Chapter 423: On Purpose, Right?

Chapter 423: On Purpose, Right?

The fishing did not last long because Zheng Yichen suddenly realized a problem. Dan Marina had mentioned before that the Undying Witch and the Abyssal Creatures seemed to have reached some secret deal. Never mind what the deal was exactly, one point was concerning. For example, the Undying Witch might use her mana to pull out some wretched or troublesome things from the Abyss.

For instance, she might later leak the characteristics of her abilities, giving people the illusion that this dragon could break the Containment Barrier… Once that idea took hold, then no matter what Zheng Yichen did, he would be extremely passive. A Cursed Dragon would only be targeted by the Dragon Clan or by people seeking profit. But once it involved the Containment Barrier, it would become an issue for all living beings outside.

“My goodness, this really is…” After realizing this, Zheng Yichen had no interest in fishing at all. He pulled up the fishing line. This time, he did not cover the caught creature with his mana. As expected, what came up was just the fishing line. The hook and the Abyssal Creature that was caught had been erased by the power of the Containment Barrier.

Having no mood for such leisure activities, Zheng Yichen returned to his main task: searching for traces of the Undying Witch. She had his mana with her, so Zheng Yichen could sense it within a certain range. Other methods were not unavailable either. Irene had many unique Arcane Arts that could be used. However, using those methods was likely to be detected.

So relying on passive sensing was more reliable. On the way, Zheng Yichen tapped his head. Really, he should have thought of this a few days earlier… But back then, he was mainly preparing for the aftermath of his identity being exposed, so he did not think of this.

“Bad judgment, bad judgment… Huh?” Zheng Yichen walked on and suddenly heard some footsteps. He saw a team of figures appear in the black Mist in the distance. Seeing the people in the team, Zheng Yichen could only say it was fate!

“Look at him, does he look familiar?” Lena patted Oss, who was gently rubbing his eyes. Oss opened his somewhat uncomfortable eyes and looked over. Apart from Zheng Yichen holding a flaming weapon that somewhat ruined his image, everything else looked quite familiar.

“Isn’t he that Magic Pharmacist? Why is he here… and like this?” Oss’s expression was a bit odd. It was hard not to be strange. Anyone looking at Zheng Yichen now would not think he was a Magic Pharmacist but a genuine Warrior, especially with the many charred marks and slash marks around his feet.

Oss chose to come here because, through his own eyes, he saw something unusual. The Corrupting Aura inside the Containment Barrier showed an unnatural flow. The flow was caused by a relatively large change occurring somewhere. So they followed the direction of the abnormal flow and arrived, only to see Zheng Yichen holding a giant flaming sword and stepping on a Corrupted Creature.

Who said Magic Pharmacists couldn’t fight? Look at this guy. If that weapon weren’t wreathed in flames, he would probably just be hefting it and looking down on everyone around.

“We can just ask and find out,” Lena said but did not leave the team actively. This place was covered in charred marks, and the ground looked like it had been plowed. But no one could guarantee there were no other Corrupted Creatures hidden below. Not only had Zheng Yician cleared many victims parasitized by Corrupted Plants along his way, but they had also encountered many, especially when they met people from the Sanctuary Church.

This made the church members in the entire team fall silent, and their moods were not great. Therefore, Lena would not act careless in such a place.

The person who left the team was Deya. She approached Zheng Yichen, looking at him with some surprise, as if seeing him anew. “You… can fight?”

“Can’t I just chop them? The Corrupted Creatures can’t get close anyway,” Zheng Yichen said, thrusting Flame Judgment into the ground. “What a coincidence.”

“…You shouldn’t have come here alone,” Deya said, seeming somewhat displeased. “People outside are looking for you.”

“Haven’t you checked the Forum?”

“?” Deya looked at Zheng Yichen with confusion, the displeasure on her face quickly fading, replaced by puzzlement. “What about it?”

“I posted some information there.”

Deya quickly took out the Magic Weapon Summoning Book. There was clearly a post by Zheng Yichen using a sub-account ID. The content was brief, essentially saying that although he was a Magic Pharmacist, he could fight quite well, and so on, hoping everyone wouldn’t worry, he definitely wouldn’t be in trouble, and those who wished him trouble would be disappointed, etc. Below, there were many related screenshots…

Almost all were scenes of a real man never looking back at an explosion.

“…So, this is how you made your way here?” Deya stared blankly at Zheng Yichen. Although his strength seemed insufficient in her eyes — that was from her level — the fact that he could safely reach here clearly wasn’t something a ‘pure Magic Pharmacist’ could achieve. She had heard of Spellcasters training in some Warrior Combat Techniques, but she had never heard of Auxiliary Profession Practitioners like Magic Pharmacists turning themselves into Warriors.

“Pretty simple.”

Deya fell silent again. When you say ‘pretty simple,’ think of those Corrupted Creatures burned to ashes in the flames or the victims parasitized by Corrupted Parasites! If it were really that simple, would there be so many victims?

“Never mind, join our team for now. This Magic Arm must consume a lot of mana, right?” Deya sighed. Flame Judgment, a Magic Arm with the passive effect of a flaming field, was a type with high consumption.

“It’s okay. You know, I’m a Magic Pharmacist, so before coming here, I stocked my Online Store with a lot of Magic Potions.”

“If I hadn’t known you before, I would have thought you were a Warrior or a Spellcaster,” Deya shook her head. She was aware of operations like Zheng Yichen buying items from his own Online Store. People in the Sanctuary Church always did that, even though a small transaction fee was deducted. They treated that money as renting a warehouse.

“Actually, I really am a researcher,” Zheng Yichen said. Deya didn’t notice the detail in his words, simply taking it as referring to Magic Potion-related research.

So now this team, comprising the high-level combatants of the Sanctuary Church, had one more Magic Pharmacist. Zheng Yichen’s sub-account ID also posted a new screenshot. Seeing this screenshot, Jenna finally let out a sigh of relief. Good, good. Zheng Yichen had encountered the best team. He shouldn’t be in danger now. Since that was the case, she could focus on other matters. The task assigned by her superiors was almost complete anyway.

The assembly-line production method had long been answered by Zheng Yichen. As for subsequent exchanges, since that guy mentioned the research method of conflicting changes, quite a stir had been caused. She realized that Zheng Yichen’s thinking was completely different from that of traditional Magic Pharmacists. Even when using some traditional theories, his actions always carried his own unorthodox style.

Continuing the exchange might reveal more shocking and endlessly debated things. For Zheng Yichen, who already had enough on his plate, Jenna did not intend to delve deeper into other matters.

A Magic Pharmacist had joined the Sanctuary Church team. Now, Zheng Yichen felt a bit like… a husky mixed into a pack of wolves. After all, describing his identity this way was not an exaggeration. Regarding his arrival, the team welcomed him. Magic Pharmacists who could fight were rare. Someone like Zheng Yichen, who showcased his combat abilities along with high-level Magic Potion-making skills, was very welcome…

This meant he could provide sufficient Magic Potion supplies while the team didn’t need to expend extra effort to protect him. Such a low-maintenance Auxiliary Profession Practitioner was highly welcome anywhere.

“Well, I can make Magic Potions, but could you help me with something?” Zheng Yichen weighed a Spatial Expansion Pouch in front of him. It was not light and contained many materials. Although there were no Magic Potion-making tools on-site, Zheng Yichen stated he had long been able to perform detailed work by drawing threads of mana. The lack of tools would not greatly affect him.

“What kind of help?” Achille asked. Although their combat power was sufficient, to maintain it, their consumption of Magic Potions was not low at all. The direct combat power of the Undying Witch was not strong compared to some other Witches. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been pinned to the ground as a Pillar Sacrifice by Deya’s Silver Light Falling Blade strike from the sky back then. Her real power was not directly reflected in frontal combat.

To put it in gaming terms… she specialized in instant death!

Even strong individuals, when facing the Undying Witch, could be instantly killed by her if they were careless. Like before, when she abandoned all progress and chose to move toward the Containment Barrier, she acted. Among those powerful individuals were many not inferior to the Sanctuary Church members in this team, and some were even stronger. Yet, many of these strong individuals were instantly killed by the Undying Witch without even getting to use their skills!

Facing the instant-death-specialized Undying Witch, who would dare be careless?

Therefore, they had to continuously use Fixation Potions to stabilize their own conditions. Previously, Zheng Yichen had filled part of the Magic Potion gap, making their reserves relatively sufficient. But they had been stuck here for too long now, and the Undying Witch’s traces were hard to find, so Magic Potion consumption had become somewhat high.

However, as time passed, there were fewer and fewer places for the Undying Witch to hide. This could be considered a drawback of the inside of the Containment Barrier. It interfered with all detection methods, mainly to prevent Abyssal Creatures from possibly learning about the outside world through the Containment Barrier… like Evil Gods, who could tempt people into causing trouble through dreams or whispers, Abyssal Creatures could do that too.

There were many Evil Gods in the Abyss.

“I want to study those parasitic victims.”

“…” Achille slightly frowned. Parasitic victims were rarely saved in the past. The current situation was different. Using Fixation Potions to stabilize the victim’s bodily state, then forcibly removing the parasite could save them. After all, the parasite was just a foreign object, unaffected by the Fixation Potion’s effect. After removal, a new one would not regenerate due to the potion’s effect.

The prerequisite was that the parasitized person was still alive. Part of the team’s Fixation Potions was consumed for this purpose. Zheng Yichen obviously was not studying living people. That left those who had died from parasitism and become parasitic puppets. Studying corpses… in many people’s eyes, was desecrating the dead. Suffering a twisted death from parasitism was already pitiful enough. Being studied after death…

“Fine, but you must produce results!”

“Okay,” Zheng Yichen said.

“Wait then,” Achille said quite directly. Afterwards, the seemingly ‘useless’ people in the team like Gale and the others got new work: pulling a cart!

It was a flatbed cart with shock absorption, not large in area, but enough for Zheng Yichen to conduct research while on the move. The church’s combat personnel certainly wouldn’t do this, so Gale and the others were put to use. Although they became cart-pullers, they didn’t have many complaints. Zheng Yichen was not a nobody. Pulling a cart was pulling a cart. At least they didn’t feel as useless as before, just watching the heavy hitters deal crazy DPS…

Even more terrifying was that there wasn’t just one heavy hitter, but a bunch.

“Lena, don’t you find it unsettling?” Watching Lena look quite interested as Zheng Yichen studied a bound, immobile parasitic puppet, Gale couldn’t help but glance at her. Compared to them feeling useless, Lena seemed very natural here. Aside from Dekoff, with whom she had nothing to talk about, she could chat with anyone, and sometimes her suggestions were quite pertinent and effective.

She could even chat a bit with Achille, who they considered the second hardest to get along with, although Achille’s attention seemed always on Oss.

“It’s okay. I think this kind of research is quite interesting,” Lena said casually. Gale looked sideways just in time to see Zheng Yichen take a syringe and inject some unknown Magic Potion directly into the head of the parasitic puppet, making the corner of his eye twitch slightly.

The parasitic puppet’s head had long been broken. From his angle, he could even see a brain with some unknown Parasitic Plant growing out, and even some parasitic worms wriggling inside. However, those worms were restrained by some force and could not jump up to attack Zheng Yichen. Additionally, Flame Judgment was hung on the cart. Zheng Yichen could turn around, grab it, and incinerate the parasitic puppet into ashes.

A Magic Pharmacist who could fight and assist. Gale sincerely felt the gap between people was too large. He felt he could fight too… but it seemed the other could probably beat a hundred of him.

“What’s interesting about that? Be careful of nightmares afterward.”

“I’m not scared, so why would I have nightmares? Hurry, look! Something’s crawling out!” Lena exclaimed as if she saw something amazing, pointing at Zheng Yichen and attracting many people’s attention. Zheng Yichen gave her a helpless sidelong glance… on purpose, right?