Cursed Land

His two attendants, Hume and Master, were both of commoner origin.

They possessed no Legendary Bloodline, and their sensitivity and adaptability to magic were extremely low. As the head knight for Aurelian, Master had only just barely reached the second magic rank, Source Gathering.

For a commoner to exhaust their entire life to break through to the Lower Rank Magic level was already considered the mark of a genius.

Therefore, even if some powerful magic nodes appeared right beneath their feet, they would not be able to perceive the slightest anomaly.

If even they could not, then the serfs who possessed not a shred of magic were even less likely to do so.

But Aurelian was different. Even though he was a bastard, the blood of the Star Royal Family, the Archmond line, flowed through his veins.

It was a legendary lineage passed down from the distant ancient past, capable of wielding the Star-Forging Bloodline that resonated with the stars.

The power of this bloodline originated from the primordial stars, which was also the origin of the name Star Kingdom.

"There is a problem beneath this land. I fear there is some terrifying magical item silently absorbing all vitality, yet why are the plants growing here unaffected?"

Under the puzzled gazes of the knights, Aurelian leaned over to pick up a weed and examined it closely.

The weed was very ordinary, yet Aurelian could not name it.

He plucked a leaf, crushed it, and squeezed out a bit of green sap.

Strangely, the green sap quickly turned blue.

Aurelian was somewhat surprised, but he soon calmed down.

This is very magical, a thought crossed his mind.

Hume and Master, who had been observing Aurelian's every move from the side, widened their eyes.

In their common knowledge, there were no instances of green sap suddenly turning blue.

"Could it be that some terrifying magic has been cast upon this land, which is why the sown seeds have rotted?"

Hume's first thought was magic, because only bizarre magic could break common sense and cause such a strange situation.

Master, standing nearby, also grew tense upon hearing Hume mention magic. His right hand had already gripped the hilt of his knightly sword as he vigilantly scanned his surroundings.

It seemed that magic was far too mysterious for them, so mysterious that it bordered on fear.

In the eyes of people like Master and Hume, mages were always mysterious, and the terrifying stories that had circulated for ages were all inextricably linked to these mages.

People would always fear what they did not understand.

"Find a few shovels and dig up the soil below."

A glint flickered in Aurelian's eyes as he scrutinized the ground beneath his feet and gave the order.

"B-but this place might have been cursed with magic."

Hume felt a bit of trepidation and spoke up, wanting to stop him.

"Where would there be so much magic? Go!"

Aurelian did not want to explain much right now; he was worried about what strange thing might be buried underneath.

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Hume was terrified by the mention of magic, but his reason still compelled him to follow Aurelian's instructions.

Not long after, Hume came running back, his fat wobbling, carrying two shovels.

"Dig!"

Handing one shovel to Master, who was still guarding the perimeter, Aurelian gave the order. He had a strong intuition that there was definitely something hidden beneath this layer of soil.

Perhaps that was the culprit behind the carbonization of the wheat seeds!

Master opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but seeing Aurelian's serious expression, he kept his silence.

The Duke before him had suddenly become somewhat unfamiliar; he had never seen this bastard son act so decisively before.

Hume watched from the side; he was just an ordinary person who had never practiced magic and could not be of much help.

Aurelian and Master used their shovels to move the soil aside, one scoop at a time.

Soon, a large pit one meter deep and over two meters in diameter appeared.

However, other than black soil, Aurelian had found nothing.

But he trusted his intuition; there was definitely something strange below.

"Keep digging."

Aurelian continued to swing his shovel.

Master's white armor was already covered in dust. He sighed, never imagining that as a noble knight, he would have to follow a bastard son in such a foolish endeavor.

But there was no help for it. Even though he was a knight, he was merely a dog by Aurelian's side.

If he was obedient, perhaps this Duke would be happy and reward him with a piece of meat, but if he angered the Duke, his life and death would be at the Duke's whim.

In this world, one's birth largely determined one's status.

Therefore, he desperately wanted to become a noble; only then could he control the lives and deaths of others.

One meter.

Two meters.

Three meters!

Aurelian and Master had already dug three meters deep, just as Aurelian began to wonder if it had truly been a mistake.

Suddenly, clang!

The iron shovel struck something equally hard, emitting a crisp sound.

Aurelian discovered that a chip had actually appeared on the corner of the shovel in his hand.

Master, standing beside him, also stopped; he had encountered the same thing as Aurelian.

"This is..."

In the pitch-black pit, Aurelian tossed his shovel aside and used his hands to scrape away a bit of the soil at his feet.

A beam of blue light burst forth.

Master had frozen; he realized he had encountered something incredible.

There was something down here. Could this be what Aurelian had been searching for after digging for so long?

Aurelian could not care about that now; he felt the fluctuations coming from his bloodline. There was a powerful magic node beneath his feet.

He scraped away all the soil at his feet.

The thing beneath his feet finally revealed its true form; it was a massive block of ice emitting blue light!

It was still buried in soil around the edges; what Aurelian had discovered was only a portion of it.

The entire pit was illuminated by this massive blue light, and both Aurelian and Master could not help but cover their eyes with their hands.

Hume, standing in the field above, was also startled by the blue light. Could it be that the Master has encountered some terrifying magic?

He rushed to the edge of the pit in a panic to look down, but he too was blinded by the blue light.

Aurelian saw that Stone Book in his consciousness again, and a new passage of Chinese text had appeared.

"Ever-Ice that never melts seals this land; demons grow beneath, and outsiders are not welcome.

Reward obtained: Magic Refinement."