Chapter 523: Star Realm Vein Ore

Chapter 523: Chapter 366: Star Realm Vein Ore

The Underworld, dark as ink.

Ian’s figure became a streak of faint light, darting through the darkness. Gaga, too, melted into the shadows, concealing its presence.

Half an hour later, a faint Spiritual Fluctuation appeared at the edge of his Gravity Perception. It was like a candle in the wind, yet it burned with tenacity.

Ian slowed his pace. The rock formations ahead gradually grew more orderly, and signs of artificial excavation began to appear.

A rusted alloy gate appeared up ahead. A dim, yellow light seeped through the gap in the door.

Within the gate was a domed hall.

Roughly two hundred people were huddled in the corners. Most were sallow and emaciated, with purplish-black veins of corruption marring the backs of their hands and necks.

A few guards holding crude weapons stood watch before the gate.

“The Protective Array can only hold for another half a day, at most…” an old guard said, his voice hoarse.

The words had barely left his mouth when a cacophony of scratching erupted from outside the rock wall.

It sounded like a thousand claws scraping across metal at once, a grating noise that set one’s teeth on edge.

The gate began to tremble, and dust rained down. A baby in the crowd started to cry but was instantly silenced by its mother, who clamped a hand over its mouth.

Ian dropped his Concealment. When he appeared in the center of the hall, everyone froze.

The black-haired young man simply stood there, yet the very air around him grew crisp and clear. Even the fungal mats growing on the rock walls 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, a faint golden light blooming at his fingertip.

The light was at first only the size of a grain of rice, but it swiftly expanded into a warm rain of light that showered down on every person.

Where the golden light touched the purplish-black veins, they melted away as quickly as snow under a blazing sun.

One person clawed at their own festering skin, only to discover the pus had dried and new flesh was rapidly growing in its place.

A middle-aged man suddenly collapsed to his knees, gasping for breath.

For thirty years, his lungs had been ravaged by the Erosion. Every breath had felt like a knife twisting in his chest. But now… the sensation of air filling his lungs was so clear, so cool and clean.

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. Only tears mixed with filthy blood streamed down his face.

“I need you to gather all knowledge concerning the Starlight Empire.”

Ian’s voice was calm. “Blueprints, histories, any form of record. And clues about Star Realm Refined Gold.”

“In exchange, I will purify the corruption for five hundred miles around this outpost and set up a Purification Barrier that will last for ten years.”

The old guard’s weapon fell from his hands with a CLANG.

He staggered over to a corner of the hall, tore through a pile of junk, and brought out a rust-covered iron box.

He opened the lid. Inside were several hand-copied volumes bound in animal hide, along with three palm-sized metal plates.

“Th-this is what we dug out of the old mine tunnels… Relics from the time of the Starlight Calendar… and this.”

He pulled an oval metal sphere from his tunic. Its surface was coated in a sickly green grime.

Ian’s light of Purification swept over it, revealing the faint, silvery luster flowing within. Star Realm Refined Gold.

Though only the size of an egg, its purity was extremely high.

Ian accepted the metal sphere. A cool sensation touched his palm, and he promptly stored it in his Ring.

“Is there more?” he asked softly.

The old guard lowered his head, trying to recall. “A long time ago, there was an outpost called Rock Heart Castle. They said that, deeper in the Underworld, they accidentally discovered a Vein Ore—a native mineral vein of Star Realm Refined Gold.”

“Do you remember its general location?”

“My apologies, my lord. It’s just a legend. We haven’t had contact with the outside world for a very long time.” The old guard looked ashamed.

A glimmer of light flashed in Ian’s eyes. ‘If a native mineral vein really does still exist…’

He raised his left hand, pressing his five fingers gently into the Void.

Faint golden Runes flowed from his fingertips, burrowing into the rock walls and constructing a three-dimensional network for the Barrier around the outpost.

The instant the Barrier took shape, the last trace of rot in the air vanished completely.

“The corruption here will not return for ten years,” he said, withdrawing his hand.

“Try to sense the Starlight. It can penetrate the rock strata.”

With those words, Ian’s figure began to dematerialize.

“Wait!” A young man suddenly rushed forward. “My lord… w-what is your name?”

Before the words were out, Ian had already vanished into a Gravity Passage.

For the next seven days, similar scenes played out across the Underworld.

Ian was a bolt of light tearing through the endless night, appearing at one collapsing human outpost after another.

Sometimes he helped them repel a siege of Mutant Beasts. Other times, he simply bestowed a cleansing rain of Purification.

He never stayed for more than an hour, but each time he departed, he left behind a sanctuary enveloped in a golden Barrier.

Information began to flow throughout the Underworld.

Human outposts that had been isolated for hundreds, even thousands, of years re-established contact for the first time through the Gravity Passages Ian had opened.

Legends of the “Eternal Fierce Sun” began to circulate.

Some said he was an Apostle of the Starlight Empire, returned at last. Others claimed he was a god descended from an Otherworld.

But everyone remembered what the great lord required: knowledge and Star Realm Refined Gold.

Vast quantities of relics from the old era were unearthed.

Incomplete technical blueprints, metal plates that recorded history, even ancient ballads passed down by word of mouth—all were carefully sorted and prepared, awaiting the arrival of the black-robed figure.

Ian’s collection grew rapidly.

By the evening of the seventh day, as he departed another human outpost, his Ring was already filled with hundreds of pieces of Star Realm Refined Gold of varying sizes, along with over two hundred items containing knowledge of the Starlight Empire.

Gaga crouched on his shoulder, its silver eyes scanning the subterranean rock layers.

“Ian, there are signs of a battle ahead,” it warned him through their Spiritual Link.

Ian had sensed the disturbance as well, and his Gravity Perception spread outward.