Wizard Bloodline

The original effect of [State of Emptiness] was to grant Ronan a master-level sense of control, mindset, and overall perspective, allowing him to maintain absolute calm and clarity, as if observing everything from a third-party perspective in both cultivation and battle.

However, [Lake of No Thoughts] elevated this to a new level, eliminating all irrelevant emotions and thoughts.

In this state, Ronan felt as though another "self" had taken over his body, completely unaffected by sadness, fear, joy, or pain.

In this state, his tenfold power could potentially surge to twelvefold, or even twentyfold, in combat strength.

"But this state can't last too long."

"Maintaining it for an extended period would mean those 'frozen' emotions would permanently sink to the bottom of the Lake of No Thoughts, and I would gradually become numb, indifferent, my soul losing warmth."

Until he became nothing more than a puppet controlled by power, a walking shell.

This was not something Ronan wished to see.

Ronan quickly caught up with the spell ship, breaking through the protective rune shield, and landed on the deck.

There was no prohibition against leaving the ship during its journey, and many passengers would occasionally step off for fresh air. However, this came with risks, as the ship would not slow or stop for anyone, and leaving was at one's own risk.

Sitting on the floor of his room, Ronan replenished the burned-out Mind Captor Beast brain fluid extract and returned to meditation.

At this point, the progress bar on his character panel had nearly reached (110%).

In his mind, his mental power was expanding, like a thick water orb mixed with ice shards.

Ronan slowly dispersed his mental power, causing the light falling on him to bend at the edges of his skin, the air becoming viscous and distorted, like transparent oil paint.

The natural mental power fluctuations he emitted were far more powerful than those of a typical late first-level wizard on the verge of advancing to second-level.

However, it wasn't quite at the true second-level, sitting somewhere between late first-level and early second-level.

Ronan was confident that with the aid of the crystallization array, he could easily succeed in advancing to second-level.

"Let's see how far it can go."

Ronan thought, closing his character panel and continuing to meditate.

The efficiency of [Basic Meditation Technique] after reaching 500 points in mastery had greatly improved, and the next limit seemed within reach.

Three days later.

A cold beam of sunlight filtered through the window, gently caressing Ronan's face as he sat with closed eyes.

A knock sounded at the door.

Ronan opened his eyes, their brilliance quickly fading back to a serene lake blue.

He cleared everything from the floor, walked to the door, and opened it. A young crew member stood outside, bowing respectfully, and said, "Honored sir, we have entered White Stone Highlands."

"White Stone Highlands."

Ronan's eyes flickered as he quickly moved to the window, gazing out through the transparent glass.

Before him lay a majestic snowy mountain range, with a black river snaking through the white expanse. The river seemed to lead to a valley surrounded by peaks, beneath which traces of alpine vegetation could be seen.

"We'll soon arrive at White Stone Castle."

"How many people live in White Stone Castle?"

Ronan asked the young crew member.

The crew member thought for a moment and replied, "Counting the ordinary people living there, I'd estimate around sixty to seventy thousand."

Ronan was silent for a moment, then nodded.

After the crew member left, Ronan continued standing by the window, looking down.

In his hand was a snow-white letter, as thin as ice.

If given the chance, Ronan wouldn't mind delivering it to its intended recipient.

But in a place with sixty to seventy thousand people, searching for someone named "Soraya" with only a name was like finding a needle in a haystack.

He didn't even know if the person was still in White Stone Castle, or if they might have died long ago.

"Frost Leader... Iceflame Iris Lanstet Family."

Ronan pondered quietly.

Moments later, he shook his head, put the letter away, and began preparing to disembark.

Half a day later, the "Black Heron" guild's spell ship slowly descended onto a snowy clearing in the highland basin.

The wizards on board began to disembark.

At this moment, Ronan stood in his room, in front of a full-length mirror, examining himself.

In White Stone Castle, he didn't plan to present himself as a Silver Ring wizard.

He removed all Ring-style patterns from his gray metal robe, leaving only some elegant silver edging for simple decoration.

He adjusted the muscles on his cheeks to make his face appear gaunter, his features sharper, complemented by glacier-like light blue rune patterns, giving him a cold, aloof, mysterious aura.

His long white hair was braided into a thick plait, tied with silver metal cords, hanging down his back.

Though these were minor changes, Ronan looked entirely different, unrecognizable to anyone not intimately familiar with him.

"From now on, I'm called... Linus."

Ronan confirmed his new identity, deliberately disembarking alone after the other Ring wizards had left.

The mountainous valley housing White Stone Castle was larger than he had anticipated, with a circular town nestled in the valley, a river encircling it, and visible signs of excavation on the valley's hillsides.

Some buildings were nestled among the mountains, and Ronan could faintly see signs of a castle on a towering snowy peak opposite.

At the town entrance, people came and went, including many ordinary people dressed in thick fur robes against the cold.

The coexistence of official wizards and ordinary people was common in small wizard enclaves.

Although White Stone Castle had third-level wizards, it wasn't part of any single wizard faction. Instead, numerous wizard families thrived here, expanding through family lines, relying on ordinary people for growth.

With experience as a wanderer, Ronan knew that finding a local guide would make things much easier in a new place.

There were many such guides at White Stone Castle's gate, mostly ordinary people, occasionally wizard apprentices, huddling together like birds seeking warmth.

When Ronan expressed his desire to hire a guide, a crowd quickly formed around him.

His gaze swept the crowd, finally settling on a plain-looking middle-aged man in his forties with a thick beard.

After selecting the man as his guide, the others dispersed. The chosen man appeared elated, and Ronan noticed he kept glancing in one direction.

Following his gaze, Ronan saw a rotund woman with three children in a corner of the crowd, looking at them with joy.

It seemed they were the man's family.

"Does your family rely on you being a guide to make a living?"

Ronan asked casually.

Possibly due to his altered appearance, which seemed cold and unapproachable, the man, who introduced himself as Gru, answered each question with careful consideration.

"In this season, yes. The forests are too dangerous now... In two months, when the snow melts a bit, we usually go hunting."

Ronan nodded, noting the man showed signs of simple physical training.

"How much does it usually cost to hire you for a day?"

"Just two silver ears will do."

After answering, the man hesitated, then added, "One silver ear can buy us five days of bread. I usually get a job every three to five days, but half the pay goes to the 'Red Thorns Society'... It's under the Ababruk family."

The man's honesty was evident, eager to share all he knew.

Ronan guessed that "silver ears" referred to some form of currency, likely silver coins.

With many ordinary people in White Stone Castle, using common currency was normal, though he had no gold or silver on hand.

After a moment's thought, Ronan retrieved a low-grade magic stone from his spatial ring, crushed it, and casually tossed a few fragments to the man, saying, "First, help me find a good place for a wizard to stay. I might be here for six months or more."

"At once."

The man instinctively caught the magic stone fragments, growing excited upon realizing their nature.

He bowed deeply to Ronan, saying sincerely, "Thank you for your generosity, sir. The Griffin family will have a warm winter thanks to you..."

With that, he quickly stood and led Ronan into the town without delay.

Ronan noticed something about the man named Gru.

Due to the presence of wizard families, the gap between top-level wizards and ordinary people was vast, and the locals' respect and awe for wizards were particularly intense, with ordinary lives appearing more impoverished.

Multiple wizard families existed in White Stone Castle, inevitably leading to conflicts of interest. Even if the wizards above didn't intend to affect ordinary people, the cascading tensions were enough to exploit those below severely.

In this light, the Hoddam wizarding area seemed relatively comfortable.

Gru led Ronan to a place called the "Ice Bat Tavern," which also offered lodging. Additionally, it had higher-level guides, and the flow of information about White Stone Castle's affairs was quite efficient, meeting Ronan's requirements.

Prices here returned to normal wizarding area levels, with no gold or silver accepted. Room rates were one mid-grade magic stone per day, including three meals and additional intermediary services.

Ronan settled into the "Ice Bat Tavern" as a wandering ice wizard seeking "talent transplantation" in White Stone Castle.

He spent some time listening to the wizards' chatter in the tavern, during which a server brought him a local delicacy.

It was essentially ice-cured fish with coarse bread and a side salad.

Ronan tasted a few bites; the fish was extremely salty with a strong fishy taste, slightly mitigated by the salad dressing, but still unbearable for his heightened senses.

The only commendable aspect was the texture.

Lacking any appetite, Ronan returned to his room after realizing the tavern wizards mostly spoke the local dialect.

He tasked the "Ice Bat Tavern" staff with his objectives and awaited progress.

Though Kosti had given Ronan a two-and-a-half-month timeframe, he wasn't in a rush.

His purified mental power continued to grow, and he had plenty to occupy his time.

Five days later, Ronan began receiving responses to his inquiries.

Ice Bat Tavern.

Cold white sunlight filtered through a small, snow-covered window, casting faint spots on a black wood table.

Ronan, with ice-patterned cheeks and sharp eyes, clad in a black-gray robe with silver patterns, sat at the table, listening to a burly, brown-haired man respectfully report.

"The Turt family no longer exists?"

Ronan frowned at the man's words, glancing coldly at him.

"Don't try to deceive me. To my knowledge, the Turt family had a third-level wizard. How could they vanish in just a few decades?"

The man paled under Ronan's gaze, hurriedly explaining, "I wouldn't dare lie to you, sir.

The Turt family did have a third-level wizard, but they've been missing for nearly a century.

Without a core pillar, and having made too many enemies, they left White Stone Castle decades ago to avoid total destruction.

You can ask any elder about this."

Ronan's expression darkened.

He hadn't expected such difficulties upon arrival.

Perhaps Kosti hadn't left the tower in ages, or she was simply unaware, assuming her friend had merely lost contact.

With the introduction letter useless, Ronan would have to find a way to undergo "talent transplantation" on his own.

"Sir, regarding the person named Soraya, we've gathered some information for you to review."

The man handed Ronan a rune stone for recording.

Ronan glanced at it, nodding without much interest.

Searching for Soraya was a side task, like finding a needle in a haystack, with no certainty of success.

Seeing Ronan silent, the brown-haired man cautiously spoke, "Sir, if you're only interested in 'talent transplantation,' you don't have to go through the Turt family. We can assist you."

"Oh?"

Ronan's eyes flickered with interest, surprised by the man's offer.

Encouraged by Ronan's reaction, the man quickly explained.

Listening to the man's explanation, Ronan discovered that White Stone Castle's unique "ice talent transplantation" was entirely different from what he had imagined.

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