Wizard: My skills can be upgraded indefinitely.

"The spark of civilization?" Ian's eyes flickered slightly.

"The last crystallization of the Protoss race's heritage, it is said that their complete cultivation system is sealed inside."

Liam spoke very quickly, as if he wanted to finish what he was saying as soon as possible.

"But these are all just legends, and we've never been inside. At the end of this passage, there's a side hall where there might be more detailed clues."

He paused, then pulled a palm-sized silver metal plate from his pocket and tossed it to Ian.

"This is part of the maze map; only this area is marked. Take it and get out of here!"

Ian caught the metal plate.

It feels cool to the touch, and its surface is engraved with fine three-dimensional runes.

He carefully probed with his mental energy and "saw" a complex network of passageways.

One of the routes marked in red is the one he is currently walking on.

Thanks.

Ian put away the metal plate, turned around, and continued forward.

This time he did not linger.

The footsteps faded into the distance, disappearing into the darkness deep within the passage.

Until you can't hear anything at all.

Liam slowly exhaled a breath of stale air; his back was already soaked with cold sweat.

"Captain, are we just going to let him go like this?" the young witch asked unwillingly.

"What else?" Liam smiled wryly.

"Didn't you see that beam of light? That was definitely a level two spell! An instant-cast level two spell!"

He looked at the huge pit in the rock wall, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

"And... that probably wasn't even his full strength."

"What do you mean?"

"He's protesting," Liam whispered.

"If he really wanted to kill someone, the beam of light wouldn't have shot towards the rock wall, but towards us. He was telling us that."

He has the ability to kill, but he's too lazy to do it.

He paused, then lowered his voice.

"People like this... are truly terrifying."

The burly man touched the runes on his arm, his voice deep and resonant.

"Is he really from Shadowmoon Tower? Could that second-rate organization possibly cultivate such a monster?"

"Who knows?"

Liam shook his head and turned to walk deeper into the passage.

"Report the situation to the main team and say... we have encountered a dangerous person, a crystallization wizard who is suspected of hiding his strength. Be cautious and do not initiate a conflict."

"Yes."

The two responded.

The young witch took one last look in the direction Ian had left, and the silver thread between her fingers slowly retracted.

She knew it in her heart.

If a fight had actually broken out just now, I probably wouldn't have lasted even five seconds.

That icy, chilling gaze...

It's like looking at a dead person.

On the other side of the passage, at the corner fifty meters away.

The three wandering wizards, dressed in tattered robes, held their breath, their faces ashen.

They originally intended to follow the Silver Ring team to see if they could pick up some loot.

But then I witnessed what had just happened.

"Boss, boss..." the skinny wizard's voice trembled.

"Has that person... discovered us?"

The leader was a middle-aged man with a face full of scars, who was leaning against the wall, panting heavily.

It doesn't matter whether it's discovered or not.

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"That kind of monster... we can't afford to mess with it."

He recalled the pale purple beam of light from earlier, and the enormous crater that instantly formed on the rock wall.

Level 2 witchcraft.

And it's instantaneous.

What's even more terrifying is that the young man's expression didn't change at all from beginning to end.

Like casually crushing an ant.

"Let's go, let's change direction," the scarred man said through gritted teeth.

"We can't stay in this area anymore. Neither the Silver Ring nor that monster from before... are things we can't touch."

The three of them quietly retreated, disappearing into another passage like startled mice.

Deep inside the passage.

Ian stopped and looked at the silver metal plate in his hand.

My mental energy probed in again.

The map is very detailed, marking all passages, forks in the road, trap zones, and three key points within a five-kilometer radius.

One area is marked with a red skull and crossbones and is called the "Echoing Mirage Intensive Zone".

One of them is the "Living Corpse Guardian Patrol Route," marked with dark gray lines.

The last place is the side hall he is now heading to.

The label reads: "Star Core Storage Room (Suspected)".

"Fallen Star Essence..." Ian repeated in a low voice.

If it is indeed a remnant of a star core used by the Protoss for cultivation, it could be of great help to his [Starry Sky Ritual] meditation method.

It can even... accelerate the crystallization process.

He put away the metal plate and continued forward.

Footsteps echoed in the corridor.

The dark blue glow on the surrounding walls grew brighter and brighter, as if guiding the way.

Gaga perched on his shoulder, its little eyes scanning the surroundings warily.

"Ian, there's something ahead."

"Um."

Ian already sensed it.

Three hundred meters away, there is an open space.

There are energy fluctuations.

It's very faint, but very stable.

Like the core of some sleeping, distorted star.

He quickened his pace.

At the end of the passage, a huge stone gate came into view.

The stone gate is ten meters high and six meters wide, and is pieced together from dark blue crystals and pale bones.

The surface is covered with intricate star runes, but most of them are incomplete and faded.

Only the central circular symbol still emitted a faint silver light.

The people from the Silver Ring did not go in.

Or rather... I can't get in.

Ian's gaze fell on the area below the stone gate.

There were three corpses lying there.

His chest was pierced through, and a chilling aura lingered around the wound.

The way they died was exactly the same as the two liquefied wizards in the passage before.

"They were silenced," Ian said calmly.

The way they died was exactly the same as the two liquefied wizards in the passage before.

"They were silenced," Ian said calmly.

He crouched down to examine the body.

The time of death was no more than two hours, and the fatal wound was a penetrating chest wound, but there were still many fine cutting marks on the surface of the body.

It felt like being slowly sliced ​​apart by countless tiny blades.

"Shadow fragments..." Gaa whispered.

"Um."

Ian stood up and looked at the stone gate.

The door was tightly shut, but dark red liquid was seeping out from the cracks, emitting a strong smell of blood.

There was a fight behind the door.

And it just ended.

He stretched out his right hand and pressed it on the surface of the stone door.

A cold touch came through, mixed with the residual energy of death and stars.

The [Spirit Devouring] property fluctuates slightly, devouring and purifying the chaotic information that invades consciousness.

"Are you ready?" Ian asked softly.

"I can't wait any longer, quack!" Quack flapped its wings, its feathers gleaming with a deep, shadowy sheen.

Ian nodded.

Use all five fingers to exert force.

boom!

The stone gate slowly opened inward.

Behind the door is a huge circular hall.

It has a diameter of over 100 meters and a height of 30 meters, with thousands of dark blue crystals embedded in its dome.

Like a frozen starry sky.

But at this moment, this "starry sky" is bleeding.

In the center of the hall, there lay more than a dozen corpses.

There were those from the Silver Ring, those from the Crimson Royal Court, and several unfamiliar island wizards dressed in grey robes.

Blood pooled on the ground, forming dark red streams that flowed slowly into the drainage channels around the hall.

The air was thick with the stench of blood, mixed with the putrid smell of death energy.

And the source of all this...

It is deep within the hall, where the eight-meter-tall pale colossal statue stands.

It is made of bones and dark blue crystals, and its shape is similar to a human, but its head has a twisted polyhedral structure.

A fist-sized, dark red crystal was embedded in his chest cavity. Its surface was covered with cracks, and a viscous, dark red liquid slowly flowed inside.

[Living Corpse Guardian]!

War artifacts crafted by the Protoss from the corpses of their dead and the twisted core of the star.

The colossus was kneeling on the ground, its left arm severed at the shoulder, with dark blue energy slurry flowing from the break.

But it is still "alive".

The dark red crystals in his chest throbbed violently, emitting a chillingly violent aura.

"Hiss... Roar..."

A non-human growl emanated from the colossus, like countless souls wailing simultaneously.

Three more people were standing at the edge of the hall.

"The Crimson Royal Court...two Body-Refining Wizards!"

Fortunately, both of them were covered in blood and panting heavily.

Beside them stood an old man wearing a robe adorned with silver rings, his hair and beard completely white.

He held a silver-white staff in his left hand, while his right arm was twisted unnaturally, clearly broken.

A three-way standoff.

But no one dared to make the first move.

Although the Living Corpse Guardian was severely injured, the Fallen Star Core in his chest cavity was still functioning.

Once detonated, the entire hall will collapse.

"Tsk, troublesome."

The burly man from the Crimson Royal Court spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes sweeping over the old man from the Silver Ring with a sinister look.

"Old man, if you hadn't ambushed us, we would have already taken this thing!"

"A sneak attack?" the old man sneered.

"It's clear you wanted to monopolize the star core, so you attacked us first!"

"fart!"

Another wizard from the Crimson Court said sternly.

"We discovered this side hall first. You Silver Rings suddenly appeared out of nowhere, trying to steal our spoils?!"

"Lost relics, unclaimed treasures—whoever finds them owns them!"

"Then you won't get out of here alive either!"

The tension between the three parties is escalating.

But at that moment...

The Living Corpse Guardian suddenly moved!

It suddenly raised its head, and dozens of holes on its polyhedral head simultaneously lit up with a dark red light.

hum!

A dark red energy wave exploded out from its center!

Wherever the ripples passed, the ground cracked, corpses were shattered into pieces, and the death energy permeating the air went berserk instantly!

"not good!"

"retreat!"

All three parties retreated simultaneously.

But it was too late.

The fallen star core guarding the chest cavity of the living corpse suddenly burst forth with a dazzling dark red light!

Countless dark red energy tendrils burst forth from the crystal surface, shooting outwards like living blood vessels.

And the goal...

It wasn't those three.

Instead, it was Ian who had just pushed open the stone door and was standing at the entrance!

"Ian, watch out!"

With a sharp screech, its wingspan instantly expanded to three meters, and the surface of its jet-black feathers gleamed with a deep, shadowy sheen.

[Shadow Storm] - Prototype!

Centered on it, the shadow energy within a radius of twenty meters instantly boiled.

It transformed into countless jet-black tentacles, colliding wildly with the incoming dark red energy tentacles.

Hiss!

Shadows and crimson intertwine, vanish, and are reborn...

Each collision unleashed a piercing, shrill energy scream.

However, the Living Corpse Guardians are, after all, war creations of the Protoss, and even when severely injured, their energy level far exceeds that of the first tier.

The dark red tentacles gradually suppressed the shadowy tentacles, approaching Ian inch by inch!

"Do you feel threatened?"

Ian's eyes turned cold.