Chapter 2373 Soul Armor <TOC> Chapter 2375 Associative Divination
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Translator: SumTLMan
Chains emerged from the black hole, alive like serpents, their “heads” held high, cautiously sniffing around.
Nisi squinted, silently observing the pitch-black chain, seemingly deep in thought.
Suddenly, Nisi extended a finger, releasing a soul power imbued with special fluctuations, rippling towards Nausica’s location.
This ripple of soul power was laden with intense malice.
Upon seeing this, Angel frowned, initially wanting to intervene, but after a closer inspection, he lowered his hand.
When the ripple of soul power reached Nausica, she visibly paused, her clear eyes clouding over with confusion. Her previously lucid thoughts instantly became muddled.
Under this influence, Nausica, sensing the malice within the soul ripple, subconsciously manipulated the chain, striking towards the source of the malice.
The pitch-black chain, after a few seconds of delay, responded to Nausica’s command.
Swift as an arrow at dawn, too fast for the naked eye to catch, it charged directly at Nisi.
Nisi did not dodge or evade, simply countering the chain with his physical strength. Each contact between the chain and Nisi erupted in thunderous explosions.
It was fortunate that Nisi had previously set up a soundproof barrier, or it would have surely aroused suspicion from the outside.
The air currents from Nisi’s clashes with the chain sent surrounding pharmaceutical tools, papers, and various extracts flying. In just a blink of an eye, a significant area was in complete disarray.
Seeing the expanding scope of the air current clash, to prevent the entire laboratory from turning into ruins, Angel lightly tapped his foot, and a head rose from the shadows.
Eremy transformed into a shadow of pitch black, confining the clash between Nisi and the chain to a small area. The external area was covered by Eremy’s shadow, turning it into a realm of darkness.
Angel and Reynolds stood at the edge of this dark realm, watching the battle within.
Reynolds was initially worried, but he soon realized that Nisi was merely testing the chain’s power, never once attacking Nausica directly. As for Nausica… she was still under the influence of the soul ripple, her eyes not yet clear, acting purely on instinct to attack the source of malice.
The chain, unable to overcome its target, caused Nausica, still in a state of confusion, to become increasingly agitated.
Suddenly, from the black hole in Nausica’s chest, a purer and more surging soul power emerged. This soul power attached to the chain, causing visible changes to it.
Black flames, the pitch-black chain began to emit black fire.
These black flames did not emit any heat, yet they carried a terrifyingly dangerous aura.
“This is the ignition of the soul fire!” Reynolds exclaimed in disbelief, “This is a forbidden technique. Even if I wield this weapon, I need to use nearly all of my soul power to activate it!”
Nausica was only temporarily borrowing this weapon, yet she could also unleash its power?!
As Reynolds looked on with a face full of astonishment, the chains ablaze with the Soul Burning Black Fire traced dark phantoms through the air, swinging towards Nisi.
Seeing the chains about to collide with Nisi, Reynolds shouted, “Don’t touch that fire; it will scorch the soul!”
Nisi glanced at Reynolds from the corner of his eye, motionless, but as the chains approached, his eyes narrowed into slits, and his expression became more solemn.
Boom——
Amidst the scattering black fire, Nisi’s hand still grasped the chain.
At the moment of contact, the soul fire sizzled as if it had charred something. For the first time in the battle, Nisi’s brow furrowed.
With a gentle tug on the chain, it began to oscillate noticeably.
When the amplitude reached a certain level, Nausica’s eyes, filled with chaos, suddenly brightened. The veiled thoughts in her mind also regained clarity.
Seeing Nausica regain her self, Nisi then released the chain, allowing it to return to her side.
At this moment, however, Nausica’s complexion turned pale, showing signs of fright and the aftereffects of a significant depletion of her soul power.
As the battle concluded, Angel and Reynolds approached.
Looking at the nearly ruined “battlefield,” Angel sighed, snapped his fingers towards the air, and darkness swallowed the surrounding mess. After clearing the broken utensils and various dust, Angel used some minor magic to repair the damaged ground. After all this, the surroundings were much cleaner and tidier.
Reynolds then approached Nausica to quietly inquire about her condition.
“I’m fine.” Although Nausica was pale, she indeed did not feel too much discomfort. Despite the excessive consumption of her soul power, she was in a much better state than after her battle with the formidable opponent earlier.
Nausica herself was somewhat surprised. Clearly, her consumption was much greater than during the previous battle, but she managed to endure it.
The feeling of soul depletion was only slightly fatiguing.
It was as if, in the span of a day, the source of her soul had expanded several times over.
“I precisely controlled her consumption, and moreover, she received my soul power. How could she be in trouble?” Nisi muttered from the side, “What should be of concern is this old man here. Using my soul power to ignite those black fires has instead burned me.”
As he spoke, Nisi spread open the hand that had grasped the chain.
His hand appeared still fair and flawless, but this was just the surface. Nisi slowly revealed his soul hand.
His soul hand, at this moment, was covered with a layer of charred shell.
The wounds of the soul, though seemingly not severe, could quickly be mended with Nisi’s understanding of the soul. However, the fact that the soul fire could inflict such damage on a soul wizard adept in soul cultivation speaks volumes of its potency.
Had the soul fire been faced by a formal wizard of another discipline, they would likely have sustained significant injuries if struck.
Nausica felt somewhat embarrassed by Nisi’s words, even though she was unaware of what had exactly transpired before.
“Pay him no mind; it was his own doing, testing the chain’s power on his own accord,” Angel said as he approached Nausica, his gaze fixed on the wandering chain.
By then, the chain had already been imbued with the soul fire. Angel reached out to touch it directly.
His first impression was of a coolness, as if holding a breeze rather than a solid object, a peculiar sensation indeed. Upon closer examination, Angel felt as though he was touching something with a metallic texture.
Using the Eye of Nalda, he observed that under this gaze, the chain appeared to be in a state of particle aggregation, with some particles showing traces of material, but more so an arrangement of some form of energy.
It was challenging to determine the essence of the chain at that moment.
Nisi then approached and asked Angel, “Do you see anything?”
Angel shook his head, “There seem to be traces of material crafting, but it’s unclear.”
Nisi inquired, “Do you mean it could be an alchemical creation? Can you reverse-engineer the crafting process?”
Angel replied, “Whether it’s an alchemical creation, I can’t be certain. As for reverse-engineering, it’s practically impossible without relevant documentation.”
At this point, Angel looked towards Reynolds.
Reynolds hesitated before saying, “Well… I’d better stick to discussing Soul Armor. The documentation for crafting Soul Armor has always been a research direction in the lab. Whether it has been successfully researched, I, being an experimental subject, do not know. The only thing I know is that the essence of Soul Armor comes from a sacrificial ritual, bestowed directly by entities from that world, not synthesized in the lab.”
Angel nodded, deciding not to probe further, and turned back to Nisi, “You’ve just tested its power; what do you think of this Soul Armor?”
Nisi pondered for a long time before finally saying, “It’s powerful.”
Angel prompted, “And then?”
Nisi added, “If Soul Armor possesses universality and versatility, it could change the entire Wizarding World’s perception of the soul.”
In other words, Soul Armor could potentially trigger a paradigm shift.
Reynolds also picked up on Nisi’s expectations for Soul Armor and after a moment of silence, said, “It’s difficult to generalize because Soul Armor mainly relies on being bestowed, and the lab has yet to develop it independently.”
“I had guessed as much, because during my confrontation with the chain, I sensed the essence of the Qwest World,” Nisi said.
“What do you mean?”
“Perhaps the composition of Soul Armor depends on some primal essence from the Qwest World,” Nisi speculated. “It would be difficult to replicate in the real world.”
Nisi paused, his eyes twinkling slightly: “However, it’s not too big of a deal. I’ll soon be able to decipher the coordinates of the Qwest World… I’ll try to find this essence.”
Thinking of this, Nisi gave Reynolds a few more glances: it turns out the coordinates of the Qwest World he deciphered came from the laboratory where Reynolds was.
It’s like giving coordinates and future hope at the same time.
Reynolds didn’t quite understand why Nisi’s gaze suddenly became a bit strange, and he continued: “As for universality, I don’t know about that. However, initially, there were many people in the laboratory who were also experimental subjects like me, but in the end, only a few remained…”
At this point, Reynolds’ eyes dimmed slightly, among those discarded experimental subjects, there were many companions who grew up with him.
And now, almost all of them are resting underground.
Nisi said, “That means the early success rate was very high. What about the success rate of the experimental subjects recently?”
Reynolds nodded: “Not bad, I once overheard a conversation between Number 21 and Number 17, saying that we could try to make small-scale contacts with the Gray Market.”
The Gray Market is the dark side of various wizard markets or extraordinary cities, which can be understood as a black market. Things that are prohibited from trading openly, such as slaves smuggled from other worlds, can all be found here.
Nisi said, “That indicates a certain universality, just that the yield rate might not be high.”
Regardless, Nisi felt that this trip was definitely worth it, Soul Armor… Here, he saw the future.
While Nisi was pondering, Angel indicated that Nausica could put away the chains now, maintaining the existence of the chains was also a burden on Nausica.
However, Nausica didn’t immediately retract the black hole at her chest but looked at Reynolds: “Since you’re here, I might as well give the chains back to you.”
Nausica was a bit reluctant to part with it, after all, the chain wasn’t hers to begin with, and she couldn’t manipulate it as if it were an extension of her arm. During her fight with Nisi, there was a noticeable delay in response.
Although Nausica was interested in Soul Armor, she still hoped to obtain one that could integrate with her.
And to integrate with the Soul Armor, she still needed to get the hand of Night Butterfly Witch.
Reynolds was stunned for a few seconds, but in the end, he shook his head: “Although I can use the chain, a pure soul, it’s difficult to nourish the chain itself, it still needs a physical body.”
Giving the chain to Reynolds now didn’t mean much.
Nausica didn’t insist, after all, it was just a matter of sooner or later. With this thought, she retracted the chain back into her soul.
Although Reynolds refused to take back the chain for now, his words made everyone think of a question.
Why were Reynolds’ Soul And body separated?
Angel asked Nisi: “Is he still a living soul?”
Nisi nodded affirmatively.
That is to say, Reynolds’ physical body has not yet perished. So, where exactly is his body now?
Due to Reynolds’ memory loss, Angel turned to Nausica, hoping she might know something.
Nausica shook her head: “My last memory is of Reynolds handing the chain over to me, and then I was swept away by the ocean current. What happened after that, and why Reynolds’ body and soul were separated, I do not know.”
“However, I can be certain that when I was swept away by the current, Reynolds had from the laboratory.”
Nisi said, “That means, it’s more likely that Reynolds’ body is being controlled by the laboratory. Think about it, if it really sank to the bottom of the sea, your body would have perished long ago. However, if the soul leaves the body for too long, the body will gradually begin to decay. As an apprentice wizard, although your soul can persist longer than mortals, it won’t last much longer.”
“Your soul has already been tainted with quite a bit of death aura, indicating that your body is also close to falling.”
Nausica asked, “So, what should we do now?”
“What else can we do but first find his body and let the soul recombine with it?” Nisi said. “But even if your body has perished, it doesn’t matter, as long as the soul is still there. When you follow me, I’ll find you thousands of women……”
Before Nisi could finish, Angel interrupted: “Let’s try to find Reynolds’ body first. Anyway, Wizard Nisi’s goal is also to go to the laboratory, so let’s look there.”
Nausica expressed her concerns: “But what if Reynolds’ body is in the laboratory?”
Although the highest probability is that Reynolds’ body is in the laboratory, the possibility Nausica raised is not impossible. Perhaps, Reynolds’ body was taken away, or some sea monsters took it as reserve food. To ensure the freshness of the food, sea monsters would also try to maintain the vitality of Reynolds’ body.
After pondering for a moment, Angel said: “Then there’s only one way, to take Reynolds to find a prophecy wizard.”
“Prophecy wizard?” Nausica was stunned: “Is there a prophecy wizard nearby?”
Angel replied: “I don’t know about nearby, but there is one in the Wilderness of Dreams.”
With that, Angel turned to Reynolds: “Let’s make a trip.”
Chapter 2373 Soul Armor <TOC> Chapter 2375 Associative Divination