As the concentration of the Ancient Frost Hydra Bloodline reached six percent, Ronan's talent in ice magic had reached a monstrous level.
He didn't even need to do much; simply raising his hand, his mental power surged forth, and in this pitch-black wilderness, a multitude of stray ice energy particles flocked to him like worshippers, forming dense pillars of frost that roared like blue giant pythons, meeting the fireballs that fell like meteors.
The difference between a wizard and a magical beast is that a wizard casts spells as a skill, while a magical beast casts spells as an instinct.
Now, Ronan's mastery of the mist-level ice spells was approaching the height of "instinct."
"Boom!"
The frost pillars collided violently with the fireballs descending from the sky, two extreme energies clashing. The deep blue light in Ronan's eyes flickered, appearing mysterious and enchanting in the night.
As the Wizard Robe billowed, his white hair lifted, and a terrifying icy power surged up layer by layer. The flames and frost held their ground several dozen meters above the ground, splattering brilliant streams of crimson and deep blue.
After a dozen breaths, all the flames in the sky extinguished, leaving only swirling frost.
The campfire at his feet had also gone out, and the perfectly roasted rabbit meat had long since frozen into a hard lump of ice.
"Bang—"
A massive ice lump over ten meters in diameter fell heavily to the ground, creating a shallow pit.
Ronan stepped forward, parting the swirling white mist, and peered through the ice layer, only to discover a beautifully crafted red feminine staff inside.
It was about the thickness of a finger, resembling an umbrella handle, with a bright color and adorned with many light red crystals and golden metal strips, looking elegant yet substantial.
Unfortunately, there were obvious signs of a break in the middle of the staff, and the cross-section revealed various hidden runic patterns.
"Red Lotus Staff?!"
Ronan recognized the staff's design and was taken aback.
He hadn't expected that the fireball falling from the sky concealed Ashen Witch Moriel's Red Lotus Staff!
Ronan had clashed with Moriel once and had a deep impression of her staff's design; Moriel was almost never seen without the Red Lotus Staff, which was a significant symbol of her identity.
"Even her beloved staff has been broken; Moriel's situation must be dire."
Moriel was of noble status, and she even had a level five Dawn Wizard by her side. He hadn't expected her to be pursued to such an extent.
Ronan couldn't help but feel a bit emotional, and then his mind became slightly alert.
With the Red Lotus Staff here, Moriel might be nearby. He wasn't afraid of Moriel; he was worried about her attracting pursuers and running into trouble himself.
"But why did the Red Lotus Staff end up with me?"
Ronan thought for a moment, speculating that this half-broken Red Lotus Staff might be a distress signal released by Moriel, which just happened to fall in front of him.
Breaking through the ice layer, Ronan retrieved the Red Lotus Staff.
This Magical Artifact was made of extraordinary materials and was of high grade. He didn't know how it was forged, but even in its broken and damaged state, it had escaped the frost's suppression, and the firepower contained within was beginning to resurface.
Holding it in his hand, Ronan could clearly sense a strong pulling force; the Red Lotus Staff seemed to want to guide him in a certain direction.
"Indeed, it was thrown out as a call for help."
His speculation was confirmed, but Ronan had no intention of following it.
Not to mention that he had a grudge with Moriel; during the Mechanical Heart incident, she had almost "killed" him. Even if there were no animosities between them, the pursuers after Moriel were not something he could handle.
He was still on the run himself.
"Only your bad luck; the staff just happened to fall in front of me."
"No. Without knowing the details, it would be truly foolish to pick up this staff and rush to save someone."
Ronan initially planned to ignore it, but considering his past with Moriel, he thought for a moment and summoned Ithium while holding the staff.
"This staff seems to contain some metal; I wonder if Ithium can devour it."
The black Ithium enveloped Ronan's right hand, quickly wrapping around the entire Red Lotus Staff.
Accompanied by a series of fine and subtle chewing sounds, Ronan's eyes brightened.
"It really can become Ithium's food..."
However, perhaps due to the complex and precious materials of the Red Lotus Staff, Ithium was devouring the metal components very slowly.
As it was being "eaten," the Red Lotus Staff emitted waves of "sorrowful wails," shaking violently, but Ronan held it down firmly with one hand, unable to escape.
While Ithium was consuming it, Ronan also infused his mental power into the Red Lotus Staff, recording the runes inscribed within.
The runes that made up the Red Lotus Staff were numerous, complex, and advanced, showcasing its extraordinary quality. Ronan diligently recorded them all for future study.
Due to the falling Red Lotus Staff, Ronan no longer lingered in place. Taking advantage of the starlight, he headed in the opposite direction from where the staff had come.
Three days later, under the daylight, a figure stood in the wilderness, eyes tightly closed, as if deep in thought.
Suddenly, a mass of gray mist emanated from around the figure, enveloping it completely, blocking out the sunlight, and instantly giving the person a chilling and sinister aura.
"Swish—"
Ronan suddenly opened his eyes, picked up a square, peculiar cowbell in his hand, and gently shook it. Strangely, no sound emerged, but the surrounding gray mist was completely absorbed by the cowbell.
"Whoosh—"
Ronan exhaled a breath of turbid air, quietly reflecting on the gains of the past few days.
He had thoroughly studied the peculiar cowbell obtained from Mafulin. This cowbell was a rather high-level necromantic Magical Artifact, containing a space for wraiths, specifically designed to nurture wraiths.
Ronan did not find the complete inheritance of "Bones' Death Knell" within, but he did discover a powerful necromantic spell inheritance called—[Phantom Arrow]! This spell was of high grade, requiring a level four wizard to learn.
[Phantom Arrow] was similar to some necromantic spells Ronan had encountered before, requiring the cultivation of wraith servants before casting. However, the principle of [Phantom Arrow] was very advanced; it transformed wraiths into entities akin to "soul arrows" to directly attack the opponent's soul.
The discovery of this spell delighted Ronan.
In the battle for supremacy against Ancient Spirit Witch Evaque, Ronan realized his extreme lack of soul defense and offensive methods, which was undoubtedly a fatal weakness. His victory against Evaque had been quite fortunate.
The emergence of [Phantom Arrow] significantly filled this gap for Ronan.
At least in the future, when facing similar opponents, he wouldn't just be standing there "passively taking hits."
"No wonder Mafulin couldn't cast this spell; it turns out he hadn't mastered it himself. It seems the inheritance of 'Bones' Death Knell' hasn't been learned by anyone for many generations. Otherwise, its infamous reputation in the south would be ten times worse than it is now!"
Although he couldn't learn it at this stage, he could start some preparatory work.
The most crucial point in learning [Phantom Arrow] was the need for a wraith, and Ronan just happened to have a suitable one on hand.
Gently shaking the cowbell, a strange spell fluctuation arose, and a dense, nearly black gray smoke poured out from the cowbell. Following that, a figure appeared before Ronan.
It was a short-haired boy with a pale face and blood-red eyes.
He wore a tattered, almost decayed Wizard Robe, and in the sunlight, apart from the swirling gray mist around him, he looked almost indistinguishable from a normal person.
However, his entire being was grayish-white, like a character meticulously drawn in a comic but missing the final coloring step.
An extremely intense sense of resentment emanated from the gray-white boy, causing the surrounding temperature to plummet rapidly, almost forming clusters of ice flowers.
This boy wraith was the same one that had been nurtured in the cowbell space after being killed by Mafulin, a fellow disciple. His original resentment was already heavy, and after being cultivated and refined by Mafulin's various secret methods, he had become an extremely powerful wraith servant.
Perhaps Mafulin had also intended to use him as the "arrow embryo" for [Phantom Arrow].
Later, when Mafulin was defeated by Ronan, he was directly backstabbed by his own wraiths during his defeat.
Ronan was unsure how many wraiths had originally been nurtured in the cowbell space; he only knew that now there was only this one wraith left.
All the other wraiths had been devoured by this boy wraith.
Now, he could truly be considered a premium "arrow embryo"! Any necromantic wizards who saw him would likely be envious and mad.
"Come back."
Ronan shook the cowbell, and the gray-white boy wraith transformed back into a mass of gray smoke, returning to the cowbell space.
He performed some simple "recognition" operations on the gray-white boy wraith according to his knowledge of necromantic spells, but the main means of controlling it still relied on the cowbell Magical Artifact of "Bones' Death Knell."
For now, it seemed he had completely subdued it.
But nothing in this world is foolproof; Mafulin was the best cautionary tale.
"Practicing necromantic spells inevitably comes with risks.
To avoid backlash, one must strengthen oneself."
Ronan was very clear about this point. He had his own confidence; his mental will was at least ten times greater than Mafulin's, and for the time being, he didn't need to worry about a wraith backlash.
During the "taming" process of this wraith, Ronan also obtained some information about the gray-white boy wraith.
This boy wraith was named Ahashia, born into a noble family in the secular kingdom, which was similar to Ronan. However, he had excellent wizarding talent and had been discovered and taken as a disciple by the previous generation of "Bones' Death Knell." Everything had gone smoothly for him, and he even had great hopes of inheriting the legacy of "Bones' Death Knell."
Unfortunately, after being killed by Mafulin, he was brutally murdered, which explained his intense resentment.
Ronan toyed with the cowbell in his hand, flipping it over to take out a strangely shaped, ancient bone spur.
This bone spur came from the "wraith mask" of Andariel and was also one of the spoils he had obtained during the talent competition.
Ronan had already studied it; this bone spur was also a soul attack-type Magical Artifact. He had personally experienced its considerable power, which was vicious and insidious, making it nearly impossible to defend against.
The only drawback was that the spell light released by this bone spur could not automatically lock onto the target; it had to be manually controlled by the caster.
But thinking back to the danger he faced when attacked by this bone spur, there were likely very few wizards within the mist level who could evade such an attack.
After all, how many wizards could refine their physical bodies to such an extreme level like Ronan? During these three days, Ronan had mostly been organizing his gains. Besides the external rewards, he had also made significant improvements in his own strength.
The proficiency of his various backup spells had increased considerably, but the most significant improvement was in [Ascetic Body Forging], where his mastery level was nearing fourteen hundred points.
After the blood battle with Herams, Ronan was able to "glimpse" the "Taboo Domain" above the extraordinary law domain, which confirmed to him that there must be higher realms beyond the master level of proficiency.
Once [Ascetic Body Forging] reached the master level, the derived [Immaculate Body] had always been Ronan's most significant and crucial trump card.
He was genuinely looking forward to what form [Immaculate Body] would take once the mastery level of [Ascetic Body Forging] was perfected.
Moreover, the [Ancient Power] rune born from [Immaculate Body] would likely undergo even stronger changes.
At this moment, within Ronan's consciousness space, the sixth Mental Power Crystal was nearing completion, and the "benefits" brought by the surge in soul power had not fully dissipated. It was likely that for a long time to come, Ronan's mental power would maintain this rapid growth state.
"The Mist Forbidden Zone. The tenth Mental Power Crystal."
What Ronan was considering now was this point.
He had seen greater possibilities beyond the limits of the mist level in Serena, and if possible, he naturally wanted to strive in that direction.
After all, the mist was the foundational stage; how to strengthen his foundation was not excessive. One day, he would look back and be grateful for every effort made now.
Serena had not revealed how to step into the mist forbidden zone and condense the tenth Mental Power Crystal; perhaps this was a closely guarded secret in the central wizarding world.
Ronan could only see if he would have the opportunity to access this secret in the future.
In addition, during these three days, he had also completed the last unfinished part of the Soul Rune [Schbiert's Golden Edict] condensed within the fifth Mental Power Crystal.
If all goes well, the metal-type spell inheritance of [Ling Mo Ye's Golden Fire] would be the main focus of Ronan's next training.
As Ronan was thinking, suddenly, the Ithium metal attached beneath his Wizard Robe began to stir.