"Do we send someone to look for them now, or wait at the Academy?" Elara asked.

  "The Headmistress is stubborn. Since she left secretly, even if we send people to search, we probably won't find her," Mora said after a moment's thought, giving her judgment.

  "Mm." Maelira and Elara both nodded, offering no objections.

  Having followed Evelyn for tens of thousands of years, they knew her temperament inside out.

  Moreover, Evelyn's aura was extremely unique. As long as she didn't reveal herself, the three of them could not precisely locate her.

  There was no doubt that Evelyn must have powerful trump cards hidden, which was the fundamental reason they were not panicking.

  "Enough. The Headmistress surely carries protective treasures to safeguard herself, otherwise she wouldn't have made it safely back from the South Territory all the way to Glacial Arcana Academy."

  "Besides, after returning to the Academy, the resources stored within her spiritual domain are more than sufficient. She can protect herself without issue," Elara said.

  "As for that Ryan…" Elara let out a heavy sigh.

  "To have slipped away right under Mora's watch, this boy's methods can't be simple. He probably has some means to keep himself safe as well."

  "Let's put that aside for now and focus all our energy on preparing the opening of the secret realm. Pay special attention to training that child Sally.

  She stays in the Academy all the time, lacks practical experience, and won't grow properly if this continues."

  Elara shifted the conversation and set the subsequent tasks.

  "When the secret realm is about to open, through the Headmistress's information channels, we will inevitably learn of it. She will naturally return then, and we won't need to waste effort searching."

  The topic ended there. Once Ryan and Evelyn left, the hardest task undoubtedly fell to Sally, who remained at the Academy.

  At that moment, Sally, still meditating and practicing magic, suddenly shivered for no reason.

  "What's going on?" Sally frowned, a strange, inexplicable feeling rising in her heart.

  "This sensation… it feels a little like a precursor to the mental probing the Grand Elders perform," she murmured to herself, an involuntary hint of fear creeping in.

  …

  Central Continent, eastern Skylorn Province, Snowmere City.

  It was the tenth day since Ryan had begun digging the tunnel.

  "Almost there, just a little further!" Ryan's eyes gleamed with excitement in the pitch-black tunnel.

  Using Grimoire's Concealment function, he carefully dug toward the location marker. The closer he got to the surface, the gentler his digging became, careful not to trigger the estate's ground-level magical alarm arrays.

  It had to be said, Grimoire's Concealment function was extremely useful, completely hiding his magical aura.

  Unfortunately, the function had a small drawback. Whenever he went outside, he had to deliberately leak a fixed level of magical aura at all times.

  Otherwise, he would be detected as a normal person without magical fluctuations, which could provoke reckless individuals to challenge him, forcing him to waste time dealing with them physically. Just thinking about it was annoying.

  Ryan paused from digging from time to time to glance at the floating location marker projected by Grimoire, using it to visually estimate the distance between the tunnel and the surface.

  The marker had a built-in clairvoyance effect. Even through thick layers of earth, or across an entire region, it could still be seen clearly.

  The closer he got to the surface, the gentler Ryan's digging became. He wasn't sure which part of the estate he was under and feared that too strong a movement might trigger vibrations.

  All the soil he excavated was conveniently stored in his storage bag and storage ring.

  With Grimoire's Concealment function hiding his aura, he didn't have to worry about being detected. What truly required caution was the noise generated by digging, which could attract the guards' attention.

  Inside the estate, in Emily's room.

  Emily crouched on the soft carpeted floor, brow furrowed, eyes fixed on the floor tiles that quivered slightly beneath her.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  She gripped a longsword tightly, magical energy circulating subtly around her, ready to strike at a moment's notice. Should anything break through the floor, she would pierce it with a single lethal thrust.

  A metal claw, glinting with a cold light, slowly broke through the ground, followed by Ryan's cautiously emerging head.

  He was about to climb up quietly when he suddenly sensed a sharp gust of wind rushing toward him. His pupils constricted, and he quickly dodged to the side.

  Even with his quick reflexes, the sword's energy slashed across his chest, leaving a bleeding wound. Warm blood instantly soaked his clothes.

  Ryan looked up to see a beautiful young woman frowning, holding a longsword, her gaze icy as it fixed on him.

  "Who are you? How dare you trespass into the estate!" Emily shouted sharply, and before Ryan could respond, she struck again with her sword.

  Her attack was clearly lethal. She had no intention of giving Ryan a chance to explain.

  Seeing the magic-imbued sword coming at him, Ryan had no time to speak. He swiftly recoiled, jumping back into the tunnel.

  Emily, having been pampered since childhood, was headstrong and impulsive. Seeing Ryan retreat, she immediately followed him into the narrow tunnel, determined to kill the intruder underground.

  Ryan backed up several steps in the tunnel. When he looked back, he realized Emily was the only one pursuing him and froze for a moment.

  Recalling the room he glimpsed when breaking the ground the delicate dressing table, the hanging lace curtains, he immediately understood: he had dug directly into someone's room!

  Just her alone? Nothing to worry about! Ryan's tension instantly vanished.

  He glanced at the synchronized information on Emily displayed by Grimoire and inhaled sharply. She was the daughter of the estate's owner, and her magical level reached Third-tier Senior Mage!

  "Stop! This is a misunderstanding!" Ryan raised both hands, signaling that he meant no harm and hoped for a peaceful resolution.

  After all, his target was only the object at the location marker; he didn't want any unnecessary complications.

  "Intruder, die! Even if you have a thousand words to say, you will not escape death today!" Emily ignored any explanation, her gaze growing even colder.

  Ryan sighed helplessly and stopped hiding his power. The aura of a Fourth-tier Senior Mage suddenly burst forth.

  Emily's expression changed instantly. Feeling that his magical level surpassed her own, she quickly leapt back, maintaining a cautious watch on Ryan.

  "Damn it! Are the estate guards useless? They actually let you dig into my room!"

  Emily cursed angrily and, in front of Ryan, pulled out a red communication crystal, clearly intending to call for reinforcements.

  "Idiot!" Ryan muttered under his breath, his body flashing forward at incredible speed.

  Before Emily could activate the crystal, he snatched it from her hand and tossed it deep into the tunnel.

  Emily's pupils constricted sharply. She never expected Ryan to move so fast. She tried to retreat to put some distance between them but realized it was too late.

  "Bastard! Die!" Emily's eyes flashed with deadly intent, seeing that there was nowhere left to fall back.

  She poured all her Third-tier Senior Mage magical energy into her longsword and launched a fierce thrust aimed directly at Ryan's chest. Every strike was lethal, leaving no room for her opponent to breathe.

  In the narrow tunnel, Ryan couldn't fully dodge. He had no choice but to block the strike head-on.

  He acted decisively, activating Arcane Enchantment. His hands instantly transformed into two metal blades shimmering with cold light, crossed in front of him.

  He increasingly realized how overpowered this Arcane Enchantment was. Once his limbs became weapons, they were not only incredibly hard but also completely blocked pain, so injuries wouldn't affect his movements.

  Emily's full-power strike slammed down, the dense magical energy pouring out from the sword tip, forming a sharp wave of magical force.

  Ryan was blasted backward by the immense power, his blood surging, cheeks twisted by the wind, and his feet plowing two shallow grooves into the dirt at the bottom of the tunnel.

  The intense impact widened the central part of the tunnel by more than double. Luckily, the soil under the estate was solid, and the tunnel Ryan had dug was narrow, so there was no collapse.

  He couldn't waste any more time. If the estate guards arrived, not only would retrieving the object be difficult, surviving the encounter would also be in question.

  Ryan steeled himself. Instantly restoring his hands to their normal form, he took advantage of the moment while Emily's magical energy had not fully rebounded, and violently surged forward, slapping her across the face.

  After enduring continuous insults, Ryan was thoroughly angered. This slap carried the full strength of his magically-enhanced body, forceful and heavy.

  The strike was fast and brutal. Emily didn't have time to react and was hit solidly.

  With a crisp sound, Emily's body fell backward, actually knocked unconscious by the slap. Several bloodied teeth flew from her mouth, landing in the dirt of the tunnel.

  Ryan's physical strength, enhanced by magic, far surpassed a normal person. The power of this strike lived up to its reputation.

  There was no time to deal with the unconscious Emily. Ryan grabbed her by the back of her collar and dragged her toward the location marked by Grimoire.

  Although he had been reckless entering the estate, she was just a pampered young lady. There was no need to kill her.

  Ryan wasn't a hero, but he didn't want to bully the weak or finish them off completely.

  After all, the estate's people would chase him regardless. Killing Emily wouldn't change the situation, so it was better to keep some moral restraint.

  He casually dropped the unconscious Emily to the ground, his gaze immediately locking onto the center of the room.

  There stood a half-human-height oval black crystal, the very object he had come for.

  Time was pressing. Ryan ran several steps to the black crystal, hugged it tightly with his right hand, and lifted it with some effort.

  At the same time, he took a golden scroll engraved with spatial runes from his storage bag. This was a high-level teleportation scroll, a life-saving tool Evelyn had given him.

  As Ryan infused it with magical energy, the teleportation scroll ignited instantly, forming a dazzling spatial light pattern that enveloped both him and the black crystal.

  In a flash, Ryan disappeared from the room.

  Outside Snowmere City, in a desolate wasteland, the spatial light dissipated, and Ryan reappeared. He looked at the empty spot where the scroll had been, his expression pained.

  "This was a high-level teleportation scroll, and it's gone just like that."

  This scroll was an emergency life-saving item specially prepared by Evelyn, worth a fortune.

  "Finally found you!" After a moment of relief, Ryan looked at the black crystal beside him and couldn't help but kick it.

  It had taken him nearly three months to find this object, facing countless hardships, and now he finally had it.

  Ryan didn't dare linger. He knew the estate's people would be on his trail soon.

  He hoisted the half-human-height black crystal and, heading in the opposite direction from Snowmere City, fully activated his magic and sprinted as fast as he could.