Chapter 825: The Three-Hole World and the ’Deities’!

Inside his dormitory, Locke's clone continued to prepare the matters related to planar exploration, while his main body sat in the dormitory and began reading the magical book written by Wizard Russell.

Locke read through this Wizard Russell's magical book on Golden Foxtail Grass, and only then came to understand that foxtail grasses existed in many subtypes.

The number of subtypes was extremely large, at least a hundred, the most basic being the Blue Foxtail, also colloquially called a weed. Of course, that was a joke.

For all that, it was a First Circle magical plant. In the fields of a First Circle breeder it might be a weed, but taken anywhere else it was the king of magical plants. It could not truly be called a weed.

There were also dozens of apprentice-level degenerate forms of the Blue Foxtail.

And dozens of semi-degenerate First Circle-level foxtail varieties, as well as a small number of evolved forms of the Blue Foxtail, and the sole variety that had re-evolved back into a Second Circle magical plant, the Golden Foxtail Grass.

In his book, Wizard Russell wrote, "Precisely because the members of the foxtail family are so numerous, they possess remarkable charm. And among these vast numbers of family members, what appeals to me most is the Golden Foxtail Grass."

"As is well known, in this book, almost all of the Blue Foxtail's subtypes are undergoing some form of degeneration. A large number of varieties have nearly reached the level of ordinary plants. And many more are on the verge of degeneration. Only the Golden Foxtail Grass has managed to escape this risk of degeneration and re-evolved into a Second Circle magical plant."

"The unique degeneration mechanism of Blue Foxtail is another topic that could fill ten magical books and will not be discussed here. This book focuses on a review of research on the Golden Foxtail Grass..."

Locke spent a morning reading through this magical book and gained a great deal from it. It introduced in detailed and focused fashion the pathway mechanisms of the various natural magical structural components of the Golden Foxtail Grass.

What a pity that this magical book was only a review. It repeatedly emphasized the important standing, special value, and unique re-evolution of the Golden Foxtail Grass, but did not detail why only the Golden Foxtail Grass could re-evolve.

Only one line was written, "Golden Foxtail Grass obtained the momentum for re-evolution by changing from a diploid to a haploid form. It has currently been confirmed through many years of experimentation that there exists within foxtail magical plants a variety of mechanisms that cause Blue Foxtail to continuously degenerate, and I have confirmed that these mechanisms come from within the plant essence core of the Blue Foxtail."

Locke frowned. What was this supposed to mean?

A diploid transforming into a haploid?

A magical plant with only one set of plant essence core?

How was this possible?

This was not the gametophyte of a fern!

Haploid magical plants generally only existed in artificially cultivated magical plants, and they typically could not reproduce and were difficult to develop fully, because plants at minimum were diploid.

Haploid meant a magical plant had only one set of plant essence core. This meant that during reproduction, there were no homologous plant essence cores to pair up, making it impossible to produce the next generation and difficult to overcome the challenges of sexual reproduction.

Yet Golden Foxtail Grass should be a naturally evolved Second Circle magical plant.

Locke frowned. This line in Wizard Russell's magical book was difficult for him to understand.

Locke dimly sensed that this secret might have an enormous connection to the final step of his atavistic evolution.

His atavistic evolution had already been proven to work. It was only that the foxtail grass family was special, making it impossible to complete it neatly.

But simply switching to a different magical plant, and the atavistic evolution could be completed with reasonable accuracy.

It was just that Locke could sense that the secret of how Golden Foxtail Grass could re-evolve was of extreme importance to him.

This might allow the atavistic evolution to become even more complete.

And what he had agreed with the Small Breath Cup side was also the atavistic revival of Golden Spike Wheat.

Locke picked up a magical quill and magical paper and began writing a letter to Wizard Russell. In the letter he asked the relevant questions, especially asking why the Golden Foxtail Grass transformed into a haploid magical plant, how a haploid Golden Foxtail Grass reproduced in the wild, and why this was closely connected to its ability to re-evolve.

At the same time, Locke also wrote a letter to Alaric, the Golden Dynasty noble, expressing in the letter how he had thought of him fondly since their parting at the Cloud Marsh Cup, and asking him to help approach his teacher Wizard Russell on his behalf.

Locke hesitated for a moment, because his golden dragon bloodline was already in the state of being obviously fake, having transformed into the Apocalypse Dragon.

He was not sure whether he still qualified as a golden bloodline.

After thinking it over, considering that the Twilight Border's decline back then seemed to involve undisclosed reasons that he had not yet figured out, he still had not understood why the Pale Giants had attacked the Twilight Border, or why the Pale Pilgrimage had appeared ten thousand years ago, or how the Pale Pilgrimage could have had the ability to bring about the decline of a leader wizard territory.

There was certainly a major secret hidden here.

And the Apocalypse Dragon bloodline involved too much. If he carelessly mentioned it, he might instead invite unnecessary trouble.

So Locke decided not to play on the golden noble connection after all.

After finishing the letters, Locke went to the library and found the magical owl service, handed the two letters to the owl, and using the address information Alaric had left on the gray stone tablet, sent the two letters out.

Locke watched the two letters and thought, "I wonder whether Wizard Russell will write back to me. If he does not, I will have to think of another way."

"I hope Alaric has enough standing to say a few words on my behalf."

Locke turned to leave the library, but at that moment he saw a very ordinary-looking wizard, who appeared to be a middle-aged man, walking in.

He wore a badge from the ordinary Origin Academy on his chest.

Locke raised an eyebrow, sensing that the other party's soul aura seemed to be in their early forties.

This meant the other party had certainly entered Golden Crown Mountain's Origin Academy by just meeting the baseline requirement for a liquification wizard before forty years of age.

Of course, that was only the requirement on paper. The actual requirement had already changed to reaching the crystallization level before forty.

Locke thought briefly and understood the other party's identity. This had to be Wizard Zhuoma.

Wizard Zhuoma was not a native of the wizard world. His origins were very humble, coming from a mid-to-large-scale world called the Centaur World. He was the child of a centaur grand noble from that world and a wizard apprentice who had gone there.

As a result, his reputation at Golden Crown Mountain was not good.

Although in the modern age of magic bloodlines were no longer very important, Wizard Zhuoma, having originated from a colonial world, would certainly receive some unusual attention.

According to the information his senior had given him, Wizard Zhuoma had managed to enter Golden Crown Mountain by meeting the deadline at around age forty.

Because Witch Yekaterina had recognized his talent and resolve and did not care about his origins, he had been able to enter Golden Crown Mountain's ordinary Origin Academy.

Thinking about this, Locke's pace quickened slightly. He wanted to leave the library.

Regardless of what kind of person Wizard Zhuoma was, it had nothing to do with him. If possible, it would be best to minimize contact.

Not for any other reason, but because he was very busy, especially right now with the atavistic evolution idea occupying him. Without some specific matter to address, it was better not to casually contact controversial figures and risk unnecessary complications.

Locke was trying to avoid trouble, but this wizard still walked directly toward him.

Wizard Zhuoma's face had a roughness that came from his centaur bloodline, and so when he saw Locke, he froze for a moment, then warmly walked over, seeming quite enthusiastic.

"Wizard Locke Augustine? Ah, I recognized you."

"I saw you at the Silent Chalice competition."

"At the time your Grand Magic opened my eyes. I felt it was very similar to the special power of the priests in my hometown's centaur plane. I am Zhuoma."

Locke gave a slight nod.

"Hello, Wizard Zhuoma. It is a pleasure to meet you here."

Wizard Zhuoma patted his chest, then glared at the nearby Wizard Akman, who rolled his eyes and turned to leave.

Clearly the two had some kind of grievance between them.

Wizard Zhuoma let out a cold snort and said, "How petty. That Akman is truly small-minded. All I did was forget to return one magical book on time."

The distant Wizard Akman muttered quietly, "You basically treated that book as your own."

Wizard Zhuoma's expression shifted. "Do not make baseless accusations."

He looked at Locke, seeming to feel a bit embarrassed, and changed the subject. "Akman and I have a misunderstanding."

"Wizard Locke, I am very interested in the wizard shoes you have made."

"I have already pre-ordered two pairs of Great Blood Wave Bromeliad wizard shoes."

Locke was mildly thoughtful. Two pairs?

Wizard Zhuoma before him was obviously in normal human form, but presumably he could use bloodline magic to activate his internal centaur bloodline and take on a centaur's physique.

Otherwise, why would he purchase two pairs of the same wizard shoes?

Of course, that was only a guess. The man might simply want an extra pair for rotation, or might be buying for someone else.

Wizard Zhuoma said to Locke, "Actually, I would also like to commission you to make me a special pair of wizard shoes. By the way, would it be convenient to speak in one of the library's quiet rooms?"

Locke hesitated for a moment and said, "All right."

The two entered a quiet room in the library.

Wizard Zhuoma smiled as he sat on the sofa and said to Locke, "A few days ago, I saw you in contact with Wizard Brandy at the market?"

Locke frowned.

Wizard Zhuoma said, "Do not misunderstand. I am not monitoring you. It is just that I was also browsing the second-hand market that day, seeing if I could pick up anything useful."

"I happened to see you with Wizard Brandy. I just wanted to warn you, it would be best to keep your distance from Wizard Brandy."

Locke kept a neutral expression.

"Why?"

Wizard Zhuoma said quietly, "That wizard who was forced out of their station last year? I believe that was actually Wizard Brandy's doing."

"At the time, Brandy, that wizard, and I were all in the same laboratory. The experimental results in our laboratory were always being mysteriously destroyed."

Wizard Zhuoma said, "Brandy is the kind of person who will stop at nothing to succeed. He is truly devious."

"You would do best to keep your distance from him. That is a word of advice from me."

Locke gave a slight nod.

"Understood."

Wizard Zhuoma said, "By the way, Wizard Locke, would you like to join our small group for the special-grade grant application?"

Locke looked at him in surprise and asked, "How do you know I am applying for the special-grade grant next year?"

Wizard Zhuoma smiled. "A guess. Not hard to guess. Every Second Circle wizard cannot afford to pass up each annual application opportunity. After all, application chances are limited. One more chance to apply means one more chance of succeeding. You have already become a Second Circle wizard. You missed this year's opportunity. How could you possibly miss next year's?"

Locke gave a slight nod.

"I see. Thank you, but no need. I am not interested in any group chats."

Wizard Zhuoma nodded.

"All right. Wizard Locke, I would like to commission you to make me a type of wizard shoe."

Wizard Zhuoma rotated the ring on his right thumb.

The ring projected a translucent illusion into the void, and in that illusion appeared a terrifying sulfuric acid ocean.

Locke frowned.

"Is this an abyss plane? The third layer of the abyss, the Sulfuric Acid Dead Sea?"

Wizard Zhuoma said, "Yes, exactly. I am a researcher in Group Four. Our Group Four rarely appears at Golden Crown Mountain, precisely because our research institute is not in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands but in the Sulfuric Acid Dead Sea on the third layer of the abyss."

"Over there in the Sulfuric Acid Dead Sea we have our research institute, and many of us take turns stationed there while conducting deeper exploration of the abyss plane to obtain special magical plants from the Sulfuric Acid Dead Sea. I recently need to reach a dangerous location in the Sulfuric Acid Dead Sea for a magical plant that is very important to me. Specifically this location, the Kloeber Grand Vortex. This vortex is one-third the size of the Cloud Marsh Wetlands."

Locke looked at the deep green sulfuric acid grand vortex.

Clearly, this was an immensely vast concentrated sulfuric acid vortex. Even for a Second Circle wizard, its scale was terrifyingly large.

Wizard Zhuoma said, "I currently lack wizard shoes capable of entering such a dangerous area."

Locke frowned and said, "The quality of my wizard shoes at this stage is still not as good as Blue Band, let alone Solas Light Foot or Melechi. For something like this, you should be going to them."

Wizard Zhuoma smiled shyly.

"I know. It is just that I am short on money."

"And moreover, few wizards need to enter the Kloeber Grand Vortex. Those two wizard shoe store alliances have never produced wizard shoes capable of adapting to the Kloeber Grand Vortex's environment."

"But I need to obtain a magical plant inside it called Kloeber Grass. I believe that with your Lunar Cultivation Method, it should be possible to grant the Great Blood Wave Bromeliad wizard shoes the ability to adapt to this highly concentrated sulfuric acid environment."

"What do you say, Locke? Can you make me a pair of wizard shoes capable of conquering the Kloeber Grand Vortex?"

Locke frowned, stared at the Sulfuric Acid Dead Sea for a moment, thought it over, and decisively shook his head.

"No. I refuse."

Wizard Zhuoma seemed somewhat taken aback.

"What?"

Locke said, "You should understand that this is not simply a highly concentrated sulfuric acid environment. That is also an abyss plane. That is highly concentrated sulfuric acid mixed with abyss energy, and at a staggering scale of at least one-third the size of the Cloud Marsh Wetlands. The danger of entering it is comparable to going into the void with your bare body."

"My current abilities may not be sufficient to produce wizard shoes that would let you walk freely there."

"And even if they could, it would consume a tremendous amount of my energy and waste a great deal of time."

Locke's sharp eyes looked at Wizard Zhuoma.

Neither Wizard Brandy nor this Wizard Zhuoma had left him a good impression.

Locke turned to leave the quiet room. "I am sorry, Wizard Zhuoma. I cannot help with this."

Wizard Zhuoma stood up anxiously. "Wait, Wizard Locke. You..."

Wizard Zhuoma watched Locke leave and frowned.

"Sigh."

Locke strode out of the library, mounted his Rainbow Sparrow, and returned to his dormitory.

In his dormitory, Locke thought for a moment.

"Making wizard shoes for Zhuoma is out of the question. The number of wizards who need to enter the Kloeber Grand Vortex is a minority within a minority, and the Kloeber Grand Vortex's environment is rare even in the void. This means that even if I produced wizard shoes capable of adapting to it, I would hardly be able to sell many."

"This would earn nothing at all. It would be as good as doing it for free. That Wizard Zhuoma is far more calculating than he appears. I do not know what he had in mind making this request of me at this point."

"And that Wizard Brandy also did not seem like a good sort. These two suddenly approaching me at this time could not be simple coincidence."

Locke thought, "All I need to do is keep my distance from both of them. Or rather, concentrating on completing my own experimental research is the only real path. Everything else has nothing to do with me. I will just stay behind closed doors."

"I have so much to do that I do not want to get tangled up in anything strange."

Locke took out the Double-Chirp Cicada Spiritual Resonance rubbing copy and began to study it.

...

One week later.

Little Peach Mountain, the Ghost Gate. The Void Magic Cube emerged from within the golden navigation route and fell into his hand.

At this moment the cube was still jade green, having shrunk from basketball size to thumbnail size.

But there was a crack on the cube.

Around the crack was coiled a forceful energy. That energy seemed to lord over all things, repelling all things, suppressing all things.

It was a dazzling white light.

Locke stared at that white light.

"The Void Magic Cube is a Second Circle magical artifact specially crafted by alchemists, a single-use item, five million magic stones per piece. Being able to crack a Second Circle magical artifact means being able to break through a permanent defensive force field shell."

Locke thought, "Something is wrong. A mid-scale world actually has an existence capable of threatening a Second Circle wizard."

The Silent Plane had existences capable of threatening Second Circle wizards, but that was because that place had received the inheritance of wizard civilization and essentially could not be called a native in any real sense.

And the Silent Plane was nearly the largest possible mid-scale plane.

Locke drew on the planar force absorbed by the cube, activated the power stored within the cube, and the cube began to rotate, decoding the planar force information for him.

'It is a living plane. The dominant intelligent beings are... humans.'

'It is a four-element plane, with aether element as well.'

'The planar laws do not conflict with the wizard world's. I can enter it directly. Atmospheric composition is similar to the wizard world, but gravity and similar factors are only about one-seventh of the wizard world.'

'Hmm? Its volume is actually slightly larger than the Silent Plane.'

Locke was mildly astonished.

He had not expected the Silent Chalice events committee office to be this capable, giving him a plane that was nearly approaching mid-to-large scale.

One had to know that a mid-to-large scale plane could not be used to shape a Grand Magic.

In other words, this plane was a prime specimen for shaping a Grand Magic, and could essentially be considered the best available.

Locke closed his eyes again and sensed the information of that world.

He seemed to see a circular mountain, beneath which was a lotus leaf floating on a river's surface, the river's source being a void, and the river's outlet being another void.

The circular mountain surrounded a basin, and that basin was that world.

Above the circular mountain there was a third void, from which the sun and moon would emerge. During the day the sun would emerge from that void, and at night the moon would emerge from that void.

The Three-Hole Plane.

What greatly interested Locke was that lotus leaf, which was clearly a magical plant. He just did not know what grade it was.

This was a windfall.

Upon seeing that magical plant participating in the world's creation, Locke knew he absolutely could not go wrong exploring this plane.

Although many wizards who explore planes often leave themselves bankrupt, that was mainly because the void journey was long, their costs were not controlled, and the plane being explored turned out to be less valuable than expected, leading to bankruptcy.

But just for the sake of that magical plant propping up the world, Locke felt this trip would absolutely not result in a loss.

As Locke observed more closely, he also saw that within that circular mountain was a vast expanse of land with countless towns and forests.

Upon it lived many ordinary people, who maintained a city-state era civilization there.

Worth noting was that the ordinary people of that world worshipped deities, and those deities turned out to be not entirely false.

The ordinary people lived on the land, while the deities of that world lived upon the circular mountain.

By Locke's understanding, those deities were likely not deities, nor even false gods, but rather some kind of special giant race.

It was just that Locke looked at the magic cube with a small portion broken off and frowned.

"No. There is indeed a unusual energy here. This energy is different from magical power. It has a strong repulsive quality, filled with a personally domineering will."

"Those giant races are strange."

Locke also learned through the Void Magic Cube that the giant race feared the ordinary people on the ground threatening their rule, yet also needed their services, and so artificially controlled their numbers.

When the ordinary people's numbers decreased, the giants would transform into kind and helpful benevolent gods.

But when ordinary people became too numerous, the giants would launch what they called a world-ending event to reduce the ordinary people's numbers, and the ordinary people of that world seemed to have once again exceeded some threshold the giants had set.