Ancient Wizards: A Little Progress Every Day

"Look! Once we cross that eerie low mountain ahead, we'll have crossed the buffer zone, and one foot will officially be on the inviolable territory of the Imperial Empire, the domain of fate's pendulum!"

half a month later.

On a day when the weather was extremely oppressive and gloomy, as if a downpour could happen at any moment.

Two figures clad in dark robes flew rapidly through the air, hundreds of meters above the ground, braving the gale-force winds and creating a piercing sound as the air ripped apart.

A flock of noisy black ravens, startled by the strong wind, flew erratically past Jason's feet.

He turned around abruptly, facing the wind, and roared excitedly at Dago behind him.

Dago nodded slightly and looked in the direction Jason was pointing.

At the edge of the field of vision, behind a low mountain range covered with gray-black pine trees, a large patch of eerie, shimmering blue light was faintly visible.

As they flew over the low hill like shooting stars, their view suddenly opened up.

Dago's breath hitched slightly.

He saw that in the wasteland not far ahead, there was a winding, seemingly endless, glowing "blue river"!

This dazzling galaxy, like a giant sword left by the gods, brutally cut the desolate and gray earth into two distinct worlds, east and west!

When they got very close, Dago was shocked to discover that it wasn't a real river at all.

It was a miracle created by the frenzied aggregation of a special magical strain that had undergone extreme artificial propagation and mutation.

These bacteria will uncontrollably emit a mesmerizing blue light in slightly dim environments.

They spread across the earth like a thick carpet, forming an endless river of starlight when viewed from afar.

"Is this the infamous border of the Empire of Destiny, which is renowned throughout the continent?"

Dago hovered silently in mid-air, looking down at the beautiful, eerie, and magnificent luminous fungus river. His hardened heart was inevitably struck by a strong visual impact.

He even took out his precious "Dream Glass Ball" from his pocket, which was quite rare, and infused it with his spiritual power to preserve the epic scene in its entirety.

"That's it! This is the place!"

Jason approached like a gust of wind and hovered beside him.

He waved his arms and shouted back to Dago.

Since leaving the quagmire of Baisong Town, the two of them had been traveling day and night for almost half a month to avoid any unforeseen complications.

Now, Jason's emotions were clearly running high as he was about to step into the territory of the Empire of Destiny, a land filled with endless opportunities and carnage.

"Everything, everything, is the most exquisite guidance of fate! Including our incredible encounter in that muddy swamp! Hahahaha!"

Jason, like a fanatic, spread his arms wide, laughing and shouting towards the sky.

Looking at his dissolute companion, Dago shook his head helplessly.

If you only look at this guy's carefree and heartless behavior throughout the journey, aside from his terrifying appearance that could stop a child from crying at night—

You really connect any trait of his with the black-robed wizarding community, which is known for its coldness, cruelty, and evil.

In fact, Dargo was also horrified to discover that this guy was not only a master of relationships, but also an incurable chatterbox.

During the two weeks that Dago spent with him, at least 90 percent of their already limited interactions consisted of Jason's incessant, one-sided chatter.

Although Dago wasn't as excited as Jason about reaching the finish line, beneath his calm exterior, a great turmoil was brewing within him.

The golden ladybug, which was the manifestation of Arahat's soul, was now crawling restlessly in his mental space as he was about to enter this sacred and ancient territory.

But in Dago's eyes, there was no past, no fear.

All he could see was the other side of the Blue River, the unfamiliar future that he was about to face—a new, bloody, and infinitely possible future!

To show his reverence for this ancient land, D'Ago chose to descend slowly from mid-air.

He stood firmly on the soft edge of the Blue Jun River, deciding to cross this special dividing line, a symbol of imperial majesty, in the most primitive way possible—on foot.

He lowered his head slightly, carefully observing the wondrous magical fungi at his feet.

Their shape resembles a cluster of beautiful blooming velvet flowers.

Every few seconds at a fixed frequency, the hair-thin bacterial tubes would spray out bursts of glowing fluorescent powder as if breathing.

These fluorescent particles dyed the air around him into a dreamy, mesmerizing, deep blue.

With a strange feeling of facing an unknown fate, Dago slowly raised his right foot.

Then, with firm resolve, he took a light step and stepped into the center of the Jun River!

However, just as his boots stepped across the Junhe River boundary and touched the solid ground on the opposite bank!

"Buzz—!"

Without any warning, a long, ancient, and resonant bell tolled in his ears, seemingly capable of piercing through the ages!

"clang--"

"clang--"

The sound was like the deep, soul-stirring melody of a massive brass pendulum swinging back and forth in a decaying old clock when the clock strikes midnight.

This mysterious bell seemed to traverse the corridor of millions of years in an instant, and with an unstoppable and domineering force, it completely pierced through all of Dago's defenses in a flash, and crashed hard into the very source of his soul!

The moment the bell rang, the storm and thunder primordial runes within Dago's body, which were not yet fully formed, seemed to resonate with some supreme law, and began to flash and tremble wildly deep within his flesh and blood!

Dago was struck dumb.

He stood frozen in place, completely immersed in the inexplicable and strange grandeur of the bell, unable to utter a single word for a long time.

His forward steps came to an abrupt halt, as if rooted to the ground.

Until the long, drawn-out chimes of the brass bells seemed to have completed their mission, gradually fading away and disappearing.

The immense, boundless tranquility that had completely enveloped his entire being and soul slowly receded from his body like the receding tide.

"Hey! Dago! What's wrong with you? Why are you spacing out? Why did you suddenly stop?"

Jason, who had already walked more than ten meters away, noticed something was wrong and turned around in confusion. Looking at Dago, who stood frozen like a statue, he shouted.

Dago snapped out of the tremor that had gripped his soul.

He subconsciously pursed his dry lips, utterly unable to use any pale words to describe the absurdity and shock he felt at that moment.

"you……"

Dago looked at Jason with a very complicated expression and tentatively asked, "When you were crossing the river just now... didn't you hear an ancient sound, like the swinging of a giant brass pendulum?"

"The sound of bells?"

Jason was taken aback, shaking his head vigorously. His confusion and bewilderment deepened.

"You saw the dead in broad daylight, didn't you? The Pendulum of Fate is just a symbolic name and spiritual totem of our empire!"

In this vast empire, you can't just stand anywhere on the roadside and hear the legendary bells of destiny.

Jason patted his bald head and offered his conclusion as a "local": "You're definitely hallucinating because you've been traveling too much lately and are under too much stress."

"...A hallucination?"

Dago lowered his eyes, concealing the look of surprise and uncertainty in them.

Only he himself knew that the resonance of his soul that he felt just now could not possibly have been a false auditory hallucination.

He didn't try to explain anything to Jason again.

He simply tightened his robe, took steady steps, crossed the blue starry river, and silently continued walking into the unknown mist ahead.