Blackstone Mining Area

Ten days later.

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

In the void invisible to the naked eye, countless energy particles seemed to be drawn by an invisible force, rushing into his body.

In the depths of his sea of consciousness, most of the Star Ring had already become substantial, with only a tiny portion still having a ghostly quality.

As the energy particles continued to fill it up, this final shadow also visibly disappeared.

The moment the last shadow became substantial, the entire Star Ring suddenly radiated brightly and began to tremble slightly.

In an instant, Su Nan felt a clear sound in his mind, and his spirit became remarkably lucid.

“I did it!”

Su Nan opened his eyes, a genuine, joyful smile appearing on his face.

From the beginning of practicing the Star Ring Meditation Technique until now, nearly half a year has passed. Finally, he had constructed his first Star Ring.

Returning from his delight, Su Nan looked at the panel immediately.

[Spirit 3.60 / Stamina 3.25]

“Spirit increased by 0.78, and stamina also increased by 0.31!”

Su Nan nodded in satisfaction.

Even with the aid of a sub-active potion, it would take him nearly a month of meditation to increase his spiritual power by so much.

The improvement from constructing the Star Ring was indeed significant.

In terms of stamina, Su Nan had now surpassed the level of a trainee knight.

However, he was still far from the formal knight standard of 8 points in stamina.

After all, he hadn’t practiced any breathing techniques.

“If I were to start practicing breathing techniques now, the progress shouldn’t be too slow.”

Breathing techniques and stamina complement each other.

The faster the progress in breathing techniques, the quicker the enhancement in stamina.

Conversely, it is the same.

Given Su Nan’s current stamina, he might not even need a month to gain some proficiency in breathing techniques.

Still, that’s easier said than done. He didn’t plan on doing it.

Wizards have their methods of enhancing stamina, so there was no need to waste time and effort practicing breathing techniques.

With that time, it would be better to focus more on improving the progress of learning spells or skills.

With a thought, Su Nan opened the spell list.

[Mage Hand]

[Sleep Curse]

[Acid Splash]

[Flash Spell]

Thanks to the benefits of the sub-active potion, his efficiency in learning spells had multiplied several times.

In just two short months, he not only mastered the Sleep Curse but also learned the Acid Splash and Flash Spell.

He was currently progressing in learning the Unlocking Spell.

“The knowledge fields involved in being a wizard are mostly extremely profound, requiring a vast amount of time to master.”

“This is also the main reason why many talented wizard apprentices spend hundreds of years to advance to full wizards.”

“However, as long as there are enough resources available, this time can be greatly shortened.”

Su Nan mused silently.

On the Starlight Continent, due to the decline of elements and scarcity of resources, wizards see no hope in enhancing their power, which is why they have been abandoned.

If it weren’t for his Synthesis Cube, hoping to advance to wizard status in today’s Starlight Continent would be nothing but a pipe dream.

“Upgrading to Level 2 in the Star Ring Meditation Technique requires 3000 proficiency points, which would take about four months.”

“If the supply of sub-active potions could be maintained continuously, at most two years would be enough to advance to a second-level wizard apprentice.”

Su Nan estimated that the cost of making one bottle of sub-active potion was about twelve gold coins.

With more practice, it might be reduced to around ten gold coins.

That’s twenty gold coins a month.

“It seems that Blackstone City’s monthly tax revenue is only forty or fifty gold coins; this expense is considerable.”
Su Nan had considered synthesizing a sub-tier active potion, which might significantly enhance the potion’s effects.

Unfortunately, with Blackstone City’s current income level, it doesn’t permit him to purchase a large amount of materials all at once to produce enough sub-tier active potions.

“I should discuss this with my brother.”

Su Nan got up and walked out of the meditation room.

On his way, he encountered Old Geller, and after inquiring, learned that Brother Ke Yi was currently in the study, so he turned and headed straight there.

However, when he found Brother Ke Yi in the study, he also found that the latter was sighing, looking troubled.

Seeing Su Nan, Brother Ke Yi collected himself, putting on a brave face and asked, “Oh, it’s you, Su Nan. You’ve locked yourself in the courtyard for several days. What brings you out today?”

“Brother, I have something to discuss with you.”

Su Nan got straight to the point, directly mentioning the purchase of materials.

After listening, Brother Ke Yi smiled wryly.

“There are over fifty gold coins in the account. I originally planned to use them to buy armor. Since you need them, I’ll give them to you first.”

Su Nan gave Brother Ke Yi a look, remembering his earlier worrying expression, and understood instantly.

“Is the territory really short on money now?”

Brother Ke Yi didn’t hide it, sighed, and said, “Recently, the number of knights in the territory has increased significantly, leading to a much higher food expenditure. Next month, farming has to begin, and money is needed to buy tools and seeds, so the expenses are indeed substantial.”

“Is there any way to increase income or cut expenses?”

“Cutting expenses isn’t possible. If the territory wants to develop, saving money is impossible. Whether it’s arming troops or developing the economy, it’s all inseparable from gold coins.”

Brother Ke Yi always had the ambition to strengthen the forces and reclaim the Shining Lands, so he naturally couldn’t be content with doing nothing.

“As for increasing income, I do have an idea. I plan to restart the Blackstone Mines!”

Blackstone Mines?

Su Nan’s expression shifted slightly.

He remembered that Blackstone City was once renowned for its production of Blackstone Iron.

Blackstone Iron is a high-quality metal, requiring only simple refinement to have hardness comparable to wrought iron. It’s an excellent material for forging armor and weapons.

The name of Blackstone City also originated from this.

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

But later, a mishap led to the abandonment of the mines, causing Blackstone City to gradually decline.

“What caused the Blackstone Mines to become abandoned back then?” Su Nan asked puzzledly.

Without a special reason, the successive lords of Blackstone City would never abandon a source that continuously produced wealth.

“According to the old soldiers in the city, it was because a certain monster appeared in the mines.”

“A monster?”

Brother Ke Yi was well prepared, taking out a sheet of parchment and spreading it out on the table.

It depicted a panther-like creature, pitch black all over, with a body clearly exhibiting stone-like patterns yet exuding a metallic sheen, looking as if it were entirely composed of gold and stone.

“The previous lord called these creatures Iron Devourers. They feed on Blackstone Iron ore, their bodies as tough as Blackstone Iron. Each one has combat power comparable to a junior knight, making them very challenging to deal with.”

“Are there many such creatures?” Su Nan asked.

Although knight-level monsters are fearsome, they shouldn’t deter successive lords.

If necessary, they could spend a few hundred gold coins to hire a grand knight to deal with them.

Unless there were a great number of them, or there were other reasons.

Sure enough, Brother Ke Yi continued, “The creatures are not many, probably around twenty to thirty. The key issue is that Iron Devourers are very cunning. If they sense something amiss, they’ll burrow into the rock walls to escape. Their speed is so fast that even a grand knight can’t stop them.”

“Without clearing out these creatures, the mining area cannot begin normal operations.”

Creatures that can burrow, huh.
Su Nan raised an eyebrow; indeed, they were difficult to deal with.

—Of course, this is only relative to ordinary people.

“If that’s all it is, there might be a way to solve it.”

Su Nan’s words made Brother Ke Yi pause for a moment, then he reacted, standing up in surprise.

“Do you have a way to deal with the Iron Devourers?”

Su Nan pondered, “We can give it a try.”

Although Su Nan didn’t make a 100% guarantee, it was enough to make Brother Ke Yi ecstatic.

After all, his greatest worry during this period has been the matter of gold coins. If the Blackstone Mines could be restarted, all problems would be solved!