Ronan vigorously replenished the Life Force of the roaring fish in the jar, ensuring that it would not die shortly thereafter, picked up the jar, and then turned his gaze to another small box containing the mysterious black beetle.
In fact, what Ronan truly wanted to purchase at that daytime stall... was the beetle inside this small box; the roaring fish was an incidental gain.
Opening the box, Ronan placed the black beetle on the back of his right hand.
In the moonlight, he scrutinized this mysterious black beetle closely.
A single horn, shiny shell, and underneath its abdomen, densely packed articulated thin legs.
If it weren’t for those occasional leg movements, the beetle could easily be mistaken for deceased, a specimen of an insect.
Ronan’s eyes shimmered, and gradually, grey traces started to emerge on the smooth, fair back of his hand.
With the appearance of these grey traces, the black beetle that had been motionless on Ronan’s hand suddenly emitted an intense restless emotion.
It started to move; the carapace on its back opened, unveiling two pairs of thin, transparent wings, attempting to fly away, but was firmly bound by Ronan’s spiritual power, unable to break free.
Gradually, the black beetle’s underside began to seep some semi-transparent unknown fluid. Ronan frowned, considering whether to clean up this substance suspected to be "beetle urine," when those semi-transparent fluids were entirely absorbed by the grey traces on the back of his hand.
The color of the traces grew deeper, from grey to black, then began squirming like living creatures.
After about an hour, the black beetle on the back of Ronan’s hand finally quieted down.
Ronan removed it, and saw his right hand’s back was clearly marked with a long string of strange, twisted symbols.
Ronan’s gaze flickered, his expression somewhat complex and indescribable.
This was the World Stone coordinates he had inadvertently obtained in the Ancient Mirror Court; Kosti had not extracted them completely, leaving some traces behind.
He had sensed the presence of the beetle at the Sunset Market precisely because of these coordinate traces reacting to the mysterious beetle.
"The coordinate mark changed... It seems..."
Ronan poked the indecipherable, peculiar symbols on the back of his hand with no reaction.
He attempted to infuse them with spiritual power...
In an instant, a myriad of twisted, shattered images flashed through Ronan’s mind. Deep within the Consciousness Space, where an indelible shadow lay dormant, the ancient consciousness of Hekarter also surged in turmoil at the same moment...
Ronan abruptly let go, and beneath the star and moonlight, his face turned as pale as fresh paper, his forehead and back drenched in sweat.
Ronan looked in horror at the chain of strange symbols on the back of his right hand.
He had no recollection whatsoever of the images that the symbols had just conveyed, except for a distinct impression they left: the atmosphere of "twisting, chaos, madness, destruction."
That aura had even stirred the Ancient Frost Multi-Headed Snake Bloodline within his body, which he had barely managed to suppress.
"Even the remnant consciousness of Hekarter is disturbed... Could it be..."
Ronan gazed at the incomplete and hazy moon overhead, a speculation surfacing in his mind that he dared not accept.
"Did I just witness... A glimpse of the Otherworld that the coordinates correspond to?"
Because the mysterious beetle’s fluid was absorbed, the coordinates transformed into another mark, seemingly deepening the connection to the Otherworld space, allowing him to "peek" at some of the other world’s scenes through this mark.
If his guess was indeed correct, that explained why an entity as powerful as the Ancient Mirror Court abruptly terminated the experiment, deemed it Forbidden, even at the cost of destroying the World Stone, and hastily moved its entire force...
Because the aura that Ronan perceived, belonging to that world... was truly too terrifying.
He had merely glimpsed a sliver of residual image and was nearly beyond redemption.
"This matter must not be known to the Ancient Witch Revival Association... Once they discover this coordinate links to such a terrifying world, heaven knows what madness they might undertake..."
Ronan clenched his teeth as he pondered.
But with a change of thought, his expression turned somewhat ugly.
Because it’s possible... the Ancient Witch Revival Association had already been crystal clear, the sweep that started three years ago continues to this day, and yet no one knows how deeply the Association’s influence has infiltrated the Southern regions.
"Such a big trouble, I hope this trouble won’t drag me in again..."
Ronan composed his face, silently concealing the peculiar symbols on the back of his hand, and the mysterious beetle that caused the transformation of the coordinate mark was also tucked away once more.
He was already somewhat regretful for purchasing this beetle; some things, the more you know, the deeper the entanglement, the more worries it brings...
Ronan, in a grey Silver Robe, stood by the lake, silently watching as the huge body of the Ice Crystal Demon Snake slowly submerged into the water.
A thin layer of ice began to form on the surface of the lake, and the corpses of aquatic life frozen to death steadily floated up.
Ronan slightly furrowed his brow, wanted to say something, but it seemed he had no other better solution for the moment.
Now, he was very close to the Ancient Fairy City, with only a few days’ journey left.
The closer he got to the Ancient Fairy City, the more he could feel an intangible greater force converging ahead. Powerful Wizard characters were too many, prompting him to ultimately change his original plan and give up on taking the Ice Crystal Demon Snake with him.