Do You Have Only These Tricks?

Not long after Ronan stepped into the Secret Realm Space, a figure slowly appeared not far from the entrance.

With pale skin, thin lips, and slanted eyebrows, he exuded the powerful spiritual energy of a late-stage first-level wizard, yet he gave off a cold and ruthless feeling, like a venomous snake that had just crawled out of a dark and damp place.

It was the middle-aged wizard who had followed Ronan for several days.

At this moment, a layer of transparent, thick substance was constantly receding from his body. The parts of his body still covered by this substance had almost completely blended into the surrounding environment and were difficult to distinguish.

The middle-aged wizard stared in the direction where Ronan had disappeared, took out a Communication Stone that was faintly glowing with runes from his Storage Waist Pouch, and spoke.

"Travis's methods have been exposed; he must be furious."

"This kid has now taken on a trial mission... and he's already inside."

"Don't worry, I know what to do..."

The middle-aged wizard put away the Communication Stone, and the transparent substance flowing around his body enveloped him once again.

This is a special metallic medium unique to him, originating from an ancient secret realm. When combined with magic, even a level two wizard would find it difficult to detect his concealment without actively casting spells.

This is also his biggest advantage in daring to follow his target so openly and recklessly.

The middle-aged wizard blended back into his environment, and as he walked, even the light seemed to change almost imperceptibly.

He entered the Secret Realm Space and was greeted by a desolate Gobi desert landscape.

There are many similar secret realms beneath the Arcane Circle.

It has been almost completely explored, but it still has some value, so it was deliberately preserved for use by member wizards in their trials.

The middle-aged wizard could not see the target in sight, but he knew exactly where the target would appear.

Because what he needs to do next is to sabotage the other party's purpose and cause their mission to fail again.

The middle-aged wizard hurried along the Gobi Desert, at the end of which lay a dark, withered forest.

He walked into the withered forest, getting closer and closer to the final destination of his mission. Gradually, he heard the booming of spells and violent energy fluctuations coming from ahead. He could also vaguely hear the low growls and howls of magical beasts.

The middle-aged wizard quickened his pace and finally arrived at the mission location. A battle group came into view, and the target was clearly among them.

A handsome young man in Silver Magic Robe floated in mid-air. Exquisite light blue runes grew on his delicate, brocade-like cheeks and neck. Surging frost energy surrounded him, and rolling white frost radiated outwards from him.

He continuously summoned ice crystal-like magical spears, howling winds and snow, and huge ice spheres resembling spiraling ice vortices. Various ice spells flew out from his hands in different ways, turning the entire battlefield into a land of ice and snow.

Below, a strange magical beast resembling a giant Night Owl was so overwhelmed by the boy's barrage of spells that it could barely lift its head.

Its two black and red fleshy wings were covered with thick frost, making it unable to fly. Most of its body was covered in ice and snow. Occasionally, it would spit out a few magic orbs from its mouth and fly into the sky, but before it could get close to the boy's body, it was blocked by the frost-covered armor and thick metal [Protection]. This was a completely one-sided battle.

The middle-aged wizard watched this scene from the side, a hint of surprise in his eyes.

He had witnessed similar battles more than once during the days he had been following the boy. Although the boy was only a mid-level First Level Wizard, his strength was terrifying. He could deal with high-level first-tier magical beasts as easily as eating and drinking.

This is also the main reason why he has only been monitoring and tracking them these past few days, without launching a sneak attack.

Once the fight starts, even at level one and late game, he might not be a match for his opponent.

"No wonder he dared to provoke an adult; he can indeed be considered a minor genius."

"But so what if you're a genius?"

The middle-aged wizards didn't take it seriously. Before they fully matured, they had plenty of ways to slowly subdue their opponents.

Every step he takes from here on out will be meticulously planned.

Genius?

Bennigo was also a genius back then, his brilliance surpassing this guy's by ten times, but in the end he still ended up as a "useless person".

A cold light flashed in the middle-aged wizard's eyes as he began to wander along the edge of the field.

He looked around and soon spotted several plants with black, curved leaves and a tuft of fluffy, messy feathers at the top, resembling eagle feathers.

The middle-aged wizard's eyes brightened slightly, and he subconsciously glanced in the direction of the target boy, who was still focused on the battle, which was nearing its end.

What he had to do was simple: just steal or destroy the potions required for the quest as soon as the enemy finished their battle and was about to harvest them.

"Boom!"

A tremendous roar of magic filled the air, Night Owl Beast let out a mournful howl, its massive body swaying precariously as if it might collapse at any moment.

"That's about it, now's the time."

A glint flashed in the middle-aged wizard's eyes, and he instantly raised his hand to cast a low-level spell, throwing it straight at several potions.

The instant he cast the spell, he also quickly retreated, turning his head to look in the direction of the boy.

He could almost picture the other person's next series of actions—

Shock, anxiety, and rage. He rushed to the destroyed potion in a frenzy, and by the time he realized what had happened, he had already calmly retreated – what a magnificent scene that was!

The middle-aged wizard was thinking to himself, but the next second he was shocked to find that everything seemed to be completely opposite to what he had expected.

The boy fighting the monster didn't even glance at the direction of the destroyed potions.

Almost immediately after he cast the spell, the runes on the opponent's body suddenly shone brightly, as if they had been waiting for this moment to arrive.

A terrifying chill, more than ten times stronger than before, suddenly erupted in the arena, and an overwhelming sense of despair swept across the entire battlefield. The middle-aged wizard's retreating figure seemed to be frozen, becoming incredibly slow all at once.

At the same time, a cold voice whispered in his ear.

"Finally... I've found you!"

The next second.

"Boom!"

The sound of air collapsing and exploding filled the air, and an unprecedentedly intense sense of crisis gripped my heart.

The middle-aged wizard was greatly alarmed and hurriedly activated his magical tools to quickly erect an energy [Protection] barrier.

The transparent substance flowing around his body also coalesced, forming a thick, semi-transparent defensive layer in front of him. He unleashed several defensive measures in one go, and before the middle-aged wizard could even catch his breath, he felt as if he had been hit head-on by some terrifying object moving at high speed.

The outermost layer of energy [Protection] on the body collapsed almost instantly, like a bubble that had been squeezed to its limit and deformed.

Next came the second layer of defense. He watched helplessly as all the defensive measures he had set up exploded one after another, including the innermost semi-transparent metal shield, which was pierced through in less than half a second.

Finally, a hand with countless tiny white flames coiled around its edges rapidly enlarged before his eyes, gripping his throat and slamming down! "Boom boom boom—"

The middle-aged wizard clearly felt as if he were being used as a tool for plowing, with an overwhelming and terrifying force pressing down on him and constantly pushing him forward and down the hard mud.

Even with the metallic medium inside his body providing support and resistance, he felt as if he were about to die.

It felt as if every bone in his body had shattered into pieces, and waves of despair and pain washed over him. Finally, the force stopped.

The middle-aged wizard struggled to open his eyes, and through the blood and dust, he could barely make out the figure of the person gripping his neck tightly.

The boy he had been following for the past few days now seemed completely unfamiliar.

The other person's short, dark chestnut hair had turned completely white at some point, and his entire body was shrouded in a thin layer of shimmering light. The air around him was slightly distorted and collapsed, and dark blue runes grew eerily on his neck and cheeks. He exuded an unprecedentedly cold and powerful terrifying aura at all times.

He stared down at me intently, his deep blue eyes radiating a cold, sharp light that seemed to pierce through me.

"Is this all the tricks you have?"

Ronan looked coldly at the Slanting Eyebrow Wizard under his command, his tone calm yet icy.

He'd had enough of these cunning and deceitful guys.

He deliberately accepted the trial mission, never intending to complete it in the first place.

The potion the mission target possessed was quite valuable, but it was completely useless to him.

All he did was to lure the other party out, and he didn't even bother to get entangled with him. He directly activated [[Immaculate Body]] and forcefully suppressed him with the force of thunder! The middle-aged wizard, who was being used as a human plow and had his neck tightly gripped by him, was panting heavily like a fish that had just jumped ashore.

Ronan loosened his grip slightly, and then saw the other man slowly force a deeply mocking smile onto his face, saying in a low voice:

"Lord Lanny asked me to tell you that this is just the beginning."

Lanny?

Ronan's eyes widened in surprise.

Who is Lanny? He thought this guy was one of Travis's men. "Lanny is an old rival of mine... he lost to me a few times in direct combat."

In the Micro Secret Realm Space, Bennigo, wearing a leather apron and leather gloves, was dissecting a bloody monster corpse on the autopsy table while casually answering Ronan's questions.

Ronan stood to the side, watching Bennigo busy himself, a serious expression on his face.

"So they've teamed up? Travis and Lanny, both Third Ring?!"

"No."

Bennigo shook his head, subtly correcting Ronan's words. "Lanny should have already advanced to the Fourth Ring by now."

Ronan's face immediately turned ugly.

How many enemies do you actually have?

"It's not as much as you think."

Bennigo put down his scalpel, took off his leather gloves, and lit his pipe, his body covered in blood.

"Besides Lanny, there are a few other Third Ring. But Lanny is probably the most powerful and skilled."

Ronan took a deep breath to calm himself down.

He walked over to the alchemical jar that was emitting steam. Through the translucent jar, he could see that it was filled with a dark red, turbid, boiling liquid.

This is the Saint Blood Tree culture solution, made by mixing the blood of various magical beasts and animals with a lot of random Magic Potion Material, according to a formula researched by Bennigo himself.

The seed of the Saint Blood Tree is now soaking in it, being boiled 24 hours a day.

"With those people from the Third Ring and Fourth Ring working together, I have no chance of completing a mission normally in the Arcane Circle."

They always find a way to make my mission 'fail'.

Ronan watched the crimson bubbles rising from the alchemy jar and sensed that the Saint Blood Tree seed inside seemed to have more vitality than before, which eased his mind somewhat.

It has to be said, Bennigo does have some talent.

"It doesn't matter, at worst we can just temporarily give up the Arcane Circle as a resource channel."

Bennigo, pipe in hand, poured the freshly placed monster blood into the alchemy jar, then walked to the rune table and began inscribing a magic circle.

"I know of a few secret locations that might contain the materials we need. I'll write them down for you later."

"It's not a matter of resources."

Ronan frowned slightly, his eyes cold as he said in a low voice, "Their real goal is not as simple as just restricting my development..."

Official members of the Arcane Circle must complete at least one task each month. If they fail to complete it more than three times, they will be punished and their core status will be reduced to ordinary.

If this continues after the initial period, the individual may be completely stripped of their status as a formal member of the Arcane Circle.

Once Ronan is no longer a formal member of the Ring, the Ring's rule against internal killings will no longer apply to him. At that point, Travis Lanny and others can freely attack him and take his life.

Ronan had calculated that in the worst-case scenario—as little as six months—he could face such an end.

'They will use other methods to break you, crush you, and tame you...'

Ronan now truly understands the meaning of that sentence.

Several genius wizards at the Third Ring and Fourth Ring working together could, while not necessarily dominate the Seventh Magic Ring, easily manipulate him within the rules, especially since he was only at the first ring.

"Isn't anyone in the Arcane Circle doing anything about these blatant underhanded tactics? Would it be useful to report this to higher authorities?"

Ronan felt a deep sense of frustration at being unable to use his strength, and couldn't help but look at Bennigo.

"Any fight within the rules is permitted."

Bennigo held the Rune Inscription and spoke to Ronan without the slightest pause in his movements.

"The higher-ups at the Arcane Circle won't care about such trivial matters."

In their view, true geniuses are not bound or influenced by any intrigue or underhanded tactics.

"Then tell me, how do we break this current situation?"

Ronan frowned and asked.

Bennigo stopped what he was doing, turned to look at him, and said something calmly and naturally.

"It's very simple."

Within six months, if you take the initiative to challenge Travis or Lanny, a lower-level player challenging a higher-level player, they will be unable to refuse.

Once we defeat them, all problems will naturally be solved.