"Me?"
A faint rune of the storm flashed in Ronan's eyes as he softly replied, "I feel great right now."
The storm spirit, the Storm Weaver, on the verge of advancing to the seventh level, summoned a thunderstorm that tore through Ronan's body, yet it also brought him another rebirth.
Pulling up the character panel, most of the data hadn't changed much.
Except for the soul age advancing another step, from the original 21 to 22, the rest was [Ascetic Body Forging].
The master-level proficiency of [Ascetic Body Forging] had increased from just over 1500 points to (1599/1600).
Only the final point of proficiency was needed to break through to the next level.
Ronan's nearly year-long battle and ascetic practice within the storm realm, along with the courage to actively engage in the Storm Weaver's spell, were not without reward. The significant increase in master-level proficiency of [Ascetic Body Forging] brought him a leap in physical growth.
Now, he was almost immune to electric and wind spells below the fourth level. The blue spiral nurtured within the life orb in his body had also become more complex and larger, a result of the completion of the [Double Spiral Palace].
If these improvements were within Ronan's expectations, there was another part of the enhancement that he hadn't anticipated.
Ronan immersed his mind into his body, his spiritual power slowly wandering within.
Wherever it went, he could clearly see that his flesh and bones now grew with beautiful and intricate thunder and wind patterns, like branches.
The storm baptism of the Storm Weaver left a massive amount of thunder and hurricane power within him. After leaving the storm realm, he had been working hard to digest and eliminate this part of the power.
During this period, some inexplicable and wonderful changes occurred. His body seemed to have autonomously engraved some of the core mysteries of the Storm Weaver's power, deeply imprinting them into his flesh and bones.
These storm patterns were like naturally formed runes, but perhaps because Ronan hadn't deeply accepted the storm power's baptism, these storm patterns were incomplete.
But even so, they had already given Ronan a certain degree of "innate ability" to freely control wind and electric elemental spells.
This ability even affected the effectiveness of his "Ancient Mara Body" to some extent. Now, when he activated the transformation of the "Ancient Mara Body," there were many unexpected changes in his control over the black aura.
Overall, it was a good thing.
"I want to carefully study your body. Do you mind?"
Alazan spoke in a low voice, with a serious and consultative tone.
Alazan's soul needed to attach to Ronan to survive, and due to the constraints of the "master-servant contract," his understanding of Ronan was actually quite limited.
Ronan had almost completely closed off everything about himself, only leaving Alazan a small opening to freely move within a certain range of the consciousness space and to come and go as he pleased.
For Alazan's request, Ronan remained silent for a moment before nodding in agreement.
He was also curious about the changes that had occurred to his [Immaculate Body], and perhaps he could get some answers from Alazan.
Releasing the soul restriction on Alazan, the golden ladybug began to crawl slowly from Ronan's brow, spreading across his entire body, from the inside out. It occasionally paused at certain spots, but Ronan did not reveal the heart where the bloodline deduction array was operating to Alazan.
Soon, Alazan's soul power retracted back into Ronan's consciousness space.
After a period of silence, Alazan finally spoke.
"Your current body is like a natural 'Decaying Blood.'"
"Decaying Blood?"
Ronan was slightly stunned, hearing this term for the first time.
"The Decaying Blood among seventh-level wizards is too distant for you, so it's normal that you don't understand it.
To explain this realm clearly, we need to start with the ancient wizards' division of the nine levels.
You are about to ascend to the Dawn Tier, and it's time for you to understand some things."
"Alazan.
If you are willing to occasionally hold a small wizard lecture, sharing the boundless wisdom within you, I think the relationship between us would be much better than it is now."
Ronan assumed a posture of eager listening.
Alazan naturally ignored the teasing in his words and spoke indifferently, "The division of the Mist, Dawn, and Twilight stages has been passed down for a long time.
You should have already experienced the true meaning of the Mist. As for the Dawn, how do you understand it?"
Ronan thought for a moment and then answered, "Nurturing the Primal Spirit, embracing the light of elements with spiritual power."
What Ronan said were also the two most obvious characteristics that distinguished Dawn Wizards from Mist Wizards—the soul further transforming, nurturing an elemental energy spiritual aggregate within the body to assist in combat, and spiritual power carrying the attack characteristics of elemental energy.
This was all he knew.
"Incomplete and superficial."
Alazan made his assessment.
"The true essence of Dawn is to pass through the mist and embrace the light of dawn.
The light of dawn, besides the light of elements, also represents the light of truth and the light of wisdom."
"Wizards nurture the Primal Spirit not to enhance their control over elemental energy or to strengthen their spellcasting abilities. These are just byproducts.
The true purpose is to forge a key, a key that can open the door to truth." Ronan's eyes flickered as he heard this for the first time. Alazan was the oldest wizard leader in the Hall of Spirits, and besides that, he was also a wise and erudite ancient wizard.
In today's wizard world, he was practically a "living antique," the best channel for Ronan to glimpse the brilliance of ancient wizard civilization.
"The essence of wizards creating the Primal Spirit is to better align with the natural universe.
The three stages of Dawn—the nurturing, birth, and growth of the Primal Spirit—are the process of wizards stepping into the hall of truth.
The fourth, fifth, and sixth levels are the three most important accumulation stages for wizards. Naturally, as a mentor, what you need to do is to do your utmost to acquire the knowledge it imparts and displays to you.
The grade of the Primal Spirit determines the scope of your activities and the level of your authority within the hall of truth in the natural universe... When you complete the Dawn stage, the first bell of glimpsing truth will ring, and then you will enter the next stage—Twilight."
Alazan's tone suddenly rose a bit.
"Dawn, noon, twilight... When the sun sets, if you cannot pierce the darkness before the eternal night arrives, you will not welcome the immortal light."
Alazan's tone lowered, becoming heavy.
"...Then you can only sink into the twilight forever, like me, until your bones are covered in ashes."
Ronan was stunned, feeling for the first time a cruel, cold, yet magnificent impact.
Emotions surged within him, but he didn't know how to express them.
At this moment, Alazan continued slowly, "The end of dawn is to strengthen the Primal Spirit to its limit and then merge it with yourself. When you reach the seventh level, the first thing you need to do is create your own fundamental rune."
"Fundamental rune?"
"Yes, unlike runes in the general sense, the fundamental rune represents you, everything about you—knowledge, courage, personality, strength... everything that has settled in your soul. From this, a unique mark, a rune, is created. First, it is inscribed on the body. Once successful, your blood gains the value and meaning of inheritance, able to bless your descendants, flowing and inheriting through time in the form of a bloodline."
"Bloodline... so this is the true meaning of bloodline."
Ronan murmured, and at this moment, he seemed to understand why he had gained Soraya's familial recognition merely with the [Frozen Soil] rune.
It was because of the rune.
That's right.
What a true bloodline inherits is still the rune. Soraya knew this, so after the last member of the Lanster Family of the [Ice Flame Iris] died, [Frozen Soil] became the only thing that carried the spirit of their family.
"...But if this step fails,"
Alazan paused, bringing the topic back to Ronan, "you will become what you are now, which is what I mentioned earlier—the seventh level 'Decaying Blood.'"
"A damaged rune, not fully inscribed, although it also gains some power, will decay faster than a normal seventh level and will never have the possibility of advancing to the eighth level."
"Actually, my description of your body is not entirely accurate. You are only somewhat like 'Decaying Blood.'"
"If 'Decaying Blood' is like a tree about to wither and die, then you should be a sapling in the growth stage. Although the two may look somewhat similar in size and state, they are fundamentally different."
Alazan's wizard lecture ended, and Ronan fell into a long period of digestion and thought.
According to Alazan, the storm pattern growing in his body now was equivalent to indirectly inheriting a part of the incomplete bloodline of the Storm Weaver? But why did this happen? Even if the Storm Weaver's spell attacks contained the profound truths of its power, it shouldn't be so easily 'stolen' by others, right? Could the problem lie in "your body"?
Alazan seemed to read Ronan's thoughts at this moment, "Your body is very peculiar. Unimaginable. Like a perfect blank sheet of paper, naturally existing for the inscription of runes."
Was it really because of the [Immaculate Body]? Ronan took a deep breath, unable to calm the turmoil rising in his heart.
He had always felt the mystery and extraordinariness of [Ascetic Body Forging], from the birth of the [Immaculate Body] to the appearance of the [Ancient Power].
Now, this mystery and extraordinariness had reached a new level in Ronan's mind.
If nothing unexpected happens, Ronan is currently stuck at the final bit of proficiency needed to reach the pinnacle of the master level in Ascetic Body Forging, all because he is missing a crucial material.
Previously, Ronan had speculated that this material might be the power of the sacred shrine. Now, combined with the surprise and admiration even Alazan showed toward Ascetic Body Forging, this speculation seems even more plausible.
"It looks like the search for the power of the sacred shrine should be expedited..."
Ronan thought to himself. Alazan seemed to want to say something more, perhaps to inquire about how Ronan had obtained such a physique or to ask about Ascetic Body Forging.
Just at that moment, a sharp whistling sound broke through the air.
The mist in front of the swamp parted to either side, and a figure with billowing robes quickly appeared in Ronan's field of vision.