Chapter 534: The Exchange

Chapter 534: The Exchange

Zheng Yichen slapped on the ground and narrowed his eyes carefully. Clutching a tiny piece of paper in his claw—something that felt awkward and clumsy for his true form—he finally created a projection. After shrinking it down, he could read it comfortably. All this commotion naturally caught the attention of Annie and the others. Zheng Yichen waved his hand and said, “Look, this is why I want to become human.”

“Oh, even if your desire is strong, the ones putting in the effort are still us,” Annie said flatly. Zheng Yichen felt a slight chill in her tone.

“Ahem, if I were born a century or two later, I’d definitely be one of you,” Zheng Yichen coughed lightly, sounding a bit awkward. “I’m going to look up some materials now~”

With a casual laugh, Zheng Yichen quickly left the area. After reading their research notes, he felt completely out of his depth. He realized that, at this point, all he could do was gather some materials and act as a helper or courier. It was a stark difference in capability.

Zheng Yichen had never felt this troubled while studying magic before. It wasn’t like he hadn’t dabbled in it—like tweaking the rune parameters of simple Water Magic or Ice Magic arrays to create something like an Ice Arrow Rain, which looked like flashy effects from a game. But in the end, it was still just basic Ice Magic.

From Irene’s notes, Zheng Yichen learned that mastering magic was a cyclical process. It started with simple basics, moved to complexity, then to mastering a wide variety of spells. Once someone reached Irene’s level, the number of spells didn’t matter anymore… It was about returning to the roots, simplifying things again after all that complexity.

For Irene, magic was just Ice Magic, Fire Magic, Water Magic, Mental Magic, and so on. Zheng Yichen really wanted to reach that level. After all, mastering the essence of magic and being able to cast any spell effortlessly was incredibly convenient. But getting there… was hard. According to Irene, if Zheng Yichen wanted to reach that height, he’d first have to master everything in Bona Kaine’s Magic Book.

Irene had spent nearly three hundred years dedicated to reaching that level! It was a height few could ever match. Her dedication meant complete immersion—rarely sleeping, only eating when necessary—more rigorous than even the most disciplined ascetics. It made Zheng Yichen feel like… this Witch was cultivating like some immortal , secluded from the world for ages. And she had succeeded. So, Zheng Yichen could only envy Irene’s achievements.

Arriving at the Library in the Underground Base, Zheng Yichen looked at the ever-growing collection of books and rubbed his head. He snapped his fingers, and a Ghost Maid floated over. She was one of the Ghost Maids managing the Library. After hearing Zheng Yichen’s request, she led him to a new section. The Library’s layout was similar to the one in the Castle, designed to make it easier for the Ghost Maids to manage without spending extra time memorizing book locations. This also meant many shelves in the Library were still empty, waiting for new books to be transferred over.

“Alright, you can go back to your duties. I’ll put these books back where they belong later,” Zheng Yichen waved his Dragon’s Claw and picked up a book to read. This book covered materials science. Both Engineering and Alchemy required extensive knowledge of materials, but most of what Zheng Yichen had learned wasn’t applicable. To find materials he could actually use, he had no choice but to search through the resources here.

After spending most of the day, Zheng Yichen found a promising material… a special substance called “Ice Soul.” It originated from the unnamed Snow Mountain he had once visited. It could also be found elsewhere, but it was extremely rare. This material contained nearly pure Ice Element—a level of purity only seen in things like an Element Heart. However, Ice Soul lacked the wide-ranging properties of an Element Heart.

Yet, this very characteristic made Ice Soul one of the top-tier materials. It had an incredibly strong insulating property. No matter what it was used to craft, it couldn’t be combined with other materials. Almost no magical energy could penetrate its barrier. This was the most suitable material Zheng Yichen could find after hours of searching.

As a side note, because of its extreme purity, even though it was an Ice Element product, leaving it untouched wouldn’t affect the surrounding environment. Its influence range was only about a tenth of a millimeter. But within that range, it unleashed extreme cold!

Even a light brush against it could instantly freeze a Ranked Practitioner into an ice sculpture! That made it an incredibly useful material. Unfortunately, Zheng Yichen hadn’t collected any yet. In the past, he hadn’t needed it much because, despite its purity, Ice Soul had its drawbacks—it was brittle… Well, if another material could withstand the Extreme Cold Domain of Ice Soul for an extremely short moment, and the attacker’s strength was sufficient, they could shatter an Ice Soul weapon in an instant.

Generally, though, most weapons couldn’t achieve this. Even though the Extreme Cold Domain of Ice Soul was tiny, it was enough to freeze and weaken other weapons upon contact. Weakened weapons couldn’t compete with Ice Soul.

So, as long as one could find a way to mitigate the harm Ice Soul posed to the user, it could be incredibly effective whether made into a weapon or armor. Its low durability was a common flaw, though.

But then… Zheng Yichen recalled reading a book about Magic Arms in the Library. That book recorded many famous Magic Arms, and one of them was an ice blade made primarily from Ice Soul. The weapon wasn’t entirely crafted from Ice Soul—that would have been wasteful. Only the blade’s edge featured a ring of Ice Soul material, embedded into the rest of the weapon made from other materials.

Even so, that Magic Arm had displayed tremendous power. Countless Abyssal Monsters had been slain by it. Sadly, that weapon was lost to history during the Abyssal Calamity. It seemed he’d have to visit the Snow Mountain. Zheng Yichen rubbed his dragon face, put the books back, and left the Library. He returned to studying Dan Marina’s plan. The first page mainly covered the extortion part—how to squeeze more valuable items from the Sanctuary Church.

The remaining pages contained detailed refinements to prevent Zheng Yichen’s identity from being exposed. The cleanup phase involved using the same Magic employed against the Undying Witch. Without proper preparation, connecting Zheng Yichen’s traces could easily reveal certain things. It was fine if only a few people knew, but if too many found out, it could cause trouble.

In the short term, it wouldn’t be a major issue, but in the long run, it could greatly affect Zheng Yichen’s “century-long plan.”

“Hmm… alright, this operation is indeed clever,” Zheng Yichen muttered. Dan Marina’s detailed refinements also explained that the reason this Derivative Witch could be dealt with by Zheng Yichen was due to her ability’s characteristics. Based on the details Zheng Yichen had provided, this Witch with Soul Synchronization had no physical form.

Well, it was quite the opposite of the Witch similar to Fujiang from before.

“I’m going out for a bit,” Zheng Yichen said as he gathered his things.

“Huh? In your true form?” Annie looked at Zheng Yichen curiously. “Is that safe?”

“I’m not a kid anymore. What’s the problem with my true form going out?” Zheng Yichen scoffed. “Don’t make it sound like I’m some mouse that’ll die as soon as I step into the light.”

Annie shook her head. “That’s not it. Loris is already active outside. Are you sure you won’t be exposed if you go out? The Church has been very active lately.”

Her words made Zheng Yichen hesitate. But when he thought about the material he needed to collect, sending an Alchemical Avatar would be almost useless. It might not even make it halfway up the Snow Mountain before freezing. Besides, if he was going to ask the master of the Snow Mountain for something, he had to go in person to show sincerity.

“What are you going out to find?” Irene asked.

Zheng Yichen uttered two words: “Ice Soul.”

“Oh, what a shame. I used to have some, but I’ve run out,” Irene shook her head, indicating she couldn’t help with this.

Annie chuckled. “I have Ice Soul. But what will you give me in exchange?”

“…I’ll give myself to you. Would you dare take me?”

Zheng Yichen rolled his eyes. Even though they were on good terms, why was she acting so mercenary now? Couldn’t she just be straightforward? …Well, maybe it was because they were close that she felt comfortable enough to act this way.

“Are you trying to set me up?” Annie retorted.

“Tsk, then why even ask? Fine, what do you need?”

“Give me a set of precision instruments from your Workshop. Not the outdated ones—they must be the same as the ones you use, updated in sync.”

Zheng Yichen thought for a moment and nodded slightly. He knew Annie had long been eyeing those precision instruments, especially as his craftsmanship improved and the accuracy of various tools increased dramatically. She had brought it up more than once. This time, she wanted the synchronized updated version… “Alright, but only for your personal use.”

“That’s a minor detail. No outsiders enter where I live anyway. I promise,” Annie nodded. In terms of value, the precision instruments far outweighed Ice Soul. But she still chose to make the exchange, mainly as an investment for the future. Besides, something only held value if the other person truly cared about it—and Zheng Yichen clearly cared deeply about these things!

All the Earth-style Firearms circulating outside were magically modified designs, even the guns… Only here did they retain the most authentic style.