Ancient Wizards: A Little Progress Every Day

three days later.

Under a clear, flawless blue sky.

A uniquely designed, even somewhat absurd, carriage is swaying and flying thousands of meters in the air, accompanied by the creaking of its wooden axles.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out that what was pulling this heavy carriage was not some winged winged horse or magical beast.

Instead, there were countless ordinary-sized gray-brown sparrows!

These sparrows strangely carried specially made miniature claw hooks in their beaks, and countless extremely fine transparent threads connected them to the carriage.

They were like a dense swarm of bees, pulling the carriage forward relentlessly in the fierce wind.

The driver, sitting in the driver's seat, was a strong, muscular man, like a raging bear.

But on his enormous head, he wore a strangely rusted iron spiked cage mask.

The mask completely concealed his true face, with only a pair of cold, sharp eyes, like those of an owl, visible through the holes, constantly scanning the surrounding airspace.

In the driver's burly hands, he held a slender whip that emitted a faint blue electric light.

From his mouth came a loud, penetrating whistle, yet with a strange tone that sounded like some ancient bird language.

Each time he blew his whistle loudly, he lashed out in mid-air with his blue-glowing whip.

The sparrows responsible for pulling the cart would chirp shrilly as if injected with stimulants, frantically flapping their wings, exhausting their life force.

As the carriage sped along at high speed, sparrows, exhausted and dying from bursting hearts, fell helplessly from the sky like raindrops.

At the same time, summoned by this eerie whistle, hundreds and thousands more sparrows, as if bewitched by the magic sound, flew in from all directions through the mountains and forests, fearlessly joining the cruel procession of pulling the cart.

This eerie sparrow carriage continued to rampage across the horizon.

It wasn't until it flew to the foot of an exceptionally steep, barren mountain that pierced the sky like a sharp sword that it began to slowly slow down and descend under the driver's control.

Finally, with a dull thud, the carriage came to a steady stop at the foot of the rocky mountain.

"Distinguished guest, you have safely arrived at your destination!"

The burly man wearing a spiked cage turned around and shouted loudly into the closed carriage.

What's chilling is that the voice emanating from his enormous body is as high-pitched as that of a female cat in heat.

It has absolutely nothing to do with its towering, iron-tower-like appearance.

"it is good."

A calm voice, devoid of any discernible emotion, slowly emanated from inside the carriage, its doors draped with heavy velvet curtains.

A moment later, a long, pale hand lifted the curtain.

A tall, slender young man stepped gracefully out of the carriage.

The young man's physique, hidden beneath his black robe, was incredibly well-proportioned and brimming with explosive power.

He wore an elegant dark black robe, and his long black hair was simply tied up.

He deliberately separated two strands of his long hair, letting them hang naturally from in front of his ears.

On her head, she also wore a very flamboyant silver rune hair ornament with an antique design.

This did not diminish his masculine and handsome appearance; on the contrary, it added to his mysterious and even somewhat dignified and otherworldly aura.

"My esteemed sir, do you know? In the past two weeks, you are the eighth guest I have personally escorted who has wanted to try his luck at this mysterious 'Tataka Mountain'..."

The rickshaw driver with the iron barbed wire cage had a big smile on his face and spoke in a high-pitched voice, like a shrewd merchant, as he bent down to chat with the young man who had just gotten off the rickshaw.

"Whoosh."

Young people don't waste words.

With a casual toss, a heavy, exquisitely crafted storage pouch filled with high-grade magic stones traced an arc in mid-air before landing precisely in the coachman's arms.

The driver hurriedly caught the waist pouch, weighed it briefly, and his owl-like eyes immediately flashed with a greedy glint.

He immediately changed his expression, beaming and emitting even higher-pitched, nauseating giggles.

"Oh my! You are absolutely the most generous and noble person I have ever met in my life. I swear on the souls of my ancestors for eighteen generations that I wish you a smooth and successful journey."

The driver bowed deeply to the young man at a ninety-degree angle.

Then, he contentedly tucked the magic stone into his pocket.

Humming some unknown cheerful tune, he blew that eerie whistle again.

He skillfully summoned the sparrows that had been scattered around, frantically pecking at the corpses of their companions, and put them back on the carriage.

With a rustling sound of flapping wings, the coachman rode the carriage back into the air like a gust of wind, heading off to find the next generous sucker.

With his hands tucked into his sleeves, Dago silently watched the bizarre vehicle, with its absurd "local character" reminiscent of a pendulum of fate, disappear completely into the distance.

Then, he slowly turned around, his eyes instantly turning cold and sharp, and began to carefully examine the barren mountain in front of him.

According to the detailed, top-secret document Jason gave him regarding the "Mirror Lake" entry selection process.

The desolate, massive mountain range before him, resembling a dormant volcano, was one of the testing grounds for those who had a chance to gain entry into the supreme "Spirit Mirror Lake."

The records clearly state that Lingjing Lake, as an ancient and powerful force, secretly set up many similar qualification distribution points within the empire in order to cast a wide net and catch fish throughout the entire empire.

These locations are also the one-way warp entrances to the core headquarters of Lingjing Lake, which is like a small world.

However, this is not a charity hall with its doors wide open.

Only here can one gain the absolute approval of that mysterious "gatekeeper".

Only outsiders have the opportunity to truly step into the teleportation array and participate in that brutal, meat-grinding selection process.

According to intelligence.

In the perilous mountain before him lived a peculiar ancient tree-man guardian named "Tataka Jilimu," who had lived in seclusion for many years.

As for how to please them and what kind of bizarre tests to pass in order to gain their approval and be allowed to enter the teleportation array...

The document, which had been purchased at great expense, unfortunately offered no explanation whatsoever.

After a moment's thought, Dago quickly figured out the key point.

That makes perfect sense.

At this critical juncture of the transition between the old and new prophets, wizards from all over the world, who have heard the news and are now frantically trying to join the Mirror Lake, are already "overrunning" the area like locusts.

Every wizard who attempts to participate in the selection is a direct competitor with whom there is no end.

This is a true zero-sum game.

The fewer people who enter Lingjing Lake, the less fierce the competition for elimination there will be.

How could Jason possibly find out such crucial information about customs clearance, which directly affects his personal interests, by casually asking around in those peripheral black markets?

Dago didn't waste any more brain cells thinking too much.

He calmly smoothed out the wrinkles on his robe, then took a step and walked slowly into the depths of the giant mountain.

All that lay before him was a narrow, winding path, overgrown with thorns and brambles.

It meanders forward through the pile of rocks, its destination unknown.

That greedy coachman must have received a hefty tip before deliberately and precisely leading him to this hidden entrance.

Dago figured that if he followed this path a little further, he should be able to see the so-called Treefolk gatekeeper.

Dago followed the path and walked along it as if taking a leisurely stroll for a short while.

suddenly!

His mental energy, which was constantly radiating out like radar, seemed to have keenly detected some hidden dangerous fluctuations!

Dago's expression suddenly changed, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

His seemingly casual steps came to an abrupt, natural, and flawless halt.

He was like an ancient beast that had caught the scent of its prey, his muscles tensing to their limit in an instant.

His right hand was already loosely placed on the mark beneath his robe, a mark that could unleash destructive magic at any moment.

one second.

two seconds.

Several more suffocating breaths passed.

"Shhh—"

A dense thicket of black bushes, only a few dozen meters in front of him, suddenly began to shake violently.

Followed by.

Accompanied by a series of arrogant footsteps and a crisp metallic clang.

Two powerful, undisguisedly hostile wizarding figures stood one behind the other, like thugs robbing a highwayman.

He swaggered out of the bushes and blocked Dago's path.