Somehow, the news leaked.

It was like pouring a ladle of cold water into a wok of boiling oil—the entire High Tower erupted.

"Did you hear? They actually caught them! The Insects from the Eye of Dusk!"

"Three of them! And one was even on the patrol team!"

"My god... What are they trying to do?!"

"Those flyers from before... could they have been real?!"

"Of course they’re real! Where there’s smoke, there’s fire! There’s really something lurking in the shadows!"

"Shh... Keep it down, do you have a death wish?!"

The rumors were no longer just rumors. Now there was "hard evidence."

The panic didn’t intensify. Instead, it transformed into a more restless and suspicious mood.

People started looking at each other with more scrutiny, as if everyone was a potential enemy.

This was especially true for the Wizards of the Shadow Faction, who could feel faint, lingering gazes on them wherever they went.

Those who had once scoffed at the rumors now fell silent.

Those who had been skeptical now felt a creeping sense of fear.

And those who had firmly believed all along felt a chill, as if their worst fears had been confirmed.

Gossip spread like wildfire.

"Hey, did you hear? Wizard Julian has been removed from his post!"

"Which Julian? The one from the Shadow System?"

"Who else could it be? The Law Enforcement Team went straight into his office this morning, sealed everything, and took him away on the spot!"

"My god, he’s a Level Two Crystal Witch... So he..."

"He’s vanished. Someone saw him being escorted to the solitary confinement cells at the base of the tower, and he never came out."

The news burned through every corner of the High Tower like a wildfire.

In the dining hall, Wizard Apprentices huddled together, their voices low and their eyes wide.

"I knew it! Grey Falcon must have been trying to expose him before he died that night!"

"The Eye of Dusk affair... Julian is definitely involved!"

"The Tower Master personally ordered the investigation. How could it be fake?"

"No wonder he struck so quickly and just silenced Grey Falcon..."

"Tsk, the Shadow System has been utterly disgraced this time."

Wizards from the Shadow System walked with their heads down, wishing they could pull their hoods low enough to cover their faces.

The previously faint, subtle glances had now become blatant stares and avoidance.

When people from other factions saw a Shadow System Wizard, they would instinctively take a second look and subtly increase the distance between them.

In a joint operation, the Law Enforcement Team and the Tower Master’s office rooted out several more of the Eye of Dusk’s hidden agents.

There was an Apprentice doing odd jobs in the Rune System’s Laboratory, a Level One Wizard Assistant in charge of procuring supplies for the Outer Tower District, and another one... who turned out to be a recorder in the Medical Department.

Bone Tokens, secret letters, and forbidden manuscripts—the evidence was slapped on the table, and the culprits were taken away on the spot.

After raging for half a month, the storm in Shadow Moon Tower finally began to subside.

The tension in the air dissipated. People no longer walked with such haste, and their voices grew louder again.

But some things had changed.

The Shadow Faction had been severely weakened, its prestige plummeting.

Julian’s office was sealed, and the group of people who used to associate with him were either transferred or marginalized.

Tower Master Morton didn’t say much, only issuing a brief announcement.

"Effective immediately, the position of Shadow System Dean is suspended until a new appointment is made."

As soon as the announcement was made, anyone with eyes could see what it meant.

Ian sat in the Alchemy Room of his residence. After hearing the news Gaga brought back from outside, he let out a soft "Mm."

"Julian is gone?"

"Gone. Completely gone," Gaga said, perched on the edge of the Alchemy Platform, its little eyes gleaming mischievously.

"Some say he was locked in the black prison at the tower’s base. Some say he was secretly executed. And others say... he escaped."

"Escaped?" Ian’s hands didn’t stop moving as he carefully sealed a vial of azure Potion.

"Where could he possibly run, right under the nose of a Level Three Great Witch?"

"True." Gaga flapped its wings a couple of times. "Anyway, he’s out of the picture now. Feels great!"

"The library I asked you to keep an eye on, any unusual activity?"

Gaga tilted its little head. "It’s strange. Nothing out of the ordinary at all. I snuck in many times, but I never detected the presence of any Level One Wizard."

Ian’s expression darkened. "None?"

That was the worst news possible. He had asked Malena about this before, too.

She had never heard of a Level One Wizard being stationed in the Apprentice Level library.

’Hmph! Time is on my side. You’ll slip up eventually.’

He instructed Gaga not to let its guard down; there might still be secrets he didn’t know about.

With that said, he placed the sealed Starlight Potion into a special box and stored it in his Dimension Ring.

The matter of the "Eye of Dusk" had finally come to a resolution.

When he had just returned to the High Tower, Julian was watching him, Grey Falcon was watching him, the Eye of Dusk was watching him...

Now, all those eyes were closed.

At least, closed for now.

He could finally start slowly learning various types of High Tier Knowledge and raising his Realm.

The days passed, as tranquil as a deep pool of water.

Ian’s life settled into a routine.

Night had fallen. Most areas of Shadow Moon Tower were submerged in silence, with only a few scattered Magic Lamps flickering.

But the doors and windows of Ian’s Alchemy Room, which also served as his meditation chamber, were tightly shut. A single, dim Moonlight Stone Lamp was lit in a corner.

He sat cross-legged on a Meditation Mat, having removed his outer robe, clad only in dark brown linen casual wear.

He closed his eyes, focused his mind, and regulated his breathing, allowing his thoughts to slowly settle.

A faint, fresh scent of herbs and wood filled the air, helping him enter his meditative state more quickly.

’Alright, let’s begin.’

He chanted silently in his heart as his spirit slowly sank into his Sea of Spirit.

HUMMM!

Within his originally dark and silent spiritual world, eighty-one Will Runes lit up simultaneously.

They emitted a cool, silvery-white light, like that of distant stars.

This light was not static. It began to slowly rotate and arrange itself, following an ancient and profound trajectory...

Finally, within his consciousness, it constructed a miniature, vast, and boundless starscape.

If he could complete the first layer of cultivation, the initial formation of the Star Map would greatly increase the efficiency of his Spiritual Power condensation.

He could clearly feel the boundaries of his spirit, like a sponge soaked in warm water, slowly beginning to expand outward.

Wisps of cool, pure Energy flowed in from the outside world.

More accurately, it was the intangible Star Force from the real starry sky above his head.

Drawn in by the Star Map, it permeated the barrier of his physical body, seeped into his spiritual world, and merged with the rotating Starlight.

This was the daily Cultivation of the Starry Sky Festival—orderly and peaceful. Every breath was an accumulation, slowly but steadily promoting the growth of his Spiritual Power.

However, for Ian, this was not all.

As the starscape’s rotation settled into a stable rhythm, deep within his Sea of Spirit, in a corner he had almost willfully forgotten...

...the dormant mark of the Abyssal Soul Contract, which faintly glowed with an ominous color...

...suddenly... twitched.

It was like a slumbering venomous snake being disturbed, or like greedy Tentacles sniffing out a delicious meal.

Ian’s heart tensed slightly, but he did not panic.

This had happened many times since he switched his Meditation Method.

He could "perceive" that the Soul Contract’s mark was being drawn by the "Rule Fluctuation" emitted during the Starry Sky Festival’s operation, and it was stirring restlessly.

Sure enough, with his tacit permission, an extremely faint, almost imperceptible "Link" silently extended from the Soul Contract’s mark.

Like the finest spider’s thread, it pierced the walls of his Sea of Spirit and plunged into the depths of the boundless Void.

Ultimately, it established a Link to a cold, chaotic source filled with endless malice.

The Will of the Abyss!

Text began to scroll across his panel:

"Link established."

"Will penetration beginning."

"Contamination intensity: Level Two."

...

A series of cold prompts that only he could "hear" appeared directly in his conscious Perception.

The next instant, a sudden change occurred!

A chaotic, viscous "substance," mixed with countless crazed roars and distortions, surged in through the invisible thread of the Link!

It was not conventional Magic Power or Spiritual Power, but rather the most primitive and chaotic "Spiritual Origin."

It was filled with the properties of Erosion and corruption.

If any other Wizard were to be tainted by even a trace of it, their mind would likely fall into disarray and their Soul would be contaminated.

But Ian had his panel.

The moment that Chaotic Energy surged in, a silvery-white vortex materialized out of thin air in the center of his Sea of Spirit, silent and unnoticed.

It carried with it an undeniable Power of "Order."

The vortex wasn’t large, but it spun at an extremely high speed, like the most precise filter or the most efficient Furnace.

The surging, dark purple Chaotic Energy crashed headfirst into the silver vortex.

TSSSS...

In a silent dissolution, all the crazed thoughts, twisted desires, whispers of Demons, and bizarre illusions...

...all the "impurities" belonging to the Abyss were instantly evaporated, stripped away, and completely purified, like snow thrown into a blazing fire.

The process was so fast that Ian barely felt a thing.

The silver vortex quietly dissipated.

All that remained in its place was a wisp of pale silver Energy, as gentle as water, emitting a pure Spiritual Fluctuation.

And... a tiny, almost negligible, fragmented piece of Rule information.

The purified Energy automatically merged into the rotating Star Map, becoming a part of the strengthening Starlight.

Ian could clearly feel that his total Spiritual Power had increased by a sliver.

Truly, just a sliver.

It was about what he would gain from half an hour of focused Meditation.

But the key was, this was a freebie!

Pure profit! And it was safe, with no side effects!