Wizard: My skills can be upgraded indefinitely.

Ian sat down by the window, carrying a heavy stack of books.

He needs to research the improvement ideas for the first-tier meditation potion in order to prepare for the upgrade of the [Concentration Potion] after it breaks through its limits.

The archive room wasn't crowded; only a few potion masters dressed in dark blue robes were quietly reading in a corner after selecting their books.

Just as Ian opened the first book, "General Theory of First-Order Mental Potions," a low sneer came from beside him.

"Hey, isn't this our newest 'Tenth on the Merit List'? What's up? Instead of fighting on the battlefield, you're here reading books?"

The sound wasn't loud, but it was clear enough.

Ian didn't even look up, continuing to flip through the book.

The speaker was a young male wizard with brown curly hair, at the early stage of level one, wearing a silver potion bottle badge of the potion-making school on his chest.

Seeing that Ian ignored him, he curled his lip.

"Some people, after gaining some merit in the demon-hunting war, really think they're someone important."

Potions are a skill that requires accumulation and talent; you can't learn them by simply killing a few abyssal minions.

His companion, a bespectacled witch, whispered, "Blake, say less."

"Did I say something wrong?" Blake raised his voice slightly.

"What does a newly promoted first-level wizard know about potion improvement? He probably can't even figure out the energy conflicts of a first-tier potion, can he?"

Everyone else in the archives looked over.

Ian finally put down his book, his eyes calm, and turned to look at Blake.

"Are you finished speaking?"

Blake was taken aback.

"If you've finished speaking, you can shut up now," Ian said calmly.

"If you have any insights into potions, you can write them down as a paper and submit them for Professor Herman to review."

Making baseless accusations here only makes you look stupid.

Blake's face darkened: "You..."

"What?" Ian interrupted him.

"I earned my tenth place on the merit list through fighting. And you? Your potion-making achievements were earned by picking fights?"

"Pfft!" Someone nearby couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Blake's face flushed red, and he was about to explode when the door to the archives was pushed open.

An old wizard with gray hair and wearing a dark blue robe walked in.

The aura of a second-level wizard permeated the room silently, and the archives fell silent instantly.

The old wizard glanced around, his gaze settling on Blake.

"Blake, have you finished compiling your experimental data for today?"

Blake broke out in a cold sweat: "Professor Herman, I..."

"Go do other things before you've finished organizing."

Hermann's tone was calm, yet carried an undeniable authority: "The Potions Department doesn't need people who talk too much."

"Yes..." Blake bowed his head and hurriedly left.

Herman then looked at Ian, his eyes deep: "Wizard Marcus, come with me."

Ian got up and followed him out of the archives.

The two walked into an office at the end of the corridor.

Hermann sat down and gestured to the chair opposite him: "Sit."

Ian sat down without saying a word.

"Blake is a student of the wizard Julian," Herman pointed out directly.

Julian contacted me a few days ago to ask about your situation.

Ian's eyes flickered slightly: "The Wizard Julian?"

"A Level Two Shadow Wizard, responsible for disciplinary oversight within the tower."

Herman looked at him. "He said you were acting strangely during the Demon Hunter campaign, that you deserted the group without permission, and that he suspects something is wrong with you."

Ian paused for two seconds, then said, "I was hunting down a wizard called 'Twilight Eye,' and Wizard Elivia can testify to that."

"I know," Herman nodded.

"Alivia has already told me, but Julian won't give up easily."

He tapped his finger on the table: "It's no coincidence that someone is causing trouble for you as soon as you enter the Potions Department."

Ian understood; Julian was testing him.

Try out Blake's reaction with a minor character.

If he tolerates it, the other party will take advantage of it.

If he retaliates too fiercely, it might give the enemy leverage against him.

"Thank you for the reminder, mentor," Ian said.

Herman waved his hand: "I'm not helping you, I just don't like people making trouble on my turf."

The potion department only looks at abilities, not background. Since you've chosen the "Abyss Pollution Neutralizer" project, do it well.

As for the safety and efficacy reviews of the drug, once the results are obtained, naturally no one will dare to touch you.

"I see."

"Also," Hermann paused.

"I've reviewed the potion records you submitted earlier. The effects of the level 0 potions are very strong, especially the [Concentration Potion]."

But Tier 1 potions are a different realm altogether, with more complex energy conflicts and more obscure rules. Don't rush, take your time.

"Yes."

After leaving his office, Ian returned to his residence in the inner district.

Instead of starting his research immediately, he communicated with Gaga, who was resting in the shadows.

"Hehe, while I was away, did any 'guests' come to the house?"

"Gah?" A gurgling sound emerged from the shadows on his shoulder.

The little head tilted, and the eyes blinked. "No, the ring on the door has always been still, like a stone."

The ring it refers to is a small gadget that Gaga has imbued with shadow energy, used to passively sense energy disturbances in the shadow system.

This is less strenuous and more discreet than Ian being on full alert himself.

"You didn't feel anything?" Ian pressed.

He knew that Gaga had an extremely strong sense of perception in the shadows.

"How does it feel?" Ga Ga flapped its wings and landed on the shelf in the living room.

"Hmm... when you left this morning, it seemed like there was a very faint 'shadow insect' crawling past the window, and it disappeared very quickly."

I thought it was just a common fragment of shadow that had drifted in, so I didn't pay any attention. What's wrong, Ian?

"Shadow Bugs..." Ian's eyes turned slightly cold.

This is likely some kind of shadow detection magic, so subtle that even someone as sensitive to shadows as Gaga almost overlooked it, mistaking it for a natural phenomenon.

"They did come, it was a test," Ian whispered.

The other party was very skilled and did not trigger any alarms; they just glanced at it as if they were "passing by".

"Ah! Someone actually dared to peek? Gaa!" Gaa immediately tensed up, her feathers ruffled slightly.

It began to hover low in the room, its gray-blue heterochromatic pupils scanning every corner.

"Who dares to be so bold? Let me find them and give them a good thrashing!"

"Don't bother looking, they're long gone." Ian gestured for it to be quiet.

"The method was very clean, just standard shadow-based detection techniques, leaving no trace that could be directly tracked."

That's the troublesome part: the other party is operating within the rules, spying on you in ways that are almost impossible to find evidence of.

This makes my stance clear: I know you have secrets, and I'm watching you, but I won't give you any leverage.

This constant, ever-present surveillance is more irritating than direct confrontation.

Ian walked to the alchemy table and remained silent for a moment.

Go directly to their door? No evidence.

Complaining to Herman or Alyvia would only make you look incompetent.

Besides, the other party is a level two wizard, which is not a low status, and they might not even pay attention to you.

"Passively waiting for the next opportunity to spy? That's too passive."

He needs a method that can retaliate silently without directly provoking conflict, or even turn the tables on the enemy.

His gaze fell on the dimensional ring, and a thought struck him as he remembered something inside.

He took out a crystal box, inside which lay three dark purple crystal fragments of different sizes.

Its surface has chaotic, regular patterns flowing around it, giving off a cold and eerie aura.

[Fragment of the Abyss Law Crystal]

This is one of the fragments that fell apart after the Demon Hunter War destroyed the "Tumor of World Anomaly".

He had never dared to use it lightly because the abyssal rules information contained in this thing were chaotic and violent, and direct contact or research was risky.

but now……