Ancient Wizards: A Little Progress Every Day

three days later.

Beside a huge lake.

The moisture in the air condenses into tiny ice crystals, which slowly drift down under the influence of gravity.

Dago, dressed in a gray-silver robe, stood by the lake, quietly watching the enormous body of the Great Ice Serpent slowly sink into the water.

As the snake's body descended, the extreme cold power of the rules began to erode the thermodynamic balance of this body of water.

A thin layer of ice gradually began to form on the lake surface, and the corpses of frozen aquatic creatures continued to float to the surface.

Before the fish and shrimp could even struggle, their cellular fluid crystallized instantly, piercing the cell walls and becoming crystal-clear specimens.

Dago frowned slightly, wanting to say something, but it seemed that he had no better way to do it than this.

He is now very close to the Fairy Ancient City, only a few days' journey away.

The concentration of free elemental particles in the air is rising exponentially, and various heterogeneous spiritual energy radiations are interwoven into a huge net in the void.

The closer Dago got to the Fairy City, the more he could feel an invisible force converging on him. There were just too many powerful wizards, which made him change his initial idea and give up on bringing the Great Ice Serpent with him.

Even if Dago is very confident in his abilities, he cannot guarantee that he can protect the Great Ice Serpent in a place where countless powerful wizarding geniuses gather in the south.

This ancient serpent species, with its genetic sequence containing fragments of ancient frost laws, is an irresistible temptation for any wizard who practices elemental magic.

It's almost inevitable that this will attract the covetous eyes of others, especially since he and the Great Ice Serpent are still quite weak.

This is not only a loss for the pet, but it could also make him a target of public criticism, turning him into anatomical material on someone else's lab table.

He had originally planned to use the Great Ice Serpent as a magic pet, making it a great asset in his participation in the competition, but now he thought better of it.

Giving up is for the sake of possessing in the long run.

As the giant ice serpent completely disappeared into the lake, fortunately, the lake was deep and large enough that the cold aura of its bloodline naturally subsided after the serpent sank to the bottom.

Without a detection method similar to the "Eye of Truth," it would be difficult to detect the presence of a powerful magical beast beneath the lake surface using only the naked eye and mental power.

Even if they could detect it, without knowing it was an ancient and exotic species like the Great Ice Serpent, probably no wizard would deliberately provoke it.

After all, unknown deep-sea monsters often mean unpredictable dangers and low hunting efficiency.

Dago felt a little relieved and continued heading towards the Fairy City.

He had considered the issue of the Great Ice Serpent long ago; this creature was destined to remain hidden from public view for a considerable period of time.

If you want to carry it with you as an aid, it's best to have a storage item that can hold your magic pet.

This involves advanced spatial folding technology and the miniaturization of life support systems.

Therefore, specialized pet storage items are much more valuable than ordinary spatial storage items, and they also need to accommodate a massive creature like the Great Ice Serpent.

Even if he could afford it, he probably couldn't.

That would require consuming a massive amount of magic stones, and might even require exchanging some rare knowledge or insight into rules.

Above the vast hilly plains, figures clad in monastic robes pierced through the clouds and flew swiftly.

The light around each figure was distorted, a visual residue caused by the friction between the high-intensity elemental shield and the atmosphere.

One of the figures suddenly fell from the sky and landed lightly on a slope covered with withered yellow grass.

"Finally...we've arrived."

Dago squinted, gazing at the scene before him.

Among the green and yellow hills, there were countless tents of different colors, and numerous wizards moved among them, like a giant circular chessboard.

Those tents were no ordinary objects; each surface shimmered with the glow of defensive runes, clearly alchemical creations that had solidified the "Space Extension" spell.

Even though he was somewhat prepared, Dago was still taken aback by the number of wizards who came to witness or participate in the battle.

This is not a market; it is a feast for predators.

It's important to know that everyone here is at least a first-level formal wizard.

The further in you go, the higher the level becomes, with second-ring, third-ring, and possibly even miracle wizards above the third ring.

That place is the center of a high-energy reaction, and even the spatial structure appears somewhat unstable.

Dago refused to believe that no miracle wizard had come to watch the battle.

"It is indeed the grandest event in the southern wizarding world, a gathering of southern wizarding geniuses, a competition for the Isidore prodigy seat, and a succession of born wizards."

Dago murmured softly, and soon his expression returned to calm as he slowly walked down the slope.

He concealed all his aura, like an ordinary passerby wizard, hiding himself in the background of the crowd.

"call--"

A huge shadow, accompanied by a howling wind, suddenly swept over Dago's head, causing a long, slight commotion in the crowd ahead.

It was an undisguised, blood-stained life force.

Dago looked up and saw an enormous yellow bat with a tall, thin human figure sitting cross-legged on it.

The bat had clearly undergone extensive biological modification; its wing membranes were covered with wind-elemental acceleration runes, and even the muscle fibers showed a metallic sheen.

The latter, like a cold, blazing sun, recklessly radiated the powerful mental energy fluctuations of a third-ring wizard.

With an arrogant posture, it headed straight towards the very center of this circular settlement.

This is a demonstration, and also a screening process.

The weak trembled under his mental pressure, while the strong stared at him with cold indifference.

But just as he stepped into the innermost edge of the area, the young wizard riding the giant yellow bat was attacked simultaneously by several spells from below.

Several beams of light of different colors, like precision-guided missiles, tore through the air and aimed directly at the bat's vital abdomen.

Amidst explosions and roars, the battle erupted instantly. The violently trembling aftershocks of the spells caused some of the crowd to scatter rapidly, and the tents set up on the ground were also moved away.

The attacks were not random, but contained a combination of effects such as "anti-air", "doubled gravity", and "element stripping".

From Dago's perspective, it looks like a stone thrown into a muddy pond, splashing up water droplets and mud spots.

There are no laws here, only unspoken rules based on power.

"It's starting to feel like a grand event is about to begin..."

Dago stared at the erupting battle, muttering to himself, feeling a slight heat rising in his veins.

That is the wizard's instinctive desire for the clash of powers, and the expectation to verify what he has learned.

The south is vast, and the vast majority of wizarding forces reside in a small corner of the country.

They are like researchers in a closed laboratory, clinging to their own fragmented pieces of truth.

While there may be friction between different factions, nothing can compare to the intensity of the current great battle that brings together almost all the wizarding forces in the entire south.

It's like pouring countless different chemical reagents into the same reaction vessel.

Different spell systems, different schools of magic, different lineages, and different wisdoms are about to clash and collide here.

The elemental wizard's rage, the alchemist's precision, the bloodline wizard's savagery, the curse wizard's venom...

What kind of sparks will fly during this collision... just thinking about it makes me look forward to it.

That will be the most dazzling fireworks on the road to truth.

"This is the scenery I want to see."

Dago exhaled softly, his eyes sparkling, slowly calming his restless heart.

"I wonder if Ang has arrived yet."

He naturally remembered what Ang had told him three years ago on the Goblin Plains. Given Ang's mischievous nature, there was no way he would miss this grand event.

That morbid obsession with chaos and the unknown is the most typical characteristic of a dark wizard.

Right now, it's probably hiding in some corner, lazily observing everything, like a spider waiting to harvest souls.

Dago stopped at a temporary stall that specialized in selling spatial tents, and while the vendor was explaining the products,

He sent messages to both Barker and Ginya, saying that he had arrived at the Fairy City Ruins.

As a type of spatial storage device, the price of a spatial tent exceeds that of ordinary spatial storage devices, since it is intended for living in.

But it shouldn't be ridiculously expensive, because the interior space of a typical space tent is actually not very large, only two to three times the size of the exterior space.