"But wasn't it already taken by someone?"
Ronan held the runic crystal in his hand and asked.
"What was taken was merely what Herams left behind back then. The contents inside have long been replicated countless times, studied and analyzed by many."
Haliador removed the sleeve from his arm and casually summoned a water ball to wash his hands, which had just been stained by potions.
"You can keep this crystal. Since you can't cultivate it anyway, consider it a collectible. But remember, don't show it to anyone else."
Ronan nodded. After a moment of silence, he asked, "Who took it?"
"I knew you'd ask that."
The roots and vines beneath Haliador's feet rapidly grew, weaving into the shape of a wicker chair. He leaned back into it, and the silver coin obediently lay on his lap, allowing him to stroke it.
"Yuvents."
Haliador uttered a name, exactly as Ronan had guessed.
"That guy is the most outstanding offspring of the Black Wizard King, with ambitions as high as the sky, wanting to become the second Herams.
Part of his purpose in coming to Spirit Lake was for this legacy... It seems the elders of the three major schools have reached some agreement with the Black Wizard King, granting his every request."
Haliador lifted his eyelids to look at Ronan and asked, "Have you heard of Herams's Legacy of the Law-Bender?"
"Yes."
Ronan felt a slight stir in his heart, but his expression remained unchanged. "The wizard who secures the top position in Herams's Genius Seat might receive one of the legacies."
Haliador nodded and said indifferently, "Herams divided his Legacy of the Law-Bender into nine parts, some say ten, who knows... Only five of these are decided through the Genius Seat competition. The rest, he randomly placed in some secret realm.
Yuvents has been collecting this entire set of legacies. As far as I know, relying on himself and the influence of his father, the Black Wizard King, he has already gathered a third of it."
"Impressive."
Ronan exclaimed in admiration, but his heart was suddenly stirred.
He finally understood why he felt that inexplicable stir every time he saw Yuvents.
He once thought it was because his own incomplete storm bloodline was being suppressed by Yuvents's seventh-level primal bloodline.
Now he realized that the bloodline was only part of it. The fundamental reason was that they both carried components of Herams's Law-Controller set. They were both inheritors of Herams's legacy, sharing the same goal—they were destined to be "fated rivals" on the same path of competition!
"Scared?"
Back at his residence, Ronan sat quietly under the apple tree by the small lake outside his house. Alazan's voice echoed in his mind.
"Not exactly scared."
Ronan shook his head calmly. "At worst, I can just give up my part of the legacy."
"Your heart says otherwise."
"Unless it's absolutely necessary, I naturally wouldn't want to."
Ronan's eyes flickered. If possible, he too wanted to know what earth-shattering power Herams's Law-Controller set would unleash when fully assembled.
Juventus had already gathered three pieces of the set. His attainment of the Chief Talent and inheritance of Herams was no secret in the south. If Juventus continued to follow the clues of the inheritance, he would inevitably come looking for him one day.
"Seventh-level primordial bloodline, plus multiple pieces of the Law-Controlling set."
Ronan gazed at the rippling surface of the small lake before him, exhaled slowly, and stopped dwelling on these thoughts. Instead, he took out the rune crystal he had obtained from Heliodor and examined it carefully.
The inheritance Herams left in the Spirit Lake was a secret technique.
It was called—[Secret Cocoon].
Its effect was truly astonishing—it could cause a chosen secret energy, or energy-based spell, to undergo a transformation.
The specifics of how this transformation occurred were not detailed, but since it came from Herams, it was unlikely to disappoint.
After carefully reviewing the cultivation conditions for [Secret Cocoon], Ronan understood why Heliodor had called this inheritance a "chicken rib."
Because it required the Law-Controlling set of Herams to practice. Without one of the components of the Law-Controlling set or the core rune of the Law-Controlling inheritance system, the first step could not be taken.
"It must be a wizard who specializes in energy-based spells, requires the assistance of the Law-Controlling set components, and the final result is filled with uncertainty... No wonder this secret technique has been lying dormant in the Spirit Lake for so many years, with no wizard from the Spirit Lake ever mastering it."
"Too many restrictions, and the Spirit Lake already has its own powerful inheritance. Naturally, there was no need to go out of their way to do something so laborious and unrewarding."
Only someone like him, who happened to possess a part of the Law-Controlling inheritance, and someone like Juventus, who aspired to become the second Herams of the Upper Ring Continent, would actively seek it out.
"The second step requires a part of the soul to be vacant."
"Would an empty Mental Power Crystal count as a part of the soul vacancy?"
Ronan pondered.
Coincidentally, the last Mental Power Crystal he had planned to condense the [Frost Song] rune was originally chosen at random as a filler and could be erased to make space.
"The third step requires the use of Hollow Stone. After forming the Secret Cocoon, it must be nourished with one's own soul, flesh, and rune power."
"Hollow Stone?!"
Ronan blinked, feeling somewhat surprised.
He happened to have a few pieces of Hollow Stone he had just obtained. After reading through the entire content, it seemed as if the secret technique inheritance named [Secret Cocoon] was tailor-made for him! "What a coincidence."
Ronan thought for a moment and decided to start practicing it directly.
Closing his eyes, the dappled light from the apple tree fell on his face as he listened to the sound of the breeze rustling through the leaves, entering a meditative state.
In his consciousness space, fifteen diamond-like Mental Power Crystals shone brightly.
Freeing up one Mental Power Crystal and a position for a Soul Rune might make an ordinary wizard hesitate, but Ronan had no psychological burden.
Bit by bit, he erased the half-completed [Frost Song] rune on the fifteenth Mental Power Crystal and re-inscribed it with the rune of [Secret Cocoon].
The shape of the [Secret Cocoon] rune resembled a coiled silkworm, somewhat similar to the many ancient spirit scripts Ronan had memorized.
The process of inscribing was not difficult, and Ronan completed it in just seven days.
"Then comes the crucial step."
Ronan took a light breath and took out the Law-Controlling armlet from his space ring, placing it on his arm.
Almost as soon as he took out the Law-Controlling Armband, a mysterious connection began to form between the two.
The Law-Controlling Armband emitted a series of clear, melodious chimes in Ronan's hand. The core [Law-Controlling] rune within it shone brightly, followed by elusive wisps of mystical energy that surged out from the armband, passing through Ronan's body and quickly seeping into the [Secret Cocoon].
From Ronan's perspective, it seemed as though countless multicolored threads were seeping out from the Law-Controlling Armband on his hand, traversing his mental space and tightly connecting with the fifteenth Mental Power Crystal.
During this process, the light from the fifteenth Mental Power Crystal gradually dimmed, and then it "grew" numerous dense threads that wrapped around itself layer by layer.
The runes inside the crystal also wriggled, seemingly curling up even tighter.
At the moment the entire "cocoon" fully formed, Ronan felt as though he heard the heartbeat of some living creature within the "cocoon."
It was as if a new life was truly being nurtured.
Unbelievable!
Ronan couldn't help but marvel in his heart.
However, the heartbeat soon began to weaken gradually.
Ronan knew it was time to use the Hollow Stone.
But before he could take the Hollow Stone out of his space ring, suddenly, the dormant "cocoon" revealed bits of information to him.
"Hum—"
By the small lake, Ronan abruptly opened his eyes.
In an instant, the entire apple tree behind him swayed in the wind, its leaves rustling softly.
At this moment, Ronan's expression became quite peculiar.
He extended one hand, and faint points of light rose from his palm, converging into a line of indistinct characters, which he then extinguished with a pinch.
"It's a coordinate," Ronan muttered to himself.
It was a coordinate pointing directly to the treasure space hidden behind the semicircular stone peak!
He finally understood the purpose of that treasure space.
That space had been created by Herams in the past!
He had placed a World Stone inside the space, and after "nurturing" the Hollow Crystal, he took it away, all for the purpose of allowing future wizards who practiced this secret technique to use it.
Herams had prepared everything for his successor, waiting only for the right person to come along and unlock it under the guidance of the secret technique! "No wonder Juventus found that space and entered after me. He was the orthodox successor who followed Herams' arrangements step by step, while I stumbled upon it somewhat by accident."
Ronan shook his head, once again marveling at the wonders of the world.
He took out a Hollow Crystal and, following the instructions from the inheritance, placed it against his forehead, pressing it to his skin.
Soon, the entire Hollow Stone melted like water, entering his mental space and perfectly enveloping the white "light cocoon."
Once wrapped by the Hollow Stone, the "light cocoon" immediately sprouted countless fine threads, densely connecting to almost every corner of Ronan's body.
His flesh, soul, and the remaining fourteen Mental Power Crystals in his mental space.
The mysterious nutrients drawn from these became the sustenance for the growth of the light cocoon.
"When the white light cocoon turns pure black, it signifies full maturity."
Ronan wasn't sure how long this process would take, but the inheritance mentioned that magic crystals could play a part in accelerating it.
After some consideration, Ronan took out a magic crystal from his space ring and pressed it against his forehead, following the same method he had used to absorb the hollow stone.
Once the entire magic crystal had been absorbed and turned into a pile of powder in his hand, he noticed that the bottom of the white cocoon of light in his mind seemed to have darkened slightly.
"One magic crystal only promotes such a tiny bit of progress. How many resources would it take to rapidly mature it in a short time?"
Ronan couldn't help but shake his head. He couldn't afford such extravagance now. He only had a few magic crystals left, and he needed to save them for activating the ancient formation when he advanced to the Dawn level.