Chapter 815: The Shared Virtual Root is Complete!

A Jaeger Dream Blossom fell from midair, and the entire Stygian River erupted as though a hurricane had struck it. Large numbers of yakshas were fleeing as though running for their lives, and if not for their special life structures, the suppression of a Second Circle magical plant's magic pressure might have shattered their physical forms outright.

The Jaeger Dream Blossom landed on the surface of the Stygian River. In an instant, vast quantities of Stygian river water surged up over the roots and leaves of the Dream Blossom, attempting to sweep it into the current.

But at this moment, the Jaeger Dream Blossom's virtual roots spread across the river's surface like a broom. Virtual roots were not only capable of entering the virtual sea. They were themselves a type of specialized plant root capable of entering high-energy-concentration environments.

The Stygian River at this moment was precisely such a special environment.

Ordinary magical plant roots could not survive in the Stygian River. Without virtual roots, a magical plant could not possibly grow there.

Locke and this Dream Blossom had already established a magical graft relationship, and so he recited a spell and applied Ephemeral Dream to the magical plant.

Locke's magic descended like a brilliant dream-light. Then the fragrance of the Jaeger Dream Blossom grew dense enough to be directly visible to the naked eye, and drifted toward a certain location on the Stygian River.

In that instant, a massive water vortex appeared in that stretch of the Stygian River.

Locke stood in midair and saw a section of the Stygian iron tree and the Time Shadow Fern emerge from within the vortex. Under Locke's control, the fragrance transformed into a rope and reached toward the Stygian iron tree.

The fragrance struck the cold stone wall directly and shattered, producing no reaction.

Locke was not surprised by this. He controlled the fragrance to form a rope and cast it toward the Time Shadow Fern above the Stygian iron tree. The fragrance rope coiled around the Time Shadow Fern and then, as though blending like water and milk, the power flowed in and was fully absorbed.

Because both of them were already in a magical graft relationship with him.

As the Time Shadow Fern was drawn by him into the dream space of the Jaeger Dream Blossom, it was equivalent to the Myriad Spirit Ground also being drawn in. And as the Myriad Spirit Ground was pulled over, Locke further used it as a medium, like a fishing line, to draw over a portion of the Stygian iron tree's power.

At this moment, the Myriad Spirit Ground was stretched slightly, as though an object were bearing excessive pressure and beginning to deform.

But he had succeeded.

Locke looked at the Myriad Spirit Ground and the Super Jaeger Dream Blossom, both stretched to their limits and slightly deformed.

"I have succeeded. In this way, I can directly fish for the power of the Stygian ancient tree."

Locke put on the Great Blood Wave Bromeliad wizard shoes. He manipulated the pink fragrance of Ephemeral Dream and directed it toward the wizard shoes on his feet.

Everything depended on this.

Locke focused his full attention, not knowing what would happen in the next moment.

Boom.

After Locke connected his Bromeliad wizard shoes to the Ephemeral Dream, his whole body suddenly plunged downward.

"Hmm? Is this the pressure of the Stygian iron tree?"

Locke understood now. The heavy downward pressure of the Stygian iron tree was at this moment transmitted through the Myriad Spirit Ground and the Super Jaeger Dream Blossom, this fishing line stretched slightly out of shape, and connected to the wizard shoes on his feet.

At this moment, Locke sensed that the Stygian iron tree was probably not planted in the Stygian River. On the contrary, this tree wanted to keep sinking downward continuously.

And the Stygian River possessed the ability to make consciousness drift, which naturally caused objects submerged in it to float upward. The combined force of both was what kept the Stygian iron tree at a certain height.

Following this reasoning, the Stygian iron tree had presumably not yet reached the bottom but was drifting in the middle of the Stygian River, going with the current.

The Stygian iron tree kept pressing downward, and the Stygian River was buoying it up.

Locke realized something. By connecting himself to the tree through this fishing line of a dream space, he was naturally being dragged downward.

He nearly plunged into the Stygian River.

Locke's permanent defensive force field shell clashed violently with the Stygian River. A forest collided against this river, but the next moment Locke halted his descent.

Locke used something to support the Super Jaeger Dream Blossom from below.

The botanical rhizosphere of the Cloud Marsh Wetlands.

For some reason, after entering the Stygian realm from within the Rose Council, he was still able to use the rhizosphere. It was specifically when he left the Cloud Marsh Wetlands and entered the southeastern quadrant that the rhizosphere became unavailable.

He had previously assumed that the botanical rhizosphere of the Cloud Marsh Wetlands could only be used within the Cloud Marsh Wetlands, but now it seemed that his inability to use it in the southeastern quadrant was more likely due to some kind of agreement.

In any case, Locke sensed that the botanical rhizosphere of the Cloud Marsh Wetlands was arriving at his magic through his clone.

As long as one of his bodies was in the Cloud Marsh Wetlands, he could use the botanical rhizosphere of the Cloud Marsh Wetlands even within the Stygian realm.

And the rhizosphere was naturally elevated in the air at a certain height, and by using the botanical rhizosphere to support the Dream Blossom from below, it was like hammering a nail into the Super Jaeger Dream Blossom, preventing it from continuing to sink.

The full pressure was borne by the rhizosphere.

At this moment, Locke was light as a feather, both feet in wizard shoes standing atop the Stygian River with no tendency to sink at all.

"The connection has finally been established."

Locke looked at the wizard shoes on his feet. "Through the medium of the dream, by leveraging the property of the Stygian plane where consciousness supersedes the soul, the bridging method can be used. Only the current progress is insufficient."

Locke looked at the Super Jaeger Dream Blossom. "The enchantment spell model Pleasured and Forgetful from Carter Dunn is still needed. Once he can develop it successfully, I will be able to use the Super Jaeger Dream Blossom to complete the bridging graft."

"Although I have not yet found a complete solution to the problem of reducing virtual root costs, for commercial development, this is sufficient."

Locke scanned the Stygian River and noticed quite a few Second Circle magical plants floating on its surface. This meant the Stygian River could naturally sustain certain magical plants without anyone coming to interfere, so he could simply leave the Super Jaeger Dream Blossom in the Stygian River.

The Stygian realm was vast. Normally it would be very difficult for any wizard to reach this location.

Stygian creatures would not pick a fight with an ordinary Second Circle magical plant floating on the river's surface.

Of course, for safety, Locke applied a pulse of Ephemeral Dream to the Super Jaeger magical plant. A large cloud of pink-white rose fragrance spread across the river like sea mist, and any living creature that drew close to this mist, even a yaksha ghost, would be drawn into the dream space and dissolved into plant fertilizer.

"Safety is simple enough."

Locke thought through a plan.

"I now have the complete experience of cultivating the Super Jaeger Dream Blossom, and as long as I invest more time, equipment, and money in the future, I can cultivate several more Super Jaeger Dream Blossoms."

"As long as I use the Second Circle version of the same branch connecting method, Same Breath Connected Branch, to link the spirituality of these magical plants and have them share dream space data, I can create several more backup copies. Even if someone destroys one, the rest remain, and there will be no problem."

Locke thought about safety concerns.

"Moreover, a single Super Jaeger Dream Blossom is not very secure. The Stygian iron tree continuously presses downward with immense weight. If not for the Stygian River already providing a great deal of buoyancy and bearing most of that weight, I would likely not be able to resist the downward pull at all."

Locke sensed that because of his actions, the balance between the Stygian iron tree and the Stygian River had been disturbed, causing the Stygian iron tree to rise slightly, though not by much.

Only about one millimeter.

Compared to the enormous Stygian iron tree, this seemed like almost nothing.

"But as long as I connect several more Super Jaeger plants, would that not raise the Stygian iron tree a bit more?"

Locke thought, "Of course, even connecting a hundred of them right now would only raise the Stygian iron tree by a decimeter. My Same Breath Connected Branch probably cannot reach that degree. At most it can connect a few Super Jaeger plants together, and maintenance would be needed every half year."

Locke scanned the Second Circle magical plants floating on the Stygian River's surface. These were all wild magical plants, but most had been documented. He searched to see if any might be useful to him.

"I should return to the wizard world first."

Locke thought, "The Stygian River is still fairly dangerous. The threat it poses to wizards is greater than to magical plants. For beings with high intelligence, the Stygian River is even more threatening."

Locke recited a spell, and a Stygian Gate opened.

He stepped out, left the Stygian realm, and returned to the present reality.

...

Three days later, Locke returned the rented magical field and came back to Wizard Carter's dormitory.

At this moment, Locke took an enchantment spell scroll from Wizard Carter's hands.

He examined it, though he did not understand it fully. He only knew it was a special spell scroll for sealing an enchantment spell. Simply tearing it apart would apply the enchantment spell to a target.

The enchanter had cast the spell in advance and sealed it within this enchantment scroll, making it simple to apply.

Locke said, "Not bad. Your efficiency is quite high."

Wizard Carter's eyes sparkled.

"Previously I had only been stuck for a long time on the breeding portion, but in the enchantment domain I had long since designed everything and was confident in it."

Locke looked at him with puzzlement.

"Then you should be an enchanter, not a breeder."

"And your Dream Blossom's thinking in the breeding portion is only mediocre at best, while the enchantment portion is where it shines."

Wizard Carter said with embarrassment, "Ha ha. The breeding portion was revised for me by Witch Olivia. The original was even worse, and the enchantment portion was my own idea."

"Only... Lord Augustine, to be honest, since the best wizard university in the Rose Council's region is the Rose Council, and the Rose Council's best magical disciplines are breeding, flower speech, and magic weaving, I took breeding as my major."

"But I was actually majoring in enchantment before reaching the liquid phase."

"It is just that breeders have a higher standing at the Rose Council, receive more resources, and get better treatment, so I... I came here."

Locke looked at him deeply but said nothing more.

After all, he was only a sponsor.

Locke handed him a name card and said, "Your enchantment skills are not bad. If you cannot continue at the Rose Council's breeding school, my store alliance is in need of an enchanter."

Wizard Carter took the name card and looked at the platinum-colored card Witch Scarlett had custom-made for Locke.

"Augustus Wizard Shoes..."

"I have not heard of... oh, no. I am sorry, Lord Locke. I mean my knowledge is limited, so I have not heard of it."

Locke did not mind. His wizard shoes' reputation would rise soon and would no longer be niche.

Locke recited a spell and again summoned the Stygian Gate.

He stepped through and entered the Stygian River again.

Locke stood on the Stygian River and tore apart the enchantment spell scroll in his hand. The next instant, the magic from within the scroll fell into the Super Jaeger Dream Blossom.

A phantom enchantment blade spirit appeared and inscribed runes onto the Dream Blossom with sweeping, iron-brushstroke strokes.

"Though somewhat rushed for time, the craftsmanship is quite good."

Locke gave a slight nod.

At this moment, a silver pen design appeared on the petals of the Super Jaeger Dream Blossom.

"That is the completion mark of the enchantment spell model Pleasured and Forgetful."

Light brightened in Locke's eyes.

Although Pleasured and Forgetful was only a crystalline-level spell, that is, a First Circle spell model, it required the enchantment content to be designed in advance, making it still quite difficult.

He had not expected that Carter fellow to complete this spell in only a week and a half.

His breeding studies could only be called ordinary, but his enchantment studies was quite good.

He was a talent.

It was just that the man seemed set on being a breeder, and Locke was in no position to interfere with that.

Locke used Lone Tree Cannot Form a Forest to activate the Super Jaeger Dream Blossom, and in an instant he seemed to arrive in an infinite space of pure silver.

This was the dream space Carter had designed in advance.

In this infinite space of pure silver, pure silver roses fell from above one after another, extraordinarily beautiful and striking.

Locke was indifferent to this. He looked at the Time Shadow Fern in this space and the two Great Blood Wave Bromeliad wizard shoes.

He had previously had one remaining dose of the Zero Potion unused, so he used it to evolve another Great Blood Wave Bromeliad wizard shoe.

He used Historical Reenactment to summon the Crimson Deep Court, then quickly took a portion of that river water, and before the fallen angel could crawl over, severed the spell model.

At this point, Locke took out his Second Circle magical artifact and made graft sites on the three magical plants, then spent another hour grafting the Time Shadow Fern with one Great Blood Wave Bromeliad wizard shoe.

After completing that, he again spent time grafting the Time Shadow Fern with the second Great Blood Wave Bromeliad wizard shoe.

"Just as I had guessed."

"Within this dream space, no matter how many times I perform the bridging graft, because it is within a dream, it can be reset and another graft attempt made."

Locke said, "Within the dream, I can complete grafts between countless magical plants and this Time Shadow Fern, indirectly fishing for the power of the Stygian ancient tree."

"It is like being able to simulate the bridging connection unlimited times."

"This means I can use a single Time Shadow Fern to bridge-connect unlimited magical plants. On that day when I made a split-second decision, using every ounce of my strength to seize that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and graft the Time Shadow Fern onto the Stygian iron tree, I can now see it was absolutely the right call."

At this moment Locke left the dream space and returned to the present reality.

Inside the laboratory, Wizard Carter watched Locke come and go, not quite understanding. He asked Locke, "My lord, how did things go?"

"And this is... my lord, the wizard shoes on your feet are very distinctive."

At this moment, the Great Blood Wave Bromeliad wizard shoes on Locke's feet had turned entirely red. With the power of the Stygian ancient tree supporting them, something had occurred that even Locke had not anticipated.

The Great Blood Wave Bromeliad wizard shoes, having fished for the Stygian iron tree's power, had experienced a stat enhancement, gaining at least one thousand additional magic pressure out of nowhere.

This meant that from this point on, all of his wizard shoes could gain one thousand additional magic pressure out of thin air.

And for Locke, who currently needed to compete against Solas Light Foot and Melechi Magic Step's wizard shoes, this was exceptionally good news.

'What exactly is the Stygian iron tree? Just fishing a small amount of its power can strengthen my magical plants this much.'

Locke used a grafting knife to remove the virtual roots from the two bromeliad wizard shoes on his feet.

Wizard Carter was alarmed. "My lord? Why are you damaging such excellent wizard shoes?"

Locke said, "Because it is no longer needed."

Locke waited for a moment and found that the magic pressure of the wizard shoes had only dropped by a thousand, but they were still holding at a magic pressure level of ten thousand.

In other words, the Stygian iron tree could freely provide one thousand magic pressure to wizard shoes that had their own virtual roots, and it could also, through the shared virtual root method, maintain a pair of wizard shoes without virtual roots in a Second Circle state.

At this moment, Locke closed his eyes. These bromeliad shoes were in fact still connected to the Time Shadow Fern inside the Super Jaeger Dream Blossom's dream space.

So the wizard who wore these shoes was, in essence, hanging upside down from the Stygian iron tree.

Though this was not a significant problem.

He only needed to apply a little enchantment magic to isolate the wizard wearing the shoes from the Stygian iron tree's energy aura. And the Stygian iron tree was originally a magical plant with no elemental attribute, making its presence difficult to detect in any case.

Wizard Carter looked bewildered. "But without virtual roots, why is it still a Second Circle magical plant? How?"

Locke said to Carter, "Wizard Carter, for this you must thank yourself."

Wizard Carter looked even more confused.

"Me, my lord?"