Ancient Wizards: A Little Progress Every Day

The lazy afternoon sunlight pierced through the crystal dome, refracting a hazy halo of light within the silver-white tower, and then slanted down. Amidst the dancing dust of light, Dargo and Undine seemed frozen in a faded oil painting, their bodies enveloped in a soft golden glow.

Surrounded by books, Undine was breathtakingly beautiful. With a casual wave of her hand, an invisible spiritual field rippled out like water, isolating everything from the outside world and leaving only a gentle tranquility that privately enveloped the two of them.

Undine gazed tenderly at Dargo and spoke softly:

"It's still related to this exploration of the Mirror Forest."

"The benefits gained from this exploration of the core area of ​​the Mirror Forest far exceeded everyone's expectations."

But precisely because of this, how to divide these resources has become a difficult problem.

"No matter what compensation distribution plan is proposed, it will be impossible to satisfy every faction."

Undine paused for a moment, then said in a low voice, "After research and discussion by all parties, it is decided to determine the ownership of all resources through a competition."

The six major wizarding factions—the Dark Crystal Cult, Thunder Tower, Black Swamp, Water Palace, Lava Brotherhood, and our Thorn Ring—will each send ten members whose soul age is under one hundred years old. These members will compete in pairs, and the final resource allocation will be based on the overall ranking of each faction's members.

"Ten people? Another ranking competition?!"

Dago frowned slightly, but he wasn't too surprised.

The wizarding world has always upheld the idea that strength is paramount and the strong are respected. The powerful are entitled to enjoy everything, while the weak are only subject to plunder and oppression.

Just like the Aynark Wizarding Academy, which was destroyed under the authority of the Darkblood Council, destroying you is none of your business.

This is the fairest form of arrangement under the rules of the wizarding world.

The top experts of the six major forces should all be miracle wizards of the fourth ring or above, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

Such powerful individuals rarely participate in battles personally unless it involves matters of life and death.

Therefore, competing with the fighting prowess of the younger generation naturally became the best approach.

"If it weren't for your performance on the front lines this time, I might not have even considered sending you. After all, you still lack the time and experience to truly stand out from the top performers..."

However, your bloodline potential has been further developed, which has largely narrowed the gap, and you are now qualified to participate in this competition.

At the same time, this competition is also a great training opportunity for you, which can accelerate your growth.

Undine said softly, "After discussions among all parties, it has been decided that this competition will be held in the Goblin Plains in two months."

If you achieve a ranking in the competition, you will receive a reward.

As far as I know, the spatial mirror magic inheritance unearthed from the Mirror Forest is one of them.

When Undine mentioned the words "spatial mirror magic inheritance" again, Dago was moved.

He now had a compelling reason to go and fight for it.

"Reputation, experience, trials, wealth, and...."

Undine paused halfway through her sentence, then continued, "The qualification to go to a higher stage is about a ticket, and the competition for a certain spot... If you grow fast enough, maybe you can catch up!"

"What kind of tickets, what kind of seats?"

I couldn't help but ask about some of the information mentioned by Dagonan and Undinety.

Undinedy simply shook her head, unwilling to explain further. "It's too early to tell you now. If you can make it, that would be best. If you can't, it's better not to tell you."

After Undinedy changed the subject, Dago continued, "Your soul aptitude is far inferior to those top geniuses. Following in the footsteps of the ancient war wizards is the right path."

Now is a great opportunity for refinement. What are your thoughts?

Undine looked into Dargo's eyes.

Dago had already made up his mind and nodded decisively: "I don't want to miss this opportunity myself."

Undine's face showed a faint look of relief, and she nodded, saying, "Then try your best to prepare... You still have a little time."

Dago, I look forward to the day you shine.

Maybe not this time... but it will happen sooner or later.

Dargo bowed to Undine and took his leave.

He descended the gray-white spiral stone steps until he emerged from the tower.

At the entrance to the tower, a ray of sunlight fell on Dago's face.

He looked up, squinting at the outline of the sun sandwiched between several floating islands, his eyes flickering slightly.

A moment later, Dago left calmly.

"A contest between the top geniuses of the six major wizarding factions?"

In the miniature secret realm, Bernal, with a pipe in his mouth, stood in front of the huge alchemy furnace, busy at work.

Upon hearing Dago's casual remark, Bernal stopped what he was doing, suddenly giving Dago a rather peculiar look as he looked him up and down. Then, he slowly exhaled a smoke ring and said with considerable emotion, "It's hard to imagine that the naive young wizard who knocked on my door back then has unknowingly become qualified to step onto this stage! Tsk tsk!!"

Faced with Bernal's sudden exclamation, Dago felt goosebumps rise on the back of his hand. He chose to ignore him and gently touched the branches of the Blood Prisoner's Tree in front of him.

After helping Dago purify the bloodline of the ancient winter dragon, the Blood Tree of the Imprisoned God, which was "severely damaged", has only now recovered.

That purification experience seemed to be a kind of trial for the Holy Blood Tree.

The restored Blood Tree of the Imprisoned God is even more robust than before.

This legendary tree, which is said to exist in the wizarding world, has gradually revealed its extraordinary nature.

The tree trunk, over three meters tall, was completely enveloped in a mysterious light red glow. Its massive root system was deeply embedded in the specially prepared soil of the secret realm, even surpassing some ancient trees that were decades or hundreds of years old.

Of course, what is most special is its spirituality, as if it can understand his every thought, is connected to him by blood, and understands his heart.

This made Bernal, who went out hunting monsters with Serena every day to feed the Blood Tree of the Imprisoned God, extremely jealous.

This Blood Tree of the Imprisoned God, which Bernal described as still in its "seedling stage," had already shown the potential to be a "bottomless pit of resources."

Not counting the resources obtained from the hunt by Bernal and Serena, the resources that Dago alone, as a member of the Six Thorns Knot, allocates each month are already countless.

A rough calculation suggests that there are at least tens of thousands of high-level magic stones.

This doesn't even include the occasional nourishment from Dago's own blood.

However, Dago is not stingy with his investment in the Blood Tree of the Prisoner, as all his current investments are for its better performance when it is needed next time.

Further purification of the Despair Winter Dragon bloodline within his body still depends on the Imprisoned God Blood Tree.

After playing with the Blood Tree of the Imprisoned God for a while, Dago turned around and walked out of the miniature secret realm, out of the stone wall, out of the waterfall, and casually found a place to sit down in the quiet valley.

During his exploration of the Mirror Forest, Dago obtained many resources. After deducting the portion that had to be handed over, the rest was quite considerable.

He exchanged all these resources for potions that could promote the growth of mental power, as well as various materials needed for the growth of the Blood Tree of the Imprisoned God.

In fact, Dago is not lacking in resources; what he lacks most is time.

"Top geniuses from the six major wizarding factions!"

Dargo habitually rubbed the ring on his finger gently, lost in thought.

In the upcoming joint competition, there will no longer be any distinction between the first, second, and third battlefields; everyone will be on the same platform.

If he's unlucky, it's not impossible for him to be eliminated in the first round.

"The top figures of the other five major wizarding factions are most likely at the level of the Thorns' ultimate genius, Barker!"

That is, a third-ring wizard.

Dago is only at the mid-stage of the second ring, a whole level lower than Dago.

To date, he has not fought a third-ring wizard.

When a second-ring wizard advances to the third ring, there won't be a significant change in the form of their mental energy; they will simply increase from two mental energy seals to three, or even more.

Then there will be a significant improvement in both the quantity and quality of mental strength.

The third ring wizard is also the time when many core spell traditions truly begin to unleash their power.

In other words, Dago needs to withstand "a difference of tens of times in mental strength", "a difference of one or two or even three soul seals in amplification", and "a difference in the inheritance of second-ring and third-ring spells".

Under these incredibly harsh conditions, he competed against genius wizards whose natural talents were no less than his, and in some cases even surpassed his.

An unprecedented level of hellish difficulty!

It was more than ten times more difficult than when he first entered the Thorn Ring of Law.

Are you scared?

Dago asked himself, gently placing his right hand on his left chest.

There was his beating heart, and the Desperate Winter Dragon Beheilite bloodline crystal inserted into it, trembling slightly.

"No."

Dago shook his head, his azure eyes reflecting the light of the sky beyond the valley, growing ever more dazzling.

"I'm excited and looking forward to it!..."

As Dago spoke softly, the light in his eyes faded, and he calmly began to chant a spell. A large number of free ice-type energy particles surged into the air, and soon, a huge vortex of ice and snow formed before his eyes.

Dago raised his hand to dispel the spell, and then continued to repeat the same actions.

His mental strength has reached the critical point of advancing to the mid-stage of the second ring, but he needs to wait for the [Prism] rune to undergo further transformation under the nourishment of the spatial energy seed in his mind, and completely upgrade to [Multiple Prisms].

He will be promoted because he plans to use the Multi-Prism as his second solidified soul seal.

During this time, Dago chose to focus his energy on practicing his main battle spells. The more proficient he became, the better his chances of winning the upcoming battles.

Thanks to the bloodline crystal inserted into his heart, with each heartbeat, a wisp of bloodline power would silently flow into Dago's body.

The subtle fusion of bloodlines brought forth gifts from the past, and Dago's mind was filled with understanding and insights into ice magic.

Excruciating pain and endless inspiration.

Pain was intertwined with joy.

Dago was immersed in this subtle and indescribable state.

With the blessing of the [Evolutionary Trait: Winter's Stillness] state, his mental energy is almost inexhaustible, and he can practice spells without stopping for a moment.

On the unseen system panel, the proficiency of a range of skills and spells was steadily increasing at a consistent rate.

Even though Dago would immediately extinguish the power of each spell he cast, the emanating chill still unconsciously affected the environment of the entire valley.

Centered on the young wizard sitting cross-legged on the boulder in deep thought, large swathes of frost spread outwards.

Unbeknownst to them, the sound of the waterfall cascading down the valley stopped, and all signs of life slowly disappeared... The entire valley was enveloped in a pure white expanse of snow.