If the power of the holy altar is the key material that has been lacking in the subsequent cultivation of Ascetic Body Forging, then the answer has actually been in Ronan's hands all along, only completely overlooked by him?
Of course, to verify this, he needs to find an unopened holy altar and obtain the power stored within it.
At this moment, Ronan felt as if some fog had been lifted before his eyes, and the path of cultivation for Ascetic Body Forging became bright again.
"Once this matter is settled, I will begin searching..."
Ronan had a residue of holy altar stone in his possession. According to the secret techniques recorded in Old Wells' notes, he could locate the ancient holy altar hidden in the vast continent, though it would require some extra time.
During his conversation with Evaque, he was unaware that the black liquid flowing from the faceless stone man had already filled the entire small basin, resembling a return to the original swamp. However, this time, the "mud" filling the swamp appeared purer, exuding a mysterious richness.
As the liquid filled the swamp, it was about to completely submerge both of them. Evaque paused their discussion, looked up at the hazy round moon in the sky, and then met Ronan's gaze.
"At the end of the Soul Lake, it is also the way home."
After Evaque spoke, he completely submerged himself in the black water.
At the same time, Ronan let the black liquid slowly engulf his nostrils and eyes. When he was entirely submerged, the cold, slippery black liquid began to actively seep into his body through his seven orifices and every pore.
In that moment, Ronan felt like a mold, every inch of his flesh and blood, every cell, was being continuously infused.
This process was indescribably wonderful, and surprisingly, there was no discomfort; he could still breathe freely.
When this "mold" was completely filled, the mysterious black liquid that had filled his body seemed to vanish entirely.
For some reason, Ronan felt a choking sensation. Before he could instinctively cough, his mind jolted, and he suddenly found himself in another "world."
Blackness, nothingness.
He felt like a floating reed drifting in the air, surrounded by vast darkness.
At that moment, someone suddenly grasped his hand in the darkness.
Ronan turned sharply to see Evaque, radiating a faint white light, appearing beside him.
"More successful than I imagined."
Evaque looked unexpectedly pleased and satisfied, "I was prepared for several failures."
"This is the legendary Hall of Spirits?"
Ronan's gaze scanned the surroundings with curiosity. Just as Evaque had told him before, most spells could not be cast in this space; he felt no presence of wandering energy particles.
Moreover, his current state was quite peculiar; he was glowing, just like Evaque.
"We're not at the Hall of Spirits yet. This is the Spirit Space. Don't let go, or you will get lost."
Evaque tightened his grip on Ronan's right hand and began to pull him quickly through this dark, void-like place.
"This is a strange space created by countless Ancient Spirit Witches. Theoretically, only soul bodies can reside here for long periods. We have used the power of the spirit sacrifice to enter in our true forms, but we won't be able to stay long... We need to hurry."
Evaque pursed his lips, his expression serious, as he led Ronan swiftly forward.
In the dark space, the two became the only sources of light, although the faint white glow emanating from Ronan was much weaker than Evaque's.
Sensing his curiosity, Evaque explained, "This is the Light of the Soul, which directly reflects the quality of a wizard's soul aptitude."
Alright then.
Ronan didn't know what to say.
After resolving the obsessions of his past on the East Coast, he believed his soul aptitude had improved significantly.
Now he realized that compared to a top-tier wizard genius like Evaque, there was still quite a gap.
In this dark, void-like space, mental power seemed to lose its usual effectiveness, but Evaque appeared to possess a special guiding method.
It was unclear how long they had been "floating" when Evaque suddenly accelerated, and Ronan felt his body drop down, as if his feet were stepping onto solid ground.
"We're here."
Ronan heard Evaque say softly.
Immediately, "whoosh—" flames suddenly erupted on both sides ahead.
The light illuminated the surroundings, and Ronan could see that they were standing on a small platform, with two thick black stone pillars burning with fire at their tops. Looking further ahead, there was a winding staircase that extended upward.
The burning black stone pillars seemed to form the shape of a grand door, with the ground beneath them cracked and weathered. Both the pillars and the staircase behind them were filled with ancient traces worn by time.
Evaque's expression had become solemn and respectful without him realizing it. He stepped forward, and Ronan followed closely behind, passing through the doorway formed by the black stone pillars and stepping onto the stone staircase.
The ancient staircase floated above the dark void, and as they ascended, the surroundings were eerily silent; apart from their footsteps and breathing, there was no other sound.
Evaque showed no intention of conversing, and Ronan silently followed, gradually feeling a sense of solemnity.
They maintained their upward trend, and after stepping onto a certain level of the staircase, Evaque suddenly stopped. Just as Ronan was surprised, he saw flames igniting in clusters on both sides, the sudden light illuminating everything around them.
Ronan then realized they were standing at the edge of a massive sacrificial plaza, so vast that he could hardly see its boundaries. The black stone pillars, similar to those at the starting point, surrounded the entire plaza, and within it stood countless black stone statues! These statues resembled the faceless stone man that had guided them into the Spirit Space, depicting nearly every imaginable form: humans, elves, barbarians, dwarves... beasts, birds, and even plants. Ronan saw many lost races he had only read about in ancient texts.
Each statue stood over three meters tall, exuding an air of ancient history, densely packed and countless in number. Some were well-preserved, while others were covered in cracks, and some had even collapsed and decayed, leaving only parts of their bases visible.
As Ronan gazed at this incredibly grand plaza of statues, he felt an overwhelming sense of shock rising within him.
"This is..."
"The lowest level of the resting place of the spirits."
Evaque walked into the plaza, gently placing his hand on one of the statues, his eyes filled with solemnity and reverence.
"Each of these soul statues represents a Spirit Wizard who was at least Dawn Tier in life. They once thrived here, but after the spirits were exiled, they all fell into a long slumber, some even completely vanished during their slumber."
Every statue symbolizes an ancient Spirit Wizard of at least level four Dawn Tier?!
Evaque's explanation struck Ronan like a thunderbolt. He found it hard to believe as he looked at the plaza filled with statues; the countless statues made it almost unimaginable how glorious the Ancient Spirit Wizard faction had once been! No wonder the peak development of the Spirit Wizards could cause such great upheaval in the entire wizarding world.
According to Evaque, what they were seeing now was only the first layer of the Hall of Spirits; there were likely many more places like this.
Ronan took a deep breath, trying to calm his tumultuous emotions.
"Under normal circumstances, our journey would end here. For a novice Spirit Wizard like me, this would be the place to receive my inheritance.
But now..."
Evaque shook his head, not sure if he was relieved or lamenting, and said, "Let's go."
He led Ronan to continue forward.
As they passed through the plaza of statues, Ronan saw countless collapsed and decayed statues. He estimated that the relatively well-preserved statues might account for less than one percent of the total number of statues in the plaza.
These were just the "dead" Spirit Wizards, not counting those who were "dying."
The Ancient Spirit Wizard faction had truly fallen. At the end of the plaza, there was another black staircase leading to the upper levels, and the two continued onward.
After a while, they arrived at another sacrificial plaza filled with statues, similar to the previous one.
The higher they went, the larger the black statues in the plaza became, their aura more ancient, and of course, their numbers dwindled.
Ronan guessed this was likely linked to the strength and status of the Spirit Wizards represented by the statues.
The statues on the higher plazas represented Spirit Wizards with greater strength in life, and their status in the Hall of Spirits was more esteemed.
The origin of the Spirit Wizards was not ancient; they were called "Ancient Spirit Wizards" because the faction reached its peak during ancient times. As for their origin, Ronan was unclear.
Ronan continued to follow Evaque, silently counting the number of statue plazas they passed.
When they arrived at a new plaza, and his internal count reached "five," he heard Evaque softly say, "We've arrived, Damien."
Ronan's spirit jolted, and he raised his gaze to scan the plaza illuminated by clusters of roaring flames.
He saw that in this sacrificial plaza, the number of black statues had dwindled to twenty-four.
Yet each statue stood over a hundred meters tall, like silent giants, standing in various corners of the plaza, their forms obscuring the flames and casting infinite shadows behind them.
"Whoosh—"
Ronan exhaled a long breath, feeling immense pressure in the presence of these once ancient and powerful beings, even if they were merely their "remains."
"These are the twenty-four Wizard Chiefs of the Hall of Spirits, ranked just below the Hall Master. Each of them was once revered and worshipped by countless wizards."
Evaque explained to Ronan, kneeling in place, bowing to each of the giant statues with the highest respect of the Spirit Wizards.
Although Ronan was not one of the Spirit Wizards, he felt honored to be here and see these ancestors of the wizarding world, and he too held them in respect.
He counted the twenty-four Wizard Chief statues before him and found that sixteen of them had already shown signs of decay and collapse, making it impossible to discern their complete forms. Among the remaining eight, each bore some cracks, and one statue clad in a wizard robe, its features indistinct, maintained a strange hand gesture, almost entirely covered in cracks, giving the impression that it would completely collapse at any moment.
"What level of Spirit Wizard are the Wizard Chiefs?"
Based on the strength of the Spirit Wizards in the first layer of the statue plaza, if the first layer was level four and the second layer was level five, then the five Wizard Chiefs should be... level eight?! Ronan was unsure, but his expression grew increasingly complex.
Even as powerful as the Wizard Chiefs were, they ultimately could not escape the control of fate and the erosion of time?
He couldn't help but think of the Alchemists, the group that walked the world under the name "Schbiert," wondering how many of the "Schbiert" who dreamed of building an ideal realm still remained.
Ronan's gaze swept across the Wizard Chief statues, and suddenly, it paused on one of the statues.
"That is..."
Ronan's lips moved, looking at a statue, softly uttering a word: "Dragon?"
From any angle, the statue before him perfectly matched Ronan's stereotype of a "dragon"—a massive and elongated body, covered in black scales, sharp dragon horns curving upward from the forehead, enormous bat-like wings, and a long tail ending in barbs like a war hammer, exuding authority, mystery, and coldness, as if it controlled everything and was invincible! Among the remaining eight statues, this dragon-like statue was the largest and the most intact.
Ronan gazed up at it, and Evaque slowly walked to his side, looking up and saying, "Yes.
The Dragon Wizard Chief Bahavus was a true pureblood giant dragon in life.
After joining the Hall of Spirits, he became one of the three grandmasters overseeing the soul transformation system."
Evaque looked at Ronan and softly said, "Like you, I was captivated by its power and beauty at first sight when I first came here, and I chose him without hesitation.
Unfortunately..."
Evaque shook his head, "The Dragon Wizard Chief Bahavus has the highest and most stringent requirements for inheritors among the twenty-four Wizard Chiefs.
I even feel that a proud being like him, even in his self-imposed slumber, would not be willing to leave his legacy to any being outside of the dragon lineage."
Listening to Evaque's account, Ronan's eyes flickered slightly.
Whether in the secular world or the wizarding realm, dragons were always powerful beings that existed only in legends.
There were countless legends about dragons, to the point of being innumerable, and Ronan had heard and read too many stories about dragons.
Now, a true giant dragon stood before him, and even he found it hard to remain completely calm.
"Perhaps you could give it a try."
Evaque suddenly spoke, "If you can obtain the legacy of the Dragon Wizard Chief Bahavus, I believe the issues with your soul will surely be resolved."
Ronan turned to Evaque in surprise, "I'm not a Spirit Wizard... and I don't intend to become one."
"Before fate provides the final answer, most people do not know what they truly want."
Evaque looked into his eyes and answered calmly.
Ronan frowned.
He looked at Evaque, who seemed to be extending an olive branch and trying to draw him in, and then at the enormous dragon-shaped statue that was so close.
His eyes flickered, weighing the situation for a moment before saying, "Alright, what should I do?"
(End of Chapter)