Chapter 2159: Chapter 2160: Corruption

After Angel returned to reality, the first thing he did was to take out the Dream Conch again, dragging the symbols on the ground back into the dream, positioning them in front of Nis.

Frode watched Angel finish all this and asked in confusion, "My lord, why use the Dream Conch again?"

Angel replied irritably, "The previous one was damaged by Nis’s experiments."

Seeing Frode still puzzled, Angel decided to start from the beginning, recounting his conversation with Nis and Ironclad Granny at the Marine Theater.

After listening to the whole story, Frode was stunned for a long time before saying in a slightly dazed manner, "...So, the necrotic energy here comes from the Quest World."

"What? You know about the Quest World too?"

Frode nodded: "A Soul Witch had once taken a guiding task and brought a group of Talented Ones to the orphanage for trials. That person told me that all wandering souls have the Quest World as their ultimate destination."

"The ultimate destination for souls," Angel repeated softly.

"Yes, it is the home for wanderers’ souls, the silent ground for the unwilling, and the place where all souls ultimately go," said Frode. "As long as one exists as a Soul Body, whether undead or ordinary dead spirits, they will eventually likely end up there."

Angel: "So, if no interference occurs, you, Adar, and Shanni will eventually go to the Quest World?"

Frode nodded.

"How do souls end up in the Quest World, then?"

Frode: "It’s hard to say. According to that Soul Sect Wizard, the Quest World can be considered a higher-dimensional existence, or a flowing band of light. When this band aligns with the Southern Domain, souls in the Southern Domain might find themselves in the Quest World just by turning a corner."

"However, it’s difficult to predict when this band will align with the Southern Domain. It could be soon, or it might not happen for hundreds or thousands of years."

After Frode finished speaking, he noticed Angel looking at him hesitantly. Although Angel remained silent, Frode understood what Angel meant.

"My lord need not worry. Even if the band aligns with the Southern Domain, it’s not hard for us dead spirits to remain in the original world, as dead spirits have subjective consciousness. As long as they have obsessions or places to anchor their Soul Body, they can resist the pull of the Quest World."

"On the contrary, the undead are easily attracted to the Quest World due to their chaotic and unconscious state. This is why most of the Quest World is flooded with undead. For other worlds, it’s a benign mechanism that regularly clears out the undead; however, for souls residing in the Quest World, it is a calamity. Yet, the Quest World is vast and continues to expand, containing numerous safe zones for souls, so there’s no need to worry that undead presence will compress the living space of spirits."

Angel showed a look of understanding. Back when Old Pat died, he had once wondered if souls, in death, would find a resting place like those described in the earthly myths Jon told.

It seems there is. The Quest World is indeed such a homeland for souls.

Then, could Old Pat and Mother Haiba Xia be there too?

Angel had just this thought but immediately shook his head in denial. To enter the Quest World, one has to at least be a soul, and the probability of a mortal binding into a complete soul after death is incredibly low.

After discussing the Quest World, Angel fell into deep thought, and after a while, light returned to his eyes.

"What are you thinking about, my lord?" Frode asked curiously.

Angel: "Nothing much, just pondering something."

After a pause, Angel slowly said, "I am wondering, can souls dream?"

Frode originally thought Angel was pondering the Quest World, but this unexpected question intrigued him.

Frode thought for a bit: "Even if souls are in a state of slumber, their consciousness does not fluctuate. Therefore, souls do not actively dream."

Angel’s eyes lit up: "If souls do not dream... then perhaps the gap between the Quest World and the Dream Realm might not have too many Dream Realm creatures wandering?"

"My lord is thinking..." Frode paused, then softly mentioned a term: "Wilderness of Dreams?"

Angel nodded: "Yes, I am thinking of trying to open a new Wilderness of Dreams in the Quest World."

He had previously experimented with opening a Wilderness of Dreams in the Abyss, but... the newly birthed Wilderness was quickly torn apart by vicious Dream Realm beasts.

The Wilderness of Dreams currently tethered to the Southern Domain Wizards’ Realm was only successfully born due to Shava’s intervention, who eliminated the prowling Dream Realm entities.

Shava cannot appear each time, so Angel’s primary task when attempting to open a Wilderness in other worlds is finding a method to intercept those Dream Realm entities that covet the Wilderness.

However, Angel still hasn’t figured out how to kill those Dream Realm predators. In the Dream Realm, where predators have almost no natural enemies, through dream-eating, they continue to grow and swell... The one Shava killed, Angel once saw through God’s View and noted that its size was comparable to a continent.

It’s extremely difficult to kill such Dream Realm giant beasts.

However, the existence of Dream Realm giant beasts surely requires a large supply of dreams. Angel mused that since the Quest World is mostly composed of souls and they do not actively dream, opening a Wilderness of Dreams there should theoretically not attract such colossal entities, right?

After listening to Angel’s plan, Frode said: "It’s worth a try, but since souls rarely dream, establishing a Wilderness of Dreams in the Quest World might be challenging."

Angel thought about it: "You’re right. After all, it’s not an urgent matter right now, and we haven’t even found a way into the Quest World yet. So, even if we attempt it, it will be in the future."

After discussing Angel’s little brainstorm, they turned their attention back to the altar.

"The person who hosted the sacrificial ceremony has already left, so there shouldn’t be any danger here," Angel paused, looking at Frode: "The necrotic energy here is very dense; you might as well practice Soul Trick here."

Frode nodded decisively; the necrotic energy here was even denser than at Star Lake Castle, making it an excellent place to train.

Having confirmed the place of practice, Angel and Frode returned to Star Lake Castle to inform Adar and little Sem of the situation, and Frode went alone to Saint Sem City, where he explained to Neya about Lady Cilla’s death. After all this, Frode returned to the underground cave.

...

"Is it starting?" Angel hovered in mid-air, looking at Frode standing at the altar’s center.

Frode took a deep breath, then laid a layer of Soul Soothing Stone on the altar’s ground, and arranged a circle of Withered Soul Flowers glowing faintly with blue light around the Soul Soothing Stone.—This was to avoid corruption and was a preparatory step for practicing Soul Trick.

After setting up all the materials that could stabilize the soul, Frode recalled the method to practice Soul Trick, simulated it in his mind to ensure no mistakes in the process, and then nodded to Angel: "Ready to start."

Angel spoke softly: "Good luck."

As soon as the words fell, the spiritual power field surrounding Frode disappeared instantly, and the dense and immense necrotic energy rushed towards Frode like a tidal surge.

Surrounded by the aura of death, Frode momentarily lost himself. It was as if he could hear mournful whispers, and countless pale hands reached out from the ground, pulling at Frode, trying to drag him into the dark swamp.

At that moment, the End Soul Flowers around him shone with an astonishing blue light, which coalesced into blazing blue flames, floating up and down around Frode.

Frode’s eyes, which had become pale, gradually returned to normal.

However, just as they returned to normal, more death aura launched an assault on him.

The blue flames of the End Soul Flowers also began to flicker, as if they would extinguish at any moment. Faced with this crisis, Frode remained calm and unhurried, following the Soul Trick practice method, and opened a slit in the center of his soul body’s forehead.

This slit was like a third eye, and as soon as it opened, the swirling death aura around him seemed to find a floodgate and rushed into the slit in his forehead.

As the death aura surged into Frode’s body, some fallen characteristics reappeared on him.

Pale undead eyes, pitch-black undead hands, and the malevolent undead domain...

However, under the dual protection of the End Soul Flowers and the Soul Soothing Stone, Frode managed to keep the fallen characteristics within a certain range and did not completely fall.

The infusion of death aura lasted for a full minute.

From Angel’s perspective, Frode maintained a calm and steady pace, seemingly at ease, but Angel had also seen the Skin Scroll recording the Soul Trick practice method. It clearly stated that the step of incorporating death aura into the body is incredibly difficult... This is the prelude to the fall.

The mind would oscillate repeatedly, and various temptations of corruption would constantly assault Frode’s psychological defenses.

This step is like a succubus casting a charm spell on a lecher. To maintain one’s original intent and resist temptation requires immense determination.

If it were Adar and Shanni, their thoughts being simple, the temptations would have limited allure to them, and they might endure it easily. But Frode, being an adult who has experienced various desires and complex thoughts, avoiding psychological gaps for death aura to penetrate is immensely challenging.

The outcome was pleasing. Frode’s first step concluded perfectly.

When Frode sealed the slit in his forehead, he did not fall, and even the fallen characteristics in his soul body were gradually returning to normal.

Once more, Angel constructed a field of spiritual power around him, aiding Frode in suppressing the surging death aura within.

Without the interference of external death aura, Frode began to struggle with the death aura inside.

In a blink, a night passed.

The fallen characteristics on Frode’s body completely disappeared, reverting to a normal appearance. But this did not mean Frode was truly normal. The core of power within his soul body was like a bomb repeatedly swelling, ready to explode at any time, causing the death aura to rush back, skipping the fallen process and turning into undead directly.

Frode now had to truly practice Soul Tricks, using practice to slowly digest and reduce the death aura that had swelled to the extreme within the core.

This practice lasted a full two days.

At a certain moment, two days later, Frode opened his eyes. He had digested the death aura to its limit; if he were to continue digesting it, he would begin his first lesson in Soul Tricks.

Yet, Frode stopped at this critical moment.

He took out the Soul Collection Bottle containing Lady Cilla.

He was not prepared to follow the step-by-step learning route but intended to absorb Lady Cilla’s power by consuming it to acquire her Soul Trick!

This step was even more difficult than incorporating the death aura before.

There was the constant risk of falling.

However, this was also a tremendous opportunity; as long as he could endure, he would possess a Soul Trick derived from a Special Undead!

For him, this could further enhance his strength and could even match his combat power when alive in a short time!

"Since there’s the Prelude of the Undead, if worse comes to worst, I’ll start over; I’ll give it a shot." Frode steeled his heart, hesitated no longer, unscrewed the Soul Collection Bottle, and with one inhale at its mouth, Lady Cilla turned into a faint light and entered Frode’s soul body.

In that instant when Lady Cilla entered Frode’s body, his appearance began to fall again.

The undead eyes reappeared, veins surfaced on his face, his nails turned black and started spreading up his arms... though everything progressed slowly, it showed no sign of stopping.

Time ticked by, and about three hours later, approximately 80% of Frode’s body had fallen.

Seeing this, Angel began to raise an alarm in his heart, a light flashed across his bracelet, and the dark silver barrel of the Samsara Overture appeared in his hand.

If Frode were to completely fall, he would fire immediately.

After another half hour, the fall still did not stop, 90% had been claimed, only the core location of the soul body at the center of his chest remained as the last stronghold.

But at this pace of invasion, Angel wasn’t too optimistic about whether Frode could hold the line.

The energy of ordinary undead is like a glass of clear water. The Negative Energy of the undead, however, is like a droplet of extremely thick ink, mixed into the clear water, it would quickly pollute it.

Moreover, Lady Cilla was a Special Undead; what dripped into the clear water wasn’t just a single drop of ink.

Frode must practice Soul Tricks to digest Lady Cilla’s Negative Energy and turn it into his own skill. To make the polluted water clear again.

This is very difficult to accomplish.

The erosion had not stopped yet, 93%, 94%... the fall progressed with gusto toward 100%.

Angel sighed inwardly, it seemed Frode wouldn’t make it.

Just as Angel was rubbing the silver patterns on the gun handle, ready at any moment to fire to save the fallen soul...

The fall abruptly froze at 96%.

Then, the next second, within Angel’s nearly data-driven gaze, the number 96% gently twitched.

95%.

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