Chapter 788: The Forbidden Forest’s Secret Treasure Tree! Placing a Secret Inside!

In the Second Circle library section of Golden Crown Mountain, Wizard Gakula, Wizard Alex, and Locke sat together at a tea table in the library's free section.

Gakula took a sip of the free wizard tea provided for Second Circle wizards within the library, the Azure Feather Bamboo Tea. Having settled out of his earlier excitement and enthusiasm, he said with some embarrassment, "There are just two issues. If we are to travel to the Forbidden Forest in the southeastern quadrant, we would need ship tickets and travel expenses. Approximately twenty to thirty thousand magic stones."

"The second issue is that the Forbidden Forest is extraordinarily dangerous, effectively a forbidden zone for wizards in the southeastern quadrant. Because of the Forbidden Forest, the southeastern quadrant's magical power is so thin and depleted."

Locke replied, "That is not a problem. On the Forbidden Forest side, I have a way to get you in safely and allow you to conduct experiments without interference."

Wizard Gakula's eyes lit up, and the way he looked at Locke grew increasingly like the way one looks at a financial backer.

Both botanical wizards and breeders could hear the weight behind that sentence.

The Forbidden Forest, a place not even Third Circle wizards dared to enter carelessly, and yet Locke apparently had a way to let others enter safely.

Wizard Gakula smiled and said, "Worthy of the Silent Chalice champion."

Locke asked, "But I have one question. Wizard Gakula, you cannot produce twenty or thirty thousand magic stones?"

Locke looked at him with puzzlement.

By rights, an amount this small could simply be borrowed from students or First or Second Circle wizard colleagues without much trouble.

Wizard Gakula looked somewhat awkward.

Wizard Alex spread his hands and said, "This I can explain. Gakula recently went on a new navigation route expedition and is now carrying a substantial debt."

Wizard Gakula looked at Locke, his expression pained.

"We are both breeders, so you should find it relatively easy to understand. I previously misjudged that a certain region of the boundless void contained a special area of elemental pollution-driven plant evolution that would be useful to me. So I organized an expedition and entered the new navigation route, only to find that..."

"I came back with absolutely nothing, yet still had to pay the expedition team's wages, equipment costs, the rental of void exploration equipment and a small void flyer for entering the new route, as well as the corresponding plane exploration licenses."

"And then a few days ago I paid my wizard taxes, which has left me penniless. I am actually in debt to various banks and acquaintances. As for exactly how much, it is not convenient to say."

Wizard Gakula said quietly to Locke, "Sigh, Wizard Locke, you should understand this feeling deeply. Setting out with great enthusiasm for a certain area, spending a great deal, fully convinced you will have something to show for it, only to wander there for months or even years and come back with absolutely nothing."

"Worse still, someone in the team ends up injured or falls ill, and you have to pay their medical fees and related compensation."

Wizard Alex remarked, "Void exploration is truly an enormously expensive undertaking. A single round trip is already very costly."

"Never mind the countless dangers within the void, where any loss incurred means paying for it."

Locke gave a slight nod. So that was it.

No wonder Wizard Gakula had been hostile toward him.

He had simply been having an extraordinarily difficult time.

Taxes, the cost of organizing the expedition, the subsequent debt, having gained nothing of value from the exploration, and most recently the special grant fund application being rejected.

He was facing a situation of being completely out of ammunition and money.

If things continued like this, becoming a debt slave was a possibility.

One could only say that when it came to research, the gap between how much money one could end up spending, at the high end and the low end, was truly enormous.

No wonder Wizard Gakula had reacted so intensely when he heard Locke could offer him a valuable research target.

Wizard Gakula asked tentatively, "Locke, are you certain that our trip to the Forbidden Forest will not require organizing another small expedition?"

Locke shook his head slightly.

"It will not."

"And it will not be our trip. It will be yours. My main body is very busy and has no time to work on this project. You go ahead and handle it. I will leave an avatar in the Forbidden Forest and you can go there on your own. As for travel and accommodation costs, I can provide those. I will give you thirty thousand magic stones right now."

Wizard Gakula's eyes went wide.

For a brief moment, he felt as though Locke was radiating golden light from every part of his body.

How was Locke this wealthy?

And he still had this many projects on hand?

Wizard Gakula felt that he himself was nearly destitute, and yet here was someone in the same Origin Academy who was practically overflowing with wealth.

Two words appeared in Wizard Gakula's mind.

Financial backer.

Powerful patron.

Then came the regret. Regret that he had dared to be so defiant toward such a financial backer and powerful patron before. He should not have done that.

Locke looked at Wizard Gakula, still wearing that faint smile.

"However, we should discuss in advance how our articles will be divided and how the project ownership will be arranged."

Wizard Gakula composed himself and thought for a moment.

"The research target is something you are providing, the research site and resources are all coming from you. I am only contributing myself. So I think that if I end up writing articles and submitting them to journals from this, I can give you the first authorship and keep only the corresponding authorship for myself..."

Wizard Gakula was somewhat anxious inwardly.

He was not actually a person of cold indifference. He had simply been so impoverished that he was nearly losing his composure, which was why he had behaved that way toward Locke earlier.

He did not know whether Locke would allow him to keep the corresponding authorship. After all, how could he dare ask for more, when it was Locke who had provided the main elements of this collaborative project?

Locke too felt a certain sense of feeling. He had not expected Second Circle wizards to be this financially strained.

Research was truly the number one most money-burning activity in the world.

Were it not for the enormous cash flow from the wizard shoe market, he would probably be in just as dire a situation as Wizard Gakula right now.

No wonder Second Circle wizards found it so difficult to advance.

How could one advance quickly when so short of money?

There were moments where one only needed to spend a bit of money to get past an obstacle, yet because of the lack of funds, one could only remain stuck in place.

Locke waved his hand.

"No need. Whether it is articles, journals, or any project that comes out of this, you do not need to share any of it with me."

A look of puzzlement passed through Wizard Gakula's eyes.

Locke said, "We are all Teacher Yekaterina's students, people of the same academic lineage. I have great admiration for Wizard Gakula's research in magical plant elemental evolution. I am simply passing along a resource I cannot absorb myself. Nothing more than that."

Beside them, both Wizard Gakula and Wizard Alex felt for a brief moment that they had been far too narrow-minded, that their earlier thinking had been far too shortsighted and selfish.

At this moment, Locke seemed to them like a beam of light.

Even Wizard Alex, who had originally been an uninvolved bystander simply watching the situation unfold, was somewhat moved.

Locke, meanwhile, was thinking to himself.

'I am simply using Gakula to do a favor for the Silent Bee fairy and to make a deal.'

'This fellow is not honest. If I had taken his first authorship, as financially strained as he is, he would inevitably come asking me for more funding along the way. Having to only put up money would be fine, but it is possible that in the end I would also have to go to the Forbidden Forest, contribute my own effort, and still end up owing him a favor.'

'Undead-polluted magical plants, while related to evolutionary theory, are not my most core interest right now. If they ended up consuming part of my mental bandwidth and affecting my special grant application, that would not be good at all.'

'What I actually need, on the other hand, is the knowledge from the specialized sub-field of elemental evolution in botanical studies.'

Locke looked at Wizard Gakula and said, "Gakula, I am very interested in elemental evolutionary botany. Might we exchange thoughts on the subject?"

Wizard Gakula blinked. He believed that Locke had read his articles and appreciated his abilities. "Of course. If this research produces any findings, I can share them with you as well."

Wizard Gakula felt that given how generous Locke was, it would be best to maintain a good relationship with him going forward, as there might well be greater benefits to come.

Locke and Gakula continued conversing for a while, primarily discussing the trains of thought that Locke had seen in Gakula's several freely available First Circle articles, ideas that had been left unexplored in those pieces.

With the help of a wizard who had deeply immersed himself in magical plant elemental evolution, just two hours of exchange gave Locke an overall framework-level understanding of elemental evolutionary theory.

The other party also handed him a magical text.

Wizard Gakula gave Locke the magical text on Elemental Soil Evolutionary Theory. "This is the best book I have ever read on the subject of magical plants and elemental evolution."

Locke looked through the old tome and found that its authors were people from several thousand years ago, most likely long since reduced to dust and bone.

"Thank you, Gakula."

After conversing with Wizard Gakula, Locke discovered one thing he had previously misunderstood. The full name of the elemental evolution sub-field within botanical studies was Elemental Soil Evolutionary Theory.

In other words, the emphasis was on soil, not on elements.

It utilized the rhizosphere effect at a plant's roots as its foundation, giving rise to a branch of evolutionary theory.

In other words, elemental evolutionary theory was in essence a more specialized sub-field falling under the life school, botanical studies, and nutrient soil studies.

It could be regarded as an extremely special form of nutrient soil.

And so when Wizard Gakula spoke of elemental evolution, he was not referring to a magical plant developing a specific elemental attribute, but rather to a magical plant absorbing certain elements from the soil and, rather than dying as a result, developing a evolutionary tendency under the influence of those elements.

Locke read through the Elemental Soil Evolutionary Theory text Wizard Gakula had given him, rapidly deepening his foundational knowledge in this sub-field.

Wizard Gakula said, "So your Firetree Silver Blossom Curse is quite unique. Before you mentioned it, I had not realized that the Firetree Silver Blossom Curse could cause a magical plant to permanently develop a certain attribute."

Locke said with some puzzlement, "But my Pinellia can use convergent evolution to give certain plants a certain attribute."

Wizard Gakula said, "That is correct. Looking at the result, the two are not very different, but the underlying difference is substantial. You said it yourself, Wizard Locke, Pinellia gives the surrounding magical plants the summer attribute, including the Number Two Royal Element, and all of it uses the mechanism of convergent evolution."

"Convergent evolution causes them to develop a certain evolution in a short time, whereas the Firetree Silver Blossom Curse forcibly grants them an attribute."

"And moreover, since convergent evolution is a form of evolution, any so-called evolution will not necessarily produce a fixed and unchanging attribute in a given magical plant. You have also observed that even within the same attribute, there are different spiritualities, and the differences between them can be quite large. But the Firetree Silver Blossom Curse grants a magical plant a specific fire spirituality. That is not evolution, that is enchantment."

"However, your talent has allowed this enchantment to become directional evolution."

"Strictly speaking, the Firetree Silver Blossom Curse does not belong to evolutionary theory at all. It is an enchantment school magical spell."

Wizard Gakula cut straight to the core.

The Firetree Silver Blossom Curse was Wizard Edgar's research achievement, the unfinished core of his All Things Return to the Tree.

Locke thought it over. The Firetree Silver Blossom Curse was fundamentally a spell model used to construct an energy diversion furnace for All Things Return to the Tree.

It was naturally impossible for it to be a spell falling under evolutionary theory.

It was precisely because Edgar had taken a wrong path that the All Things Return to the Tree spell model had never reached a state of perfection.

During the Silent Chalice, Locke had cooperated with Edgar and helped him complete one Firetree Silver Blossom, which had allowed Edgar to perfect his All Things Return to the Tree. Having placed second in the Silent Chalice, Edgar should have been able to bring the perfected version of the All Things Return to the Tree spell model out with him.

Wizard Gakula reflected, "And so your Moon of Evolution can convert certain enchantment magic into evolution. Which means it achieves the transformation of enchantment into evolution."

Locke nodded.

This was determined by the characteristic of his Lunar Cultivation Method that channeled plane information in reverse.

Conversing with a talented mind truly did help clarify one's own thinking.

The system of magic he currently commanded was vast. Through this exchange with Wizard Gakula, the other party had helped him sort out his magic relating to elemental evolutionary theory, which in turn gave him a clearer understanding of exactly where his own advantages lay.

Only the other party did not know about the Lunar Cultivation Method, and so also did not know that he could use the Firetree Silver Blossom Curse to roughly edit the plane information, crudely controlling the general type of plane information he wanted to channel in reverse.

And so the Firetree Silver Blossom Curse remained an enchantment blade in his own hand.

...

In the Forbidden Forest, Locke said to the Silent Bee fairy, "Very well. I have already found someone to come and help. He is also a wizard. Here is his portrait and his spiritual aura. When he arrives here in a little over a month, I hope you can grant him passage."

"Rest assured, he is my... my..."

Locke thought for a moment. When out and about in the world, identities were his to assign.

"He is my student. A Second Circle wizard."

"He can resolve our problem."

The Silent Bee fairy's eyes went wide, looking Locke up and down.

"Fierce beast, you really are someone with great prestige and standing out there. The Forbidden Forest King truly had no eyes to see. I told him long ago that once you returned, our Forbidden Forest's strength would be supplemented and our situation would be much improved. But he said you were only a small fry on the wizard side."

"Completely useless to us."

The Silent Bee fairy circled once around Locke's head. "Ha ha ha, excellent! With someone as well-connected as you, fierce beast, our days are going to get much better."

"Fierce beast, rest assured. We will absolutely not give your students any trouble. You and your students are all guests of our Forbidden Forest. As for the other wizards..."

The Silent Bee fairy stopped flying.

"Those people all have ulterior motives, and that is a different matter entirely. For them, the Forbidden Forest is best kept as an absolutely forbidden zone. Every one who comes, we kill."

Locke asked, "Does the Forbidden Forest harbor deep resentment toward wizards?"

The Silent Bee fairy said, "Come, let me take you to taste the Forbidden Forest's unique delicacies, fierce beast."

The Silent Bee fairy said, "It is not quite resentment. It is more that they are troublesome. A very long time ago, the Forbidden Forest once tried trusting wizards, but those wizards simply could not control themselves. They would sneak into the Forbidden Forest and poach its magical creatures. Some even went as far as capturing members of the Forbidden Forest King's own kin. Later, to protect his kin, the Forbidden Forest King concealed the species and names of his kind, as well as his own appearance."

"Because he is a secret, and when wizards see a secret, they cannot help but try to uncover it."

"Everything connected to the Forbidden Forest King, wizards want to investigate."

"In short, wizards are always eager to explore the Forbidden Forest and wish to see through every one of its secrets. But the Forbidden Forest does not wish to be seen through. This is a right we should naturally possess. Yet wizards refused to grant us this right. And so gradually the Forbidden Forest closed itself off and completely prohibited wizards from entering."

The Silent Bee fairy said, "Oh, right. Now part of the Forbidden Forest is still made available for wizards to use as a secret realm. I heard from the fairies of the previous generation that it was the result of a negotiation between the Myst Witch and the Forbidden Forest King. The Myst Witch rendered the Forbidden Forest a great service, and so we cannot go back on the agreement we made with her."

Locke looked at the Silent Bee fairy in surprise. He had not expected to hear the Myst Witch's name from this creature.

He had previously speculated that the Myst Witch must have reached some kind of agreement with the Forbidden Forest, and now he had received confirmation.

So the guess he had made during his apprentice days had not been wrong.

What he still did not know was what status the Myst Witch currently held in the wizard world, whether she had naturally aged and died, or whether she had continued breaking through and still existed somewhere in the wizard world.

As for why Lilith’s Cottage had ended up dropping to third place in the southeastern quadrant, with first and second going to Virdantia University and the Four Seasons Garden, that was not hard to deduce.

As time passed, even the most powerful organizations would eventually decline. The fact that Lilith’s Cottage had maintained its current level could already be considered quite respectable.

Of course, after this battle between white and black wizards, Lilith’s Cottage had suffered the fewest losses, with its Chimaera Market preserved in the best condition.

And so after the war, the top position would very likely become Lilith’s Cottage's.

Locke gave the Silent Bee a reminder. "Once the matter is resolved, fairy, please do not forget our agreement."

The Silent Bee said, "Of course, of course. We would not dare deceive anyone, least of all the fierce beast."

"Once the pollution within the Forbidden Forest has been cleared, I will bless your tree-men."

"And let you also have a speech-capable tree."

Locke was thoroughly satisfied.

He followed the Silent Bee forward, curious about what the unique delicacies of the native inhabitants of this mysterious Forbidden Forest might be.

He was quite impressed with himself, truly. Somehow he had found his way into the inner world of the Forbidden Forest.

After winding through a narrow path, Locke followed the Silent Bee to a tree draped in treasures, a tree that looked extraordinarily regal, its every part adorned with various precious gems.

The tips of its branches were hung with treasure chests of all kinds.

Locke raised his head to look at this special tree, whose complexity could rival a decorated festival tree, and fell into puzzlement, then looked at the Silent Bee.

The Silent Bee, having learned that Locke was a person of great prestige and standing outside, appeared to take even greater care with how it treated him.

"Fierce beast, you are someone with great standing out there, so of course we must bring out something truly special to receive you."

"This is one of the Forbidden Forest's specialities: the Secret Treasure Tree."

Locke immediately opened the tiger's eye on his forehead, enhancing his insight, and examined the Secret Treasure Tree.

He found that this Secret Treasure Tree was indeed a magical plant, only its virtual roots appeared special. Like the Stygian iron tree, they were a form of special virtual root.

The virtual roots of this magical plant were shaped like a ring. After passing through the virtual sea, they had penetrated further, piercing through the phase of the virtual sea, and looped back to connect with the fruits of this magical plant.

Of course, this was only a preliminary observation from the naked eye. The precise details he could not confirm.

But the virtual roots of this magical plant were very unusual.

'The Stygian iron tree, the Forbidden Forest's Secret Treasure Tree,' Locke reflected.

'The study of virtual roots at the Second Circle stage is truly complex. No wonder it is one of the core areas of botanical studies at the Second Circle.'

'This is extraordinarily deep. I want to perfect the Moon of Evolution and advance it to the void-forging stage, which will require deepening my research into evolutionary theory.'

'And to design a Second Circle magical plant wizard shoe that can be mass-produced, I need to conduct deeper research into virtual roots. There is still so much for me to learn and research.'

Locke felt the difficulty of apportioning his resources, energy, and wealth.

Because to gain resources and a platform, he first needed to pursue projects, but in pursuing projects, he could not fully control what research he did.

Yet what would actually most accelerate his own growth was conducting research related to evolutionary theory.

Of course, he could make every effort to pursue projects related to evolutionary theory and secure the Origin Academy's two major projects.

That would accelerate his own growth.

Locke asked, "So this Secret Treasure Tree is the Forbidden Forest's special delicacy?"

The Silent Bee fairy held its head high.

"That is correct. Because you are a person of great standing on the outside, fierce beast, I am specially bringing you before the Forbidden Forest King's secret collection, the Secret Treasure Tree."

"I will tell the Forbidden Forest King afterward that I received you with this. I think he will praise me for it."

"What is one of the Forbidden Forest's essential natures? Fierce beast?"

Locke looked at this Forbidden Forest Secret Treasure Tree, thought for a moment, then drawing on his understanding of the Forbidden Forest and what the Silent Bee had previously told him, said, "Secrets."

"Though I cannot see the Forbidden Forest's specific duties clearly, and am not certain whether such specific duties exist, and I cannot fully see through the Forbidden Forest's true nature, I do know that one of the Forbidden Forest's essential natures is that it is a secret."

"The Forbidden Forest is a treasure vault of secrets, and the Forbidden Forest King is one of the most tantalizing secrets within that vault."

The Silent Bee fairy looked at Locke in surprise, then said, "Worthy of a fierce beast. You truly are perceptive. The fruit of this Secret Treasure Tree is formed from secrets one by one. You can place your own secret into one of this tree's flower buds, and after a certain number of years that flower bud will become a fruit. That fruit is a treasure, a secret."

"In other words, the Secret Treasure Tree can incubate secrets."

Locke was somewhat baffled.

"A tree that incubates secrets?"

What kind of thing was that?

The description was so abstract...

The Silent Bee fairy made a welcoming gesture.

"Please now place an object that relates to a secret of yours into one of the Secret Treasure Tree's flower buds. Then all you need to do is wait five years, and you can harvest this secret."

For a brief moment Locke suspected this thing was trying to swindle him out of his treasures.

But the Silent Bee immediately added, "It cannot be a magical artifact. It must be an item that can decay, a product of nature, nothing man-made. And it must be deeply connected to your secret. Five years later, a fruit of secrets can be incubated."

Locke understood that he had been overthinking. Out in the world, there were so many deceivers, and being careful was entirely reasonable.

But if that was the case, setting aside the question of what exactly could be incubated, the key point was that he had very few items on him that met these requirements.

After all, it could not be man-made, it had to be a product of nature.

Locke said, "Silent Bee, the Forbidden Forest's delicacies and snacks are truly unique."

"But you say it can incubate secrets. I still do not understand what that means, and I also need to think carefully about what to place here from my own person."

"Can a World Tree leaf work?"

The Silent Bee fairy produced a frightened expression, its pair of antennae crossing above its head.

"Fierce beast, please do not joke with me. That secret is too great. This tree cannot bear it."

"Magical plants and bloodline, both would work."

"As for what will be incubated, I do not know either. It is only said that this tree possesses the power to excavate the potential of that secret, making the secret grow larger."

Locke thought for a moment.

"Bloodline would also work?"

"Would a single drop of my blood do? Only my blood should contain magical force within it. I am not sure whether that still qualifies as a product of nature."

The Silent Bee fairy smiled.

"Fierce beast, as long as something is alive, it is a product of nature."