Locke's eyes flickered slightly. He hadn't expected that Grand Wizard Sulla would directly offer such a thing in order to win him over.

The so-called primordial fire was a flame that remained in the depths of a plane when, during the plane's formation and evolution process, some primordial force failed to fully evolve and was left behind at the bottom of the plane.

It was extremely rare.

Basically, it only had a slight possibility of existing in worlds of medium scale or above, because its formation mechanism was full of coincidences and was not inevitable.

Moreover, even if this primordial fire existed, it only existed at the very bottom of the plane's core, making it extremely difficult to locate.

Therefore, even if such a flame truly existed in a medium-scale plane, it would be impossible to locate and find it without spending at least a hundred years.

And while this type of flame was indeed a treasure for potion masters, for other wizards, it was merely a precious curiosity.

Locke looked at the wisp of orange-red flame restrained by magic and thought, 'If I can imprint my soul mark on that flame and control this primordial fire, then I can master the vast majority of magical flames and increase the speed of switching between magical flames and controlling their size to an incredible level.'

'If I possess a primordial fire, the improvement to my potion studies in terms of heat control would be unimaginable. I would immediately gain the ability to refine the most difficult-to-make potions among First Circle potions.'

Locke glanced at the kindly smiling Grand Wizard Sulla. It must be said that a primordial fire, even if it was just a spark, was indeed very attractive to Locke.

'Although Grand Wizard Sulla has explained everything very reasonably, the fact that he would offer something so precious just to have me help this plane's native Mage Saints gain the ability to cast First Circle magic, this very thing seems very strange.'

After thinking for a moment, Locke said to Grand Wizard Sulla, "When I was fighting that native Mage Saint earlier, I noticed that when he cast First Circle level magic, the gap between his soul and domain would create oscillations, causing his soul to be unable to withstand the enormous pressure of casting First Circle magic."

"However, I have mastered a technique that can bless a living being with the power of a magical plant to strengthen their soul. And I observed that the staffs used by your mages already utilize the apprentice-level magical plant, Purple Perilla Cedar."

"In other words, magical plants are already part of the power circulation loop of this mage system you've built, so I believe this plan has very high feasibility."

"I just need to plant some Scorched Earth Holly in this Mage Saint Hall, and I can find a way to have that Scorched Earth Holly bless your native Mage Saints. That way, they should be able to withstand the enormous oscillations when releasing First Circle magic."

Locke thought about it. This was probably another project plan worth millions in value.

And this was because he was familiar with this technology and it was reliable. If someone else were to do it, they could throw down millions of magic stones and might not even get a single result.

Scientific research was just that resource-consuming.

In fact, regarding the three major projects he was doing for the Plutarch family, no wonder the Plutarch family wizards would think he was helping Alicia accumulate wealth. After all, in their perception, could the goals of Locke's three projects really be achieved by throwing down five hundred thousand magic stones?

Grand Wizard Sulla's eyes lit up when he heard this, but he still maintained his restraint, pretending he wasn't that anxious, though his tone was slightly urgent. And at this moment, he was no longer conversing with Locke because Locke had a good relationship with Alicia.

But because Locke was very useful to him.

This change in attitude was extremely important.

Grand Wizard Sulla suppressed his anxiety and said, "I wonder if that technology could be exchanged for my primordial fire. As long as I confirm that technology is useful, I'll immediately give you the primordial fire."

Locke felt somewhat speechless inside.

Truly worthy of being an old schemer. After going through such a huge circle by pretending to be sick and setting up a conspiracy, as he had expected, the man was stingy to death.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have mentioned the one hundred fifty thousand magic stones funding sponsorship as soon as they met.

This guy was clearly extremely stingy. What did he mean by confirming the effect first, then making the trade?

This technology in his hands was related to the Forest Sanctuary. Setting aside the fact that it was impossible to offer it up without enormous benefits, it concerned the secret of his permanent defensive field, after all.

For wizards, secrets were power.

Moreover, while the primordial fire was very important to him, it was just that. It belonged to the category of "very nice to have," but without it, he could manage.

After all, there were a bunch of potion masters in this world even more formidable than himself. Even without a primordial fire in their hands, couldn't they still prepare extremely difficult potions?

So, purely from the perspective of item necessity, the primordial fire alone wasn't enough to make him agree to such a trade.

It wasn't enough.

Of course, it did have rarity value.

The primordial fire couldn't be priced, because in places like the southeastern quadrant and the Land of Six Towers, it would be impossible for it to enter the market for trade. Once discovered, it would immediately be distributed among interested parties.

This type of thing would never lack people who wanted it.

It was just that the Plutarch family mainly specialized in the Evocation School's bloodline modification path and had little interest in primordial fire, and there weren't any formidable potion masters in the family either.

Except for Alicia, the future family head.

But the problem was that the Plutarch family didn't like Alicia spending too much time in the field of potion studies. After all, their family was established through Evocation School magic, so that's why Grand Wizard Sulla would consider taking out the primordial fire to trade with him.

Otherwise, Grand Wizard Sulla would definitely give it directly to Alicia, just like he gave her the Boiling Silver Spring. He would never give it to Locke.

After thinking for a moment, Locke said, "Grand Wizard Sulla, if I may speak frankly, even if I offer the technology to trade with you, your family's wizards don't have breeders or botanical wizards capable enough to lead this project."

"Moreover, matters succeed through secrecy. It's not good if too many people know."

Grand Wizard Sulla understood and looked at Locke with appreciation. "Well said. Matters succeed through secrecy."

"Young man, you're quite prudent in your actions. No wonder Alicia can rely on you to suppress my good-for-nothing son Eric and my even more good-for-nothing grandson George."

Grand Wizard Sulla said, "Fine then. I'll change the terms of the trade."

He waved his hand, and all the layers of magical restraints around the primordial fire disappeared. The originally calm primordial fire immediately became violent, transforming into a fire meteor and rampaging through the room. It directly smashed a hole with flowing lava in a room wall and continuously traveled through and collided with different rooms.

Grand Wizard Sulla said, "I'll let you use this primordial fire first. At the same time, you'll be in charge of constructing the project you just mentioned in my Mage Saint Hall, and I'll find a way to transfer five hundred thousand magic stones to you from my personal funds."

Locke shook his head. "Five hundred thousand magic stones is a bit tight, and what about personnel?"