Chapter 373: Demanding Mana

Chapter 373: Demanding Mana

“Is there no other room for negotiation?” Zheng Yichen asked. He was also struggling internally. Right now, he was just an Alchemical Avatar. If it was destroyed, only his Projection would remain. In terms of combat power , the Projection was clearly far weaker than that of a Witch. If a fight broke out and the Projection was taken out, he wouldn’t be able to take Lily with him. For now, all he could do was try to negotiate properly.

The dark hands beneath the ground were no longer in that gray, withered state. They had turned pitch-black, like ink. The range covered by the Radiant Brilliance’s Light Scorch was gradually shrinking. It wouldn’t be long before it was crushed.

“Yes.” A crystal was tossed out from the figure’s hand. Zheng Yichen didn’t immediately catch it. He let the thing fall to the ground. Seriously, he only had two hands free—one was holding the Loli, and the other was holding a weapon. Was he supposed to use his mouth?

The crystal was transparent in color. After it landed, Zheng Yichen took two steps back and tried to extend a strand of Mana to touch it. The crystal was easily lifted by the Mana Thread. It was a crystal capable of holding Mana.

“Trade your Mana for it.”

“Mana, huh… fine, Mana it is.” Zheng Yichen curled his lip. Watching the shrinking space around him, he directly channeled Mana into the crystal. Though small, the crystal was like a high-capacity black-tech battery, difficult to fill completely. Moreover, there seemed to be some kind of Secret Method on this crystal. Once it came into contact with Zheng Yichen’s Mana, it generated a powerful suction force. Probably, if someone else carelessly touched this thing and stimulated it with a bit of Mana, they would be drained dry immediately!

Once Mana was cultivated, an individual could spontaneously generate it. For such a being, if a large amount of Mana was extracted, exceeding a critical threshold, being drained dry wasn’t an unusual outcome.

Unfortunately, this powerful Secret Method had met Zheng Yichen. The Secret Method had just drawn away a bit of Zheng Yichen’s Mana, but after being filtered, it was immediately assimilated by Zheng Yichen’s power. Even without knowing how this Secret Method operated, it didn’t affect Zheng Yichen’s condition. He leisurely continued channeling his Mana… stalling for time.

Sadly, the Undying Witch had no intention of giving him time to wait. Those pitch-black hands suddenly lengthened, tearing through the range of the Radiant Brilliance’s Light Scorch, and glared menacingly at Zheng Yichen. “Do not test my patience.”

“Damn!” Zheng Yichen’s mouth twitched. He stopped stalling and increased his Mana output. After the crystal was filled halfway with his Mana, it emitted a faint Mana glow. Only then did those menacing black hands relax their pressure. “That’s enough. Any more and I won’t feel safe.”

Zheng Yichen stared at the figure as he spoke. The crystal’s capacity was large. Though, for a dragon’s long Mana bar, filling it completely would only consume about one-tenth of his Mana. But why should he do exactly as the Undying Witch said? The threat around him was significant, but if he stubbornly held out, he could last a bit longer.

Immediately, the figure was grabbed by a black hand like a chick and shoved in front of Zheng Yichen. Another black hand stretched out, opening up in front of him… Sure enough, the Undying Witch was also in a hurry. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be so accommodating…

“Don’t play any tricks.” Zheng Yichen exhaled and placed the crystal in his hand onto the open palm. The other party was in a rush, but he couldn’t push her too hard. Otherwise, if she decided to fight to the death, it would be over.

The black hand curled around the crystal, tossed Lily’s Soul over, and quickly retracted. The thrown Soul shrieked as it rushed toward Lily. Lily, like a frightened little rabbit, struggled violently in Zheng Yichen’s arms. Zheng Yichen’s first thought was, damn, I’ve been tricked. His second thought was to toss away the now-useless Magic Arms Projection in his hand, reach out, and press down on the Soul. With a head-press, he suppressed it.

Then he covered it with his own Mana. As expected, it collided with the power the Undying Witch had applied to it. Wisps of gray energy were squeezed out. The Soul continued to struggle, but its strength kept diminishing. Strangely, throughout this process, the black hands that Zheng Yichen had been wary of showed no movement at all. It was eerily quiet, especially after the last trace of gray energy was squeezed out. Faint cracks appeared on those black hands, and along with the entire ‘space,’ they vanished.

A familiar figure appeared before him. It was Dan Marina. Nearby, there were also two familiar auras—Alchemical Puppets he had personally made. One belonged to Irene, the other to Loris.

“…Five meters?” Zheng Yichen looked at his feet, then glanced back. After running for so long in that strange space, it had only covered a range of five meters. This was unbelievable!

“Well, first tell me what happened?” Dan Marina asked, arms crossed, wearing a faint smile. She rarely didn’t smile.

Zheng Yichen recounted what had happened in that space, then looked at the Soul he was holding. The Soul was still struggling, but not as fiercely as before. It was passively trying to return to its ‘body.’ After scanning it with his Mana, Zheng Yichen confirmed it wasn’t some disguised Soul—it truly belonged to Lily. However… such ‘good fortune’ really shouldn’t have happened here.

Looking at Lily’s terrified expression, Zheng Yichen could easily guess what would happen if this Soul returned. He could figure it out just by thinking with the tip of his tail.

“Was her real goal just your Mana?” Dan Marina pondered for a moment. The Undying Witch seemed to have come specifically for Lily, but in reality, she was probably more after Zheng Yichen, right? Even though Zheng Yichen’s Alchemical Avatar was well-disguised, the Undying Witch wasn’t a fool. She had seen Zheng Yichen’s true form and Lily before. Encountering certain things would make her suspect issues. So, Lily was just a marker. Her real target was still Zheng Yichen.

But since she had found Zheng Yichen, why didn’t she demand the Dark Element Heart? Instead, she aimed for Zheng Yichen’s Mana.

There were two possible reasons. First, Zheng Yichen’s Mana was more important than the Dark Element Heart. Second, she worried that pushing Zheng Yichen too hard might make him abandon Lily and leave her with nothing. So, she settled for Zheng Yichen’s Mana. After all, that portion of Mana was just for consumption. Zheng Yichen could release some, and it would recover by the next day, causing him no harm. Naturally, he wouldn’t hesitate over it.

But the Undying Witch didn’t have it easy either. Trapping Zheng Yichen to get what she wanted, she also had to hold off three Witches… Even though Irene and Loris didn’t show themselves directly, facing three Witches still cost her a significant price.

The Mana Zheng Yichen provided wasn’t much either. Even though his Mana carried his ability’s characteristics, once separated from his body, its effects would degrade significantly. Using that portion of Mana to cause trouble was impossible. His Mana couldn’t be controlled or mastered by anyone through any means. Irene had conducted many experiments with Zheng Yichen’s Mana and confirmed this long ago… With someone else’s Mana, Irene had many ways to forcibly utilize it as a substitute for Spellcaster consumption.

But Zheng Yichen’s Mana couldn’t be used that way. When forced, his Mana’s assimilative properties always caused the attempt to fail. If someone else obtained his Mana, it could only serve as a special ‘blending agent.’ Moreover, any Magic cast or item made using this blending agent, when encountering Zheng Yichen, would have an effect on him… Well, it would be like serving him a meal.

So, the Undying Witch choosing to demand Zheng Yichen’s Mana had subtle intentions. Using Zheng Yichen’s Mana to do things came with limitations Dan Marina understood all too well. This was an advantage.

“Aren’t you all-knowing? Why did it take you so long to think this time?”

“If I were all-knowing, wouldn’t I have had you in the palm of my hand long ago?” Dan Marina glanced at Zheng Yichen. “Let’s investigate later. What kind of experience is the Undying Witch hiding…”

Though she said this, the hope wasn’t great. Since the Undying Witch had already revealed some of her goals, the true core naturally wouldn’t be easily uncovered. She might have even erased all traces. Once a Witch erased traces, others could basically forget about finding anything substantive.

But was Dan Marina an ordinary person? Even if it took time, she could still uncover some traces. As long as she found those traces, she could follow them to uncover useful clues and understand the essence of the matter. It just depended on whether she or the Undying Witch was faster.

If she was faster and learned the Undying Witch’s true goal in advance, then with her interference, the Undying Witch’s plans would be difficult to succeed. If the Undying Witch succeeded first… then things would pretty much be over.

Intelligence was one thing, but planning something without any knowledge wasn’t realistic. Before uncovering the results, all she could do was guess every possibility and make as many related preparations as possible. These preparations needed to be sufficiently interconnected, able to trigger a chain reaction. Even if one part was correct, the other preparations could still have a significant effect.

“In any case, since she demanded your Mana, the range of possible actions shrinks considerably. Plus, the Undying Witch previously aimed mainly for the Dark Element Heart, so the range shrinks further. We can investigate the rest slowly. Once we make some progress, we can determine what it’s about. We have plenty of time.”

The Undying Witch had paid a considerable price to get what she wanted. Even for the Undying Witch, she needed some time to recover and ensure her condition.