Bloodline of the Wizard-Chapter 309 - 158: The Challenge, An Unprecedented Hell-Level Difficulty!

Chapter 309: Chapter 158: The Challenge, An Unprecedented Hell-Level Difficulty!

The afternoon sun streamed gently through the crystal skylight at the top of the Silver-White Tower, casting a soft golden glow over Ronan and Kosti.

Sitting among stacks of books, Kosti appeared as beautiful and divine as the goddess of wisdom and beauty found in mythological tales. With a slight raise of her finger, the room fell into silence, and a powerful spiritual field belonging to a Level 3 Wizard gently enveloped the two of them.

Kosti gazed softly at Ronan and said gently,

"It’s still related to this exploration of the Mirror Court..."

"This exploration of the core area of the Mirror Court yielded benefits far beyond everyone’s expectations."

"But precisely because of this, dividing these resources has become a dilemma."

"No matter what compensation distribution scheme is proposed, it can’t satisfy all factions..."

Kosti paused and said in a low voice, "After discussion and negotiation from all sides, it has been decided to determine the ownership of all resources through a competition.

The six major wizard factions—Thunder Council, Crimson Tower, Thorny Palace, Melt Crystal Lake, Black Nightmare Swamp, and our Silver Magic Ring—each will send ten members under a hundred years of age in soul age. They will compete in pairs, and the final rankings of each faction’s members will be used to distribute the resources..."

"Ten people? A ranking competition?!"

Ronan furrowed his brows but wasn’t too surprised.

The Wizard World has always revered the idea of strength above all, with the strong deserving all they desire while the weak face exploitation and oppression.

Just like when Hoddam Academy and Silent Forest were wiped out under the majesty of the Crimson Tower due to the Nephilim’s Key.

This is the rule of the Wizard World and, relatively speaking, one of the fairest forms.

And the top powerhouses of the six major forces should, unsurprisingly, be Dawn Wizards above Level 4.

Strong individuals of this caliber, unless it concerns matters of life and death, rarely engage personally in conflicts.

Thus, pitting the young generation of genius combat talents against each other became the best method.

"...If not for your performance in the Second Battlefield this time, I might not have considered sending you there. After all, you are still quite behind those top figures in terms of time accumulation...

However, your bloodline potential has been further developed, significantly narrowing some of the gap, giving you the qualification to participate in this competition.

Moreover, this competition is also a great training opportunity for you. It could accelerate your growth..."

Kosti said softly, "After discussions, it has been decided to hold this competition at the Goblin Plain, in two months’ time.

If you achieve a ranking in the competition, there will be certain rewards.

As far as I know, the inheritance of the Space Mirror Magic unearthed from the Mirror Court is one of them...."

Hearing Kosti mention the "inheritance of Space Mirror Magic," Ronan was moved.

He now had a compelling reason to vie for it.

"Fame, knowledge, honing... and..."

Kosti paused halfway through her sentence, then continued, "...the qualification to ascend to a higher stage, concerning a ticket and the contention for a certain seat... If you grow fast enough, maybe, just maybe, you can catch up..."

"What ticket, what seat?"

Ronan was curious about the information Kosti hinted at and couldn’t help but ask.

But Kosti merely shook her head, unwilling to explain further, "It’s too early to tell you now. If you can catch up, that would be ideal. If not, it’s better not to know."

After saying this, Kosti shifted the subject and continued to Ronan, "Your soul quality falls behind that of the top geniuses; following the path of the Ancient Battle Wizards is the right way.

And now is a great opportunity for refining...

What do you think?"

Kosti looked into Ronan’s eyes.

Ronan naturally had long made a decision in his mind and nodded decisively, "I don’t want to miss this opportunity myself."

Kosti displayed a faint hint of relief on her face and nodded, "Then prepare as much as you can... You still have a little time.

Damien, I’m looking forward to the day you truly shine.

Maybe not this time... but it will happen eventually."

Ronan bowed to Kosti and took his leave.

He descended the gray-white spiral stone stairs and exited the tower.

At the tower’s entrance, a beam of sunlight fell on Ronan’s face.

He lifted his head, squinting at the outline of the sun nestled between several towers, his eyes reflecting a slight shimmer.

Moments later, he left calmly.

......

"The competition among the top talents of the six major wizard factions?"

In the Mini Secret Realm Space, Benny Mark was busy at a massive alchemy furnace, his pipe dangling from his lips.

Hearing Ronan casually mention the topic, Benny paused his work and cast a rather peculiar look up and down Ronan before exhaling a smoke ring, reflecting emotionally, "It’s hard to imagine that the young wandering wizard who shyly knocked on my door back then has, unbeknownst to us... already become qualified to step onto such a stage...

Tsk tsk..."

Faced with Benny’s sudden wave of emotion, Ronan felt goosebumps rise and chose to ignore him. Instead, he reached out and gently touched the branches and leaves of the Holy Blood Tree before him.

After helping Ronan purify the Ice Crystal Demon Snake bloodline last time, the "greatly weakened" Holy Blood Tree had only recently recovered.

That purifying experience seemed to have been a kind of training for the Holy Blood Tree as well.

Having regained its vigor, the Holy Blood Tree appeared more robust.

This legendary tree, known in the lore of the Elf Clan, gradually revealed its extraordinary nature.

Standing over three meters tall, the tree was completely enveloped in a mystical pale red glow, with its sprawling roots deeply anchored in specially prepared soil within the Secret Realm Space, surpassing even some ancient trees decades or centuries old.

Most notably, its spirituality seemed able to comprehend his every thought, connecting with his bloodline, mind, and heart.

This was a point that Benny, who hunted Magic Beasts daily to nourish the Holy Blood Tree, envied greatly.

According to Benny, this Holy Blood Tree, still in its "seedling stage," had already displayed the potential of a "bottomless pit for resources."

Excluding the resources acquired by Ronan and Benny through hunting, even the resources Ronan allocated each month with his Sixth Ring status amounted to an unknown total investment.

Rough estimates put it at least at tens of thousands of Advanced Magic Stones.

And this didn’t even count Ronan’s periodic offerings of his own blood.

However, Ronan wasn’t stingy about this; all current investments in the Holy Blood Tree were for its better performance when he next needed it in action.

The further purification of the Ancient Frost Multi-Headed Snake bloodline in his body still depended on the Holy Blood Tree.

After playing with the Holy Blood Tree for a while, Ronan turned and walked out of the Mini Secret Realm Space, exiting the rock wall, passing the waterfall, and casually picking a spot to sit in the quiet valley.

A single exploration of the Mirror Garden Secret Realm had yielded many resources for Ronan. Aside from the required portion to be submitted, what remained was quite substantial.

Ronan converted all these resources into potions that could enhance his spiritual power growth and various materials needed for the Holy Blood Tree’s growth.

In truth, Ronan wasn’t currently lacking in resources; what he lacked most was time.

"Talents from the six major wizard factions..."

Ronan habitually fiddled with the ring on his finger, quietly pondering.

The upcoming joint competition would no longer have divisions like First Battlefield, Second Battlefield, or Third Battlefield; everyone would be on the same stage.

If his luck was poor, it wasn’t impossible for him to be eliminated in the first round.

"The top figures of the other five great wizard forces are likely at the level of the ’Four-Colored Metal’ Orian class..."

That is to say, Level 3 Wizards.

Ronan, on the other hand, was merely at the early stage of Level 2, a whole level behind them.

To date, he hadn’t yet faced any Level 3 Wizards.

When a Level 2 Wizard advances to Level 3, the form of spiritual power doesn’t change significantly, just going from three Spiritual Power Crystals to four, or even more.

Then, spiritual power sees a fairly substantial increase in both quantity and quality.

The greatest enhancement, though, is the Soul Seal.

Level 3 Wizards can refine a fourth Soul Seal, maybe even a fifth or sixth...

Level 3 is also when many core spell legacies start to display their true power.

In other words, Ronan needed to withstand the "several dozen times difference in spiritual power," "the increase of one, two, or even three Soul Seals," and "the difference between second-tier and third-tier spell heritage"... all these incredibly harsh conditions, to compete with those genius wizards whose talents didn’t lose out to his, and might even surpass them.

A hell-level difficulty unprecedented!

More challenging than when he first joined the Magic Ring and only fell out with Travis, Lanni, and others back then, tenfold at least.

"Am I afraid?"

Ronan asked himself, placing his right hand gently over his left chest.

There lay his beating heart and the Ancient Frost Multi-Headed Snake Bloodline Crystal, slightly trembling.

"No."

Ronan shook his head, his azure eyes reflecting the light beyond the valley, growing ever more brilliant.

"It’s excitement... and anticipation..."

Ronan murmured softly, then gathered his thoughts, calmly beginning to chant a spell quietly. In the air, large amounts of free energy particles of ice attribute surged in, quickly forming a sizable snow vortex before him.

Ronan raised his hand to dismiss the spell, immediately repeating the process.

He had reached the critical point of advancing to the intermediate stage of Level 2, but he needed to wait until the rune of [Mirror Light] in his mind, nourished by the Space Energy Seed, completed its further transformation and fully upgraded to [Multiple Mirror Light] before advancing, as he intended to form [Multiple Mirror Light] as his second solidified Soul Seal.

In the meantime, Ronan chose to focus on practicing his main combat spells; every increase in proficiency level could give him a slight edge in the upcoming battle.

Thanks to the Bloodline Crystal embedded in his heart, each heartbeat silently infused a trickle of Bloodline Power into Ronan’s body.

The minute fusion of the bloodline brought ancient gifts, continuously generating insights and understanding of Ice Magic in Ronan’s mind.

Piercing pain mingled with endless inspiration.

Pain intertwined with joy.

Ronan immersed himself in this subtle, indescribable state.

With the support of the [Clear Sky Realm - Thoughtless Lake] state, his spiritual power was almost inexhaustible, allowing spell practice to be uninterrupted for a single moment.

In the unseen character panel, the proficiency levels of various skills and spells steadily increased at a continuous and stable rate.

Even though Ronan immediately suppressed the power every time he cast a spell, the residual chill still unconsciously affected the entire valley’s environment.

Centered around the meditating wizard youth on the boulder, large swaths of frost spread outward.

Unconsciously, the sound of the waterfall in the valley ceased, and all signs of living creatures gradually disappeared... The entire valley was enveloped in pure, blinding whiteness.