Wizard: My skills can be upgraded indefinitely.

Inside the meditation room.

Ian activated the rune array on the stone wall, blocking all external perception, so that even Azshara could not detect his condition from here.

The process of studying the original chaotic fragments cannot be observed by anyone.

He sat down on the central stone platform and placed the primordial chaotic fragments into the groove.

The patterns inside the fragment flowed slowly, like lightning frozen in black amber.

Three years ago, these patterns were a chaotic and disordered pulse. Every time someone tried to analyze them with the Light of Order, the fragments would produce a violent repulsive reaction.

But now it's different.

Ian closed his eyes, and the source of order surged, with golden light spreading outwards along the lines of his soul.

He infused the fragment with an extremely faint wisp of the power of order. The fragment trembled, but this time it did not repel it; instead, it resonated faintly.

A faint golden pattern appeared on the surface of the fragment, which disappeared in less than a breath, but Ian captured its location and shape when it appeared.

Compared to three years ago, the intensity of the rejection reaction has decreased by at least 60%.

A message surfaced from the depths of my soul:

[Abnormal fluctuations in the activity level of the Chaos Rule have been detected. The current stability of the Order-Chaos contact is 63.2%]

The chaotic rules on the outer layer of the fragments have partially adapted to the frequency of the origin of order.

Ian focused his attention entirely on the structure of the fragments.

The power of order, like an extremely fine thread, slowly probed into the surface of the fragments, reaching the first node of chaotic rules, like a tangled mess of threads.

However, when touched by the power of order, the tangled lines did not immediately rebound, but instead slowly loosened.

Ian took a deep breath and continued deeper, to the second, third, and fourth layers.

Each layer is more complex than the one before it, and the degree of entanglement of chaotic rules increases exponentially.

Upon reaching the fourth level, the progress of the power of order slowed down considerably, like navigating through a maze-like beehive.

He didn't stop, and on the fourth floor he saw a structure he had never noticed before.

Amidst the chaotic entanglement of rules, there exists a set of highly regular patterns, encased deep within the core of chaos, like a golden seed sealed within a black crystal.

Ian was shocked; he had seen the pattern of this set of patterns in another place.

Deep within the rings of the Tree of Order, there is a blank area with a set of extremely similar patterns.

Not exactly the same, but a symmetrical mirror image.

The regular patterns encased in the fragments, along with the blank edge patterns of the Tree of Order's root system, present a perfect symmetrical relationship in the underlying structure.

One expands outward, the other contracts inward; one carries order, the other carries chaos.

But their roots point to the same thing.

The panel now displays a new message.

[Comparison complete. The similarity between the target regular texture and the edge texture structure of the blank area of ​​the tree of order root system is 97.3%.]

[Supplementary Analysis: It is speculated that the split originated from the same rule prototype, but insufficient data prevents further confirmation.]

Ian stared at the message for a long time. "Does the teacher know?"

The panel remained silent for a moment, then displayed a brief message.

[Current data is insufficient to determine Alder's level of understanding of this rule.]

[Additional suggestion: Increase the depth of order injection into the core region of the fragments to obtain more complete pattern samples]

Ian did not rush to implement the suggestion.

He knew all too well the dangers of the fragments; three years ago, he had almost had his soul corrupted by the chaotic will within them, and the lesson from that time remained vivid in his mind.

Even though the origin of order has now merged with his soul, the concentration of chaos in the core area of ​​the fragment may still exceed his tolerance limit.

But the mirrored patterns he saw today changed his approach to studying the fragments.

He had been working on attrition, using the power of order to gradually erode the fragments and shrink their size.

It's like disassembling a complex machine, only to discover halfway through that the gears inside can mesh with some kind of part you made yourself.

Ian withdrew the power of order, resealed the fragments into the groove, and the light of the magic array returned to its steady state.

Instead of delving deeper into the core of the fragment, he changed direction.

He closed his eyes and constructed a simulated space deep within his soul.

This is an advanced magical thinking technique he learned in the White Tower, which uses the origin of order to reproduce the rule structure in the spiritual space.

He reproduced the four layers of regular patterns on the outside of the fragment in the simulation space, and then also brought out the patterns in the blank areas of the tree rings.

Two sets of patterns float side by side in the simulated space.

The left side represents chaos, while the right side represents order. The patterns are completely different; the chaotic group resembles a tangled thorn bush, while the orderly group resembles a set of intricate gears.

But Ian extracted the underlying skeletons of the two sets of patterns and superimposed them together.

The overlapping parts emitted a faint light, which was neither golden nor black.

But Ian extracted the underlying skeletons of the two sets of patterns and superimposed them together.

The overlapping parts emitted a faint light, which was neither golden nor black.

Instead, it is grayish-white, a color between order and chaos.

Ian's heart skipped a beat, and the panel gave another notification.

[Unknown rule fluctuations detected; the fluctuation frequency does not belong to any known rule spectrum, indicating a novel rule state; naming suggestion pending.]

He slowly opened his eyes, and the gray-white superimposed pattern from before was firmly etched in his memory like a nail.

His previous understanding of the sixth level breakthrough was based on the assumption that "the origin of order is further condensed".

To forge an immortal soul, one needs to elevate the soul's essence to a higher purity, forming a new soul structure.

This is the orthodox path; that's how Azshara broke through.

But Ian thought even more deeply; within his soul, the source of order and the panel had completely merged.

The original chaotic fragments had been entangled with his soul, and even though the fragments had been removed from his soul, the traces left by that entanglement have not completely disappeared to this day.

The panel once gave a vague assessment: his soul structure contained about 0.3% of the chaotic rule imprint, a negligible proportion.

But at the level of the soul, even a difference of 0.001% can lead to completely different paths to breakthrough.

As Ian looked at the superimposed gray and white rules, an idea popped into his head.

All of Alder's previous actions were intended to prevent him from taking the path of extreme order.

His breakthrough might require maintaining a balance between order and chaos, finding that gray-white equilibrium point.

He had the panel check his soul again, and this time, the information it gave was different.

[An unknown resonance was detected in the host's thought pattern. The activity of the Order Origin increased by 12.4%, and the activity of the Chaos Imprint increased by 0.8% simultaneously. Both indicators are currently within a safe range.]

Ian did not respond to the panel, but instead dispelled the two sets of patterns in the simulation space and fell into deep thought.

The fragment he held in his hand was something older than the wizarding world itself.

The primordial chaos must have existed even longer than the will of the abyss.

Alder said that before the birth of order, chaos was the only background color of the void, but the emergence of order cut, squeezed and dispersed the chaos, eventually forming the void we see today.

The fragments are likely remnants of ancient chaos, corresponding to the blank root system of the Tree of Order.

Ian withdrew his hand and walked towards the exit of the training room.

He really wanted to talk to his teacher Alder about this, but he had no idea where Alder had gone, and besides, a disciple on a formal basis was not entitled to contact him at any time.

He needs to find someone else who can understand this.

Azshara, as the World Tree born in the Void and a Level 6 Sun, currently has her roots extending into the depths of the Void.

If anyone can perceive a place where order and chaos coexist, perhaps she is one.

Ian pushed open the door to the training room, and moonlight streamed into the corridor; it was already very late at night.

Gaga, squatting at the end of the corridor, saw him come out and asked, "How was it? Did you get anything again?"

"I just have some new ideas."

Ian walked past Gaga and headed towards the courtyard. "Why aren't you asleep yet?"

Gaga caught up and perched on his shoulder, its silver eyes gleaming faintly in the darkness.

"You've been down there for six hours today," it said in a low voice. "I've been guarding the corridor the whole time. Two moon elves came, but I chased them away."

Ian tilted his head slightly. "How did you manage to get here?"

"That's it." Gaa flapped its wings, its eyes wide open. "I just glanced at them, and their legs went weak."

Ian chuckled softly, knowing that Gaga didn't want anyone to bother him.

In the Silvermoon Highlands, Gaga's strength is already at the top of the pyramid. The aura emanating from its silver eyes is indeed quite oppressive to ordinary moon elves.

However, the kind of thing they're capable of is glaring at and kicking people out.

Kerrigan stood in the center of the courtyard, bathed in moonlight, appearing exceptionally sacred and solemn.

She looked up at the void. "Ian, there's news from the Void Clan. It came from Tassadar."

Ian stopped in his tracks. Since Kerrigan received part of Bervis's legacy, she could receive messages from the Zerg from time to time.

Kerrigan turned around, her golden eyes gleaming in the moonlight.

"Zagara's forces have conquered three level-six Mother Nest territories in seven days, and she has gained a new ability that Tassadar describes as 'Twisting'."

"What's twisted?"

"Twisting the rules." Kerrigan's voice deepened.

"She can distort the structure of rules within a small area. The range is small and the effect is crude, but this ability... shouldn't exist in the Zerg."

Ian remained silent, while Kerrigan felt a deep sense of melancholy.

The Zerg's evolutionary path is based on bloodline and genes, and never involves abilities at the level of distortion. Zagara's ability has only one source.

He knew this quiet wouldn't last long.

Gaga yawned, nestled against his shoulder, and quickly fell asleep. The dark gold patterns on its body flickered with its breath, like a small lamp.

Kerrigan stood quietly at the other end of the courtyard, looking up at the night sky with him.

In the distance, the verdant glow of the World Tree peeks through the clouds.

The night in Silvermoon Heights remained quiet.