Living Together, Ice and Fire Research, Howling Mountain Range

"Symbiotic Contract?"

Ronan was taken aback. He calmed himself down and, relying on the strange connection he had with Moriel, finally understood what had happened between the two of them after a moment.

Moriel used a secret technique to forcibly seize his life force in order to achieve "rebirth" and heal her wounds.

However, because the spell was forcibly interrupted by the mysterious power released from the "Yarlis Ice Ring" during the casting process, the final result of the spell was different.

To use a metaphor, imagine Moriel and Ronan as two bottles, and life force as the water they each contain. Moriel's bottle is almost empty, so she wants to pour all the water from Ronan's bottle into her own.

However, some indescribable accidents occurred during this process, causing the two bottles to inexplicably "stick" together. What was originally a one-sided takeover eventually turned into a "symbiotic" relationship between the two.

Ronan sorted out his thoughts, and his face darkened.

He stood there, his eyes darting around, pondering how to resolve the situation.

Suddenly, Moriel, who had been standing still, screamed and transformed into a blur as she lunged at him.

Her speed was nothing to Ronan, and Ronan instinctively kicked her away.

He let out a muffled groan and took two steps back.

Looking up at Moriel again, he saw that she was covering her chest with both hands, staring at him with a look of hatred that seemed to want to devour him alive, and there seemed to be some unspeakable shame and indignation in her eyes.

Ronan suddenly recalled the brief, slippery feeling he had experienced after kicking out, and realized that neither of them was wearing clothes.

Itai was quickly applied to his body, solidifying into the shape of a robe.

After he finished dressing, he noticed that Moriel's gaze was even more resentful and vicious.

"You don't even have a single piece of clothing?"

Ronan frowned, his eyes sweeping over Moriel. After thinking about it carefully, he couldn't seem to see any ornaments on Moriel.

The opponent's spatial storage items may have already been destroyed in the battle.

With that thought in mind, Ronan took out a robe from his Space Ring, threw it to Moriel, and then turned his back on her.

It's a way of showing her some respect.

The two had been engaged in close combat driven by primal instincts, and if you really think about it, they had already thoroughly examined each other from head to toe.

"What kind of mess is this?"

After a moment of silence, the rustling sound of robes rubbing together slowly began to rise behind me.

Ronan was in a terrible mood, his mind was a mess, and he felt like he had accidentally fallen into a tangled mess.

When the noise behind him stopped, he turned around.

The robes he always carried were made to fit his own body shape, but now, when worn by the petite Moriel, they appeared exceptionally large, giving the impression of a child wearing an adult's clothes.

Ronan couldn't laugh at all. He simply looked at Moriel in a calm tone and asked, "Do you know how to break this contract?"

Moriel's expression was indifferent, her eyes empty like a puppet that had lost its soul.

Ronan could understand her current state.

The once high-and-mighty, arrogant young lady suddenly fell from grace one day, not only rolling into a pile of mud, but also having her most shameful and embarrassing self seen naked by the person she hated the most.

It can be said that all her former pride has been completely shattered.

If Ronan's desire to kill Moriel was 1, Ronan had no doubt that Moriel's desire to kill him was definitely over 10,000! Hearing Ronan's question, Moriel looked up at him expressionlessly and suddenly sneered.

Ronan realized that it was foolish of him to ask the question. Even if Moriel knew how to break the "symbiotic" state, there was absolutely no way she would tell him at this stage.

Because once this current situation is lifted, she will completely lose any protection of her life in front of Ronan.

"Never mind."

Ronan calmed down, strode forward, grabbed Moriel, and took to the air.

Moriel instinctively resisted a few times, but soon resigned herself to her fate and let him take her away.

Ronan had no choice but to leave with Moriel.

The "symbiotic" relationship between the two of them means that they cannot stray too far from each other, otherwise they will both suffer a backlash.

Moreover, even without this rule, he couldn't just leave Moriel here. The two are symbiotic; if Moriel gets captured, he'll be in trouble too.

"I was just about to go find Evaqu for our appointment."

"As a successor of ancient spirit witchcraft, Evaqu might have a solution to this 'strange illness' that involves the soul."

Ronan carried Moriel like a chick, casually putting away her Red Lotus Scepter, and then quickly left in one direction.

Five days later.

Deep within the dark, damp forest, two figures dressed in black robes moved back and forth.

A tall, black-robed figure led the way, his body occasionally glowing with magical light to clear the path and sweep away miasma and poisonous insects along the way.

The petite woman followed behind the former at a leisurely pace, maintaining a relatively stable distance between them without exchanging any words.

Only when they reached a relatively flat and dry location did the man in black robes who had led the way speak.

"Let's rest for a while and continue our journey when it gets dark."

After speaking, he stopped walking without caring whether the person behind him responded.

The two men in black robes removed their hoods, revealing the young faces of a man and a woman.

Both are exceptionally handsome and beautiful individuals, and if they were in public, they might be mistaken for a perfectly matched couple. However, in reality, their relationship cannot even be described as "cold."

Ronan casually tossed a fireball onto the ground, and the flames burst into flames, scorching the withered branches and leaves below with a crisp "crackling" sound.

With his current physique, the harsh environment in the dense forest doesn't actually have much of an impact on him. Whether it's his powerful mental strength as a Third Level Wizard or the Ancient Frost Hydra Bloodline flowing in his body, it's enough to keep most wild beasts Magic Creature away.

But seeking light in the dark is an instinct ingrained in human genes, and whenever Ronan stops to rest, he habitually lights a campfire.

At this moment, Moriel was standing more than five meters away from him, her expression calm and completely unreadable. In Ronan's perception, her inner emotions were like a stagnant pool.

Over the course of five days, the two barely communicated. Ronan basically "ordered" her to do whatever he wanted, and she did it accordingly, appearing quite "obedient."

Ronan ignored her and focused on his own things.

He is currently in a place called the "Howling Mountain Range".

Evaqu contacted him to arrange a meeting place with a primitive tribe deep in the Howling Mountain Range.

Evaqu couldn't describe the exact location, only telling him to keep walking deep into the Howling Mountain Range until he saw a forest entirely composed of Moon Tree, then he would have found the place.

The Moon Tree doesn't have a specific appearance; its only characteristic is that it glows under moonlight. So, to make it easier to find, Ronan decided to wait until the moon came out before continuing his journey.

He figured they were almost there.

Ronan first sensed the "symbiotic" state between himself and Moriel, as usual.

Compared to five days ago, the connection between the two seemed to have become even stronger, and there was no sign that Ronan had anticipated the connection would gradually weaken over time.

Ronan speculated that if this continued, their souls might merge further, eventually becoming indistinguishable and giving birth to a "completely new" individual.

This is something he absolutely does not want to see, but he has no way to solve or even contain it.

The only good news was that Moriel's situation was worse than his.

Although he coexisted with Moriel, his strength remained largely intact.

In contrast, Moriel, for some unknown reason, had almost lost all her fighting ability. She could not use her bloodline, magic, or even mental power. All that remained was the strong physique brought by the Phoenix Bloodline, which made her slightly stronger than an ordinary person, but not even as strong as a skilled Wizard Apprentice.

Perhaps this is why the other party obediently lets him "manipulate" them.

Ronan felt no sympathy whatsoever for Moriel as she looked at her.

If their situations were reversed, he would probably have been tortured to the point of "worse than death" by the other person.

"Coexistence of ice and fire"

Ronan stared at the burning campfire in front of him, silently pondering the coexistence of ice and fire energies.

These past few days, he's spent almost every spare moment on this. Before, when he was on the verge of death, Ronan had many inspirations that sparked his mind, and he almost figured out the key to it. But now, when he tries to recapture them, he can no longer find that same state of mind.

Ronan tried to summon a fireball the size of a ping-pong ball and an ice ball in the palms of his hands respectively.

They are all the lowest-level, zero-tier low-level spells.

Then, with hands clasped together, the two spells were slowly brought closer together, while the mental energy was extended to carefully observe the changes in the energy particles when they collided.

The ice puck and fireball collided, the two magical energies constantly canceling each other out and annihilating each other in Ronan's palm. "Hmph."

A slightly disdainful sneer rang out.

Ronan raised his head and calmly glanced at Moriel not far away.

Given their current state, their superficial emotions and fluctuations of consciousness were no secret to each other, and he naturally knew what Moriel was mocking.

He didn't seem to care; instead, he appeared thoughtful.

After a few days of trying, Ronan had grasped a bit of the ropes.

For these two extremely opposing elemental energies, ice and fire, to coexist, two conditions must be met simultaneously.

First, the forces of the two elements reach an absolute balance.

Second, there needs to be a "neutral party" between the two to [Harmony].

Ronan had been trying his best, but even with his current mental strength as a mid-level Third Level Wizard (in fact, he was more than ten times stronger than a typical mid-level third-tier wizard), he still couldn't achieve the so-called "absolute balance".

Ronan had done his best to keep the power of the two spells the same, but it was still far from that delicate state of "absolute balance".

The second requirement was that Ronan's first thought was to use mental power as a "neutral force," but the effect was not obvious. He had considered trying to use Soul Power, but given his current shallow understanding and control over Soul Power, this was even more of a pipe dream.

"I wonder if things will change after advancing to the Level Four Dawn and nurturing a primordial spirit."

The Dawn Rank represent a wizard's further exploration and excavation of the soul, Ronan always felt that this was a crucial requirement for his research on the magical subject of "coexistence of ice and fire."

Before we knew it, the campfire in the forest went out, Black Night fell, and some moonlight shone through the gaps in the dense forest, while twinkling lights rose in the woods.

"Walk."

Ronan stopped the "experiment" and got up to call Moriel to set off.

The latter followed without expression, and the two continued walking deeper into the dense forest.

As a former "top-tier heiress" who once had a Level Five Wizard as her personal attendant, Moriel has suffered a lot these past few days while following Ronan.

After trekking through the Howling Mountain Range for many days, Moriel, unable to use any magical power, had her feet covered in rotten leaves and mud, as well as numerous cuts from rocks and grass.

Although Moriel is physically strong and ordinary wounds may heal on their own before the next day, the pain she feels when she is injured is very real.

Ronan's Space Ring didn't have any shoes suitable for Moriel. She could tear up her robes and make do, but if the shoes didn't fit, it was better not to wear them at all.

Ronan might be capable of making Moriel a temporary "boot," but he would never do so.

He still harbors murderous intent towards Moriel, and if their symbiotic relationship were to end now, he would kill her without hesitation.

Besides, Moriel had not eaten for five days. Ronan had seen her secretly licking the dew from the leaves when she was thirsty, and once, she bit her lower lip in pain after eating a poisonous berry growing by the roadside. Ronan completely ignored it. He would rather suffer the same pain as Moriel than take any care of her, unless she was about to kill herself, in which case he would intervene.

The two walked and stopped intermittently, not knowing how much time had passed.

Suddenly, a hazy light entered Ronan's eyes.

Ronan's eyes flickered slightly as he quickly parted the layers of bushes in front of him, immediately captivated by the scene before him.

In a forest of needle-like trees, every tree seemed to be "shining," emitting a hazy, moonlit light that created a dreamlike and beautiful scene.

"Moon Tree!"

Ronan was overjoyed. Based on Evaqu's description, these must be the Moon Tree.

Clearly, he had entered the area agreed upon with Evaqu.

Ronan quickly walked deeper into the Moon Tree, while Moriel gradually distanced herself from him.

Ronan initially thought she was captivated by the beautiful scenery of the Moon Tree, but when he turned around, he found her covered in sweat and struggling to walk.

Its feet were covered with countless glowing "spiky" spikes.

Having practiced Ascetic Body Forging for many years, Ronan was almost immune to this minor pain.

He frowned, then slipped past last, choosing to pick up Moriel and continue on his way.

After walking for about five minutes, suddenly, "Whoosh—"

A soft whooshing sound broke through the silence of the forest.

Ronan looked in the direction of the sound and saw tiny, luminous ripples spreading in the air before him. He released a little spiritual energy, and the ripples stopped abruptly.

A black spiked arrow, more than a foot long, hovered in front of Ronan.

Ronan's eyes flickered slightly. The black spiked arrow changed direction, emitted an even louder shriek than before, and then disappeared again.

"Thump—"

Immediately following, it seemed to have driven deep into a wooden stake, and a slight commotion suddenly arose.

"Da da wu—!"

Ronan took a small step forward and calmly shouted out a phrase in the indigenous dialect.

This is what Evaqu taught him.