545: The Secret Society of Golden Crown Mountain
Team Leader Kelt seemed to be scared by fabricated data and reminded Locke, saying, "Unless it's a confirmatory experiment, how could the data you produce be almost the same as the theoretical expectations? Random errors are universal. Therefore, we all touch up the data more or less."
"But if you haven't touched up any data, and your experimental data is very close to the theoretical expectations, this situation is very abnormal."
Team Leader Kelt glanced worriedly at Witch Yekaterina.
Locke instantly realized where the problem lay. He hadn't actually done any Formal Wizard-level projects in the Southeast Corner Region, and when he did projects in Six Towers Land, no one paid attention to the details of his experiments, so there were no issues.
But this habit of his would cause the wizards of Golden Crown Mountain to notice that he could always quickly find the correct direction, to the point that during experiments, the actual data curves would fit the ideal curves.
Locke frowned, thinking about how to respond.
Actually, this problem wasn't very serious because even if a wizard noticed this, from the results, it was indeed he who had discovered the mechanism of these magic plants' action pathways; only the process was puzzling.
But all of this could still be pushed onto experimental methods.
Before Locke could think of an excuse, Witch Yekaterina suddenly spoke, "Locke, let me ask you something, and you must answer my question honestly."
"This matter is very important, even relating to your future fate and your future upper limit."
Locke gave a salute to Witch Yekaterina, "Yes, Teacher, please ask?"
Yekaterina said, "When you are doing experiments, do you always have a kind of intuition, as if in the dark, you can feel whether the direction you are currently working in is correct? If it's wrong, you'll feel a headache and discomfort, with no desire to continue, even though you can't clearly say why you don't want to go on."
"But you will definitely become very uncomfortable; sometimes you'll think you're tired, and sometimes you'll think you're just not in a good state."
"And when you work in the right direction, only then can you be full of passion and infinite vitality."
Witch Yekaterina looked directly at Locke and asked, "Have you experienced the situations I've described?"
Wizard Celtic had a confused face; he didn't understand at all what Witch Yekaterina was talking about, so he looked at Witch Yekaterina and then at Locke, his eyes filled with confusion.
Locke was still hesitant, but he suddenly thought of something, breathed a slight sigh of relief, and then said, "Yes, Teacher."
"I do often have the phenomena you mentioned, and I am deeply troubled by them."
"Sometimes, I don't even know if these feelings are hallucinations or something that truly exists."
Locke appropriately showed confusion and distress on his face.
These emotions were not entirely fake, but rather nine parts truth and one part falsehood, otherwise it would be impossible to deceive a Third Ring Throne Wizard.
Team Leader Kelt's gaze became even more bewildered, and he couldn't help but whisper to Locke, "Locke, what are you and the Lord of the Throne talking about? Why can't I understand at all?"
Wizard Celtic was questioning his life.
Clearly he was the Second Ring Wizard, with several times more experience and knowledge than Locke, but now, listening to Witch Yekaterina's words, he found them completely baffling, while the young wizard at the First Ring Crystallization Stage could understand.
This situation was too strange.
Witch Yekaterina glanced at Celtic, then looked at Locke and said, "I see, it's just as I expected. You have awakened the special ability of the True Dragon clan—Super Intuition."
"That is a talent where the casting risk and the casting effect are equally powerful. If not applied well, it is a cursed talent."
Witch Yekaterina said, "In that case, I've found the reason why you can quickly discover the general action mechanisms of magic plants and cultivate magic plants with new natural magic structural components."
"Because the True Dragon's Super Intuition can give you a vague directional judgment. If your direction is wrong, you will have a somatic reaction; if the direction is right, you will become very comfortable."
"The True Dragon clan possesses such a powerful talent."
"Using Super Intuition allows one to have scientific research efficiency that ordinary wizards find hard to achieve, at least when doing this kind of simple and repetitive work of uncovering the mechanism pathways of specific directions in magic plants, it will be very useful." Witch Yekaterina said, "In other words, you, like me, possess the Super Intuition ability of the dragon race."
Witch Yekaterina said, "When I was a One-Ring Wizard, it was because of the Super Intuition ability that I grew faster than other wizards and did scientific research better than other wizards."
Team Leader Kelt didn't dare to speak, but he looked at Locke in surprise, because Witch Yekaterina admitted that Locke possessed the same special talent as her.
To possess the same talent as a Third Ring Wizard at the First Ring stage was definitely a great honor.
It was also a proof of talent.
Team Leader Kelt lowered his head, unable to suppress the corners of his mouth. 'I've picked up a treasure this time.'
'Fortunately, the Lord of the Throne assigned Locke to our Group Six first. Originally, our Group Six was the worst group under the Lord of the Throne, but I didn't expect to get such a big advantage instead.'
'There is hope for our Group Six to raise its status. Whether I can stay at Golden Crown Mountain depends on producing results, and now it seems I have to rely on Locke.'
Locke breathed a slight sigh of relief in his heart.
Great, fortunately, the Wizard World has countless super geniuses and invincible freaks; this way, he could quickly produce results in Group Six, and his strong scientific research talent could all be attributed to the dragon race's Super Intuition.
Although his Super Intuition had only appeared once before and had never functioned stably since, as long as Witch Yekaterina believed he had it, it was fine.
As a beneficiary of the True Dragon race's Super Intuition, Witch Yekaterina naturally had absolute confidence in the Super Intuition talent.
Moreover, this could explain his talent clearly.
Locke stood up again and bowed to Witch Yekaterina. "Teacher, thank you for answering my questions. So this is the dragon race's Super Intuition; I originally thought it was just my personal psychological problem."
Witch Yekaterina smiled and nodded. "I can empathize with your pain; you are very much like I was when I was young. This is a side effect for those who possess our kind of talent."
Although Locke hadn't really enjoyed Super Intuition much yet, and naturally hadn't carefully felt the side effects, he chose to accept it at this moment.
He nodded directly.
Locke asked, "Teacher, is it much easier for wizards with Super Intuition to do scientific research than other ordinary wizards? Then, would wizards of the Prophecy School have more of an advantage in doing scientific research than wizards of other schools?"
Witch Yekaterina shook her head slightly. "Not necessarily."
"First, you ask me whether wizards of the Prophecy School would have more of an advantage in doing scientific research than wizards of other schools. I cannot give you a simple answer—telling you yes or no."
"Because the issues involved are very complex."
"Wizards of any school may have advantages from certain angles when doing scientific research, so you can't say that wizards of the Prophecy School have no advantage if they use prophecy spells to do scientific research."
"But the advantage is not as big as you think, and many times, it will even backfire and lead to a long way around. This involves the characteristics and shortcomings of prophecy spells, as well as the price that needs to be paid."
"Also, our Super Intuition talent, which comes from the undying dragon scale, cannot be simply equated with the magic of ordinary Prophecy Schools. That is a kind of magic with a very high prophecy level. If an ordinary wizard mastered it, they would inevitably have to pay a huge price, but for the dragon race's Super Intuition ability, the price is paid not by the individual, but by the clan."
Witch Yekaterina glanced at Wizard Celtic, who was silently eavesdropping nearby, and then suddenly spoke, "Wizard Celtic, you may leave now."
"Remember, I hope you can give me a good result in half a year."
Wizard Celtic's body stiffened; he stood up from his seat and bowed to Witch Yekaterina. He knew that Witch Yekaterina meant—
He had half a year left to find a way to produce results in order to stay at Golden Crown Mountain.
Of course, he could also choose to leave Golden Crown Mountain now.
He was free, he had always been free.
It's just that Golden Crown Mountain, as well as the True Knowledge Institute and the Throne Wizard, would never lack excellent Second Ring Wizards coming to work for her.
Second Ring Wizards from Cloud Marsh, as well as a large number of excellent foreign Second Ring Wizards from outside the Wizard Land, would continuously pour into Golden Crown Mountain.
His position was also being eyed by countless wizards outside; those people would love for him to leave Golden Crown Mountain half a year early.
Wizard Celtic quickly adjusted his goals in his heart. He understood that Witch Yekaterina didn't want him to hear the words that followed, so it was better for him to be sensible and leave early.
Wizard Celtic bowed to Witch Yekaterina and said, "Lord of the Throne, I know what to do. I will work hard in the coming half year. Moreover, I plan to develop on two fronts; the original work focus of Group Six will not be abandoned, and I will also prioritize some resources for Locke to fully utilize the advantages of our Group Six."
"To produce results that satisfy you."
Wizard Celtic left the round table meeting room.
After he left, Witch Yekaterina said to Locke, "Within the True Knowledge Institute, in my Ten-Person Project, there are a total of six groups, divided from Group One to Group Six according to the importance of the work."
"The work of Group Six is considered the least important among the six groups. Group One, on the other hand, has my most excellent wizards as well as researchers from the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge. That's why I let Wizard Celtic, whose conditions can only be considered average, have a try as the leader of Group Six."
"Among the six group leaders, he is the only Second Ring Wizard without experience in the Hall of Advanced True Knowledge."
"But now it seems his ability is indeed not up to being the leader of Group Six."
Witch Yekaterina said in a regretful tone, "I originally quite appreciated him, but now it seems that choosing him was indeed a mistake. It's not a matter of ability, but a problem with his psychological resilience."
Witch Yekaterina looked at Locke and said, "Alright. Since the outsider has left and only our own people are here, we can talk in more depth."
Witch Yekaterina glanced at Locke's left hand, and immediately a golden undying dragon scale appeared on it.
For a moment, Witch Yekaterina's eyes turned into red vertical pupils; those were the eyes of a dragon.
Witch Yekaterina said, "The full name of Golden Crown Mountain is the Golden Crown Mountain Dragon Blood Society. The earliest Golden Crown Mountain was jointly established by a group of wizards possessing True Dragon bloodlines and their ordinary wizard friends."
AI Model: gemini-3.1-flash-lite
"Wizards of that era still held onto pure-blood anthropocentrism, acknowledging only pure-blood humans as capable of learning magic. If an alien race or a mixed-blood human learned magic, it had to be... immediately reclaimed. In that bloody era, a wizard who was not human but could use magic was considered by the Wizard World of the time to have stolen magic from us, and it needed to be reclaimed."
"In that era, Dragon Blood Wizards were outcasts, while the ordinary wizards among the founding members of Golden Crown Mountain were a group of people with greater ideals."
Witch Yekaterina said: "The Wizard World of that time made a great mistake, wrongly believing that your ancestors had to be human within fifteen generations, otherwise you were an illegal wizard. But later, the Wizard World realized that the pure-blood humans we were pursuing were likely hindering the development of the human race instead."
"Causing humans to lose their competitiveness."
"Furthermore, in the later stages, the definition of human became increasingly strict. From a broad definition of human, it was narrowed to humans of the Wizard World, then to humans of a specific region, and later the scope became smaller and smaller. Eventually, it became so small that humanity itself was divided into thousands of races. Finally, the Wizard World of that time decided it could not continue, and thus initiated the current [Pan-Magic Race Wizard Law]—as long as one learns magic, they can be classified as human, unless they join the Black Wizards."
"Under this law, anything can be human; only Black Wizards are not considered human within the laws of the White Wizard."
Witch Yekaterina said: "Of course, many things from the pure-blood humanism era still remain in the law. For example, to the White Wizard Association, only by becoming a legal human do you possess your own rights and obligations, and receive the protection of the White Wizard Association. A Lizardman, as long as he becomes a Formal Wizard and joins the White Wizard Association, is considered human in the legal sense of the White Wizard Association."
"Whether one is human or not is very important. If you are not human, you will not receive any protection in the Supreme Truth Council."
Witch Yekaterina said: "I've digressed, Locke. We at Golden Crown Mountain have always had a secret society."
"It is a secret society that only Dragon Blood Wizards can join. It is a secret society that has continued since that era of pure-blood humanism. Although the situation has changed now, this tradition has been preserved and has gained new uses."
"The name of this society is protected by magic and cannot be obtained by outsiders. Once it is mentioned, there are wizards among us who can sense it. Only wizards possessing Dragon Blood, and after passing a test, can join the secret society of Golden Crown Mountain."
"As you know, Golden Crown Mountain has four major factions: the Senate, the Academic Committee, the Executive Patrol Group, and the Lu Xu Bridge Academy. Setting aside the Lu Xu Bridge Academy for now, Golden Crown Mountain actually consists of three major factions internally, and most of the members of the Academic Committee... are members of the secret society."
Witch Yekaterina said: "In other words, the academic supervision and project review of Golden Crown Mountain are basically in the hands of us Dragon Blood Wizards. And the entry requirements for the Academic Committee have always hidden this necessary condition."
"In contrast, the Executive Patrol Group is the domain of ordinary wizards other than those Dragon Blood Wizards. And the Senate consists of the descendants of those ordinary wizards from when Golden Crown Mountain was first founded, or simply those people themselves."
"As for Lu Xu Bridge, the Lu Xu Bridge Academy is more unique. It is harmonious but different from our Golden Crown Mountain. It appears independent, but all actions of Golden Crown Mountain and Lu Xu Bridge are consistent at the high level. If any outsider mistakenly thinks we are two separate wizard organizations, they will certainly learn a sufficient lesson for it."
Locke's thoughts stirred.
Witch Yekaterina glanced at him. "That's right. The biggest reason Golden Crown Mountain invited you is not because you are the Yunze Cup champion, but because you possess an undying dragon scale."
Locke finally understood.
In the eyes of Witch Yekaterina and these wizards who possess True Dragon bloodlines, he, who also possesses a True Dragon bloodline, counted as a quasi-insider.
Of course, to truly become an insider, one must join that secret society.
This standard of "insider" relationship should be even deeper than that of ordinary True Knowledge Institute colleagues, or even the mentor-disciple relationship within an academy.
It could be considered a very useful label for his current self.
Perhaps he could obtain quite a few benefits because of this.
Locke said to Witch Yekaterina: "Then, Teacher, what kind of test must I pass to join that secret society?"
Witch Yekaterina said: "You are already in the midst of the test."
"If you pass, I will tell you and let you join this society. By then, you will be able to know the specific name of this society."
Locke felt puzzled. If he was already in the midst of the test, what exactly was this test?
But obviously, Witch Yekaterina would not answer him, so there was no need for him to ask. That would just be getting rejected for no reason, and might even annoy a Third Ring Throne Wizard.
"Although I don't know what the specific test is, it seems that the progress bar for my test is going quite well. Otherwise, Witch Yekaterina wouldn't have needed to mention this in front of me."
Locke thought: "Since that's the case, I just need to follow my previous approach, do well with the funds in the True Knowledge Institute, and pursue the special grant project."
"There is no need to change anything in particular."
Locke thought of something and asked Witch Yekaterina: "Then, Witch Mason..."
Witch Yekaterina nodded and said: "You are indeed very smart. It seems your Super Intuition ability has grown quite well."
"Your intuition is very sharp."
"Witch Mason possesses the bloodline of a Second Ring Level dragon—a Frost Dragon—within her body. The earliest entry standard for the secret society was possessing the bloodline of the True Dragon race, but later, because its functions changed, the standards were continuously lowered. So strictly speaking, one only needs to possess a Second Ring Level dragon bloodline to meet the entry standards."
"It's just that your priority in the society is higher than Witch Mason's."
"Although she is also quite good, a very hardworking little girl."
Locke nodded.
Golden Crown Mountain was indeed not as simple as he had thought. He had only joined Golden Crown Mountain for four and a half months, but he had already seen the undercurrents surging.
Witch Yekaterina said: "In contrast, your good friend, Wizard Daniel, has Wizard Feodor as his collaborative mentor. Feodor is from the Executive Patrol Group, and the Patrol Group maintains its existence and absorbs new members through mentor-disciple relationships."
"Your friend is a key subject of investigation."
"As for the Senate? Those old guys are still stuck in the ancient era. Although their bodies have arrived in the modern Wizard World, their minds are still stuck in the past. Some people might even be a bit retro, able to go straight back to the magical imperial era before the pure-blood human era..."
"The Senate can only be entered through blood relations; those like you and Wizard Daniel will never be able to enter."
"Even if you wanted to."
Locke nodded thoughtfully. "I see, Teacher. I understand."
Witch Yekaterina said: "These things actually have nothing to do with you little wizards; you just need to do your own things well."
"Back to the main topic. The side effect of Super Intuition is borne by the entire dragon race, which is the difficulty in producing pure-blood offspring. Therefore, neither of us needs to directly bear the side effects."
"Under normal circumstances, learning the Prophecy School will not have any effect on scientific research."
"We are special. First, not all wizards