"Defense" Holy Shrine, Folded Space, Treasure Left Behind by a Senior Wizard

You're becoming increasingly despicable.

Alazan let out a cold snort.

Ronan let out a soft breath, looked at the vast and bright distance, and shook his head, saying, "Someone like me, struggling at the bottom, naturally needs more methods than others to get things done. Speaking of which, Alazan..."

Ronan suddenly became serious and said, "What you taught me these two times has really helped me a lot. I owe you one."

Both the [Soul Simulation Technique] and the [Nail of the Soul] are not particularly complex and have many limitations, but they are exceptionally useful in certain specific situations.

Without Alazan, he would face numerous constraints and constant troubles upon entering the Spirit Lake.

Despite Ronan's seriousness, Alazan remained remarkably indifferent.

"There's nothing between us that we owe each other anything?"

Ronan gave a soft "hmm".

The more Alazan this way, the more heavy a feeling seemed to be weighing on his heart.

He went from being wary and suspicious of Alazan at the beginning to gradually developing some trust in him now.

Just like how I first met Bennigo.

Whether he can eventually reach the same level Bennigo remains to be seen.

Ronan found that he always got along well with people with eccentric personalities, and perhaps without realizing it, he had already become a "freak" in the eyes of others.

"We're almost at the End of the Black Line Guidance."

Ronan saw the transparent black line stretching infinitely into the void before him, extending downwards, and his eyes flickered slightly.

He was quite lucky; his secret technique found that the Holy Shrine wasn't too far away.

Perhaps the number of Holy Shrine remaining in the world is not as small as he imagined; they are simply located in such hidden places that they are difficult to discover.

He severed ties with Alazan and remained as secretive as possible about the [Ascetic Body Forging] technique.

The black line continued downwards, and Ronan lowered himself, gently landing on a relatively flat piece of land.

All around were barren, steep mountain peaks with very little vegetation, as desolate as a desert.

Following the black line, Ronan quickly arrived at a valley.

The valley was unfathomably deep, and gusts of cold air constantly emanated from it.

Ronan released his Spiritual Force Field and slowly descended along the mountain wall from the valley entrance. Unexpectedly, the black line ended not too far from the valley entrance.

It was a recessed cave, with several dried turtledove carcasses hanging in front of it.

Pushing aside the layers of tangled, dry vines at the cave entrance, Ronan lightly covered his mouth and nose and took a few steps inside.

Soon, a strangely shaped black altar appeared before him.

The cave was shallower than he had expected, and finding the second Holy Shrine went exceptionally smoothly.

Ronan squinted, carefully examining the unopened Holy Shrine before him by the faint light of the spell.

Just like the Holy Shrine he had seen in the Cold Spirit Python Nest last time, it was shaped like a black stone pillar.

At the top of the stone pillar is a statue of a young girl with her face slightly upward and her hands raised in support.

The girl clasped her hands together, and a faint blue light seeped out from between her delicate fingers.

"The Holy Shrine was made by ancient shamans in imitation of Holy Shrine."

"The power sealed within the Holy Shrine comes in many forms."

"I wonder if the power sealed within this Holy Shrine is the kind I'm looking for."

Ronan took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

Then he reached out and gently pressed the girl's palms at the top of the stone pillar.

With just a few gentle touches, the girl's clasped hands snapped open to the sides like a pair of small wings.

Immediately afterwards, a ball of blue light leaped out, like waves or flames, instantly illuminating the entire cave in a deep blue.

"Buzz—"

Ronan's mental energy immediately covered it, enveloping the power flowing from the Holy Shrine by layer.

A strange power rapidly seeped into his body through his mental energy, and in an instant, Ronan felt a tightness all over his body. "Bang!"

The next second, "click click click—"

A series of subtle cracking sounds rang out as the Blue Snail within Ronan's body began to circulate, automatically activating his [[Immaculate Body]] and naturally entering the state of "Ancient Demon God Body"!

Ronan ripped off his Dark Blue Magic Robe, covered himself in Itai, and his figure grew taller and taller.

A surge of vitality and energy, like a vast ocean, flowed and washed through the bones, flesh, and blood vessels. With a deafening boom, an invisible wave of energy spread outwards, directly collapsing the narrow cave.

Ronan broke through the collapsed rubble with his bare hands and found that a thin, transparent, pale blue film had appeared around his body. It was incredibly tough, and the black Spirit Force belonging to the [Ancient Power] was compressed by this film, forming black flames that flowed like mercury on his body surface.

An ancient, primordial Battle Axe appeared in his hand, clearer and heavier than ever before.

Ronan felt as if every pore on his body was blocked, and the great power he inherited from ancient times had nowhere to be released.

The runes representing the [Ancient Power] grew wildly on his body like vines and flames, yet they were also bound by the pale blue membrane, unable to break free. They gradually twisted into another pattern, as if countless dragons were surging within Ronan's body. The secluded valley was shrouded in a thin gray mist, as calm as a pool of stagnant, decaying water.

Suddenly.

An invisible wave emanated from the valley, expanding rapidly to the naked eye, instantly clearing away all the miasma and fog from the valley.

Immediately following, a massive, jet-black axe-like beam of light pierced through layers of obstacles and flew rapidly out from the bottom of the valley.

"Boom—"

The valley entrance, which was not very wide to begin with, was immediately slashed open like a block of butter being cut by a hot knife, with a large gap being cut out.

The terrifying axe light, entwined with countless black lightning bolts, continued to rise, but a figure moved even faster.

In just a few flashes, it appeared above the axe light, then spread its arms and actively met the axe light that was slashing upwards from below.

"Whoosh—"

The terrifying axe light collided head-on with the figure. Compared to the enormous and powerful axe light, the figure with dancing black hair was as small as an insignificant ant.

However, the terrifying power was strangely and rapidly extinguished the moment the axe light touched the pale blue transparent membrane in front of the figure.

Black ripples spread outwards in concentric circles, and finally, the two forces clashed and were completely exhausted, and all the commotion subsided.

Ronan stood quietly in the air, feeling the lingering Holy Shrine Power within him.

"It did have some effect on my [[Immaculate Body]], compressing the power of the [Ancient Runes] and strengthening the [Ancient Demon God Body], which can be considered as indirectly enhancing my combat power in this state."

"But there's no sign of a breakthrough in [Ascetic Body Forging], so this isn't what I'm looking for."

Ronan pondered for a moment, "The power sealed within this Holy Shrine should primarily serve a defensive purpose."

Don't be fooled by its thin, pale blue light membrane; its defensive power is astonishing. It can even effortlessly block Ronan's full-force attack of advanced [Ancient Power].

It requires no spellcasting and consumes no energy of its own; its only drawback is that it cannot last long.

The Holy Shrine Power only stayed in Ronan's body for less than five minutes before naturally dissipating.

Even if Ronan doesn't use this power within those five minutes, it will automatically disappear when the time is up.

"It can only be used as a trump card in critical moments, and as a one-time consumable item."

Ronan flipped his hand, revealing a black sphere with a tiny crack on its surface, from which a faint blue light emanated.

This is the remaining portion of the Holy Shrine Power that he preserved using the secret method recorded in his notes; it's probably enough for him to use it one more time.

"It wasn't a complete loss, was it?"

Ronan exhaled softly, exiting the state of [Ancient Demon God Body].

The Holy Shrine Power could affect the [[Immaculate Body]] further solidified his conjecture—the key material for breaking through to the next level of the Master Level in [Ascetic Body Forging] was the Holy Shrine Power.

He simply hadn't found the right Holy Shrine Power.

"Perhaps the Holy Shrine that triggered the evolution and ancestral reversion of the Cold Spirit Python's bloodline contains the power I desire."

Ronan had a guess in his mind.

Ronan took out the robes of the Spirit Lake Deep Sea Faction and put them on again. He then released Alazan from his restrictions, intending to subtly try to obtain more knowledge about the Holy Shrine Power from him.

Unexpectedly, before Ronan could even discuss the Holy Shrine Power with Alazan suddenly changed his tone and said urgently, "Damien, look to your right, to the southwest!"

"Um?!"

Ronan paused slightly, then looked in the direction Alazan pointed.

He saw a barren, haphazardly standing rocky mountain range, but when he scanned it with his spiritual power, he found nothing unusual.

"Do you see something shaped like a semi-circle?"

Alazan then spoke.

Ronan shifted his gaze, quickly locking onto a spot, and nodded.

"Um."

The semi-circular shape that Alazan mentioned were two black stone peaks.

They have all been eroded by wind and sand into curved arcs at the top, which are quite symmetrical, so from a certain angle they look like a hollow semicircle.

"Past."

Alazan whispered, "Remember not to envelop yourself with any mental energy or magic; simply pass naturally through the center of that circle."

Ronan's eyes flickered, but he didn't say anything.

Following Alazan's instructions, when he was almost close to the semicircle of the stone peak, he withdrew the propulsion of his mental energy and let his body land naturally, passing through the center of the semicircle.

Everything seemed quite ordinary.

However, just as Ronan's body passed through the center of the semicircle, a strange spatial fluctuation suddenly arose.

Ronan's pupils contracted slightly. Before he could even be shocked, he found himself inexplicably entering a mysterious space.

"A spatial entrance?!"

Ronan landed steadily on his feet, as if he had crushed something, making a crisp cracking sound.

He couldn't care less about that; instead, he immediately questioned Alazan in his mind.

"How could there be a spatial entrance here? Why can't I detect it with my spiritual power?"

"A normal spatial entrance is like tearing a piece of paper in half, but this spatial entrance is more complicated. It is like tearing a piece of paper in half and then overlapping it together."

From the outside, it still appears to be a complete sheet of paper, but in reality, there is a torn opening between the layers of paper.

Alazan calmly explained to Ronan, "This kind of spatial entrance is not only hidden, but even the slightest fluctuation of mental energy or magic will cause the entrance's location to shift, making it extremely difficult to discover... This method isn't actually that difficult to do, but the wizard who created this space is brilliant because—it's all naturally formed by utilizing the terrain and environment."

"Kid, you're in luck."

This technique of Folded Space is generally only used when a wizard wants to actively give something away to someone else.

"Look around carefully."

See what wonderful things this generous creator of spatial realms has left you.

Alazan's calm voice made Ronan's breathing quicken.

He tried to calm his agitated emotions and began to carefully observe his surroundings.

He was standing on what looked like a cliff, with the bones of birds scattered all around him.

Some were already decayed, while others were rotting. They must have been unlucky birds that accidentally wandered into this hidden space, couldn't get out, and then starved and died of thirst here.

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