Inside the dormitory, Locke placed both his left and right hands on the Golden Palace Legacy Branch and Little Diamond Jujube Pendant, simultaneously chanting the incantation to completely establish a mana grafting relationship with both.

From the two powerful magical plants rose abnormal magic pressure, strange and variable, with complex spirituality, attempting to resist Locke's establishment of a mana grafting relationship with them.

But suddenly, the spirituality of the Ancient Life Tree seedling appeared behind Locke. With this spirituality's enhancement, he used his magic pressure of 9100 and amplified it through the Fierce Beast panel to the First Circle limit value, then forcibly established a mana grafting relationship with the two magical plants and incorporated them into the distributed psychic network.

Locke breathed lightly. "Worthy of being luxury magical plants among the First Circle. Wanting to establish a mana grafting relationship with them is indeed difficult. I have the Fierce Beast identity and the Ancient Life Tree seedling, yet it's still so arduous. If it were an ordinary plant wizard, I estimate it would take at least a year to imprint soul marks on these two magical plants."

However, this way, the two luxury magical plants became Locke's left and right arms, responding to his commands like extensions of his own body.

At the same time, the two powerful tree magical plants floated in mid-air, with Locke as the core, and began constructing the spell model for Peach Bow Thorn Arrow.

A complex magic array appeared beneath Locke's feet.

Peach Bow Thorn Arrow was actually a type of semi-ritual magic. The reason it was "semi" was because in the era when it first appeared, ritual magic didn't even exist yet.

Ritual magic had drawn inspiration from ancient magics like Peach Bow Thorn Arrow.

'Peach Bow Thorn Arrow needs to establish a connection with the spirituality of ancient human tribal leaders from this land who blazed trails through difficulties and cut through thorns, and borrow the power of civilization's flame from them. So throughout this entire process, I must maintain focus at all times, cannot be distracted in the slightest, and absolutely cannot generate negative emotions. Otherwise, under magical backlash, I'll be in great danger.'

Locke thought, 'Fortunately, Little Diamond Jujube Pendant possesses the [Death Substitution] ability. This is a core function that even permanent defensive fields don't have.'

In this kind of magical backlash, a wizard's permanent defensive field was like an eggshell. It could easily resist attacks from outside, but in this kind of self-backlash from inside out, the effectiveness of the permanent defensive field would drastically decrease.

Of course, it couldn't be completely useless.

At least it wouldn't let the wizard self-destruct so easily.

At this moment, a mysterious magic array appeared beneath Locke's feet. It was an array of dozens of polygons nested together, and inside the array were three patterns: flames, a knife, and a seed.

The Golden Palace Legacy Branch and Little Diamond Jujube Pendant automatically flew into the array, undertaking the bridge to summon the spirituality of ancient tribal leaders and establish a connection with them.

During this process, Locke entered an extremely focused state. In this state, Locke even had a kind of distorted perception of time.

But just as Locke wanted to analyze the principle and mechanism of this distorted perception, the next moment, magical backlash came one after another, like a violent river crashing inside his body. Myst's Power and Life Heavy Armor on his body appeared successively with the help of the Hydra magical plant he carried with him.

Little Diamond Jujube Pendant dropped a portion of its fast-growing branches.

The magic array beneath his feet also disappeared.

Locke frowned. "I only subconsciously wanted to analyze that special state. This instinctive analysis actually caused me to suffer magical backlash. But all wizards, when encountering unknown phenomena, would probably remember, analyze, or react slightly to some degree."

No wonder Peach Bow Thorn Arrow had such a high danger level and was gradually being phased out.

"It's also because my own thoughts were chaotic just now," Locke thought. "I may have misunderstood Peach Bow Thorn Arrow's requirement for focus. Whether it's ordinary meditation methods or advanced meditation methods, the so-called focus they require is for me to simulate the spirituality of some kind of power, which means I'm actually still thinking."

"Not only thinking, but also thinking with high concentration, and the content of the thoughts is extremely complex."

He had learned two meditation methods in total.

The Ancient Life Tree meditation method made his mana fluctuations like those of an ancient Ancient Life Tree treant, while the Nature meditation method made his magic pressure fluctuations approach the great World Tree.

But Peach Bow Thorn Arrow required him to completely not think. Even focusing on thinking about content was not allowed.

"It's probably about emptying the mind," Locke thought. "Making my brain completely not think about anything."

"No, it's not that simple. When emptying the mind and stopping thought, there must be corresponding changes at my spirituality level and magic pressure level, entering a special state without waves or ripples."

Locke thought of the Peach Bow Thorn Arrow literature he had read. "This is what the literature called the Blank State. At the time, I didn't quite understand why stopping thought was a blank state, but now it seems the true meaning is that my spirituality enters a blank state. Only this way can I connect with the spirituality of ancient tribal leaders and borrow the special power of civilization's flame from them."

"Let Little Diamond Jujube Pendant and Golden Palace Legacy Branch carry the power of civilization's flame. This way, I can use a spell that exceeds the theoretical maximum damage value of the First Circle, Peach Bow Thorn Arrow!"

If the War Spear of the Ancient War Tree could produce the highest upper limit of damage output at the First Circle stage when magic pressure conditions were met, then Peach Bow Thorn Arrow could break through this upper limit.

The reason was simple. This magic had Second Circle characteristics and could link with the spirituality of ancient tribal leaders, achieving damage that ordinary First Circle wizards couldn't produce with their own magic pressure alone.

Moreover, if Locke's Peach Bow Thorn Arrow was successfully constructed, it could use the Golden Palace Legacy Branch and Little Diamond Jujube Pendant. These two magical plants themselves could also borrow the spirituality of the Fire Element Emperor and Phoenix, as well as that trace of diamond spirituality inside the Second Circle level treasure, Diamond Witch Stone.

That is, the damage of Peach Bow Thorn Arrow would reach an incredible level.

But most importantly, Locke sensed that the true purpose of this magic was probably not to fight against people.

Rather, in ancient times, it was a spell that wizards learned in advance specifically for breaking through barriers in order to breakthrough to Second Circle wizard.

This function was very likely later considered by wizards to have been completely replaced by ritual magic, which might be why Peach Bow Thorn Arrow was no longer studied.

But Witch Yekaterina believed that he still needed to learn Peach Bow Thorn Arrow and could gain something different from learning ritual magic.

Of course, strictly speaking, Witch Yekaterina was already quite old. Locke couldn't figure out whether she had a bias toward Peach Bow Thorn Arrow or truly believed Peach Bow Thorn Arrow had unique advantages.

In any case, most First Circle crystallization wizards of this era, especially those First Circle crystallization wizards outside Cloud Marsh Wetland, indeed hadn't understood the true purpose of ritual magic.

Then it was also possible that many wizards hadn't realized the purpose of Peach Bow Thorn Arrow.

Locke said, "I should still follow the study plan that the Throne Wizard arranged for me. This is the right path."

"First arranging for me to contract with the Emerald Dream plane and letting me perceive the purpose of ritual magic, now arranging for me to learn Peach Bow Thorn Arrow, having me learn the key prerequisite for studying advanced meditation methods."

Locke said, "It's truly so thorough. Sure enough, my judgment to come to Golden Crown Mountain and follow Witch Yekaterina was correct. I wonder if other Golden Crown Mountain researchers receive the same treatment. They probably do... Witch Yekaterina spent a very long time helping Witch Mason sign the contract with the Ancient Sky Phantom Realm."

"Tutoring cooperative wizards and helping them walk the path to Second Circle seems to be one of Witch Yekaterina's responsibilities itself. This point is like me helping Williams and Gregor become official wizards."

Locke studied Peach Bow Thorn Arrow for a while longer, constantly making himself enter the special state that could meet the learning requirements of Peach Bow Thorn Arrow.

In continuously connecting with the spirituality of unknown existences, Locke seemed to see that on the ancient vast earth, ancient tribal leaders held torches in their left hands and machetes in their right hands, practicing slash-and-burn agriculture and spreading the flame of civilization.

That was an ignorant period when humans had not yet discovered magic, and also a period when a seed had just broken through the soil and sprouted, possessing the greatest degree of future potential.

Locke connected with their spirituality. In this special state, his understanding of plant magic inexplicably began to increase.

Under the illumination of civilization's flame, even the existing knowledge in his mind began to automatically reconstruct, constantly bringing forth the new from the old, generating new knowledge.

However, after ten minutes, the magic array had already collapsed.

"Three hours..." Locke said. "To complete this magic for the first time, I need to maintain the array ritual for at least three hours. That is, enter a state where my mind has no thoughts whatsoever and my spirituality enters a blank state for three hours."

"Moreover, I've discovered another thing, entering a blank state of spirituality is to link with the spirituality of ancient existences, but when I enter a blank state, it's also easy for others to take advantage of the opening."

"If I encounter nightmare creatures or disc beings, that would be troublesome. However, fortunately, I have the spirituality of Little Diamond Jujube Pendant, Forest Sanctuary, Ancient Life Tree seedling, and Golden Palace Legacy Branch. These spiritualities can prevent anything from taking advantage of the opening."

"Moreover, I can borrow from ritual magic's magic circle." Locke's current thinking had been strengthened by civilization's flame, making his thoughts clearer and following a certain intuition from the depths. "Ritual magic is composed of multiple parts. Each part is the result of many years of research by high-circle wizards from the Star Domain Sea. Those research results have become part of the wizards' magic level system."

"Although wizards still have much secret knowledge that they only teach their own students, and even keep some things back from their students. But among higher circle wizards, it seems many wizards pursue having their research results enter the wizards' power level system."

"Therefore, we young wizards can even enjoy the benefits brought by those high-circle wizards' research results. Moreover, this civilization's flame seems to greatly enhance my thinking. It's not that it makes me smarter, but it makes my ability to find key points more acute."

Locke suspected this was one of the main reasons Witch Yekaterina had him learn Peach Bow Thorn Arrow.

At this time, it was already the afternoon of the second day.

Locke decided to pause for now. Moreover, he had continuously suffered magical backlash and was physically and mentally exhausted. Little Diamond Jujube Pendant also needed a certain amount of time and magical energy to self-recover those lost fast-growing branches.

He first returned to the public laboratory and exchanged information about his project progress with Witch Mason and the others, discovering that the action pathway mechanisms between the 26 types of air bromeliad magical plants and the reproductive power of magical creatures had all been analyzed once.

At the same time, six types of natural unknown mana structures had also been analyzed, and the foundation funding had basically been spent.

Locke discussed with them the experimental process for Type 2 Tyrant Element. They would do the other miscellaneous experiments, while he would go to the Feathered Serpent Pavilion to borrow the Queen's Chessboard.

Next, Locke found Gregor and Williams, inquiring about their magic pressure improvement progress, competition preparation matters, and Williams's situation with the potion relay race school team.

At the workstation, Williams smiled cleverly at Locke. "Thank you for your concern, Teacher. I'm doing very well in the school team. The wizard leading the team thinks I'm performing well."

"She believes my theoretical foundational knowledge is solid. I told her this is all thanks to your teaching."

Williams said with some pride, "The school team instructor has decided to let me represent our Golden Crown Mountain in the potion relay race on Sports Festival day."

The potion relay race wasn't about refining potions, but rather about having groups of six first-class wizard apprentice potion master assistants who, during the competition process, had to choose a potion from among many unlabeled potions to drink. However, a batch of poison had been mixed into these potions.

So the so-called potion relay race was a competition testing the eyesight of potion masters. Of course, there were also unorthodox methods, such as using poison resistance to forcibly compensate for insufficient identification ability.

Golden Crown Mountain's Sports Festival was not only an internal festival but also invited most wizard organizations near Golden Crown Mountain, inviting their wizard apprentices and even official wizards to participate in sports competitions.

The so-called sports competitions in Cloud Marsh Wetland were basically strongly linked to commerce and politics.

Through the Sports Festival held once a year, Golden Crown Mountain could strengthen the cohesion of students and official wizards within the academy, allow some wizards to take the opportunity to work on projects, and also bring in nearby small and medium wizard organizations to demonstrate Golden Crown Mountain's dominance!

Essentially, this was a collective activity by Golden Crown Mountain for the various major wizard academies nearby.

Even when Golden Crown Mountain wanted to target a certain wizard academy, they could indirectly boycott that wizard academy by not inviting them to participate.

Of course, for Golden Crown Mountain, hosting the Sports Festival also seemed to earn special sponsorship from the White Wizard Association headquarters. The White Wizard Association headquarters was always happy to see this kind of thing happen.

Similarly, those small wizard organizations would very likely also associate participating in Sports Festival competitions with obtaining specific resources or better recruitment resources.

Therefore, after Locke reviewed the information about Golden Crown Mountain's Sports Festival, he finally understood why when Williams joined a school team initially, an ordinary Second Circle wizard had actually gone to Witch Yekaterina to complain.

It was really because the Sports Festival was a holiday far more meaningful and important than holidays like True Love Festival that only existed for commerce.

Behind this festival were even issues involving resource allocation quotas for wizard secret realms and resource distribution problems among the academy's upper echelons.

Sports were a variant of war, a place where major wizard academies competed for resource dominance in a region.

Black wizards needed to obtain resources through war and destruction, while white wizards always avoided meaningless destruction and hoped to become richer through war, so they found a new form of war, sports.

Even hosting sports competitions, the various major wizard academies participating in this alternative war might be able to make some money.

Essentially, the Cloud Marsh Cup competition back then was also a form of 'war.'

It was just that wizards transferred their own war onto those two vassal civilizations, the Mekani people and Sureyas people.

Locke nodded at Gregor and Williams. "That's good then. Work hard. I'll have relatively few matters on my end recently, until I pass the Tier 2 funding and obtain Tier 1 funding."

"So you need to make good use of this spare time and quickly produce competition entries."

"Gregor, this is a new problem I'm giving you. Williams, after observing your work, I found your work has some defects, so I've specially found a book list for you."

"If you two follow my problems and the book list I've provided, you'll be able to discover for yourselves the flaws in the breeding works you're currently designing. This will be more efficient than me directly telling you the flaws."

"You'll also be able to learn from it."

Williams said with pleasant surprise, "Thank you, Teacher. Your teaching method seems different from other official wizards."

Locke thought of Witch Sophia. Witch Sophia also rarely directly taught him anything, only giving him problems and providing book lists.

Locke said, "I'm just using a teaching method that's more friendly to intelligent people."

Gregor said somewhat uncertainly, "Teacher? I also count as an intelligent person?"

Williams glared at him.

Locke said, "Alright, you two can go now."

Locke left the public breeder laboratory, but didn't immediately head to the Feathered Serpent Pavilion. Instead, he first went to his staff dormitory and found Schneider, who was temporarily staying in his staff dormitory and writing articles for him.

Schneider lowered his head somewhat guiltily, not daring to make eye contact with Locke. "I'm sorry, Lord Augustine."

"After working on it for a month, recently only one article about the action mechanism pathway of Big Yellow Duck Bromeliad and one about Big Black Diamond Bromeliad entered the Tier 2 journal 'Environment and Plants.'"

"The other two articles were both rejected."

Locke frowned, not expecting such a thing to happen.

When he found Schneider to write articles, he took the corresponding author position, then gave the first authorship and second authorship to Gregor and Williams respectively.

Although they themselves didn't know it.

Mainly, it was just a Tier 2 journal. If he gave his colleagues and friends a Tier 2 first authorship, others might fall out with him.

Even Daniel, if he inexplicably had an extra Tier 2 first authorship, would probably feel uncomfortable about it.

Moreover, if he casually added names, attracting the attention of the Ethics Review Committee and Academic Committee, that would be troublesome.

As for Gregor and Williams, in many of his experiments, they had at least done some miscellaneous work.

So giving them authorship wasn't a big problem.

Locke had Schneider hand over those rejection opinion letters.

After reading through a pile of rejection opinion letters sent by journal editors to his residence, Locke finally understood what had happened.

This had nothing to do with Schneider's own ability to organize data and write articles, nor was it related to the quality of the key experimental data he had produced.

The problem lay with himself.

To be precise, it lay with him being the corresponding author.

When he previously submitted articles, the corresponding author name he used was always Witch Yekaterina, so he had completely failed to notice this problem before.

"It's because I'm only a researcher at the Origin Academy and don't have a senior teaching position, so when I act as the corresponding author, the three reviewer wizards responsible for peer review have some bias based on qualifications."

After all, journal peer review was work that couldn't possibly use too many resources to perform repetitive verification for you. Being able to find a few peers to review was already good.

Then in this situation, to ensure the quality of the journal, reviewers would inevitably adopt some a priori ideas.

For example, articles with high-circle wizards as corresponding authors would definitely have quality assurance and were unlikely to involve data fabrication.

Although these ideas were very unfair to young First Circle wizards, they were indeed based on certain objective reasons.

Of course, there were also some non-objective reasons, which might be that young First Circle wizards had lower academic standing and could be allowed to make way for some articles with Second Circle wizard and Third Circle wizard corresponding author names.

When he previously used Witch Yekaterina as the corresponding author for his articles, it was equivalent to borrowing a portion of Witch Yekaterina's academic standing and identity status.

Therefore, when submitting to various journals, he could be seen first by those peer review editors and receive serious treatment and trust from the peer reviewer wizards invited by the editors.

But when he acted as the corresponding author himself, the situation was completely different.

So the reason why only two of the four Tier 2 submissions could pass was because his academic standing was currently relatively low.

The reason two of his articles could pass was probably because he was lucky and happened to encounter three reviewer wizards who didn't have too much reverence for qualifications, so they let him pass.

Among them was also the fact that Big Yellow Duck Bromeliad was related to the brand new natural mana structure component inside Big Yellow Duck Crown Bromeliad that he had published in the Tier 1 journal "Green Grass Cloud Marsh," so the related article on Big Yellow Duck Bromeliad, because it had the endorsement of a Tier 1 journal, gave the editor, chief editor, and the three reviewer wizards more reason and confidence to let that related article of his pass a mere Tier 2 journal.

"Environment and Plants" was also a top-tier plant science journal within Tier 2 in Cloud Marsh Wetland, so the entire mechanism responsible for peer review would be relatively fair.