Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems

Chapter 644: Seventy Thousand Years Ago, the Founding Wizard of Archaeology, One Wish and the Five Great Problems of Grand Magic!

The seven wizards of the Rose Council were casting various spells, having torn an opening in the floor of the mausoleum city's labyrinth. They stabilized the gap they had made with a cluster of roses, and used a special incantation to make those roses spread endlessly through the earth beneath, stretching outward into the distance.The flower-language wizard Kenneth Evans had just allowed himself a moment of relief, but in the very next instant, an enormous magical tide erupted from the city center far away, carrying with it vast quantities of abyssal energy.

The magical wind surged toward the heart of the city like a world-devouring torrent.

Kenneth Evans's expression changed drastically. "What is happening?"

In the next moment, a wave of force washed over the seven flower-language wizards of the Rose Council. The female flower-language wizard Suela Sharp pulled from her astral ring a magical bouquet filled with gypsophila, seeming to want to resist the echo that was enveloping them all, but it had absolutely no effect.

All seven of them, along with the entire surrounding area, were pulled into the past.

At the same time, on the other side of the labyrinth, the wizards of the Thunder Demon Society, the Storm Tower's subcontracted wizard team, were caught in the upheaval as well. With no power to resist, they were swept into the echo by that immense magical wind.

"What is happening? What is wrong with this city? Our objective is to reach the main hall of the central burial chamber as quickly as possible. Break free of this magic!"

"Guildmaster, we cannot break free... what kind of magic is this..."

"What have those intruders done?"

The entire Thunder Demon Society was sent into the past.

At the same time, across the surface of the Abyssal River, the entire city was drawn into a vast spell model.

At the epicenter of the impact, Locke quickly found that he was gradually losing control of his own Suzerain's Book.

And not only him. The others were in the same situation.

Witch Shirley said, "Something is controlling my Suzerain's Book!"

Wizard Warwick said, "It is an archaeology magic of a power that surpasses our own, more primitive and more ancient than our spell models. Though it is crude, for some reason it is so straightforwardly effective."

Wizard McKinley, his expression grim, said, "This is a spell model set in place by the founding wizard of archaeology, lying in wait for the precise moment we turned the small statue and used Historical Reconstruction to capture the echo."

"We stand on the shoulders of the giants of later civilization, while he stands at the very source of archaeology. His spell model may be outdated, yet it is simple enough and effective enough. This may even be a spell model he designed in his youth."

At that moment, all four Suzerain's Books flew up into the air, gathered together, and began turning their own pages automatically.

At the same time, the entire city seemed to return to its youth. Color that had long since faded bloomed anew across it, and the city that had lost all vitality snapped back to the most vibrant era of its founding.

The streets and alleys were full of people.

Locke looked at the pedestrians moving along those streets and immediately used an archaeology spell to record them, capturing their clothing, their language, and even their expressions one by one.

The pedestrians were whispering among themselves.

"Have you heard? The king is to be enthroned anew in this city. Though this is not the capital of the Heliothos Imperial Court."

"I heard the king is doing it to repay the Loom Princess's loyalty, which is why he chose to hold the ceremony in her home country."

"Once the king is enthroned again... will things improve? Will the land grow crops? Will the livestock keep reproducing? For a full thirteen years now, almost no pureblooded human infants have been born among us."

"The king's enthronement should bring this calamity to an end..."

Locke raised his head and saw that the sun in the sky was dim and faint, almost insubstantial, and the entire world was bitterly cold.

Wizard Warwick said with a smile, "Do not be surprised. According to verification from multiple archaeologists, the wizard world in the Era of Stars should have been passing through a low-temperature cycle. It is said that during this period, both temperature and the length of daylight hours were significantly reduced."

"The sun was dim and without luster. Crop yields dropped sharply, and the wizard civilization's population during this period was actually declining rather than growing."

"But what they mentioned about thirteen full years with no pureblooded human births, that I genuinely do not know about. And is there a famine occurring here as well?"

Locke was about to respond when a clear voice cut in. "Oh, so those of future generations do not know about the Thirteen-Year Calamity?"

Warwick, Witch Shirley, McKinley, and Locke all tensed at once.

Standing before them, back turned, was a wizard wearing a black robe with a belt of skulls at the waist. This wizard stretched out a hand toward the four Suzerain's Books hovering in midair and began to leaf through them, reading their contents.

"Judging by your reactions, I suppose you do not know."

"I had thought that such a tremendous tragedy would surely have been recorded by history. But it seems I underestimated human nature. It appears that some people saw no problem with leaving such unflattering events unrecorded."

"And so its traces were erased from existence. But I cannot help but admire my own foresight, having anticipated this long ago. That is precisely why this world needs us archaeologists. To record the past of this world!"

"The glorious parts, and the inglorious ones alike."

McKinley asked warily, "Who are you?"

The figure turned around, revealing a pale young face, completely drained of color.

His frame appeared quite tall, with extremely slender limbs and a small bone structure.

Locke looked at him and asked, "Founding ancestor, you are actually willing to show yourself?"

The young wizard broke into a brilliant smile. "Locke Augustine, thank you for that address. I find it quite gratifying, I must say."

"But there is no need to worry about me. By historical reckoning, this appearance of mine will soon be discarded by my true self."

"So it is of no consequence. In fact, the spell that temporarily commandeered your Suzerain's Books is one I designed at the age of eighteen. I had some concerns that it might not succeed, but it seems it has."

"This magic is called the Historical Milestone Curse. With it, I can control this past directly, and show you to the greatest possible extent what the true past looked like. Otherwise, your magic would always carry a margin of error."

"And there are some quite terrifying presences within this past. If you cast your own magic, you might not necessarily be able to bring them into view. But if I am the one controlling it, I can show you their reflections."

The four exchanged glances.

Hearing the other party confirm it, Locke and the others still felt a degree of disbelief, finding it hard to accept that such a formidable wizard had appeared right before them.

The origin of all archaeology wizards.

Was this person still alive now?

Where was he now?

If he was still alive, what circle would he be?

Locke thought to himself, 'Utterly unfathomable.'

Wizard McKinley flatly refused to believe it. "Impossible. You are lying. The Suzerain's Book is a magical innovation of the most recent era. How could a memory from the ancient past have anticipated the existence of the Suzerain's Book?"

"This is impossible!"

The young wizard's expression immediately soured. He looked at McKinley darkly and raised a finger. "That is a laughable thing to say. What makes you certain that I, seventy thousand years ago, did not know that archaeology magic would one day evolve into the Suzerain's Book?"

Wizard McKinley's face fell. "You knew the Suzerain's Book would appear seventy thousand years ago? Stop boasting. Wait, seventy thousand years ago..."

Warwick said with certainty, "Yes, this is roughly seventy thousand years ago. I calculated it using the difference in change between the current world's negative-energy particle field and that of later eras."

"On that point, he is not lying."

"And a founding wizard, by definition, would have the capacity to grasp the entire future direction of a discipline. That he anticipated the Suzerain's Book from the very beginning is not surprising. In fact, if he is still alive today, it is possible that the Suzerain's Book originated from him."

"Though... seventy thousand years... I do not actually think he is still alive."

Locke asked the young wizard directly. "So are you still alive now?"

The young wizard smiled. "Augustine, you are nothing if not straightforward. But I genuinely do not know. This is only one of my past imprints. In this moment, I know only the past, not the future, and I have no present."

"You will not be able to obtain any information about me from me."

The eyes of all four flickered, and they had no choice but to accept this for the time being.

At the same time, Witch Shirley quietly used a Historical Projection spell on the young wizard, attempting to record his projection.

But Witch Shirley quickly gave Locke a small shake of her head, indicating that the other party appeared as a complete blank. The all-powerful archaeology magic was unable to record any meaningful information whatsoever.

Locke pointed at the sun in the sky and asked, "Then, founding ancestor, what is the situation with that sun up there?"

The young wizard raised his head and looked up at the sun. A flicker of suspicion crossed his eyes. "The sun has fallen, and a dark sun hangs in its place. From now on, the heavens have no master, and wizards are granted ten thousand years of freedom."

"The sun of the wizard world has been like this for a very long time. Does the world truly believe that having no master in the heavens is nothing but good?"

Locke wanted to ask further, but the young wizard snapped his fingers. "All right, we are all archaeology wizards here. If you want to know something, go explore this past yourselves."

"Now, let us talk about your own affairs. You have found a trace of me once, and this is a younger version of me. So each of you has the opportunity to present me with one wish that I am capable of granting."

"Bear in mind, it must be a wish I can fulfill using archaeology magic."

Seeing the four of them look surprised, the young wizard frowned. "So you did not enter this past specifically in order to find me?"

"I thought that would be your primary purpose."

Locke replied honestly, "We came to find the past of the Nameless King."

The young wizard let out an amused laugh. "So it was by chance."

"Well, sometimes things do work out that way by accident."

Warwick's eyes burned with excitement. "Then the legend is true. You really did set a challenge for all future archaeology wizards, the question of who you are. Any wizard who finds a clue is rewarded."

The young wizard raised the index finger of his left hand and said, "That is correct. But remember, you must not share this information with any other wizard. If you do, you will forfeit all rewards. Any reward I give to any wizard, you will never receive a single part of it. This is my curse."

"So if you dare tell another wizard about this, you will miss out on any and all rewards from the founding wizard of archaeology. You will be doing others a favor while only making life harder for yourselves."

Locke asked with some puzzlement, "But Mister Warwick has already heard something of this nature. At least the first part of it."

The young wizard said lightly, "That means someone leaked information about me. Quite normal. There are so many wizards in the world, and all kinds of personalities among them."

"Perhaps for some reason or other, they told a few archaeology wizards about me and voluntarily gave up any reward I might have otherwise given them."

The young wizard snapped his fingers, and the four Suzerain's Books behind him blazed with brilliant light. Then the figures of Locke, Witch Shirley, Wizard Warwick, and Wizard McKinley all vanished.

Locke found himself inside his own Suzerain's Book. The young wizard had used a single spell to summon him directly into the interior of his own Suzerain's Book.

'The Wizard King's Arcane Codex has no record of a spell like this for the First Circle stage,' Locke thought, remaining inwardly wary, while at the same time smiling wryly to himself. 'No wonder he is the founding ancestor of archaeology wizards. Even without the advantage of seventy thousand years of accumulated civilization, his various methods are still enough to leave those of later generations in awe.'

The young wizard looked at Locke and said, "Augustine, among these four wizards, the one who actually interests me... is you."

"I will not pry into your secrets. After all, it is your turn to seek mine. As a high-circle wizard, I must give you younger ones certain privileges."

"Only... that power within you truly brings back memories. The Black Sun Tower... the World-Annihilating Demon Dragon... the force that destroyed everything belonging to my princess." The young wizard smiled quietly. "A Nature Guardian..."

"I have never seen the natural world show such favor to a wizard. Speaking with you is like speaking with an entire forest. Wizard Augustine, my successor, please tell me the wish you would like to make."

Locke said directly, "Founding ancestor, I wish to become a Second Circle wizard."

The young wizard laughed outright. "You have some nerve making that request. Change your wish. If I could help someone become a Second Circle wizard, I would have helped the princess I admired become a Second Circle wizard seventy thousand years ago. At least the version of me that exists at this point certainly does not have that capability."

"And furthermore..." the young wizard's expression grew grave, "a wizard who becomes Second Circle through another's help will always have limited achievements. Even if I could do it, I would not."

"You would do better to wish for something knowledge-related, because I can only help you through my current archaeology magic system and necromancy magic system. But frankly speaking, my necromancy system is in a terrible state and is surely far below the level you would expect of any First Circle crystallization-stage necromancer in your era."

"So if you make a wish related to necromancy magic and it happens to fall within my capability, I will simply fulfill it directly. But that would be a tremendous waste on your part."

Locke thought for a moment. "Then, founding ancestor, would it be possible for me to make a wish related to knowledge about Grand Magic?"

The young wizard paused. "Hold on, what is Grand Magic?"

Locke quickly gave a brief description of Grand Magic.

The young wizard worked through it and paused. "I see. Using Grand Magic to become a Second Circle wizard maximizes future potential while reducing the difficulty by at least half."

"My prediction is that the difficulty of becoming a Second Circle wizard in your era is only about one third of what it is in ours."

Locke was completely taken aback.

He had heard no shortage of stories about people failing to become Second Circle wizards.

The young wizard smiled. "Did you think that just anyone in my era could become a Second Circle wizard? My beloved princess, if she had been born in your era, by my calculations she would certainly have become a Second Circle wizard."

"As easy as eating and drinking."

"In our era, only someone with extraordinary natural talent could become a Second Circle wizard. But in your era, even a mediocre person has a chance. That is the difference."

The young wizard said, "Do not underestimate my princess. In your era, she might not have been the slightest bit inferior to any of you."

"After her king died, I was the one protecting her," the young wizard said, lowering his head, a flash of sorrow passing through his eyes. "But her heart had already lost the ability to feel any love."

"My love is no less than anyone else's. I can unravel nearly every secret in this world, and yet I could not unravel the heart of one woman."

"A sigh. And I was far too weak at the time. If only I had been given another thousand years, even the Black Sun Tower would not have frightened me."

"But the princess could not wait that long."

The young wizard said, "Very well, you may make a wish related to Grand Magic. I have a general sense of what Grand Magic is now. I have the ability to show you."

Locke was at a loss for words. It had not occurred to him that even a figure of this caliber had suffered heartbreak in his youth.

Locke considered for a moment and said, "I would like to see the movement of the sun and moon from seventy thousand years ago. If possible, could you also show me their trajectories at the primal force level?"

The young wizard looked at Locke with surprise, and a flash of wariness crossed his eyes. "Locke, from this point on, there is no need for you to speak to me any further."

Locke looked at the young ancestor, puzzled.

The young wizard said, "It seems your potential is higher than I initially estimated. If you are asking me to show you directly the Grand Magic-level ecological knowledge you need to observe, then I will do my best despite the difficulty. Whether my interpretation is correct or not is not my concern."

"I can only promise that I will do the best I can."

"Your choice is the right one. You do not need others to make judgments for you. You simply want to use your own eyes to see the special trajectories of the sun and moon from seventy thousand years ago. You are the only one among the four who noticed the key feature of this era."

"Then I will show you. Locke, speak to me as little as possible from here on, because I suspect you are capable of gleaning some information about me from my words, and that information might help you find me a second time."

The young wizard clasped his hands behind his back and said, "Archaeology wizards who find me a first time are ones with reasonably good fortune."

"An archaeology wizard who finds me a second time may be considered to have truly mastered archaeology."

"I hope that before long, we may meet again for a second time."

The young wizard waved a hand, and a Historical Projection spell model materialized. The spell model was exceedingly ancient and crude, yet to Locke's eyes it was like a master calligrapher who needed no fine brush.

A simple spell model, yet capable of producing extraordinary effects.

An ancient sky spread out before Locke.

The spiritual and primal force qualities of the solar plane and lunar plane of the wizard dimension appeared before his eyes as the sun and moon turned in their courses.

The young wizard said, "Consider this a small gift for your wise wish. Within this spell, the flow of time will differ. One hour inside is equivalent to roughly six months in the outside world."

"Your mind will work at a different speed here. With that much time, you should have ample opportunity to observe the sun and moon of seventy thousand years ago, as well as their influence on the plants and animals of this world."

Locke gave the young wizard a grateful look.

Then he sank his attention inward and began to observe the sun and moon with great focus, integrating the various data points and the formulas derived from them into his Peach Bow Thorn Arrow and Porcelain Moon Growth.

He observed the influence of the moon's gravitational pull on the reproduction of plants and animals, and found that during each of those six months, there was a specific window of time each month when all living things underwent intense cycles of reproduction.

He also observed how the dim and faded sun caused the total biological mass of the world's flora and fauna to wither and decline.

As the sun grew dimmer, the moon's gravitational influence on living things became more pronounced.

But Locke quickly identified a problem.

The structure of the sun and the structure of the moon were fundamentally different, and the sun's structure was unsuited to forming the basis of Grand Magic.

"The key to Grand Magic lies in creating energy cycles and ecological cycles. But the sun blazes with light and radiates energy outward at every moment, ceaselessly. A structure that only gives without receiving in return is fundamentally unsuited to the energy structure of Grand Magic."

Locke's Porcelain Moon appeared in his hand. "The moon, by contrast, can intercept the sun's radiance and transform it into moonlight and lunar gravitational force, exerting influence across the entire world."

"But at the same time, those plants and animals give something back to my moon in return."

Countless shards of dream energy transformed into tiny orbs of light and streamed toward the moon in Locke's hand.

"Unlike the sun's energy structure, which takes what it will, the moon can recover energy through various means. The moon's own energy is insufficient on its own, and it cannot simply give without receiving in return."

"The sun's energy structure is entirely different, completely unsuited to the structure of Grand Magic."

Locke reflected, "What I have observed in the most detail so far is that shards of dream and consciousness energy from plants and animals can be drawn by the moon's gravitational pull and gathered into moonlight, completing one energy cycle."

"In this way, my Porcelain Moon completes an energy cycle. And the dimmer the sun becomes, the stronger the moonlight grows."

Locke committed this to memory.

Of course, observing the various special qualities of the sun at the spiritual and primal force levels was not without use for his Peach Bow Thorn Arrow either. Locke optimized part of the Peach Bow Thorn Arrow's spell model, which would make his use of it even more powerful.

Locke released the Porcelain Moon out before him, and at the same time summoned the Golden Palace Legacy Branch and the Little Diamond Jujube Pendant. The two transformed into a peach-wood bow and a jujube-wood arrow, and Locke nocked the arrow, drew the bow, and loosed it at the Porcelain Moon.

At once, the Porcelain Moon received the replenishment of sunlight, and its moonlight grew even more radiant.

Locke said, "The moon's gravitational pull and moonlight are themselves reflections, diffractions, and scatterings of various forms of energy. I have now established three formulas for the moonlight reflection and diffraction of solar energy..."

"At the same time, the lunar gravitational pull can reflect, diffract, and scatter the vast majority of energy forms. Solar energy can be reflected. Potion energy can be reflected. Type 2 Tyrant Element can be reflected."

"And with dream energy serving as a means of recovery, the more all living things flourish, the greater the quantity of dream energy shards that return."

"The more powerful this cycle becomes. Using this as a framework, it may be possible to achieve Grand Magic."

Locke considered further. "No, there are still three major problems left to resolve."

"First, Porcelain Moon Growth still lacks the properties of an offensive magic. At the moment it only barely touches on that aspect, and the instantaneous energy output is far too low. Using it as the foundation of Grand Magic would leave significant vulnerabilities."

"Second, the energy recovery efficiency of Porcelain Moon Growth is still insufficient. Dream energy shards alone cannot sustain the cycle, and there must surely be something better."

"Third, although Porcelain Moon Growth has already reached the point of leveraging lunar gravitational force to influence all living things, I have not yet sorted out what precise impact this has on ecology. So far it has only been influencing all living things and receiving corresponding feedback in return. While this is already sufficient to form the basis of Grand Magic and is reasonably respectable among the various ecological spells, for my purposes it is not yet enough."

The young wizard and Locke had spent six months together in this space of consciousness, and during those six months the two had occasionally exchanged thoughts, so they had grown somewhat familiar with each other.

"Locke, I believe there is one more point," the young wizard said, hesitating for a moment before continuing. "From my perspective, building a two-tier ecology of moon and all living things risks being structurally simple and structurally rigid."

"I would suggest having at least a three-tier structure. Moon, some intermediate element, all living things, some other intermediate element, moon."

"Of course, I do not understand Grand Magic," the young wizard said with an easy smile. "I am only speaking off the cuff."

Locke glanced at him, considered carefully, and nodded. "It is true that I have not accounted for the redundancy design that any ecological system requires."

"Redundancy is essential. It guards against sudden shocks."

"Without redundancy, a system can only just barely function, and that is an extremely precarious state."

"And I have not yet considered the energy-locking structure either," Locke said. "So that brings it to five major problems still left to solve."

The young wizard smiled. "Not everyone would benefit from me making this kind of off-hand remark that spurs further thinking. Locke, I am beginning to regret spending six months in conversation with you."

"Farewell, then."

"Remember, only an archaeology wizard who meets me a second time may be considered to have truly mastered archaeology."