Chimera Trading Market, within Lijin Secret Language.

Under the invitation of Manager Yuri, whose expression was complex and tinged with awe, Locke headed to the highest-level VIP reception room located on the third floor of Lijin Secret Language.

At the reception room door, Locke paused briefly.

Although Lady Irina was waiting inside, now that he was already a formal wizard, he didn't need to be as constrained as during the apprentice stage, so lingering outside the door for a moment was harmless.

Moreover, Locke had detected something interesting from Yuri Burns, it was actually an abyssal energy aura.

If he hadn't become a formal wizard and reached the vaporization stage, with improved mental sensitivity, and deeply studied the relatively obscure potionology branch of abyssal potionology, Locke might not have been able to capture that fleeting abyssal energy aura.

Locke looked at Yuri Burns. "Manager Yuri, have you come into contact with abyssal creatures?"

Hearing Locke still call her manager, Manager Yuri seemed a bit constrained. With Locke becoming a formal wizard, the relationship between them couldn't be as casual as before.

Locke could not care, but she had to care about what others thought of her.

Thinking back four years ago, when she first met Locke, it was under the deck of a wizard ship.

At that time, Locke was just a third-class wizard apprentice, while she was a first-class wizard apprentice and a freshman mentor.

Back then, she hadn't even paid much attention to Locke. Instead, because of that deal with Virdantia University, she had been in an angry state. After these freshmen got off the ship, she hadn't been in the mood to give them the orientation she was supposed to do.

She had even received complaints about it.

With sighs and awe, Yuri said to Locke, "Lord Locke, just call me by my name."

Yuri spoke in a slightly aged voice, saying with confusion, "Lord Locke, I haven't come into contact with abyssal creatures. Abyssal creatures are very dangerous for wizard apprentices like us."

"Although I go out on academy missions quite often, I usually don't go to such dangerous places."

Locke nodded. "I remember you mentioned before that the aging curse on you currently stems from you wanting to quickly increase your mana. So for a period of time, you fell into a cycle of continuously applying aging curses to yourself and then removing them. But until one day, even after you removed the aging curse, the aging on your body still didn't recede. Your mana growth also completely stagnated."

A flash of sadness crossed Yuri's face. "That's right, Lord Locke."

"That's the thing I regret most in my life. If I hadn't been so eager for quick success back then, perhaps my mana now would already be... 600, or possibly even higher."

Locke said, "Organize and package the data from those experiments you did on yourself before, then send them all to me."

Since it involved abyssal energy, and he was currently closely associated with abyssal energy, Locke wanted to casually explore the mystery of what happened to Yuri Burns.

Perhaps he could discover something useful even for himself. At least it could increase his understanding of abyssal ecology.

Understanding ecologies from various places was a field that First Circle plant-based wizards needed to explore. One of the ultimate goals of plant-based wizards was to create a perfect ecology in their minds, thereby creating the most powerful natural magic.

Locke said to Yuri, "Have you ever considered that perhaps the aging curse on you has indeed been removed? Otherwise, so many potion master assistants and formal potion masters wouldn't all be helpless with the symptoms on you."

"Because they got the direction completely wrong."

"What's causing you to age isn't a curse at all, but something else."

Yuri froze, becoming rigid in place.

For over ten years, she had been trying to solve the problem on her body. From her twenties to now approaching forty, she still hadn't resolved this problem.

From the beginning, she was full of hope, thinking that with so many potions in this world and so many capable potion masters, surely someone could solve the problem on her body, right?

But reality disappointed her again and again.

She spent all her savings and used every penny she earned from work on treating the curse in her body, but no matter what high-level potion she drank, it had no effect.

Even if a First Circle wizard took interest in her, they would often waste several months of time, see no results, and not see any special value in this research direction, then would usually let her leave.

Over time, Yuri herself had completely despaired, just wanting to end her remaining years.

But at this moment, Locke was telling her that perhaps from beginning to end, she had gotten her own condition wrong, misleading everyone.

Locke hesitated. "Perhaps I might have a way to cure you. But it's only a possibility."

Locke's understanding of abyssal potion-type knowledge was quite deep. During this past month, besides writing articles, meditating, and learning First Circle plant magic, he had also been continuously studying First Circle stage potionology and breeding through the First Circle potionology knowledge and First Circle breeding knowledge that Witch Sophia and Halen Vera had freely given him.

His magical level was currently at the First Circle stage, so he needed to quickly raise his breeding and potionology to the First Circle stage, and find ways to obtain the First Circle stage inheritance of archaeology.

Therefore, at this moment, he already had more than eighty percent confidence in his heart and had roughly locked onto what the problem with Yuri was.

Yuri in front of him was somewhat excited, but she still tried to suppress her excitement and said to Locke in a low voice, "Lord Locke, if you can treat me... I'll use all my savings..."

"No, I don't have savings. I only have a pile of loans... I'll work for you for free for the rest of my life..."

Locke shook his head slightly. "Forget it. You're doing well at Lijin Secret Language. Senior Irina and I still have cooperation. I don't want her saying I poached from her."

"In the future, if you can help me keep an eye on my business in the southeastern quadrant, that would already be repayment enough for me. Besides, I'm not confident I can completely cure you, after all, it's a problem that's been dragging on for nearly twenty years."

"If you had received correct treatment from the beginning, it probably wouldn't be this serious." Locke said in a low voice, "So I can treat you for free. This is an experimental treatment. Don't set your expectations too high."

"Does this mean you agree to send me the data and voluntarily come to my laboratory to let me understand what's happening with your body?"

Yuri quickly nodded. For her now, the most precious thing was just hope.

And Locke had given her this hope. Of course, she would choose to agree. "Lord Locke, of course I agree."

"No matter what happens, I'll be grateful to you."

Locke nodded. "Then come find me early in the morning two weeks from now. I should be free then."

Manager Yuri quickly said, "Alright, Lord Locke."

Locke nodded with satisfaction.

Exploring the problem with Yuri could not only help him understand the abyss and contribute to solving the abyssal energy problem on his own body, but could also rapidly improve his potionology level, allowing his potionology to reach the First Circle level as soon as possible.