Chapter 492: Without Mastering the Foundation, Everything Is Hollow

Chapter 492: Without Mastering the Foundation, Everything Is Hollow

Dan Marina had always been the most active among the witches. The Sanctuary Church had turned a blind eye, mainly to prevent her from going truly mad and doing something dangerous. It had been said that in the purge of the witches, Dan Marina would also be one of the last targets.

“So you must protect me well in the future,” Dan Marina said with a light laugh.

Zheng Yichen clenched his jaw and nodded. What else could he say? Fine, he’d protect her. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t even certain who was protecting whom. Once matters were clarified, there was no need for further discussion. Dan Marina promptly left the place; she had stayed long enough, and it was time to wrap things up early.

After she left, Zheng Yichen was left alone, staring blankly at the two stacks of paper on the table. Hmm, the analysis results for the Derivative Witches. Finding a witch with counter abilities would easily solve the problem. The issue was, the witches he had around couldn’t even summon a dragon—how could they stand against those ten or so Derivative Witches?

Even if the situation was a bit better, maybe not ten, but seven or eight were definitely there. What if luck was worse, and there were over a dozen?

“Why am I worrying about this?” Zheng Yichen swished the pile of research data on Derivative Witches into his Personal Space. He picked up the technique scroll on Spatial Expansion and started pondering. The problem of the Derivative Witches was the Sanctuary Church’s headache. If anything went wrong, it wouldn’t really affect him much…

Zheng Yichen muttered to himself, overlooking one key point: While the Sanctuary Church had always acted like the responsible leader, they were never fools! Let them worry about the Derivative Witches, while he focused on the Stone Forest matter. He needed to find a way to pull Dan Marina into his team.

With her joining, activities in the Stone Forest would become much easier.

But what reason should he use?

“As a qualified Auxiliary Profession Practitioner, having a certain degree of self-protection is necessary. So, no need to be surprised.” Zheng Yichen swung his sword, burning several approaching Human Forms to ash before calmly pulling a book from his waist to read. This gave Oss a profound impression of someone who learned wherever he went. Of course, what was more shocking was the power he displayed.

“Not the first time I’ve seen it, but it’s impressive every time.” Oss couldn’t help but say, glancing at the Flame Judgment in Zheng Yichen’s hand.

“If every Auxiliary Profession Practitioner was as strong as you, what would be the point of us Professionals…” Green muttered under his breath. The Life Field Researcher he knew was a weakling in combat. Yet, both were Magic Weapon Summoners—how could the gap be this huge… Well, there were many types of Magic Weapon Summoners.

One type mostly relied on the Magic Weapon Summoning Book rather than the weapons themselves; magic weapons were just aids. This group made up the majority. Another type purely used the benefits of the Magic Weapon Summoning Book, with minimal skill in wielding magic weapons. Then there were those who focused entirely on the weapons…

Zheng Yichen seemed to be the last kind. But for a dragon to go down this path, wasn’t it like picking sesame seeds but losing the watermelon? Among the Dragon Clan’s Inherited Memories, it was said to contain comprehensive information on magic languages and everything else. There was no need to specialize in Magic Arms usage at all.

“If you had a dragon’s Mana Capacity, you wouldn’t think that way,” Zheng Yichen said, giving the greatsword in his hand a slight flick. The flames burning around them instantly vanished, reducing all the Human Forms they encountered to ashes. The temporary camp’s lockdown had been lifted on the second night. During that time, the Sanctuary Church had conducted tests. As long as one didn’t directly drink liquids contaminated with Flesh Seeds or eat recklessly, the chance of Flesh Seeds seeping in through eyes, nostrils, or ears was very low.

Precautions were sufficient. Of course, if one was unlucky enough to get injured and contaminated with a Human Form’s blood, infection was still unavoidable. But these measures were enough to lift the lockdown. As for additional problems, the main issues still centered on the Stone Forest.

“But we’re just Humans… Well, not all Humans.” Green shook his head. A dragon’s Mana Capacity was beyond wishful thinking. Mana limits were tied to one’s body and Soul. The Dragon Clan’s physical constitution and Dragon Soul were far superior to Humans. Their Mana Capacity naturally came with prefixes like x10, x100—essentially a boss template. Whether health bars or Mana bars, Humans couldn’t compare.

Green twitched his ears, looking in another direction. “Another group of about twenty Human Forms approaching from over there.”

“Oh.” Zheng Yichen nodded. With a wave of his weapon, a vast expanse of flames surged in the distance, quickly returning to calm. Garcia’s mouth twitched. So, was this something achievable solely with a dragon’s Mana? Such precise, targeted strikes—even with a dragon’s Mana, impossible accuracy without corresponding control.

So… this guy was the so-called show-off. On the surface, making things sound easy, while practically working harder than anyone else. Actually… looking at him now, it wasn’t even secret grinding anymore. He was studying even while walking!

“Where else?”

Green numbly pointed in several directions. After Zheng Yichen noted the exact positions, roaring flames erupted at those points again. So, the feeling of being carried by a max-level account… wasn’t too bad?

Though it did make him feel pretty useless.

Their current destination was the Stone Forest. The origin of the Flesh Seeds remained unknown. After the initial discovery in the Temporary Camp near Zheng Yichen, various other locations gradually witnessed massive appearances of Flesh Seeds. The Sanctuary Church had thoroughly cleaned them out before, but it had little effect. New ones kept surfacing as before.

There must be a spreader. Among these spreaders wasn’t just the main perpetrator; even those who hadn’t returned to camp could be spreaders—specifically, passive spreaders. Unaware they’d contracted Flesh Seeds, they’d shed some ‘Flesh Seeds’ as they traveled, bits unconsciously falling off while moving.

Thus, these passive spreaders were an even bigger problem. The Sanctuary Church guarded against them very strictly. After thorough inspections confirmed no spreaders in each Temporary Camp, new checkpoints were set. Anyone wanting to return to a camp had to undergo rigorous inspection… an isolation-style check.

Because magic couldn’t detect things ‘grown’ on a person’s body. Those things were normal until activated. So, once you left, if you wanted back in, you had to wait at least a day under observation—roughly the incubation period for Flesh Seeds.

Because of this, Zheng Yichen himself received a commission from the Sanctuary Church. In fact, many Life Field Researchers received similar requests: to develop something to counteract Flesh Seeds—either Magic Potions or elixirs!

Zheng Yi thought to himself, ‘I have a way!’ The materials Irene gave him contained parts of Annie’s research. So, of course, he knew preventive methods and could even develop preventive Magic Potions based on them… Hmph, Magic Potions, not mere elixirs.

Flesh Seeds’ special properties meant elixirs couldn’t kill them. Real effectiveness required the stronger impact of Magic Potions.

Of course, the Sanctuary Church also had the simplest solution… the cure-all Fixation Potion! This potion locked in one’s current physical state. Whatever foreign matter appeared later would revert, never mind Flesh Seeds. Then there was the Body Purification Potion. But both potions weren’t suitable for mass circulation. Most people in this Lockdown Zone couldn’t afford them.

Besides, owing to the recent Undying Witch incident resolution, Fixation Potions were in short supply and couldn’t withstand huge consumption anytime soon. Therefore, the Sanctuary Church focused more on Body Purification Potions… but those were pricey too. With internal supplies insufficient, they obviously wouldn’t discount them for public distribution.

The Sanctuary Church was not fools!

Thus, the Sanctuary Church commissioned Zheng Yichen to create a cheaper, more convenient Magic Potion. But Zheng Yichen didn’t immediately agree because its solution was too simple. He hadn’t thought what to ask of the Sanctuary Church in return.

If he asked for something too expensive, they weren’t fools either—they wouldn’t just take the hit. Worse, if he demanded too much, the Sanctuary Church might seize the flaw and command the moral high ground. Then, without them needing to say much, either the Magic Weapon Forum or the people stuck in the Lockdown Zone could collectively blast him… No doubt; the Sanctuary Church acted decisively except where witches were concerned—if necessary, they wouldn’t hesitate.

Therefore, Zheng Yichen didn’t accept at once. Asking too little felt uncomfortable; too much risked countermeasures. So… better consider it longer. Better boost Special Combat Suit sales first. After squeezing more info from Moser using a discount voucher, Zheng Yichen made some internal modifications: like filling the suit interior with a powder. This powder, when it contacts blood, rapidly seals and coagulates wounds—impervious!

Those Flesh Seeds naturally found it hard to seep into an injury.

This minimal change, after the Sanctuary Church publicized warnings about Flesh Seeds, skyrocketed Special Combat Suit sales. So, better wait till sales surge!

Considering this, Zheng Yichen touched his nose. Did this also count as shady businessman practice? Hmm, probably not—his products’ quality was guaranteed, never tampered with…

So musing, Zheng Yichen casually swung Flame Judgment beside him. A fiery groove etched the ground. The area he struck turned to scorched earth. Then, Flame Judgment was tossed behind him, hovering in place, while he resumed intently flipping through the book held in both hands…

The techniques of Spatial Expansion were not systematic Magic. Just starting the learning phase itself screened out most people. Besides those born with explosive spatial perception, whose learning requirements were reduced, others with insufficient Talent might struggle their entire lives to get started.

Because this skill solely relied on Spiritual Power and Mana!

Using Spiritual Power to sense surrounding space while simultaneously channeling one’s Mana to influence subtle spatial ‘Nodes,’ stretching them proportionally—that, basically, was Spatial Expansion. Quite simply described in one sentence, wasn’t it?

Yet, this single-sentence concept eluded over ninety-nine percent who tried Spatial Manipulation for their entire lives! Without gifted Talent, hard accumulation over time might succeed… but most Humans simply didn’t have that extra century.

Moreover, this influence couldn’t be arbitrary; it required stretching along the Nodes’ intrinsic patterns! It wasn’t like stretching elastic bands—grab two ends and merely pull! As for compression… A resting elastic band is normal; pulling apart utilizes elasticity—so easy. But shrinking one meant forcibly reducing its scale, requiring extraordinary methods and far more involved complexity!

The difficulty was leagues apart. Folding space fell somewhere in-between. Irene remarked that it was neither here nor there—practically useless in combat!

Regarding defense via spatial manipulation: dodging an attack without moving merely required spatial Expansion adjacent to oneself. The incoming attack would be ‘deflected’ automatically. Folding space could achieve similar but at harder complexity—why take an extra step during combat when simpler means existed to dispatch opponents efficiently?

For offense, compression could achieve ‘instantaneous strike’ effects; folding, on the other hand, couldn’t. So, Irene considered folding space merely a transitional stage toward mastering Expansion and Compression—of limited battle value. Unless one had mischief in mind—then folding was ideal for casual pranking!

While folding space could be visualized as folding paper, space manipulation didn’t rupture space but exerted influence upon it. Even folding paper joined two points: to traverse using a pencil, you drew a connecting line; not piercing directly through the paper!

That represented true spatial manipulation—neither crossing nor physically penetrating space. Spatial manipulation held no direct lethality itself. Affecting opponents via Expansion or Compression? Possible, but success proved exceedingly rare.

Expansion visibly stretched space. Compressing space involved shrinking one area, inevitably pulling surrounding space to fill the reduced zone—requiring Expansion elsewhere to compensate. How else shrink? Applied offensively: manipulating space to compress an attack momentarily. Upon release, return manipulated space near-instantly to its natural state!

Living creatures or objects? They possessed independent ‘spatial fields’—therefore, weren’t within manipulation’s scope.

Thus, spatial manipulation, especially movement through compression—Zheng Yichen saw it as the fantasy rendition of Xianxia’s shrinking step over vast distances!

Therefore… spatial manipulation could be summarized in one sentence, but the intricate nuances and variables involved were beyond count. Why else would Zheng Yichen liken this to advanced mathematics?

No matter how complicated, however, without mastering the foundation, everything remained academic.