Late that night, he rested in a cave sheltered from the wind, intermittently entering a light Meditation and remaining on guard.

In a state between waking and sleep, he suddenly "heard" a rhythmic "THUMP THUMP" sound from the depths of the cave, as if someone were gently tapping on the stone wall.

He also heard low murmurs in a language he couldn’t understand at all, yet it carried an ancient, desolate quality.

The sound bored into his ears, carrying a peculiar Magic Power that made him drowsy. His consciousness felt as if it were about to fly out of his body and drift toward the depths.

The [Eye of Vigilance] saw nothing—only ordinary rock in the depths of the cave—but the sound and the pull were undeniably real.

Ian’s consciousness blurred once more. Just then, the panel seemed to detect the abnormality in his mental state. Within his Sea of Spirit, the Will Runes all vibrated in unison.

A cool sensation, much clearer than before, swept through his mind, instantly dispelling the drowsiness and blocking out the bizarre sound.

Ian shot up, drenched in a cold sweat. He immediately rushed out of the cave and fled without a second glance.

The THUMP THUMP sound vanished the moment he left the cave, as if it had never been there, but the horrifying feeling of his Will being pulled lingered for a long time.

’The panel... it’s never let me down! It can even block a Spiritual Attack like that!’

Ian felt both relieved and sobered. He was thankful to have such a powerful trump card. The strangeness of this area far exceeded his imagination, frequently triggering the panel’s passive responses.

’The panel’s first warning, I remember, was in the library of the Shadow Moon Tower...’

To this day, he still didn’t know what was hidden in the High Tower’s library. He had asked Malena, but she seemed to have never heard of such a thing.

In the following days, Ian became even more cautious, to the point of being paranoid about every little thing.

He avoided all abnormal-looking terrain, bodies of water, and plants. He didn’t even dare to stare at anything reflective for long, nor look too closely at the brightly colored flowers and trees.

The inexplicable whispers, visions, and strange sounds still appeared from time to time, disturbing his mind and draining his energy.

He felt less like he was traversing a mountain range and more like he was passing through a vast, hazy, and malevolent Dream Realm.

Every step was taken with extreme care. He had to guard against the tangible attacks of Demonized Fierce Beasts while also resisting the omnipresent, formless mental Erosion.

Fatigue clung to him like a maggot on a rotting bone, not just physically, but also from the constant mental strain.

He didn’t dare to stop. His physical condition was still slowly deteriorating, so he could only press on toward his seemingly unreachable goal.

At noon that day, he crested a steep slope covered in sharp scree. The scene before him changed abruptly, and he slowly came to a halt.

It was a relatively open basin, but the sight within was utterly grotesque.

Growing in the basin were countless plants, dozens of meters tall, that looked like blood-red nets magnified innumerable times.

They had no branches, only trunks as thick as houses, topped with immense, canopy-like, densely packed blood-red nets.

The nets weren’t solid but were constantly shifting halos of crimson light. Within the halos, indescribably distorted patterns would occasionally flash.

Ian took one look and felt dizzy, a dry heave rising in his throat.

The entire basin wasn’t still; it pulsed faintly at an extremely slow rhythm, as if it were breathing.

With every pulse, the halos of light would shift, and an invisible Spiritual Fluctuation would sweep across the entire basin.

Ian was merely standing at the edge of the basin, but when that invisible wave swept over him, he was instantly hit with a wave of nausea and disorientation. Fragmented, absurd images flashed through his mind:

Bizarre guests, a rotting feast, twisted dances, silent screams...

’I absolutely cannot go in there!’

He immediately began to move laterally along the basin’s edge, trying to get around it.

However, the basin was much larger than he had anticipated.

Even the edge wasn’t safe. Small, deep purplish-black fungi would suddenly burst from the rock crevices, spewing clouds of light purple spores.

Only by relying on the early warning from his [Eye of Vigilance] did Ian manage to retreat in time, narrowly avoiding the spray.

He watched as a few strange birds, startled into flight, accidentally touched the spores. They immediately began to twist and convulse in mid-air before falling to the ground, where they were quickly covered and "digested" by mycelia.

A deeper chill filled his heart. He pushed the Perception of his [Eye of Vigilance] to its maximum and prepared to instantly cast a [Secondary Frost Freeze Beam] at any moment.

The process of circling around was slow and agonizing. He had to constantly resist the mental interference coming from the center of the basin while also watching out for the spore clouds that appeared underfoot from time to time.

Fortunately, his Instant Shield was a great help. Its "Reorganization" effect quickly stripped away any contaminated parts, preventing the corrosion from spreading.

Just as Ian was about to completely bypass the basin, a sudden change occurred!

In the center of the basin, all the tree trunks began to melt and writhe like wax, then rapidly swelled, combined, and took shape...

Within the span of a few breaths, they formed a terrifying, giant face in the sky above the basin.

It had no facial features—only a constantly Devouring purple vortex that took up the entire face!

"Ah..." A silent scream sent ripples through space.

As the ripples swept over him, Ian felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He nearly buckled to his knees, and two streams of blood trickled from the corners of his eyes.

Even more terrifying, a crimson, human-faced mark had appeared in his Sea of Spirit at some unknown point!

The moment the mark appeared, the panel vibrated with unprecedented intensity.

VMMMM...!

The face shattered instantly, turning into a wisp of smoke before disappearing.

Ian suppressed the terror in his heart, forced himself to his feet, and hastily fled the basin.

After he was dozens of meters away, he thought he heard a faint sigh of disappointment, which dissipated on the wind along with the nauseating, sweet, and coppery stench.

Ian’s back was soaked in cold sweat, but he didn’t dare slow his pace for even a second.

He would rather spend more time and energy to completely change his route than ever look back.

After his injuries had recovered slightly, he began to climb another treacherous mountain ridge.

...

An unknown number of days had passed since he fled that terrifying and bizarre basin.

Ian didn’t know how many steep ridges he had crossed, how many deathly silent canyons he had passed through, or how many times he had relied on the panel’s warnings and his own masochistic willpower to break free from the harassment of bizarre whispers and illusions.

His robes were long since tattered beyond recognition, barely covering his body, which was now adorned with many new scars.

His Meditation Potions had long run out, and the few Healing Potions and Antidote Elixirs he had prepared at the start were also completely gone.

His only source of food was foraging for identifiable plants and hunting small Magic Beasts, and he drank only stream water that he had carefully collected and treated with Witchcraft.

He had lost a lot of weight. His face, gaunt from long-term malnutrition and stress, had become sharp and angular, and stubble had grown on his chin.

But his gaze had grown sharper, like a blade honed countless times—composed, weary, and vigilant... with an undercurrent of gloom that would not fade.

Every day, he felt as if he were being placed on an invisible grindstone, his energy, stamina, and even his Will being slowly ground away.

Although the panel didn’t explicitly display it, Ian could clearly sense that his "status" was still slowly declining.

It was as if this mountain range itself was a gigantic, life-devouring trap.

He felt he was nearing his limit and had even suspected countless times that this path was a dead end from the very beginning.

Then, the change came quietly!