Blackstone Mining Area

Ten days later.

In the meditation chamber, Sunan sat cross-legged on the floor.

In the void invisible to ordinary eyes, countless Energy Particles seemed to be drawn by an unseen force, rushing into his body.

Deep within his Sea of Consciousness, most of the star ring had already solidified, with only the final tiny portion still retaining an illusory quality.

As Energy Particles continued to fill it, this last wisp of phantom gradually vanished at a visible rate.

The instant the final trace solidified, the entire star ring suddenly shone brightly and began to tremble faintly.

In that instant, Sunan heard a clear chime in his mind, and his thoughts became sharp and lucid.

"Success!"

Sunan opened his eyes, a smile of genuine delight spreading across his face.

It had been nearly half a year since he began practicing the Star Ring Meditation, and he had finally constructed his first star ring.

Recovering from his excitement, Sunan immediately looked at the panel.

Spirit 3.60/Physique 3.25

"Spirit increased by 0.78, and Physique increased by 0.31 as well!"

Sunan nodded in satisfaction.

Even with the aid of Lesser Activity Potions, it would have taken him nearly a month of meditation to gain that much Spirit Power.

The boost from constructing a star ring was indeed remarkable.

As for Physique, Sunan had now surpassed an Apprentice Knight.

However, he was still far from the eight points of Physique required for a Formal Knight.

After all, he had not practiced a Breathing Technique.

"If I started practicing a Breathing Technique now, my progress probably wouldn't be slow."

Breathing Techniques and Physique complemented each other.

The faster one progressed in a Breathing Technique, the faster one's Physique would improve.

The reverse was also true.

With Sunan's current Physique, he might not even need a month to achieve minor mastery of a Breathing Technique.

That said, he had no intention of doing so.

Wizards had plenty of methods for strengthening Physique. There was no need to waste time and energy practicing a Breathing Technique.

Rather than that, he might as well spend more time raising the learning progress of spells or Skills.

With a thought, Sunan opened the spell list.

Mage Hand

Sleep Spell

Acid Splash

Flash Spell

Thanks to the beneficial effects of Lesser Activity Potions, his efficiency in learning spells had increased severalfold.

In just two months, he had not only mastered Sleep Spell, but also learned both Acid Splash and Flash Spell.

He was currently working on the learning progress for Open Lock.

"Most fields of knowledge involving wizards are immensely profound and require vast amounts of time to master."

"This is also the main reason why many Wizard Apprentices with considerable talent still need over a hundred years to achieve Wizard Advancement."

"However, with sufficient resources, this time can be greatly shortened."

Sunan sighed inwardly.

Starlight Continent had been abandoned precisely because its elements had withered and its resources were barren, leaving wizards with no hope of increasing their power.

If not for the Synthesis Cube, achieving Wizard Advancement on the present-day Starlight Continent would have been nothing more than a fool's dream.

"Upgrading the level-two Star Ring Meditation requires 3,000 proficiency points, which will take around four months."

"If I can keep up a steady supply of Lesser Activity Potions, I can become a second class wizard apprentice in two years at most."

Sunan estimated that producing one Lesser Activity Potion cost roughly twelve Gold Coins.

Once he became more proficient, the cost should be reduced to around ten Gold Coins.

That came to twenty Gold Coins a month.

"It seems Blackstone City's monthly tax revenue is only forty or fifty Gold Coins. This expense isn't small."

Sunan had considered synthesizing Lesser Activity Potions, which might greatly enhance their effects.

Unfortunately, Blackstone City's current income did not allow him to purchase a large quantity of materials at once and produce enough Lesser Activity Potions.

"I should discuss it with Big Brother."

Sunan got up and left the meditation chamber.

On the way, he ran into old Geller. After asking around, he learned that Kei was currently in the study, so he turned and headed straight there.

However, when he found Kei in the study, he discovered that the latter was sighing repeatedly, looking deeply troubled.

When Kei looked up and saw Sunan, he hid his worry and forced himself to ask, "It's you, Sunan. You've shut yourself in the courtyard for days. What made you willing to come out today?"

"Big Brother, I have something to discuss with you."

Sunan got straight to the point and directly brought up buying materials.

After hearing him out, Kei gave a bitter smile.

"There are still over fifty Gold Coins in the accounts. I had originally planned to use them to buy armor, but since you need them, take them first."

Sunan glanced at Kei. Recalling the troubled look he had worn earlier, he immediately understood.

"Is the territory badly short on money right now?"

Kei did not hide it from him. He sighed and said, "The number of knights in the territory has increased considerably recently, and food expenses have risen sharply. Planting season starts next month, and we need to spend money on tools and seeds as well. There are indeed many expenses."

"Is there any way to increase income or reduce expenses?"

"Reducing expenses won't work. If the territory is to develop, saving money is impossible. Whether it's arming the army or developing the economy, neither can be done without Gold Coins."

Kei had always intended to strengthen himself and reclaim Shining Territory. Naturally, he had no intention of lying around and doing nothing.

"As for increasing income, I do have an idea. I plan to reopen the Blackstone Mining Area!"

The Blackstone Mining Area?

Sunan's expression shifted slightly.

He remembered that Blackstone City had once been renowned for producing Blackstone Iron.

Blackstone Iron was a high-quality metal. After only simple refinement, it could achieve hardness comparable to Fine Iron, making it an excellent material for forging armor and weapons.

Blackstone City had received its name for this very reason.

It was precisely because of Blackstone Iron that Blackstone City had become one of the most prosperous cities in Golden Rock Province.

Later, however, something happened that caused the Blackstone Mining Area to be abandoned, and Blackstone City gradually declined.

"Come to think of it, why was the Blackstone Mining Area abandoned?" Sunan asked in confusion.

Without some special reason, the successive lords of Blackstone City would never have abandoned a money tree that could continuously produce Gold Coins.

"According to the old soldiers in the city, it was because a type of monster appeared in the mining area."

"A monster?"

Kei had come prepared. He took out a sheet of parchment and spread it over the table.

It depicted a pitch-black leopard, except its body was clearly patterned like stone and gleamed with a metallic luster. It looked like a creature formed entirely from metal and rock.

"The previous lord called these monsters Iron-Eating Beasts. They feed on Blackstone Iron Ore, and their bodies are as hard as Blackstone Iron. Each one has combat strength comparable to a Novice Knight, making them difficult to deal with."

"Are there many of these monsters?" Sunan asked.

Knight-level monsters were certainly terrifying, but not enough to make successive lords give up.

If necessary, they could simply spend several hundred Gold Coins to hire a Grand Knight to deal with them.

Unless there were an enormous number of monsters, or some other reason existed.

Sure enough, Kei continued, "There aren't many of them, probably only twenty or thirty. The key is that Iron-Eating Beasts are very cunning. Once they sense trouble, they burrow into the rock walls and escape. They're incredibly fast; even a Grand Knight can't stop them."

"Unless these monsters are completely cleared out, the mining area can't resume normal operations."

Monsters that could burrow underground.

Sunan raised an eyebrow. They truly would be difficult to handle.

—Of course, that was only for ordinary people.

"If that's all, then it's not as though there's no solution."

Kei froze at Sunan's words. It took him a while to react, and then he leapt to his feet in delight.

"You have a way to deal with the Iron-Eating Beasts?"

Sunan pondered for a moment. "I can give it a try."

Although Sunan did not make an absolute promise, Kei was already overjoyed.

The thing troubling him most lately had been Gold Coins. If they could reopen the Blackstone Mining Area, every problem would be easily solved!