Oasis, Parable

"This is the Quivada Oasis?"

Ronan recovered from the brief dizziness of the spatial teleportation, and his expression flickered slightly when he saw the scene before him.

The first thing he saw was a rainbow-colored sky.

However, it does not bring people any dreamy, hazy, or beautiful feeling. Instead, it appears slippery and nauseating, like the putrefactive bacteria that grow in the flesh and blood of a rotting organism, displaying various purulent colors, or like highly poisonous mushrooms growing in the wild, crowding the entire sky in the field of vision.

The air was filled with a sweet, pungent odor with a hint of decay.

He was now standing on a sandy area covered with strange, dark purple crystal clusters. Behind him was a body of water that he couldn't tell if it was a lake or a sea, and in front of him was lush "vegetation".

If everything before him were stripped of its current mottled and dull colors, then beneath his feet would be a soft, silvery or white sandy beach, with golden sunlight streaming down from above, scattering across the shimmering, clear water, and a gentle breeze rustling the palm leaves.

A tropical paradise, a perfect place for relaxation and vacation.

However, all Ronan could see now was a thick, rainbow-colored oil film floating on the surface, a putrid body of water filled with viscous, rotten, gelatinous liquid, plants twisted into bizarre shapes, black and red vines crawling everywhere, and heavy "fruits" wrapped around undigested corpses.

The dark purple crystal clusters with sharp edges on the sand beneath my feet grew and interlocked like teeth, constantly making a clicking sound like bones rubbing together.

This is a Corrupted Land, Fallen Land, and Abandoned Land.

"Tsk"

Hathaway's voice came from behind, reciting like a memorized text, "It's said that when the Quivada Oasis was first discovered, it was covered in Magic Crystal. If it weren't for the sudden calamity, it would have become the most prosperous center of civilization and commerce on the entire continent."

Ronan glanced at her, Hathaway explained, "While you were away, I found a lot of documents about waterways and oases on those monsters!"

Hathaway suddenly cried out, clutching her right hand as if she had been bitten by something.

Ronan also felt a burning pain in his right wrist. He frowned and looked at the source of the pain, and found that a grayish-white circular brand had appeared on his wrist for no reason. The brand seemed to be giving a faint sense of guidance.

Ronan stared at the circular brand, his eyes gleaming.

"It seems we have entered the second stage of the Stone of Destiny Trial."

Ronan looked up and saw the Astronomy Society appearing one by one on the beach in front of him. Unsurprisingly, each of them had a grayish-white Ring Mark on their wrist.

Ronan watched them quietly, waiting for them to recover from their brief confusion and tension, and then find themselves looking at him with a complex and indescribable expression.

The group exchanged glances, then Ai Wen slowly walked up, "Misha."

"As agreed, we have entered the Quivada Oasis, and the contract is now complete."

Ronan spoke.

Ai Wen pursed his lips. "Yeah..."

Ronan said calmly, "I may not be able to continue protecting you from now on."

That's not what I meant.

Ai Wen spoke quickly, gave a wry smile, then bowed to Ronan and said solemnly, "Thank you."

Ronan returned the greeting with a nod, said nothing more, and gestured for Hathaway to leave.

I had only walked a short distance when I suddenly heard urgent calls from behind me.

Ronan turned his head and saw A Nan De take a few steps forward, as if he wanted to say something to him but was too embarrassed to speak. He was scratching his head and looked a little awkward.

Ronan thought for a moment, then casually tossed a Communication Stone over.

"After this trial is over, you can contact me again if you have the chance while you're out here."

Our friendship remains.

A Nan De clutched the Communication Stone given to him by Ronan as if it were a precious treasure, his face flushed with excitement. He waved goodbye to them vigorously until he was no longer in sight.

The other members of the Astronomy Society looked at A Nan De with immense envy. To them, the ultimate reward of this trial was probably far less than the small Communication Stone in A Nan De's hand.

That represents the friendship of "Misha"!

Sigh, I should have studied astrology more.

Including Ai Wen, more than one person felt regret and sighed in their hearts.

"Rustle--"

Strange rustling sounds came from the surrounding decaying tropical vegetation.

Suddenly, an explosion was heard, accompanied by flames and the painful screams of some creature.

Ronan was suddenly confronted by something that flattened a large patch of vegetation and sand. Then he saw a strange humanoid creature covered in black scales, tightly embraced by several Level Four Fire Element. Its body was crackling and burning as it rolled wildly on the crystal-covered sand.

Just as it was rolling to Ronan's side, the strange creature suddenly opened its mouth, and a tongue covered in scarlet barbs tore through the air like a spear, shooting a shrill screech toward Ronan.

Unfortunately, this covert attack was blocked by an invisible force field when it came within a few feet of Ronan.

Pulled by the force field, countless tiny, dazzling beams of light spontaneously coalesced, instantly slicing the long tongue into countless small pieces that clattered and fell to the ground.

"Boom!"

The Fire Element tightly embracing the strange creature suddenly exploded, unleashing a burst of scorching fire, followed by a second, then a third.

After four Fire Element self-destructed, the strange creature that attacked Ronan was finally burned into a red-hot charcoal and stopped moving completely.

This thing is even more resilient than the lizard-like Lizard Monster Khorne Beast we encountered in the waterways before.

Ronan used his mental power to manipulate the strange creature's corpse, sensing a mysterious force emanating from it and rapidly flowing towards his arm.

A slight burning sensation came from my wrist. The gray-white Ring Mark that had been inexplicably branded when I entered the Quivada Oasis seemed to have been partially filled in, now showing a touch of bright red.

The sand beneath Ronan's feet shifted slightly, and a line of blurry writing appeared on its own. "Purify them."

Ronan's eyes flickered, and he lightly stepped over the writing, then continued forward along the path cleared by the strange creature's struggle.

The remaining six Fire Element followed him faithfully like guards, and soon Ronan heard the sounds of battle, with bursts of magical roars.

Pushing aside a broad leaf covered in a strange, sticky, blood-gel-like substance, a small blue lake appeared before him.

The lakeside was teeming with the strange creatures he had encountered before, covered in black scales, humanoid yet crawling on all fours. The air reeked of decay and stench. Hathaway, leading a Level Five Water Element and a large group of Level Four Water Element, stood on a high point by the lake, defending against wave after wave of attacks from the humanoid monsters.

Ronan's arrival attracted the attention of some of the humanoid monsters. Pairs of scarlet, ferocious eyes instantly fixed on him, and they rushed toward him at high speed.

The six loyal Fire Element immediately rushed forward without saying a word, but they only managed to stop two of the humanoid monsters. The rest rushed towards Ronan in a frenzy.

"Bite--"

Like the crisp sound of crystal striking metal, fragments of gold Itai, resembling shattered musical notes, flowed from Ronan's robe sleeves, accompanied by a slightly elevated ancient chant.

Ronan casually flicked his finger, and golden sword light cascaded down like a waterfall, sweeping across the entire area of the blue lake in an instant.

A moment later.

In the center of the small blue lake, where strange bubbles bubbled and gurgled, no humanoid monster dared to crawl out from the bottom of the lake.

The air was filled with the smell of melting sand and burning flesh. Some asphalt-like golden flames fell to the ground and burned quietly. Around the small blue lake, there were corpses and severed limbs of humanoid monsters everywhere.

Ronan collected the Magic Creature corpses one by one into the Mist Space and threw them into the Elemental Pool to serve as raw materials for energy decomposition, while Hathaway directed the Water Element to help.

The right wrist still felt burning hot, and about one-twentieth of the grayish-white ring was covered in bright red.

Ronan casually picked up a Magic Creature's corpse and saw a line of small text appear on the sand beneath it. "[Water source contaminated, undrinkable]"

He shook his head, somewhat speechless.

Ronan had more or less figured out the "rules" of the second phase of the trial.

It's roughly about "purifying" this corrupted oasis, and the way to do that is, of course, to cleanse the otherworldly Magic Creature from the oasis.

Each time a Magic Creature is killed, the Ring Mark on the wrist will record the "merit" and occasionally provide inexplicable guidance and hints.

As for what will happen once the rings are filled, Ronan is not quite sure yet.

But according to his speculation, this should represent the qualification and credentials to enter the third stage of the trial.

The Rune Stone that records the contents of the trial describes that after entering the Quivada Oasis, the trial participants need to find the "token" left behind by the New Prophet.

"The third phase of the trial will likely unfold around this token."

"We can only wait and see what the next step will be after the circle is filled."

If this assumption holds true, theoretically, the faster this second phase is completed, the better.

The sooner you enter the third stage of the trial, the sooner you will obtain clues about the "New Prophet's token".

Ronan wasn't sure if anyone had already completed the second phase of the trial, but in any case, he definitely needed to speed things up.

He had already wasted a lot of time in the first phase of the Ancient Waterway trial. If he hadn't been lucky enough to encounter the Astronomy Society, he would probably still be wandering around in the waterway looking for the oasis entrance.

He and Hathaway killed about a hundred humanoid Magic Creature by the blue lake, most of which were fourth-tier, with no fifth-tier monsters among them.

The fifth-tier leader might be hiding at the bottom of the lake and hasn't appeared yet, but Ronan was too lazy to force him to look for it anymore.

He called to Hathaway to leave together, and the two walked through this corrupt forest that resembled a tropical rainforest.

Along the way, we encountered many coconut-tree-like plants, their branches laden with heavy fruit. One fell to the ground with a thud, spilling out a foul-smelling pus and blood. Floating within the pus and blood was a whimsical, malicious note, seemingly left by New Prophet: "This is their favorite drink. If you're an adventurous gourmand, you can give it a try..."

After passing through the dense forest, they encountered two more groups of humanoid Magic Creature of varying sizes. After dealing with them all, the vegetation in front of them gradually became shorter and sparser.

They seemed to have emerged from the rainforest and entered a relatively flat plain.

"Whoosh—"

A sharp, piercing sound rapidly approached. Ronan released his mental energy, "pulling" Hathaway's body back a few meters.

"Bang!"

A Water Element, its body shimmering with water, suddenly exploded, creating a crater several meters deep and over ten meters wide where it had been. In the center of the crater, a short wooden spear, as thick as a fist, trembled incessantly, emitting eerie and chilling energy fluctuations.

Hathaway's pretty face paled slightly, and she glanced at Ronan with lingering fear.

If Ronan hadn't pulled her back, that short spear would probably have hit her squarely. In such a short time, she certainly wouldn't have been able to mount a proper defense, and it's questionable whether her level 4 late-stage [Protection] force field could have blocked it.

Ronan leaped into the air, squinting as he gazed in the direction from which the short spear had come.

He saw a group of Magic Creature rapidly approaching them, a type he had never seen before—generally over three meters tall, with strong human limbs, but with the heads of male goats.

His eyes were bloodshot, he carried crude weapons such as guns and spears, and his whole body exuded a strong aura of evil.

These goat-headed, human-bodied Magic Creature, adorned with numerous bone ornaments, let out cryptic growls at Ronan and his companion from afar, as if they were prey, and raced toward them at breakneck speed.

"Swish swish——"

As they ran, the Goat-headed Monster untied the short spears from their backs and threw them at the two men.

Their strength was extraordinary, and the short spears they fired were not ordinary cold weapons; they emitted obvious energy fluctuations, and when they pierced the air, they resembled streaks of black lightning, creating an astonishing display of power.

Hathaway rubbed her hands together, clearly still resentful about the attack. With a flick of her staff, she led a group of Water Element minions forward.

But Hathaway clearly underestimated the strength of these Goat-headed Monsters. In the gaps between her spells, the Goat-headed Monster shot out short spears that rained down like rain.

Each short spear possesses attack power comparable to a typical fourth-tier spell, and its activation speed is extremely fast. It can easily blast a Water Element apart in just one or two hits. Hathaway, hiding behind the only Level Five Water Element, looked somewhat disheveled.

Ronan watched for a while, then got up and leaned closer, gently stroking the void in front of him with his right hand.

With a burst of Space Magic, a mirror-like silver screen rapidly rose and unfolded overhead.

The short spear shot by the Goat-headed Monster whistled as it disappeared into the silver mirror screen, stirring up ripples.

Soon, the vanished short spears suddenly reappeared above the heads of the Goat-headed Monster, their momentum undiminished.

Caught off guard, the Goat-headed Monster quickly wiped out by the short spears they themselves had thrown amidst a series of piercing and exploding sounds.

The strong Goat-headed Monster was pinned to the ground by short spears, and foul-smelling blood gushed from its mouth, nose, and wounds until it gradually fell silent.

Ronan walked slowly over, looking at the gray, empty eyes of these Goat-headed Monsters. He felt the circular mark on his wrist burning hot, and then saw a line of small words quietly appear among the haphazardly scattered corpses of the Goat-headed Monster— [Red and black blood soaked the earth, indistinguishable from each other.]

The putrid and evil seeds are buried in the ground, and they are sprouting.

They could come back at any time.

This was the first time Ronan had seen such a prompt, full of revelatory meaning, like a mysterious allegory.

Ronan stood before the Goat-headed Monster's corpse, his eyes gleaming. Suddenly, he reached out and ripped off a bone ornament from one of the Goat-headed Monster at his feet, examining it closely in his hand.