The space was not large, with a narrow stone path winding upward, its end visible at a glance.
At the end stood an ancient altar constructed from a few simple stone pillars, and something seemed to be glowing on it.
Ronan walked toward the altar. In the darkness, several bats flew toward him, which he casually shooed away.
Ronan had explored many forgotten secret realms, but this one was undoubtedly the least risky he had ever entered.
Perhaps, as Alazan had said, this was a "treasure-passing place" specifically left by a senior wizard.
It was like the hidden caves described in some martial arts novels of his past life, filled with rare treasures and walls inscribed with martial arts secrets—"waiting for the destined one!" He had done similar things more than once, such as leaving the "Ascetic Body Forging" technique under the bed in the Hoddam treehouse area, or the meditation techniques and Magical Artifact inheritance in the secret chamber of the East Coast family castle. People always want to leave some trace of themselves in this world, casually sowing seeds that, many years later, become trees providing shade and rest for future generations.
Wizards were no exception.
Ronan strolled through the quiet space, listening to the echo of his footsteps.
With a special feeling in his heart, he anticipated what the master of this hidden space had left for him, until he reached the end of the stone path, standing before the simple yet ancient altar.
Six stone pillars stood on the altar.
Five of them were arranged in the shape of a pentagram, while the remaining one stood at the center of the pentagram.
Except for the largest pillar in the center, the other five pillars each held a translucent white crystal that emitted a faint glow.
There was nothing else.
After surveying the area, Ronan was about to approach one of the pillars for a closer look when he first heard Alazan's soft sigh.
"A pity, we're a step too late."
"What do you mean?"
Ronan was momentarily stunned and instinctively looked toward the central pillar of the pentagram.
Alazan slowly explained, "There should have been a World Stone placed here, but whether it decayed over time or was taken by someone else first..."
"World Stone..."
Ronan's eyes shifted as he slowly walked to the central pillar.
The top of the pillar had a noticeable groove, with some powdery substance scattered inside, indeed resembling traces of something that had once been placed there.
Ronan gently rubbed his hand over the groove, picking up some of the powder between his fingers.
Suddenly, his expression changed, and he took out a small, square black wooden box from his space ring.
The box was shaking violently, as if something inside was desperate to escape.
After a moment of hesitation, Ronan opened the box, and a pitch-black unicorn beetle immediately flew out.
It landed directly in the groove on the pillar, then began to crawl around while sucking up the powder, simultaneously excreting some translucent mucus, like "urine," onto the groove.
"You actually have this? Where did you get it?"
In his mind, Alazan's voice expressed surprise.
"What is this?"
Ronan watched the unicorn beetle's actions on the pillar and casually asked in return.
This mysterious black beetle was purchased by Ronan along with a Ghost Crying Fish at a stall during a Sunset Gathering in the south.
According to the stall owner, the beetle originated from an unknown ancient wizard's tomb.
When Ronan first obtained it, the mysterious beetle secreted a similar transparent mucus, which directly caused an anomaly in the World Stone coordinates on his body.
Now, perhaps due to the World Stone again, this creature has crawled out once more.
"World Devourer Beetle,"
Alazan replied, "A peculiar creature that feeds on the aura of worlds on the brink of destruction, often referred to as the 'Harbinger of Doom.' Normally, it shouldn't..."
Alazan suddenly stopped speaking.
The atmosphere inexplicably became tense, with only the sound of the unicorn beetle nibbling on the World Stone powder breaking the silence.
After a long while, Ronan softly asked, "Is it really that serious?"
"Only by finding the place where this creature first appeared and investigating it can I make a judgment,"
Alazan paused, then continued, "There are no absolutes in this world. Many reasons could lead to the appearance of a World Devourer Beetle.
It could be that a world on the verge of destruction is adjacent to ours, and a few World Devourer Beetles accidentally fell through a spatial rift. Or perhaps it's a pet raised by a wizard that escaped from a laboratory. As long as they don't appear in large numbers, they don't signify anything."
Ronan nodded, feeling that he might be overreacting.
Whether a world is about to be destroyed cannot be determined by a tiny beetle.
He subconsciously touched the hidden World Stone coordinate on the back of his right hand, thinking that both of Alazan's speculations were highly plausible.
"Take good care of this creature. In an era where even the Awake Snake is hard to catch, the World Devourer Beetle is even rarer and more precious.
Once cultivated in large numbers, the World Devourer Beetle can be extremely powerful,"
Alazan murmured, as if reminiscing, "I remember once a wizard successfully cultivated an entire army of World Devourer Beetles. Even those who hadn't reached the seventh level managed to cause the fall of several eighth-level wizards."
Ronan looked at the seemingly ordinary unicorn beetle in front of him, his eyes slightly widened, "That terrifying?"
"Don't underestimate anything that can be associated with 'world-ending' levels. However, it's generally difficult for ordinary people to breed World Devourer Beetles in large numbers. You'd first need to find a world on the brink of destruction to use as food for them.
Even in our era, that was an extremely difficult task,"
Alazan said indifferently.
Ronan took a deep breath and carefully placed the motionless unicorn beetle, which had finished eating, back into the small wooden box.
He then collected all the semi-transparent mucus it had secreted.
Alazan didn't know that Ronan had an accurate coordinate of a world on the verge of destruction on his body. Perhaps, maybe, one day... he might be able to cultivate this tiny World Devourer Beetle!
Of course, that day was still far too distant for him now.
The central stone pillar no longer had even the powder left from the World Stone, so there was nothing more to see. Ronan turned his gaze to the remaining five stone pillars.
Each of these pillars had a piece of irregularly shaped transparent crystal floating above it, all roughly the same size.
Ronan attempted to pick up a piece and found that the crystal was as light as air, naturally suspending in the air when released.
The interior of the crystal seemed hollow, and a light tap with his fingertip produced a clear, hollow echo.
"Alazan."
Ronan habitually used Alazan as an encyclopedia of curiosities.
Alazan quickly provided an answer.
"This is Hollow Stone.
It's a type of companion crystal to the World Stone."
Listening, Ronan suddenly paused, "And then?"
"What do you mean 'and then'?"
"For example,"
Ronan glanced at the transparent crystals on the other stone pillars, "What is its function, what kind of value does it have?"
"Nothing particularly special.
It's generally only used when activating the World Stone to open a spatial passage, and in some special Spell experiments. Hollow Stone isn't a particularly precious material, but it's somewhat rare.
Only wizards who possess the World Stone can produce it steadily, and the production process is cyclical."
"Is that all?" Ronan couldn't help but frown.
He looked around at the empty altar and the unobstructed secret realm space, feeling a sense of disappointment that the greater the expectation, the greater the letdown.
On the way from the entrance to the altar, he had imagined all sorts of possibilities of obtaining various inherited resources and treasures, only to end up with a few Hollow Crystals that were of little use to him at the moment?!
Ronan was inevitably disappointed.
Alazan also frowned, "It is indeed strange.
Logically, a specially opened treasure space shouldn't leave just this much.
If the World Stone was taken by someone else first, there's no reason they would leave the companion Hollow Stones behind."
"Forget it."
Ronan shook his head, already shaking off the feeling of disappointment.
It was an unexpected surprise to begin with, and having gained something was already good enough, no need to ask for too much.
Alazan didn't say anything more, and Ronan began to take down the Hollow Stones from the pillars one by one. When he reached the fifth Hollow Crystal, he suddenly felt something was off.
The Hollow Stone, which had been as light as a hydrogen balloon hanging on the pillar, now seemed to have taken root at the bottom. With a slight force, patterns of runes began to appear at the top of the pillar.
"Take it and run quickly."
Alazan's voice in his mind reminded him seriously.
"Huh?"
Ronan was startled.
"These are self-destruct runes.
Once all the Hollow Stones are removed, this space will self-destruct.
You need to be quick, or you'll be caught in the spatial turbulence, and that would be troublesome."
It really is a dedicated treasure storage space, complete with a self-destruct mechanism... Ronan thought about it and decided to leave the last Hollow Stone untouched.
"Let's leave it for the next lucky person who enters here.
The taste of great expectations followed by disappointment shouldn't be mine alone to savor..."
"Perhaps the person who took the World Stone before had the same idea."
Ronan mentally gave Alazan the middle finger, then checked the entire altar and the space once more before retracing his steps back.
Between the two semi-circular stone peaks, invisible spatial ripples appeared, and a tall, straight figure abruptly emerged from the void.
Along with him, two bats, weak from hunger, emerged. As soon as they were exposed to the bright sunlight outside, they immediately plummeted downward.
Ronan spread his spiritual energy, scanning the surroundings, but found no traces of anyone passing by.
Taking out the "Lake of Souls Book," he confirmed the return route and set off without delay.
"This time, when I return to the Lake of Souls, I must complete the remaining Soul Runes in one go."
"That wizard genius who 'sold himself' to the Deep Sea... I wonder how many resources he can bring back for me."
As Ronan flew, he silently calculated in his heart.
Suddenly, a low, suppressed roar of a beast came from the distance.
Accompanied by an intense spatial fluctuation that remained clear even as it reached him.
Ronan instantly ascended, looking in the direction of the sound and the fluctuation.
Soon, he saw a massive, bizarre magical beast, as large as a mountain, soaring into the sky, surrounded by countless tornadoes and whirlwinds.
With a lion's head, a goat's body, a black scorpion and snake's tail, and bat-like wings, it resembled a living dark bronze statue straight out of the pages of legend! On the back of this colossal ancient monster stood a dazzling figure, all too familiar to Ronan.
Juventus!
Ronan's pupils contracted slightly, and he immediately saw that beneath Juventus, who was riding the Chimera-blooded magical beast, two stone peaks forming a semicircle were rapidly collapsing. The intense spatial fluctuation was emanating from between the two collapsing peaks.
"Juventus also entered that hidden treasure space?!"
"He took the last piece of Hollow Stone I left behind!"
Ronan slowly descended, carefully concealing his aura, watching Juventus disappear into the distance.
The time between his exit from the space and Juventus's entry was so short, it was almost simultaneous.
Could there really be such a coincidence in the world? "Good thing I didn't run into him directly inside the space."
Ronan's eyes flickered.
He had already encountered Juventus face-to-face once before, and he had essentially "snubbed" him. In such a situation, another encounter, especially one involving interests, might have led Juventus to directly attack him.
With a whole major realm difference and the suppression of a seventh-level primal bloodline, he stood no chance against Juventus.
Ronan hadn't forgotten that during the entrance selection, Juventus had received a nine-star evaluation in the Spell Tower!
"This time, I really have to thank the Goddess of Fortune for her favor, sparing me from unnecessary trouble."
If he hadn't chosen to leave behind a Hollow Stone, the situation might have been different.
It seems everything was arranged for the best.
As Ronan pondered, two figures in gray Wizard Robes suddenly appeared in his vision.
The two seemed to have been drawn by the spatial fluctuation and the sound of the Chimera, casting inquisitive glances his way.
Ronan didn't linger any longer and left the area directly.
Among the towering stone peaks, the figures in gray robes slowly withdrew their gazes from the rapidly retreating figure.
Their eyes turned back, focusing once more on the direction where the Chimera had departed.
"The beginning of the Lake of Souls."
A figure in a gray robe spoke in a low voice, "Following the footsteps of Herams, in the Hollow Mountain, the Hollow Hall, the prophecy left by the old seer on the Hollow Stone has several points that align with him."
"It seems Juventus is the one we are looking for, the person foretold in the prophecy."
"As the son of the Black Wizard King, he possesses unparalleled talent and brilliance. If this continent truly needs someone to turn the tide, that person can only be Juventus."
A gray-robed figure sighed.
"Let's not rush to conclusions. The new seer has given us plenty of time. Let's wait and see."
"What is the next line of the prophecy?"
One of the gray-robed figures inquired.
His companion carefully took out an exquisitely crafted box and opened it. Inside, a square-sized piece of parchment lay quietly.
However, this time, there were no words on the parchment, only a simple pattern.
The gray-robed figure holding the box picked up the parchment, squinted his eyes, and examined it carefully against the sunlight.
"It looks like a strange black snake."
"Do you think this pattern symbolizes the second tail of the Chimera under Juventus's command?"
"Perhaps."
The two gray-robed figures whispered as their forms gradually faded, eventually disappearing completely into the air.
--Support me in Patreon for more chapters 35+ chapters in there
patreon.com/LegendaryTL
Thanks!