"This is the entrance to the corridor. It's not particularly dangerous, just troublesome. Further in, you'll encounter more aggressive 'Spirits of Gu Yinduo.'"
"What are the Spirits of Gu Yinduo?"
"They are a type of spell lifeform formed by the echoes of spells, energy particles, and fragments of runes under specific conditions."
Xigel paused, then added, "Gu Yinduo was the name of the wizard faction that once occupied the Silent Corridor. It was an ancient school of sound magic comparable to the Spirit Lake. Yet, in a single night, they were utterly annihilated. Not a single wizard from the entire faction survived."
"What force could destroy a powerful faction comparable to the Spirit Lake in just one night?"
Ronan was slightly moved by this revelation.
Xigel, however, remained much calmer. "A curse, a formidable enemy... who knows?"
He stopped communicating with Ronan through their mental link and began walking forward.
Ronan followed behind Xigel as the two of them proceeded along the massive corridor. Along the way, Ronan once again caught sight of the projection that had previously triggered his "outburst."
It was a scene of two wizards in light yellow robes conversing, as if they were real people. One of them even turned his head slightly, giving Ronan a fleeting glance.
As they passed through an ancient, dilapidated hall, another projection appeared.
In the center of the hall stood a magnificent long table draped with silk, laden with an array of bizarre and exotic delicacies. Seated around the table were figures clad in robes of various colors.
The aroma of golden roasted lamb wafted from silver platters, and the red wine in the glasses shimmered with enchanting hues. The figures at the table clinked their glasses, while violins and cellos floated in the air, playing on their own. It was clearly a lively wizard banquet, yet not a single sound could be heard. The entire hall was shrouded in an eerie silence.
Ronan followed Xigel as they walked straight through the center of the hall. The luxurious and bustling scene tore apart like paper as they passed, dissolving into dust and smoke, leaving behind only the decayed reality.
The Silent Corridor possessed the miraculous ability to preserve projections and sounds, but these too required a long time to evolve.
Thus, what they encountered now were mostly remnants left behind by the wizards of Gu Yinduo who had once lived here.
Exiting the hall from the other side, the scene before them opened up somewhat.
It was hard to tell whether it was a garden or a courtyard, but everywhere there were broken walls and ruins. In their line of sight stood some ancient structures with peculiar architectural styles.
Xigel stopped at a certain spot, deliberately making a faint sound.
"Rustle—"
In an instant, several beams of light abruptly entered Ronan's field of vision.
Xigel stood still, his expression calm as he released the mental energy of the Fourth Dawn from his body.
In the distorted void created by pure mental energy, Ronan saw several strange creatures suspended in mid-air.
Their body contours resembled cats, but they had as many as seven or eight legs, as if composed of countless undulating light patterns, with traces of runes constantly flickering.
"These are the Spirits of Gu Yinduo.
These few are quite weak, probably only at the first level."
Xigel glanced at Ronan indifferently, then with a surge of mental energy, the Spirits of Gu Yinduo that had been frozen in mid-air silently disintegrated. All that remained were a few dull gray orbs that gently fell into Xigel's palm.
"The core of the Ancient Spirit of Gu Yinduo is essentially energy. To a certain extent, it can be used like magic stones or crystals. If you're lucky enough, you might even inherit the sound-based spells of Gu Yinduo."
Ronan's eyes flickered almost imperceptibly upon hearing this.
Sigel strode forward, continuing his simple telepathic communication with Ronan as they walked.
"This is the inner corridor of the Silent Hallway, once the residence of the ancient wizards of Gu Yinduo. It's relatively much safer here. In the outer corridor, the spirits of Gu Yinduo are everywhere, and they might attack you even if you make no sound. Unless you have the strength of a fourth-level wizard, it's best not to venture there. Most wizards who are qualified to explore the Silent Hallway gather in the outer corridor."
Ronan listened attentively.
The two of them walked swiftly through the quiet courtyard, passing one ancient building after another.
As they turned a corner in the corridor, two figures suddenly appeared in Ronan's field of vision, one after the other.
At first, Ronan thought they were shadows, but upon closer inspection, he realized they were wizards who had come in to explore, just like them.
Coincidentally, these two wizards were also from Spirit Lake.
A man and a woman, both wearing pure black Wizard Robes adorned with moon patterns.
When Ronan saw the female wizard with her emerald-green hair braided into long strands, he was momentarily stunned.
He had seen this woman once before, during the entrance selection for Spirit Lake. She was the genius with an eight-star soul aptitude who had been recruited by the Black Moon School.
She obviously recognized him too. Her plain face showed a hint of surprise, but she quickly averted her gaze with an indifferent expression.
The two groups unexpectedly bumped into each other and all came to a halt.
Sigel and the fourth-level wizard leading the Black Moon School exchanged silent glances. Then, the latter led the green-braided woman quietly into a nearby building.
Sigel immediately changed direction.
"There are only a few functioning ascension arrays left in the inner corridor area. They got here first and claimed this one... Let's head to the next place."
Ronan blinked, realizing that the green-braided woman was also here to attempt a breakthrough to the fourth level, just like him.
With her eight-star aptitude, she was already at the late stage of the third level. Given the timing, it made sense.
The silent journey continued.
At one point, Ronan suddenly spoke telepathically, "Do you not like Lord Mishia very much?"
Sigel's footsteps came to an abrupt halt.
He turned around expressionlessly, his cold gaze fixed on Ronan.
"I take back my previous assessment of you."
"You're no different from those other fools."
A cold smile appeared on Sigel's face. "Go back and tell Mishia that since I've agreed to his request, I will naturally fulfill it. There's no need to use such clumsy methods to test me."
With that, he forcefully severed the telepathic connection with Ronan and walked ahead on his own.
Ronan watched Sigel's retreating figure, a faint look of contemplation on his face.
Because of his one question, Sigel's attitude toward him had done a complete 180, reverting to how it was at the beginning—or even colder.
From that point on, there was no further communication between them.
Until he led Ronan into a building, passed through several halls, and finally came to a complete stop in a room that seemed to be set up like an altar.
"This magic array can still function. If it doesn't meet your requirements, let Mishia find another solution for you. Anyway, I've done my part."
Siegel no longer concealed his slight disgust towards Ronan.
"Set up a few soundproofing arrays yourself. Although they can't block all the noise, they can at least reduce the number of sound spirits that come rushing in."
"The fourth-tier array I've set up for you should be enough to last until your promotion is over."
"If it's not, then pray that I can arrive in time after receiving the message."
After saying this, Siegel didn't look at Ronan again and turned to leave the room.
Ronan didn't care about Siegel's attitude at all.
On the contrary, the "malice" Siegel showed towards him because of Mishia made him feel more at ease.
"Is this array acceptable?"
Following Siegel's advice, Ronan set up layers of soundproofing arrays in the room while asking Alazan in his mind.
"It barely meets the standard of an intermediate promotion array... Are you sure you don't want to wait?"
Alazan replied.
"No."
Ronan shook his head.
Although a higher-level Dawn Promotion Array could solve the issue of his soul remnants in one go, the requirements were too stringent and too far from his current capabilities.
He didn't have much time to stay at the third level for long.
After setting up the soundproofing arrays, Ronan took out the magic crystals given by Mishia and embedded them one by one into the slots of the promotion array.
Once everything was assembled, he found that there were three extra magic crystals, which was an unexpected bonus.
The entire promotion array slowly began to operate as the energy from the magic crystals was injected, and light started to emanate.
Ronan stepped into the array, removed his Wizard Robe, along with the Ithium.
Then he took out a variety of boxes and bottles, applying some of the ointments and powders to his body or placing them under his tongue.
These were all auxiliary materials to help his soul withstand the pressure during the promotion.
Ronan didn't use the potion for physical protection just yet. He still intended to try to endure it first. If the Ascetic Body Forging could break through under the energy impact during the promotion, that would be ideal.
If not, he could always use it later.
With everything prepared, Ronan felt a vast amount of free energy particles rapidly gathering outside the array.
Visible energy vortices began to appear one after another in the void before him, and gradually, the sound of waves could be heard.
Ronan spread out his mental energy and faintly sensed a similar energy torrent flowing towards a distant direction. He guessed it was probably the green-braided witch he had seen earlier, who was also undergoing a breakthrough.
As the array operated, the faint sounds of the energy flow were blocked by the soundproofing arrays, but soon, faint light shadows began to appear silently at the room's entrance.
They were the ancient sound spirits, drawn by the noise.
They came directly towards Ronan, their demeanor fierce, but they were blocked by the outermost fourth-tier array, like a group of wild cats scratching at a glass window, leaving ripples on the energy barrier of the array, unable to affect Ronan in any way.
Feeling reassured, Ronan slowly closed his eyes and entered a meditative state.
In the state of the Lake of No Thoughts, all his distracting thoughts were frozen, sinking deep into the bottom of his heart.
Within his consciousness space, fourteen Mental Power Crystals, along with the white cocoon of light formed from practicing the Secret Chrysalis, slowly converged toward the center of the space under the control of his mental power.
They soon clustered together.
Ronan did not stop but continued to attempt "compressing" the fifteen crystals.
This was the first step required for a third-level wizard to advance to the fourth level—condensing all the Mental Power Crystals into a single mass, then, under the influence of the Soul Rune and the burning of soul power, seeking the true self and nurturing the Primal Spirit!