Ancient Wizards: A Little Progress Every Day

"A cunning and treacherous fox, a shameless old codger."

Evaque cursed through gritted teeth for a few moments before slowly calming down.

Anyway, he finally got out.

"First, try to recover your strength, and then..."

A cold glint flashed in Evaque's eyes. "Find the body chosen by Arazan."

As the oldest and most low-key and mysterious of the twenty-four chief priests, Arajan has existed since the birth of the spirit priests, and he even participated in the entire construction of the Temple of Spirits.

He knew more secrets than anyone else, and he even outlived more than one Lord of Spirits.

Finding Arazan might be the key to resolving all his troubles.

If it were the most glorious era of all spirits, "Evaque" would naturally not dare to directly provoke the other party. But now, the once most powerful and respected chief of priests is nothing more than a pitiful worm clinging to life under the threat of death.

"Perhaps I can still obtain the core inheritance of that immortal system."

Evaquer seemed to be contemplating a bright future, a slight smile curving his lips as he slowly clenched his right fist. "Bahafus, one day you too will bow your proud head before me, heh heh."

"Evaqui" chuckled, raising his right hand and unleashing a destructive hurricane in the void, instantly leveling everything beneath and around him.

Once the raging storm subsided, the "Evaque" could no longer be seen in the jungle where a section had been forcibly erased.

The seventh sunset after leaving the primeval forest.

"boom!"

Dago punched open the waist of a low mountain, sending a shower of rocks tumbling down. He then darted into the makeshift cave.

With a casual flick of his wrist, he tossed out a few array plates, setting up simple protective rune arrays around himself and at the cave entrance. Dago took a deep breath, sat cross-legged inside the damp cave, and quickly sank his mind into his consciousness space.

After seven days, the massive influx of knowledge that had been pouring into my mind was finally completed.

At this moment, within Dago's consciousness space, a black dandelion was quietly blooming in the center of ten golden diamond-like soul crystals.

On a dandelion, a beautiful golden ladybug was perched, its antennae twitching occasionally, making it look quite docile.

As Dago looked at the dandelions and ladybugs in front of him, some thoughts silently raced through his mind.

"The Soul of Amber!"

He silently uttered four words.

The vast stream of knowledge forcibly poured into his mind eventually formed an ancient tradition.

Moreover, it is a lineage related to the cultivation of the soul.

This inheritance was most likely given to him by the golden ladybug that took him away from the Spirit Realm, the same one that the tailless dragon Golini, who wanted to take over his body, mentioned—the ancient spirit shaman "Arazan".

"Is this a legacy... or a trap?"

"Was this bait you threw at me?"

Dago tried to talk to the golden ladybug on the dandelion, but the ladybug remained silent.

An ancient tradition originating from spirit shamans, specializing in the cultivation of the soul.

It would be a lie for Dago to say he wasn't tempted.

But having experienced the battle with Golini, and having witnessed firsthand how Evaque was mercilessly abandoned by the wolf shaman he trusted, and sent away as a sacrifice.

He had many concerns in his heart.

He feared that if he left the wolf's mouth, he would fall into the tiger's mouth.

Perhaps sensing his hesitation, the golden ladybug clinging to the black dandelion suddenly flapped its wings, then parted a point of golden light, quickly drawing faint traces of ancient characters in Dago's consciousness space.

"contract?"

Dago frowned as he deciphered the meaning of the ancient text.

"Is this your way of showing sincerity?"

Dago thought about it, but still refused.

"Unless you sign this contract with me."

A soul contract is like a contract from a past life; the final interpretation always rests with the party who drafted it.

He casually drafted a "master-servant" contract that was almost entirely in his favor and tossed it at the golden ladybug, calmly saying, "You can choose not to accept it, and I will not attempt to cultivate this inheritance. Moreover, from now on, your existence will become the next intractable soul problem that I urgently need to solve."

"Buzzing—"

The golden ladybug fluttered its wings within Dago's consciousness space, conveying to him one obscure and unclear wave of consciousness after another, revealing that its emotions were not very stable at the moment.

Dago simply withdrew from the consciousness space, letting it "quiet down" on its own.

Inside the cave, Dago gently turned his spatial ring, and a communication stone appeared in his hand.

It was the one Evaque had given him before, but now that he was in the central region, the communication stone had lost its effectiveness.

Dago stared at the communication stone in his hand for a long time, then silently crushed it into powder between his fingers and scattered it on the cave floor.

Having been possessed by the soul of an ancient evil dragon, Evaque has most likely disappeared from this world completely, and Dago cannot describe the complex feelings he has at this moment.

He watched as a devout believer was gradually destroyed by the very faith he had so desperately pursued.

He felt sorry for Evaque.

"The so-called sacred temple where all spirits dwell is nothing but a carefully crafted deception by ambitious people."

Dago couldn't help but mutter to himself, but an old voice suddenly popped into his mind and answered him.

"No. It's just that time has made some people forget their original intentions."

"Who?!"

Dago suddenly looked up, scanning his surroundings warily.

The next second, a beautiful golden ladybug flew out of his heart, accompanied by a faint, cold snort.

"You just signed the contract, and you've already forgotten about me?"

Dago was taken aback, only then realizing that the soul contract he had just drafted had already been successfully concluded.

"...throughout the endless years."

A golden ladybug hovered on Dago's nose, and the aged voice continued to echo in Dago's mind.

"Countless wizards have knelt at my feet, offering everything to become my disciples."

The voice grew angry.

"And you are the first person who needs me to sign a contract of servitude before you will inherit my mantle!!"

At this moment, Dago could almost picture an old man, once highly respected and renowned, standing on the wizard pyramid, gripping his staff, stomping his feet, and glaring at him with his beard bristling.

"......."

Dago fell silent.

He drafted the master-servant contract on the premise that the other party had no ill intentions, but if the other party had no malicious intent towards him, his behavior did seem a bit excessive.

It's like a dragon showing goodwill to an ant, but first it has to lower its head and kiss the ant's feet.

After a long while, Dagger cautiously tried to break the awkward silence.

"How should I address you?"

"Didn't you already know?"

The aged voice seemed somewhat weary, "You should really be grateful that I had no other choice but to accept you, regarding 'Spiritual Amber'."

The voice seemed to want to say something more to Dago, but it seemed to have exhausted its strength. The golden ladybug in front of Dago quickly dimmed, and then, dragging its "tired" body, it wobbled back to his body.

When Dago returned to his mental space, he found that the other person was lying motionless on one of his soul crystals, as if he were "sound asleep".