Ronan could sense the golden ladybug slowly siphoning his soul power.
But the amount being drawn was very small, and because of the existence of the Master-Servant Contract, he could interrupt this action at any time.
It seemed like a way for the other party to recover their energy.
Ronan didn’t "interrupt" the other party’s siphoning, and instead felt relieved.
The fact that even simple consciousness communication could exhaust his energy, requiring dependence on him to "barely survive," obviously meant that Alazan’s soul had weakened to an extremely low point. No wonder he was willing to sign the Master-Servant Contract.
Ronan wasn’t particularly averse to having an ancient grandpa’s soul inside his body.
Alazan, as the former head of ancient spirit witches, possessed not only spells and soul legacies, but also experience and wisdom, which were enormous wealth in themselves.
Now that the contract was signed, the initiative was entirely in Ronan’s hands. If he could think of a way, he might be able to "extract" more benefits from Alazan than he originally imagined.
"Respect can be given on the surface, but one must remain vigilant in secret..."
"An old fossil, who has lived for untold ages, with hidden cunning far beyond my own..."
The current situation between Ronan and Alazan might not exactly be described as "negotiating with a tiger to remove its skin."
However, he never believed in free lunch from the sky; the more advantageous it seemed for him, the more cautious he needed to be.
After calmly thinking it through, Ronan took out a paper-folded bluebird from his Space Ring, gently rubbed it in his hand, and soon the paper bird "came to life," transforming into a real bluebird that quickly flew out of the cave.
This was given to him by Kosti when he left the South, used as a communication tool to contact the Wizard of the Elemental Magic Ring.
Now that matters over in Ewaqu were settled, Ronan should prepare to head for the Elemental Magic Ring.
He had checked the map; his current location was very close to the Life Royal Court Empire, but he didn’t know where exactly the Elemental Magic Ring was within the Life Court. If he were to travel on foot, he wasn’t sure how long it would take.
The bluebird flew out and would return after receiving a reply.
This process varied in time depending on the distance, and was far less convenient and quick than the Communication Stone. But it had the advantage of not relying on a Communication Tower; no matter the place or distance, messages could be reliably delivered.
After sending the communication, Ronan examined his current situation again.
The physical injuries had mostly healed, but the consumed life energy had not fully recovered.
The battle in the Spirit Space proved that using the [Shell Palace] to strengthen the body was indeed a feasible approach, with results far exceeding Ronan’s original expectations.
And this was just the [One Layered Shell Palace]. Theoretically, the [Shell Palace] system derived from the "Zhi Bone Demon Snail" could be stacked indefinitely.
[One Layered Shell Palace], [Second Level Shell Palace]..[Ten-layered Coiling Palace], [Hundred Layers of Shell Palace]..even [Ten Thousand Layered Shell Palace]!
The demon snail labyrinth, endless!
With the growth of Strength, the legacies that Ronan now needed to practice, those on his character panel and beyond, were increasing.
Time was always precious, and as he settled down to prepare for training, his mind was irresistibly drawn to the black dandelion that had arrived with Alazan in the Consciousness Space.
After hesitating, Ronan couldn’t resist his intense curiosity and gently touched it with his consciousness.
A black petal of the dandelion fell off.
In an instant, Ronan’s consciousness was quickly "absorbed" by that petal.
A series of crisp children’s voices called around his ears. Ronan forced his eyes open.
The warm sunlight shone directly on his face, and the light was particularly dazzling.
"He’s awake! He’s awake!!"
"Scared me; I thought this guy was dead!"
"What an idiot, actually fell off a haystack and landed on his head.."
Amidst cheers mixed with disdain and mockery, Ronan finally saw his surroundings clearly.
He was lying on a straw mat made of a pile of wheat straw, surrounded by dirty, malnourished young faces.
One small face covered in red freckles was so close that the thick yellow snot under its nose was almost dripping onto his nose.
Ronan stood up suddenly, and this movement feedback an extreme discomfort and weakness.
Soon, he was shocked to discover that he had "shrunk" back into a child’s body.
His limbs were thin, looking at most like a six or seven-year-old.
Ronan’s face turned incredibly ugly.
He gritted his teeth and spat out a name.
Suddenly "reborn" as a child around six or seven years old, he didn’t need to guess; it was obviously Alazan’s doing.
Before he lost consciousness, he had just tried to touch the black dandelion flower representing the soul legacy left by Alazan in his Consciousness Space.
He thought he was already careful enough against Alazan, but still fell into his trap!
"What’s this guy saying? Could his brain have been damaged in the fall?"
"Oh! The pig farmer’s little Ronan’s brain is damaged! The pig farmer’s little Ronan’s brain is damaged!"
"Looks like we’ll have to call him Fool Ronan from now on!"
The circle of children, seeing Ronan’s abnormality, all showed schadenfreude expressions, laughed around him for a while, and then ran joyfully into the distance.