The Secondary Frost Freeze Beam and the Scorching Beam erupted almost simultaneously!

A blue and a white beam shot out, crisscrossing to block the lynx’s escape routes.

The lynx didn’t seem to expect Ian’s counterattack to be so swift. It shrieked, its body twisting bizarrely, and actually managed to shift half a foot sideways in mid-air. It dodged the main force of the Scorching Beam, but its left leg was grazed by the Frost Freeze Ray.

A bone-chilling cold spread, and the lynx’s movements immediately became sluggish.

Ian seized the fleeting opportunity. A second Scorching Beam followed right after, the bright white beam aiming for the lynx’s exposed chest.

PFFT!

This time, it didn’t miss.

The highly condensed, scorching beam easily pierced through the lynx’s chest and abdomen, leaving a charred, see-through hole. The smell of seared flesh wafted from the wound.

The lynx let out a bloodcurdling wail, collapsed to the ground, and after a few twitches, went silent.

Ian nodded to himself. ’As long as it couldn’t break my Shield in the beginning, the initiative returns to me.’

He walked over to confirm the lynx was dead, then quickly examined the peak-level Demonized Fierce Beast.

Its fur and claws were decent materials, but they were inconvenient to carry right now. He only dug out its eyeballs and gallbladder.

Finally, he cast the Bloodline Purification Technique. A net of blood descended, extracting all the Essence Blood from the lynx’s body.

A stream of crystalline Blood Essence flew up and was collected by Ian into his Dimensional Ring.

After entering the mountains, he often refined the blood of the Demonized Fierce Beasts he killed into Blood Essence. For one, it was smaller and easier to carry; for another, it was practice for his Bloodline Purification Technique.

He had a feeling that once this Witchcraft achieved Limit-Breaking, its power would no longer be limited to a supporting role but would become a formidable means of combat.

Ian casually cleaned up the scene and quickly left the area.

Similar situations occurred several more times over the next few days.

He had encountered a small flock of Steel-beaked Poison Bats, which flew at incredible speeds with beaks as sharp as iron nails.

He relied on an instant-cast Frost Freeze Ray to create an area-of-effect ice explosion and drive them off.

He had run into large Gelatinous Mud Swamps, which hid beneath the marshy ground and could unleash waves of highly corrosive, acidic slime on anyone who passed by.

Ian managed a perilous detour only thanks to the early warning from his Eye of Vigilance and by testing the ground with his Scorching Beam.

Every day, he battled unknown dangers, his mind constantly on edge.

The food in his Ring began to run low. He had to risk gathering mushrooms he confirmed were non-poisonous to sate his hunger and search for clean water sources, which in turn attracted other troubles.

His Potion reserves started to dwindle. The Wizard Robe he wore grew more tattered, and small cuts began to appear on his body.

But the vast mountains still seemed to stretch on without end.

"I can’t go on like this..."

On the morning of the twentieth day, Ian hid inside the hollow of a giant, dead tree, chewing on foraged mushrooms as his mind raced.

He discovered that ever since entering this region, his condition had been slowly declining. He needed extremely long periods of restorative Meditation to return to his peak state.

It seemed as though some invisible presence was slowly draining everything from him through a method he couldn’t comprehend.

His Power, Endurance, Spiritual Power, and even his Will were being slightly affected.

The draining speed wasn’t fast, but it was unstoppable!

If he didn’t have his status panel for comparison, he would never have noticed the extremely subtle difference.

’When did this start?’ Ian’s expression turned grim.

That even grander, ring-shaped mountain range, which loomed in and out of the clouds and mist, seemed forever out of reach.

As he ventured deeper into this area, the surrounding environment became not just dangerous, but also exuded an indescribable eeriness.

The turbulent Magic Power suffusing the air gradually took on a viscous, sluggish quality, as if he were moving through an invisible gel.

The light also grew strange. At times it was blindingly bright, stretching the shadows of the grotesque rocks into long, thin shapes like menacing phantoms.

Then, a moment later, it would dim without warning, as if some unseen entity had sucked away the light, leaving only a gray haze.

What unsettled Ian even more was that, besides the whimpering sound of the wind blowing through the twisted treetops, he began to hear other noises.

Sometimes it was a faint, almost imperceptible whisper, murmuring right by his ear. The syllables were indistinct, yet they carried a strange allure, trying to burrow into his mind.

At other times, it was a sharp, brief giggle or sob. The sound was erratic—one moment it seemed to come from the cliff face to his left, the next it had moved to the treetops.

Ian whipped his head around several times, but he saw nothing. He fully activated his Eye of Vigilance, but his vision remained empty.

’An illusion? Or... some kind of mental interference?’

Alarm bells screamed in his mind. He focused all his effort on contracting his Spiritual Power, constructing a solid line of defense in his mind with his condensed, almost Vaporized Spiritual Power.

But even so, he couldn’t completely block out the cacophony. He also discovered what felt like countless prying eyes around him, sending a chill down his spine.

One evening, as he attempted to cross a low-lying, moss-covered valley floor, danger crept up on him.

In the center of the valley lay a small, silver lake. Its surface was calm and still, smooth as a mirror, reflecting the lead-gray clouds in the sky.

However, when Ian stood at a distance and his gaze fell upon the lake’s surface, what he saw was a reflection of "himself."

In the lake’s reflection, "he" was standing in a magnificent hall, surrounded by a reverent crowd. He wore a Wizard Robe adorned with stars and toyed with a Magic Staff that emanated terrifying fluctuations of power.

"He" wore a smile of smug satisfaction, his gaze imperious as he looked down upon all living things.

The scene was so real, so alluring, like a future just within his grasp.

An intense feeling of desire and identification instantly assaulted Ian’s mind.

’This is how I should be in the future... a powerful Wizard, admired by all...’ The thought sprouted in his mind involuntarily.

But the next second, a faint, almost imperceptible cool sensation emanated from his panel. Like a drop of water falling into a pan of sizzling oil, it instantly jolted him!

’Something’s wrong!’ Ian bit his tongue hard. The sharp pain and the taste of blood shocked him back to his senses completely.

To his horror, he discovered that his feet had, at some point, already stepped into the lake. The icy water was lapping over his ankles!

And in the reflection on the lake’s surface, the smile on that "Ian’s" face had become bizarre and greedy. Its eyes were locked onto the real him, its lips moving silently:

"Come... become me..."

Cold sweat instantly soaked Ian’s back. He turned without hesitation and fled the valley floor without a single look back.

Only after he had run for several miles did the strange attraction and the feeling of being watched gradually fade.

’What the hell was that thing?’

Ian leaned against a rock, panting heavily, his heart pounding with lingering fear.

’Just now, if the panel hadn’t sent a timely warning, I probably would have walked step by step into the lake without even realizing it.’

The dangers in this area had already surpassed the scope of conventional Demonic Creatures, venturing into a much stranger, unknown domain.

After this incident, he no longer dared to casually approach any terrain that looked "calm" or "special."

However, the eeriness was far from over.