Cloud Marsh Wetland’s nutrition-soil categories, and Locke chose vine-type soil, nutrient solution, and King Ox Horn Mushroom Rapid-Growth Agent for his Nine-Headed Hydra.
• Locke had Gregor and Williams plant the Magic Vines, then used Rapid Growth to produce seedlings and collect seeds for successive generations of backcrossing.
• Locke made Gregor and Williams dig up the forced-grown plants, noticed their exhaustion, and sent them to rest while reminding them to prepare for the Breeder Competition.
• Locke found little trait degeneration in the first backcrossing tests and considered developing a Three-Headed Snake subspecies, though he lacked funds.
• An Arthas brand operations specialist introduced herself to Locke and offered to manage the Nine-Headed Hydra’s operations and activate its sales interface.

Locke learned how Arthas traders used market analysis and agreed to supply Scarlett Witch with Nine-Headed Snake seeds for a September promotion. As he began preparing the crop and seeking more help, Green-Grass Cloud Marsh sent him two published papers and rewarded him with Jadewater Peaches.

• Scarlett Witch explained Arthas’s rankings, sales system, and cautious divination-based market analysis, then discussed promoting Locke’s Nine-Headed Snake Magic Plant at the September first event.
• Locke agreed to provide seeds within a week, while Scarlett Witch warned that selling a First-Ring Tactical-Level Magic Plant was risky but agreed to try.
• After Scarlett Witch left, Locke cultivated the second generation of Fast-Growing Nine-Headed Snakes and planned to borrow students to help with his work.
• Gregor and Williams collected seeds at the Plantation, and Locke went to the Dragonblood Gathering to hire Wizard Apprentices to help write papers.
• Green-Grass Cloud Marsh sent Locke the journal issue containing his two papers and two Jadewater Peaches, which he stored with another peach for later.

Locke found a possible way to create a Three-Headed Snake Magic Plant and hired an apprentice to help write his research articles. Griffin warned him that Special-Grade Funding required Second-Ring research and described Catherine as unpredictable, leaving Locke aware that his goals would demand far more resources than he had expected.

• Locke read an article about the Type-3 Daffodil Inhibitor and realized he could combine Breeding Science with Potion-making to mutate his Nine-Headed Snake Magic Plant into a Three-Headed Snake.
• At the Erudite Intermediary, Locke met Griffin, who admitted he was struggling to complete a First-Class Project Fund and had given up on Special-Grade Funding.
• Griffin told Locke that Special-Grade Funding in the Land of Three Marshes required a Second-Ring Wizard conducting Second-Ring research, and warned that advancing and competing required enormous sums of money.
• Griffin cautioned Locke that Catherine could change how she treated a researcher once that person's performance crossed an unknown threshold.
• Locke decided he needed to increase his income and hired a First-Class Wizard Apprentice from Old George to help prepare Q2 articles for publication.

Locke hired Luca Schneider to write four research papers and went to the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion to develop a potion for mutating nine-headed snake magic plants. His first formula killed the seed, so he planned to obtain more materials and use the Synthesis Cube to find a better approach.

• Locke gave Luca Schneider experimental documents and asked him to write four papers for Q2 journals, then arranged for him to stay in his quarters with Howard's help.
• Locke obtained potion ingredients and ten daffodils from Arthas's industrial park for his nine-headed snake magic plant experiments.
• Locke visited the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion, where its green dragon half-dragon treated him with unusual reverence and arranged a potion laboratory at half price.
• Locke brewed a potion using Type-3 Daffodil Inhibitor and blood serpent flowers, but it killed the nine-headed snake magic plant seed.
• Locke used the Synthesis Cube to learn that the ingredients produced uncontrolled toxicity and resolved to request more resources and try a different formula.

Locke refused Wizard Gafi’s request to make one of his students withdraw from Golden Crown Mountain’s Breeder Competition, insisting the committee follow its own rules. Gafi returned to the competition office, where the staff learned of Locke’s fearsome reputation and decided to follow the rules despite the likely objections.

• Wizard Gafi asked Locke to persuade Gregor to withdraw so a competition slot could go to a student of a Second-Ring Wizard, and offered him compensation.
• Locke rejected Gafi’s proposal and stood by Gregor and Williams, while Witch Mason and the others arrived and treated Gafi coldly.
• Gafi left the Truth Institute and told the competition office that Locke had refused to yield.
• Gafi explained Locke’s reputation as the Beholder Wizard, recounting his past clashes with Black Wizards and the death of a First-Ring Crystallization wizard in a secret realm.
• The deputy director said the director had left them to handle the matter, and the office decided to follow the competition rules despite possible pressure from Second-Ring Wizards.

Locke organized his colleagues into a collaborative research team, shared funding opportunities, and began considering how to improve Group Six’s research methods. Meanwhile, Witch Catherine and Fafnir debated whether Locke could earn a Special-Class Grant, leaving his prospects uncertain.

• Locke praised Mason Witch, Freya Witch, and Barrett for their progress on pineapple-type Magic Plants, reimbursed their expenses, and gave them preliminary data for Second-Class Fund applications.
• Locke proposed regular brainstorming meetings and shared his ambition to obtain a Special-Class Grant and a key-project subproject; Mason Witch suggested improving Group Six’s experimental framework.
• Mason Witch explained that she was undergoing trials to contract with the Ancient Sky Illusory Realm, while Locke said he preferred the Emerald Dream and its plant ecosystem.
• Locke received Albert’s message that he had completed the Forest Sanctuary and planned to make his final attempt to advance to Formal Wizard with old friends present.
• Mason Witch told Witch Catherine that she had become Locke’s friend on her own merits, despite Catherine’s instruction to report his thoughts.
• Witch Catherine praised Locke’s management, but Fafnir doubted he could secure a Special-Class Grant and criticized Catherine’s choice to invest in outsiders.

Locke used his Gray Mist Slate Spiritual Projection to help Albert prepare for another attempt to become a Formal Wizard, despite Gromdal’s interference. He retrieved Tartarus Spinal-Marrow Fluid from Rashid Tariel’s Echo and gave it to Albert to improve his chances of advancing.

• Locke reunited with Anglu and Aixi, learned about their progress and Pierre’s status, and asked Albert to look after his old friends if Albert advanced.
• Locke transmitted a Spiritual Projection through the Gray Mist Slate and tested how much power it could hold before its soul limit forced it to collapse.
• Locke warned Albert that Gromdal would resist his advancement, then guided him to the breeding room to prepare with Holy Spring Nectar Potion and Star Soul Spirit Liquid.
• Albert gave Locke the Broken Mirror he had recovered from the Blood Crow Wasteland, which contained Rashid Tariel’s Echo and the sealed Tartarus Spinal-Marrow Fluid.
• Locke entered the Echo, retrieved the fluid, and shattered Rashid Tariel’s memory illusion with Dragon Might.
• Locke gave Albert the Tartarus Spinal-Marrow Fluid and told him to drink it to improve his chances of becoming a Formal Wizard.

Locke helped Albert use Tartarus Cave Worm Spinal Fluid and begin inscribing a Permanent Defense Field on the Red-Earth Hollies, but Gromdal trapped Albert in an illusion and tried to tempt him away from the Wizard path. Locke disrupted the Disc Creature while Albert completed the inscriptions, and Albert’s soul began transforming as Gromdal withdrew.

• Albert drank the Tartarus Cave Worm Spinal Fluid and Sacrifice Potion, while Locke reflected on the potion’s effects and told Albert to inscribe runes on the three Red-Earth Hollies.
• Albert began inscribing the Ogham Tree Runes, but Gromdal appeared in a blue ring and tempted him with power while trapping him in an illusion.
• Locke connected with Albert’s spirituality, broke through Gromdal’s Ghost Bride façade, and helped Albert realize that he still wanted to become a Formal Wizard.
• Locke held off Gromdal as Albert resumed the inscriptions and approached the completion of his Permanent Defense Field.
• Albert’s soul began transforming and Gromdal’s projected power weakened, forcing it to retreat after threatening Locke.

Locke created the Multi-Headed Snake Potion, which turned a Nine-Headed Snake seed into a Five-Headed Snake, and used his luck-enhancing methods to formulate Luck Potions. He passed the third round of the Heavenly Ladder, received an Obelisk Stone Demon, and learned that the fourth round would require him to create a First-Ring potion formula.

• Albert broke through to become a Formal Wizard, and Locke advised him to perfect the Forest Sanctuary and inscribe additional Permanent Defense Field runes.
• Locke spent a week searching for a potion formula, then used a Luck Potion and the Dragon's Nest Fortune-Boosting Art to create a potion that changed a Nine-Headed Snake into a Five-Headed Snake.
• Locke tested the Five-Headed Snake and found it could let him use multiple Permanent Defense Fields, though its limited Magic Pressure capacity weakened their power.
• Locke compiled the successful formula as the Multi-Headed Snake Potion, then refined two portions of Luck Potion without using the Primordial Fire or Pureflow Filter Stone.
• Locke gave the two Luck Potions to the Green Dragon Half-Dragon shopkeeper and passed the third round of the Heavenly Ladder.
• Locke opened his reward box and received an Obelisk Stone Demon, then heard that the fourth round would require him to create a First-Ring potion formula within a year.

Locke accepted the Feathered Serpent Ancient Pavilion’s fourth Heavenly Ladder challenge, a task to develop a potion balancing Abyssal Energy, shapeshifting energy, and undead power. He then coached Gregor and Williams for the Breeder Competition, considered Williams’s Potion Relay Race application, and identified opportunities to profit from Cloud Marsh Wetland’s True Love Festival and Sports Festival.

• Locke received a question card describing a wizard whose Abyssal Energy, shapeshifting energy, and undead power were in conflict, and he agreed to develop a First-Ring Abyss-type balancing potion without using the Primordial Fire or Pureflow Filter Stone.
• Locke returned to the public laboratory, congratulated Gregor and Williams on passing the first round of the Breeder Competition, and assigned them cultivation exercises and reading.
• Williams gave Locke an application to join Golden Crown Mountain’s Potion Relay Race team, and Locke agreed to submit it.
• Locke researched Cloud Marsh Wetland’s festivals and learned that the Shop Alliances had promoted the True Love Festival and Sports Festival to advertise and sell their products.
• Locke decided he could use the September 1 True Love Festival to sell Nine-Headed Snake and Five-Headed Snake products, and he began considering what to develop for the November 1 Sports Festival.