"I must say, your late proposal has made my already bad mood even worse, Vivian."
The young girl vented furiously, her delicate and pretty face filled with dissatisfaction towards the Black Robe old crone.
The latter, however, only looked at her with a respect that contained indulgence, and softly said, "It seems that our Miss Molli’er encountered something else inside, is that the real reason why you feel upset?"
"Yes, a vile, weak, and filthy insect."
The girl crossed her arms and said coldly, "Only in the remote and barbaric soil of the South could such dirty and ugly creatures grow..."
The Black Robe old crone captured the rarely used word in the girl’s speech, and her wrinkled, tree-bark-like old face suddenly turned ice-cold, the air around her collapsing and twisting in an instant.
"Sounds like you’ve been greatly offended... Is there anything I should do?"
The girl realized her slip of the tongue, a faint blush rose on her creamy cheeks, but soon faded away.
"It’s not really a big deal... Vivian, you always make a big fuss over small things."
The girl flicked a few strands of hair beside her ear, using it to hide her momentary embarrassment and annoyance, then suddenly changed the subject, "By the way, what has Selena been doing while I was inside?"
The Black Robe old crone shook her head, replying, "She hasn’t done much, just staying near the yet-to-be-born Ancient Fairy City... Oh, she did have a fight with two native geniuses from the South, well controlled, merely driving them away..."
A faint light glowed in the young girl’s rose-pink beautiful eyes, she bared her teeth, revealing an evil smile.
"Our poor Princess Selena, pushed aside by her siblings, had to come to the South to compete with a bunch of country bumpkin wizards for resources... But even this, I won’t let her have her way...
The girl swung her wand like a whip, casting beautifully shaped flames into the void.
"I can’t wait to see the look on Selena’s face when her plans fall through..."
"Your wish is my command."
The Black Robe old crone bowed respectfully, then smoothed her robe’s sleeve, retracting the glowing Teleportation Array in front of her.
Quickly, a blaze rose from the wilderness like a burning comet, and in an instant, it disappeared into the clouds, gone from sight.
Ronan felt as if he had accidentally fallen into a lake of cold, thick glue.
No, glue is not an accurate description.
It should be lead water.
Cold, heavy, seeping into him through every pore, robbing him of his warmth, stiffening his muscles, corroding his bones, halting his blood flow...
This feeling was like being forcefully sealed inside a hard, cold lead shell, unable to release any spiritual power, only able to shrink inside his Consciousness Space, surrounded by solid walls.
And the only thing he could do was to continuously stimulate the Vital Light Ball within him.
At this moment, Ronan was grateful that during his three years at the Silver Magic Ring Ascetic Tower, he had not neglected his practice in Ascetic Body Refinement.
After breaking through the thousand-point threshold in his Master Level Proficiency of Ascetic Body Refinement, the Vital Light Ball inside him had grown more than five times stronger than three years ago, the bountiful Life Energy within almost turning into a liquid state.
Under Ronan’s stimulation, strands of pure white vital flames flew out from the Light Ball, nourishing his whole body to withstand the waves of terrible Curse Power he had never encountered before.
If it weren’t for the Pure Body, he would have turned into a true Golden statue at the first resurgence of the Curse Power.
But the fully stimulated Pure Body only slightly slowed down the trend of his flesh turning into metal, the external "lead shell" kept thickening continuously.
Even the exterior’s terrible condition caused a series of chain reactions inside his body.
In the corner of the Consciousness Space, within the tiny remaining shadow he had consumed and suppressed, the residual will of the Ancient Frost Multi-Headed Snake Heikarto started stirring, seemingly ready to rise and completely take over his body at any chance.
Under these internal and external threats, Ronan was desperately holding on by sheer will.
The penetrating Curse Power kept coming, gradually affecting his spirit, even his thoughts seemed to become sluggish.
Gradually, Ronan’s consciousness started to blur.
All of a sudden, Ronan found himself in a boundless desert, everywhere covered in yellow sand, alone, with a blazing Fierce Sun above.
As he aimlessly walked through the desert, not knowing where to head, he only felt thirsty, his throat nearly smoking, his body utterly exhausted.
Just as Ronan could no longer hold on and was about to collapse...
A broad hand reached out from behind him, steadily supporting his faltering body.
Ronan turned his head with difficulty, and under the glaring sunlight, he saw a tall, thin figure in a wide Grey Robe.
The figure wore a hood, hiding his face.
Ronan didn’t know where or when this person had appeared; for a long time, he was the only one walking through this desert.
This man seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.