Locke nodded, which meant that to gain more access to the Wizard Secret Realm, he needed to strive for more titles.
The top-tier apprentice-level title like Wizard Seed could even grant permission to enter an ordinary Wizard Secret Realm once a year.
However, since he would be accompanying Sophia the Witch on missions recently, there was no immediate need for him to consider entering the Forbidden Forest Secret Realm or exchanging for another opportunity to enter a Wizard Secret Realm.
Locke said, "Then I'll use four hundred Contribution Points to exchange for one Blast Pea Shooter."
This way, he could synthesize a Magic Plant that was extremely rare at the apprentice level.
This would maximize his combat power, allowing him to protect himself during the infiltration mission a month later while also enhancing his ability to plunder spoils in Black Wizard territory.
The dwarf scholar Ol replied, "Understood. I'll arrange it for you right away."
Soon, a Second-Class Wizard Apprentice, a halfling, pushed a cart over. On the cart were three exquisitely crafted large black Vine Language Boxes.
Locke opened all three boxes to inspect them and confirmed there were no issues.
Inside each Vine Language Box was a Blast Pea Shooter. The pod of this Magic Plant was round, resembling a steel pipe with a flared opening. Below the flare was a small red pouch.
This pouch would secrete a special mucus imbued with a natural 0.5-circle combustion spell the moment the Magic Plant ejected its pea-like projectiles, followed by the expulsion of flaming seeds.
The stem of this Magic Plant was swollen, almost potbellied in appearance.
That was because the main stem of the pod contained hundreds of Iron Bullet Peas, each as hard as steel, with roughly six hundred stored inside.
Thus, the entire Magic Plant was quite large, about the length of a person's arm.
The roots of the Blast Pea Shooter coiled in spring-like spirals, as they would anchor into the soil to stabilize the plant's balance during its attacks.
Most of the roots, stems, and leaves of this rare Magic Plant resembled those of ordinary peas, except for the needle-like leaves near the head region. These needle-like leaves served a heat-dissipation function—they were the Blast Pea Shooter's cooling blades.
By gathering large amounts of wind elements, they dispersed the intense heat generated during firing into the surrounding air. In other words, the Blast Pea Shooter would create a high-temperature zone in the air the moment it fired.
Essentially, this was the Blast Pea Shooter's innate 0.3-circle spell model—the [Heat Dissipation Spell].
Higher-level Magic Plants, much like advanced Magical Creatures, might possess multiple passive spell models. The natural magical structures within them could be far more complex.
However, at its core, the Blast Pea Shooter was a Magic Plant artificially designed in a laboratory. Thus, unlike most Magic Plants Locke had encountered before, every part of it bore traces of deliberate design.
After inspecting the three Blast Peas, Locke recalled the complementary Spells associated with this Magic Plant. It seemed certain Wizards had selectively cultivated this plant, resulting in numerous related spell models.
For instance, the Rapid Fire Spell could triple the firing speed of the Blast Pea, unleashing a metallic storm of ammunition to suppress enemies.
Then there was the Pea Bullet Split Spell, which caused a single steel pea fired by the Blast Pea to split into two mid-flight.
If the Rapid Fire Spell and Split Spell were used in combination, they could create an even more terrifying barrage against enemies.
Moreover, the Blast Pea had a complementary Potion called the Pea Filling Potion, which could quickly replenish the pea ammunition it expended. A Blast Pea could only be administered this Potion up to three times a day.
Locke remembered that the academy's public lectures offered a course on the "Metallic Storm" series of Spells related to the Blast Pea.
That course even included instruction on brewing the Pea Filling Potion Recipe or introduced purchasing channels for the Potion itself. Therefore, by enrolling in that course for just five hundred Magic Stones, he could learn the full set of Blast Pea-related Spells.
Locke stored the three large Vine Language Boxes into his Astral Ring. Within the Astral Plane, the three Blast Peas would cease growing, eliminating any preservation concerns.
However, the Astral Ring's storage capacity was limited.
After acquiring the three Blast Peas, Locke bid farewell to the dwarven scholar Ol and left the public library, heading toward the Chimera Market.
He made his way to a Magic Potion Auction at Lilith's Cottage. Long ago, he had placed an order for a Three-Eyed Tiger Eye Cat fossil at the auction, but it had never been fulfilled.
However, earlier that morning, the auction house had sent word that the item was now available.
In the back office of the Magic Potion Auction, Locke found the operator. Upon seeing the Excellent Apprentice badge on Locke's chest, the auction staff member became even more deferential.
"Respected Breeder Locke, half a year ago, you placed an order for a Three-Eyed Tiger Eye Cat fossil at our auction. At the time, we were out of stock, but now we have it available."
"Since you are a high-priority client and the consignor is in urgent need of funds, we may bypass the auction and proceed with a direct transaction to complete this deal."
"Would you agree to this?"
Locke nodded.
This was entirely to his advantage.
He knew the auction house had this policy—some consignors, due to certain circumstances, needed to gather Magical Resources quickly and would opt for a direct transaction with a high-priority client.
Of course, this meant sacrificing potential profit, as an auction would likely fetch a higher price.
The auction operator maintained his smile. "The consignor is asking for two thousand Magic Stones."
"Would you like to proceed with the payment now, or…?"
Locke frowned slightly and immediately shook his head. "That's too expensive."
"While the Three-Eyed Tiger Eye Cat fossil is rare, ancient creature research is a niche field. And fossil studies within that field are even more obscure. This price is completely unreasonable."
The operator seemed about to say something, but Locke pretended the deal had fallen through and turned to leave.
He knew the client was desperate to gather a sum of Magic Stones, and buyers for such fossils were usually few and far between.
The item was indeed valuable. But in White Wizard society, Wizards capable of conducting relevant research were exceedingly rare, so potential buyers were inevitably scarce.
Sure enough, as soon as he made a show of leaving, the operator visibly panicked, clearly not expecting Locke to be so decisive.
He hurried forward and said, "Breeder Locke, I can tell you the client's minimum price is 1,200 Magic Stones."
"I apologize for my earlier lack of transparency."
"If you agree, we can complete the transaction immediately."
Only then did Locke pause. He considered it—1,200 Magic Stones was indeed a reasonable price, fitting for a quick sale of an Ancient Creature fossil.
In fact, it was even slightly lower than the standard market price.
After all, the Three-Eyed Tiger Eye Cat was among the more formidable Ancient Creatures, a genuine Magical Creature close to the first-circle level.
'With this fossil, I can accelerate the improvement of my archaeology skills. Moreover, I can use it in conjunction with the two Catwoman Queens in my possession to further purify their Bloodline,' Locke mused. 'Perhaps in the near future, I can find a way to extract an Ancient Creature Bloodline with a certain degree of purity, then enhance that purity through synthesis, ultimately obtaining a viable Three-Eyed Tiger Eye Cat Bloodline.'
'If successful, this would greatly boost my combat capabilities. My physique would also improve, allowing me to use more Forbidden drugs. And my progress in archaeology could advance rapidly.'
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