Ancient Wizards: A Little Progress Every Day

Dago looked around, taking in the small tavern that exuded a down-to-earth atmosphere.

The overall style is crafted from rugged red oak.

Behind the bar, on the mottled wall, hung all sorts of strangely shaped wizard hats, as if showing off their spoils.

Under a flickering wall lamp in the west corner, two men dressed in gray robes were huddled together whispering. The air was thick with the suspicious smell of potions, as if they were conducting some shady black market transaction.

In this tavern, all sorts of wizards can be seen everywhere.

They could be found in the first, second, and even third ring roads, and most of them looked travel-worn with wary eyes.

"This is Baisong Town, a lawless and chaotic place where all sorts of people mingle."

Bald Jason lowered his voice and introduced Dagger.

In fact, Dargo had already confirmed this the moment he entered and saw the tavern sign.

In the tragic lie fabricated by that inherently evil girl, Bai Song Town was brutally "bloodied" by Jason.

In retrospect, lies have proven utterly ineffective.

"White Pine Town..."

Dago took out the wide map of the central continent that Jason had previously given him and spread it out on the table.

He carefully checked the location and found that they were currently on the far western side of the Emerald Court.

But this place is already a chaotic no-man's-land, and does not belong to the strict domain of the Emerald Empire.

If you continue westward and cross several mountain ranges, you will be very close to "The Pendulum of Fate," one of the three great wizarding empires in the central region.

"Where is your next destination?"

Jason took a sip of water, looked up and asked Dago.

Dago put away the map and shook his head slightly: "I haven't decided yet. My initial plan is to find a powerful and well-established super-large force to settle down with, borrow their resources, and prepare to advance to the Miracle Class."

"What a coincidence, just like me."

Jason forced a smile that looked more like a grimace onto his scarred face: "I'm about to head to the Pendulum of Fate to try and pass the test to join the 'Hall of Witches'."

"If you don't have any better plans right now, why don't you travel with me from here on out, so you can look out for each other on the road?"

"The Temple of the Witchheart? What kind of place is that?"

"That's within the territory of the Pendulum of Fate, a terrifying black-robed organization that specializes in training dark and necromancer wizards."

It's also one of only two super-large wizarding forces in the entire empire... Oh, thank you, I'll put it here.

Jason stopped his introduction and gestured to the bartender, who was carrying a tray and nervously serving the drinks, to place them on the table.

He pushed one of the glasses of crimson liquid toward Dago, raising an eyebrow: "Try it. It's one of the most famous specialty potions here. It will definitely give you an unprecedented, soul-stirring experience."

Dago looked down at the so-called "creditor's" glass.

The surface of the blood-red, viscous liquid was covered with a dense layer of black worms the size of fingernails!

Like bloodthirsty man-eating ants, they were not only ferocious in appearance, but also alive, wriggling and struggling desperately on the surface of the wine.

Dago's eye twitched slightly.

After hesitating for a moment, he picked up his glass and took a small sip without any expression.

He even used his molars to cruelly bite several live worms that had slid into his mouth with the liquor, making a "crunch crunch" sound as they burst.

A strange, slightly bitter taste exploded on my taste buds.

Combined with the spicy flavor of the liquor itself, which seems to have been soaked in bones, the overall taste creates a bizarre flavor that makes your scalp tingle yet invigorates you.

Jason, on the other hand, was much more unrestrained. He tilted his head back and took a big gulp.

Dargo even watched as a few black ants, having narrowly escaped, crawled out through the everted gash on Jason's cheek.

Then, he nonchalantly used his rough fingers to forcefully stuff it back into his mouth and swallow it.

"Could you tell me more about the internal power structure of the Pendulum of Destiny empire?"

Dargo put down his glass, ignoring the insect residue in his mouth, and calmly got to the point.

"The Pendulum of Fate is fundamentally different from the other two arrogant empires in the central region."

Jason extended a finger with long, sharp black nails and casually stirred it slowly in the scarlet liquor.

With the magic of his fingertips, he created a miniature vortex, watching as the black ants were mercilessly swallowed by it, only to be vomited out dizzily along the rim of the glass a few seconds later.

"Those who hold the highest position and are most fervently revered throughout the entire realm of the pendulum of fate are called 'prophet'."

It could even be said that every secular king was ultimately appointed and deposed by a prophet.

"The prophet...could he be a rare prophetic wizard?"

Dago's deep eyes flickered violently.

In the wizarding world, spells involving time and fate have always been the most mysterious and unreasonable.

"Yes, the Pendulum of Destiny Empire possesses the most core, oldest, and most powerful prophetic magic heritage in the entire Upper Ring Continent."

It was the prophets of each generation who guided the empire through the fog, preventing it from suffering annihilation time and time again.

"So what about those two super-large wizarding forces you just mentioned?" Dago continued to press.

"Besides the Witchheart Palace, which I just mentioned and is composed of endless black wizards, another behemoth of the pendulum of fate is called—Spirit Mirror Lake."

Jason used his fingers, stained with red wine, to quickly sketch three simple rune symbols representing different factions on the rough oak table.

"The Prophet's position is detached from worldly affairs, only responsible for providing general guidance, while the Temple of the Witch Heart and the Mirror Lake are like black and white, standing in opposition below, checking and balancing each other without infringing on each other's territory."

"These three elements together form the steel skeleton of the entire vast empire of the Pendulum of Fate. As for the other ordinary wizarding forces, large and small, that depend on them, they are merely the flesh and blood and nutrients filling this skeleton."

Jason raised his sharp eyes, gave Dago a deep look, and said in a serious tone, "To be honest, I think 'Spirit Mirror Lake' is an absolutely perfect and excellent choice for you, even more so than the Temple of the Witchheart."

"Lingjing Lake has inherited numerous schools of magic from ancient times, truly a melting pot of styles. Almost every major school is extremely powerful, if my eyes aren't blind..."

Jason paused for a moment, then said with certainty, "Your major should be wind and lightning magic, which have the most destructive power, right?"

"As long as you have enough talent, you can definitely find the most suitable path to ascend to the top deep within Spirit Mirror Lake."