Ancient Wizards: A Little Progress Every Day

A golden ladybug appeared in mid-air at some unknown time.

It hovered silently at the edge of the storm's eye, staring at the curled-up body on the ground with an extremely indifferent gaze, as if looking at a dead person.

At this moment, Dago's consciousness had fallen to the extremely dangerous edge of chaos.

A vast collection of memories spanning four lifetimes and hundreds of years, including love, hate, separation, death, and magical deductions... It's like a ball of yarn that has been maliciously disassembled and then roughly kneaded back together.

They were a jumbled mess, completely blocking his mind, making it impossible for him to distinguish which life was the real "Dago".

He curled up on the ground like a fetus, maintaining that position for a long, long time.

The golden fire burned tirelessly, and gray smoke rose incessantly.

Time loses its meaning here.

Is it a few months? Or more than half a year?

until a certain moment.

"Click..."

The murky, indistinct darkness in Dago's eyes finally, like ice breaking, regained a sliver of human clarity.

"Arazan..."

He murmured hoarsely.

The golden ladybug flapped its wings and slowly flew to his forehead, which was covered in sweat.

Arajan's voice, no longer cold, but carrying an undisguised complexity and shock, echoed softly:

"You reckless madman...do you still want to continue?"

Dago's hands trembled as he braced himself against the cold floor, like an ascetic who had spent half his life trekking through the desert.

He slowly, very slowly, propped up his almost falling body and leaned against the sturdy bookshelf.

His breathing was extremely unstable at the moment, like a murky pool of water being stirred wildly with a stick, rising and falling violently, as if it would completely collapse at any moment.

"Can...I continue?"

Dago's chapped lips moved slightly as he weakly asked Arajan a question.

But this voice sounded more like his final question to his soul, which was on the verge of collapse.

"It's... no longer necessary."

The golden ladybug slowly descended and gently landed on the back of his hand, where the veins bulged.

Arahan's tone carried a deep sigh that seemed to transcend eternity, yet it also carried a strong sense of complexity and relief.

"Your trial is now completely over... Dago."

Dago's eyes glazed over for a moment, and he paused slightly in surprise.

He slowly, inch by inch, raised his head.

The moment he looked up, he suddenly realized, as if waking from a dream.

Around his body, ten strange, deep blue crystals, as dazzling as stars fallen from the heavens, had silently floated.

These ten crystals are slowly and intensely orbiting his body, following some supreme law!

In the first two rounds of testing, he tried his best but only managed to condense five!

Just then, the magnificent architectural scene of the Tower of Knowledge around them began to distort and become illusory, like a reflection in water.

An irresistible, gentle yet absolutely domineering force of repulsion appeared out of thin air, violently pushing Dago's body toward the unknown void exit.

One second before consciousness completely left this space.

Arajana's final, solemn, and anxious advice resounded in his ears like a great bell:

"Remember, Dago!"

"After this trip, no matter what means you use, gather all the materials to make the 'Clarity Potion' as quickly as possible, at all costs! Your soul needs to be forcibly cooled down, otherwise, there will be serious problems!"

"……Um."

In the void, Dago struggled to squeeze out a low syllable from his throat before his consciousness was completely swallowed by the white light.

Above the mirror-like, tranquil space of the Spirit Mirror Lake Secret Realm.

"Swish! Swish! Swish!"

Several tall figures, dressed in elaborate moon-white robes and surrounded by high-level magical fluctuations, appeared out of thin air as if by teleportation.

"The three-year deadline... it's almost time."

A wizard in a moon-white robe, standing in the center of the group, glanced down at the ancient-looking golden hourglass in his hand.

The last grain of gold sand in the upper part of the hourglass slid silently to the bottom.

His tone was calm, yet it carried an undeniable air of authority.

The other white-robed wizards nodded expressionlessly.

One of them stepped forward.

He flipped his wrist, and a short staff made of some unknown material, entirely black, slid out from his sleeve.

He gripped the short staff, like a priest beating a war drum to shake the heavens and earth, and rhythmically tapped it three times in succession, "thump! thump! thump!" in front of the empty void.

"Buzz—!"

With each strike, large, visible, transparent ripples instantly spread through the void.

These ripples carried special summoning commands and spread throughout the vast and boundless Spirit Mirror Lake space in an instant at an extremely terrifying speed!

A response came very quickly.

Around the few wizards in moon-white robes, the space rippled like the surface of water.

Immediately afterwards, one after another, wizard figures dressed in robes of various colors and styles emerged from the void.

These people were indistinct and shadowy.

Some were shrouded in mist, making it impossible to see their true faces; some had flickering forms, with most of their bodies even completely hidden in another void dimension; and others were surrounded by biting frost or restless lightning.

Without exception, the terrifying aura emanating from each of these figures that appeared afterward far surpassed that of the so-called ordinary fourth-ring miracle wizards in the outside world!

They are the true power holders!

These powerful individuals appeared to be standing in a random and scattered manner, without any discernible formation.

But to those in the know, they naturally divide into three distinct and non-interfering factions.

These three regions clearly represent the three most powerful and core factions within this Spirit Mirror Lake Secret Realm.

There is a clear distinction between them, subtly forming a delicate balance and confrontation.

Just as the top leaders of the three major factions had almost all arrived, the atmosphere gradually became tense.

"Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—"

There were no magical fluctuations, nor any signs of spatial tearing.

Three figures clad in the most inconspicuous, rough gray robes appeared silently in the very center of the void, as if they had always been there.

You can't see any surging magical light on these three people, and you can hardly feel any imposing aura belonging to powerful beings.

They were just three ordinary old men.

however!

The moment these three appeared!

All the previously arrogant and domineering high-ranking wizards in the arena immediately and unanimously withdrew all their magical phenomena!

Everyone, including the few guides in moon-white robes, bowed their proud backs in unison and paid a deep salute to the three gray-robed men!

The entire Lingjing Lake Secret Realm is so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

This clearly demonstrates the extremely high and transcendent status of these three individuals within the organization!

The three men in grey robes remained calm, exchanging only subtle, clandestine glances with each other.

Then, the gray-robed man at the head of the group leaned on an ordinary vine staff that looked as if it might break at any moment.

His withered lips twitched slightly, as if he were silently giving his subordinates some extremely important instructions.

After receiving the instruction.

The first few wizards in moon-white robes immediately straightened up.

Their expressions were solemn as they raised their staffs high, drawing complex and inscrutable trajectories in the air.

A series of obscure and ancient chants, seemingly capable of communicating with the very source of heaven and earth, began to resonate and echo throughout the entire Lingjing Lake!

As the incantation was recited, a few breaths passed quietly.

Below everyone's gaze.

The once smooth, boundless mirror of the sky—Lingjing Lake—began to undergo strange changes.

The once still lake began to ripple with tiny, visible waves.

The feeling was like an invisible and vast spring rain, falling gently from the void of a higher dimension.

Invisible raindrops pounded on the mirror-like lake, creating ripples that spread outwards in concentric circles.

Gradually.

When the ripples on the lake's surface spread to their maximum extent, at the very center of each circular ripple...

It was as if a miracle had been born.

One by one, stars representing the souls of those who successfully survived the trials and returned... began to shine brightly, some bright and some dim, on this Spirit Mirror Lake!