At the banquet, there were even First Circle wizards who were still in the southeastern quadrant but held teaching positions at other wizard academies, and they were very interested in several of Locke's projects.

A First Circle wizard currently serving as a "Lecturing Mage" at Four Seasons Garden, a witch whose entire body's skin had already turned green, Christine, actively walked up to Locke and used her eyes to signal the first-class wizard apprentices surrounding Locke to temporarily step back.

Christine nodded to Locke, "Junior, our Four Seasons Garden has recently been engaged in a wizard war with a black wizard organization called the Bone Court. I'm very interested in several of your projects."

"However, I'm most interested in the Crystal Palm Fire Lotus. I want to purchase 2,000 Crystal Palm Fire Lotus plants from you first. If possible, we can sign the contract right now."

"Let's first sign an external order worth ten thousand magic stones. If they work well, I'll issue even more orders to you on behalf of Four Seasons Garden."

Unlike those First Circle wizards, Christine had actually come in person.

Locke had noticed earlier that Christine was different from the other First Circle wizards, most of whom treated her with a relatively cold attitude.

It was probably because, even though Christine was a First Circle wizard within Wizard Halen Vera's network, she should have been just an obscure student before.

Her mana among First Circle wizards should be considered relatively low.

Therefore, unlike those First Circle wizards who had a relatively serious attitude toward him, Christine's attitude toward him was much more equal.

She was also the only one who had actively proposed purchasing a magical plant order from Locke right now.

The other First Circle wizards were either far from the southeastern quadrant in person, or were still observing.

Locke said to Christine, "Sure, Senior Christine, let's sign the order then. But I need some time to restart the magical fields for the Crystal Palm Fire Lotus, at least three months. Senior, is that acceptable?"

Christine curved her lips in a smile, "Of course, we're both breeders, I understand the rules."

"I've seen the battle records of your Crystal Palm Fire Lotus before. The lava conduit phenomenon can significantly increase the power of the Crystal Palm Fire Lotus when used in large quantities, creating a synergistic effect."

"Plus, spells like Scorched Earth Bomb are universal plant-type spells, and most wizards in our Four Seasons Garden can use them too."

"Now, I'm very much looking forward to seeing how your magical plant performs in the wizard war against the Bone Court."

The other First Circle wizards were also secretly paying attention. Some of them were not without needs, it was just that Locke was only a first-class wizard apprentice after all, so they were still observing and considering.

Since Christine had actively become this tester, they could completely decide whether to place orders with Locke by observing the results of Christine's purchase.

Besides, Locke's production capacity was obviously limited at present, and his team hadn't been assembled yet. Even if they placed orders, they would have to wait a year or two, so no one was in a hurry.

Everyone gained much from this first student gathering in thirty years and Locke was the biggest beneficiary of this gathering. By attending one party, he got orders and also found sources for personnel.

Locke thought of something and asked Halen Vera tentatively, "Teacher Halen, I want to apply for a medium-sized botanical garden."

"It's just that I've applied several times before, and it's been stuck going through the process with no movement at all."

Halen Vera looked at Locke with surprise. "Locke, you still don't have a medium-sized botanical garden?"

Wizard Anthony took a sip of wizard wine and laughed, "What, Teacher, Lilith's Cottage has been around for so many years, how can it still be this way about resource allocation? For a breeding genius like Junior Locke to still not have his own medium-sized botanical garden after all this time."

A trace of displeasure flashed across Halen Vera's face, and this displeasure was directed at Senior Advisor Francis. "Francis, that person, you all know, he's been so stingy from the beginning, and stupid too."

"Locke..." Halen Vera tapped the table with his fingers continuously. "Rest assured, I will immediately have the academy leadership approve a medium-sized botanical garden for you."

"Rest assured, I'm behind you."

Locke hesitated for a moment, then said to Halen Vera, "Teacher Halen, I heard that a formal wizard's son in the academy also wants to apply for a medium-sized botanical garden recently. And a wizard academy can only apply to the White Wizard Association once every three years for medium-sized botanical gardens."

"If I apply now, I'll have to cut in line ahead of that formal wizard's son."

Halen Vera raised an eyebrow, "Oh, Locke, you mean the useless son of that Wizard Koen Chamberlain who just joined Lilith's Cottage."

At the banquet, some First Circle wizards showed expressions of understanding, and Formal Wizard Anthony even let out a slight laugh. "Don't misunderstand, Junior, I'm not mocking you. I'm mocking that ridiculous formal wizard's son..."

"A mere formal wizard's son..."

"Locke, look, at this banquet, how many formal wizards are there in total! A mere formal wizard's son wants to compete with you for resources? Hahaha... This is truly ridiculous."

Wizard Anthony's phantom came over, patted Locke's shoulder, and said, "Locke, rest assured, as long as Teacher Halen Vera supports you, then at Lilith's Cottage, no one can snatch resources from your hands."

Halen Vera nodded with certainty. "One week, within one week I'll get your application for the medium-sized botanical garden approved."

"As for Koen Chamberlain's wastrel son." A flash of indifference and contempt passed through Halen Vera's eyes. "No one cares about him."

"I don't even care about Koen Chamberlain's feelings."

"I already felt that Lilith's Cottage had no need to introduce a wizard specializing in the beast-taming magic sub-direction of the Summoning School, establishing a magical discipline from scratch and consuming academy resources for nothing. But Francis is too greedy, he wants everything, and instead has lost focus on development."

"If Koen Chamberlain doesn't know better, he too can leave Lilith's Cottage."

The eyes of the First Circle wizards present all showed expressions of affirmation. Clearly, what Halen Vera said was a fact he could accomplish.

Locke felt the enormous benefits of becoming the star student of an academic clique.

Within this academic clique's network, a super genius could easily borrow tremendous power, such that even the son of an external First Circle wizard couldn't contend with this force.

Locke glanced around and unexpectedly discovered that Anglon seemed to also be on the invitation list for this banquet. It was just that Anglon had been hiding in a corner of the banquet without showing himself, so he hadn't noticed him before.

At this moment, Anglon's gaze toward him was full of fear, unease, anxiety, and self-doubt.

After Anglon made eye contact with Locke, he fell into enormous anxiety, so much so that he gripped his wine glass tightly. 'He actually became the teacher's student, became my fellow disciple!'

'The teacher held a banquet for him of a caliber that even I never had.'

'Does the teacher value him this much!'

'He can even chat and laugh with so many formal wizards, and upon joining, immediately became the center here. Then in the future, will there still be a place for me? I should have been the focus of all this.'

Anglon tried to strike up a conversation with Halen Vera, but Halen Vera, who had always valued him greatly in the past, now had no time to talk with him at all, and his attitude toward him had become much more casual.

This made Anglon's sense of crisis become even more severe.

Anglon looked at Kali Ackerman beside him, who was looking at Locke with admiring eyes, and felt as if struck by lightning. In that instant, he felt he had suffered a serious betrayal.

'This is betrayal. I should be the center of your attention, not that stupid, ridiculous Locke Augustine. Is he really better than me! No, I want to be first, I want to be first, I want Teacher Halen Vera to look at me with appreciative and satisfied eyes like before.'

Anglon's heart raged wildly. 'I can't admit defeat. It would be great if Locke Augustine could disappear, but I definitely can't beat him...'

'He's even better at fighting than black wizards, and now his mana isn't much less than mine!'

Anglon had originally harbored murderous intent, but at this moment he remembered the Eye Demon reputation Locke had built up before, and all extreme thoughts in his heart immediately vanished completely. Now he could only think about competing fairly with Locke.

'I want to surpass him in producing results!! I don't believe I'm inferior to him.'