Chapter 422: Fishing

Chapter 422: Fishing

Boom—

A ball of flame slammed into the possessed Sanctuary Church Knight. Zheng Yichen was a little surprised though. Instead of being instantly turned to ash by the flame hurled from Flame Judgment, the knight stubbornly ran several steps before finally burning up alongside the parasitic plant. It wasn’t because the knight was tough; the corrupted armor actually had surprisingly high Magic Resistance, allowing it to cling on for a second longer.

Even something corrupted could be this strong? Zheng Yichen muttered to himself, suddenly feeling the urge to venture into the Abyss and thoroughly gather all its special resources. If mere materials tainted by its aura were strengthened this much, how formidable would true materials from the Abyss really be?

Thinking about it, that Church Knight who got killed just now was a bit of a pity. Perhaps if he’d met Zheng Yichen a moment sooner, there could have been a chance to save him. Yet, the moment the knight saw him, instead of crying for help, he told Zheng Yichen to run. Saving someone like that would absolutely have been worthwhile. Having one more of them around was definitely a good thing.

Given their discipline, Sanctuary Church Knights shouldn’t be operating alone. There were probably others from the church nearby. Maybe they ’d also been corrupted by those parasitic plants, or perhaps they were still fine. Zheng Yichen wasn’t planning to find them, but he did wonder what he’d say if he ran into them. Honestly, a lone individual adventuring here all by themselves? That sounded really badass, didn’t it?

He was somewhat known now too. His black hair and black pupils were extremely distinctive; people wouldn’t fail to recognize him. A Magic Pharmacist swaggering in alone? Seriously, what the hell?

But soon, Zheng Yichen realized he didn’t need to ponder that anymore. He spotted several Church Knights. Their bodies were bloated, densely wrapped in parasitic, corrupted plants growing out from inside them. They were far worse off than the one he’d first encountered—that knight had been only half-swollen; these were fully bloated. Their armor was utterly corrupted, covered in flowing dark red substances as if it had somehow become alive.

They’d become monsters… After all, the parasitic corruption plants were already piercing out from the tops of their heads. There was no hoping they retained any reason.

Before they fully moved into action, Zheng Yichen raised his sword and dug slightly into the ground with force. A wave of fire surged over, engulfing them all. Just before their bodies could be reduced to complete ash, Zheng Yichen cut off the flame from Flame Judgment. He stepped swiftly across the still-hot ground to examine the charred armor left behind. The intense heat had twisted the armor. The Corrupting power clinging to it had mostly dissipated.

“Seems this Corruption is just a form of parasitic power clinging to the surface,” Zheng Yichen concluded. “Like the cheap Demonization coating from a low-grade potion. When the energy’s exhausted, it becomes useless scrap. Not true Abyss material after all.”

Sidestepping the spot, Zheng Yichen pressed onward. Along the way, he encountered numerous beings infested and controlled by parasitic corrupted plants. Zheng Yichen dealt with each one swiftly and decisively, offering a brief liberation via the Wave Sword skill coated in Explosive Flame to help them pass on… It wasn’t that he didn’t use his other Magic Arms. He did. But only Flame Judgment seemed capable of completely and utterly eradicating them. The Light Scorch effect of Radiant Brilliance worked, true, but that inflicted continuous damage. Unless their innate corrupting energy was depleted first, the infected could just charge through the burning light, resisting it.

Forcing out more powerful Light Scorch seemed pointless when simply continuing to ‘Burn! Burn!’ with Flame Judgment directly did a cleaner job. Freezing them? Well, the freezing could indeed kill them. But the Mana cost for that felt much higher than just using fire. There was really no need to go ‘environmentally friendly’ and avoid polluting the air by switching to ice here.

The atmosphere within the Containment Barrier was already about as toxic as it could possibly be. Every breath you took actively hurt you. A bit more air pollution on top seemed irrelevant. But… there were way too many of the infected! Had he stumbled upon something hugely significant? Zheng Yichen watched as more and more corrupted, parasite-infected corpses shambled towards him through the foul air, drawn by his presence. He raised Flame Judgment and slammed it firmly into the ground. Judgment activated. A violent eruption of fire swept outwards, instantly scourging clean the area of every corrupted creature that had approached.

Under the immense power of these flames, the very environment seemed temporarily Purified. The ambient Corrupting Auras were seared away completely. The flame energy forced downwards into the earth during the eruption also obliterated every trace of hidden corrupted plant or corrupted life lurking underground. Yet, this Purification was brief. Stimulated constantly by the energies bleeding from the Abyss Entrance, new corrupted life would quickly sprout back anew wherever the old ones were destroyed.

Sure enough, as the fire faded, the surrounding Aura of Corruption flowed thickly back in. Zheng Yichen curled his lip in annoyance, moving on to the next likely spot. His main reason for being down here inside the Barrier was to gather some unique materials to experiment with; something fun to pass the long hours. But Zheng Yichen had another, more serious objective. He was feeling particularly lucky – maybe he’d locate a hideout linked to the Undying Witch herself.

“What’s this…?” After clearing away the last of the corrupted lifeforms in the immediate vicinity, Zheng Yichen soon noticed something odd about this specific patch of ground. A hole roughly the size of a well opening constantly and steadily seeped out wisps of thin, dark red vapor. The concentration was low, but it was utterly steady and endless. As Zheng Yichen approached closer, his Alchemical Avatar felt a tangible energy trying to invade its simulated skin. The reserves of the Fixation Potion preserving his form began to visibly drain away faster.

“An Abyss Entrance,” Zheng Yichen murmured, peering at the wellhole-sized pit. An Abyss Entrance wasn’t just that colossal breach at the absolute heart of the Barrier. The Containment Barrier zone had countless Abyss Entrances, scattered throughout besides the gigantic central one. They differed vastly in scale. The largest could be tens of meters across. There were medium ones, small ones less than a meter in radius, or even tiny ones half a meter wide, some no larger than a man’s finger!

The one Zheng Yichen had found was definitely small. Staring into the dark opening, he could see nothing but pitch-black darkness. The actual opening seemed to be gradually shrinking – that was normal under the ongoing suppression pressure exerted by the Barrier. Smaller Entrances eventually winked out entirely, erased by that power. Occasionally, though, surges of energy from deep within the Abyss would cause new, scattered minor holes to erupt open for a while. Earlier, on his journey here, Zheng Yichen had passed plenty of small and large depressions in the earth – those were craters left behind after smaller Entrances vanished. Sooner or later, this spot would likely leave one too.

Hmm… Zheng Yichen thought. He extracted a simple fishhook from his Personal Space and casually tossed it into the pit. Places like the Abyss Entrance were strangely receptive – getting stuff in was simple. The barrier had far less power blocking inanimate objects. That meant outsiders could, at any time, just tip hazardous things straight down in. Think of all those dangerous waste materials generated by departments like the Potion Department, the Magic Department, and others up on the Border Great Wall needing processing. Dumping that poison anywhere else polluted things horribly. Why not just tip it directly into the Abyss?

As for whether this was ‘right’? Well, the outside world had suffered terribly under the ancient rampages of Abyssal Monsters. Doing this now? It was just collecting a little overdue interest on the debt. No need to worry about righteousness!

A short while later, Zheng Yichen felt a distinct tug on the fishing line he held. His eyes brightened. He pulled hard. Whatever he’d hooked seemed to slam hard against something solid further down the pit – the lower layers of the Containment Barrier itself! Suddenly the line went slack. Zheng Yichen reeled it in. The hook was gone. Where the extremely tough fishing line had snapped near its end, there was a faint scorch mark. Whatever immense force or energy on the other side had instantly burned through it.

He attached a new hook and dropped it back in. Soon the line got another bite, though much weaker than the previous one. Probably something different this time. As Zheng Yichen pulled the line taut again, he deliberately infused a thread of his own Mana directly down its length. Through that Mana connection, he could sense the ‘catch’: a wriggling, jet-black thing, like some kind of eel-like creature with multiple eyes. It had firmly bitten down on the hook, viciously thrashing. Its struggles only caused the barbed hook to dig deeper into its flesh.

Zheng Yichen channeled more of his Mana through the line until his power wrapped around the struggling Abyssal Creature. His Mana couldn’t break through or neutralize the Barrier itself – that was impossible. But for a tiny, focused part like the space within the fishing loop? That was manageable. With a strengthening pulse of his power, he successfully yanked the ‘eel’ out through the Barrier barrier. Once it was entirely out and the line went slack again, the fish-lamprey creature suddenly stopped its frantic flopping. Its numerous pitch-black little eyes darted around rapidly, obviously scanning its surrounding environment. Then its wriggling resumed – far more violently than before – radiating intense waves of aggression.

Through his Mana still coating it, Zheng Yichen clearly perceived the creature emitting some kind of rapid, strange information wave… Was it signaling? As if it had discovered something very important?

CRUNCH!

The creature’s head exploded between Zheng Yichen’s thumb and forefinger. The strange, transmitting energy signature instantly cut off. Fascinating, though. Something this insignificant possessed noticeable intelligence? Zheng Yichen mused, withdrawing the layer of his protective Mana from the corpse. Suddenly, the already thoroughly crushed head twitched violently one more time. Then the entire body went utterly, unnaturally stiff.

“…Huh? It pretends to be dead?” Zheng Yichen was genuinely surprised. His firsthand knowledge of Abyssal Creatures wasn’t vast. But he did know one thing clearly: the Containment Barrier internally repelled creatures with specific Abyss origins. Any weak Abyssal Creature breaching inside was supposed to have its very Life Force eradicated instantly by the Barrier. It acted like an absolute ‘kill-limit.’ Any creature below a certain threshold of inherent power and vitality crossing that Barrier? Instant, inescapable death!

Even creatures only brushing the Barrier’s outer fringe were wiped away. This measure existed primarily to prevent devious Abyssal entities from somehow sneaking out minuscule, almost undetectable lifeforms capable of causing chaos. Weakness didn’t necessarily equate to being harmless! The Barrier couldn’t annihilate every Abyssal Creature that ever entered the outside world. But eliminating the truly weak, insignificant ones? That, it handled perfectly.

If you couldn’t be perfect against the strongest threats, you aimed for perfection against the weakest. As for formidable Abyssal Creatures strong enough to resist the Barrier’s purging force? If one actually managed to get through and manifest outside, the observers stationed up on the Wall weren’t blind! They would absolutely detect such an overwhelming presence immediately.

Zheng Yichen hefted the dead creature. It felt strangely rigid now, like solid rock. To be safe, he encased it in many overlapping layers of simple Magic Barrier enchantments. With several precautionary seals layered on, he then shoved it inside an airtight sealing box. Then, only then, Zheng Yichen permitted himself to store the container securely within his Personal Space. Time to get fishing again! He prepared another hook.