Of course, there are many reasons for the power of the "Golden Touch of Ling Mo Ye."
With two purifications of mental power and seven Mental Power Crystals, Ronan's mental strength is more than twenty times that of an ordinary wizard of the same level.
After Ithium devoured all the rare metals from the Crimson Lotus Staff, its quality significantly improved, surpassing the typical third-tier materials.
Whether it has reached the fourth tier, Ronan is unsure, as he has never dealt with alchemical materials above the fourth tier.
Currently, the Crimson Lotus Staff is left with only two bare sticks, and the material seems to be some kind of wood; what Ithium devoured appears to be merely a layer of metallic decoration on the surface.
"Mental power, spell inheritance, and casting equipment—these are the main factors that form a wizard's ultimate combat power."
At this moment, Ronan couldn't help but feel a sense of inexplicable emotion.
In the same level of status, the main gap between ordinary wizards and prodigy-level wizards lies in these aspects. Unknowingly, he has already stepped out of the realm of ordinary wizards and completely entered the ranks of prodigies.
A cold and stern man, with unfamiliar black patterns and wearing bizarre spiked armor, stared blankly at the handsome young man before him, who effortlessly annihilated a level three voodoo wizard with a mere gesture. The impact and shock were so great that he felt momentarily dazed.
Suddenly, he saw the young man casually turn around, directing his gaze toward him, and then slowly raised a hand, gently pointing in his direction.
In an instant, an endless stream of mysterious energy surged from the young man's fingertip, gathering countless stray energy particles from the surrounding world.
In that moment, the cold man felt a tingling sensation on his scalp, as if his heart was being tightly gripped by something.
He was horrified and instinctively wanted to dodge, but before he could make any move, a deep blue beam, resembling an angry dragon, shot past him with a "whoosh."
It felt as if he had been pierced by the aurora of the northern sky, and a chilling wave that nearly froze his blood swept over him.
The cold man watched in disbelief as a dazzling deep blue rapidly extended from the feet of the handsome young man, passing through his position and rushing toward the direction behind him. When he slowly turned his stiff face, he soon found it hard to believe that the level three voodoo wizard, who had been battling him fiercely, had now turned into a humanoid ice block standing behind him, disintegrating into flakes of ice and snow scattered by the wind.
Under the ice block and the handsome young man's feet, nearly ten miles of sea surface was completely covered by a thick layer of ice, with countless snowflakes drifting, resembling a void ice "passage" that had formed out of thin air!
"Ugh!"
The cold man shivered violently. At this moment, a Spell airship in the distance turned and flew away, and the handsome young man seemed to have no intention of pursuing; after a simple glance, he turned and left.
The cold man watched the figure of the young man disappear into the ship's body, his mind still struggling to comprehend what had just happened.
All along, he had regarded this young wizard, whom he encountered on the ship, as an ordinary level one wizard. He never expected that the other party was a terrifying existence capable of easily erasing a level three wizard.
From their previous interactions, he learned that they had "escaped" onto the ship because they were being hunted. If that were true, how powerful could their pursuers be?
Dawn Wizard?
What kind of profound background do this "eloping" wizard couple hide?!
The cold man's mind was a tangled mess, and he hardly knew how he ended up back on the deck, while the apprentice boys who had witnessed the battle unfold and conclude were all in a daze, as if living in a dream.
In the room, Ronan sat quietly, casually flipping through the items he had just obtained from the space ring of the level three voodoo wizard.
There wasn't anything particularly valuable; the only thing that piqued Ronan's interest was a large assortment of various poisons and antidotes.
The voodoo sect's inheritance primarily revolves around dark spells, supplemented by various poisoning techniques.
Ordinary wizards would find such entities troublesome, as they might unknowingly fall victim to the opponent's "tricks." Unfortunately for the voodoo wizard, the gap in strength between him and Ronan was too great; he didn't even have the chance to use his poison before being forcefully annihilated by Ronan.
"Creek—"
The door to the room opened, and Ronan looked up to see Moriel walking in with a calm expression.
There was no need for much communication between the two; Ronan already understood the purpose of Moriel's intrusion, and his gaze naturally shifted to the direction behind her.
The green-haired girl Beatrice and her cold and stern man guard followed Moriel in, cautiously stepping forward.
Ronan showed no surprise on his face; in fact, he had been waiting for them to come.
"Sit."
Ronan greeted the two with a friendly demeanor.
The cold man remained unmoved, still standing, but his attitude seemed to become even more respectful.
Beatrice hesitated for a moment before slowly kneeling down in front of Ronan.
"Thank you for your assistance, my lord."
Beatrice took out a small storage pouch, holding it with both hands, and respectfully presented it to Ronan.
The storage pouch was not locked, and Ronan's mental power probed inside for a quick glance, unexpectedly finding it filled with a total of one hundred thousand high-tier magic stones.
He looked at Beatrice in surprise, realizing he had underestimated the wealth she carried.
"No need."
Ronan declined, shaking his head casually, "Consider it as payment for the ship fare for this journey."
Upon hearing Ronan's refusal, Beatrice froze in place, seemingly unsure of what to do. She instinctively turned to the cold man behind her for help.
The latter gave Beatrice a look, and a flicker of hesitation crossed her face. Then, as if making a decision, she gritted her teeth and took out a square iron box, presenting it alongside the previous storage pouch once more to Ronan.
"This is truly all we can offer."
Beatrice spoke earnestly, "I hope you won't find it lacking."
Ronan felt a bit helpless; he wasn't helping Beatrice and the others for these items. Besides appreciating her good rapport with Moriel, he also had the reason of wanting to practice after finishing his arduous training.
However, seeing Beatrice's current demeanor, he figured that if he didn't accept her gratitude, she might not sleep well that night.
After thinking for a moment, Ronan casually accepted the two items Beatrice handed over and opened the iron box.
Inside lay a dark green dagger, with several sheets of black leather paper pressed beneath it.
The dagger had a peculiar shape, with a strange eyeball embedded in the handle. The blade was divided into three segments, with a small gap in the middle that resembled a blood groove but was not quite one.
As Ronan picked up the dagger, the peculiar eyeball in the handle quickly spun around, and he immediately felt an indescribable evil consciousness emanating from the dagger, attempting to infiltrate his mind.
"What is this..."
Ronan felt a slight surprise and looked up to inquire of Beatrice.
However, it was the cold man beside Beatrice who answered.
"Evil Thought Weapon."
The cold man said in a deep voice, "A rather obscure ancient Magical Artifact, similar to the armor I wear, capable of absorbing the opponent's evil thoughts to enhance its own power, but it requires some additional means to maximize its effect."
As he spoke, he pointed to the black patterns covering his cheeks.
"Evil Thought Weapon..."
Ronan blinked; it was the first time he had heard of such a thing.
The ability to absorb the opponent's evil thoughts to strengthen oneself—recalling the battle between the cold man and the level three voodoo wizard, it seemed that the gray-black substance continuously flowing from the voodoo wizard to the cold man's armor was the so-called "evil thought."
The ability to transform "evil thoughts," such emotional fluctuations, into tangible power, even allowing a level two wizard to temporarily confront a level three wizard, indeed made the effects of this evil thought weapon quite astonishing.
At this moment, Ronan sensed some emotional fluctuations coming from Moriel's side and instinctively looked over, only to see her wearing a calm expression, suggesting she must know something.
Ronan's gaze flickered as he carefully examined the peculiar dagger in his hand.
The eyeball on the dagger continued to spin, and the evil consciousness it released whispered in his ear like some malevolent creature, constantly provoking certain emotions within him.
If it were an ordinary person, they might have fallen under its influence, but compared to the overwhelming whispers he had experienced each time "Hekalto" descended, this voice was far too weak, having minimal impact on him—similar to the occasional buzzing of a fly near his ear.
Ronan set the dagger down, and the voice immediately vanished.
He picked up the sheets of black leather paper pressed beneath the dagger and found that the pure black, unknown beast skin was densely covered with drawings of equipment forging blueprints.
All together, they perfectly formed a set of Magical Artifact known as the "Cowardly Set."
"...The Evil Thought Weapon and the set forging blueprints were both obtained from an ancient wizard's ruins."
The cold man explained as Ronan examined the beast skin paper, noting that Perik was Beatrice's surname. "The Perik family suffered a great calamity because of this, and the voodoo sect is hunting us for these blueprints."
Ronan nodded.
He casually flipped through the "Cowardly Set" forging blueprints in his hand. The construction principles of this so-called evil thought set were vastly different from the Magical Artifact design principles he was familiar with.
The blueprints were filled with numerous lines, resembling the veins and blood vessels of some creature, giving off an evil and nauseating vibe. Moreover, Ronan did not find any core rune embedding positions.
For some reason, Ronan felt a sense of familiarity.
Recalling carefully, he suddenly remembered the strange feather mask he had obtained from the level three wizard of the Resurrection Society in Goblin Plain; its internal structure seemed similar.
Could there be some connection between the two? Ronan pondered, and with a flash of inspiration, he spread the blueprints out before him, making a few simple adjustments and combinations until all the blueprints fit together like a puzzle, forming a complete image.
It was the image of a bizarre and fierce monster.
Hunched in shape, with bared teeth and a gaping mouth, it had two crescent-like long horns on its head, long and strong limbs, a long tail, and many short spikes growing from its body. Once the image was pieced together, a chaotic, cruel, and violent aura immediately surged forth.
"Ah!"
Beatrice gasped, instinctively turning to look at the cold man behind her, whose expression also showed shock.
From their reactions, it seemed they were unaware that such a secret was hidden within the blueprints. Perhaps they had not had the time to study them carefully after obtaining them before being attacked by the voodoo sect's wizards.
Ronan's expression remained unchanged as he examined the monster image before him, inquiring, "What kind of impact will this evil thought weapon and set have on the user?"
"So far, there doesn't seem to be any impact; it's just that occasionally at night, one might have nightmares. The strength gained from absorbing evil thoughts will also quickly dissipate after a period of time.
Moreover, there is a limit to this absorption; it cannot endlessly enhance."
"How many evil thought weapons and similar blueprints did the Perik family obtain from the ancient ruins?"
The cold man hesitated, glancing at Beatrice, who was still dazed and unresponsive. He then honestly replied, "There are a total of five evil thought weapons, but two were destroyed in battle. Aside from the one we are giving to you, my lord, we still have two left.
There are three sets of blueprints in total; besides this 'Cowardly Set,' there is also a 'Fallen' set and a 'Madness' set."
"..."
Ronan asked several questions in succession, and the cold man answered them all one by one.
After finishing his inquiries, Ronan nodded, indicating that he would accept the items. The two did not say anything further and hurriedly took their leave, likely eager to return and study the two sets of blueprints they had.
Once they left, Ronan naturally turned his attention to Moriel.
"Do you recognize this thing?"
Moriel sat in a chair, curling her lips, and said, "It's just a Magical Artifact weapon created by ancient wizards while studying otherworldly monsters; it's nothing extraordinary."
Otherworldly monsters... Ronan blinked, instinctively recalling the shattered world stone that flowed out from the ruins of the Ancient Mirror Garden.
He had seen related materials and introductions, noting that ancient wizards were generally keen on exploring other worlds, and based on the products of those worlds, they created many strange and peculiar things, many of which are still used among wizards today. One of the most common is the—Message Stone.
It is said that the creation of the communication rune was inspired by ancient wizards from the other world.
"So the Magical Artifact set is designed based on the bodies of powerful creatures."
"You didn't know that?"
Moriel scoffed, shaking her head, "The higher the tier of the Magical Artifact set, the more it requires a sufficiently powerful template. The primary purpose of creating a Magical Artifact set is to mimic and inherit the powers of those ancient, primordial, or even archaic creatures. This is a safer and simpler path than directly altering one's bloodline. Some designs of the sets even come from certain wizards themselves. The set Serena wears was created based on the body of her ancestor, a Life Wizard from the Alba family."
Even wizards themselves can serve as templates for the design of sets?! Ronan accepted this concept for the first time, feeling a shock to his mind.
In that moment, he glimpsed a small part of the ancient wizards' power. In ancient times, there were a few individuals standing at the pinnacle of the wizarding pyramid, their strength so great that they could rival ancient beast overlords like the Phoenix and Frost Hydra.
"As for this so-called 'Cowardly Set'..."
Moriel glanced at the blueprints spread out on the floor, saying lightly, "If I'm not mistaken, it should be an evil set designed based on the 'Cowardly Demon' among the abyssal demons."
(End of Chapter)