The Wizard: From Zero-Ring Wizard to Almighty Lord.

Deep within the Nightmare Rift Valley.

Here, the darkness is so dense that it almost solidifies, as if it were not "no light" but rather the remnants of light that had been completely swallowed up.

A dangerous aura flowed silently through the void, cold and viscous, instinctively arousing vigilance.

In this deathly darkness, a faintly visible passage floats silently.

The next moment, streaks of dazzling starlight shot out from the passage.

call out!
call out!
As starlight broke through the darkness, one figure after another appeared.

Those were the Morning Star wizards of the Wizarding Council.

The light of rules swirled around their bodies, like miniature stars, barely creating a small patch of light in this darkness.

"This is... the deepest part of the Nightmare Rift."

Someone spoke in a low voice, their tone tinged with seriousness.

"According to Lord Light of Discipline, the place we are in now is the central area of ​​the former ten great cities."

Before the words were even finished, someone frowned and looked around.

"But this place... doesn't feel right."

It was still pitch black all around.

It wasn't just darkness, but a deep, abyssal darkness that could devour all light.

If it weren't for the spontaneous flow of the rule-based light around the Morning Star Wizards, their figures would probably have already been completely swallowed up by this darkness.

Someone attempted to cast a spell.

A basic illumination spell was ignited by energy factors, and the light, which had just begun to bloom, was extinguished silently.

He refused to believe in superstition and continued to use higher-level illumination magic.

First-level lighting spell failed, second-level lighting spell failed, third-level lighting spell...

It vanished silently.

Only after gritting his teeth and activating the rule-based magic, drawing upon the brilliance of the rules themselves, could he barely tear open a small patch of dim light in the darkness.

"..."

After a brief silence, someone muttered a curse.

"What exactly is the Meteor Council up to?"

"This environment is probably completely unsuitable for life of organisms below level four."

Upon hearing this, many Morning Star wizards turned serious.

Lynn stood in the crowd, taking in everything, his eyes flickering slightly.

He remembers it very clearly.

When the Meteor Council first occupied Nightmare Rift Valley, the environment there, while dangerous, was far from being this bizarre.

Now this darkness swallows up the light...

"Could it be related to that level seven being from the Meteor Council?"

The thought flashed through his mind.

The group quickly used their individual methods, combining the coordinate records they carried with the old map of the Nightmare Rift Valley, and through comparison and deduction, they soon pinpointed the approximate locations of the ten former cities.

"Let's go."

"That's the City of Elements."

Several white wizards and morning star wizards, clad in snow-white robes, responded to each other and quickly formed a small team, heading in one direction.

Meanwhile, many dark wizards, after confirming their location, did not hesitate to turn away and disappear into the darkness alone.

Lynn did not choose to team up.

He stood alone in place, and after a moment of observation, his gaze locked onto a direction: the mechanical city.

The next instant, he activated "Zhi Fang Li Tian" and his figure transformed into a sharp blade of rules. With the speed of lightning, he tore through the darkness and sped straight toward the mechanical city.

....................................

The mechanical capital.

A colossal object floating in endless darkness.

It was not a simple city, but an entire mechanical island forged from steel and runes.

It consists of seven layers from top to bottom, stacked one on top of the other, like a steel mountain suspended upside down in the void.

Each floor was incredibly vast. It served as both a city and a war fortress.

Ordinary Morning Star Wizards possess their own space motherships when undertaking interdimensional expeditions. These are colossal vessels, capable of traversing the void and suppressing planes.

But compared to the mechanical city, it was merely a small beast encountering a true behemoth.

The difference is almost incomparable.

In bygone days, the mechanical city was never still.

It slowly cruises inside the Nightmare Rift Valley, its exterior shimmering with light, the lighting system resembling a sea of ​​stars.
Countless patrol robots and aircraft shuttle between the steel structures, their movements icy yet orderly.

After walking for a long time in that long and oppressive darkness, suddenly seeing a mechanical city radiating light ahead, the shock was enough to be remembered for a lifetime.

The order and light of steel hang high in the abyss.

However, the Meteor Council now occupies the Nightmare Rift and controls ten major cities.

The mechanical city has stopped moving; the patrolling aircraft have vanished, and the mechanical puppets that once patrolled the area have also disappeared.

Worse still, as the eerie darkness spread from the depths of the rift, the faint glow that the mechanical city had been emitting was completely suppressed.

Light cannot diffuse.

It felt like being swallowed by darkness in one's throat.

By this time, Lynn had already flown extremely far.

Based on the coordinates, he should have arrived at the location of the Mechanical City.

But all that remained before me was a deathly, pitch-black silence.

There are no outlines, no reflections, no cold texture of metallic structures, only darkness that devours everything.

"Even the mechanical capital has lost its light..."

Lynn muttered to himself.

He raised his hand and flicked his fingers lightly.

A tender green light quietly appeared and slowly flew forward.

That was not ordinary lighting magic, but a radiance infused with the power of rules.

The green light suddenly exploded in mid-air, like a firework blooming in the darkness.

In an instant, the outline of steel appeared in the green light.

A massive metal structure, layer upon layer, with heavy decks, crisscrossing pipes, and silent towers...

It was a sleeping steel behemoth, the mechanical capital.

Lynn's figure flashed.

Before the green light had completely dissipated, he had already landed steadily on the metal deck extending from the outside of the mechanical city.

A cold, hard sensation came from beneath my feet, yet there was no one around.

There were no patrolling wizards, no mechanical puppets, no roaring aircraft taking off and landing; the entire mechanical city seemed to have been ripped out of its soul.

Only a massive, silent steel shell remained, floating quietly in the darkness.

"It seems... it really is related to this eerie darkness."

Lynn narrowed his eyes slightly.

He raised his right hand, palm open, index finger slowly extended.

The layers of magical shields parted at the fingertips, creating a small gap. The power of the rules temporarily receded, leaving only the purest physical body.

The next instant, a sharp pain struck.

It was an extremely subtle yet real burning and erosion, like a mortal being gently stung by a bee.

Lynn's expression remained unchanged, but the feeling did not dissipate.

Once a second, then quickly, it became five times a second, and then ten times a second.

The stinging pain began to intensify.

From a bee sting to a needle prick, and from a needle prick to the sharp, piercing pain of a knife blade cutting into flesh. Lynn's brow twitched almost imperceptibly.

It should be noted that even disregarding his wizarding level, his physical body alone is already at the level of a perfect third-level great wizard.

Such physical strength is virtually unshakeable by ordinary energy erosion.

However, in this darkness, even after only a short while, I felt noticeably uncomfortable.

If one's strength is below level four and there is no magical shield protecting them, they probably won't be able to hold out for even a moment.

No wonder the Meteor Council didn't set up patrols outside; it wasn't that they didn't want to, but rather that they simply couldn't stay there for long.

Lynn slowly withdrew his index finger, and the magic shield reappeared, instantly shutting out the stinging sensation.

"Even the Meteor Council didn't leave any patrol forces... It seems that this darkness is not just a simple change in the environment."

He gazed into the depths, his eyes deep and somber.

"Something terrible has probably happened in the deepest part of the Nightmare Rift Valley..."

However, at this level of turmoil, someone will naturally step in to handle it.

He was merely a mid-level fourth-tier Morning Star Wizard.

The ones who really need to take action are the sixth-level Morning Star wizards who have not yet shown themselves.

Further up, there is the Radiant Moon Emperor, the Golden Pen Sage, who can sublimate an entire region with a single stroke.

The thought of that golden quill pen that rewrote reality still sent a chill down Lynn's spine.

But he quickly suppressed those thoughts.

"For me... I'll do what I have to do first."

His gaze gradually turned cold.

"The advanced machinery capital, reuniting with old friends."

"Then……"

"Go find Ilo and those old enemies, the machine puppet wizards, and settle the score."

He was intimately familiar with the structure of the mechanical city; his past experiences traveling there had etched the paths into his memory.

Lynn did not choose the entrances to the top sixth and seventh floors.

If there are still garrisoned forces inside those two core areas, rushing in would easily alert the enemy.

He moved swiftly, silently traversing the steel structures, and finally landed on the outer edge of the third floor.

This place is relatively central, and even if there are patrols inside, the number of people will be limited so as not to alert the enemy.

....................................

The third floor of the Mechanical City.

In the past, this area was the domain of wizarding apprentices and first-level wizards.

Let alone a Morning Star wizard like Lynn, even second- or third-level wizards rarely set foot in this place.

Now that the Meteor Council has taken over the Mechanical City, it is no longer what it used to be, and is in much worse shape than before.

A figure flashed silently, and Lynn appeared at the entrance to the third floor.

Unlike the outside world, the interior of the mechanical city was not corrupted by that eerie darkness.

Clearly, the entire steel behemoth is a self-contained system, with interlocking magical formations that operate in a cyclical manner, completely isolating it from the darkness that devours light from the outside world.

Therefore, the third floor was still brightly lit.

The light was bright, and the metal corridor reflected a cold, white glow.

However, Lynn raised an eyebrow slightly.

"There isn't even a soul in sight."

He stood before a straight metal passageway that stretched deep into the distance.

The spiritual power at the Morning Star level spread silently, surging in through the passage like a tide.

The area thousands of meters away quickly came into perception.

Roads, dormitories, laboratories, storage rooms...

The building still stands, its structure intact, but it is completely empty.

There was no breathing, no energy fluctuations, no sign of life; collapsed tables, chairs, and equipment were scattered across the ground.

Parts of the wall collapsed, metal components were twisted and deformed, thick dust covered everything, and there were even dried bloodstains.

The spiritual power continued to extend deeper, but the result remained the same: abandoned, lifeless, and devoid of vitality.

Clearly, these are traces of destruction left behind when the Meteor Council conquered this place.

After that, they didn't even bother to fix it or reactivate it.

The thickness of the dust buildup says it all.

The Meteor Council did not station any troops on the third level at all.

Lynn pondered for a moment, then a cold smile curled at the corner of his lips.

"Was it carelessness?"

"Or...overconfidence?"

Perhaps they placed too much trust in the layers of formations surrounding the Nightmare Rift Valley.

After all, in common sense, no one can bypass the formation and enter the interior without making a sound.

Moreover, the Meteor Council already has a limited number of people.

After the forces were dispersed to the ten major cities, there were very few people left to guard each city.

"That's fine too."

Lynn nodded slightly.

At least, he no longer needs to risk going to the core areas like the sixth or seventh floor, greatly reducing the risk of being discovered.

He pondered for a moment.

"Martha and the others..."

He saved Martha and the others as the Spirit-Eyed Wizard, but now he doesn't know their exact situation.

Contacting them rashly could lead to being monitored or implicated, potentially exposing your whereabouts.

After all, the Spirit-Eyed Wizard rescued these sinners from the former mechanical city, only to end up fighting Iro of the Elf race and dying on the spot.

While Martha and the others' safety is somewhat guaranteed out of consideration for the Spirit Eye Wizard, some supervision will inevitably be implemented.

Therefore, Lynn quickly made a decision not to contact Martha and the others for the time being.

Instead, he decided to contact another person he knew first, namely the elven princess, Lori.

She has a noble status, freedom of movement, and will not be questioned within the mechanical city.

....................................

Just as Lynn guessed, the number of wizards assigned to the entire Mechanical City by the Meteor Council was indeed limited, so only the sixth, seventh, and first floors had garrisoned personnel.

The other four levels were completely empty.

The first layer is the energy layer, the source of energy for the entire Mechanical City, and also its prison, where countless figures are imprisoned.

These figures were wizards who originally belonged to the Mechanical City, as well as some people who stayed in the Mechanical City after the Meteor Council conquered the Nightmare Rift Valley.

On the seventh floor, a third of the area was occupied by the group of elven wizards;
As for the rest of the seventh floor and the sixth floor, those belong to the human wizards of the Meteor Council.

On the sixth floor, in the residential area, there is a villa where some of Lynn's old acquaintances live.

These were none other than the three people Lynn had rescued last time as the Spirit-Eyed Wizard: Daven, Martha, and Chris.

Although these three people were freed from their status as criminals and no longer imprisoned in the first-floor cell, they were able to live in an empty villa on the sixth floor.

However, their daily lives were still subject to the supervision of the Meteor Council.

For example, right now, Davin is fiddling with mechanical gadgets in the laboratory, Martha is lying in the garden, and Chris is cultivating in the training room.

All of this information was under the complete supervision of a wizard in the Meteor Council.

If Lynn chooses to contact the three, he will be discovered by the wizards of the Meteor Council immediately.

Unlike the other three, the seventh level is located in the Elven territory.

At that moment, an elven woman quietly left the elven territory, followed by several elven attendants.

Although this group was discovered by the patrolling wizards of the Meteor Council from the time they appeared until they left the seventh floor, they simply turned a blind eye and completely ignored what the elves were doing... (End of this chapter)