The two who appeared were a man and a woman. The man was tall and well-built, handso, dressed as a swordsman.
The woman appeared relatively ordinary, looking to be in her thirties, but purposely wore a pretty sky-blue long robe, paired with a wizard hat almost half the size of her body, forcing out a sowhat cute deanor.
Among the two, the woman’s strength was higher, nearing the late Level 2 stage. However, the mont they stepped out of the bushes and noticed Ronan’s presence, the handso young man in the swordsman outfit was the first to warily shield the female wizard behind him, seemingly suggesting they were a couple.
Ronan glanced at them indifferently and continued to walk forward.
Not long after, faint footsteps ca from behind, and the woman in the blue robe breathlessly blocked Ronan’s path, apologetically bowing, "Sorry, sir, Lawrence is not really one of us; he doesn’t know many of the rules. We ant no disrespect to you..."
Ronan shook his head, indicating it was nothing.
The woman repeatedly apologized to Ronan. The neckline of her robe was quite low, and each bow would "unintentionally" reveal a large expanse of snow-white cleavage.
Ronan frowned slightly, ignored the woman, and walked past her directly.
A few breaths later, faint sounds of a quarrel seed to erge from behind, with a man’s loud questioning and a woman’s exasperated yelling—"You’re the one who insisted on coming with !" "Damn it! If you want to die, don’t drag with you..."
After passing through several bushes, everything quieted down.
There were quite a few wizards aiming for qualifications; Ronan encountered several more, all except one third-level wizard were about the middle to late Level 2 stage.
Everyone was very cautious, disappearing imdiately upon discovering Ronan. Perhaps there was more than one path leading to the position of the Spirit Lake’s gatekeeper.
After walking for about the ti it takes two hourglasses to flow, Ronan used his dispersed spiritual power to detect that a large gathering of wizards was ahead in a valley. If there were no surprises, the destination should be over there.
Entering the mysterious valley and following the moss-covered mountain path a bit further, a not-too-large flat area appeared before Ronan.
A giant banyan tree, aged beyond knowing, stood bent and collapsed on one end of the clearing. Layers upon layers of dense branches and leaves only allowed a faint heavenly light to seep through the gaps.
About a dozen wizard-dressed people stood around the massive banyan tree, and deafening snores consistently emanated from beneath the tree.
Ronan’s appearance drew so to glance at him, and the crowd quickly made a small space, allowing Ronan to walk over calmly. It was then he saw where the snoring ca from—an incredibly old face ford by patches of protruding black bark on the banyan tree trunk, opening and closing a big mouth, appearing to be in deep sleep.
No one spoke, including several Level 3 wizards; everyone stared at the snoring banyan tree face, as though waiting for sothing.
Several more groups of people arrived intermittently, including the witch and swordsman couple Ronan encountered earlier. The two seed reconciled, with the blue-robed witch almost glued to the handso swordsman.
Noticing Ronan’s gaze, the swordsman instinctively held the witch in his arms tighter, while she made a move to break free, smiling at Ronan.
"The number is sufficient."
Suddenly, a voice arose from within the crowd, belonging to a thin, grey-robed Level 3 wizard, "We can awaken the gatekeeper now."
A few soft hums responded, and the grey-robed wizard turned his gaze toward Ronan. Since Ronan said nothing, he stepped forward a few steps, respectfully addressing the banyan tree trunk’s ancient face, "Lord Tataka... Lord Tataka..."
The calling was drowned out by the snoring, continuing for several minutes until Ronan suspected the grey-robed wizard’s mouth might dry out. The thunderous snoring slowly ceased.
Accompanied by a rustling of leaves, the banyan tree face muttered awake from sleep.
"How long did I sleep? Did you gather twenty people so quickly?"
"Yes, Lord Tataka, there are already twenty people here."
The grey-robed wizard replied respectfully.
The gatekeeper nad Tataka lowered a branch, forcefully rubbing away so resin gathered at his eyes’ corners, squinting to scrutinize everyone present.
Finally, his gaze fell on one person, coldly saying, "You, you don’t count! A kid with hardly any wizard talent, you’re just wasting Tataka’s precious ti here..."
Everyone’s eyes converged on the swordsman who had co with the blue-robed witch. She imdiately distanced herself from him upon seeing this.
The handso face of the nad swordsman flushed red from the dozens of cold eyes staring at him, and even the blue-robed witch accompanying him ignored him, leaving him with no choice but to retreat angrily.
After expelling the swordsman, the gatekeeper tree-man Tataka counted the people again, nodded, and leisurely said, "Now you can each show your sincerity, and I will judge whether you qualify to enter the Spirit Lake."
Ronan was still mulling over the gatekeeper tree-man’s words when the grey-robed wizard, who previously awakened the tree, was the first to step forward, respectfully offering a ring emitting faint spatial fluctuations.
Unexpectedly, the gatekeeper tree-man only glanced at it and then moved his gaze away, blandly saying, "Next."
The grey-robed wizard’s face changed dramatically, just about to say sothing when several branches dropped from above, blocking him aside.
At this mont, soone sneered while stepping forward, also one of the few Level 3 wizards in the field. This person presented a basket of fruits emitting a strange fragrance.
Slling the fruits’ aroma, the gatekeeper tree-man’s eyes lit up instantly, eagerly grabbing the basket with his leaf-arm and dumping it into his mouth, juice flying everywhere.
"Good, a delicacy Tataka likes, you’ve passed... stand aside for now, I’ll arrange for you to enter later."
The Level 3 wizard offering the exotic fruits walked aside with a smile, unable to hide his triumph, obviously having done his howork and knowing how to gain the gatekeeper’s so-called approval.
Next, the third wizard stepped forward...
Watching the proceedings in front of him, Ronan couldn’t help frowning.
"What is this? To enter the selection, we first have to please the gatekeeper?"
"It’s not uncommon, many schools had similar rules before... the original intention was to make later wizards understand the preciousness of inherited knowledge."
Alazan answered in his mind.
"I’m completely unprepared, but I want to enter. Do you have any good suggestions?"
Ronan saw that most of the wizards’ carefully prepared "gifts" were scoffed at by the gatekeeper tree-man. A Level 2 wizard even told a very bad joke but was actually granted access, making the criteria of this test utterly unpredictable.
"You could try using the Magic Stone, most magical creatures have a need for it..."
Ronan nodded and said nothing more.
Out of more than twenty wizards, five gradually earned the right to enter; two offered gifts favored by the Gatekeeper Tree-man, one told a joke, another cleaned the ancient dead bark off the Tree-man, and the thod by which the female wizard who ca with the young swordsman passed was truly unexpected—she removed her magic robes in front of everyone, revealing her rather fine figure to the Gatekeeper Tree-man.
Because Ronan hadn’t stepped forward proactively, he was the last to try after everyone else had had their go.
"Alright, and how do you intend to show your sincerity..."
After a round of "offerings," the Gatekeeper Tree-man’s tone was far different from at the beginning, filled with an air of superiority and impatience. It looked at Ronan, using a few bent branches to clean its tree-hole-shaped ears.
"I declare in advance, Lord Tataka has no interest in n."
The Blue Robed Witch standing among the group of successful passers puffed out her notably full chest proudly upon hearing this.
"Bang—"
A Low-level Magic Stone struck precisely on the Gatekeeper Tree-man’s protruding nose, then bounced off, rolling a few tis on the ground.
"Open the door."
Ronan lowered his hand, watching the Tree-man with a calm expression and said.
"Uh..."
The Gatekeeper Tree-man’s ear-cleaning stopped, it stared at Ronan in a stupor, while all the other wizards were also dumbfounded.
At this mont, the space under the banyan tree beca terribly silent.
"What did you say?"
"Rustle—"
The ancient banyan tree made a noise, and the Tree-man seed to rise from the ground, its old face drawing near to Ronan, "What did you just say? Repeat it."
"I said, open the door."
Ronan pointed casually at the Magic Stone on the ground, then seriously added, "Please hurry."
"Rustle—"
In the next breath, the dense canopy overhead, the ground below them, all began to tremble.
A suppressed and extre anger erupted from the massive banyan tree before them.
"Insolent boy! You have successfully angered . I, representing Spirit Lake, will show you what a lifelong unforgettable lesson is like..."
"Roar—"
The enraged Tree-man let out a huge and terrifying roar, the void trembled, and the whole ancient banyan tree on the platform rose from the ground, countless branches and vines grew like a witch’s hair, rapidly and madly from all directions towards Ronan.
All the wizards on the platform were aghast, retreating swiftly.
Only Ronan remained unmoved, his expression still calm and serene.
"It seems that your thod won’t work, Alazan."
"....."
Alazan remained silent.
"Then I’ll have to try my way."
After speaking, Ronan stepped lightly forward towards the innurable branches and vines, attacking him like giant serpents, or spears.
Within the space of consciousness, a Spiritual Power Crystal lit up, then a second, a third....
Eleven Spiritual Power Crystals simultaneously blossod, a rich amber-like golden glow burst forth from his body.
"Boom!"
An invisible and terrifying force field expanded, warping large sections of the void in an instant, his silvery hair escaped the restraint of its accessory, silently billowing.
Ronan proceeded step by step, like a soaring golden sun threading through the clouds, countless branches and vines were shredded to dust by his naturally emanated spiritual force field....
"What are you to represent Spirit Lake?"
"If entry requires such groveling and begging for pity, then this Spirit Lake, I need not enter..."
In a calm yet icy voice, he spoke within the not-so-large space, the accompanying wizards were utterly shocked, so even trembled, uttering the word "Dawn?"
The Gatekeeper Tree-man Tataka roared in fury, but at a certain mont...
Suddenly all the wildly dancing branches and vines were retracted, and the gigantic banyan tree-giant knelt on one knee, tearing open its chest with both hands, revealing a blue swirling entrance there.
The Tree-man faced Ronan, speaking in a deep voice filled with respect.
"Congratulations, the sole passer.
The gates of Spirit Lake open for you..."
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