Wizard: My skills can be upgraded indefinitely.

The underground world is as dark as ink.

Ian's figure transformed into a glimmer of light, weaving through the shadows, while Gaga also disappeared into the shadows, concealing his presence.

Half an hour later, a faint mental fluctuation appeared at the edge of gravity perception, like a candle flickering in the wind, yet burning stubbornly.

Ian slowed down, and the rock strata in front of him gradually became more regular, with traces of human excavation beginning to appear.

A rusted alloy gate appeared ahead, with a dim yellow light shining through the cracks.

Inside the gate is a domed hall.

About two hundred people huddled in a corner, most of them pale and thin, with purplish-black stains spreading across their hands and necks.

Several guards armed with rudimentary weapons stood watch in front of the gate.

"The protective array can only hold for another half a day at most..." an old guard said in a hoarse voice.

No sooner had he finished speaking than a series of scratching sounds came from outside the rock wall.

It's like hundreds of claws scraping metal at the same time, making a teeth-grinding sound.

The gate began to tremble, dust fell in rustling sounds, and a baby in the crowd started to cry, but was immediately covered by its mother's hand.

When Ian broke his concealment and appeared in the center of the hall, everyone was stunned.

The black-haired youth stood there, and the surrounding air suddenly became crisp and clear; even the fungal carpet growing on the rock wall began to wither and turn yellow.

"You..." The old guard pointed his weapon at Ian, but his hand was trembling.

Ian raised his right hand, and a pale golden light shone from his fingertips.

The light was initially only the size of a grain of rice, but it then spread into a warm rain of light, showering down on everyone.

The purplish-black patterns melted away as quickly as snow meeting the blazing sun when they met the golden light.

Some people scratched their festering skin, only to find that the pus had dried up and new flesh was growing rapidly.

A middle-aged man suddenly knelt down on the ground, breathing heavily.

His lungs had been polluted and eroded for thirty years, and every breath felt like a knife cutting into them. But now, the sensation of air rushing into his trachea was so clear, so cool and clean.

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out; only tears mixed with blood rolled down his face.

"I need you to gather all the knowledge about the Star Empire."

Ian’s voice was calm. “Blueprints, history, any records, and clues about astral gold.”

"In exchange, I will purify the pollution within a 500-mile radius of this base and set up a purification barrier that can last for ten years."

The old guard's weapon fell to the ground with a clang.

He staggered to a corner of the hall, rummaged through a pile of clutter, and pulled out a rusty iron box.

The box was opened, revealing several handwritten manuscripts bound in animal hide, as well as three palm-sized metal plates.

"This, this is something we dug out of the old mine tunnels... things from the Starshine Calendar... and this too."

He pulled an oval-shaped metal ball from his pocket; the surface of the metal was covered with a ghastly green grime.

Ian's purifying light swept across, revealing the pale silver luster flowing within—Astral Gold.

Although it is only the size of an egg, its purity is extremely high.

Ian took the metal ball, feeling its cool touch in his palm, and then put it into his ring.

"Is there anything else?" he asked softly.

The old guard lowered his head and recalled: "A long time ago, there was a stronghold called 'Rockheart Fortress' that said they accidentally discovered 'vein ore', a primordial vein of astral gold, deep underground."

Do you remember the general location?

"I'm sorry, sir, this is just a legend. We haven't been in contact with the outside world for a long time," the old guard said with some shame.

A glint of light flashed in Ian's eyes. If there really were still some original mineral veins remaining...

He raised his left hand and gently pressed his five fingers into the air.

Pale golden runes flowed from his fingertips, seeped into the rock wall, and formed a three-dimensional barrier network around the stronghold.

The moment the barrier took shape, the last trace of putrid stench in the air completely dissipated.

"The pollution here will not recur within ten years." He withdrew his hand.

"Try sensing the starlight; starlight can penetrate rock layers."

After saying this, Ian's figure began to blur.

"Wait!" A boy suddenly rushed out. "Sir... what's your name?"

Before he could finish speaking, Ian had already disappeared into the gravity tunnel.

Over the next seven days, similar scenes repeated themselves in various underground locations.

Ian appeared like a ray of light piercing the eternal night, appearing in one human settlement after another on the verge of collapse.

Sometimes it helps them repel attacks from the mutated beasts, and sometimes it simply showers them with a purifying rain.

Each stay lasts no more than half an hour, but each time they leave, they leave behind a sanctuary shrouded in a golden barrier.

Information began to flow underground.

For the first time, human settlements that had been isolated for hundreds or thousands of years reconnected through the gravitational channel opened by Ian.

The legend of the "Eternal Sun" began to be sung.

Some say he is an apostle returned from the Star Empire, while others say he is a god descended from another world.

But everyone remembered the great man's needs: knowledge and astral gold.

A large number of relics from the old era were unearthed.

Incomplete technical blueprints, metal plates recording history, and even ancient folk songs passed down orally were all carefully arranged, awaiting the arrival of that figure in black robes.

Ian's gains are accumulating rapidly.

On the evening of the seventh day, when he left a human settlement, his ring contained hundreds of pieces of astral gold of varying sizes, as well as more than two hundred documents containing knowledge of the Star Empire.

Gaga perched on his shoulder, its silver eyes scanning the underground rock layers.

"Ian, there are signs of battle ahead," came the warning through the mental link.

Ian also sensed the anomaly; the gravitational senses spread.

Eighty miles away, a fortress built in a natural cave is being besieged by a tidal wave of mutated beasts.

The protective array surrounding the fortress was on the verge of collapse, with energy ripples trembling violently, and several runes shattering with each impact.

Three large, crooked characters are carved on the rock face above the fortress: Rock Heart Fortress.

The mutated creatures that besieged the area were mostly species commonly found underground, such as burrowing worms, rock-shelled spiders, and nocturnal bats.

But what truly brought the protective array to the brink of collapse was the enormous creature at the center of the beast tide.

It was a burrowing insect king that was over fifty meters long.

The carapace is dark purple, covered with jagged bony spurs, and when the mouth is open, it reveals four spirals of sharp teeth.

Each time it crashed into the fortress, it tore a crack in the protective array, and its corrosive saliva splattered onto the energy barrier, making a sizzling sound.

Inside the fortress.

The one-eyed middle-aged man, the leader of Rockheart Fortress, was staring intently at the core of the array plate in his hand, which was already cracked.

Most of the soldiers behind him were wounded, some had collapsed to the ground, and their mental exhaustion caused blood to seep from their seven orifices.

"Leader... can't hold on any longer..." A young soldier trembled.

The one-eyed leader gritted his teeth and pulled out a rune plate containing stored energy from his robes. This was the fortress's last reserve, originally intended for repairing the protective magic array, but now there was no time left.

He was about to crush the jade tablet and forcibly detonate the energy within...

The beast tide outside the fortress suddenly froze, and all the mutated beasts' movements stiffened simultaneously.

The burrowing insect king's four rings of sharp teeth were still opening and closing, but its huge body was strangely suspended half a meter off the ground, its eight pairs of limbs moving futilely in the air.

A black-haired figure was reflected in the Insect King's compound eyes.

The figure just "emerged" from the rock strata, as naturally as if it had passed through water.

Ian landed in the center of the beast tide, his right hand slightly raised, his five fingers gently clenched.

"puff!"

Dozens of bloody holes were simultaneously blasted open on the hard carapace of the Digging Insect King.

Before the Insect King could even let out a scream, its massive body began to collapse, and as golden light swept over it, it turned into a cloud of ashes.

Before the surrounding elite mutant beasts could react, Ian snapped his fingers lightly.

The level two and three aberrations suddenly froze, and in the next instant, their bodies melted into charcoal from the inside, leaving not even ashes.

As for the remaining low-level monsters, they spread their wings and took flight, their wingspan expanding to a hundred meters in an instant.

Wings of shadow swept across the beast horde, and the heads of all the mutated beasts exploded simultaneously.

The entire process, from Ian's appearance to the complete annihilation of the beast tide, took less than three breaths.

The protective array of Rockheart Fortress was still flickering faintly.

The fortress was deathly silent.

The one-eyed leader stared, wondering if he was hallucinating, until the black-haired youth turned around.

The golden light he emitted from his fingertips fell upon the fortress, and the dim energy barrier solidified again, becoming even more robust than in its prime.

"You are the leader of Rockheart Fortress?" Ian stepped in.

The one-eyed man trembled and stared blankly as Ian entered the castle.

"I...I am..."

"I need knowledge of the Star Empire, with priority given to technical blueprints, and clues about astral gold."

In exchange, Ian will purify the area within 500 miles of Rockheart Castle and also set up a ten-year barrier.

The one-eyed leader was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed, and suddenly turned around and roared at the warriors behind him.

"Go! Bring out everything with writing on it from the secret vault! Everything! Metal plates, animal hide scrolls, even stones with engraved patterns!"

Then, remembering something, he quickly added, "Sir, we know the location of the astral veins!"

"Where?"

"In the northwest, about 2,200 miles underground, near the lava zone."

The one-eyed leader spoke very quickly, "Decades ago, a 'Ground-Eating Demon Lizard' came."

The monster could devour the earth's energy to heal its injuries, and its terrifying aura made them dare not approach it.

Ian listened quietly, his sense of gravity extending in the direction the one-eyed leader was pointing.

Two thousand two hundred miles away, deep underground, there is indeed a huge hollow structure, which is the main tunnel.

A heavy ripple came from the tunnel entrance, like the slow breathing of a sleeping ancient beast.

The energy flow around the tunnel is abnormally chaotic, which is also where astral gold can be born.

The earth-devouring demon lizard was clearly drawing energy from the earth, making the spatial structure of that area more fragile.

By this time, the soldiers of Rockheart Fortress had already moved out more than a dozen boxes.

Most of the drawings inside are incomplete technical blueprints, partial structures of anti-gravity runes, design drawings of energy conduction pipelines, and even a few drawings of the forging process of the outer armor of the floating city.

By this time, the soldiers of Rockheart Fortress had already moved out more than a dozen boxes.

Most of the drawings inside are incomplete technical blueprints, partial structures of anti-gravity runes, design drawings of energy conduction pipelines, and even a few drawings of the forging process of the outer armor of the floating city.

Although it is still incomplete, Ian does not mind.

With a wave of his hand, all the boxes and astral gold ore were stored in his personal space.

Then he raised his left hand, and pale golden purifying light penetrated into the surrounding rock layers, water sources, and air.

The moment the barrier took shape, the people inside the fortress simultaneously felt that long-lost sense of "cleanliness".

Some people laughed, while others cried, releasing emotions that had been pent up for years.

Ian turned around. "Try cultivating the power of starlight. The starlight has never abandoned you."

As soon as he finished speaking, his figure disappeared into the gravity tunnel.

The one-eyed leader rushed to where he was standing and only saw a faint golden light remaining on the ground.

He knelt down and touched the light with his hands; it was warm and pure, like the true radiance of the sun.

At the entrance to the main tunnel, Ian emerged from the rock strata.

This is a giant tunnel with a diameter of over 100 meters, an engineering marvel dug during the heyday of the Star Empire.

But now, the tunnel entrance is completely covered by a sticky, dark red substance.

Heavy breathing sounds came from deep within the tunnel, each breath causing a slight tremor in the rock strata of the entire area.

The earth's energy is constantly being extracted and flowing into the depths of the tunnel.

The earth-devouring lizard was still eating while it was asleep.

Ian stood at the entrance, his sense of gravity penetrating the surface of his tissues and rapidly outlining the internal structure.

The tunnel has been transformed into a maze-like cavity structure, with countless eggs, each half a person's height, piled up in the chambers, and faint heartbeats emanating from within the eggshells.

Deep within the labyrinth, the Earth-Eating Demon Lizard is asleep, its aura around the mid-level of level four.

The energy fluctuations were 30% stronger than those of the intelligent mutant beast that had been killed before, and its affinity with the laws of the earth was exceptionally high.

This means that within its nesting range, it can mobilize almost the entire area's geothermal energy.

The home advantage is compounded by the ability to absorb the earth's energy and quickly recover.

Ian quickly mentally rehearsed battle strategies.

A direct assault is not impossible, but it could trigger the self-destruction of the nest and even affect the deeper astral veins.

The best approach is to act swiftly and decisively, crushing it with absolute power before it fully mobilizes the earth's ley line energy.

He needs to make a slight change in tactics.

The gravity rule is responsible for confining and destroying the internal structure, the thermal energy rule is responsible for blocking the flow of energy, and the purification rule is responsible for dismantling its source of pollution. The three rules are activated simultaneously.

Gaga, seemingly sensing his thoughts from the shadows, fixed his gaze on the depths of the tunnel.

"Shall we make a move?" came the question through the mental link.

Ian raised his right hand, and a phantom image of a blazing star core the size of a grain of rice appeared in his palm.

The first three laps were the brightest, while the last two laps were relatively dimmer, but they were still slowly increasing in intensity.

This battle might be an opportunity, as the Earth-Eating Lizard has a high affinity with the rules of the earth.

If its life structure can be fully analyzed, it may advance the understanding of the laws of the earth.

"Gah gah." He spoke softly, "You're in charge of cleaning up the eggs and secondary sources of contamination. Don't let any of them hatch."

"Understood." The Shadow Night Hawk spread its wings and disappeared into the shadows.

Ian took a deep breath; although his Morning Star body no longer needed to breathe, he retained this habit.

He took a step forward, and the gravitational field spread out.

The moment the nest tissues were touched, the sleeping Earth-Eating Lizard suddenly opened its eyes.

These are a pair of crystal-clear, earthy-yellow vertical pupils, with countless phantom images of rock strata reflected deep within them.

It sensed a deadly threat, not in terms of energy level, but in terms of a huge gap in rules.

"roar!!!"

A deafening roar erupted from the depths of the tunnel.

The entire nest began to writhe wildly, with thousands of blood vessels pumping simultaneously, delivering massive amounts of ley line energy into the demon lizard's body.

"Don't move yet, I'll show you a treasure!"