Chapter 228: A New Exchange

Chapter 228: A New Exchange

The development of the Magic Potion hadn’t quite reached the imagined outcome, but Zheng Yichen was quite satisfied with receiving a superior product instead. This Magic Potion could quickly dominate the market. Selling it himself was something Zheng Yichen didn’t have time for, but he had a very capable partner.

However, because of the Magic Potion business, Zheng Yichen found himself even busier, with less daily leisure time. Irene sought him out frequently. She wasn’t after his blood anymore, but his Mana. She had discovered that Zheng Yichen’s Mana, due to its Assimilation property, could produce remarkable effects in many areas. His Mana could act like a sort of binder!

Creating Magic Potions required infusing Mana to influence the materials, activating their properties. But some materials were incompatible, which challenged the creator’s skill. Zheng Yichen’s Mana could potentially reduce this incompatibility to the greatest extent.

The only problem was the uniqueness of his Mana. Irene had tried many methods but was unable to strip away the part of that power belonging specifically to Zheng Yichen.

“Are these all energies you’ve collected?” Zheng Yichen asked, looking curiously at several containers in front of him. Each held a swirling, shifting energy mass, all different colors, each radiating its own distinct aura. Zheng Yichen could even sense the familiar auras of powers he once felt passing the Snow Mountain and Volcano.

“Yes. Studying different energies yields additional insights. Researching this type of energy,” Irene gestured to a pale white, icy energy, “gave me extra information on Ice Magic. Even without possessing this energy myself, after studying it and modifying the Magic Rune Array, I can achieve Ice Magic effects nearly ninety percent similar to those cast with this specific power.” This was the energy radiating the aura Zheng Yichen had sensed from the will within the Snow Mountain.

“And my own power?” Zheng Yichen inquired.

“If we disregard the special effect your ability grants it, then it’s just plain Mana,” Irene answered flatly, placing a tightly bound wisp of Zheng Yichen’s Mana into an empty container. “My research is temporarily at this point. You may leave whenever you wish.”

It wasn’t that Irene didn’t want to research further; there simply wasn’t much more to investigate right now. She understood the characteristics of Zheng Yichen’s ability and had collected numerous Magics influenced by it for future study. As for Zheng Yichen himself… unless they engaged in some more practical actions, truly nothing new could be extracted right now.

“Is that so?” Zheng Yichen nodded. Aside from the research, he was rather reluctant to leave this place. Putting aside the remarkable collection in Irene’s Library alone, just her Magic research notes had taught him so much. At least now, when casting certain Magics, he wouldn’t be limited to the most rudimentary versions anymore. A problem that had been troubling him about crafting a High-Level Magic Soldier had now vanished too… Once he left here and freed up time, he could make it immediately.

“You can leave a spare Projection here if you wish to continue reading,” Irene suggested.

Zheng Yichen looked at her with slight surprise. Was this a gesture of invitation to stay?

“Some of your ideas are novel. I’d like to hear more of them in my free time,” Irene stated frankly. While Zheng Yichen wasn’t as worldly as she was concerning this world, when it came to matters from Earth, it was another story. When Irene visited Zheng Yichen during her downtime, she often overheard him muttering things she couldn’t understand while looking at certain notes. He used words she couldn’t grasp, and the notes themselves… Apart from some translated versions, most were written in utterly unfamiliar square characters. She had recorded some of these characters before, consulting her own extensive notes, yet found no trace of any information about them. These characters had never appeared anywhere!

Perhaps they were his own creation… but was that possible? Even a few dozen original characters might be plausible, but there were far too many. And even without understanding them, she could tell this writing system must have developed over time – indeterminate years, but certainly longer than Zheng Yichen’s lifespan.

These square characters were definitely not created by Zheng Yichen. Yet, she found absolutely no record of their origin. She even considered humbly asking Zheng Yichen directly. However, the usually agreeable Zheng Yichen was extremely guarded on this topic. Despite Irene offering something incredibly tempting for an exchange – simply the origin and a way to learn these characters – he refused. Learning other languages held little appeal; she already knew all that mattered. But these untraceable characters, leaving not even a trace or clue anywhere… Irene felt such an exchange was worthwhile…

The problem was, the person involved wouldn’t agree.

“And… really no further consideration regarding those square characters?” she pressed.

“Them? Forget it. I don’t wish for them to spread too widely,” Zheng Yichen replied after a moment, refusing again. Though honestly, even if he were willing to teach Chinese, few would likely devote effort to learning such a foreign tongue. But he simply didn’t want to. Whether others learned or not wasn’t his concern. Even if someone wanted to learn, Zheng Yichen wasn’t willing to teach. Holding this unique language solely offered significant benefits. He could record things freely without racking his brain on how to hide the information within, so why leak it?

“Could we form a Contract? One stating that without your permission, I will absolutely not reveal any aspect of these characters to anyone else?” Irene proposed after consideration. Her flaws were few, but one prominent one was… a very strong urge to research!

Those characters were inherently more concise than the Continent’s Common Script. Even without seeing Zheng Yichen’s full Chinese notes, she had seen translations requiring roughly one-third more pages. As for the obligation a Contract imposed? Irene didn’t care in the slightest. Should she gain this knowledge, she had no intention whatsoever of sharing it. As before: something she exchanged value for, why would she let others know? Furthermore, the fewer people knew a language, the stronger its inherent security. If only a handful in the entire world understood it, even better. Certain secrets, with dedicated enough effort, could be wrested away. But encoding them in such uniquely elusive characters would vastly increase their security.

“…” Zheng Yichen looked at Irene, waiting for his answer. She had gone so far as to summon a Contract draft. He felt if he refused again, she would likely never mention Chinese again. The pride of a Sorceress… tch… was clearly far greater than that of an ordinary person. Otherwise, how could they be so arrogant within their specialties?

Refusing wasn’t an issue; Zheng Yichen was weighing the possible future consequences. Irene was immensely capable. If possible, he wanted to build a strong, positive relationship with her. With such a foundation, many future ventures would be smoother, like his current relationship with Qin. A past successful partnership now allowed him to easily collaborate on many things he held.

“Can I see the Contract first?”

“Okay,” Irene nodded. She pulled a piece of parchment made from an unknown creature’s skin from a drawer. She didn’t use Dan Marina’s method of modifying the contract text with a finger-touch; instead, she took out a pen and began writing with it. Seeing the pen, Zheng Yichen scratched his cheek lightly. To be honest, it was another item exchanged from him earlier.

Regarding exchanges, Irene was quite enthusiastic—perhaps it was her habit. When she desired something, she never took it freely; she would offer what she deemed an equivalent exchange. Zheng Yichen rather liked this approach; he also disliked taking things for nothing. During this period where he complied with Irene’s research, he had indeed exchanged quite a few of his little inventions, handy for daily life. However, a significant portion was used to offset his consumption of her materials.

Holding the Contract, Zheng Yichen scanned the contents. It was quite exhaustive and stringent, with no apparent loopholes. Sensing the Contract’s inherent power, he twitched his lips. “Why does everyone favor this Evil Pact style…”

“Because the binding power of such Contracts is the strongest,” Irene stated plainly. “Satisfied?”

“Nothing wrong. Let’s proceed,” Zheng Yichen affirmed, agreeing to the Contract. The signed document instantly transformed into dissipating black ashes fading into the air. Irene then produced an indigo-blue Crystal. This was the same Mana Crystal she’d used earlier to create a Magic Barrier. Though its color was faded from significant power expenditure, the Crystal still emanated potent Mana energy. This was more than a super-charged Mana Crystal; it possessed unique properties. Like Ice Crystals or Fire Crystals, its Mana was absorbable, potentially influencing the absorber’s Mana attribute and granting Magic-specific enhancements during casting.

This indigo-blue variant was similar, yet distinct: its enhancement wouldn’t alter the inherent nature of one’s Mana; it would only raise its fundamental Quality. While individual cultivation could gradually elevate Mana Quality over time, absorbing power from this Crystal could bypass years or even decades of cultivation… Of course, it wouldn’t increase the quantity of Mana held.

Quantity was irrelevant; Zheng Yichen lacked neither quantity nor Mana storage capacity. What he lacked was Mana Quality honed through diligent cultivation. Due to his Assimilation property, the Mana Quality within his Magic Weapon Summoning Book always matched his own. When Zheng Yichen’s Mana Quality improved, he merely needed to channel a trace of this refined Mana into the Book. That single thread would swiftly assimilate the vast reservoir of stored Mana within, elevating its entire Quality to match his own level. This Crystal was immensely beneficial to him.

Even after absorbing its special Mana, the Crystal remained valuable. It possessed excellent Mana retention properties. Usually, it could serve as a storage battery, though given Zheng Yichen rarely lacked Mana… What he truly needed was a special material like this for the core component of a specific construct. What construct? The Power Core he’d conceived earlier!

He had originally planned to find or create something with sufficient carrying capacity later, specialized for storing other captured energy types without hosting them within his body. Keeping them inside required constant attention; the slightest lapse would see those foreign energies entirely assimilated by his own Mana—too troublesome.

Placing the Crystal in his mouth, Zheng Yichen willed his Mana to absorb the indigo-blue power within. Since this was absorption, akin to normal Mana practice, and the Crystal’s Mana was non-threatening, it didn’t trigger his Assimilation effect. This was normal accumulation. The difference was this absorbed Mana instantly and dramatically enhanced his Mana Quality, elevating it at a rate dozens of times faster than ordinary practice. This process would continue for a significant period.

“Mm… Alright. Next, I’ll teach you Chinese…” Zheng Yichen split off a Projection, ready to begin instructing Irene on the characters. However, she shook her head slightly.

“Too inefficient here. Let’s try a different way.”

Her feet lifted off the ground as she floated level with Zheng Yichen’s head. Lightly pressing her palm to his forehead, she instructed, “Don’t resist me too strongly…”

The seven words sounded normal at first. By the second word, her voice showed strain. By the final word, it distorted into a drawn-out, fuzzy sound. Simultaneously, his vision blurred. The next instant, he snapped back to consciousness, finding himself in his familiar bedroom within his Dreamscape.

“An unusual style,” Irene remarked, echoing Loris’ words upon entering before. She surveyed the surroundings, her gaze lingering noticeably on the lit Computer screen. A slight frown appeared. “I think I regret this somewhat.”

“Huh? Regret what?” Zheng Yichen asked, puzzled.

“Nothing,” she dismissed, shaking her head. Zheng Yichen’s Dreamscape was unnervingly solid. She also sensed an aura resembling that of the pseudo-World Barrier Magic Barrier. This level of solidity made capturing any ‘intruder’ entering here effortless. And the firmer the Dreamscape, the stronger the dreamer’s control. Zheng Yichen’s Dreamscape provided him minimum control exceeding ninety percent—only achievable against a powerful intruder vying for dominance, and it couldn’t drop below that. Yet… his Dreamscape felt small? Opening the bedroom door revealed a living room, but the view beyond the window was endless, depthless black. Just looking at it threatened to pull one under—an absolute Forbidden Zone for anyone other than the dreamer. This was unnatural. Normal dream edges blurred, but their scope was rarely so constricted.

“Teach me now. We have ample time here,” Irene conceded, unable to gain more influence. She settled on the conventional learning method.