A Wizard’s Secret

There were not many things in the ring. There were some elemental crystal stones and potion materials but these were not Merlin’s target. His target was Bluebird’s two types of Pandora Demon Abilities.

However, after he had searched the contents of the ring, his face gradually darkened, as he asked in a low voice, “Nothing? How can there be no cultivation method of Pandora Demon Ability?”

After Merlin killed Weiss, he had retrieved the cultivation method of Destructive Wind from Weiss’ ring. Although he was unable to cultivate it because of its spell type, he had ultimately obtained a cultivation method for a Pandora Demon Ability. He might even be able to exchange this Pandora Demon Ability for another Pandora Demon Ability of similar value with the Dark Magic Region.

However, despite Bluebird’s evident possession of two types of Pandora Demon Abilities, he did not find any Pandora Demon Ability in her ring.

Merlin knew that Bluebird surely did not have the exact cultivation method of the Pandora Demon Abilities on her. Instead, she had etched them forever in her mind. This inevitably caused Merlin to be somewhat disappointed.

Merlin might have no way of cultivating a Wind-type Pandora Demon Ability but that Pandora Demon Ability of ice threads was mightier than Glacial Finger. If he had obtained that Pandora Demon Ability, he would most likely be able to cultivate it.

However, he quickly recovered from his disappointment. After all, it was impossible that every Spell Caster he met would carry precious Pandora Demon Ability or spells with them. For instance, Merlin did not keep the cultivation methods of Glacial Finger, Fiery Collapse, or even Darkness Heart in his ring. Instead, he recorded them all in the Matrix.

Even if Merlin’s ring fell into the hands of some other Spell Casters one day, they would not be able to find a single Pandora Demon Ability on Merlin.

After searching repeatedly, Merlin could not find the cultivation method of Pandora Demon Ability in the ring. However, when he was just about to withdraw his Mind Power from the ring, he felt a sort of “icy” sensation.

This icy sensation was peculiar because Mind Power was formless. Regardless of whether it was a frigid chill or scorching heat, Mind Power should not feel anything. Nonetheless, Merlin’s Mind Power was currently feeling an extreme “icy” sensation in Bluebird’s ring.

“Whoosh!”

Merlin immediately searched for the source of this “icy” sensation and finally saw a huge, black wooden box which seemed enigmatic.

Furthermore, the “icy” sensation that his Mind Power sensed was emitted from the black wooden box.

“There’s something strange about this wooden box!”

Merlin muttered to himself before retrieving the black wooden box. As he placed it on the table, he saw that layers of ice crystals formed and solidified instantly around the black wooden box.

“What a cold sensation… What’s really in the wooden box?”

Even Merlin was astonished. As he stared at the solidifying ice crystals, a trace of firelight appeared on the tip of his finger right away.

This was Merlin’s Fireball. The scorching heat rapidly wrapped around these ice crystals. What was astounding was that the ice crystals did not melt one bit under the heat of Fireball.

Merlin’s eyes sharpened slightly, following which he pointed his finger again. This time a stream of white fire flew out and in a flash enclosed the ice crystals wrapped around the black wooden box.

“Crack! Crack! Crack!”

Under the white flames of Fiery Collapse, the ice crystals around the wooden box began to melt rapidly.

The blaze was soon burning around the black wooden box. Merlin casually retrieved Fiery Collapse and with one hand, he smacked fiercely on the box.

“Snap!”

Although the black wooden box was well-built, it could not withstand Merlin’s terrifying strength at all. It was opened by Merlin immediately, revealing a piece of ice as pure white as polished jade, which was wrapped in a shimmering, golden cloth.

This piece of ice was only the size of an egg but the chill it emitted would astound anyone. Streams of cold air extended in all directions, and any area that was covered by this chill was frozen in a mass of thick, solid ice crystals.

These were ice crystals that Merlin’s Fireball had no way of melting. It was enough to show that this piece of ice was not ordinary.

“Could this be a thousand years’ ice bone marrow? Or even older?”

Merlin’s heart gave a jolt. He recalled that back when he was cultivating Glacial Finger, he had used the hundred years’ ice bone marrow, which was an object of extreme cold. Nonetheless, its chill was far less petrifying than this egg-sized piece of ice.

Only the thousand years’ ice bone marrow, or one which was even older, would be this cold.

“Thousand years’ ice bone marrow. This is good, too. This way, when I’m a Fourth-level Spell Caster, I won’t have to worry about being unable to cultivate the second stage of Glacial Finger.”

A smile appeared on Merlin’s face. When his Glacial Finger had reached the second stage, he would need a thousand years’ ice bone marrow or one which was even older. However, he had been unable to find a hundred years’ ice bone marrow, let alone a thousand years’ ice bone marrow.

Not even the Dark Magic Region had these treasures, nor Sterling House in Floating City. One would need to rely on chance to obtain these treasures. Without these treasures, he would be like Wizard Riesen back then, ultimately unable to cultivate Fiery Collapse despite having the cultivation method.

Bluebird had surely gone through great difficulties to find this thousand years’ ice bone marrow. After all, she was also cultivating Pandora Demon Ability of ice threads. Perhaps when she became a Fourth-level Spell Caster, she would need this thousand years’ ice bone marrow to cultivate that Pandora Demon Ability.

Regardless, this was now a great convenience for Merlin!

Although Merlin did not obtain Bluebird’s Pandora Demon Ability this time, he had acquired this thousand years’ ice bone marrow, which could be treated as a bonus surprise. He was delighted and placed the ice bone marrow into his ring.

Merlin lightly shut his eyes and began recollecting his previous scuffle with Bluebird. Although the fight between them took only a short while, it was deadly. One moment of carelessness and he would have lost without any chance of recovery.

Bluebird’s death was largely due to Merlin’s physical attributes. He was so strong that a blow from him had enough momentous strength to destroy Bluebird’s Defensive spell.

It should be known that even though Bluebird’s Defensive spell was a Third-level spell, it was among the best of those spells. Even Fifth or Sixth-level Elemental Swordsmen would have no way of breaking down Bluebird’s defense.

It could be that only advanced Elemental Swordsmen of the legends, which were Seventh-level or above, would be able to go against Third-level spells. Nevertheless, Elemental Swordsmen like those were far too rare and were even more uncommon than Seventh-level Spell Casters.

Merlin took out the four relief sculptures from his ring once more. These four mysterious relief sculptures each had a different posture on them. It was likely that practicing only the first three postures would only increase his physical capabilities for a moment, and it would merely be a small increase.

However, once he had practiced the posture on the fourth relief sculpture, there was an instant change. His physical attributes were strongly enhanced, and his strength became frightening. Although the posture on the fourth relief sculpture required a long time of practice before he felt its effects, once his body underwent the transformation, he would gain a strength that was comparable to most Spell Casters.

Therefore, the more Merlin looked at these four relief sculptures, the more he sensed the mystery they contained. There were surely more than just these four relief sculptures. Once all the sculptures have been collected and practiced, what was the level of transformation that the body would undergo?

Before this, Merlin had always felt that these relief sculptures might be how the Spell Casters from the Molta Empire era improved their physical attributes. However, now that he had experienced the ferocious surging strength of his body, Merlin thought that there would be more to these relief sculptures.

As long as one practiced up until the mysterious posture on the fourth relief sculpture, one would immediately have a strength which was comparable to most Spell Casters. Not even Third-level Defensive spells were able to block an explosive blow from Merlin’s unadulterated physical strength. It was enough to show that after his body transformed, his strength had also become terrifying.

Now, Merlin somewhat believed that these mysterious relief sculptures formed their own system, completely distinct from the systems of Spell Casters or Elemental Swordsmen. Once he had cultivated them to a high level, he would be able to contend against powerful Spell Casters!

Of course, this was all just Merlin’s conjecture. Even if his bodily strength was greatly enhanced, it was impossible to rely on just his physical capabilities to fight against Third-level Spell Casters.

Merlin did not believe that his body would be able to withstand an attack from a Third-level spell. Perhaps that might be possible with the postures on these mysterious relief sculptures, in addition to some special preparations such as armor that had great defensive capabilities against spells.

If there really were such an armor, then the strong individual who cultivated these mysterious relief sculptures would become incredibly scary in an instant.

“I must take notice of these mysterious relief sculptures from now on. If I could find the fifth, sixth, seventh piece…”

A smile gradually crept on Merlin’s face. If only he could obtain more mysterious relief sculptures, then he would persist no matter how long it took to practice them. As a First-level Spell Caster, his life was much longer than a Normie’s, and if he continued his cultivation to become a Second, Third, or even Fourth-level Spell Caster, his lifespan would be even longer.

With such a long life, no matter how long it took to cultivate the relief sculptures, Merlin would ultimately be able to fully practice them. However, he had been in the Kingdom of Blackmoon for such a long time but had not come across any relief sculpture. He would need to depend on his luck if he would find any more of them in the future.

“Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!”

Just as Merlin was daydreaming about finding more relief sculptures, the Bell Space on his chest suddenly began vibrating.

Merlin felt a jolt of surprise and immediately extended his Mind Power into it.

Within the Bell Space, Merlin’s Mind Power duplicate was already very strong at this point. It was twice as strong compared to Merlin’s initial Mind Power duplicate when he had first entered.

“How fast… The speed of cultivating Mind Power in the Bell Space is indeed incredible!”

Merlin also felt somewhat surprised, but more than that, he was overjoyed. His Mind Power duplicate was now strong enough to the point where it could even generate tremors in the Bell Space.

This meant that the Bell Space was not limitless. Mind Power, spells, or even Pandora Demon Abilities simulated in the Bell Space all had a limit. Once the limit was exceeded, it could no longer be simulated in the Bell Space.

Currently, Merlin had left the Mind Power duplicate in the Bell Space to constantly carry out Mind Meditation, causing it’s Mind Power to grow rapidly to the point where it reached the limit of the Bell Space. Merlin would need to absorb this Mind Power duplicate in order to continue his Mind Power Meditation in the Bell Space.

As he considered this, Merlin naturally had no trace of hesitation. He mobilized almost all his Mind Power and began fusing with the Mind Power within the Bell Space.