In the research institute's corridor, Locke retrieved the Great Green Owl Banana from his Astral Ring. This Magic Plant had only a pair of banana leaves, with its trunk shriveled and reduced to the size of a palm. Numerous aerial roots resembling ginseng tendrils protruded from it, continuously absorbing energy from the air.
Locke sprinkled some Advanced Nutrient Solution onto the roots of the Great Green Owl Banana. During combat, Magic Plants often required nutrient solutions to maintain their condition. After all, as living organisms, though their consciousness was grafted into his Mana, they still needed nutrients to sustain their functions.
Next, Locke activated Flight Mimicry: Raptor. The pair of Great Green Owl Banana leaves on his back automatically sensed changes in air currents, adjusting their orientation. The broad, overlapping banana leaves transformed into raptor-like wings, propelling the airflow and allowing Locke to swiftly glide forward.
Simultaneously, Locke controlled two Grave Spirits. Taking advantage of his increased base movement speed—a trait the Grave Spirits also shared when not possessing others—he directed them to scout for enemies ahead.
As he flew, Locke held the Magic Painting Map, observing his relative position to avoid numerous enemies and Magical Traps along the way.
Approximately twenty minutes later, Locke traversed the institute's tunnels and arrived before a seemingly ordinary corridor that was, in reality, riddled with invisible Curse Magic Traps. The tunnel was adorned with numerous upside-down beast-head ornaments, each concealing powerful Curse Magic. The most insidious aspect was that these Curse Formulas were hidden—ordinary Wizards would mistake this for just another mundane passageway.
However, Locke's proficiency in the Moduo Language allowed him to accurately detect every concealed Magical Trap here.
"Given my current magical abilities, dismantling these traps would be far too difficult—almost impossible," Locke mused while hovering mid-air. "The only solution is to use flight-based plant magic to bypass this corridor. Fortunately, during my time at Lilith's Cottage, I noticed this passage and spent half a day calculating the exact time needed to fly through it."
"If my assumptions are correct, this corridor was likely used by those Black Wizards to isolate some dangerous experimental subject. I wonder what lies beyond. Senior Albert must have had terrible luck to be randomly teleported here."
After a moment of consideration, Locke concluded, "The base speed of the Great Green Owl Banana still isn't safe enough. But I've prepared a contingency."
From his Astral Ring, he retrieved a disposable Low-level Demonic Item—a Wind Orb. Though these items had limited effects, they were cheap, costing only 1 Magic Stone each.
And as luck would have it, this one could synergize perfectly with his rare Magic Plant, the Great Green Owl Banana.
He crushed the wind elemental pearl, and immediately a gentle breeze surged forward through the corridor of the research institute. The leaves of the Great Green Owl Banana, which had transformed into the nocturnal magical creature—the raptor—automatically adjusted their angles once more to adapt to the airflow changes, optimizing their aerodynamic structure.
Then, Locke gathered his strength briefly before violently flapping his wings, now mimicked as those of a magical raptor. An invisible ripple of air formed behind him as he shot forward with tremendous speed.
Locke became a blur, darting through the corridor.
Simultaneously, the eyes of all the beast heads lining the corridor lit up with a crimson glow. Cursed rays shot out from these inverted heads.
Each time, Locke narrowly avoided the cursed rays. But if even one struck him, he would be immediately knocked down, and all the rays would converge upon him, cursing him to death in an instant.
Yet as time passed, Locke's speed didn't decrease—instead, it increased.
Gradually, he began to pull away from the cursed rays.
Three minutes later, sweat poured down Locke's forehead as he successfully traversed the long corridor.
He took out a bottle of Spirit Spring Soul Surge Potion, drank it, and began restoring his Mana.
To pass through this corridor of magical traps, he had burned through most of his Mana in a short time, which was why his speed had kept increasing, leaving the cursed rays unable to catch up.
Locke checked the Great Green Owl Banana on his back, confirming it was in good condition—no damage to its roots, stems, or leaves from the sudden influx of Mana.
"The quality of this Synthetic Magic Plant is excellent. If I could mass-produce it, I'd make a fortune."
"Breaking through to become a Formal Wizard requires accumulating vast amounts of magical resources. This could solve that problem. But first, I'd need to crack the challenge of mass-producing a rare magical plant."
Locke hovered in mid-air, scanning his surroundings.
After flying forward about two hundred meters, the true nature of the corridor behind the magical traps was revealed before him.
Locke's expression turned grave as he observed the magically sealed isolation chambers lining the corridor. "This... the Blood Curse Court. These lunatics are even more insane than I thought."
"So this is the so-called 'special project experiment.'"
Inside the high-level isolation chambers shielded by magical barriers were all kinds of wizard apprentices—from third-class to second-class, even first-class. Some were Dark wizard apprentices, others White Wizard apprentices captured from the battlefield.
All bore signs of severe magical modification.
Undoubtedly, the handiwork of the High-level Curse Master, Rasheed Tarir.
Moreover, their faces and hands showed traces of infection from tiny cursed organisms like Plague Cores and Curse Erosion Spores.
In some chambers, Locke even spotted specialized cultivation containers Rasheed Tarir used to preserve specific microscopic cursed organisms.
Hovering in the air, he looked down and saw a deep green river of strong acid at the corridor's base, leaving him no place to land. Likely another specialized containment system for these experimental subjects and materials.
Thankfully, he could fly.
Locke stopped before an isolation chamber filled with life-sized cultivation tanks, studying the diagrams on their surfaces. "An attempt to transform microscopic organisms invisible to the naked eye (biological entities slightly larger than magical structural components and Bloodline Factors in the microscopic realm) into miniature cursed creatures for Blood Curse transmission..."
"The greatest limitation of Curse Magic lies in its need for a transmission medium. Conventional Curse Magic requires physical contact or inflicted harm to spread its effects."
Understanding dawned on Locke. "But by using plague cores and Curse Erosion Spores modified from microorganisms, we can simultaneously fulfill both contact and harm requirements during transmission. Moreover, these possess rapid self-replication capabilities and strong adaptability to various Potions."
"The prototypes for these micro-cursed organisms must be the cursed entities from the Blood Crow Wasteland."
"Since Formal Wizards have begun researching the microscopic realm, the Blood Curse Tribunal started experimenting with the high transmissibility and adaptability of micro-cursed organisms to spread their Blood Curse Magic."
"Blood Curse Magic already possesses conceptual chain transmission properties. When combined with microorganisms' transmission and adaptation abilities..."
Locke raised his eyebrows. "No wonder this is the Blood Curse Tribunal's Special Research Project. Its completion could truly alter the course of wizard warfare."
"However, the Tribunal's luck seems rather poor. For my mentor Sophia to leave Lilith's Cottage, she must eliminate [Rasheed Tarir], which would inevitably destroy this special project."
"All their elaborate schemes will ultimately prove futile."
As Locke observed the preserved plague cores and Curse Erosion Spores modified by Curse Magic in the isolation chambers, an uncontrollable thought surfaced.
"What if I used these micro-cursed organisms created through Curse Magic to cultivate my Emerald Iris Lichen?"
"With its extraordinary adaptability, the lichen might evolve further through this process."
"But first, these microorganisms need plant infection capabilities." After searching thoroughly, Locke frowned. "Strange—none of the micro-cursed organisms here can infect Magic Plants. Even the Curse Erosion Spores modified from common magical plant fungi have had their plant infection abilities deliberately removed."
"Was this [Rasheed Tarir]'s doing? A precaution against Breeders exploiting these micro-cursed organisms?"
Frustration welled up in Locke—having just discovered a promising research direction, he was forced to abandon it almost immediately. He continued searching for any usable micro-cursed organisms.
"These all appear to be failed modifications. The successful specimens, or those nearing completion, must be in the institute's core laboratory. This place is merely a graveyard for failures."
Locke thought to himself: 'Perhaps if I reach the core laboratory, I'll find the micro-cursed organisms I need there.'
Locke continued flying forward, spotting White Wizard apprentices in some of the isolation chambers—clearly students from his own Lilith's Cottage.
Some of them tried to call out to Locke for help.
But he could only frown and leave helplessly, as these people were infected with far too many microscopic curse organisms that could spread to humans. If released, those tiny creatures might instantly infect him.
Though he had the Bear Spirit Emerald Bile Potion, there was no need to gamble.
His main priority now was to find Albert as quickly as possible.
Once Sophia the Witch killed [Rasheed Tarir], everyone here could be rescued as an afterthought—if necessary.
For now, the greater good took precedence. Besides, he had no personal ties to those in the isolation chambers—he didn't even know them.
As Locke flew midair, he suddenly froze. Ahead, in a high-level isolation chamber, there was actually a Formal Wizard!
At first, he thought it was a trick of the senses, but after repeatedly sensing it, he confirmed—a Formal Wizard with vast Magic Pressure was indeed ahead.
Locke flew closer. Unlike the other chambers, this one had simple furnishings, and the Formal Wizard sat on an exquisite chair, dressed in relatively neat and refined clothing.
This was a Formal Wizard who appeared as a young woman.
She looked even younger than Sophia the Witch—though Locke didn't actually believe this was her true age. Wizards had too many methods to preserve their youthful appearances.
Judging by her soul aura, she was likely over two hundred years old.
Meanwhile, Sophia the Witch's true age, even now, hadn't surpassed thirty.
From the neck down, this Formal Wizard's body was entirely stone, as if afflicted by an extremely powerful Curse. Only her head remained flesh and blood.
There were also traces of microscopic curse organisms parasitizing her, though not severely.
"No way… Rasheed Tarir actually captured a female Formal Wizard as one of his test subjects?" Locke's expression shifted subtly.
On one hand, this demonstrated Rasheed Tarir's strength. On the other, it showed just how important this Curse Formula Research Institute was to the Blood Curse Court.
Its significance far exceeded that of an ordinary Curse Formula Research Institute.
Locke carefully examined the emblem on the one-circle female wizard's clothing and muttered in surprise, "Raven Perch Troupe?"
"Isn't that the small wizard organization Code joined back then?"
"That organization only had one Formal Wizard, right? If even their Formal Wizard was captured… then what about Code…?"
Code was the first-tier talent Wizard Seedling who had formed a Secret Society with Patty and Locke on the Corfu Continent.
Back then, he had even started learning magic before Locke.
For the first half-year of their studies, his progress had been slightly faster than Locke's.
The one-circle female wizard from the Raven Perch Troupe seemed to have heard Locke's voice. She wearily opened her eyes, then looked at him in astonishment.
"A White Wizard?"
"You're from Lilith's Cottage?"
"How is this possible? You actually made it past Rasheed Tarir's surveillance to get here. Is this another trick to break my mental defenses?"
The First Circle Witch seemed hesitant to confirm Locke's identity, wavering between belief and doubt as she scrutinized him with a suspicious gaze.
Locke hesitated for a moment before offering her a simple courtesy. "Esteemed Formal Wizard, you don't appear to be from the Blood Curse Court."
"Are you a Wizard from the Raven Perch Troupe? I have a friend named Code—do you know his current whereabouts? Is he safe?"
The First Circle Witch from the Raven Perch Troupe narrowed her eyes slightly. "Code? That new recruit to our troupe?"
"He was likely killed or captured by the Blood Curse Court. I don't know for sure."
She eyed Locke with suspicion. "I was greedy and tried to steal Rasheed Tarir's treasure, only to find he had placed a Petrifying Blood Curse on it—anyone who touches it is doomed."
"Alas, I fell right into his hands. Whoever you are, you should flee while you can. Rasheed Tarir... he's no ordinary Wizard. He's a First Circle Wizard at the Vaporization stage, and his mastery of Curse Magic far exceeds anything I imagined."
"It's terrifying..."
"Young man, while you still have the ability to run, do everything you can to escape. I hope you make it out."
"If you do escape, could you search for any survivors from the Raven Perch Troupe? Though I have nothing to offer you in return..."
After exchanging a few more words with her and confirming he couldn't help lift a First Circle Petrifying Blood Curse, Locke decided to end the conversation. Finding Albert was the most urgent task now.
Locke muttered an incantation under his breath, and the Great Green Owl Banana—mimicking a Raptor on his back—flapped its wings violently, stirring the air as he shot forward.
This Curse Formula Research Institute was far more dangerous than he had anticipated. He could only hope his teacher truly had the means to kill Rasheed Tarir.
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