Chapter 130 Choice, Secret
The window on the carriage was quietly opened, and a young wizard with white hair, handsome appearance, and cold and arrogant temperament casually peeked out through the window.
It was Ronan who was rushing to Cold Stone Manor, preparing to receive the "talent transplant".
"You have to take their special carriage and be picked up and dropped off by the servants of the manor. You will not be allowed to visit if you come alone."
"The family has declined to this point, but it still adheres to this decadent etiquette."
Ronan shook his head and gently closed the car window.
Not long after Barisha helped him contact Hanshi Manor, he got a response from the other party.
However, the specific matters regarding the "talent transplant" had to be discussed in person with the rumored Mrs. Liwei after others arrived at the manor.
Hanshi Manor is located on a snow-capped mountain dozens of kilometers away from Baishi Castle. If you use a flying prop to fly there directly, it will take about ten minutes to arrive. However, the other party insisted that Ronan take the carriage specially provided by the manor, possibly for reservations. The last bit of dignity that belonged to the former wizard family.
Ronan sat on the rickety carriage, casually flipping through the introduction in his hand about the talents and abilities of several second-level monsters that Cold Stone Manor could provide.
He already had a few preliminary choices in his mind, so he waited until he got to the place and made his final decision after learning more about it.
The carriage provided by Hanshi Manor is not too slow. The carriage is pulled by a warm-blooded horse unique to the White Rock Mountains. It is very large, almost two people tall.
The hooves are wide and suitable for running on the snow. The body is white, but the color of the eyes and mane is light blue, and the appearance is also excellent.
After spending about three times the flight time, Ronan finally arrived at his destination.
After getting off the carriage with his robe in hand, Ronan unexpectedly discovered that he was stepping on solid frozen soil. Looking around, there was no snow in this area.
The vast snow and fog covered the mountains, wrapping around a white mountain villa not far away like a circulation, with the outline of a huge castle.
Outside the manor, there are some large and small blue-gray stones frozen by frost. On the stones are groups of gray-blue long-tailed pine pigeons, which is probably the origin of the name of Cold Stone Manor.
At the entrance of the manor, there was a small patch of bare gray forest covered with ice. Ronan saw several carriages similar to the one he was riding parked beside the forest.
"Is anyone else coming to visit Mrs. Livi?"
Ronan asked the coachman leading the way, who nodded respectfully and replied: "Yes, sir, three adults have arrived at the manor before you."
It seems that the reputation of Cold Stone Manor is indeed good, and the rumors of monsters circulating nearby do not make the wizard community take it too seriously.
Ronan nodded and walked towards the manor.
There were servants waiting at the entrance of the manor, specifically waiting for Ronan.
Ronan followed the manor's valet and strolled towards a white-spire castle in front of him.
Desolation can be seen everywhere in the manor, and some withered and dead plants can be faintly seen on the frost-frozen land.
Ronan used his spiritual power to pull one out, put it in his hand and rubbed it gently.
It's iris.
A rather hardy species of iris.
Unfortunately, the climate temperature in Baishi Gaoling is too low. Without the maintenance of the rune circle, even the cold-resistant irises will die quickly in the ice and snow.
However, it is not very common among ice wizards to like iris...
Ronan was thinking casually and unknowingly approached the huge white castle.
The tall manservant who led the way pushed open the castle door, stopped and made a respectful gesture to invite Ronan to enter.
The light red carpet covered the entire hall from the entrance of the castle. The light inside the castle was bright, and the temperature was not much different from outside.
At first glance, the various interior decorations are in a very traditional wizarding aristocratic style.
"Is it Mr. Linus?!"
A woman's voice came from far away from the castle.
Ronan had long noticed that there were several people sitting in the castle hall. When he opened the door and came in, they all looked at him subconsciously.
"yes."
Ronan responded that before he came, he had used fragments of mirror tools to recreate the aura of an ordinary late-level first-level wizard to cover up the powerful mental fluctuations in his body that were different from ordinary people.
"We've all been waiting for you...you're finally here!"
The woman who spoke quickly came towards Ronan, her voice full of joy.
This is a woman wearing an exquisite blue dress. She has blond hair and green eyes. There are faint crow's feet on both sides of the eyes, but she looks mature and charming.
The woman exuded the aura of a mid-level second-level wizard, but when facing Ronan, she did not have the slightest reserve or arrogance of a senior wizard. Instead, she was extremely friendly, as if she and Ronan were good friends who had not seen each other for many years.
“Service attitude is pretty good”
Ronan made a silent evaluation in his mind, and then asked politely: "Is it Mrs. Li Wei?"
"Yes, you guessed it right."
A beautiful witch named Lady Livi walked up, naturally took one of Ronan's arms, and led him affectionately towards the gathering place in the castle hall.
"Your Excellency is really strong, unlike ordinary wizards."
Mrs. Li Wei took Ronan's hand and squeezed his arm twice, letting out a sweet smile. The hot breath from her mouth sprayed on Ronan's earlobe, making Ronan feel helpless. feeling of discomfort.
However, Mrs. Li Wei seemed to be quite measured. After bringing Ronan closer, she gently let go of his hand, and then briefly introduced to the people present: "Mr. Linus has the same purpose as you all in coming to Cold Stone Manor."
Some of the people on the field nodded slightly to Ronan, while others glanced at him briefly and turned away.
This was not an exchange meeting between wizards. They were just "customers" who came to the door. Mrs. Liwei's behavior of proactively introducing people made people feel strange.
Ronan found a chair and sat down.
There are a total of four wizards on the field who have come to receive the "talent transplant" like him, one is a second-level wizard, and the remaining three are late first-level wizards like him.
Mrs. Liwei is the strongest among everyone on the field.
"Now that all the guests are here, I will take Mr. Yukik in first and let the others rest for a while. The waiting time will not be too long."
Mrs. Livi said to everyone with a smile, and then clapped her hands. Servants on both sides of the castle came out and gave snacks and tea to the wizards on the scene.
And Yukik, who was named by Mrs. Liwei, is the second-level wizard among the guests.
He was a thin man with cold eyes and sparse hair. He stood up quickly and followed Mrs. Livi towards the back of the castle hall.
Ronan sat in his seat and passed the time in boredom. The other wizards around him seemed to have no desire to communicate with others, and everyone sat quietly.
The snacks and tea served by the castle servants were all cold food, and Ronan was not even interested in taking a bite.
He began to observe the interior of the castle.
They were currently in the center of the castle hall, with a spiral staircase on both sides leading to the second floor.
Ronan's eyes followed the stairs to the second floor, and found that the dark corridor on the second floor was filled with portraits of people.
All are women.
She has a graceful and noble temperament, and her appearance is somewhat similar to Mrs. Li Wei.
Some of the women in the portraits are still moving, rubbing their cheeks, blinking or even yawning. In such a quiet environment, it feels quite eerie and permeating.
Ronan was not surprised.
He has heard of this special portrait painting technique, which is a kind of wizard's alchemy method. It can preserve part of the character's charm during life, making it look particularly lifelike.
Some are more extreme, and even the entire soul will live in it after death, and it can remain for up to a thousand years.
“In a family where only women are eligible to inherit, what is the role of men in the family?
Only for procreation? "
Ronan suddenly understood why Mrs. Liwei's behavior seemed a bit "slutty".
This may be the way the Cold Stone Manor family continues, by obtaining the seeds of powerful wizards through various means to cultivate the descendants of their own family.
Now that the family's talents are withering, there is no need to be reserved in some aspects.
Ronan sat in his seat and made random guesses. This was also a way to pass the boring time.
The ancient clock in the castle was ticking, and no one knew how long it had passed before two figures returned to the hall.
It was Mrs. Livi and the second-level wizard Yukik who had left before.
Yukik, who was still at the early stage of Level 2 when he just left, now began to emit mental fluctuations at the middle stage of Level 2, but it was a little unstable, and it looked like he had been forcibly improved by some means.
But Yukik still looked quite happy, and he couldn't hide the excitement on his cold face.
What surprised Ronan was that Yukik, who had a rather cold and arrogant attitude before, seemed to have a huge change in his attitude towards Mrs. Livi after coming back from the trip.
Faintly, he showed some kind of heartfelt respect for him, and this kind of respect even seemed a bit like flattery.
And his appearance has also undergone some subtle changes - his originally sparse hair has become thicker and thicker, his thin body seems to be stronger, and his body exudes a slight heat, which is the result of surging blood and enhanced physical strength. Performance.
Ronan is a master in the art of body training and is extremely sensitive to the changes in his opponent's body.
"Will talent transplantation affect physical fitness?"
Ronan frowned slightly, with deep doubts in his heart, but his face remained calm.
The return of the two made the wizards waiting on the field sit upright.
"As agreed, Mr. Yukik, you need to live in the manor for two months."
"clear."
Yukik, who had just completed the ceremony and had been promoted in some aspects, nodded respectfully to Mrs. Li Wei, and then, led by several castle servants, left the hall and went to another part of the castle.
"So...whose turn is it next?"
After sending Yukik away, Mrs. Liwei looked at the remaining people in the hall with a habitual smile.
A dark-skinned female wizard stood up and followed Mrs. Livi away.
In the next time, almost every hour or two, Mrs. Livi will come back.
Some of the wizards who left with her came back with her, and some didn't.
Mrs. Liwei's explanation for this was that those people left directly after performing the "talent transplant".
There is nothing suspicious about this. After all, the wizards present are not friends with each other, and there is no need to come back and see them again.
finally.
It's Ronan's turn.
In the softly lit corridor, Ronan followed Mrs. Liwei who was walking gracefully, still thinking about Yukik.
He always felt that there were some secrets hidden in Hanshi Manor.
This secret may be the reason why monsters appear around Cold Stone Manor and people often disappear, even the official wizard disappears.
But let’s talk about the possible dangers.
Ronan thought it was impossible.
Because so many ice wizards come for "talent transplantation" every year, if Hanshi Manor was a "demon cave" that occasionally "eats people without spitting out bones", it would have been exposed long ago and bulldozed together.
Most of the wizards who can afford "talent transplantation" are not from bad backgrounds. They dare to take the initiative to come to the door, and they are not soft persimmons who can be manipulated by others.
White Stone Castle is also a gathering place for gray robes, and it is not a place for black witches.
Ronan is more inclined to believe that the secret hidden in Cold Stone Manor is something that those who know about it tacitly agree to abide by.
Often this kind of thing also has the benefit of not wanting to be known.
"Lord Linus seems to be of noble birth. Does he come from some powerful wizard land?"
Mrs. Li Wei, who was leading the way, suddenly spoke to Ronan in a cold voice.
Ronan shook his head calmly, "It's not very powerful...and I spend most of my time traveling alone."
Mrs. Liwei stopped and looked back and smiled at him. She didn't say anything. She just gently opened a door on the side and said to him, "We're here."
Inside the door is a small room with soft light and no furniture, only a set of rather exquisite golden tables and chairs.
The two sat down at the table, and Mrs. Liwei pushed several rune stones in front of Ronan. She wore several beautiful gemstone rings on her hands, which made the skin of her fingers more delicate and smooth.
Ronan picked up the rune stones on the table and scanned them one by one. The contents recorded inside were similar to what he had read on the carriage when he came here, but they were more detailed.
"Just the second-level cold scale python."
Ronan thought about it and made a decision.
The Cold Scale Python is a first-level monster that is difficult to break through to the second level.
But once promoted to the second level, it means that the bloodline has evolved, and it has more powerful abilities and potential than the same level of monsters.
After "talent transplantation", the affinity effect of ice energy will be stronger.
At the same time, the natural ability of the cold scale python is the instantaneous second-level [Ice Lin Armor], a defensive second-level spell, which can be regarded as an advanced spell of the first-level [Ice Armor]. It can not only be used as a spell in the [frozen soil] field The anchor point is also quite practical.
Ronan does not lack offensive means, but he does not have many defensive means, so transplanting the Cold Scale Python talent is the best choice for him.
Mrs. Li Wei's eyes flickered and she said softly: "I only have one copy of the Cold Scale Python bloodline, which I just used on a wizard before you... Your Excellency, Linus, can consider another option."
Such a coincidence? !
Ronan's face was expressionless, and an inexplicable emotion slowly surged in his heart.
But he didn't say anything. He directly took out the second alternative in his mind and made a new choice.
Logically speaking, the next step is negotiation and preparation.
Mrs. Liwei gently pushed aside the rune stones on the table, looked directly at Ronan with her emerald-green eyes, and said softly: "Actually, I have a few better options here. Do you want to listen first?" Listen before making a decision?”
Ronan's eyes narrowed slightly, and a faint light flashed through them. He was not surprised at all by Mrs. Liwei's sudden new proposal. Instead, he had the thought of "it's finally here".
He looked calm, nodded, and said to Mrs. Liwei in front of him: "You might as well talk about it."
(End of chapter)