Ronan slowly tightened the strands of his hair band.
Before throwing Fuming Ge into the endless labyrinth, he had already removed the space ring carried by him, forcibly breaking the rune lock on the ring with his powerful spiritual power, and found the eye suspected to be Orian’s among the items.
Besides this, he didn’t find anything else related to the two of them.
Ronan pressed his lips tightly together; he hadn’t expected that after the news of his "death" spread, Kosti would actually co to the middle region to "investigate."
Even Orian might have been implicated in this.
The images of both individuals kept flashing in Ronan’s mind, making him feel sowhat restless.
After taking several deep breaths, he gradually cald his emotions.
"I hope...it’s alright."
He finished cleaning up the battlefield, erased all traces of himself, then summoned the Ancient Thunder Eagle, Oiris, and set off.
Ronan sat on the back of the Ancient Thunder Eagle, with the seven or eight o’clock morning sun rising through the mist, casting thousands of golden rays directly, while the cold wind blew from both sides at high altitude.
In his hand, he held a creamy white antique pocket watch, gently rubbing it.
Soon, a faint rune fluctuation emanated from the inside of the pocket watch.
"Ani, help find two people..."
Ronan spoke softly.
It was rely to find two people; no need to bother Prophet Eve.
Putting away the pocket watch-shaped communication tool, Ronan squinted, looking far into the distant sea of clouds, mountains, lakes, and forests... quickly sweeping past beneath him.
By sunset, Ronan had completely left the borders of the Life Empire.
The next day’s sunrise saw Ronan arriving at his destination.
— It was a desolate land, nearly devoid of any normal vegetation.
The sky appeared in a swirling, colorful haze, while the ground’s rocks flowed, forming a kind of black-yellow colloid, mud flowing like sand, shifting, creating a giant downward funnel where Ronan fixed his gaze.
The air was filled with dense and unstable free-floating energy, and a touch of spiritual power seed to trigger so invisible restriction, "activating" clusters of dazzlingly flowing currents in the void, presenting a dense and complex natural rune light path.
Ronan felt his spiritual power being suppressed, and this natural suppression grew more intense as he approached the huge mud flow vortex in the distance.
He attempted to move forward a bit, but when he was still dozens of kiloters from the vortex’s center, so energy particles spontaneously condensed, like whips or lightning continuously striking his body.
On the map of the Central Continent, this spot lay at the very center surrounded by the three Wizard Empires: Destiny Pendulum, Life Royal Court, and Tangista.
Its na was known as—"Sinking Eye."
"Whew—"
Ronan stopped advancing and ca to a halt.
At this mont, he was like a drop of water falling into a boiling pot of oil; even a slight movent might trigger a series of chain reactions, the free-floating energy particles in this area being extrely difficult to control, so much so that Ronan dared not fully expand the Star Force Field.
"Sinking Eye is the entry point from the Upper Ring Continent to the Middle Ring. The world’s sinking power and gathered energy particles form an almost natural magic restriction; at least a Level 7 Wizard’s strength is required to break this restriction barrier and safely enter..."
Alazan’s voice echoed in his mind.
Ronan’s eyes flickered slightly, he replied in a low tone, "I’ll try first."
Under the platinum-interwoven magic robe, Ronan’s body stretched, the golden gear mark on his right wrist shimring, with the sealing power still present; although signs of loosening were becoming increasingly apparent, it remained firmly attached to him, preventing the demon body from being unleashed, making him feel quite uncomfortable.
Ronan furrowed his brow, then began pulling things out from the space ring.
Black, resembling so mysterious stone substance, one was a square cornered box, the other like a torch with a statue of two open wings at its top.
These were Holy Shrines.
Different types of Holy Shrines.
During the over three years in the Forgotten Land, Ronan experienced a millennium of reincarnation in dreams, witnessing Keldim Empire’s rise and fall through different identities and perspectives.
He almost "participated" in the construction of the Great Waterway, thoroughly understanding the entire structure of the Ancient Waterway, and naturally including the locations of the Holy Shrines placed by humans within the waterway.
Ronan comprehended the research principle of the Holy Shrines and the Keldim Wizards’ purpose for placing them in the waterway—primarily to resist the demons erging from underground, akin to "supply stations."
The types of Holy Shrines roughly divided into several: Defense Shrine, Healing Shrine, Mana Shrine, Speed Shrine, Power Shrine, and Evolution Shrine.
Among them, Evolution Shrines were the least common, with Ronan finding one completely preserved Power Shrine, most had already been opened and used.
For the forr four Holy Shrine powers, he collected a portion of each.
The origin of Holy Shrines traces back to the "Shenkan Altar" before Ancient Tis, a blessing specifically left by the gods to their followers before descending.
Even mortals who obtained this power could wield great might temporarily, rivaling powerful wizards.
Holy Shrines were the sa; a common soldier of Keldim Empire, empowered by the Holy Shrine power, could fight the underground demons head-on—initially conceived by upper-level wizards after significant losses during the waterway’s opening.
Ronan now brought forth the Defense Shrine power and the Speed Shrine power.
The Mana Shrine’s effect enabled wizards to swiftly replenish the spiritual power consud during casting, but it was unnecessary for the mont.
Opening the Square Corner Stone Box holding the sealed Defense Shrine power, a light blue glow imdiately wrapped around Ronan like flowing water, forming a thin defense light mbrane around him.
This wasn’t the first ti Ronan used the Defense Shrine power; back in the endless labyrinth with the Minotaurs, it was a piece of Defense Shrine power that allowed him to escape successfully from a group of Level 5 "monsters."
Before the Defense Shrine power was completely depleted, theoretically it could withstand any ans below Level 6.
Of course, its effect lasted for roughly five minutes.
Regarding the other Speed Shrine power.....
Ronan shifted his gaze, taking up the torch-shaped stone sculpture, and gently fiddled with the wing statue atop the stone pillar.
With a "crack" sound, a pale cyan energy flowed out from the gaps of the open wings, quickly encircling Ronan’s body.
In an instant.
The platinum robe on Ronan’s body fluttered on its own, and the hem of the robe gently lifted.
It was as if an invisible breeze was constantly surrounding Ronan, giving him an extrely light feeling.
But Ronan was sure this was not the power of "wind".
"Rules..."
He looked at his hands, his eyes shimring, "The power of rules related to speed."
It wasn’t just the power of the Speed Shrine; the other shrine forces were the sa, distinct from the elental power wizards were accustod to controlling. The shrines sealed strange energy different from elental energy.
They contained fragnts of "rules," thus granting the user various extraordinary abilities.
"Holy power... No, more accurately, it should be described as ’divine power’ in essence."
Divine power.
In that era when gods hadn’t collectively retired, perhaps this power was the mainstream...
A trace of peculiarity flashed in Ronan’s eyes, but it quickly vanished.
Now was not the ti to fantasize about the "Mythical Era."
With the augntation of two shrine forces, Ronan took a light breath.
In the next second, his eyes suddenly brightened, as if countless invisible veins were mirrored in his pupils.
Ronan abruptly moved, his figure shooting out like lightning.
With the combination of the [Star Force Field] and spiritual power, under the blessing of the Speed Shrine’s power, his speed was so fast that only a half-transparent transverse ridge-like ripple remained.
Only the dense energy prohibition light patterns and lightning could barely capture a trace of his trajectory.
The effect of the [Instinct Grip], leveraging the power of rules, allowed Ronan to master the shrine force containing "rules" with equal proficiency, as all resistance along the way was blocked by the power of the Defense Shrine.
Covering a distance of tens of kiloters, Ronan traversed it in almost the blink of an eye.
His figure suddenly stopped at the edge of a giant rock flow funnel, bathing in countless energy turbulences, gazing fixedly at the center of the funnel through a pale blue defense light mbrane.
There, a mass of murky "black," with destructive thunder flickering and leaping within it, gave Ronan a slight sense of threat just by looking at it.
Above the blackness, there was a thick barrier ford by countless intertwining rune light patterns layer upon layer.
Alazan was right, the entrance to the "Sinking Eye" was sealed and needed external force to break through.
Ronan pondered for a mont and then attempted to point slowly towards the center of the funnel.
As dense forbidden aura circulated out, a wheel of black great sun rose slowly at Ronan’s fingertip’s drop.
One layer of magic control blessing, [Forbidden - Black Hole]!
Due to the highly unstable environnt of energy particles, the edges of the "black hole" spell Ronan summoned were completely distorted, like a spoiled fried egg.
Yet at the sa ti, the might of this [Forbidden - Black Hole] was greatly amplified beyond imagination.
The terrifying distorted black hole fell upon that countless light pattern intertwined barrier, barely causing a "dent" as if a drop of water had fallen on a net, without further ripples arising.
"Seems like the strength of a Seventh Level Dusk Wizard might really be needed to break it..."
"Is this the Center Ring Wizards setting an entry restriction for the Upper Ring Wizards?"
Ronan’s eyes shimred as he silently turned and retraced his steps, taking advantage of the still active power of the Defense Shrine.
He was not intending to attempt exploring the path of "sinking" now but because the call of the Golden Village to him ca from here, the next legacy of the [Golden Country] was hidden beneath the "Sinking Eye."
For now, it seed he would have to postpone his quest for the Golden Village.
........
Ronan returned to Firefly Mist City by riding the Ancient Thunder Eagle at the noon of the seventh day.
Like on his way, Ronan lingered slightly on the blue-roofed house but did not see any sign of Grace. Perhaps she had gone out.
Returning to his own place, he retracted his magic clone for disguise, and not long after, Wizard Ani ca to visit.
"Your Excellency, the two people you asked to find... there are results now."
Wearing a moon-white robe, the Level 5 Wizard Ani, whose beauty surpassed that of won, stood before Ronan and softly reported.
"Speak."
"The male wizard nad Orian is currently at the seventh division of the Elental Magic Ring. Since two years ago, he has been living a reclusive life..."
"Is he still alive now?"
"Yes."
Ani replied, "Everything intact."
Ronan’s expression instantly relaxed.
It seed that the eye said to belong to Orian, which Fuming Ge had produced, was utterly fake.
"And the other one?"
Ronan lowered his mostly relieved heart, continuing to ask.
Ani hesitated for a mont before replying in a low voice, "The woman nad Kosti... now exists in a state of soul."
Reviews
All reviews (0)