Wizard: My skills can be upgraded indefinitely.

It appeared to be an abandoned temple, with dilapidated pillars leaning and collapsed, and the ground covered with a thick layer of grayish-white dust.

Deep within the hall, several twisted skeletons lay scattered on the ground.

"Watch out, someone's been here." Ian lowered his voice and shuffled even more quietly.

The cuckoo landed on his shoulder, its little eyes scanning the surroundings warily.

"The shadow is moving... it's moving in many places."

The light was even dimmer at the end of the passage.

Ian stopped at the corner, his right hand hanging down naturally.

Thirty-six floating crystal cones silently levitated inside the cuff.

He doesn't need to see with his eyes.

My mental perception has spread out like a spider web, thirty meters ahead, fifty meters ahead, one hundred meters ahead...

The winding path of the passage, the writhing memory matter on the walls, and the subtle energy residue on the ground.

All the information in my consciousness is sketched into a clear, three-dimensional picture.

"Five people, three of them liquefied."

Ian transmitted his voice to Gaga through the soul link, his voice as cold as iron.

"Two are in the shadows of the left-hand recess, and three are positioned in a fan shape at the fork in the road ahead. They are setting up their formation."

The quack perched on his shoulder, its feathers ruffled slightly, and a dark light flickered in its heterochromatic eyes.

"It's the Withered Council... that deathly aura is exactly the same as the one in the dungeon."

Ian did not respond, his gaze fixed on the ground.

The grayish-white dust had been deliberately smoothed out, and in a few inconspicuous corners, dark green viscous liquid outlined the beginnings of the runes.

【The Shackles of the Soul】.

A simplified version of the second-tier curse binding magic array, once triggered, it instantly forms an invisible mental chain, temporarily imprisoning the target's soul.

Combined with an attack, it's almost a guaranteed kill trap.

"They know I'm here," Ian whispered.

From the moment I entered the passage, that subtle feeling of being watched had been there.

The other party clearly had some kind of tracking method and was extremely patient, having chosen the ambush location in advance.

But the problem is...

What makes them think that a simplified version of the soul shackles can trap them?

Ian's lips curled into a cold smile.

He raised his left hand, his five fingers loosely clenched.

Above the palm of my hand, a black dot the size of a grain of rice silently appeared.

The surrounding air began to distort, and the light was pulled and collapsed towards the center of the black dot, forming a faint lens effect visible to the naked eye.

【Gravity Collapse Sphere】·Miniature Type.

The maximum casting distance is 500 meters, and the collapse range can be adjusted at will, and it can be compressed to the size of a needle tip to form extreme penetrating power.

Ian did not choose the maximum power.

That would cause violent spatial tremors, potentially triggering unknown reactions from the ruins.

What he wanted was precision, lethality, and silence.

"Hehe, those two on the left are yours."

He mentally commanded, "Ten seconds."

"I understand!"

With a flap of its wings, the black raven instantly blended into the shadow of the wall and disappeared.

At the same time.

Ian raised his right hand, his five fingers spread.

Three thin, hair-like energy lines burst forth from my fingertips!

Two streaks of icy blue, extremely cold, caused frost to form in the air wherever they passed.

A golden-red light, scorching and intense, caused the surrounding temperature to rise sharply.

The three lines completed their spiraling entanglement the instant they left the body, transforming into a slender, pale purple beam of light that tore through the deathly silence and shot straight toward the fork in the road a hundred meters ahead!

There were no warning signs, no build-up of energy, and not even any signs of energy fluctuations.

【Frost Ray】·Extreme Compression Mode!

With a range of 5,000 meters, it only takes 100 meters to fire.

Arriving in an instant!

At the crossroads, three withering wizards lurked in the shadows.

The leader was a gaunt, middle-aged man with dark gray lines on his face.

This is the mark left by prolonged exposure to death energy.

His name is Mars, the vice-captain of the Withering Blade, a level one liquefaction peak, specializing in curses and bindings.

At this moment, he placed his palm on the rune node on the ground, and dark green energy slowly flowed into it.

"Captain, the target has entered the detection range."

The young witch on the left spoke in a low voice, holding a pale white skull in her hands, with eerie green soul fire flickering in its eye sockets.

"It stopped about fifty meters after the corner."

"He's hesitating."

The burly man on the right grinned, revealing his teeth, which had been corroded and blackened by the venom.

"The shackles on his soul have been laid. Once he steps into the core area, he'll be trapped like a turtle in a jar."

Mars did not laugh.

His withered fingers traced the runes, sensing the subtle changes in the flow of energy.

It was too quiet... The target stopped too abruptly, and the distance was just right at the edge of the sensor.

It doesn't seem like hesitation, but more like... observation?

"Something's not right," Mars suddenly hissed.

"Ready..."

Before he could finish speaking...

A pale purple beam of light cleaved through the darkness like the Grim Reaper's scythe.

too fast!

Mars' pupils constricted sharply, and he instinctively fell to his left.

But the beam of light was not aimed at him.

puff!

The burly man on the right froze on his face with a sinister grin.

He looked down at his chest.

There was a hole about the thickness of a thumb, with smooth, mirror-like edges, half covered in frost and half charred and carbonized.

There was no bleeding, because the wound was completely annihilated by the dual energies of ice and fire the moment it struck.

"Uh..." The burly man opened his mouth, as if to say something.

The next second, the flesh and blood around the through hole began to freeze and burn simultaneously.

Frost spreads into the body, freezing the organs into ice crystals, while flames erupt from within, instantly vaporizing the ice crystals!

Bang!

The burly man's upper body exploded, turning into a chaotic mess of red and white, mixed with ice shards and ash, splattering all over Mars's face.

"Enemy attack!"

The young witch screamed and rolled backward, the skull in her hand bursting with a ghastly green light, and a layer of bone shield condensed in front of her.

But the second pale purple beam of light had already arrived.

This time, the beam suddenly expanded the instant it hit the bone shield.

hum!

A pale purple domain with a radius of ten meters suddenly unfolded.

[The Realm of Entropy Change]!

Within the area, the temperature began to fluctuate wildly.

One second it was extremely cold, and a thick layer of ice had formed on the surface of the bone shield.

The temperature soared to several thousand degrees in the next second, the ice layer cracked, and the bone shield structure began to twist and disintegrate.

"What...what kind of witchcraft is this?!"

The young witch stared wide-eyed in horror.

Her bone shield is a derivative protection of the second-tier sorcery artifact [Skull of Wailing], sufficient to withstand a direct hit from a first-level peak sorcery spell.

But now, in this strange realm, the energy structure of the bone shield is spontaneously collapsing.

It's like... the witchcraft model has become chaotic and "disorderly"!

"Back off! Get out of here!" Mars roared as he retreated rapidly.

But after taking only three steps back, he felt his feet sink into the ground.

Look down.

A fist-sized, pitch-black hole appeared in the ground at some unknown time.

The cavity has smooth edges and is expanding outward at a terrifying speed, swallowing up rocks, dust, and even light in its path!

【Gravity Collapse Sphere】·Range Mode!

Mars turned pale and frantically channeled his mental energy.

The gray-black death energy surged from his body, condensing into a humus-like cushion beneath his feet.

But it didn't work.

The collapse of a gravitational singularity ignores the energy cushion and acts directly on the matter itself.

His left foot twisted and compressed inward from the ankle, the bones making a teeth-grinding cracking sound.

"Aaaaaah...!"

Mars let out a piercing scream and swung his right hand out violently.

A short blade made of bone was slashed directly at his left leg.

Click!

The left leg was severed at the knee!

The severed leg was sucked into the black hole and instantly annihilated.

Mars rolled backward using the recoil, blood gushing from the severed limb, leaving a horrifying trail of blood on the ground.

"Captain!" the young witch cried out, trying to rush forward.

"Never mind me! Activate the formation!"

Mars gritted his teeth and slammed his remaining right hand down hard on the core node of the ground rune!

hum! ! !

A dark green light burst forth from the ground!

Countless chains, formed from cursed energy, shot out wildly from the runes.

Like a living venomous snake, it lunged towards the corner of the passage.

[Soul Shackles] - Fully Unlocked!

but……

The chains came up empty-handed.

There was no one around the corner.

Mars was stunned.

The young witch was also stunned.

Then they heard a sound.

A very faint whooshing sound came from overhead.

The two looked up at the same time.

Ian had somehow found himself standing in the recessed area at the top of the passage, his body pressed against the wall.

The [Invisibility Technique - Mimicry] effect allowed him to blend perfectly into his environment.

He held his right hand out horizontally, palm facing downwards.

Spread your five fingers.

"goodbye."

He uttered two words softly.

The next second, thirty-six floating crystal cones rained down like a storm!

Each crystal cone surface shimmered with a pale golden luster.

That's the blessing of crystallized spiritual power, which has an extremely strong restraining effect on spirits, curses, and death energy!

Puff puff puff!

A series of piercing sounds rang out.

The young witch's bone shield had long been weakened by the entropy change domain.

It was hit head-on by the crystal cone storm and instantly riddled with holes.

Three crystal cones pierced through her brow, throat, and heart, pinning her to the wall!

Mars frantically channeled the remaining death energy, forming a layer of gray-black mist around his body.

The crystal cone shot into the fog, its speed dropped sharply, but it continued to penetrate slowly!

"You... what kind of monster are you...?"

Mars asked hoarsely, his eyes filled with despair.

He saw it clearly.

The target that "disappeared" around the corner never actually stepped into the trap zone in the first place.

The enemy launched an attack from fifty meters away.

Use those eerie rays to kill remotely, use gravitational singularities to restrict movement, and finally use invisibility to get above their heads and finish them off.

Tactical precision is like that of a machine.

The killing was as efficient as slaughtering.

Is this really... just a level one wizard who's been promoted for less than two years?!

Ian jumped down from the top and landed three meters in front of Mars.

He didn't approach, but calmly looked at the withered wizard with a broken leg.

"The Withering Blade?" Ian asked.

"The Vice-Captain of the Withering Blade... Mars." The latter gritted his teeth and announced his name.

His remaining right hand quietly reached for his waist, where a self-destruct rune was hidden.

But Ian is faster.

He opened his eyes slightly.

A pale gold thread, almost invisible to the naked eye, shot out from the eye.

It pierced Mars's forehead in an instant.

【Crystallized Threads】·Soul Piercing!

Mars' body trembled violently.

He felt something pierce his mind, cold, sharp, and carrying an absolute sense of order.

His remaining death energy was as fragile as paper before that thread, easily torn and pierced!

"Ughhhh!"

Mars let out a scream that was not human, and dark red blood seeped from all seven orifices at the same time!

His consciousness began to shatter, his memories were forcibly rummaged through, and the core of his soul was gradually torn apart by that thread!

The screams abruptly stopped.

Mars's body fell limply to the ground, his eyes wide open and his pupils dilated.

His face was frozen in extreme pain and fear.

Ian retracted the crystallized threads, frowning slightly.

"A restriction has been placed on my soul... I can only read fragmented information."

He gleaned several key images from Mars's fragmented memories.

Silas the Deathspeaker gave orders to five members of the Wither Blade at their temporary camp in Dragonblight.

"Kill Ian Marcus at all costs."

After entering the ruins, the five-person team lay in ambush at the entrance of the second-level "corridor maze".

They prepared a large array of Soul Shackles, three second-tier cursed magical tools, and...

A mixed toxin called "Corrupting Soul Poisonous Mist" is specifically designed to target targets with high magic resistance.

"There are two more people." Ian looked towards the left passage.

Almost simultaneously.

Gaa leaped out of the shadows, carrying two still-dripping heads in its mouth.

"It's solved!"

The black raven dropped its head to the ground, flapped its wings slightly, and shook off the dark green venom clinging to its feathers.

"Those two guys tried to ambush me with poison mist, but I dragged them into the shadows and tore them to shreds."

Ian nodded and quickly cleaned up the battlefield.

Three relatively intact corpses, two piles of minced meat, plus two that Gaga finished off.

The third squad of the Withering Blade was completely wiped out.

The spoils include: five dimensional rings, each containing magic stones, materials, and potions.

Three Tier 2 Cursed Wizard Tools: Skull of Wailing, Bone-Rotting Dagger, and Tentacles of the Dead.

And twenty-three bone fragments inscribed with withering runes, which should be some kind of token or consumable.

Ian packed everything away and looked down at the ground, where the gravitational singularity was still slowly rotating.

He clenched his fists.

The black hole vanished silently, leaving behind only a crater half a meter in diameter with smooth, mirror-like edges.

"Let's go." Ian turned around.

"There's quite a commotion here; it'll soon attract other attention."

"What about the three Shadowmoon people?" Gaga asked.

"They're still watching from behind."

Ian didn't even turn his head: "Let them see."

Fifty meters away, in the shadows of another fork in the road.

Leonard, Bruder, and Doria held their breath, their faces ashen.

They witnessed the entire battle.

If that can be called a "battle".

From the first pale purple beam of light piercing the burly man to Mars's escape with a broken leg.

Then Ian appeared from above, unleashing a storm of crystal cones that swept the ground, and finally delivered the fatal blow with that eerie golden thread…

The whole process took less than twenty seconds.

All five members of the Withering Blade were wiped out.

And Ian... barely moved a few steps.

"He...he's really only at level one?"

Doria's voice trembled, her fingers gripping Brood's arm tightly, her nails digging almost into his flesh.

Brud did not answer.

The burly man was leaning against the wall, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

He recalled that he had previously considered joining forces with others to "deal with" Ian, a potential competitor.

Right now, all he wants to do is slap himself.

How to deal with it? What should we use to deal with it?

Monsters that can create black holes at will, rays that can precisely kill from a hundred meters away, eerie domains that can even corrode level two magical artifacts...

Is this something a first-level wizard could possibly do?!

"We..." Leonard took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.

"We'll leave immediately, take another route, avoid him, and prevent any conflict, understand?"

The two nodded vigorously.

"And another thing," Leonard added, his voice hoarse.

"When we get back, tell all the surviving teammates... Wizard Marcus is the person we absolutely must not mess with in this ruin. Anyone who wants to die, don't drag us down with them."

The three quietly retreated, blending into the shadows and disappearing from sight.

Deep inside the passage.

Ian stopped and looked ahead.

There is a door there.

A twisted archway pieced together from pale bones and dark blue crystals, its doors tightly shut, its surface covered with patterns resembling dried bloodstains.

A faint, chilling aura emanated from the crack in the door.

"The entrance to the second level," Ian whispered.

A squawk landed on his shoulder, its little eyes fixed on the door, its feathers ruffled slightly.

"Ian... I have a feeling there's something terrifying behind that door."

"I know," Ian said calmly.

He reached out and placed his hand on the door.

A cold touch came, mixed with whispers of death and madness, trying to invade his consciousness.

The 【Spirit Devouring】 property operates automatically, absorbing and purifying those noises.

"The people of the Crimson Court, the people of the Withered Council, and everyone else who wants to kill me..."

Ian pushed open the door.

Behind the door lay unfathomable darkness and a pale staircase spiraling upwards.

"I'll be waiting for you down here."

He stepped inside, his figure swallowed by the darkness.

Gaga followed closely behind.

The door slowly closed behind them, sealing the passage back into deathly silence.

Only the traces of battle on the ground and the lingering energy in the air testified to what had just happened.