Two-Ring Wizard

"Second Ring, difficult, difficult, difficult..."

Inside the meditation chamber, Robert Kava wore a solemn expression as he slowly unfurled a scroll of parchment.

Using a vintage quill dipped in red ink, he began drawing rune patterns across the parchment.

Before long, a Zero-Ring basic Mental Rune leaped onto the page, followed by a second, a third...

The runes continuously shifted and transformed. Ten Zero-Ring Mental Runes linked together to form a First-Ring Mental Rune.

"Rustle..."

Robert Kava did not have time to rest even for a moment.

He unfurled a second scroll of parchment and drew a second First-Ring rune.

In the end, the ten parchment sheets bearing runes curled into the air and spontaneously combusted without wind.

The ashes scattered like black snow, while the red-ink rune lines fell to the ground and pieced themselves together into a Second-Ring Mental Rune, complex and cumbersome to the extreme.

"That's right, it's genuine. This is the Giant Spirit Meditation Method's Two-Ring Mental Power Source Rune."

Robert Kava was overjoyed. At last, he had completed the final link of the Meditation Method.

Ten First-Ring Mental Runes connected head to tail without a single joint. Only when their positions and orientations were precise down to the slightest fraction could they form an interconnected energy circuit and merge into a Two-Ring Mental Power Source Rune.

Runes were divided into two types: Source Runes and Derivative Runes.

For Sorcery Runes, so long as multiple basic runes existed and their energy circuits were incompatible, a new energy circuit could only be constructed to link them together. Runes with two or more energy circuits were called Derivative Runes.

Conversely, runes with only a single energy circuit were called Source Runes, True Runes.

Mental Runes and True Name Runes were the most unusual. Though clearly pieced together from countless basic runes, they needed only one energy circuit to connect them.

"This is a Second-Ring Source Rune. Its energy circuit structure is exquisitely designed. Every Mental Rune underwent varying degrees of deformation in order to merge, yet miraculously, their functions were unaffected."

"The Nameless Inscription Rune could actually open such a wondrous land? A complete Meditation Method capable of breaking through to the Second Ring was simply laid out in the open, there for the taking?"

Robert Kava swallowed.

With the experience of many years, he knew full well that there was no such thing as a free lunch under heaven.

The more benefits one received for free in the early stages, the greater the price one would have to pay later. Anyone willing to cast a heavy bait to make a nest definitely wanted to hook a big fish.

But he could not afford to worry about so much now. He had jumped into the pit anyway! If he did not break through and become a Two-Ring Wizard, his lifespan would reach its end!

"..."

The next day, Robert Kava walked out of the meditation chamber.

The entire Underground City felt the spiritual pressure belonging to a Two-Ring Wizard.

Like a mountain, like a towering peak—majestic and heavy. The image of a mountain floating in midair, upheld by clouds, imprinted itself upon everyone's minds and could not be dispelled.

With a thud.

Countless ordinary craftsmen in the Underground City fell to their knees, worshipping in Robert Kava's direction.

After a brief period of confusion, their gazes became incomparably devout. Spiritual contamination would cause the image of Colossus Peak to appear in their dreams for months to come.

"A Two-Ring Wizard! Chairman Robert has broken through!"

"Though scholars do not make their living through strength, having a Two-Ring Wizard in residence is ultimately a good thing." Within the scholars' Ember Building, several of Robert Kava's students smiled with delight.

"The Flame-Burners Association has gained another Two-Ring Wizard. Breaking through before his lifespan ran out is cause for celebration!" On the highest floor of the Flameburner Building, an old man gathered light to ignite a candle. Though he spoke words of congratulations, his face remained calm, neither joyful nor sorrowful.

"The knowledge accumulated in a scholar's mind over centuries is itself a priceless treasure. You finally broke through to become a Two-Ring Wizard; gifting you the Primordial Inscription was not in vain." A gray-robed wizard revealed a meaningful smile in Robert Kava's direction.

First-Ring and Two-Ring Wizards from the Flame-Burners Association all went to offer congratulations.

No Wizard Apprentice dared join in the excitement.

Robert Kava had only just broken through to the Second Ring and could not yet restrain his aura. The closer one got, the stronger the contamination would be.

Warlocks emitted biological radiation, bringing bodily distortions and mutations. Wizards, on the other hand, warped the mind. Contaminated Wizard Apprentices would be unable to enter meditation.

"..."

"He broke through! Robert Kava was serious?"

The spiritual pressure of a Two-Ring Wizard surged in like the tide. Yin Ming, who had been watering and fertilizing plants, trembled, spilling fertilizer mixed with Magic Beast blood.

A Crimsonblood Vine's countless blood-red roots writhed as they plunged into the fertilizer, crazily absorbing nutrients.

The vine swelled at a speed visible to the naked eye, then swiftly turned yellow, withered, and decayed. Seven or eight vine leaves drifted down, leaving behind only a section of shriveled vine, yellow and limp like a wilted eggplant.

"You dared snatch undiluted strong stuff? You had a proper death wish."

Robert Kava's breakthrough into the Second Ring had driven Yin Ming's curiosity about the Inscription Runes beyond all restraint.

Expressionless, he pulled out the dead Crimsonblood Vine, diluted the fertilizer in different proportions for the other Crimsonblood Vines, and returned to the meditation chamber without recording the Magic Plants' growth data.

"In the month before entering seclusion, Robert Kava used up two Wizard Apprentices and one living First-Ring Extraordinary Magic Beast. He was clearly researching Inscription Runes."

"He suddenly broke through to become a Two-Ring Wizard. If you said it had nothing to do with the Inscription Runes, not even a fool would believe you."

To analyze an unknown rune, one first needed abundant knowledge: find runes with similar ritual structures, then make a reasonable analysis of the unknown rune according to the functions of runes with the same ritual structure.

Second, use active Magic Beast blood to draw the rune. Spiritual power and magic power would only need to activate it, which was equivalent to adding another layer of insurance.

Then came the most important point: let other wizards step on the landmine first, then decide whether to continue the experiment based on the survival rate.

"Robert Kava has done every experiment that should be done! And he personally stepped in himself, so its safety is guaranteed to some extent."

Yin Ming took out an Element Crystal and held it in his hand to restore his magic power, while his spiritual power began drawing the Inscription Runes.

Every stroke felt as though he were walking through mercury, just as strenuous as drawing Mental Runes.

The eighteen Sorcery Runes of the ritual structure alone required seven or eight points of spiritual power and magic power merely to construct the rune ritual's energy circuit.

"Crack... Failed!"

His spiritual power was rapidly depleted, and his consciousness blurred for an instant.

The rune he had drawn less than halfway instantly shattered. Besides the necessary consumption of spiritual power, his spiritual power limit also dropped by 0.1 points. Spiritual power not permanently fixed by Mental Runes meant there was room for it to decline.

His former cultivation as a Corpse-Liberation Immortal had given him extremely precise control over spiritual power, making rune-drawing as natural as turning his hand. This was the first time he had failed to draw a rune.

"Again. No matter how complex it is, it's still only an apprentice-level rune."

Yin Ming was slightly stunned. He took out the gourd and sent his brain into a high-frequency state.

His spiritual power instantly spread like ink staining raw rice paper, successfully drawing the Nameless Inscription Rune.

As magic power flowed into it, the Nameless Inscription Rune suddenly vanished into thin air, and then... nothing happened.

"Damn..."

Suddenly.

Yin Ming discovered that the vanished rune had appeared between his brows, emitting a faint, ghostly blue glow.

Under the rune's effect, his consciousness sank into chaos.

Thanks to reader 161 followed by a string of numbers for the 100 Qidian Coins reward!!!