Wizard: My skills can be upgraded indefinitely.

Chapter 486 Zul

Fragments of information pierced my mind, illogical and just fragments of sensory experience.

Ian closed his eyes and began to digest quickly.

In my mind, I pieced together the short life of a young Tanari.

Darkness, dampness, the dull pain of ore grinding against finger bones —

Zul was born in a black mud, without parents or a nest, driven only by instinct to crawl out of the mud and move toward where there was energy.

It didn't even know its own name. The name "Zul" was given to it by the other cubs in the mine, who couldn't pronounce any more complex syllables.

It has a very short lifespan, from birth to near death, perhaps only a few months or a few years.

Abyssal creatures have no precise concept of time; Zul cannot distinguish between a day and a month.

Zul stumbled upon a newly formed fel iron mine while out searching for food, and was caught red-handed by patrolling horned demons.

At that moment, it was gnawing on a piece of broken ore that had protruded from the ground. This mineral, which contained a faint abyssal energy, was found everywhere in the Black Corrosion Realm.

Deep within the earth, even more refined magic iron ore will continue to grow.

Young demons cannot chew hard ores, but a trace of energy remains in the slag powder on the surface of the ore.

For Zul, this energy was more precious than anything else, and then he was captured.

The Horned Demon patrol consisted of six people. The leader had grayish-black skin and a domino between his two curved horns, which made a clattering sound when he walked.

He grabbed Zul by the back of the neck, like he was holding a little devil rat. Zul struggled a couple of times, but was slapped unconscious.

When he woke up again, he was already in the mine, the Bloodslag Mine.

The mine contained not ordinary magic iron, but a dark red ore mixed with dried blood, which was extremely hard.

The claws of a young demon can only leave white marks when scratching. The horned demon overseer of the mine, "Bonebreaker," demands that the miners hand over a full basket of ore every day, but only issues them a simple pickaxe.

Zur carried a basket as tall as himself and dug the ground piece by piece, working from dawn till dusk, but the basket could never be filled.

It was too weak. Although the young Tanari was very talented, it was almost the weakest one in the Bloodslag Mine.

Other miners can dig for ten hours straight without rest, but this one can't last four hours.

Zul wasn't lazy, but because it hadn't absorbed much energy at birth and was premature, it was thinner than other cubs of the same age.

So it was punished on its very first day near the mine.

The Bonebreaker broke off its left arm with its own hands, and the memory became blurred at this point.

Zul felt a lot of pain, his body rolled around, and he couldn't remember anything.

My last memory was of a hideous face looming over me, spewing the stench of rotting flesh.

"waste."

That night, Zul endured the excruciating pain and secretly ran out of the mine, hiding in the pile of rubble outside.

It wasn't eaten, but it wasn't much better off; the fragments of memory grew darker and fainter.

It huddled in a crevice in the pile of rocks, listening to the distant sounds of bone-spiked wolves gnawing on corpses, waiting to be eaten.

My memory ends here, and my consciousness completely dissipates.

Ian opened his eyes.

His vision was still somewhat blurry, but his senses had already spread out, covering a range of more than ten meters around him.

He checked his body; his left arm was hanging limply, he had four broken ribs, and his body was covered in congealed blood scabs.

At that moment, words appeared in the corner of his eye:

[Projection blending complete]

[Current Projection: Young Tanari (Original Consciousness Has Dissipated)]

[Status: Severely Injured]

[Talents: 1. Chaos Transformation 2. Devouring Evolution]

[WARNING: The rules of this world are very different from those of the Wizarding World. The magic system is suppressed and needs to be readjusted and adapted.]

Ian leaned against the stone wall and remained silent for a few seconds.

The final warning was expected: the rules of the Abyss world are chaotic, and it is currently just a projection.

But the panel is still there, and the chaos transformation has followed, so it's not too bad.

His biggest problem right now isn't the different rules, it's that his body is too weak.

Even the faintest trace of a sixth-level radiant sun's consciousness is like a fragile eggshell in its body.

Every muscle and bone in his body was throbbing with pain. He could barely stand, let alone fight.

"I need to heal my injuries first."

Ian closed his eyes, his consciousness sinking into the depths of his soul, where a golden glow shone quietly.

He gently stirred his immortal soul, and a trace of extremely faint chaotic rules seeped out and flowed into every inch of his body's muscles.

This is merely the most basic function of the immortal soul; as long as the soul fire remains extinguished, the physical body will not completely collapse.

He wouldn't need this in the Wizarding World, where there are too many healing methods, but in the Abyss, this glimmer of light is more effective than anything else.

A warm, gray current flowed through my body, my broken ribs began to heal slowly, my left arm was still drooping, and the abrasions and lacerations all over my body began to scab over.

He dared not squander this soul energy, and his wounds healed very slowly.

Ian wasn't in a hurry. He leaned against the stone wall, maintaining the lowest possible output of his Undying Soul, repairing his body while organizing the information in his memories.

Bloodslag Mine, over three hundred mine slaves, Overseer Bonebreaker, mid-level Horned Demon.

In the Wizarding World, a mid-level horned demon is roughly equivalent to the combat strength of a level three wizard.

However, this "equivalent" is highly inaccurate. Demons fight in a brutal and direct manner, relying on physical strength and innate abilities, without the refined magical manipulation of witchcraft.

In a one-on-one situation, a level 3 wizard can easily crush a demon of the same level.

But in the Abyss, the rules are on the side of the demons.

Ian digested this information, but the panel's functions were severely limited. If he hadn't broken through to the sixth level of Dao and become the Child of Chaos, the panel would have been even less useful in the Abyss.

There aren't many features available right now, but they're enough.

Ian closed his eyes and rested for a while. Once his injuries had stabilized, he began to sense the two talents of this body.

Chaos transforms, devouring and evolving.

Both forces lie dormant deep within the body; the Chaos Transformation lies closer to the core of the soul, while the Devouring Evolution resides on the outside.

He tried to activate Devouring Evolution, and the moment the power surged, Ian frowned.

It's crude, so crude.

The devouring evolution of young Tanaris is an extremely primitive way of processing energy.

It can perform preliminary filtering and transformation of the abyssal energy absorbed from the outside world, removing the most violent impurities and retaining the core energy components.

The efficiency is very low, only about 30%, with the remaining 70% dissipating during the conversion process.

Compared to Ian's own Chaos Transformation, this thing is practically a children's toy.

He activated the Chaos Transformation again, and invisible energy slowly gathered, but the amount was too small.

This talent is extremely powerful, capable of decomposing and transforming energy of all attributes, leaving very little residue.

Ian snapped out of his daze; the sky outside was still overcast.

The "darkness" of the Black Eclipse Realm is different from that of the Wizarding World; there is no sun, stars, or moon, only a dark red vortex in the sky.

A low howl came from afar; it was a bone spike wolf, at least four or five of them.

They roam around the perimeter of the mine, looking for lone prey. They dare not approach during the day when the horned demon patrols are there, but they come out to hunt when it gets dark.

Ian's ears twitched; another sound was mixed in with the howl.

The soft rustling sound of claws scraping against the rocks came from the west side of the pile of boulders, about twenty meters away.

A lone Bone-Spiked Wolf.

Ian thought for a moment, then took no action, continuing to lean against the stone wall and suppressing his breathing to a minimum.

The rustling sound grew closer.

The Bonethorn Wolf has a keen sense of smell. It smelled the blood on Zul's body. To the Bonethorn Wolf, a dying young Tanari was a delicious meal delivered to its doorstep.

Ian opened his eyes in the darkness; the bone-spiked wolf had found him.

Twenty meters, fifteen meters, ten meters, it cautiously approached step by step.

Bone-spiked wolves have their own hunting instincts, and they dare not provoke uninjured young demons, but this is just an exception.

Five meters away, the Bone Spike Wolf peeked out from behind a black rock, its eyes gleaming with an eerie light.

It is twice the size of an ordinary wolf, and its grayish-brown back is covered with rows of sharp bone spurs that extend from the spine to the base of the tail.

It stared at Ian, who was hiding among the rocks, for a while.

Its hunting instincts told it that the prey might be feigning death, but the smell of blood was real.

After a while, the Bone Spike Wolf finally couldn't control its instincts and darted out from behind the Black Rock at an extremely fast speed.

It bared its two rows of interlocking fangs and lunged straight at Ian's throat.

Ian's eyes snapped open.

The control over a level six soul grants this body unparalleled speed and skill in reaction.

As the Bone-Spiked Wolf pounced on him, his right hand swayed slightly, and five sharp claws precisely pierced his jaw and penetrated his skull.

No supernatural power was used; it was pure speed and precision.

The Bone Spike Wolf's body stiffened abruptly, its four legs frantically pawing at the ground, the bone spikes scraping against the rocks with a piercing sound.

Ian didn't let go. He didn't use much force, but his aim was perfect. His five claws were driven into the skull, and the more the Bone Spike Wolf struggled, the deeper the claws dug.

Three seconds later, the Bone Spike Wolf collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

Ian released his grip and let out a soft breath.

Killing just one Bonethorn Wolf almost reopened the wound that had just healed; the body's foundation was too weak.

He crouched down, placing his right hand over the bone spike wolf's corpse, and the panel jumped.

[Abyssal energy detected: 5.1]

Is it absorbed?

Ian looked at the numbers on the panel but didn't act immediately.

If you absorb 5.1 units of energy using the Devour talent, with a 30% conversion rate, you will ultimately gain around 1.5 units.

He first activated Devouring Evolution to see the specific effects of this talent.

A suction force emanated from his palm, and the flesh and blood of the Bone Spike Wolf began to decompose; muscle fibers broke, fat liquefied, and bones shattered.

The corpse began to shrink and shatter under the suction, and wisps of purple energy were swallowed by the palm.

The whole process was quick, taking less than half a minute, leaving only a grayish-white skin and a pile of broken bones on the ground.