Chapter 735: Chapter 374
It’s a pile of crudely polished bones strung together as a shabby ornament, where Ronan found teeth, finger bones, skulls, and so on, some human, some from unknown wild beasts.
Each bone is covered with bizarre black patterns, like some kind of totem symbol, giving an eerie, evil feeling.
These bone trinkets and the sheep-headed creature’s corpse on the ground immediately reminded Ronan of the sheep horn mask he had obtained from the Dark Head of the "Ancient Witch Revival Association"; the styles were very similar, as if they were a legacy from the same civilization.
So, does the "rotten evil" mentioned in the parable refer to the Ancient Witch Revival Association?
Ronan remembered that Molli’er had told him that the forces from the Otherworld led by Abyssal demons had fought endless wars with the ancient wizards. Although the war ended with the victory of the ancient wizards, some remnants of Abyssal demons still lurk at the bottom of the world, and the Ancient Witch Revival Association is their shadow.
They may possess human appearances, but within them flows the blood of abyssal demons.
This also seems to corroborate the first sentence of the parable.
Then what does the last sentence mean?
Is it the remnants behind the Ancient Witch Revival Association yearning for a comeback, or... the terrifying army of Abyssal demons repelled in ancient times by the wizards?!
Gripping the bone trinkets of the sheep-headed creature, Ronan gazed at the corrupted evil oasis in front of him, his eyes flickering.
He suddenly felt that the so-called "Stone of Destiny" trial seemed to be trying to interpret and reveal something to them, the wizards undergoing the trial.
Someone stands upon the decayed, ruined corpse of the former Keldim Wizard Empire, narrating to them a bloody truth...
"So stinky..."
Heather came over from behind, covering her nose with a face that looked like she was about to vomit.
"Can you see the writing on the ground hint?"
Ronan asked her.
Heather stared at the ground for a while, nodded, then read out loud word for word what she saw — [They are not the result of the impulsive union of man and sheep... They are filthier than you imagine.]
"So boring..."
Heather complained with an expression of exasperation after reading.
It seems that the parable could only be seen by myself... Or perhaps the hint words each person sees during the trial are different?
Ronan’s eyes flickered, he stowed away the sheep-headed creature’s corpse on the ground, and called Heather to continue moving forward.
Quivada Oasis was even larger than Ronan imagined, and sheep-headed creatures roamed all over the sparse plains.
These sheep-headed creatures seemed to exist in some tribal form, possessing considerable intelligence, but the majority of their will was dominated by the instincts of slaughter and destruction; they were strong, but their attack methods were rather singular, and after familiarizing, resolving them was not too difficult.
Ronan found that sheep-headed creatures of the same level could provide more energy to the Element Pool than ordinary demons, which was good news for him.
After clearing five waves of sheep-headed monsters, Ronan unexpectedly encountered a long-lost "night" in Quivada Oasis.
The frequency of sheep-headed creatures increased at night, and their spear-throwing attack methods became more concealed under the cover of night. They emerged like tides from all directions on the plain, wave after wave, with unique tracking techniques, relentlessly pursuing Ronan and his companion.
"Huff— Huff—"
The blade light of [Golden Origin] sliced through the night with brilliance more dazzling than fireworks, reaping the lives of the sheep-headed creatures ahead like harvesting wheat.
Ronan heard rapid panting, turned to see Heather’s slightly pale profile.
"Feeling the pressure?"
Ronan casually summoned several water elements to supplement Heather’s Elemental Army and casually asked.
Heather bit her lip, her tone firm as she spoke: "When we return this time, I’ll try to advance to the Fifth Rank... Grandma has long prepared everything for me, but previously I had always been slack, and after this time... it feels about right now..."
The "pain" that Ronan gave Heather once opened a valve deep in her soul, seemingly awakening some long-buried talents.
The fact is, Heather’s progress is very fast, her soul power has been growing almost daily, and every time Ronan probes her strength, he can’t help but be amazed.
Lady Mel should really thank him properly.
The golden blade light sliced through one sheep-headed creature after another, sweeping across the black wilderness, as if hitting something with a "bang" as some earth and stone exploded.
At this point, the first ray of morning light also dropped from the sky, and the night receded.
Ronan stepped down a long ladder cast by golden flames from high above, seeing amidst the shattered sheep-headed creature corpses, a black altar split by blade light from spells.
Behind the altar, a seam over five meters long kept writhing like a black worm, with thick putrid air continually leaking out.
"A space rift to the Otherworld?"
Ronan felt waves of spatial energy fluctuations from the seam edges, sure that the sheep-headed creatures wandering the plains had crawled out from the seam in front of him; he seemed to have found the source of Quivada Oasis’s corruption.
Ronan stared at the seam crack in front of him, at some moment feeling an impulse to dive in and see what lies beyond the seam.
Of course, as soon as this impulse arose, he extinguished it.
The composition of "space" is far more complex than most people imagine, and not every space channel is bidirectional.
Even if he truly had the courage to enter the fissure before him, what he sees after passing through might not be the "truth" he desires.
Ronan stood quietly in front of the fissure for a while. Upon hearing the unique roar of the sheep-headed monster from within it again, he stretched out his right hand toward the fissure, spreading his fingers.
In his azure eyes, a faint and mysterious silver light appeared. Waves of space magic fluctuations emanated from his fingers, covering the fissure before him.
Following this, the black fissure, like a wriggling worm, began to "heal" at a speed visible to the naked eye under the pressure of the waves of spatial energy, until it completely disappeared from the ground.
——[Incredible, you actually have the ability to ’cure’ them!]
A line of small text slowly appeared where the fissure had disappeared.
Ronan looked at the small text and frowned slightly, subconsciously glancing up at the sky.
The prompts that continuously appeared during the trial had become somewhat commonplace to him, but since the last prophecy appeared, the notices he saw had become increasingly subjective, giving him the feeling of being watched.
It was as if a pair of invisible eyes existed somewhere behind him, observing his every move throughout.
A strong burning sensation came from his wrist. Ronan raised his hand to look, discovering that more than half of the ring mark on his hand had filled in completely.
The recent action of "mending" the spatial crack had caused the completion progress of his mark to surge upward. The person who initiated the trial seemed very encouraging of Ronan’s actions.
Ronan gently covered his wrist with the sleeve of his magic robe, and calmly signaled Heather to continue forward.
Now it seemed like they were back in the first stage of clearing the monsters wandering in the waterway.
Combat, continuous combat, as if the demons could never be entirely eradicated...
For Ronan, this process was not too tedious. His [Golden Fire] was repeatedly tempered in battle; the proficiency levels of the five inheritance spells were continuously rising. The one with the lowest proficiency was almost reaching the second stage of magic domain resonance, while the highest, [Golden Soul], was nearing the grand threshold of fifteen hundred points at the master level proficiency.
Before long, it might usher in another qualitative change.
The Element Pool was also slowly approaching the fifth rank, with the bodies of demons piling up like mountains inside. The speed of the bodies decomposing into energy was almost unable to keep up with the accumulation....
"Whew—"
A bonfire was lit, the orange flames driving away the surrounding darkness.
Ronan sat casually in front of the bonfire, slowly tearing at the piece of Wind Snake Jerky left uneaten by the Astronomical Society Wizard.
Heather, absentmindedly, was stirring the fire with the end of her magic wand, intently brewing a pot of clear water.
The two did not speak. The cleaning function of the magic robe could not dispel the thick scent of blood and grime left from their consecutive battles.
——[So warm~]
——[A hot soup would make it even better at this moment.]
Beside the fire, a few lines of glowing text slowly surfaced on the ground.
Ronan glanced at Heather and noticed that she showed no sign of noticing the abnormality.
Clearly, this was another prompt only he could see.
Perhaps it could no longer be called a prompt. It felt more like an invisible "ghost" was sitting by the fire with Ronan, stretching out its limbs to warm them, smiling at Ronan, while uttering a content sigh.
"New Prophet..."
Ronan chewed on these words while gnawing at the jerky, imagining in his mind what kind of figure lay behind this "title".
A moment later, he shook his head, brushing away these meaningless distracting thoughts, looking at the bonfire in front of him. Titanium slowly flowed out from under his magic robe’s sleeve, and then slithered like a snake into the fire before him.
He watched as the golden transformation of the titanium danced with the flames, separating into incredibly tiny forms.
Energy particles of metal and flame produced a wondrous resonance; the flames gradually took on a brilliant golden hue, with some dreamy, ethereal light shimmering faintly within them.
Ronan was very much enjoying this atmosphere—the firelight illuminating travelers who spoke age-old tales passed down through generations, sketching out epics to soothe weary souls and bodies.
A peculiar sense of serene tranquility seemed fit for him to digest and organize the gains from his battles along the way, delving into the deeper mysteries of [Golden Fire], peering into the distant scene of the Golden Village in a golden-hued dream...
Just as Ronan quietly embraced these fleeting moments, all of a sudden, a pillar of fire soaring into the sky in the distance startled him from his contemplation.
Heather sprang up, waves of strong magic energy fluctuations whipped through the air, causing the bonfire to waver and dance.
Ronan squinted his eyes, letting spiritual power radiate outward, speaking softly: "Let’s go have a look."
"Yes."
Heather quickly extinguished the bonfire.