Monsters, Phoenix

It was very quiet inside, with no accumulated dust, so clean that it seemed as if the owner of the house had just cleaned it specially to entertain him.

The house has a low, hemispherical ceiling with a leaf-shaped window on one side.

Looking out the window, one can vaguely see the shadows of huge gray stone pillars, one of which emits a beam of light that reaches the sky, standing out conspicuously against the gray Sky Dome.

"Boom!"

Ronan's eyes flickered slightly as he saw a second gray stone pillar suddenly illuminated, its brilliance dazzling and mirroring that of the first pillar that had been lit.

"Another spot has been taken."

Claire walked in from outside, not because there was one less of the thirty-two Talent Seat available.

"Ronan... may I call you that?"

Claire's expression hardened slightly as she said to Ronan, "There are some things I think I need to tell you. Come with me."

Ronan followed Claire out of the cabin, puzzled. Claire took a deep breath and pointed in a direction, saying, "Look over there."

Claire showed Ronan a direction completely opposite to the two lit stone pillars. Ronan saw a faint, colorful light curtain, through which the wizards who were participating in the battle had passed to enter.

Ronan stared at the light screen for a while, then suddenly asked, "Is this light screen moving?"

"Right."

Claire nodded and said in a deep voice, "To be precise, it's shrinking inward. The entire space of the Fairy Ancient City is shrinking; this is one of the rules of the battle."

The light barrier will eventually shrink to only thirty-two stone pillars. Any participant excluded from the light barrier will be eliminated by the rules. I learned about this rule from the notes of a senior wizard who participated in a seat-contest, but I didn't expect it to be activated so quickly.

Ronan didn't speak, but just pondered quietly.

The contraction of the light curtain is a disguised way of driving the wizards in the Fairy Ancient City toward the position of the thirty-two stone pillars, compressing everyone's space for movement, forcing everyone to fight each other, and then selecting the true strongman, the wizard who can truly bear the name of "genius".

Throughout the life of the legendary Magic Controller Helamus, he grew up almost entirely through struggle.

Countless suppressions, struggles, and battles... ultimately forged Helamus into the first genius wizard in the history of the Upper Ring Continent.

It's quite normal for him to establish such rules in his own legacy.

However, this rule is not so friendly to Ronan, who needs time to adjust at this stage.

Ronan knew what Claire meant by telling him this. After thinking for a moment, Ronan calmly said, "If the light screen shrinks to the vicinity of this house and I haven't come out yet, then you should leave first and don't worry about me."

Claire nodded with a complicated expression and said nothing more.

Ronan didn't linger any longer and went straight into the room.

First, Ronan set up a simple defensive Rune Array and a magic array to help increase mental power in the room. He sat cross-legged in the center of the two arrays and took out the strange cowbell that he had obtained from the Skeleton Doom Bell Mafflin.

Ronan probed with his mental energy and felt resistance inside the cowbell.

This is a legacy artifact with a certain storage function, which may represent the lineage of the "Bone Bell" style, because Ronan sensed an extremely ancient and rich Nether Ghost aura from this cowbell artifact.

The cowbell still bears the unique spiritual imprint of Mafflin; Ronan would have to erase the imprint to confirm this.

Of course, he definitely doesn't have time to do that right now.

After his battle with Mafflin, Ronan gained a preliminary understanding of some of his own strength.

After undergoing two purifications of his mental energy, Ronan's mental energy surpassed that of a typical early-stage level three wizard, both in quality and quantity.

Therefore, although he was only at the late stage of level two, the actual gap between him and Mafflin was at the mid stage of level three, was not as large as outsiders perceived.

In the state of [[Extremely Boiling Lake]], his fighting spirit burned, further narrowing the gap.

With the addition of three different domain powers that have entered the second stage of resonance, combined with the [Tundra Frozen Earth] seal, his domain composition already gave him the ability to fight Mafflin head-on.

Of course, Mafflin's defeat was also largely due to his extreme underestimation of his opponent.

The spell he intended to unleash as his trump card, and the cowbell Ronan now held, were both left unused.

He underestimated Ronan so much that Ronan seized an opportunity to kill him.

"Even the most composed wizard will inevitably feel a sense of contempt when facing an opponent who is several or even a whole level lower than themselves. My relatively low level of mental strength is my weakness, but it can also be considered one of my strengths."

Ronan couldn't help but sigh, "Many things in this world are inherently two-sided; it all depends on how you look at them."

"If the Winter Homeland hadn't been destroyed within the Mechanical Heart, this battle might have been won even more easily."

The [Winter Homeland] magic item set, gifted to Ronan by Soraya of the Lanster Family, provided him with significant assistance for a long time. Unfortunately, it was corrupted by the Golden Curse in the battle against the Ash Witch Moriel, after all, it was only a second-tier magic item set.

Ronan thought casually for a moment, then quickly composed himself and prepared to attempt to become a Third Level Wizard.

The difficulty of a level 2 wizard advancing to level 3, after meeting the advancement standards in Soul Power, is actually not as great as advancing from level 1 to level 2.

Ronan didn't need to prepare anything; he always carried the necessary breakthrough materials with him.

He casually pointed, Itai beam shot swiftly toward the window. The flowing metal covered the only window in the small house, completely blocking out all the light.

After doing all this, Ronan closed his eyes.

In his mind, three pale golden Spiritual Power Crystal trembled slightly, shedding some fine crystalline light, which, guided by his Soul Power, began to slowly converge in one place. Outside the hut, Claire was faithfully performing her duty of protecting Ronan.

"Call--"

A figure suddenly flew overhead, Claire tensed slightly. She looked up and met the gaze of Third Level Wizard was hurrying past.

The latter looked at Claire with some confusion, but did not linger, quickly averting his gaze and leaving.

Claire's grip on the staff loosened slightly, her eyes calming.

As the chief genius of the mid-sized wizarding force "Magic Power Hand," Claire may not be as good as the inheritors of top-tier schools like Bone Bell, but he also has his own pride.

Claire was not afraid of ordinary Third Level Wizard, or even mid-level level three wizards. His magical tools and Spell Inheritance were not made of clay.

Claire stood in front of the cabin, her mental energy spreading out to keep a close eye on the surroundings, as well as the contraction of the outer light barrier and the lighting up of the central stone pillar in two directions.

In just a short while, Claire saw two more stone pillars being lit up.

He still remembered what he had read in the notes of the senior wizard "Magic Power Hand". According to the notes, the first gray Talent Seat pillar representing the seat was lit on the fifth Dawn after the senior wizard "Magic Power Hand" entered the Fairy Ancient City.

And this year, they lit up four pillars on the very first day! You have to understand, the gray stone pillars representing the seats aren't just lit up casually.

Only by defeating enough opponents and accumulating enough Ash Smoke can one obtain the certification of a "prodigy" and ascend to the position of a prodigy.

The number and strength of the participants in this year's competition far exceed those of previous years.

The Blue Mist Society founded for this reason; otherwise, given his and the other members' proud and arrogant nature, how could they have come up with such a shameful idea as "banding together for warmth"?

"Boom!"

A silent roar came from afar, and the fifth stone pillar lit up.

Claire's eyes flickered sharply, and she couldn't help but mutter a curse under her breath, "What a monster!"

But then again, isn't one of the guys in the little house behind him a monster too?

A mere level two cultivator, spanning one major realm and two minor realms, and achieving a near-crushing victory over Bone Bell on the battlefield—if Claire hadn't witnessed this firsthand, he would likely have scoffed at anyone who told him about it.

Even now, Claire's eyelids still twitch slightly when she thinks about it.

"Someone I couldn't stand just two weeks ago, I now find myself willingly protecting like a follower..."

Claire couldn't help but shake her head. "Life is truly amazing."

As he sighed, the Communication Stone made a sound.

Claire took out a piece to examine it, frowned slightly, quickly replied, then calmed down and continued to quietly guard it.

"Serena from the Life Royal Court in the Central Region, Li Weiqi from the Chaos Secret Society, Adam from the Spiritual Dawn, and Evaqu, the Ancient Spirit Shaman."

On the roof of a tall, ancient fairy building, the composed, black-haired wizard Havide squinted at five towering stone pillars directly in front of him, identifying the figures standing on them while quietly stating their identities.

"We should be truly thankful that the Ash Witch, who could go toe-to-toe with Life Royal Court Serena of the Life Court without being at a disadvantage, was kept out by the rules and couldn't come in. Otherwise, our Blue Mist Society's hope of securing a spot in the top thirty-two would have been extremely slim."

Havide exhaled, withdrew his gaze, and spoke in a low voice to the person beside him.

Compared to his confident and composed demeanor in front of the Blue Mist Society members, Havide, the first president of the Blue Mist Society, now appeared much weaker and more somber.

"We still have a chance."

Those around Havide remained calm.

This was a handsome young man with golden hair and silvery eyes. Half of his face was covered by a silver-white metal mask, which made him look even more profound and mysterious.

It was Orian.

"I see."

Havide nodded. "I've already started gathering members to come here. Our goal is to get at least one seat."

This seat can be held by either you or me.

Havide looked at Orian, but Orian seemed to be thinking about something, his gaze constantly drifting in a certain direction.

A terrifying roar, like the howling of evil spirits, could be faintly heard from there, and a pale green energy light flashed from time to time.

Havide noticed Orian's gaze, frowned, and couldn't help but speak up, "Orian, I know what you're trying to do, but now isn't the best time."

"No."

Orian turned to look at Havide and said calmly, "On the contrary, now is the most opportune time."

Once we enter the ranked battles and encounter Andariel again, we can only rely on our own strength. Do you think, given Andariel's personality, he would allow any of us to survive in a one-on-one duel?

"... When all members of the Blue Mist Society are gathered, our power will be unprecedented, and this will be our only chance to reclaim everything from Andariel..."

Orian gently placed his hand on the metal mask on his face, as if his fingertips could feel the wounds beneath. "Havide, have you forgotten those comrades who fought alongside us but ultimately died? Have you forgotten the time you were trampled and humiliated under Andariel's feet? And Gewei Er, he was the one who proposed the Blue Mist Society, but he'll never have the chance to join the Blue Mist Society he envisioned."

Havide's expression shifted, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "We can wait until all the Blue Mist Society members have matured before..."

"In the entire Blue Mist Society, how many people do you think will eventually reach Dawn? Who has a better chance of advancing to Dawn Andariel?"

Orian said coldly, "Even if someone can actually do it, at that point, seeking revenge against Andariel will no longer be just a personal grudge."

This could very well ignite a full-scale war between the two factions! Can you persuade 'Dawn Wind' and other forces to unite and declare war on 'Nether Toxin Mask'?

Still"

Orian stared into Havide's eyes. "You never even considered revenge?"

"Enough, Orian!"

Havide's face darkened, and he said coldly, "You are not qualified to command or question me."

The Blue Mist Society's operational plans are not something you and I can decide; the flames of revenge are about to consume you."

As he spoke, Havide habitually picked up a Communication Stone to examine it, and suddenly froze.

His originally serious expression turned strange.

"What's wrong?"

Orian also noticed the abrupt change in Havide's mood, temporarily detached himself from the topic of the argument, and couldn't help but ask.

Havide held the Communication Stone in his hand, unsure of how to express himself.

Finally, he spoke softly, "I just received a message from Claire Ronan Damien of your Silver Magic Ring is about to advance to the third level, and she needs to protect Ronan during this time, so she can't join us immediately..."

"Well"

Orian was stunned when he heard this.

A moment later, Orian's voice rang out.

"Are you sure you received a message from Claire?"

Outside the Fairy Ancient City, countless wizards are watching the battle Fairy Ancient City.

Everything in the ancient city was distant, hazy, and vague to them.

But even the occasional burst of magical light is enough to excite some people.

When the first dazzling beam of light appeared, a great commotion even broke out among the wizards gathered outside the Fairy Ancient City.

One knowledgeable person excitedly exclaimed, "Someone has already stepped onto the ladder to the legendary Helamus, the Born Controller of Magic!"

Each time the beam of light appeared, it caused quite a stir among the wizards outside, who all speculated which southern prodigy would be taking the seat this time.

"It seems that the young wizards in the south are quite capable."

Moriel swayed like a swing, suspended in mid-air on the Red Lotus Scepter, gazing at the few white pillars of light breaking through the layers of mist in the Fairy Ancient City.

"Even though Serena was the first to take a seat, the others weren't much slower than her. This foolish woman is performing terribly. I'd laugh my head off if she ended up being outshone by the people from the South."

Moriel yawned and muttered to herself.

Suddenly a voice came from below, "Princess Serena will surely reach the top! In the south, no one can surpass Princess Serena!"

"Bang!"

With a muffled thud, a wizard dressed in a moon-white robe was sent flying like a sandbag.

Moriel appeared below at some point, slowly rubbing her pink fist, and fiercely yelled at the Life Royal Court wizard she had punched away, "Did I tell you to speak?!"

Turning around, one could see a group of wizards from the Life Royal Court kneeling neatly on the ground, each with some words scrawled on their face, all mocking and ridiculing Serena, clearly the work of Moriel.

Every wizard in the Life Royal Court glared resentfully at Moriel, looking angry but unable to do anything about it.

Moriel, hands on her hips, walked past everyone in her pretty little red shoes, admiring her masterpiece with a satisfied expression on her face.

High in the distance.

Two figures stood calmly, quietly watching this side.

"Don't worry, once this is over, I'll give you a potion that can help them remove the marks."

The old woman in black robes Vivian, gently comforted a middle-aged wizard beside her who had a tense expression.

The latter thanked Vivian, his expression somewhat helpless. His attitude towards Vivian was filled with both apprehension and respect, like a junior facing a senior.

"You've really gone to a lot of trouble..."

Vivian shook her head, gazing tenderly at Moriel in the distance, and said softly, "After all, our Moriel is the only bloodline of the Phoenix Family in this generation. She is a hundred times more precious than all ten royal offspring of your Life Royal Court combined. As long as she is happy, everything will be as she pleases."

Upon hearing the word "Phoenix," the Dawn Wizard of the Life Royal Court's eyes trembled slightly, and then he lowered his head deeply.

As time passed, more and more stone pillars were lit up within the Fairy Ancient City.

In a corner of the Fairy Ancient City, Black Stone Giant nearly a hundred meters tall rampages through the ancient buildings.

It wielded its arms, forged from ancient rock, drawing deep, violent, and terrifying howls through the air. With each swing, it could conjure up an energy storm comparable to a third-tier spell.

The Black Stone Giant shooed away the fleeing Third Level Wizard as if they were flies.

Occasionally, those who cannot dodge in time will have their entire body, along with the energy [Protection] surrounding them, easily shattered with a "snap."

Having obliterated countless Third Level Wizards, a boy shrouded in thick gray clouds gently patted the Black Stone Giant's shoulder and softly called out, "Enough, Venus, we should go up."

The Black Stone Giant stopped chasing the Third Level Wizard and silently strode toward the nearest gray stone pillar.

Before long, a stone pillar was lit up, and the boy sitting on the Black Stone Giant's shoulder jumped lightly to the platform at the top of the pillar.

In another location, Jupiter, his entire body enveloped in blue-purple lightning, streaked rapidly across the sky.

He caught up with the fleeing Third Level Wizard in an instant. He managed to throw out a few spells and magical artifacts, but they were pierced and torn apart by terrifying lightning in the first encounter.

Jupiter abruptly stopped, his purple eyes flashing with electricity, releasing an aura of divine majesty.

He coldly looked down at the several pale-faced Third Level Wizard were slowly falling from the sky, and calmly said, "There is still time. I am in my seat... waiting for your challenge."

After saying this, he turned and left, and a stone pillar was immediately lit up.

In the ancient streets and alleys surrounded by a thick hue of blood and gray clouds, Rufus stepped out, carrying with him a strong smell of blood.

He stretched out his hideous and imposing flesh and blood body to his heart's content, with exposed muscles and blood vessels writhing on it.

"Giant Stone Peak"

Rufus let out a low, monstrous roar, his eyes bloodshot like diamonds, emanating an overwhelming sense of violence and cruelty.

In a split second, Rufus vanished, followed by a towering white light rising into the sky.

When eighteen stone pillars are lit.

In a secluded, enchanted room, a young man exuding an evil aura slowly awoke from his slumber.

He yawned, stretched, and his wine-red eyes shone like agate gems in the darkness.

"It's about time to get up and stretch your muscles."

The young man got up, opened the window, and squinted at the lit stone pillars in the distance.

One by one, jet-black feathers unfurled behind him, and the shadow spread rapidly.

"The Life Royal Court..."

"At a gathering of geniuses in the south, in front of countless people, he personally strangled a Princess from the Central Wizard Empire to death."

"Just thinking about it is exciting."

The young man chuckled softly, and then suddenly vanished without a trace.

Only the quiet room remained, as if no one had ever been there.