Illegitimate Child, Provocation

Just as the Green Robe Witch said, the young wizard relied on an extremely rare set of ice-type magical artifacts.

This set of magical artifacts was particularly well-suited to the spell system that didn't seem to come from the Arcane Ring Inheritance, instantly boosting the opponent's combat power to an unbelievable level.

Actually, it's nothing. Both core lineages of the Arcane Circle require a level 3 wizard to be qualified to formally engage with them, and many level 1 and 2 wizards have their own unique combat systems.

This is also a major reason why the Arcane Circle is weak in the face of external threats—the threshold for core inheritance is too high. Even if they recruit some young wizards with good talent and aptitude, they still have to spend a lot of time and energy to cultivate them to level three before they can truly possess their own core competitiveness.

At levels one and two, relying solely on the [Silver Transformation] talisman inheritance is manageable against ordinary wizarding forces, but it falls far short when compared to the elite geniuses from the top southern forces.

Through the battle replay, if we include the Metal Element magical medium, Caloni found traces of no less than ten second-tier magical artifacts on the boy.

This is a number that would leave anyone speechless. No one would have such a substantial fortune at level two, not even Caloni when he was at level two.

While it's true that items and equipment are part of one's strength, this number is simply outrageous.

Of course, the boy himself is also quite outstanding.

Although he is only at the early stage of level two, his ability to control so many magical artifacts and equipment in a single battle, and his extraordinary understanding of three different ice spells, clearly indicates that he is a core talent with an incredibly solid foundation.

"Ice-type... solid foundation, proud temperament, and an absurdly large number of second-tier magical artifacts."

Based on his initial impression of the boy in the picture, Caloni slowly formed a guess in his mind, and then the Green Robe Witch standing next to him said it directly.

"Is this little guy the Arcane Circle son that your Fourth Ring master Aqi Duo, has kept hidden for many years?"

The latter looked at Caloni with eyes full of curiosity and gossip, and Caloni's expression flickered.

Aqi Duo is the one who wields the Frost Element Ring among the Seven Ring Masters Arcane Circle, and his mastery of ice magic is unparalleled in the Arcane Circle.

In the Arcane Circle, if someone can produce more than a dozen second-tier ice-type magic items in one go, that person can only be Aqi Duo.

The only explanation that would make Aqi Duo willingly give away so many Tier 2 magical artifacts for free seems to be that the other person is his illegitimate son.

Coincidentally, the person who conspired with him to plan the Reproductive Flower Juice of the Thorn Palace was none other than Aqi Duo.

Fearing that his arrangements might go wrong, he secretly placed his carefully cultivated "illegitimate child" into the exploration team on the Second Battlefield, seeking an extra layer of protection. This was quite reasonable.

Thinking of this, Caloni, avoiding the Green Robe Witch, silently took out a Communication Stone and gently clicked it.

"What's wrong, Caloni? Is everything going smoothly on your end?"

Hearing the question coming from the other end of the Communication Stone, Caloni hesitated for a moment before speaking in a low voice.

"Aqi Duo. I remember twenty years ago, when you were traveling in the south, you seemed to have met a woman from a Secular Kingdom, right?"

"???"

Ronan was unaware that he had already been subtly labeled as the illegitimate son of some important figure.

At this moment, he stood on a huge circular platform, with a crystal-clear yet chilling garden of ice thorns beneath his feet.

Countless, dense ice spikes "grew" across every corner of the platform. A level-two wizard, dressed in a unique robe, had ice spikes [Penetration] his body, and crimson blood flowed down the transparent fabric. He looked up at him with a shocked and resentful expression.

"Hiss—whoosh—"

Ronan breathed steadily. The aura emanating from his body, the chill permeating the entire platform, and himself, along with his [Winter Homeland] Magical Armor, seemed to form a perfect whole.

Even though Ronan did not deliberately promote the fusion of the three ice-type Extraordinary Magic Domain, the auras of the three Extraordinary Magic Domain surrounding his body showed a tendency to blend together and transform.

This was the first time Ronan had fully unleashed the power of [Winter Homeland] in battle.

This set of magical artifacts, tailor-made for the Ice-based [Frozen Earth] spell system, had an effect far exceeding his expectations.

With the blessing of [Winter Homeland], the power of his ice magic increased threefold, while the domain power of [Tundra Frozen Earth] was directly enhanced by more than five times.

This is only the effect of half a set of magical artifacts.

He could clearly sense the flow of energy within each component of the suit, amplified layer by layer by runes, ultimately forming a continuously growing cycle.

The complexity and mystery of the runes in [Winter Homeland] are not the top among all the runes Ronan has seen, but the ingenuity of its combination structure is second to none.

This demonstrates the profound foundation of the Lanster Family the Ice Flame Iris, or the Frost Leader, as a wizarding power.

This is only a second-tier magic item set. If similar sets existed at higher tiers, one can only imagine how exquisite they would be.

"Whoosh—"

A slight whooshing sound came from behind Ronan, accompanied by a strong and obscure magical fluctuation.

A dark, eerie, narrow blade of light [Penetration] the void, hurtling toward Ronan's vest at lightning speed.

Ronan's eyes flickered slightly. He did not dodge, but instead let the Netherlight Blade fall heavily on him.

"Bang!"

The light blade pierced Ronan's Lightfall Cloak on his back, tearing a huge gash in it before penetrating deep into his armor and finally shattering it upon impact.

Some marks remained on the thick ice crystals, but they quickly returned to their smooth state. The magical defense of the [Winter Homeland] was also outstanding, capable of withstanding the bombardment of almost any spell below the second tier.

Despite the impact of the spell, Ronan remained motionless and slowly turned around.

Ice-blue eyes fell on a young black-robed wizard who had just materialized from the white void not far away.

The latter's thin face was now deathly pale, his expression filled with shock and disbelief.

His figure flew backward quickly, seemingly trying to disappear into the air again, but Ronan simply raised his hand slightly.

Like countless giant pythons, a chilling current immediately surged forward, and countless icy, Keen Edge ice spikes appeared out of thin air, forming a white prison of frost and thorns that completely enveloped the opponent.

"The last one."

Ronan watched expressionlessly as the level two wizard from the Black Nightmare Swamp fell from the sky, then stretched out his hand, spreading out invisible spiritual power.

Below, in the hands of the human-shaped Ice Sculpture, identical spatial storage rings broke free and flew up, all converging towards his outstretched palm.

At this moment, the competition for qualification on Ronan's platform has completely ended.

The other three wizards, also from the same Arcane Circle, stood dumbfounded in the corner the whole time, completely becoming spectators of Ronan's "performance".

Just as Ronan was taking stock of the loot in his mission ring, he suddenly felt a wave of mental energy carrying strong hostility coming towards him from a certain direction.

He looked up, his eyes slightly narrowed.

On a circular platform two platforms away from him, crimson flames were seen swirling.

On the platform lay a series of figures lying haphazardly. A young man with orange-gold eyes and fiery red hair was standing on the shoulder of a person kneeling on the ground, close to the Rune Array light wall at the edge of the platform. He looked at Ronan with a smile and waved to Ronan from afar.

Ronan frowned, then noticed the figure standing beneath his feet, and his eyes suddenly lit up.

It's Clemens! "Is it some kind of bloodline?"

Ronan felt a slight throbbing in his heart, a pulse emanating from the Ancient Frost Hydra Bloodline Crystal, and he seemed lost in thought.

He had sensed the presence of the orange-gold-eyed youth before entering the Mirror Garden.

The other party should have a fire-attribute bloodline power flowing through their body, which is exactly the opposite of the faint Ancient Frost Hydra Bloodline contained within them.

Therefore, both sides will have a strong sense of "arch-enemy" due to their blood ties.

"To be able to defeat Clemens at the mid-stage of level two means that the power of this bloodline is not weak."

Ronan gave the young man a deep look, then looked away and turned his gaze to the silver ball of light above his head.

At this point, a new change occurred on the field.

After the winners were determined on all eight platforms, the silver orb that presided over everything projected eight silver-white beams of light, which enveloped the eight wizards holding the lens runes.

Then the beam of light guided the eight people to rise slowly, stopping when they reached a certain height.

Immediately afterwards, countless points of silver light appeared out of thin air, condensing into four brand-new mirror platforms, similar to the eight circular platforms below, but slightly smaller.

"The winner... fourth... next round... the legacy!"

The silver light emanated obscure fluctuations of consciousness. Even without explanation, the method of this round of competition was quite clear: it was merely a further selection process.

The eight Ronan, enveloped by eight beams of light, descended in pairs onto different platforms.

It appears to be a random allocation made by the silver light cluster.

"Bang!"

Suddenly, a loud bang rang out in the arena. Ronan looked in the direction of the sound and saw that the orange-gold-eyed youth who was falling towards a platform was covered in flames and frantically attacking the silver pillar of light that enveloped him. Judging from his posture, it seemed that he wanted to rush towards him.

Ronan coldly watched the young man's repeated attempts to break through the transparent wall, as if watching a crazed Moth Larvae trying to burst through it, while he himself was the "light source" the young man craved.

With each muffled thud from the impact, Ronan felt the Bloodline Crystal in his heart tremble violently. Strands of domineering bloodline power washed over his body with his blood, accompanied by waves of increasingly intense, piercing pain.

Perhaps it was the violent factor contained in the Ancient Frost Hydra Bloodline, or perhaps it was the negative effect of the pain, but Ronan felt a trace of irritability rising in his heart. This emotion stimulated his nerves, giving him an impulse to respond to the other party's provocation without regard for anything else and to vent his anger fiercely.

"Hiss--"

He took a deep breath, trying to suppress his anger, and gently placed his feet on the platform for the new round of selection.

Since it concerned the inheritance of the Ancient Mirror Garden, everyone present was extremely cautious, except for this guy who acted recklessly.

Judging from the way another Molten Crystal Lake wizard looked at the other guy, it was clear that this guy had always been a headache in Molten Crystal Lake as well.

After their attempts to challenge the "rules" failed, the young people finally quieted down.

At this moment, all eight wizards on the field were assigned to their respective arenas.

After the first round of selection, among the remaining eight people, there were two wizards each from Molten Crystal Lake and Thorn Palace, only Ronan from the Arcane Circle side, and the most people from Black Nightmare Swamp, with three.

At this point, Ronan's first opponent was a young male wizard from the Thorn Palace.

He has an ordinary appearance, with algae-colored hair common to Plant-Type Wizard. He is a late-stage level 2 wizard, and his temperament is more mature and composed than his appearance suggests.

Both sides stood still, quietly waiting for the fight to begin.

"Whoosh—"

Outside the secret realm, above the vast Mirror Lake, numerous ripples of void were generated, and one after another, wizards from various factions emerged from the ripples and fell.

The exploration of the second core area of Mirror Garden has quickly come to an end in a way that no one expected but was happy to see. Although it is not completely over yet, it has come to a close for the wizards who were eliminated in the first round of inheritance selection.

The wizards who emerged from the secret realm returned to their respective factions, then handed over their rings, tallied their spoils, and spent time healing their wounds while observing the remaining battles inside.

"Are you alright?"

"Seventh Magic Ring," Wizard Debby slowly walked up to Clemens and asked with concern.

Debby looks young, with long, black hair tied in a low ponytail, dark brown eyes, and a rather composed demeanor.

Clemens looked dejected and shook his head without saying a word.

His once beautiful, lapis lazuli-like eyes now appeared dull and lifeless. Compared to the physical injuries he had suffered, the setbacks and humiliations he had inflicted on his personality and will were far more devastating.

"Bloodline."

Clemens slumped into the air, staring at his hands, and murmured, "Is it really that important to a wizard?"

Clemens is a true genius, always proud. Since joining the Arcane Circle, he has distinguished himself step by step, eventually becoming the number one young person in the Seventh Magic Ring.

He had heard rumors about bloodlines before, but never took them to heart until he lost to Ronan in a fair fight not long ago, despite having a significant advantage over Ronan. Only then did he truly understand the advantages of innate bloodlines.

This was the second time, and the feeling was even stronger than the last time, like a branding iron, deeply imprinted into his body.

Debby knew what Clemens had gone through in the secret realm, so he deliberately avoided the topic and instead asked another question, "How does it compare to Damien's bloodline?"

Clemens slowly sat up, his eyes flashing.

After a moment, he gently shook his head.

"Damien's bloodline... is not as good as his."

Chapter Two has been rewritten and will be released a little later.