Ancient Wizards: A Little Progress Every Day

"Ancient wizards attempted to merge the souls of other powerful beings into their own, thereby gaining innate talents and abilities."

Barker's voice echoed in the quiet tea room, carrying a calmness akin to dissecting a corpse.

Aren't they worried about their own souls being corrupted, or even worse?

Dago couldn't help but interrupt.

His pupils contracted slightly, and his thoughts swept across the depths of his mental space in an instant.

There, the remnant will of the Despairing Winter Dragon Beheilite, like a stubborn radioactive isotope, constantly radiates radiation called "despair".

He was acutely aware of the dangers of different souls devouring and fusing.

That is an erosion of the definition of "self," a shift in the coordinates of cognition.

"Um."

Barker nodded, his fingers tracing the rough texture of the teacup's rim, as if caressing a rough piece of history.

"They quickly realized that this simply wouldn't work. The frequency difference between different souls would cause the 'dualism' of the mental field to collapse, ultimately turning the wizard into a madman or a monster."

Later, the ancient wizards devised a better solution.

"What method?"

"Summon, possess."

"Summon...possession?"

Dago chewed over the two words, trying to decipher the underlying mechanism from their literal meaning.

"Yes."

Barker said slowly, "The spirit sorcerers created a place called the Temple of Spirits, specifically to house the souls of powerful beings."

"It is not a palace in the physical sense, but a 'high-dimensional soul storage vault' located in the gap of the spirit world."

"They exploited loopholes in the rules, stripping those powerful souls from their bodies, formatting their memories, and retaining only the purest 'combat instincts' and 'understanding of the rules.'"

"When needed, summoning through marks can also achieve powerful effects."

"This method perfectly resolves the problems of external souls contaminating soul power and conflicts with one's own soul."

"They only need a simple rune mark to summon powerful souls from the Temple of Spirits to aid them in battle."

"Not only does it save a lot of time studying spells, but its combat power is even stronger than that of a normal wizard."

"As a result, the practice of spirit witchcraft flourished for a time, and many witches turned to it."

"This is a social choice, and also a fanaticism in the pursuit of a shortcut to truth."

"When the lifespan of the spirit shamans comes to an end, they will also choose to enter the Temple of Spirits so that they can be used by those who come after them."

"They thought it was an eternal Valhalla, a way to perpetuate wisdom."

"It is said that at the height of the Spirit Witchcraft tradition, the Temple of All Spirits possessed tens of thousands of powerful souls, and the entire wizarding world underwent a tremendous transformation."

That was the prototype of "soul industrialization".

However, a catastrophic riot broke out within the Spirit Witch organization at this time.

Barker's eyes deepened, as if he were looking at that era of blood and fire.

"Those powerful souls that exist in the Temple of All Spirits began to feel dissatisfied with their fate of being used as tools."

"Although memories may be formatted, the 'life instinct' cannot be erased."

"That is the yearning for 'existence' engraved in the structure of the soul."

"Moreover, they also yearn to return to the human world, by forcibly possessing the body of a spirit sorcerer after being summoned."

"That is the backlash from the tools, the classic paradox of the creator being overthrown by the creation."

"The rebellion of the Temple of Spirits was a catastrophe for both spirit sorcerers and the wizarding world."

"Countless top wizards were instantly erased from their consciousness during the summoning, becoming vessels of flesh and blood for ancient spirits."

"When the rebellion was completely quelled, the wizards began to reconsider the feasibility of the path of spirit witchcraft."

"This was a painful process of falsification."

"They realized that there was no way to fundamentally solve this problem."

"Because every spirit sorcerer, no matter how glorious their life may have been, will ultimately be destined for the Temple of Spirits."

"And no one can guarantee that, once they become a soul, they can endure a long period of being driven by others and resist the temptation to return to the human world."

Who is willing to become the 'staff' in the hands of their juniors? Who is willing to wait in the endless void for that occasional 'breathing out'?

"At the same time, the various drawbacks of the sorcery path were brought up again."

"After all, it's a cultivation method involving the soul; no matter how thorough the planning, many dangers are still unavoidable."

"Resonance of the soul can trigger physical mutations, and prolonged possession can lead to loosening of the spiritual realm."

"There have always been wizards who have died during their practice due to reasons such as soul backlash."

Even those wizards at the forefront of the spiritual path are beginning to realize that if they continue down this path, they will ultimately be unable to avoid the fate of soul distortion.

"At this point, the path of spirit witchcraft was abandoned, the Temple of All Spirits was sealed and exiled, and the path of spirit witchcraft perished completely, like a fleeting moment."

"This is a process of trial and error, and correction, on the road to discovering the truth."

"Later, the wizards began to turn to the study of spiritual spaces and bloodlines."

"This is a crucial juncture in the transformation of wizarding civilization from theology to science."

Barker's story ended, but Dago's mind remained unsettled for a long time.

The tea before him was no longer tea, but the blood-red waves churning in the long river of history.

He has always been interested in these ancient secrets, and every time he hears one, he marvels at the wisdom of the ancient wizards.

And their madness in playing with taboos for the sake of truth.

At that time, all wizards lived on the same land, and countless schools of thought flourished amidst the clash of wisdom.

It is the integration of resources, and also the boundless flow of ideas.

He was fascinated by the ancient times, and he wasn't the only one; many wizards shared this sentiment.

That's a filtered nostalgia for the golden age.

Of course, this doesn't mean that modern wizards are less intelligent than wizards of ancient times.

Various disciplines and magical arts continue to develop and progress, even becoming more refined and systematic.

But many things are no longer available to lower-level wizards.

Knowledge is monopolized, and truth is locked away.

Powerful wizards have all entered the Lower Ring Continent, making the Upper Ring Continent a natural barrier that isolates wizards of different levels from each other.

Class solidification is not only reflected in resources, but also in the degree of control over one's understanding of the world.

"I suspect that Evaque may have accidentally obtained a part of the ancient spirit shaman's cultivation method somewhere. The summoned spirit he is currently displaying is not as powerful as the legends say, and he probably has not yet communicated with the Temple of Spirits."

"If the Temple of All Souls were to truly reappear in the world, it would be both a catastrophe and the greatest opportunity for the entire wizarding world."

"However, at the Mist Wizard stage, he is already quite powerful. Evaque's strength may be comparable to the strongest genius of the three major wizarding forces like Andariel."

"Of course, we'll only know for sure after they fight."

Barker took a sip of tea and said calmly.

Dargo gently stirred the reddish-brown tea in his cup with a small silver spoon, creating a small swirl of tea.

He said, "You came to see me, not just to have a simple chat, right?"

In the wizarding world, time is the magic stone, and there is no idle chatter without a reason.

It seems that this meeting between the two finally got down to business.

In response to Dago's question, Barker nodded and said directly, "I mainly came to see if you have advanced to the third ring."

"I'm sorry to disappoint you."

Dago’s voice was calm, without any shame or unease.

According to his own pace, laying a solid foundation is more important than blindly pursuing promotion.

No, not at all.

Barker said, "I would be more surprised if you really advanced to the third circle... after all, you were only promoted to the second circle wizard three years ago."

Dago remained silent, waiting for Barker to continue.

After a moment's thought, Barker said, "After the battle of Andariel, I, along with the survivors of that battle and some other geniuses from medium-sized wizarding forces in the south, formed a small private alliance."

This is a way for the weak to band together for warmth, and also a coordinated effort to strangle the strong.

Dago blinked, a faint blue light flickering in his pupils. "To seek revenge against Andariel, the 'Phantom Mask'?"

"Of course I'd like to if I have the chance."

Barker said calmly, his tone devoid of hatred, only cold calculation.

"The main purpose is still this battle for Isidor's seat."

In this zero-sum game, only by eliminating the predators at the top of the food chain can these secondary predators have room to survive and evolve.

At that moment, Barker's voice suddenly stopped, and he took out a glowing communication stone from his spatial ring.

After reviewing the document, he pondered for a moment, then said to Dagger:

"There's a party coming up soon, let's go together. I'll tell you more on the way."