Morin entered a cave.
This was a place he had deliberately chosen; it was very secluded, and with the defensive and early warning spells he had set up, it was extremely safe.
After checking his setup again, Morin sat down cross-legged on a smooth stone cut from a cross-shaped sword.
"Among the materials I have obtained, there is no need to deal with the other precious materials and various resources right now."
"However, I can now make use of the two Skol Soul-Hunting Fruits, the powder of the Heart-Eating Worm, and the eggs of the Ghost-Faced Spider."
Morin thought to himself, and said, "Then let's begin."
He took out a purplish-red Skol Soul-Hunting Fruit, then took off his shirt, cut a bloody gash in his chest, and placed the Skol Soul-Hunting Fruit on the gash.
A strange sound came over, and the purplish-red Skol Soul-Hunting Fruit in his chest transformed into a purplish-red ball of gas, which twisted and turned. Then, the ball of gas transformed into thin purplish-red threads, which surged toward Morin's face and finally gathered between Morin's eyebrows.
The Skol Soul-Hunting Fruit is a strange magical plant, so it cannot be eaten directly. To consume the Skol Soul-Hunting Fruit, one must use some rather unusual methods.
Morin felt a cool sensation between his brows, and at the same time, the cold, mechanical notification sound from the chip alerted him that his mental energy was slowly increasing.
A few days later.
The sky remained a pale gray, seemingly unchanging, and looking at it for too long made one feel depressed.
A soft rustling sound came from afar, and a golden oriole landed on a green vine, hopping and skipping, tilting its head from time to time. Its small eyes, like two black stones, shone brightly, showing great vitality.
Suddenly, a faint gray light emanated and spread outwards.
The oriole had a bad feeling and wanted to flap its wings and fly away, but just as it was about to take off, the gray light was already in front of it.
The oriole let out a sharp cry, and its body trembled.
A few obscure and eerie incantations were uttered, and then the gray light dimmed and finally vanished without a trace.
The oriole had barely escaped death and before it could even rejoice, it was caught by a hand.
"Little thing."
Looking at the pitiful oriole trembling in his hand, too scared to move, Morin couldn't help but laugh.
"Fly." Morin slightly opened his palm, and the oriole immediately flapped its wings, turning into a small shadow that disappeared in the blink of an eye.
Morin couldn't help but laugh again.
"Chip, check my current status." He snapped his fingers and gave this command.
"Ding! Mission created!"
"Testing!"
"Morin Olsen, Third-Class Apprentice, Strength: 10.4, Speed: 10.2, Constitution: 10.6, Mental Strength: 11.2, Mana: 11.2, Mina Totem Completion: 69%!"
"Very good." Morin looked at the numbers floating in the light blue virtual frame in front of him, nodded, and couldn't help but smile.
The Skol Soul-Hunting Fruit truly lives up to its reputation as a precious magical plant that allows for formal advancement. After consuming the Skol Soul-Hunting Fruit, Morin's mental strength has reached over 11, fully meeting the requirements for advancing to the Ancient Wizard level.
Moreover, his physical fitness has also improved accordingly, which is naturally a good thing.
It's worth mentioning that after Morin used the Heart-Eating Worm Powder and the Egg of the Ghost-Faced Spider, the completion rate of the Mina Totem has also increased significantly, now reaching 69%, which is a very considerable improvement.
"Everything is really good." Morin stretched and then a lazy smile appeared on his face.
"It's almost time, they should go out by now."
"Now, it's time to leave this secret realm."
Morin calculated the time in his mind and then headed back the way he came.
It's already the ninth day, and the last day, the tenth day, when we leave, is not far away.
On the way, Morin encountered many wizard apprentices, but none of them made a move. They just looked at each other warily and then quickly retreated.
Ninety percent of them are already dead, so there's no need for the apprentices to fight each other anymore. However, the habit of fighting in the secret realm has remained, making them dare not relax even for a moment.
Morin swiftly moved to a secluded spot, looked around, and then stood still.
"Alright, Jack, we can get rid of the identity of Jack the Ripper. Now, it's time to revert to my original identity." Morin chuckled softly.
As he spoke, Morin took out a vial of green liquid and then crushed it forcefully in his hand.
With a bang, the liquid medicine immediately turned into a cloud of green smoke, instantly enveloping Morin.
A strange gurgling sound came over, and the green smoke twisted and undulated, as if something inside was constantly changing.
Soon after, the green smoke dissipated, and Morin had returned to his original appearance: black hair and black eyes, fair skin, bright eyes, and an indescribable, strange charm.
"Hmm... Ah, I'm back to normal, Morin, Morin, hehe, Morin Olsen, this is the real me."
Morin touched his nose.
He continued walking back the way he came, and finally, after walking for a while, he arrived at the original spot, where many wizard apprentices were already waiting.
Like the wizard apprentices they had encountered in the forest before, the wizard apprentices here were separated and wary of each other. However, they returned to their own wizarding organizations and formed small groups.
One night later, the next day arrived.
The tenth day has arrived.
A ripple appeared in the void, and a door shimmering with gray light suddenly appeared in place. It was hazy and looked very mysterious, but all the wizard apprentices knew that this gray door led to the outside world.
"Alright, let's go."
The apprentices exchanged glances, and naturally, the strongest wizard apprentices went out first.
Morin didn't steal the spotlight and left halfway through.
When they came out, everything outside was unchanged, just as it had always been. The leaders of various wizarding organizations floated in the sky, surrounded by halos of various colors. At this moment, they looked like gods from the heavens.
The leaders are talking.
"Ouglitt, your Dark Forest apprentices seem a bit few this time?" Jason, the head of Hard Castle, looked at Ouglitt with undisguised mockery on his face.
Augulite's expression was somewhat grim. Although he knew that there would be many casualties in this trial of the secret realm, the fact that only fifty or sixty of the more than six hundred wizard apprentices who had entered the secret realm had come out made his heart sink.
Too many wizard apprentices have died in the Dark Forest...
The leaders began counting the number of wizard apprentices, their expressions shifting between light and shadow, revealing their unease.
In fact, far more than 90% of wizard apprentices died.
Alka, the leader of the Blue Ring, also looked displeased, because he discovered that far too many of the Blue Ring's wizard apprentices had died.
"Damn it, Varo, where's Varo! Why isn't he out! Why isn't he out!" Jason's furious roar suddenly came through, "Varo! Varo! My granddaughter just married him!"
"Oh, right, and her too. She's gone. She's dead inside. That's a huge problem..."
Jason's face was so gloomy it was almost dripping with water.
With a whoosh, countless particles of fiery energy surged forth, hissing and churning around Jason's body, causing the surroundings to subtly tremble and change.
Finally, those fire energy particles actually formed a howling tornado on Jason's body surface.