Wizard: Starting from the Skill Tree

He carefully rolled up the parchment and placed it along with the potion bottle into the Space Ring, then solemnly thanked Wilkinson.

"Don’t rush to thank me," Wilkinson said, pulling out another sheet of paper from the workbench and handing it over, with a rare smile on his face. It wasn’t a polite smile, but one of a craftsman who’s proud to see his work recognized, exhibiting a pride he couldn’t conceal. "This is the expense list, including details of raw material procurement and refining costs."

Duke took the list and his eyes jumped directly to the last line.

Over three billion Level 1 Magic Stones, covering all raw material procurement costs, research testing costs, and Wilkinson’s refining labor fees.

This figure for a custom-tailored Magic Potion is not only not expensive; it’s almost as if Wilkinson barely made a profit from him.

Just the procurement price for those Earth Element Rule Crystal Fragments wasn’t cheap.

Duke didn’t say much more; he simply folded the list and put it away in his pocket, then took out a Magic Stone Card from the Space Ring and placed it on the workbench.

Wilkinson picked up the Magic Stone Card, scanning the amount with Spiritual Power, and pulled out a drawer to keep it safe.

For him, this commission was quite worthwhile, completing an interesting subject while earning a bit of extra cash.

After Duke offered his respectful thanks, he no longer disturbed Wilkinson, as the materials commissioned by the Commerce Association were about to arrive.

The goods from the Commerce Association arrived in the following days.

The Giant Rock Commerce Association’s shipment was personally supervised by Harrison, with several large boxes of Basic Meditation Method Manuals, Magic Potion Introduction Manuals, and Spell Optimization Manuals neatly stacked in moisture-proof wooden crates. Each book’s cover was imbued with a simple Durability Rune to ensure long-term preservation even in relatively damp environments.

Along with the books, there were batches of Basic Magical Potion Materials and an Alchemy Tools Set. Everything from extraction bottles, distillers to standard ratio balance scales was included, enough for each of the Three Great Sects to establish a moderately scaled magic potion workshop.

The Star Dome Commerce Association’s materials arrived a day later, with each item accompanied by three different acceptance sheets, marked in Common Language, magical terminology, and the Star Dome Commerce Association’s internal encrypted code.

High-purity Elemental Crystals were sealed in independent constant temperature boxes, while the precision alchemy instruments were wrapped in layers of cushioning sponge, with warning labels "Handle With Care, Precision Instruments" covering the exterior box.

Duke meticulously checked and verified all the materials, ensuring accuracy before storing everything in the Light God Court, then headed to the Teleportation Hall.

The transfer from the Central Islands to Dusk City went smoothly, with the pale purple sky of the Flower Sea Plane still calm and gentle, and the boundless sea of flowers gently undulating in colorful waves in the breeze.

Duke didn’t linger at the manor but headed straight to the basement to check the operational status of the Witch Array.

He walked to the center of the teleportation point, channeling Spiritual Power into his palm, activating the Coordinates Earring.

A grayish-white light surged from the depths of the Spiritual Sea, the familiar sensation of being pulled enveloped his entire body, and the light and shadow before his eyes rapidly elongated and suddenly contracted.

The moment his feet touched the ground, the familiar dry air and the volcanic mineral scent unique to this place filled his nostrils.

As Duke pushed open the door, a beam of slanted sunlight from the high window at the end of the corridor cast a bright golden spot onto the obsidian floor.

In the distance, the orderly footsteps of the patrol and the crisp sound of chiseling tools from the Divine Hall construction site echoed faintly. The Light Sect was transforming the Fire Sect’s original Divine Hall into a joint archive. Workers had been busy on the scaffolding for several days, with the first layer of paint on the dome’s sun pattern glimmering in the sunlight.

The entire city was gradually awakening in the morning light.

Duke quickly sent out a message that he would convene another meeting with the Three Great Sects.

The meeting was scheduled for that afternoon, with the location remaining the top floor conference hall of the Central Tower.

The same long obsidian table that Augustus had split with a shot, the same circular room with volcanic glaze embedded in the walls, but this time the atmosphere in the conference hall was completely different from the previous meeting.

The three Great Mages arrived early with their respective retinues, Selena wearing a light blue ceremonial gown, the water pattern silver ornament on her bun glimmering softly in the glazed firelight.

Baroque still donned that heavy earth-yellow robe, but the cuffs and collar were clearly freshly ironed, the creases crisp.

Zephiris was still in his gray-white short robe, but as he entered, he unusually nodded in greeting to the guard at the entrance.

Dali and Robert were already seated on one side of the long table, each with a draft of the resource distribution list spread before them, discussing something in low tones.

After the group took their seats, instead of the silent standoff like last time, they exchanged some pleasantries.

Duke was the last to arrive, and upon arrival, he took out three folders tied with different colored ribbons from his Space Ring, and pushed them to the three Great Mages.

"These are the problems the three of you raised last time. I consulted the seniors over there, and the answers are all inside."

Selena took the folder tied with a water-blue ribbon, untied it, and drew out the illustrated parchment report.

Her gaze lingered on the title for a moment before swiftly scanning the text, reading faster and faster until she saw Cecil’s hand-drawn water cycle diagram.

Upon sensing the trace of rule power left by Cecil, her fingers suddenly paused.

Selena’s lips moved silently a few times, as if she were repeatedly contemplating the deeper meaning of a term.

Duke noticed her eyes slightly reddened, but it was just a momentary flicker, soon concealed by her usual composure.

Carefully, she drew out the cycle diagram and set it aside, then began to peruse the entire report from start to finish, reading each page meticulously, at times frowning, at times gently relaxing, as if having a silent dialogue with an absent mentor.

Baroque’s response was the most direct among the three.

After untying the earth-yellow ribbon, he first extracted the Secret Silver Potion Bottle and studied it closely in the glazed firelight.

The dark brown liquid within was thick as amber, with countless golden points slowly swirling inside, each rotation causing a faint halo on the bottle’s surface.

He leaned closer to the bottle, lightly touching its side with his sturdy fingertips, and sensed the warm, steady energy rhythm akin to the pulse of the earth, his pupils suddenly dilating.

Then he set the potion bottle down and, with slightly trembling fingers, turned to the potion release pathway explanation handwritten by Wilkinson.

Three-tiered potion release pathway: softening scars, dissolving residues, forming a protective membrane, each step’s timing pinpointed to the breath level, each method of administration accompanied by concise principle explanations.

Baroque paused when he reached the last page of the formula, where a simple magic circulation repair diagram was drawn, with the annotated node positions perfectly matching the sites of pain from his old injuries.

He looked at the diagram repeatedly, then slowly re-rolled the parchment, carefully placing it alongside the potion bottle back into the folder, as lightly as if laying a Holy Artifact in place.

Zephiris was the quietest in his reaction but read the longest.

Upon untying the gray-white ribbon, he found Cecil’s two-page analysis report and those two lines.

One marked as "Spell Syllable Sequence," the other a continuously undulating wave labeled "Wind Rule Network."

His fingers traced those two lines repeatedly, then turned to the second page and saw Cecil’s proposed solutions: to sense the rule’s changing trends in real-time via Spiritual Power during spell casting, making slight adjustments at the moment of magic release, allowing the caster to act as a living bridge connecting stable incantations and dynamic rules.

He silently stared at the first suggestion for a while before leaning back in his chair, the stream of air silently turning at his fingertip stopped without him noticing, yet a faint smile appeared on his lips.

Moments later, he sat up straight again, beginning to reread from the beginning, this time even slower, occasionally nodding slightly at certain paragraphs.

After the trio had broadly digested their reports, they all simultaneously looked up.

Selena folded her hands on her lap, slightly lowered her eyes, and softly spoke a sentence.

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