Chapter 261: [The Sound of Apocalypse], [First Spiral Palace], Arrival at the Central Region

"The Comb Bone Demon Snail is not a creature of this world."

Ronan had obtained some fragmented pieces of information when the strange snail inside the Ghost Crying Fish King erupted, learning that the Comb Bone Demon Snail is a creature from another world.

This creature feeds on the souls of the dead and can emit terrifying sound waves.

In the fragmented memories Ronan received, this demonic snail once dominated an entire world. Any being capable of ruling an entire world is no simple existence. The strange snails currently living in the Green Abyssal Trench are far from being true Comb Bone Demon Snails; at best, they are "defective products" with a trace of the Comb Bone Demon Snail's bloodline.

This is why they can only survive by parasitizing the Ghost Crying Fish. The true Comb Bone Demon Snail's ability to convert the power of wraiths into terrifying sound waves has degenerated into extracting the host's life force. Although it can still unleash a terrifying sound wave attack, it cannot withstand the recoil and dies after a single burst.

The snail king Ronan last saw had a relatively high bloodline concentration. Its shell was burdened with the lingering souls of the sea clan, and it even retained fragments of its ancestors' memories.

This is also why Ronan was able to obtain the rune pattern from it.

Perhaps it wasn't originally like this, but for a wizard, runes are the best language to interpret all things.

"The impure bloodline of the Comb Bone Demon Snail has transformed its talent from extracting the power of wraiths to extracting life force. For me, this is actually the most suitable."

The way the Comb Bone Demon Snail extracts life force to unleash its power is far more sophisticated than Ronan's own crude technique of compressing and releasing life orbs. Once mastered, Ronan's attempt at the "Complete Giant Fiend Transformation" would undoubtedly result in a significant boost in combat power.

"Coincidentally, my mastery of [Ascetic Body Forging] has surpassed 1,500 points, and the [Ancient Power] rune has advanced to a higher level. My [Immaculate Body] is starting to fall short. If the [Spiral Palace] method truly works, it might just compensate for this."

Ronan's expression was indifferent. Even he hadn't expected that advancing the [Ancient Power] rune to a higher level would place such a heavy burden on his body.

The loss of luster in his white hair and the large quantities of healing potions he purchased from the Arcane Workshop were all consequences of the severe depletion of vitality caused by activating the advanced [Ancient Power].

Thinking of this, Ronan attempted to activate his [Immaculate Body].

"Crack, crack, crack—"

Amid the familiar sounds of bones and flesh colliding and compressing, Ronan's body, seated cross-legged on the carpeted floor, gradually began to rise, his entire frame growing stronger and more imposing.

Everything was as it had been before, but on the palms of his hands, which lay flat on his knees, black patterns began to spread like vines or flames, rapidly growing along his arms and across his entire body.

"Boom!"

An invisible aura erupted from his body, like an intangible millstone, squeezing the void and creating layers of folds. The furniture and decorations in the room were destroyed as layers of rune arrays lit up rapidly.

"Whoosh—"

Ronan stood up and, in a flash, quickly appeared outside the airship.

At this moment, the airship had already completely left the territory of the Arcane Workshop and was flying over a vast, desolate, and uninhabited wasteland.

Ronan stood in mid-air under the dim setting sun, with the desolate sky as his backdrop. The black patterns that had been rapidly spreading on his body had now reached his chest.

His long white hair billowed high behind him, and a dark halo surrounded Ronan, resembling a twisted black sun that seemed to devour the brilliance of the void.

The terrifying aura continued to surge, and when it reached a certain peak— "Boom!"

A significant portion of Ronan's upper body exploded, and immediately after, those black patterns "grew" out from his shattered flesh, dancing wildly like flames or vines, while also releasing large clusters of writhing black threads.

"Swish—"

Ronan's fingers formed a claw, and with an indifferent gaze, he made a slashing motion forward.

The next second.

"Crack—"

A pitch-black, tree-branch-like lightning seemed to streak across the void in front of him, followed by a sudden distortion and collapse of the void at a distant location. On the ground below, several deep and narrow trenches silently appeared.

"Whoosh—"

After completing all this, Ronan seemed to have exhausted all his strength, completely exiting the activated state of his [Immaculate Body].

Breathing weakly, he flew back into the airship, covered in blood and horrifying wounds. He took out a large amount of healing potions from his space ring and poured them into his mouth as if they were free.

As the healing potions were consumed, the residual vitality in his body began to take effect. Fresh flesh buds grew on his wounds, slowly healing them. When all of Ronan's wounds had healed, he seemed to have "aged" by more than ten years. His white hair hung like withered grass over his shoulders, his back hunched, and even his once smooth, jade-like skin had lost its luster, now covered with faint, fine wrinkles.

"The third power that has reached the level of 'Taboo'..."

Ronan looked at the patterns on his palm, his eyes filled with indescribable complexity.

He had never expected that the [Ancient Power] rune, after advancing to a higher level, would bring such a tremendous increase in power.

So much so that it easily broke through to a level equivalent to the realm of Spell Taboo, and this wasn't even the full extent of the [Ancient Power]. He didn't dare to fully unleash its "power."

When the [Ancient Power] rune first appeared, Ronan speculated whether the physical tempering of [Ascetic Body Forging] was merely a "preparation" for the emergence of the [Ancient Power], allowing the practitioner to withstand this terrifying force.

It was as if the [Ancient Power] was a blade, and the [Immaculate Body] was its sheath.

The problem Ronan now faced was that the blade was too sharp—so sharp that his sheath could barely contain it.

As the [Ancient Power] rune grew, his body was continuously destroyed, and the abundant vitality within him was almost entirely used for repairs, leading to severe depletion of vitality.

To solve this problem.

Either he needed to increase the storage of life energy within his life orb, thereby speeding up the body's repair process.

Or he needed to reinforce the sheath itself.

"With six percent concentration of the Ancient Frost Hydra Bloodline in my body, my physical strength should naturally be far superior to those who practice Ascetic Body Forging."

Otherwise, Ronan wouldn't have found the "Complete Giant Fiend Transformation" state insufficiently powerful, limiting the full potential of his perfect physique.

"Could it be due to the lack of a true inheritance? Perhaps I've been missing a crucial step or item in my practice of Ascetic Body Forging?"

Ronan once again recalled the unusual "Soul Ignition Potion" that Anglie had given him long ago. Back when his Ascetic Body Forging proficiency was stuck, he had considered investigating this matter.

However, he later discovered that the method of "enduring damage" could promote the continued growth of his Ascetic Body Forging proficiency. Since he encountered no further obstacles, he gradually forgot about it.

Now that Ascetic Body Forging has hit another bottleneck, Ronan has a premonition that the key still lies in that "Soul Ignition Potion."

But after the Genius Competition, Anglie disappeared without a trace. Now that Ronan is about to head to the central region, finding him would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Even if he did find Anglie, there's no guarantee that the latter would help Ronan solve his dilemma.

Thus, Ronan can only pin his hopes on the second solution for now.

"The [Spiral Palace], derived from the first half of the Comb Bone Demon Snail's innate ability, utilizes a special energy guidance method to perfectly mobilize the life force within the body.

At this stage, my body should be able to achieve a significant enhancement."

The Comb Bone Demon Snails parasitizing the Ghost Crying Fish died because they had to immediately convert the mobilized life force into sound waves and unleash them violently. Unable to withstand the terrifying explosion of sound waves, their bodies naturally burst and perished.

However, Ronan doesn't need to perform the latter steps; he only requires the method by which the Comb Bone Demon Snails mobilize life force.

This approach happens to perfectly solve the problem of the Immaculate Body being unable to withstand the backlash of high-level Ancient Power.

Of course, this is merely Ronan's theoretical speculation. Whether it's feasible and what the actual effects would be can only be determined after he truly attempts it.

"There are still five months before I reach the central region to fulfill my appointment with Evaque.

During these five months, I can try to construct the [Spiral Palace] system of the Comb Bone Demon Snail within my body."

Ronan visualized the [Spiral Palace] rune in his mind, its profound complexity resembling a natural maze.

He doesn't need to fully construct this maze in one go; he only needs to first create a rudimentary outline of the maze, which can then be gradually expanded and filled in later.

As for the latter half of the Comb Bone Demon Snail's innate ability, the "Sound Wave Burst" rune that is originally integrated with the [Spiral Palace], Ronan temporarily named it—[Apocalyptic Sound].

This part of the energy burst system is equally profound and complex, arguably the true essence of the Comb Bone Demon Snail's innate ability.

Combined with necromantic spells, it might spark unexpected results.

Coincidentally, Ronan possesses necromantic spell inheritances from the "Bones' Death Knell," with both Ahashiah, the "Arrow Embryo" for [Ghost Arrow], and the Square Horn Bell serving as ready-made materials for spell experiments.

He would have to wait until he had some free time to slowly conduct his research.

"Five months."

Ronan gently wiped away the remnants of the healing potion from the corner of his mouth, took one last glance at his character panel, and then slowly closed his eyes.

Thanks to his initial comprehension of the [Ancient Star Meditation Technique], his ability to finely control his spiritual power had greatly improved. Otherwise, constructing such a profound and complex runic system like the [Spiral Palace] within his body would have been extremely difficult.

This also made the plan to split and inscribe the [Law-Controlling] runes much easier.

Five months later.

The shade of the trees was like an ocean, their canopies interweaving into an endless expanse of dark green. Several winding streams, like silver ribbons, flowed quietly at the boundary between the mountains and the valley.

The outline of the mountain range was faintly visible in the distance, with sunlight piercing through the thin mist that lingered in the mountains. Birds took flight, and the sounds of nature echoed melodiously.

In this serene, mysterious, and primal valley surrounded by steep mountains, a tattered airship, seemingly composed of several deflated hot air balloons, wobbled into view.

The airship stopped near a stream, and a faint glow of runes flashed. A tall and slender figure emerged from the airship.

It was a handsome young man with white hair and black robes, exuding a calm demeanor, as if he had just awakened from a long slumber. As he came into contact with the sunlight, he instinctively squinted his eyes, a faint look of disorientation on his face.

"Is this the Central Continent?"

Ronan stepped onto solid ground, bent down, and picked up a handful of soil, rubbing it slowly between his fingers.

He carefully savored the first sensations this land brought to him.

The concentration of free energy particles in the air was much denser than in the southern region, about two to three times more. If the Upper Ring Continent could be likened to a sunken "valley," then the Central Continent was located at the very center of this valley. Ronan straightened up and walked to the stream, scooping some water to splash on his face.

The forest breeze brushed against his wet cheeks, bringing a cool sensation. Ronan gently licked the droplets of stream water from his lips, tasting the long-lost natural sweetness.

Five months had passed.

Time had flown by so quickly.

He felt as if he hadn't accomplished much, yet five months had already slipped away.

As his strength increased, Ronan now felt more and more that time was insufficient. Any research on spells or runes seemed to make time flow away like the ceaseless stream before him.

Although Ronan was still young and had plenty of time to spare, he couldn't shake off a strong sense of urgency.

He began to admire Herams even more. Legend had it that Herams had risen from a wizard apprentice to a figure at the pinnacle of the Upper Ring, reaching the apex of the Dawn, in less than a hundred years.

"Fortunately, the initial framework of the [Spiral Palace] is now complete."

Ronan looked inward, and at the center of his life sphere, he saw a translucent "blue spiral" composed of countless light bands.

Its shape somewhat resembled that of a comb shell, but upon closer inspection, its interior resembled an incredibly complex and intricate miniature maze.

Ronan had spent almost the entire five months constructing the [Spiral Palace]. He had stopped practicing any spells and even reduced the frequency of his [Ancient Star Meditation Technique] sessions.

The complete [Spiral Palace] was infinitely more complex than the "Blue Spiral" before his eyes. Ronan had only completed the first step, so he named it [First Spiral Palace].

The completion of [First Spiral Palace] occurred on the third day of the airship's journey into the central continent, and Ronan hadn't even had the chance to test it yet.

This long journey from the south to the central region had been relatively smooth overall.

Along the way, they encountered five minor incidents, but Ronan managed to resolve them with his strength, passing through without major danger.

However, the long-range airship he was on had suffered severe damage and was now nearly beyond repair. It was nothing short of a miracle that it had carried him to the meeting point with Evaque.

"First, contact Evaque."

Ronan paused by the stream, gathered some dry branches, and lit a bonfire. He then took out a bottle of powder Evaque had given him back in the Uta tribe and tossed it into the fire, murmuring a low incantation.

Moments later, with a sudden "bang," the flames before Ronan surged upward, reaching several meters high. The orange flames turned a ghostly green, intertwining and finally coalescing into a rugged, masculine face.

"Damien, thank you for keeping the appointment..."

Evaque's voice emerged from the fiery face, mingling with the crackling of burning branches, resonating deeply.

(End of Chapter)