Sinking Eye, Speed Holy Shrine, Blocked Road to Golden Village

Ronan slowly tightened his grip on the hair tie in his hand.

Before throwing Fomingge into the Endless Labyrinth, he had already removed the Space Ring he always carried. His powerful mental energy violently broke through the rune lock on the ring and found the eye that resembled Orian's.

Apart from that, nothing else related to the two was found.

Ronan pursed his lips tightly. He hadn't expected that after news of his "death" spread, Kosti would actually come to the Midwest to "investigate."

Even Orian might be implicated as a result.

The images of the two men kept flashing through Ronan's mind, Ronan's mind was in turmoil for a moment.

I took several deep breaths to gradually calm myself down.

"I hope... everything's alright."

After cleaning up the battlefield and erasing all traces of himself, he summoned the Ancient Thunder Eagle Eris and set off.

Ronan sat on the back of the Ancient Thunder Eagle. The sun, which was rising from the clouds at seven or eight in the morning, shone with thousands of golden rays. The cold wind from high above whistled past on both sides.

He held an old-fashioned, milky-white pocket watch in his hand and gently rubbed it.

Soon, faint rune fluctuations emanated from the pocket watch.

"A Ni, find me two people."

Ronan spoke softly.

It's just a matter of finding two people; there's no need to trouble the Prophet Eve.

Putting away the pocket watch-shaped communication device, Ronan squinted and gazed at the distant sea of clouds, mountains, lakes, and forests, which sped past beneath him.

As the sun set, Ronan had completely left the territory of the Life Empire.

When the sun rose the next day, Ronan arrived at his destination.

This is a desolate and barren land where almost no normal vegetation can survive.

The sky appeared as a colorful, turbid vortex, and the rocks on the ground flowed, forming a kind of blackish-yellow gelatinous substance. Mudslides and sand moved, forming a huge downward funnel where Ronan's gaze fell.

The air was filled with rich and unstable free energy. The slightest release of mental energy was as if it touched some invisible restriction, "activating" clusters of dazzling flowing currents in the void, presenting dense and complex natural rune light paths.

Ronan felt his mental power being suppressed in some way, and this natural suppression became more and more obvious the closer he got to the huge mudslide vortex in the distance.

He tried to move forward for a while, and when he was still tens of kilometers away from the center of the vortex, some energy particles spontaneously condensed and lashed at him like whips or lightning.

On the map of the Central Continent, this place is located at the very center of the three great Wizard Empire: the Pendulum of Fate, the Life Royal Court, and Tangista.

Its name is "The Sinking Eye".

"Call--"

Ronan stopped walking and stood still.

At this moment, he was like a drop of water falling into a boiling oil pan. The slightest movement could trigger a chain reaction. The free energy particles in this area were extremely difficult to control, and Ronan didn't even dare to fully activate his [Star Force Field].

"The Sinking Eye is the entrance from the Upper Ring Continent to the Middle Ring. The sinking power of the world and the gathered energy particles form a near-natural magical barrier. At least Level Seven Wizard is needed to break through this barrier and enter safely."

Alazan's voice echoed in my mind.

Ronan's eyes flickered, and he replied in a low voice, "I'll try it first."

Beneath his Platinum-Woven Robe, Ronan stretched out, the golden Gear Mark on his right wrist shimmering. The sealing power remained, though the signs of loosening were becoming increasingly obvious, it still firmly held him, preventing his demonic body from functioning and making him very uncomfortable.

Ronan frowned, then began taking things out of his Space Ring.

Black, like some kind of mysterious stone, one is a square box, the other is like a torch, but the torch has two statues with outstretched wings at the top.

They are all Holy Shrine.

Different kinds of Holy Shrine.

During the more than three years in the Lost Land, Ronan reincarnated in his dreams for over a thousand years, witnessing the rise and fall of the Keldim Empire from different identities and perspectives.

He was involved in the construction of the great waterway almost entirely, and was intimately familiar with the structure of the entire Ancient Waterway, including the locations of the Holy Shrine that were placed there by human hands.

Ronan learned about the principles behind the construction of the Holy Shrine and also understood the purpose of the Keldim wizards placing the Holy Shrine in the waterways—mainly to defend against the Magic Creature that came out from underground, similar to a "supply station".

Holy Shrine can be broadly categorized into several types: Defense Holy Shrine, Healing Holy Shrine, Mana Holy Shrine, Speed Holy Shrine, Strength Holy Shrine, and Evolving Holy Shrine.

The Evolving Holy Shrine is the rarest of them all, Ronan found one Strength Holy Shrine that was completely preserved, but almost all of them had already been opened and used.

He collected a portion of the Holy Shrine Power.

The origin of the Holy Shrine comes from the ancient "Shrine Altar," which was a blessing left by the gods for believers before they descended to earth.

Even if a mortal obtains its power, he can briefly possess the might to contend with a powerful wizard.

The same applies to the Holy Shrine. An ordinary soldier of the Keldim Empire, Holy Shrine Power, can also fight directly against the Magic Creature underground. This was a method devised by the high-ranking wizards after the Empire's wizards suffered heavy losses when the waterways were opened.

What Ronan is using now are the Holy Shrine Power and the Speed Holy Shrine Power.

The effect of the Mana Holy Shrine is to allow wizards to quickly replenish the mental energy consumed when casting spells, but it is not needed at the moment.

Upon opening the square-cornered stone box that sealed the Holy Shrine Power, a ball of light blue light immediately enveloped Ronan like flowing water, forming a thin protective light membrane around him.

This wasn't the first time Ronan had used the power of the Defense Holy Shrine. Back in the Minotaur's Endless Labyrinth, it was the Holy Shrine Power that allowed him to escape from a group of level five "monsters".

Theoretically, it can withstand any attack below level six before the power of the Defense Holy Shrine is exhausted.

Of course, the timeframe is only about five minutes.

As for the other Holy Shrine Power...

Ronan shifted his gaze, picked up another torch-shaped stone sculpture, and gently touched the winged statue on the stone pillar.

With a "crack" sound, a pale blue energy flowed out from the gap in the wings and quickly enveloped Ronan's body.

In an instant.

Ronan's Platinum Magic Robe moved without wind, the hem of the robes fluttering gently.

It was as if an invisible breeze was constantly surrounding Ronan, giving him an incredibly light feeling.

But Ronan was certain that this was not the power of the "wind".

"Rule.."

He looked at his hands, his eyes flashing slightly, "The power of rules related to speed."

Not only the Holy Shrine Power, but also the Holy Shrine Power, are different from the Elemental Power wizards are used to controlling. What is sealed in the Holy Shrine are all strange energies that are different from elemental energy.

It contains fragments of "rules," which is why it can grant users all sorts of incredible abilities.

"Holy Power. No, if we trace its origins, 'divine power' would be a more accurate description."

The power of the gods.

Back in the era before the gods collectively withdrew from the scene, perhaps this kind of power was the mainstream at the time.

A strange look appeared in Ronan's eyes, but it quickly disappeared.

Now is not the time to fantasize about the "Mythological Era".

With the Holy Shrine Power empowering him, Ronan took a deep breath.

The next second his eyes suddenly lit up, and it seemed that there were countless invisible veins reflected in his pupils.

Ronan suddenly moved, his figure shooting out like lightning.

Driven by the combination of the Star Force Field and his mental power, and with the Holy Shrine Power, his speed was so fast that he was almost just a semi-transparent horizontal ripple.

Only the densely packed patterns of light and lightning falling from the activated energy barriers could barely detect a trace of its forward trajectory.

[[Instinctive Grip]] The effect of leveraging the rules allowed Ronan to master the Holy Shrine Power containing "rules" with ease, and all the "resistance" along the way was blocked by the power of the Defense Holy Shrine.

Ronan traversed the tens of kilometers in the blink of an eye.

His figure suddenly stopped at the edge of the huge lava flow funnel. Under the baptism of countless energy turbulences, he stared fixedly at the very center of the funnel through the pale blue defensive light membrane.

It was a murky "blackness" there, with destructive lightning flashing and leaping within it. Just looking at it gave Ronan a sense of threat.

Above the darkness, there was a thick barrier formed by countless layers of runes and patterns intertwined and woven together.

Alazan is right. The entrance to the "Sinking Eye" is blocked and can only be broken by external forces.

Ronan thought for a moment, then slowly pointed a finger toward the center of the funnel.

As a dense, forbidden aura emanated from the sky, a pitch-black sun rose slowly with Ronan's finger pointing.

With a layer of Law Control, [Forbidden Black Hole]!

Due to the extremely unstable environment of the energy particles, the entire edge of the "black hole" spell summoned by Ronan was completely distorted, resembling a fried egg that had gone bad.

However, the power of this [Forbidden Black Hole] attack was also many times greater than in its normal state.

The terrifying, distorted black hole fell onto the barrier woven with countless light patterns, like a drop of water hitting a net. It barely caused the barrier to "dent" slightly before leaving no further ripples.

"It seems that only Level Seven Twilight Wizard could break through it."

"Is this considered an entry restriction imposed by the Middle Ring Wizards on the Upper Ring Wizards?"

Ronan's eyes flickered, and before the power of the Defense Holy Shrine had faded, he silently turned around and retraced his steps.

He didn't want to try to explore the path of "sinking" right now, but because the call from the Golden Village came from here. The next lineage of the Golden Country is hidden beneath the "Sinking Eye".

It seems that his search for the Golden Village will have to be put on hold for now.

On the seventh day at noon, Ronan rode the Ancient Thunder Eagle back to the Glow Mist City.

As before, Ronan lingered briefly on the blue-roofed house, but did not find Grace; perhaps she had gone out.

Back at his residence, he put away the magical clones that had been used to conceal his identity. Not long after, the wizard A Ni came to visit him.

"Your Majesty, the two people you asked me to find... have been identified."

A Ni, Level Five Wizard dressed in a moon-white robe, whose beauty surpassed that of a woman, stood before Ronan and gave a soft report.

"Explain."

"A male wizard named Orian is in the seventh division of the Elemental Magic Ring, and has been living in seclusion for the past two years."

Is he still alive?

"Yes."

A Ni replied, "Everything is fine."

Ronan's expression immediately relaxed.

It seems that the eyeball that Fomingge took out, which he claimed was Orian's, was a fake.

"And the other one?"

Ronan felt a little relieved and then asked the question.

A Ni hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "That woman named Kosti... is currently existing as a soul."