222: The gears of fate begin to turn

Grin, always the cautious one, followed the successful wizard's path taken by his teacher Joyce, gathering over 100 Formal Wizards to journey together to the Middle-earth Continent Wizard World.

The first half of the journey went smoothly; the route marked on the nautical charts presented no issues.

However, at a crucial point, they were ambushed by a terrifying horde of magical beasts, the Bloodthorn Devilfish, which had occupied the area. This group of tens of thousands of Bloodthorn Devilfish each possessed the strength of an Advanced Wizard Apprentice, and their leaders were a pair of Tier 2 magical beast mates accompanied by hundreds of Tier 1 magical beasts.

Such formidable power, and they fought unfairly, hiding in the deep sea to launch surprise attacks!

As a result, the treasure ship carrying Grin and his party was suddenly punctured with a large hole. To save the ship, Grin had no choice but to single-handedly lure away the Tier 2 magical beast leader.

The gears of fate began to turn.

As Grin led the beast away, he accidentally stepped into a trap, swallowed by an unknown mist vortex in the Sea of Mist.

Grin was pulled forward through a long passage, surrounded by darkness, with no sense of sky or ground, just a chaotic void... When Grin cautiously stepped out of the passage, he realized he had been brought to a sacred place.

Yes, a sacred place!

This must be an Ancient Secret Realm!

And it was an Ancient Secret Realm!

Grin found himself in a massive, ancient Wizard Tower, filled with millions of wizard knowledge books, from Tier 0 to Tier 4, everything imaginable!

The elemental concentration here was incredibly exaggerated; Grin felt a bit 'elementally drunk' when he first arrived, as the elemental concentration was simply too high!

It was hundreds of times higher than the Mist Coast!

There was also a huge magical Botanical Garden here, containing numerous magical plants. There were no Tier 1 Ancient Elven Trees; the lowest were Tier 3 Ancient Elf Trees, along with many other Tier 3 and Tier 4 rare treasures!

After three days of exploration, he discovered that everything here was at his disposal, without any restrictions.

Grin, in disbelief, gave himself two hard slaps!

His face swelled up!

Only then did he believe it!

However, Grin then had a sudden thought, 'Wait, something's not right!'

Then, Grin checked his World Contribution balance—

200,000!

What?!

My 6,000,000 in savings, and you've suddenly reduced it to 200,000!

...Pain!

Immense heartache!

Is this what equivalent exchange means?

How cruel.

Grin also learned from his Golden Finger that despite such a huge cost, he could only stay here for 200 years.

After two hundred years, Grin would have to leave.

However, during these three hundred years, Grin would be the master of this Ancient Wizard Tower and could enjoy everything within it.

Alright, Grin accepted his fate.

Then, he plunged into the ocean of knowledge, where abundant resources and endless knowledge awaited him.

Fifty years later, in wizard's path Year 198, Grin successfully cultivated to the peak of a Tier 2 Wizard, a speed twice as fast as his Tier 1 Wizard stage.

He encountered a Mind Bottleneck of homesickness. Grin busied himself for three months, making an authentic Fuzhou rice noodle dish, and only then did he overcome this Mind Bottleneck, breaking through to become a Tier 3 Great Wizard.

Another hundred years passed, in wizard's path Year 298, Grin cultivated all the way to the peak of a Tier 3 Wizard... This time, Grin again encountered his Mind Bottleneck.

It was bidding farewell to old friends like Ellie and Adler.

150 years had passed, and these two old friends were now elderly. Grin, having cultivated in the sacred place for so long, also missed his two old friends dearly.

Thus, Grin spent 10,000 World Contribution points, used the Ancient Wizard Tower's teleportation array, and left the place where he had been in seclusion for 150 years.