Chapter 230: Update…

Chapter 230: Update…

Back at the castle again, there wasn’t much change inside. However, Loris refused to let Lily come directly here. Instead, Loris used some method to knock Lily unconscious. This unconscious state would last until Zheng Yichen left the castle.

Looking at the few Ghostly Little Maids circling around him, Zheng Yichen yawned. He gently waved his claw, nudging one of the little maids aside. His finger lightly traced through the air on the other side, and a black rift appeared. This was the Personal Space he had recently acquired. After Irene’s work on it, Zheng Yichen had easily ‘absorbed’ the Space Fragment.

On the way, Loris had also explained to Zheng Yichen why it was smarter to have Irene handle this. Space Fragments weren’t usually easy to personally control and use. Besides some secretive methods, what was needed was sufficient power —power capable of wearing down the Space Fragment so it could become his own.

A Space Fragment looked like nothing more than a small sliver, similar to a piece of broken glass. But the power packed inside that thing was truly remarkable. Zheng Yichen currently lacked the capability to wear one down himself… Mana wasn’t the problem; the issue was his Mental Energy.

This wasn’t impossible to solve, but since Irene was available to resolve such problems more easily and efficiently, why bother with the troublesome way? Plus, Irene’s method meant Zheng Yichen could achieve a higher fusion level when absorbing the Space Fragment. The best proof was this: Zheng Yichen had just fused with it and obtained his Personal Space, yet he could already use it so effortlessly.

The spatial rift he cut out beside him wasn’t a true spatial tear; it was just a manifesting link to his Personal Space. Its strength wasn’t high and couldn’t compare to a real spatial rift. In essence… this thing was a Teleportation Array. As for the Personal Space itself, inside was pitch black, with an invisible barrier at the edges marking the space’s boundaries.

How big was the Personal Space? Well, Zheng Yichen thought a Space Fragment merely the size of a palm actually having an area equivalent to about ten villages had to be seen to be believed! This size might sound like it wouldn’t take Zheng Yichen long to fly across, but no one could argue that this area was small!

At that moment, Zheng Yichen seriously suspected something else might be inside such a vast space—surely remnants lingered? But Loris’s explanation thoroughly dashed that idea. If it was an unused Space Fragment, you might uncover something—though mostly just earth. For a Space Fragment that had already been used? That possibility simply didn’t exist.

A used Space Fragment was one that had been reconstituted—everything inside would have been annihilated into chaos before solidifying anew. Recalling Irene’s method of handling it—she’d melted the fragment into a blob of viscous stuff—it obviously couldn’t have preserved anything. Zheng Yichen felt like he’d missed out on a trove of Divine Artifacts.

Those pockets he had carried for so long were officially retired. Zheng Yichen placed them into a corner of his Personal Space… as keepsakes. Also, because the Personal Space was fused as one with its user, the space inside wasn’t static; it synced with the user. This was a sign of complete fusion. A difference in the flow of time would be a problem.

If such an issue arose and wasn’t fixed in time, it would only worsen. If the time flow in the Personal Space diverged too greatly from what the user experienced, the consequence would be the space forcing itself loose from the user. If a properly fused Personal Space detached, it wouldn’t revert to a Space Fragment; instead, it became intangible, drifting space—nearly impossible to recapture unless someone got incredibly lucky, managing to snag it with spatial Magic. Finding it then would be harder than finding a specific grain of sand in a lake.

Because time flowed inside, the Personal Space also didn’t have that perfect, indefinite preservation function. The flip side benefit, however, was that the Personal Space could house some life forms… though air needed to be pumped in first. Zheng Yichen wasn’t worried—did they think his knowledge from Earth was fake? He could just build an Ecological Circle inside later.

The trouble was, things like soil would occupy significant space. Worse, putting living beings inside the Personal Space placed a burden on the user. If any residents practiced Magic inside? The burden increased drastically! Any Mana they generated or used inside was drawn from the user!

This was unavoidable. After all, the Personal Space was largely empty and didn’t produce magical power on its own unless Zheng Yichen kept its opening active, constantly sucking in surrounding Elemental Power. And to ensure enough elemental power flowed in, the opening couldn’t be too small…

Zheng Yichen’s idea was ambitious, but the Witches never attempted it themselves. Forget it for now; the burden truly was immense. Hosting active life seemed the greatest challenge. Still, if live animals weren’t feasible yet, other things might be. Plants surely would work, right?

Surveying the still mostly empty Personal Space, Zheng Yichen felt much like someone hit sudden riches. Previously, he’d constantly worried about managing his expanded pockets better. Now? Zheng Yichen felt no pressure—he could stuff anything inside wherever he wanted. Thinking about all the treasures he’d passed by along his journey almost made his heart ache.

A shame. He wondered whether, if he went back now, he could still find some. Oh right! And those Magic Arms! Zheng Yichen suddenly jumped up, startling the Ghostly Little Maids. One reflexively stuck out her ghostly tongue. Zheng Yichen muttered an impatient “Cut it out!” before striding toward a Secret Vault deep within the castle. That’s where they kept truly special items.

Its security was top-notch; no one entered without authorization except… Zheng Yichen. Inside, looking over the stored Magic Arms, Zheng Yichen gave a slight nod. With a wave of his claw, he stuffed them all into his Personal Space, storing them in one specific corner. The Personal Space linked directly to him; without his consent, things could only go in, not out—unless summoned elsewhere.

These Magic Arms, stashed in the Personal Space, could still be conjured when called upon.

“Hmm… right, the Magic Arms I made outside the castle too.” Muttering, Zheng Yichen pulled out the Magic Weapon Summoning Book. He called over all the bodies of the Magic Arms scattered elsewhere. Contentedly eyeing the collection now stored in his Personal Space, Zheng Yichen nodded. He pulled out the Magic Sword stored inside and lightly swished it around. Scratching his chin thoughtfully, he noted that even within this short time, the peculiar nature of Apophis seemed more intense. The Bloodthirst Curse had transformed into something entirely unfamiliar to him. The decorative eye socket now looked unsettlingly alive and alert.

It gave off a strange, indescribably evil aura. Of course, this aura didn’t affect Zheng Yichen. Even when he deliberately channeled it into his body to strengthen his power, his own power remained the source. The only discomfort came from the evil aura’s raw fury, making his body feel agitated, his blood seeming ready to boil… Hmm. For now, he categorized this aura as ‘demonic energy’?

Flicking Apophis again, watching the beautiful trail of demonic energy trailing from it, Zheng Yichen stored it back inside his Personal Space. Seemed Loris would stay at the castle a while longer. With nothing urgent to do currently, Zheng Yichen decided to fully focus on crafting the new High-Level Magic Soldier he’d planned earlier.

Thanks to learning from Irene, Zheng Yichen had accumulated substantial related knowledge about Magic during that time. Crafting this High-Level Magic Soldier had failed several times—not due to poor skill, but because he sought perfection. His standards were higher; his old, ordinary methods for crafting Magic Arms were now unacceptable. After multiple consecutive failures—ending with him being chased out by the Ghost Maids again—he finally succeeded. Succeeding took another two days of refining to smooth out the ‘forced’ imperfections until it naturally reached a level where his current skills revealed no flaws.

Satisfied, he swung the glowing hammer in his hand. The spiked head looked quite intimidating—getting hit by this would be like an ordinary person getting slammed in the face with a durian. Quite a fearsome, sacred weapon. After absentmindedly wielding it awhile, Zheng Yichen, unused to polearms, accidentally slammed it into himself for the third time and sheepishly ‘registered’ it into the Magic Weapon Summoning Book. A third High-Level Magic Soldier was logged!

Shortly after registering this third High-Level Magic Soldier, Zheng Yichen felt the Mana accumulating inside the Magic Weapon Summoning Book suddenly jump up a noticeable chunk. Clearly, upon discovery, people had summoned this High-Level Magic Soldier intensively within a short period. He even saw the ‘experience value’ for the newly-named Holy Spirit Hammer spike rapidly during that brief time. So many people could utilize High-Level Magic Soldiers now! What truly surprised Zheng Yichen was that the Magical Structure within Holy Spirit Hammer underwent multiple successive upgrades almost instantly.

Someone must have utilized the Magic integrated within Holy Spirit Hammer to a new height in a very short timeframe. Besides surprise, Zheng Yichen couldn’t help grinning. Indeed, some things truly relied on many hands—the workload only got lighter collectively! If left solely to him to upgrade the Magical Structures within every single Magic Soldier, working himself like a dog daily would likely finish less than one-thirtieth of the update progress the book currently achieved all at once.

This ratio wasn’t exaggerated; Zheng Yichen felt he was even showing off. Magic research was far from simple. Sometimes, researching a slightly powerful Magic trick for innovative breakthroughs required weeks or months! Ultimately, finishing this third High-Level Magic Soldier took Zheng Yichen twice as long as planned. He originally thought days; it took half a month.

“Done?” Zheng Yichen saw Loris waiting at the castle entrance when he returned.

“Done. Another soon-to-be-famous new Magic Arm!” Zheng Yichen replied, his grin unstoppable.

“Oh? A hammer?” Loris lightly tapped the air before her. Tiny ripples spread as the Magic Weapon Summoning Book materialized. Flipping to the page recording the new weapon, she glanced and stated flatly, “A hammer, huh? Blunt weapons symbolize… well, never mind. Not bothering.” Zheng Yichen remembered the Holy Spirit Hammer’s studded surface. Protection? Who was kidding? Anyone seeing those vicious spikes knew its killing potential was huge! It was clearly an output beast!

And indeed, it truly was.

“Shall we depart?” Dissipating the floating book, Loris asked.

“Uh, want to pack anything?”

“Is it necessary?”

Scratching his head, thinking about the Personal Space… Necessary? Truly wasn’t. “Say goodbye to the Ghost Maids?”

“Even less necessary. We’ll see them soon enough.”

So after that—nothing further to discuss. Bringing out the basket used earlier, Zheng Yichen waited for Loris to sit inside, grasped the handle, and took one tremendous, long-missed leap skyward. Leaving the ground behind, he flew out beyond the Forest of Illusions.

A new Magic Arm appeared, sparking intense curiosity among many Magic Weapon Summoners. The unknown Creator behind the Magic Weapon Summoning Book had stopped tweaking the basic and Low-level Magic Weapons long ago—there was little need. Those covered practically all weapon types. What many eagerly awaited weren’t the High-Level Magic Soldiers as much as the currently richer selection of Intermediate Magic Weapons.

Meeting the conditions to wield a High-Level Magic Soldier proved difficult or time-consuming. Meanwhile, Intermediate Magic Weapons weren’t hard to use—grind some familiarity and you’re set. Recently, however, updates slowed… leaving them quite helpless. Could they find the Creator and force him to increase the pace? The idea… was thrilling to imagine.

But then, thinking clearly: If they were powerful enough to do that, why would they need him to update Magic Weapons? They could just have him make specialized Arms solely for themselves! Why let others share them? The rise of Magic Weapon Summoners had actually spiced up many recent fights. Those with the summoning skill could quickly grab one or two fearsome Magic Arms mid-battle!

Especially frustrating were battles against foes wielding the same Magic Arm as you. When skill gaps weren’t wide, winning often came down to whoever had mastered their weapon better, meaning their summoned arm packed more power. They might whip out additional Magic Armor for a boost! This similarity to how Mage fights went made it somewhat acceptable—irritating enough for a grumble, but hard to fundamentally complain about.

Facing a Magic Weapon Summoner perfectly countered by your own weapon? Well, hold back that smirk! But if roles were reversed and you were countered? Apply the previous sentence accordingly.

Therefore, this time’s update being a High-Level Magic Soldier? Sighs and groans swept across the summoner community. So rare an update, yet still this ‘elitist’ stuff? Wait—exactly what had been updated?

Huh? A holy counterpart to that ridiculously strong Apophis? Some kind of blindingly bright hammer?