Chapter 348 - 296: The Clan Leader’s Sea of Spirit (2)
The core was dark gold, its surface covered in a dense network of cracks.
Deep within the cracks flowed an inky black fluid, and within that fluid, tiny tentacles could be seen faintly writhing.
Seven layers of shattered Protective Arrays encircled the core.
The Arrays, which should have been a pale gold, were now dim and lusterless, their edges overrun with inky black filaments.
And directly above the Crystal Core...
hung a piece of something.
Ian’s "gaze" focused on it.
It was a piece of... an inky black tentacle as thick as an arm.
The tentacle’s surface was covered in spiral patterns, and a dark red light flowed deep within the grooves.
The light pulsed like a heartbeat, and with every beat, it released an invisible wave of contamination.
The wave swept across the entire Sea of Spirit.
All the tentacles writhed in response, and all the eyeballs turned.
All the images of pain, despair, and madness... churned in its wake.
The lower end of the tentacle was plunged deep into the cracks of the Crystal Core.
Like a straw, it greedily siphoned the Spiritual Power Origin from within the core.
Its upper end reached into the depths of the Void, connected to some unknown place.
’Abyssal Tentacles... in their Active Stage...’
Ian understood.
This was the heart of the contamination.
This was the root cause of Titus Justice’s unconscious state and his silent Soul.
This tentacle was slowly devouring the Soul of the Level Three Peak Wizard.
Dragging him into the Abyss.
’I have to do something...’
Ian’s consciousness swirled within the halo of light.
He knew that a single Potion wouldn’t be enough to purify this tentacle.
Level Four Contamination was equivalent to the Power of a Morning Star Wizard.
In his current vessel, getting any closer would mean being instantly devoured.
’Perhaps... I can try working on the periphery.’
His "gaze" swept over the area around the Crystal Core.
There, the inky black contamination spread like a thick fog, and tentacles swayed like seaweed.
But at the edges of the fog, there were areas where the concentration of contamination was relatively low.
A few shattered Witchcraft Model Fragments were still struggling to emit a faint light.
Remnants of Spiritual Power Origin were still instinctively resisting the Erosion.
’I’ll start there,’ Ian decided.
The pale silver halo slowly "floated" forward.
The Starlight Protective Shield grated violently against the surrounding contaminated tentacles, emitting a harsh, sizzling sound.
It sounded like red-hot iron being plunged into ice water.
With every meter he advanced, the starlight dimmed.
The continuous release of Order Fluctuation from his panel barely kept the protective shield from shattering.
Finally, he "floated" to a relatively "clean" area.
He was now about five hundred meters from the Crystal Core.
The inky black fog in the air had thinned considerably, and the tentacles were more sparse.
On the ground lay dozens of shattered Witchcraft Model Fragments.
A faint Rule Fluctuation still lingered on their surfaces.
Ian halted his "steps."
The pale silver halo slowly contracted, condensing into a smaller, more solid sphere of light.
Inside the sphere of light, the Power of Order Stars began to circulate.
The *Starry Sky Festival* Meditation Method operated at full capacity within his consciousness.
The light of the Seed of the Stars, through the panel’s mystical connection, was projected onto the sphere of light.
Intricate Star Orbit patterns appeared on the surface of the sphere.
The patterns extended and intertwined, finally coalescing above the sphere into a miniature, three-dimensional Star Rune.
The instant the Rune formed...
VMMMM...
The air in the entire area shuddered violently!
The surrounding inky black tentacles recoiled frantically, as if seared by a hot iron!
The thick fog roiled and receded.
It revealed the greyish-white Earth below, along with the broken Witchcraft Fragments scattered upon it.
’It’s working...’
Ian was overjoyed. He controlled the sphere of light, slowly lowering it to the ground.
The moment the sphere touched the ground...
A ripple of pale silver light spread out from the point of contact.
Wherever the ripple passed, the cracks on the surface of the greyish-white Earth began to heal.
The inky black fluid flowing deep within the cracks met the ripple and instantly evaporated, like snow under a blazing sun.
SSSSS...
The soft sound was exceptionally clear in the silent space.
The ripple spread for about ten meters before slowly dissipating.
Within that ten-meter radius, the Earth recovered its original dark gold luster.
A patch of the inky black fog that filled the air was cleared away.
The faint light on the surface of the broken Witchcraft Fragments seemed to brighten slightly as they began to re-form.
’I can only purify the surface layer...’
Ian was well aware of his limits.
This Purification, covering a ten-meter radius, had consumed nearly ten percent of the Potion’s Power of Order Stars.
But this Sea of Spirit was so vast its edges couldn’t be seen.
To purify it completely would require at least Morning Star Level strength.
’But... as long as I can keep purifying and slow the contamination’s progress, it’s enough.’
He condensed the sphere of light again and began to purify the next area.
One patch after another.
The pale silver ripples spread out continuously in this distorted space.
It was like lighting faint starlamps, one by one, in a dark ocean.
Wherever the starlight shone, the contamination receded and Order was restored.
Though the area was small, and though it would soon be overcome by the surrounding contamination again...
...at least the spread of the contamination had been slowed.
At least the remaining Witchcraft Fragments had a moment’s respite.
At least the rate at which the Crystal Core was being devoured... had slowed slightly.
Ian didn’t know how long he could keep this up; his Power of Order Stars was rapidly depleting.
The sphere of light was already seventy percent dimmer than it was at the start.
But he didn’t stop, because with every Purification, the panel would vibrate slightly.
New lines of text were constantly appearing at the edge of his vision.
[Purification Progress: 0.01%]
[Recording Abyssal Rule Fragment (Level Four)...]
[Updating Time Trace Bloodline Contamination Model...]