Saint Blood Tree, Youth Stage, Breakthrough of the Eternal Life Magic Coffin
"The sunken passage has no specific exit; it only has cracks created by the changing and folding of space."
Most spatial rifts exist for only a very short time, fleeting and ephemeral. Finding a safe and suitable place to leave requires not only luck, but also patience, Damien."
Hearing the aged, peaceful voice echoing in his mind, the handsome young man said nothing more, but simply closed his eyes and entered a meditative state.
The handsome young man before us is none other than Ronan, who has been in the sunken tunnel for two years.
Even though he had made sufficient mental preparations, Ronan did not expect that he would stay in the Space Passage leading to the Lower Continent for two whole years, and still had not found a way out.
After entering the sunken tunnel for some time, he realized that the situation was far more complicated than he had imagined, and the significance of the sealing restriction on the Sinking Eye —it was a form of indirect protection for low-level wizards.
Inside the tunnel, the wizard not only faces monsters that may appear from different worlds and dimensions, but also the problem of how to escape the tunnel.
Because space is constantly changing, even if you keep moving, you may not be moving in a predetermined direction.
It may be rising, it may be sinking, it may be regressing, it may be spinning in place, it may be infinitely close to where you want to go, or it may have already drifted to a place beyond the world.
Only wizards of level seven or higher can accurately locate themselves in this environment and find and open a way out of the passage.
Ronan drifted aimlessly in the sinking tunnel for nearly two years until two months ago, when his Soul Power grew and nourished Alazan awoke from his slumber, finally giving him a glimmer of hope to leave.
The dark metal base drifted slowly through the passageway, propelled by the spatial turbulence. Ronan's eyes were closed, and his powerful spiritual energy surged out of his body in waves, forming an invisible yet heavy field around him.
Within the field, one after another, collapsing "singularities" appear, visually converging with light, like a nascent star field that is about to take shape.
After two years of continuous Soul Projection into dreams, Ronan's Soul Power cultivation has gradually approached the late stage of level five, and his proficiency in the [Primordial Star Meditation Technique] has successfully broken through the Master Level one thousand points.
Because of the [Sense Stars] effect, he can sometimes clearly perceive the existence of a certain area of the starry sky.
When the summons from the [Golden Village] were intermittent and barely perceptible, the [Primordial Star Meditation Technique]'s connection to the "Ancient Stars" became the most reliable means of guiding him as he wandered through the tunnel.
Like a traveler lost in the sea and desert, relying on looking up at the stars to find their way.
At some point, Ronan suddenly opened his eyes, exiting his meditative state.
His robe on the right side flipped up, vaguely revealing well-proportioned and streamlined arm muscles. Intense star veins surged on his arm, eventually forming a deep purple Star Ring worn on his arm.
"[Forbidden Black Hole]!"
Ronan pointed a finger, and boundless forbidden energy poured forward. At the point of his consciousness, a huge and distorted pitch-black sun silently appeared.
It exploded with a deafening roar, and the terrifying aftershocks of energy were forcibly suppressed by the omnipresent spatial forces surrounding it.
Then another great sun was born, followed by another shattering, smoothing, and regeneration.
One after another, the suns flickered like lamplight within the passageway, and slowly, more and more spells appeared in Ronan's hands.
Ice Magic inherited from the Primordial Frost Whale and Ice Emperor Inheritance, golden fire magic from Spirit Maya, Space Magic from the Minotaur, and dark magic from Sagadi's Corpse Accumulation Technique.
Ronan continued casting spells until his mental energy was depleted and fell below a certain limit before finally stopping.
This was his daily routine, and he spent his long and tedious days wandering through the tunnel in this way.
Thanks to his arduous training during this period, his proficiency in his major spells has increased rapidly. Among them, the [Forbidden Black Hole] spell, which he has devoted the most effort to, has already broken through the Grandmaster level with a proficiency of 500 points.
Compared to two years ago, Vaillant has also made a qualitative leap.
"For the second Law Control Rune, after two years, I've only grasped about one-tenth of it; the progress is slower than I expected."
As Ronan recovered his mental energy, he looked at his right palm.
The second Law Control Rune he chose corresponds to the Helamus's Touch of Magic Control on the palm. According to his plan, he should be able to fully comprehend this rune within four to six years.
But at the current pace, it would take a full twenty years to achieve this.
This timeframe far exceeds the time it took Ronan to comprehend his first Law Control Rune when he was a level three Wizard.
Logically speaking, his current Soul Power is more than a hundred times greater than it was back then, and his comprehension has greatly improved, so the process should be simpler and take less time. But the situation is exactly the opposite.
Ronan carefully recalled the process of comprehending his first Law Control Rune and felt that the problem might lie in the missing Law Control set pieces.
"Within the space of the Law Control Armlet, besides the core Law Control Rune, there are countless other additional runes."
Looking back now, those additional runes were probably all meant to assist the inheritor in comprehending the Law Control Rune.
For Ronan, both then and now, a single Law Control Rune is far too profound and mysterious. The numerous additional runes are like "analytical annotations" that break down and analyze the corresponding Law Control Rune to help the inheritor comprehend them.
Now that the Law Control Set is damaged, all these "analysis annotations" are gone, making it naturally difficult for Ronan to "tough it out".
"To accelerate my comprehension, I can only continue to improve my Soul Power cultivation and my mastery of runes."
There is no other way.
Ronan shook his head, silently greeting Alazan in his mind, before entering the Mist Space.
Compared to other wizards attempting to traverse the Sinking Eye, Ronan's other significant advantage was that he carried the Mist Space with him.
The continuous supply of resources from the Mist Space meant he didn't have to worry about his daily food and drink needs, and he could also enter the Mist Space to rest when he felt mentally exhausted.
However, the time cannot be too long, otherwise even with Alazan's protection, the "Mirror of Emptiness" that remains in place is easily swept away by the spatial turbulence within the passageway and loses its original direction.
Compared to a few years ago, everything within the Mist Space is now completely on track.
The barbarian and elven races who inhabited the Mist Space experienced a sharp decline in their numbers during their first year there, perhaps due to adaptation issues to their new environment. Some of the older members died.
Then, in the second year, after everyone successfully transformed into Saint Blood Kin, the number began to gradually increase again, and now the total number has exceeded 2,500.
And under the deliberate control of their leader Iris, they gradually began to split into two tribes: the barbarians and the elves.
The former live in grasslands, while the latter have moved into forest areas that are beginning to take shape.
As a "faith" shared by both races, the Saint Blood Tree, nourished by its more than 2,500 followers, rapidly entered a stage of high-speed growth that even Ronan could hardly detect.
In Bennigo's words, it belongs to the "youthful stage" of the Saint Blood Tree!
"Call--"
Ronan's true form entered the Mist Space.
Standing at the very top of the Mist Space and looking down, one can see that the area of Mist Space has now roughly doubled in size.
The entire area consists of grasslands inhabited by barbarians, forests inhabited by elves, and a barren mountain range that is "growing".
In the center, surrounded by three major regions, shrouded in a thick fog, the canopy of the Saint Blood Tree extends out like a giant umbrella that blocks out the sky, and a large lake lies at the gap in the fog.
This great lake was continuously created day and night by a large number of Water Element summoned from the Elemental Pool. It is known as the "Saint Blood Lake" among the two tribes of barbarians and elves. Whenever the moonlight falls, ethereal songs can be heard from the lake. They are the songs of Arrietty and Mermaid Shell.
Whenever the two major tribes had any important ceremonies, they would hold them on the shore of the lake.
The prototype of a nation based on the most primitive faith is already taking shape.
Ronan stood high in the Mist Space, gazing into the distance.
After many of the mist walls within the Mist Space were unlocked, from his current location, he could vaguely see the outline of what appeared to be a small gray island in the far distance.
Ronan secretly guessed that it might be the back of the "Mirror of Emptiness," the location of the Minotaur's Endless Labyrinth.
If his guess comes true, and the two spaces are indeed connected one day, then the gray mist island where the labyrinth is located could serve as a place of exile, similar to the forsaken and forbidden places of the gods.
Withdrawing his gaze, Ronan slowly descended. The Saint Blood Tree, which almost connected to the dome, swayed and made a tinkling sound like silver bells welcoming his arrival.
The mist below parted automatically, revealing to Ronan the incredibly thick roots of the Saint Blood Tree, resembling giant pythons coiled around it.
These tree roots not only take root in the ground, but also penetrate deep into the void, constantly drawing nourishment from the unknown to grow.
A low growl of a monster came from afar. Soon after, the mist broke, and a huge Ice Field Lizard rushed towards him, its body undulating.
The hard ground surged beneath the earth lizard like a tide, and soon it reached Ronan's side.
A tall, imposing figure leaped off the back of the earth lizard, quickly knelt at Ronan's feet, and respectfully kissed the ground.
"Owner."
Ronan gently stroked the top of Iris's head and nodded slightly.
Several years have passed, and after her bloodline has been purified several times by the Saint Blood Tree, Iris's loyalty to Ronan has reached a very high level.
The gradually awakened Goblin Bloodline endowed Iris with increasing intelligence, which allowed him to not only fulfill his role as the "representative of the Holy Blood" assigned by Ronan, but also slowly take over some of the research work that originally belonged to Bennigo.
Ronan saw no trace of anyone beneath the Saint Blood Tree, whose roots twisted like a palace. He knew that Kosti, Arrietty, and Dodol III usually preferred to stay among the barbarian and elf tribes. This area, which had completely returned to its desolate state, was increasingly resembling a solemn and dignified "holy land."
Invisible ripples rose in the void, as if something enormous was silently drifting by.
Ronan reached out and hugged the "Guardian of the Holy Land," Clarity Snake that only he could see. Sensing its active state, he took a small amount of its brain fluid and then let it move freely.
With a stable supply of Clarity Snake Venom, Ronan's soul purity has remained excellent despite years of continuous Reincarnation into Dream, and he no longer needs to worry about soul aftereffects.
After collecting the brain fluid, Ronan slowly walked towards the base of the Saint Blood Tree, with Iris following closely behind.
Finally, Ronan stopped in front of a large, old laboratory table.
Ronan reached out and gently wiped the lab bench, glancing at the dust remaining on his fingertips. He asked softly, "Any news about Bennigo lately?"
Behind him, Iris replied respectfully, "Bennigo sent a message through the Sacred Tree a month ago."
Having said that, Iris offered a Saint Blood Tree with both hands.
Ronan took the palm-sized leaf, which resembled a maple leaf or a ruby, and saw that on the surface of the leaf, some golden rays were constantly wriggling like worms.
His lips moved slightly, and he uttered a few awkward incantation syllables.
Before long, the golden worms slowly coalesced into two words—"Breakthrough."
Ronan's eyes flickered slightly. He casually put the leaf down, looked up at the oldest and thickest root of the Saint Blood Tree not far away, and silently pondered its unknown direction deep in the void.
"Breakthrough?
Has Bennigo's "Eternal Life Magic Coffin" project finally made a substantial breakthrough?
He didn't know, and couldn't contact Bennigo.
A year ago, thanks to the support of its many followers, the Saint Blood Tree suddenly entered its current "adolescent stage," gaining the ability to take root in the void.
On a day when Ronan was not in the Mist Space, Bennigo was inexplicably "sent" to another place by the Saint Blood Tree.
Or to be more precise...
He himself went to some unknown place through the Saint Blood Tree on his own initiative.
Before leaving, he took with him the ice coffin containing Fiona, all his research materials related to the "Eternal Life Magic Coffin," and left a note for Ronan, informing Ronan that he had finally found a glimmer of hope to realize the "Eternal Life Magic Coffin" project.
Ronan didn't know where Bennigo had gone, only that Bennigo was still alive, and perhaps doing quite well.
He could finally begin to formally undertake the work he had always wanted to do, and would occasionally send messages back through the Saint Blood Tree to "report that he was safe and sound" to Ronan.
However, the messages Bennigo sent back, after being translated through multiple dimensions and the Saint Blood Tree, could only express fragments each time. Just like now, the specific meaning could only be guessed and deduced by Ronan himself.
"Keep an eye on things for me."
Ronan instructed Iris, "If anything serious happens, remember to let me know immediately."
"Yes."
Iris nodded.
"There's one more thing, Master."
Iris took out a gold ring and began to report to Ronan in a low voice.
This was the Golden Linked Ring Ronan had asked him to help find clues about the secrets of a certain golden-eared Goblin Vault. After studying it for so long, Iris finally made some progress.
As Ronan listened to Iris's account, he spread his mental energy to locate Kosti and the others in the Mist Space.
In recent years, Kosti has been in good condition within the Mist Space, Ronan can sense that the wounds in her soul are gradually healing themselves.