Wizard Hayes left Locke's dormitory satisfied. He told Locke that he would return to Quinn Jol University this afternoon, and before leaving, he chatted with Locke about the famous Fountain of Wisdom at Quinn Jol University.

Holy Fountain Mountain, where Quinn Jol University was located, got its name from this. Legend had it that the fountain possessed special power that could unlock people's deepest buried potential.

Before Wizard Hayes left, he proudly mentioned to Locke that his mentor Barbatos had arranged an opportunity for him to enter Quinn Jol University's Fountain of Wisdom immediately after becoming a Third Circle wizard.

Locke watched Wizard Hayes leave, then raised his eyebrows and smiled, saying in a low voice, "What Wizard Hayes kept emphasizing was essentially how much his Third Circle wizard mentor Barbatos contributed to him becoming a Second Circle wizard."

"He truly is enviable."

Wizard Hayes had followed Wizard Barbatos since becoming an official wizard, staying with him all the way until he became a Third Circle wizard. From then on, his life was on easy mode.

He had indeed followed the right person.

But from his description, one could see how many resources were needed to become a Second Circle wizard.

An opportunity to drink from the world's second-ranked Fountain of Wisdom, a colonization permit...

Perhaps there were even more resources he didn't know about.

In any case, becoming a Second Circle wizard required many more things, and Wizard Hayes represented his own future.

He was currently walking the path that Hayes had walked not long ago.

He also needed enormous resources.

"A Second Circle wizard is one who has broken through racial limits for the second time, transforming the act of transcendence from singular to plural, and has adapted to the life of a transcendent being," Locke said. "If First Circle wizards are young people, then Second Circle wizards are the backbone of the wizard world."

"Although my magic pressure now appears to be 9110, I'm still far from being a Second Circle wizard. First, I need to quickly raise my normal magic pressure to the First Circle limit of 9999."

Locke thought, "Then I need to collect the resources required to become a Second Circle wizard."

In the crude laboratory in his dormitory, Locke practiced the Peach Bow Thorn Arrow magic for another two hours.

He entered a state where his spirituality became completely blank.

"Two hours..." Locke emerged from that spiritual blank state where all his spirituality was in a dormant condition.

He opened his eyes, and brilliant blue magical radiance suddenly burst from them. That spiritual blank state he had maintained for two hours had pushed his magic pressure, mana, and spirituality to their limits. Now, as they were suddenly released, they actually gained an additional surge of power.

"Currently, I can maintain this state called 'flow' for two hours," Locke said. "The technique of converting one's spirituality to a blank state is truly unique."

"I don't know if it's an illusion, but I feel like my magic pressure is rising faster again, entering another period of rapid growth."

"Indeed, following Witch Yekaterina's arrangements, my mana is increasing very quickly."

Locke put away the Golden Palace Legacy Branch and Little Diamond Jujube Pendant from the ritual array.

His rapid progress with Peach Bow Thorn Arrow was partly due to his previous experience with the Queen's Chessboard directly touching the source level, and partly due to the effects of these two luxury magical plants.

By three forty in the afternoon, Locke finally left and summoned his cloud whale. Sitting on the cloud whale's back, he crossed the sky and arrived above Dragon Blood Market Castle.

In the Witch's Kitchen at Dragon Blood Market.

Locke entered private room 31 and saw a wizard who had wrapped himself up like a black magical clothing ball.

Locke looked at him and sighed. "Wizard Warwick, the Divine Master forces in Cloud Marsh Wetland aren't that strong, and there aren't any specialized 'demon hunters' who hunt black wizards for a living here."

"What are you doing?"

Wizard Warwick pulled down at least five layers of black magical clothing hoods from his head, revealing the head of a silver-cast werewolf.

Warwick shrank his head and greeted Locke. "We meet again, Professor Augustine."

"This is Cloud Marsh Wetland, where white wizard forces are extremely powerful. If I don't wear several layers of magical clothing to conceal my aura, how can I safely enter Golden Crown Mountain!"

Warwick seemed to blame Locke somewhat, "You, an archaeological scholar, how did you come to such a godforsaken place? This is one of the white wizards' main strongholds, one of the most powerful wizard lands for white wizards."

"We black wizards simply cannot exist here!"

Locke casually asked, "Ah, I'm also curious why there's no Black Wizard Alliance presence in Cloud Marsh Wetland. Do you know why?"

Warwick was about to speak when suddenly the silver-cast magic eye on his forehead rotated.

His expression changed slightly, then as if thinking of something, he pointed upward.

Then he shook his head slightly. "This is the only thing I absolutely cannot voluntarily tell white wizards who ask me. Unless I want to die."

"Moreover, I don't know very clearly myself. Don't ask me this question. I cannot answer it. Although answering others' questions is an archaeological scholar's duty, this particular question is protected by a special magic."

Warwick spoke mysteriously, "I advise you not to waste too much energy on unnecessary questions. You must know one thing, there are eyes in the sky."

Locke followed his finger and looked up at the ceiling, his expression complex. "Alright, let's not discuss it then."

Eyes in the sky, this phrase was a direct hint to him.

What were the Eyes in the Sky...

The Eye of Truth!

Black wizards were a product that only appeared in the modern era.

From the historical materials Warwick had previously given him, Locke had detected something amiss from various indirect references.

Why did black wizards only appear in modern times?

Why didn't black wizards dare tell him certain things they knew?

Some power as strong as a natural law was interfering with this matter.

What Circle level wizard had laid down this magic?!

Locke sat down in his seat, then leaned back in his chair, saying, "Then let's not talk about matters of the sky. Let's talk about your affairs. Warwick, why did you ask me to come?"

Warwick became serious. "Your place is indeed difficult to enter, much harder than the Land of Six Towers. I used many methods and nearly exhausted half this old life before I could enter your area undetected."

"Hmph, those white wizards are still too naive. Want to discover me? That's impossible."

Warwick said, "I need to tell you that plans have changed. I can't wait for you that long. We need to act quickly."

"Hmm?" Warwick saw Locke looking down and taking out a Wish Lingzhi, and was quite dissatisfied. "What are you doing?"

At this moment, Locke had set the Wish Lingzhi's interface so that only he could see it.

This large-scale water hyacinth communication system, created by combining magic from both the Divination School and Illusion School domains, could easily accomplish this.

Right now, Locke saw that Witch Yekaterina was looking for him.

Witch Yekaterina sent him a message. 'A black wizard who has transformed himself into an abyssal werewolf is looking for you. Do you know his identity?'

Locke looked up at Warwick, who was boasting about how 'no one had detected' him, and covered his forehead. He sent a message to Witch Yekaterina. 'Teacher, I know his identity. I helped him configure the abyssal werewolf transformation potion.'

'He's an archaeological scholar. He came to find me this time because he wants me to explore abyssal ruins with him. Originally, I agreed with him to explore the abyssal ruins in a year and a half, but I don't know why he suddenly came now.'

Witch Yekaterina said, 'Well, it's probably because of a policy from the Star Domain Sea. Likely due to the Waterway Plan.'

Locke asked, 'Teacher, what is the Waterway Plan?'

After asking, Locke immediately realized that Witch Yekaterina might not reply, because this was very likely not something a wizard of his level should know about.

But Witch Yekaterina replied almost instantly. 'Proposed by the Star Domain Sea, it's part of Star Domain Sea's magic enhancement plan.'

'Using the Abyssal River at the boundary between the Abyss Plane and the Material Plane, along with the River Styx at the boundary between the Underworld Plane and the Material Plane, as well as utilizing Cloud Lake in our Three Marsh Lands, to establish waterways connecting all wizard lands in the eastern quadrant.'

'Achieving integration of the eastern quadrant.'

'The waterway doesn't have a name yet because the overall plan hasn't been finalized. Moreover, this matter requires the White Wizard Associations of various wizard lands to nod in agreement, and perhaps even guarantees from local Black Wizard Alliances not to cause trouble.'

'But the foundational work for the Waterway Plan has already begun. I think that's why the black wizard came to find you ahead of schedule. Once this plan starts, the impact will be considerable, and the portions of the Abyssal River bordering the Material Plane will all be affected.'

'The Hand of the Jungle believes this poses environmental problems, so they're a major force obstructing this plan. At the same time, there's also obstruction from organizations like the Ancient Relic Protection Foundation. The plan faces significant resistance.'

Locke nodded slightly, then took this opportunity to actively inquire with Witch Yekaterina about competitions where one could obtain plane coordinates.

Witch Yekaterina sent him information. 'I don't recommend you use planes that have already been used to advance to Second Circle wizards to build your own Grand Magic.'

'Therefore, most competitions aren't suitable for you. But there's one competition you can consider. This is a competition that will be held soon, the Silent Grail Tournament. Here are the materials, please review them.'

'Even if you hadn't asked, I would have actively told you and required you to participate. Moreover, you're very lucky.'

Locke saw that she had sent him a large string of information related to the Silent Grail Tournament.

The Silent Grail was a comprehensive competition held by four of the seven top forces in Cloud Marsh Wetland, the four top academies. All wizards could participate.

There were only two restrictions.

First, one must be a First Circle wizard.

Second, one must be a wizard from the Origin Academy of the four academies.

In other words, this was a competition held internally by the four academies at the official wizard level. Generally, participants would reach the First Circle limit magic pressure of 9999 before qualifying to participate.

According to the materials Witch Yekaterina sent him, the original purpose of this competition was to provide a benefit to the researchers at the Origin Academies.

All researchers participating in this competition could accumulate experience in establishing Grand Magic, because this competition involved plane exploration, with the competition venue being a plane called the Silent Plane.

This was a special plane left behind by the Third Circle Throne Witch, the Silent Witch, who had gone to the Star Domain Sea. Special trials were established within the plane.

The competition tested the plane exploration abilities of researchers from the Origin Academies of the four top academies.

Before leaving Cloud Marsh Wetland, the Silent Witch of Golden Crown Mountain left this benefit for Golden Crown Mountain and three other academies with which she had good relations. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

From then on, researchers from the Origin Academies of the four top academies could participate in this Silent Grail Tournament once every ten years, competing together for the Holy Grail.

And this year happened to be the time period when the 21st Silent Grail Competition was being held.

That's why Witch Yekaterina said his luck was very good.

The Silent Grail Competition was particularly generous.

This might also be related to the fact that after going to the Star Domain Sea, the Silent Witch had advanced to become a Fourth Circle wizard and obtained the title of Truth Wizard.

Therefore, the winner of each Silent Grail Competition would receive plane coordinates for a brand new medium-sized plane.

Meaning they could exclusively possess a medium-sized plane.

They could colonize it alone!

After reviewing the materials, Locke confirmed that this Silent Grail Competition was exactly the competition he most needed to participate in.

The undeveloped plane he wanted could be obtained through this competition.

However, over time, this competition had become a matter of the four top academies of Cloud Marsh Wetland competing against each other.

The champion represented the face of the four top academies.

So for participants, they needed to be selected before they could enter.

After all, if their ranking was at the bottom, they would need to wait another ten years to save face.

Wait for the next Silent Grail Tournament ten years later.

Witch Yekaterina sent him a message. 'You can participate in this year's Staff Tournament, the spell combat competition on Sports Day. Among those from Golden Crown Mountain who can participate in the Silent Grail Competition, only one First Circle crystallization stage researcher with the strongest combat power can go.'

'If you want to represent our Golden Crown Mountain in the Silent Grail Tournament, you must first win the championship of the Staff Tournament. If you have no objections, I'll register you.'

'If you have any questions, you can ask me anytime. I'm free recently.'

Of course, Locke had no objections to this, and expressed his gratitude to Witch Yekaterina in his reply.

Witch Yekaterina asked Locke, "How is your learning of Peach Bow Thorn Arrow going? How long can you maintain the flow state?"

Locke replied, 'Two hours.'

Witch Yekaterina responded, 'Mm, that speed is very good.'

'Keep it up and learn it as soon as possible.'

At the same time, Warwick was also tapping the table with his fingers. After finishing a bunch of useless chatter, he lowered his voice to Locke. "According to rumors, the Star Domain Sea is going to undertake major construction on the Abyssal River. If we don't act now, we may be affected later."

"So we must act ahead of schedule!"

Locke asked, "Major construction? What kind of construction?"

Warwick looked at Locke with confusion. "How could I possibly know such classified information? The fact that I know the Star Domain Sea is undertaking major construction on the Abyssal River is already because I have many friends."

"As for specifically why they're doing construction and what exactly they're doing... how could that be something wizards like us can know? That's information only the higher-ups can know."