Ancient Wizards: A Little Progress Every Day

Dago reluctantly tossed dozens of high-grade magic stones at the giant ice serpent to help it recover some of its energy. He casually told it to stay nearby and not wander off, and then flew towards the valley.

When they arrived at the location, Dago saw Bernal standing beside the Blood Tree of the Imprisoned God, watering it with the ordinary blood of the Great Ice Serpent that he had just collected.

"Let the Blood Tree of the Imprisoned God absorb some of the blood of the Great Ice Serpent first, which will help it refine the bloodline of its own kind later."

Seeing Dago approach, Bernal offered a casual explanation.

Dago blinked. This was something he hadn't expected. Bernal's understanding of the Blood Tree of the Prisoner God was indeed much deeper than his, after all, it was Bernal's research project.

"I plan to donate some of my blood for experiments."

Benaldon paused for a moment before continuing, as if seeking Dagger's consent.

Dago nodded to indicate that it was alright, but his attention was completely focused on the Blood Tree. Having absorbed a large amount of the Great Ice Serpent's blood, the Blood Tree of the Prisoner God had grown even more rapidly and had completely grown into the shape of a small tree.

The tree's leaves, like blood-red cicada wings, with striking and delicate black veins, are now bathed in a red and green glow, exuding a mysterious and magnificent aura.

After thinking for a moment, Dago entered the "despair and darkness" state again, then cut his wrist and added his blood to the watering of the Blood Tree.

The Blood Tree grew at a visible rate until it reached an unprecedented peak, at which point Dago stopped and took out the blood essence he had extracted from the Great Ice Serpent's brow.

The blood clot, a mixture of ice blue and crimson, held in my hand, resembled an exquisitely crafted crystal ball, shimmering with strange energy under the sunlight.

"Are you full?"

Dago reached out and gently stroked the trunk of the Blood Tree of the Prisoner God, whispering, "You've eaten your fill, now it's your turn to shine."

The Blood Tree of the Imprisoned God responded enthusiastically, like a child eager to show off in front of its parents, its leaves rustling and colliding.

Its attitude towards Dago is the complete opposite of that towards the Great Ice Serpent outside, after all, one was raised by its own hands, while the other was adopted halfway through life.

Dago slowly handed over the blood ball in his hand, and countless red tentacle roots shot out from under the Blood Tree of the Imprisoning God, instantly enveloping the entire blood ball layer by layer.

The branches and trunk of the Blood Tree of Imprisonment trembled incessantly, emitting wave after wave of red light filled with a mysterious aura.

Dago kept his eyes on it, monitoring its condition.

"Clatter—"

Suddenly, a red leaf fell from the Blood Tree of the Imprisoned God. Its color was dull, as if it had withered and died after exhausting all its strength.

Dago's pupils contracted slightly, and then he saw more and more leaves falling. The entire Blood Tree of the Imprisoned God seemed to be suffering from some kind of disaster or severe cold, withering away rustlingly.

The tree's color rapidly faded, and at the very top of the tree, a fruit the size of an egg with geometric patterns was growing rapidly.

Dago's eyes flashed fiercely. He didn't call a halt, but was about to cut his hand again to provide support to the Blood Tree with his own blood when he was stopped by Bernal.

"Maintaining your own physical condition is also very important."

Bernal calmly took out the blood of the Great Ice Serpent that he had reserved earlier and poured it at the base of the Blood Tree. He then took out a large number of bottles and jars filled with unknown liquids from his storage pouch, opened them all, and poured them down.

With the support of these nutrients, the Blood Tree of the Prisoner improved its condition slightly, and the rate at which its leaves fell began to slow down.

After an unknown amount of time, the Blood Tree of the Imprisoned God suddenly emitted a strong red light, then drooped down completely, and the egg fruit at its top cracked open with a "crack," spitting out a blood crystal the size of a thumb.

Dago reached out and grabbed the blood crystal.

After purification, the bloodline of the Great Ice Serpent changed from its original blue-red color to a deep blue that was almost black. Its surface showed no special features, and it felt hard and slightly cold to the touch.

"Crystallized blood? Then the original method doesn't seem to be working."

Bernal, who was standing nearby, saw this scene and frowned slightly.

Dago held the dark blue blood crystal in his hand, examining it closely. The stronger the bloodline, the more difficult it is to tame, and one must bear the risk that the body may deform into a monster.

He already possessed some of the Great Ice Serpent's bloodline, but it had been almost completely depleted. However, this blood crystal, which was a mixture of the ancient winter dragon's bloodline and the blood from his despairing and corrupted state, was refined by the Divine Blood Tree.

Dago himself was unsure what grade of bloodline the blood crystals belonged to, or whether they would help him suppress the invading power of the Sea of ​​Despair.

One thought after another rolled through his mind, and finally, he made up his mind.

Dago raised his right hand and made a deep cut on his left side, near his heart. As the flesh rolled back, he quickly pressed the dark blue bloodline crystal in his hand into the center of the mysterious physical body magic array that was visible to the naked eye near his heart.

"snort--"

The sharp corner of the dark blue bloodline crystal pierced the fragile membrane outside the heart, and a piercing pain struck. Dago groaned and his tall, slender body hunched over slightly.

Unseen forces pierced through Dago's body, like countless ropes, slowly wrapping around Dago's heart and tightening it little by little. Under the pressure of this force, Dago's heart pumped blood frantically, and all the blood in Dago's body began to flow rapidly.

The power of the dark blue bloodline crystal embedded in his heart was constantly polluting the blood flowing through it through the physical body's magic seals. Dago's face was pale, but his lips were moving slightly as he quickly recited incantations.

The power of the physical body seal was generated within his body, gently striking and tapping against the bloodline crystals.

Gradually, the originally solid dark blue crystal seemed to loosen, and a wisp of the same dark blue capillary appeared on its surface, attaching itself to Dago's heart.

With another pump of blood from the heart, the mysterious bloodline power contained within this dark blue crystal traveled throughout the body with the rapidly circulating blood.

In an instant!

"Buzz—"

Dago felt a tremendous roar in his mind, and his heart stopped beating for a moment.

The azure color in his eyes instantly turned into an endless, deep dark blue, and even the shape of his pupils subtly changed into a vertical line, just like the vertical pupils of a dragon.

His long, flowing hair billowed up behind him, and an indescribable, boundless, desolate, and cold aura emanated from his body.

In an instant, all the sounds of insects chirping and birdsong in the vast valley fell silent.

Bernal remained rooted to the spot.

In reality, Dago completely lost consciousness because his soul had sunk to an unknown depth in the spirit world.

"Whoosh—whoosh—"

The icy wind howled, and Dago's soul stood still, gazing blankly at the heavens and the earth, and everything around him.

What a despairing and terrifying land this is, a land covered with countless faces of despair and wailing, mouths agape and eyes hollow, and further away, a dense forest composed of countless arms and legs.

"Where am I?"

A sense of confusion appeared in Dago's eyes. He didn't know where he was or where he should go.

He felt as if he had traveled an extremely long journey and finally arrived here.

"Hiss~~ Sizzle~~ Rustle~~"

There were low, slippery murmurs, countless sticky, wicked sounds, as if the most filthy and disgusting beings in the world were whispering in Dago's ear.

These voices desperately tried to penetrate Dago's soul, as if trying to tell him something, but they brought a nauseating discomfort, like sharp metal scraping back and forth on smooth glass, making him frantic and trembling, wanting to scream.

Dago clutched his head in agony, frantically trying to shake the sound out of his head.

suddenly.

His body emitted countless tiny points of light that formed a light membrane, and then the sound stopped.

Dago looked up blankly, and then saw two blue suns in the dark, gloomy, apocalyptic sky, but they were obscured as if by an eclipse, with only the outer blue light leaking out.

The blue solar eclipse was almost parallel, hanging in the hazy gray sky.

A strong desire arose in Dago's heart for no reason, and he began to run toward the two blue solar eclipses, as if chasing some kind of devout faith.

He ran across the blank, desperate, and lifeless face, and the writhing arms around him could not stop him in the slightest.

Dago didn’t know how long he had been running; he only knew that he was getting closer and closer to the two blue solar eclipses.

at last!

On his way, he climbed a towering face peak. Standing atop the peak, he could even see the low-hanging sky above him, which swirled in a vortex shape.

But all that was in Dago's eyes were the two blue solar eclipses in the sky. He reached out and tried to touch the sun.

But unexpectedly, in the next second...

The two blue solar eclipses suddenly approached him, and then, a huge, ferocious, majestic and terrifying dragon head, which was beyond description, silently passed through the sky and appeared before him.

The dragon's head was covered in dark blue scales, and the so-called two blue solar eclipses were actually its enormous eyes.

It stared coldly at Dago, standing silently against the sky, its empty yet enormous eyes filled with an undeniable indifference.

Dago's pupils contracted, and he stood frozen in place.

At that moment, those previously vanished, nauseating, evil voices broke through the light barrier and appeared beside his ears, hysterically screaming at him in an unprecedentedly high-pitched tone—

"Desperate Winter Dragon! Behemoth!...Desperate Winter Dragon! Behemoth!!"

A bad feeling welled up in Dago's mind: could the bloodline he extracted from the Blood Tree of the Imprisoned God be a hybrid of the old followers of the Despair Sea and the ancient Winter Dragon?

Then, as if a dream were being veiled and transitioned, Dago's soul withdrew from the world of the Spirit Realm in the next instant.

"Damn it! What kind of bloodline was extracted from the ancient Winter Dragon bloodline and Dago's blood after being refined by the Blood Tree?"

Bernal frowned; he had been forced to retreat to the edge of the valley.

He also forcibly brought out the Blood Tree of the Imprisoned God. Standing on the edge of the valley and looking into it, he saw that the huge valley was now completely filled with an ancient, primitive, and wild aura.

The scent originates from Dago in the valley.

At this moment, Dago stood quietly, with ice elements and the power of despair intertwining and rolling around him.

Bernal looked up, and the flow of energy particles between heaven and earth formed a funnel-shaped vortex that was almost visible to the naked eye.

These massive amounts of energy particles, enough to destroy the entire valley, fell into Dago's body in the valley, but it was as if they had been thrown into a bottomless abyss, with no reaction whatsoever.

"What kind of bloodline did he extract?"

Bernal murmured, his eyes fixed on Dago in the valley.

As time went on, some changes began to occur in Dago, and Bernal's pupils gradually contracted.

He saw that Dago's long hair was gradually turning dark blue from the roots, and that fine scales were growing on his neck and cheeks. The scales were dark blue and had complex, ancient patterns on them.

Dago's body seemed to have become even more slender and elongated, and his already outstanding facial features were so handsome that they were almost demonic.

He slowly rose from the bottom of the valley, his dark blue hair having grown to a length of over ten meters, dancing wildly in the valley like the aurora borealis.

The ancient and savage aura emanating from him merged together, gradually condensing into a blurry, indistinct shadow of a giant dragon in the sky above the valley.

At this moment, the aura emanating from Dago had reached its peak: mysterious, ancient, noble, evil, majestic, and indifferent.

When the multi-headed dragon slowly opened its eyes, Bernal almost had a strong urge to kneel down and worship it on the spot.

This is the most ancient and primal bloodline pressure, a soul suppression imprinted within the instincts of living beings.

Bernal trembled slightly, his eyes glazed over, momentarily speechless. In the distance, the great ice serpent, hunting in the vast forest and replenishing its bloodline through food, seemed to sense this aura as well.

A look of bewilderment and fear flashed across the snake's crimson, diamond-like eyes, and instinct drove it to lower its massive body.

It didn't know what had happened, it just felt that it should do it this way, and the silent, invisible field spread outwards from the valley as the center.

All living beings that sensed this aura ceased their activity, submitted, knelt, and silently worshipped the suddenly arriving, former supreme overlord.

Finally, as the aura slowly dissipated and the ancient dragon's shadow vanished, everything calmed down.

Dago, who was suspended above the valley, had returned to normal. He slowly opened his eyes, his gaze still filled with confusion and bewilderment.

It felt as if I had just traveled through the river of time and woken up from an extremely long dream.

Bernal approached Dago, who seemed to be waking up from a deep sleep, at an extremely fast speed.

Dago was still immersed in his previous dream. He looked up at Bernal above him and whispered, "Bernal, in my dream I saw an incredibly huge and terrifying dragon."

Much later.

Dago only received a murmured response.

"I saw it too."

Bernal stared at Dago with a complicated expression and spoke slowly.