Chapter 183: Chapter 181: Sleeping Underground Palace
It was mid-afternoon by the time Ian returned to his residence.
Just as he pushed open the courtyard gate, he saw a figure standing at the bottom of the steps to his house.
Malena.
She was dressed in a simple, dark blue Wizard Robe, but she looked unwell. She had dark circles under her eyes and looked exhausted.
"Ian," she said, her voice a little hoarse.
"Come in and sit."
Ian opened the door and led her into the living room.
The room was simple: a table, a few chairs, and a bookshelf against the wall piled high with notes and Scrolls.
Malena sat down, looking surprisingly reserved.
"I heard," she said, looking up at Ian. "About what happened in the Dark Hills."
Ian poured a glass of water and pushed it toward her. "Who did you hear it from?"
"It’s all over the High Tower." Malena took the glass but didn’t drink, just held it in her hands.
"They’re saying the Withered Council lost three Stewards, and one of them was at the Peak of Liquefaction... A lot of people from the High Tower went to see."
She paused, her voice dropping lower. "They’re also speculating that it might... have something to do with you."
Ian neither confirmed nor denied it.
He walked over to the bookshelf, pulled out a few notebooks, and spread them on the table.
"Have you run into problems since your promotion?"
Malena’s shoulders slumped like a punctured balloon.
"Yes... My primary Witchcraft, Ring of Nature. The model construction isn’t going smoothly."
"My teacher said my Spiritual Power control isn’t fine enough. The Energy Circuit always collapses at the third node."
She bit her lip. "I’ve already failed seven times, and each time it takes several days for the tremors in my Sea of Spirit to calm down..."
"If this keeps up, I might never be able to master this Witchcraft."
She knew she was being impatient, but she couldn’t help secretly comparing herself to a certain someone.
Most Level One Wizards needed a considerable amount of time to master an improved Tier One Witchcraft.
Ian looked at her.
Malena’s Talent wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t top-tier either.
Her promotion was due to solid accumulation and a bit of luck.
But the path after promotion was the real test.
Without a powerful Tier One Witchcraft for protection, she’d be at the very bottom among Official Wizards, someone anyone could step on.
"Did you bring your model notes?" Ian asked.
For her to seek his help on this matter showed her trust in him; a Wizard rarely revealed their Witchcraft to others.
Malena took a parchment notebook from her robes and handed it over with both hands.
Ian opened it and read a few pages.
With his current expert eye, he quickly spotted the problem.
Malena’s approach to the model’s construction was too conservative. The Energy Circuit design was overly complex with too many nodes, leaving little room for error.
Furthermore, with her affinity for the Nature Element, her Spiritual Power was on the gentler side. Forcing it to control such a precise model made failure inevitable.
Ian pulled a blank notebook from his own bookshelf, picked up a Feather Pen, and began to write.
He wrote quickly, the tip of the pen making a soft scratching sound on the paper.
Malena held her breath, watching him without blinking.
A little over an hour later, Ian stopped writing and pushed the notebook toward her.
"Start by modifying it with this approach... merge the third and fifth nodes... focus on the stable construction of the nodes, and you can fill in the rest later."
Malena took the notebook and read it line by line.
After a moment, her breathing grew rapid.
This wasn’t a simple modification; it practically subverted the entire structure of the model.
But every change came with clear annotations: the reason for the change, the resulting effect, and how to handle any potential problems.
It was all perfectly clear.
"This... Have you encountered the Ring of Nature before?" she asked, her voice trembling.
Ian shook his head. "No, but the structures and concepts of Tier One Witchcraft Models all have things in common."
"Nature Witchcraft is all about natural harmony. Your model is too ’rigid.’ It needs to be more fluid."
Malena clutched the notebook, her heart filled with a thousand emotions. ’Ian’s understanding of Witchcraft has probably even surpassed Lady Alevia’s.’
"Ian... thank you."
"Don’t thank me yet," Ian cut her off. "Go back and try it first. If you have any problems, come find me again."
Malena nodded emphatically, hugging the notebook tightly. Her previous dejection was long gone.
She stood up, walked to the door, and then turned back.
"Ian."
"Hm?"
"You... just how strong are you now?"
Malena looked at his face, her gaze serious.
Ian rolled his eyes at her. "Just strong enough."
Malena raised an eyebrow and the corners of her mouth curved up. She didn’t ask again and left.
Ian closed the door, walked back to the table, and continued organizing his own Witchcraft Model notes.
「Three days later.」
Robert hurried over, clutching a crumpled slip of paper in his hand.
"Sir."
Ian was just taking a freshly condensed vial of Starlight Potion from a rack.
Hearing the voice, he didn’t even look up. "Speak."
"A few informants from the Black Market passed on some news."
Robert’s voice was low. He took a few steps forward and placed the slip of paper on the edge of the Alchemy Platform.
"They all mentioned the same place: the ’Sleeping Underground Palace’."
Ian put down the potion vial and picked up the slip of paper.
The handwriting on the paper was messy, as if hastily written with a charcoal pencil.
"Underground Palace... stabilization period... Ancient Laboratory... Rule Crystals..."
A few keywords jumped out at him.
"Where did this information come from?" Ian asked.
"It first came from a few High Level Apprentices who travel the trade routes. In the last two days, the small circles of Level One Wizards have started talking about it too."
Robert licked his slightly dry lips. "I had Wade help me ask around and piece the information together."
Ian held the paper to a nearby candle flame, watching it get licked by the fire and turn to Ashes.
"Is the information reliable?"
"I can’t tell," Robert said, looking troubled.
"I found an old timer near the described location. He secretly looked through his stock of old maps."
"The place is indeed in the buffer zone between the three powers—Shadow Moon, Deep Red, and Withered. It’s a fragment of an ancient Half-Plane. Normally, it’s inaccessible; the temporal turbulence would tear a person to shreds."
"But every few decades or centuries, the turbulence weakens for a while. That’s the ’stabilization period’."
Ian’s eyelids lowered slightly as he pondered for a moment.
"What else? Any unusual news from Shadow Moon’s side?"
Robert said, "Kale, ’Black Blade’—that one-eyed vice-captain of the Law Enforcement Team—has been clearing out the Black Market these past few days, specifically buying up Protection Scrolls and Energy Detectors."
"People from the Withered Council have reportedly appeared on the edge of the buffer zone. They’re all dressed in grey robes, making them easy to identify."
"As for the Deep Red Royal Court, a small team crossed the border yesterday. They were very brazen about it, heading straight for the Underground Palace’s entrance."
"They didn’t go in, but they circled the perimeter several times, as if they were surveying the terrain."
Robert finished in one breath, took a gasp of air, and looked at Ian.
The Alchemy Room was quiet, save for the DRIP... DRIP... of the potion from the nearby condensation tube.
The candlelight flickered, casting dancing shadows on Ian’s face.
Sleeping Underground Palace... Ancient Alchemy Laboratory... Rule Crystal Mine Area...
Any one of these things would be enough to make Level One Wizards fight to the death for it.
"This is a vortex," Ian said, looking up.
"All three powers have their eyes on it. When the time comes, the ones going in won’t just be treasure-hunting parties."
His voice was calm, but Robert detected something else in it.
It was the instinctive, taut alertness of one who had scented both prey and danger.
"Then we..." Robert asked.
"We do nothing for now," Ian said.
"Keep the shop open, keep making potions. Business as usual."
Robert was taken aback. "We’re not going to prepare? The Underground Palace opens in three months. If we don’t stock up on supplies now, by then..."
"What’s the rush?" Ian shook his head.
"The Withered Council just lost three people, and the Deep Red Royal Court is also on the move. Let’s just watch and see for now."
Robert opened his mouth, but no words came out.
"Keep gathering information, but don’t actively seek it out. Pay special attention to the people from those other two powers."
Ian took a small leather pouch from his Dimension Ring and tossed it over.
"Use this to pay the informants. Tell them to keep their mouths shut. They’ll be useful again in the future."
Robert caught the pouch. It was heavy; it contained Magic Stones.
"I understand," he nodded.
"Also," Ian added, "have Kenna procure more raw materials for ’Solid Boundary Dust’ and ’Anti-Chaos Potion’ with the recent shipments. Not a large amount. Mix them in with the regular orders."
Robert’s eyes lit up. "Are you planning to..."
"Just in case," Ian said with a wave of his hand. "Go on."
Robert turned and left, gently closing the door behind him.
Ian was once again alone in the Alchemy Room.
He walked to the window and pushed it open a crack.
The night wind poured in, carrying the unique, damp, and cold scent of Shadow Moon Tower—a mix of Magic Energy Dust and the distant swamp.
In the distance, the tips of several tall Wizard Towers were still lit, like silent eyes in the darkness.
"Troubled times."
