Chapter 442: Yunze Cup Private Group
Locke exchanged a few simple words with them before returning to his suite in the White Dragon Tower. Lately, a swarm of people had been bothering him, trying to shove their students or even themselves into his research group.
Even just walking through the corridors of the White Dragon Tower, there were plenty of wizards greeting him, attempting to leave an impression on him.
Locke was incredibly annoyed by this.
In the end, he simply used the Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow and walked around with the Mind School spell, [Dragon Might], active.
Regardless, for Botany wizards, wearing some sort of decorative magic plant on their backs or heads was a very common sight.
This way, let alone apprentices, even the One-Ring Wizards within the White Dragon Tower were few and far between who could stand before him; most One-Ring Wizards couldn't even get within ten meters of him.
Because as soon as they approached, they had to endure the Mind School's First Ring spell, [Dragon Might], and were constantly under mental suppression.
Only then did Locke finally get some peace and quiet.
Once Locke returned to his suite and entered the potion room to prepare for a new round of practice with the Main Brain Control Potion, the grey mist slate suddenly manifested before him without being summoned.
Locke frowned because the grey mist slate was entwined with the fibrous roots of a water hyacinth-like magic plant, and the roots were cyan.
A water hyacinth was wrapped around his grey mist slate.
Locke recognized where that water hyacinth came from. When he had previously read a large amount of materials related to the Yunze Cup, he had seen the unique magic plants of the Yunze Wetland. Naturally, he could recognize that this water hyacinth came from the Yunze Wetland and was named [Cyan Mist Silk].
Its main body was like transparent gauze silk, capable of absorbing moisture and transforming it into a type of healing mist. Any lake surface where it appeared was bound to be shrouded in mist, a sight of incomparable beauty.
But it was said that the mist emitted by the Cyan Mist Silk was more than just a simple healing agent.
The grey mist covering the grey mist slate quickly turned cyan.
A line of text appeared on the grey mist slate—[Hello, Yunze Cup contestant Mr. Locke Augustine. Please do not be angry. I am a staff member of the Yunze Cup Organizing Committee from Bonifacius University in the Yunze Wetland. I have simply used the unique water hyacinth network of the Yunze Wetland to connect to the Nigward Astrology System of your Southeast Corner Region.]
[The various wizard lands are far apart, and for certain reasons, the communication systems of the various wizards are not interconnected. Therefore, we can only use some 'grey area' methods to contact the Breeders participating in the finals.]
[Next, I can add you to our Yunze Cup finalists' private group. This group will continue to exist even after I release the spell.]
[This is achieved by using our Yunze Wetland's water hyacinth network—scientific name 'Floating Pith Whispers'—to connect to the association-level communication facilities of your respective wizard lands. We can link the Letter Paper Network of the Six Towers Land, the Nigward Astrology System of the Southeast Corner Region, the Thunder Cloud Network of the Leize Lowlands, and other communication systems together through the water hyacinth network. By using Prophecy School methods, we allow you to join the same group using your respective communication systems.]
[You may choose to accept or refuse. If you refuse, we will attempt to notify you of tournament matters through other means, such as sending letters, though that may take more time than notifications in the private group.]
Locke thought for a moment and then typed a line on his grey mist slate—Agree.
Soon, a group automatically appeared on the interface of the grey mist slate.
A line of text appeared on the contact interface of the grey mist slate—[Welcome to the Yunze Cup finals private group. You may contact us in the group if you have any questions.]
Locke saw that there were currently twelve people in the group, including ten main participants, one staff member from the Organizing Committee, and one wizard who had not made it into the finals.
This wizard posted a regretful emoji in the group, followed by a message—[It's a pity I didn't make it to the finals. I will participate in the next Yunze Cup.]
In the next moment, he took the initiative to leave the private group.
Meanwhile, the others in the Yunze Cup private group didn't pay him any mind and instead sent a barrage of messages—
[Has that genius Breeder from the Six Towers Land finally joined the group?]
[What a rare guest. I haven't seen a Breeder from the Six Towers Land for a long time.]
Staff Member: [Yes, because the Six Towers Land has always been quite reclusive, it was difficult to contact them before. It took us a long time to finally find Wizard Augustine's contact information.]
[I guess they didn't expect a team from the Six Towers Land to make the finals, so they weren't prepared to pull them into the private group at first. When the tournament process was being notified earlier, the wizards from the Six Towers Land weren't in the group, so they probably missed everything. You guys likely didn't expect that even so, they could still make it to the finals.]
Locke looked at the person who sent such a long string of messages. He seemed to be a wizard from the Hui Ming Borderland named Alaric.
He primarily researched gold-attribute magic plants, and the tactical magic plant project he proposed this time was also a gold magic plant—the Golden Apple Treant.
From their conversation, he realized that this private group had actually existed for a long time.
It seemed that previously, the main person in charge of every wizard team that entered the first round of the main competition had been pulled in.
This private group's name was probably only changed in the last few days.
Locke felt a bit sheepish; it turned out he had never received the notifications from the Organizing Committee.
"But it really doesn't affect my participation in the competition," Locke thought as he sat on a stool in the bedroom. "The records of past Yunze Cups are available for research."
"I can write a project proposal based on past competition data; the core principles remain the same."
"Sometimes knowing too much information is useless. It's better to bury one's head and work hard based on the available data."
Locke looked at the private group, preparing to close it. After all, he was very busy. Unexpectedly, that Wizard Alaric from the Hui Ming Borderland suddenly @'ed him and asked: "Wizard Augustine, I looked at your project proposal. How is that magic plant you designed based on the Eternal Defense Field doing? Is there a prototype yet?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Locke instantly became alert. This was scouting for enemy intel.
The other party was clearly testing his progress to judge how much of a threat he was.
Locke suspected that at this moment, more than one contestant wizard was staring at this private group.
Right, this fellow Alaric seemed to be in fifth place, while he was in sixth. Naturally, Alaric was very concerned about him.
At the same time, the fourth-place contestant in the group, Wizard Karel Knight from the Leize Lowlands, also @'ed him. "When I read your project proposal, I felt that Wizard Augustine was a very imaginative wizard. I just wonder how the progress of this magic plant is currently?"
"I'm quite interested."
Locke suddenly felt a bit speechless; both the fifth and fourth-place contestants were "old silver coins."
Meanwhile, the first, second, and third-place contestants hadn't said a word. Were they really not paying attention, or were they acting as "lurkers"?
Locke pondered for a moment. Replying with any information might reveal his current experimental progress, and these two were clearly very concerned about it.
After all, his project proposal's ranking was low largely because the team's past track record was insufficient and the research topic was too difficult.
But if his current experimental progress was good, then everything would be different.
'Better not talk too much in a group full of competitors,' Locke thought. 'If I don't open my mouth, even the gods will find it hard to make a move.'
Locke simply sent two emojis.
Immediately, Wizard Alaric and Wizard Karel Knight appeared quite disappointed.
Wizard Alaric said: "Another one who keeps his mouth shut. No one has been talking in the group lately. Could it be that everyone's experimental progress is going well and you're all about to produce finished products?"
Wizard Karel Knight replied in the group: "How could it be that fast? Don't forget, a few days ago, the tenth-place research group team almost fell apart because various well-connected people were being shoved in. He hasn't spoken in the group for the past few days; he's probably having a headache."
"It's only the first month since the finals began. Every day after this will become more and more of an ordeal. The pressure of time, results that aren't perfect enough, resources starting to run low, and morale wavering within the research group."
"This is only the first month. It will only get harder to endure. Alaric, stop hanging around the group all day scouting for news. If you have the time, you might as well go do a few more sets of experiments yourself.