Wizard Bloodline

The two layers of rune defense arrays enveloping the room trembled slightly, the translucent energy shield rippling with numerous waves like a tranquil water surface struck by sudden rain. Even the faint aura from Ronan's "semi-demonized" state was nearly too much for these second-level rune arrays to withstand.

Wasting no time, Ronan, now in his "semi-demonized" state, quickly cut his wrist, and vivid red blood flowed out rapidly, dripping onto the Sacred Blood Tree seedling in front of him, nourishing its roots.

Half a minute later, the room returned to calm.

Returning to his normal state, Ronan sat on the floor, his white hair and robes cascading around him, silently drinking healing potions while observing the now more vigorous Sacred Blood Tree seedling, as if freshly washed by rain.

The tree seemed to have grown a few inches taller, with an eighth leaf beginning to sprout on its third branch, emanating a strong sense of closeness toward Ronan.

Ronan's face showed satisfaction and relief.

His efforts had not been in vain.

The idea to water the Sacred Blood Tree with blood while in a "semi-demonized" state had occurred to him not long ago.

In the "ancient giant form," the vitality in Ronan's blood was many times greater than in his normal state, providing much better nourishment to the Sacred Blood Tree.

Of course, it consumed more vitality, but Ronan felt it was worthwhile, as healing potions could replenish it.

Watering in the fully giant state might yield even better results, but the cost was too high for Ronan.

After the routine watering, Ronan set the Sacred Blood Tree aside and retrieved a half-fist-sized transparent gel from his spatial ring—the Mind Captor Beast brain fluid extract obtained from a Seventh Ring Tower wizard.

Using his magic tungsten steel to form a small knife, he gently scraped fine white powder from the gel, almost imperceptible.

He mixed the powder into a pre-prepared potion, poured it into a metal dish, and ignited it with a spell flame.

Instantly, a thick white smoke emerged, swirling above Ronan's head, trapped by the rune array's shield, hovering motionlessly, with tendrils of smoke threading into Ronan's nose, mouth, and ears.

Absorbed by his brain, the smoke brought Ronan a rising tide of clarity, invigorating his thoughts and swiftly eradicating any lingering fatigue.

"The effect is even better than expected... The growth assistance for mental power remains unknown, but its aid in meditation is immense."

Ronan assessed the Mind Captor Beast brain fluid extract's effects with satisfaction.

He had read in one of the tower's wizard books that the Mind Captor Beast, although classified as a magical beast, was once part of a unique race.

Like elves, dwarves, and barbarians.

They excelled in psychic and illusionary magic, each a genius in these domains.

However, due to the brain fluid's wondrous effect on enhancing wizards' mental power, and the stronger the beast, the better the effect, they were hunted to near extinction, later categorized among non-human magical beasts.

The wizarding world's realities were often far more brutal than ordinary people could imagine.

Ronan felt a moment of somber reflection, quickly refocusing his mind to set up a super-mini meditation array around him before the brain fluid extract's effects waned.

This array mirrored the rune arrays in the Silver Tower and the ten meditation towers, though not as potent, yet far superior to normal wizard meditation.

Now "noble as a six-ring," Ronan spared no expense on magic stone consumption, maximizing all aspects of his training conditions.

In truth, Ronan had reached a bottleneck, with his late first-level mental power full, unable to grow further through meditation.

But aboard the ship, meditation was his sole training option.

Furthermore, advancing from first to second-level wizard required high mental power purity, and meditation aided in purifying mental power, slightly increasing his advancement success rate.

Additionally, Ronan's [Basic Meditation Technique - State of Emptiness] mastery was nearing the 500-point mark.

He anticipated that 500 points in mastery would be a threshold, beyond which spell transcendent domains could enter a domain resonance state.

If [State of Emptiness] reached this mastery, it might undergo a qualitative transformation.

Closing his eyes, Ronan quickly entered a meditative state, intent on not wasting the 20-day journey to White Stone Castle.

In the following days, Ronan's routine was calm and consistent.

He spent nearly all his time meditating, occasionally pausing to rest, water the Sacred Blood Tree with blood, research runes from the Mirror Court, and eat simple meals.

In this state, his [Basic Meditation Technique] mastery steadily rose, inching closer to the 500-point target.

One sunny afternoon, the breakthrough came unexpectedly, yet inevitably.

Unseen by anyone, Ronan's [Basic Meditation Technique - State of Emptiness] mastery silently shifted from 499 to 500 on his character panel.

At that instant,

"Buzz—"

In deep meditation, Ronan felt a slight tremor in his mental space.

A wondrous change began.

His mental power, resembling a water orb, suddenly contracted inward, shrinking by nearly two-thirds. Its originally semi-transparent gel-like color became indistinct.

It grew more viscous, with tiny particles forming—extremely minute mental power crystals.

"A purification of mental power."

Ronan abruptly opened his eyes, the sudden brightness in his blue eyes illuminating the room, as if transitioning from a dim afternoon to bright noon.

This brilliance lasted for nearly half a minute, gradually dimming as Ronan's gaze returned to normal.

"My mental power hasn't changed in quantity, but its quality has tripled!"

Ronan marveled at the changes post-advancement, filled with delight.

He even saw on his character panel, the [First-level Official Wizard (100%)] label had shifted to [First-level Official Wizard (101%)].

102, 103, 104...

The progress continued climbing, driven by enhanced mental power and meditation aids.

In his mind, the "shrunken" mental power orb also grew incrementally larger.

Ronan sensed these changes, inhaling sharply, eyes wide with amazement.

"If this continues, my mental power for advancing to second-level will far exceed a typical late first-level wizard's!"

Ronan didn't know what this shift would bring, but it was undoubtedly a positive development.

Eyes glinting, Ronan retrieved a gray potion from his spatial ring.

This potion, prepared by Kosti, was meant to aid his advancement, primarily by purifying mental power, to be consumed before officially advancing to second-level.

After brief hesitation, Ronan downed the entire potion.

Closing his eyes, he silently observed the potion's effects on his body...

Moments later, he opened his eyes, filled with an inexplicable light.

"Truly useless..."

"After reaching 500 points in [Basic Meditation Technique] mastery, my mental power underwent a thorough purification. Post-purification, my mental power is nearly solid-liquid mixed, with frightening purity. The purification potion, potent for normal late first-level wizards, is as ineffective as water."

Ronan's heart brimmed with joy, continuing to explore the changes from the meditation technique's upgrade, instinctively triggering [State of Emptiness].

As he activated [State of Emptiness], Ronan speculated on the enhanced mental power recovery effect post-500 points in [State of Emptiness] mastery.

Yet unexpectedly,

Upon activation,

He discovered the once-pulsating light point in his mental space had vanished!

Replaced by a vast, pure white disc.

The disc emitted a halo, rippling outward like waves.

As the ripples spread, Ronan felt—

All his turbulent, rolling, arising... various chaotic thoughts and emotions seemed frozen by some force, quickly sinking below.

All distractions, all emotional fluctuations, were frozen or smoothed.

Ronan entered an unprecedented state of absolute peace and calm.

No thoughts, no desires.

"What is this... an ultimate sage state?"

Enveloped in the rune array's glow, the spell ship sliced through dense clouds, like a giant blue bird or a luminous blue whale, silently gliding high above.

On a deck near the upper levels of the spell airship, a gaunt, hollow-eyed, gray-haired middle-aged man with intricately tattooed white patterns on his hands stood silently on the cabin platform edge.

His gaze surveyed the lower main deck, where low-level wizards stood or sat, his expression cold as he casually inquired of the person beside him, "How much longer to White Stone Castle?"

The young crew member attending the man was exceedingly respectful and cautious, well aware that this gentleman was one of the few second-level wizards on board.

Previously, he'd clashed with another second-level wizard over an attendant girl, resulting in the other party backing down, indicating his formidable strength among second-level wizards.

"Three more days, sir.

Barring any surprises, we'll reach White Stone Highlands by morning in three days."

The crew member replied respectfully.

The middle-aged wizard nodded lightly, about to inquire further when suddenly, a nearby cabin door behind him swung open, releasing an indescribable aura from within.

Instinctively turning, the middle-aged wizard sensed the person emerging from the room radiated the mental power of a late first-level wizard.

Yet this aura seemed unlike a typical first-level wizard's.

Just as he considered probing further, he turned and locked eyes with a pair of eyes—

The middle-aged wizard froze—

What eyes they were.

Pure ice blue, like the surface of a lake frozen solid.

Devoid of any emotional fluctuation, supremely cold, supremely indifferent.

Meeting them felt like waves of intense cold washing over him through their shared gaze, threatening to freeze his very soul.

In that instant, the second-level wizard felt his scalp prickle, cold seeping up his neck, even tiny beads of sweat forming on his brow and temples.

He barely registered the eyes' owner's appearance, gender, age, height, build, or robe's style.

All his attention was consumed by those ice-blue eyes.

Only when the eyes' owner took flight from the deck, swiftly breaking through the spell airship's rune array shield, vanishing into the boundless clouds, did he gradually regain composure from his near-loss of control.

"What kind of prodigy is this... truly only first-level?..."

The pale-faced middle-aged wizard murmured incredulously, hurriedly leaving the deck, retreating to his room, shutting himself away.

"Whoosh—"

High-altitude air currents whipped up a gale, lifting Ronan's temple hair and his thin metal robe.

With eyes of deepest ice blue, Ronan stood amidst the clouds, countless spells erupting around him, their power roiling the clouds like a stormy sea.

Ronan moved rapidly, shifting through the clouds.

A closer look revealed his spellcasting speed and power far exceeded before.

Moreover, each spell flowed seamlessly into the next, cast with flawless timing, displaying a wealth of new intricacy and subtlety—a veritable spectacle of spellcraft!

Finally, Ronan's form halted abruptly, his eyes, once frozen like thick ice, gradually thawing, returning to their original clarity and blue.

His once-frozen emotions began to resurface.

Ronan pursued the spell airship, white hair streaming, a dazzling radiance on his flawless face.

"Post-purification, spellcasting speed doubled, spell power nearly tripled, mental power consumption halved."

"And in [State of Emptiness], mental power recovery efficiency is nearly five times greater! Far surpassing second-level mental recovery potions!"

"Most crucial is the new [State of Emptiness] transformation!!"

The recent state where he was untouched by any emotion or thought, all feelings seemingly frozen and sunk, supremely indifferent, supremely calm.

Now appearing on Ronan's character panel under [Talent].

Named—[Lake of No Thoughts]!

Active.