Elemental Pool, Tower Defense Game

As his mental energy swept over the rune clasp on the box, the metal box broke free from Ronan's grasp and floated in mid-air.

All the densely packed runes on the box surface lit up, and pale white light shone from the gaps. Then, the entire box melted rapidly like wax and flowed downwards.

The ground beneath Ronan's feet instantly sank, a large gray mass rapidly spreading outwards, invisible ripples spreading outwards and disappearing into the distant darkness, even the commotion seemed to fall silent for a moment.

Ronan took a few steps back, and soon the ripples in front of him stabilized, leaving a pool of gray "water" at his feet, which then gradually began to be stained with mottled colors.

Ronan could sense that countless free energy particles in this space were being drawn in by a force, converging into trickles of water that continuously flowed into the "Gray Pool".

Ronan's expression shifted slightly.

"Could it be..."

A moment later.

Ronan stood beneath beams of Illumination Crystal hanging from the ceiling, his hand hovering over the Crown of Deep Knowledge. At his feet, tiny flame figures, each the size of a palm, emerged and screamed as they rushed into the darkness ahead.

Several staggering black skeletons clad in tattered ancient armor emerged from the darkness, only to be pounced upon by the fearless fire elemental figures, their bodies instantly exploding into flames with a "bang".

Several small figures rushed forward one after another, only to be reduced to a pile of charred bones and die completely in their "unwillingness".

These are warriors of the Keldim Wizard Empire who died here. After their deaths, their bodies were corrupted by filthy dark energy, turning them into lonely, wandering spirits in the waterways.

"It really is the Elemental Pool."

Ronan withdrew his gaze, turned around, and looked with a complicated expression at the "pool" in front of him, which had expanded to a diameter of five meters and whose color had changed from light gray to a riot of colors, like a pool filled with oil paint.

It was probably because Ronan possessed the Crown of Deep Knowledge that the Grand Elder of the Deep Sea gave him this Elemental Pool.

The good news is that Ronan can use the power of the Crown of Deep Knowledge and the Elemental Pool to continuously create Elemental Lifeform, helping him explore the Ancient Waterway.

It may not be as good as the collaborative efforts of elite wizard teams from other factions, but it's much better than him exploring alone.

The bad news is, "If I had known it was Elemental Pool, I should have opened the box inside the Mist Space."

No wonder the middle-aged wizard who brought him here specifically instructed him to open the box in the right place before leaving.

Once the Elemental Pool is activated, it becomes very difficult to move. Ronan tried to use the "Mirror of Emptiness" to move it to the Mist Space, which was possible, but the Elemental Pool has just been built and its structure is extremely unstable. Any slight change could cause the entire Elemental Pool to collapse.

We can only consider transferring it after a period of time, once the entire Elemental Pool has completely stabilized.

For the Elemental Pool to reach its full potential, it also requires a process of energy accumulation.

At this stage, Ronan's newly formed Elemental Pool can only create Elemental Lifeform with roughly level one strength. It's passable for dealing with ordinary "minions" in the Ancient Waterway, but it's not enough for monsters with slightly stronger strength.

"It's starting to feel like a tower defense game."

Ronan examined the area around the Elemental Pool and discovered a naturally formed layer of energy light membrane around Elemental Pool. He reached out to test the intensity, finding it to be low, only around level one.

However, it should continue to improve as the Elemental Pool is upgraded.

Ronan thought for a moment, then took out his Rune Stone and set up several more layers of magic arrays outside the Elemental Pool for defense.

"I'll have to stay here for a while for now."

Ronan looked around. From time to time, eerie growls echoed in the darkness. Monsters roaming the Ancient Waterway ruins were constantly rushing towards the light source.

Perfect timing! During this waiting period, he can practice using the Crown of Deep Knowledge in conjunction with the Elemental Pool to create Elemental Lifeform.

One month later.

"Click-click-click—"

With a crisp cracking sound, Ronan stood up from the ground.

His clear blue eyes seemed even deeper than before, with a strange glint in them, but it quickly disappeared into his pupils.

"Call--"

Ronan exhaled softly and examined himself.

After reaching level four, the increase in Soul Power brought about by the two previous Reincarnation into Dream has now been fully digested, and the Strength Progress has reached [Level Four Formal Wizard: 12%].

The main reason was that his second dream entry was interrupted after only eight years, so the effect was much worse.

With his mental strength greatly increased, he should be able to go through two more "cycles" before reaching the Mid Level Four.

It's hard to imagine that it's only been a little over a year since he was promoted to level four.

"As for the [Secret Chrysalis], it's still missing that final bit of accumulation, and it hasn't reached perfection yet."

Ronan frowned slightly. In his Consciousness Space, the Light Chrysalis representing the [Secret Chrysalis] had been "ripened" by him with Magic Crystal several months ago until only a trace of white remained, not yet filled with black.

But upon closer inspection, it still seems to be missing a tiny bit, as if nothing has changed.

However, the fine threads extending from the Light Chrysalis are much more numerous than before, and one can feel them constantly absorbing nourishment from one's body and soul. It's probably not long before it truly matures.

Ronan stopped looking around and surveyed his surroundings.

A month passed in the blink of an eye. His own strength had not changed much, but the surrounding environment had changed considerably.

During this time, Ronan cleared the waterways within a two-kilometer radius on his own, which gave him a general understanding of the Ancient Waterway ruins.

The most numerous monsters in the waterway were the strange creatures that he encountered along the way, resembling both fish and lizards. They weren't particularly strong, but they roamed in large groups, fearless and ruthless, like cockroaches that had proliferated in dark, damp corners—they were impossible to eradicate no matter how hard you tried.

Secondly, there are the warriors of the Keldim Wizard Empire who died in the waterways back then. After their deaths, they were corrupted by the power of another world and turned into undead skeletons. Most of them are of average strength, slow and clumsy, and pose little threat.

Some of these mutations result in large, bloated, obese corpse Corpse Demon with strength reaching the fourth or even fifth tier. They possess certain energy attack methods and have extremely strong corrosive abilities. After being killed, a large number of [Parasitism] worms will emerge from their stomachs, making them quite troublesome.

The most troublesome is a kind of otherworldly monster that resembles Lizardman.

With lizard heads, human bodies, and lizard tails, they are agile, incredibly strong, highly resistant to magic, and extremely resilient. Their strength is generally at the fourth tier. Ronan even encountered a fifth-tier Lizard Monster, which took him considerable effort to kill. Ronan recorded all the information he had gained about these monsters in his notebook, a unique form of knowledge accumulation that might be helpful to others later on.

After Ronan cleaned it up, the area is now much quieter. The stench of decay in the air has dissipated considerably, and even the light falling from the Illumination Crystal seems to have become softer, creating a more tranquil atmosphere.

Beside it, the Elemental Pool had accumulated energy over a month, had expanded to eight meters in diameter and its depth was unfathomable. On the thick and beautiful surface of the pool, one Elemental Lifeform after another broke through the water, all emitting energy fluctuations comparable to those of the third rank.

"In another two weeks, the formal transfer can take place."

Ronan assessed the stability of the entire Elemental Pool and thought to himself.

It happened much faster than he expected, mainly because after accidentally throwing the corpses of several Lizard Monster into the Elemental Pool, Ronan unexpectedly discovered that the Lizard Monster corpses could be decomposed by the Elemental Pool and transformed into pure energy.

During this period, he threw almost all the waterway monsters he killed into the Elemental Pool, greatly accelerating the accumulation of energy within the Elemental Pool.

Looking at the Elemental Lifeform forms emerging from the Elemental Pool, the Darkness-Type, earth, and water elements were the most numerous, and their energy fluctuations were basically at the third level or above.

The Elemental Pool itself had also been upgraded to a third-tier level of energy [Protection], and with the outer layers of Rune Array [Protection], Ronan had the idea of temporarily leaving to explore it on his own for a while.

"I've basically wiped out all the monsters above level four in this area. Dozens of third-tier Elemental Lifeform should be enough to handle the first and second-tier monsters. Even for those above level four, the Elemental Lifeform's unique self-destruct attacks will at least wear them down for a while, enough to keep them occupied until I notice them and return."

Ronan made up his mind, put away the Crown of Deep Knowledge, and began to slowly walk into the darkness beyond the light.

Ronan casually summoned a ball of flame to provide illumination.

The Golden Fire quickly dispelled the dampness and stench in the air. Ronan walked calmly forward step by step on the slightly slippery stone path.

Several dark figures were attracted by the light and suddenly flew over. Ronan's eyes flickered slightly, and an invisible heat wave was released from the flame floating in his palm.

"Bang—"

Several clusters of fire burst forth around Ronan, accompanied by faint screams. Several charred, writhing, bat-like creatures fell to the ground with a thud, struggled a couple of times, and then died completely.

The waterways were more complex Ronan had imagined. If they hadn't been reduced to ruins in ancient battles, with large sections of the waterway's stone walls flattened, it would have resembled the Minotaur's Labyrinth.

Ronan fought off several waves of monsters when suddenly he saw something in the distance that seemed to be glowing faintly and swaying back and forth.

His eyes flickered slightly as he stepped over the broken ruins and approached.

As they got closer, they realized it was a blurry figure, radiating an eerie green light. Its lower body was ethereal, and it was pacing back and forth along a short stretch of waterway, its head bowed, seemingly muttering something repeatedly.

Ghost!

Ronan's eyes flickered.

He discovered that the Lost Land was like a Super Large "garbage dump." It was located underground on the Upper Ring Continent, where countless millennia of filth had accumulated. Later, it became a battlefield for the invasion of Magic Creature from another world, leading to the proliferation of all kinds of filth and evil spirits.

Here, it seems like you can see all kinds of monsters; it might be a paradise for wizards who specialize in Darkness-Type or Undead Arts.