Chapter 165: Chapter 163: A Crazy Idea
Magic Potion Department Core Archives.
Ian descended the spiral staircase, heading toward the underground section of the High Tower Library.
He pressed the Permission Metal Plate against the Rune at the entrance, and the heavy stone door slid open without a sound, revealing a dimly lit staircase leading down.
The farther down he went, the cooler the air grew, filled with the smell of old paper and some kind of preservative potion.
The bookshelves were no longer made of bright wood but of dark metal or stone, and the books and scrolls they held looked even more ancient.
The place was almost empty.
Ian walked slowly along the shelves, his fingers brushing across the cold spines of the books.
He was looking for obscure materials on "Abyssal Rule Stable Packaging," "Shadow Energy Tracing and Tracking," and "Contract Countermeasures Basic Theory."
This knowledge was fragmented and esoteric, likely hidden in some inconspicuous corner or tucked away in the appendices of other great tomes.
After searching for nearly an hour, he finally pulled a thick book with a tattered beast-hide cover from the corner of a dust-laden shelf.
The title was written in the ancient Wizard Language: Initial Exploration of Alien Rule Constraints.
He opened it to find pages filled with dense, handwritten notes.
The handwriting was messy, interspersed with numerous dizzying diagrams of Rune structures.
Ian found a stone table by the wall, sat down, and began to flip through the book rapidly under the glow of a Cold Light Crystal Stone embedded in the wall.
The book mentioned several types of "Order Side High-dimensional Existence Marks," such as certain Ancient Guardian Spirits or remnant Law Spirits.
These could be used to temporarily bind and isolate chaotic Rule Fragments.
Although this wasn’t exactly the same as the Abyssal Soul Contract, the underlying concept was adaptable.
"...Using the Contractor as a bridge and the Order Mark as an anchor, one can construct a one-way filtering channel to strip the chaotic consciousness from a Rule Fragment, preserving the pure information..."
Ian’s eyes lit up as he read the passage.
’This... this is a perfect description of how I use the panel to fleece the sheep!’
The only difference was that the method described in the book was extremely dangerous, with a pitifully low success rate.
The slightest mistake would lead to being contaminated and devoured by the chaotic consciousness.
But he had the panel, his "absolute firewall."
’Perhaps... I can think about this in reverse,’ Ian’s mind raced.
’Instead of me trying to restrain the Abyssal Rule, I could use its own properties to ’Erode’ and ’Link’...’
An even bolder idea began to form in his mind.
’What if... I create an extremely small, seemingly harmless piece of "abyssal information bait" and intentionally let that probing Shadow Energy "steal" it?’
’When the other party brings this "bait" back to their lair...’
The corners of Ian’s mouth curled into a smile.
’That wouldn’t be a simple probe, but a "surprise" delivered right to their door.’
’Heh heh, the Erosion of the Abyss is high-dimensional, silent, and insidious...’
’Even the Wizard World didn’t notice at first, and it suffered a devastating blow in the great war that followed.’
Of course, this would require extremely precise calculations and a perfect disguise.
The bait would have to look as if it were an accidental byproduct of his research on contamination Neutralizers.
As he was immersed in this dangerous yet fascinating plan, a telepathic message from Gaga suddenly echoed in his Sea of Spirit, tinged with tension.
"Ian! You have another ’guest’ near your residence.
This time... it’s not the Shadow Insect from before. It’s someone else, their aura is better hidden, and it looks like they’re... carefully inspecting the outside of your window? Gaga!"
Ian closed the book, his expression instantly turning cold.
’They dare to come back? They’re really pushing their luck.’
’And they sent someone new.’
’They’re being cautious. As soon as one of their spies’ methods was exposed, they switched them out to avoid having their patterns figured out.’
He stood up, returned the book to its place, and dusted off his hands.
"Got it. I’m heading back now."
Ian didn’t reveal himself immediately upon returning to his residence.
He hid in the shadows some distance from his courtyard wall, lying in wait for nearly ten minutes.
Here, his formidable Spiritual Power came into play, spreading out like a spiderweb to cover the surrounding area and sense every suspicious fluctuation of Energy.
The new spy was very cautious, his movements more professional than his predecessor’s.
He didn’t approach Ian’s window directly. Instead, he moved between the surrounding buildings, observing and probing from different angles.
His methods were those of a professionally trained intelligence agent.
’An aura... Level One Late Stage, Shadow Element. It seems they’ve sensed something, too.’
’Their Spiritual Power fluctuations are well-contained, but they carry a ’Piercing’ characteristic. They must specialize in detection or stealth.’
Ian analyzed silently.
He waited patiently until the Wizard had completed his reconnaissance of the perimeter and began to slowly approach the main bedroom window.
That was where Ian spent most of his time.
The time was right.
Ian took a transparent Crystal, about the size of a fingernail, from his Dimension Ring.
It was a scrap piece left over from when he had processed the Abyssal Crystal.
He had mixed it with several inert materials, but it retained a special affinity for Shadow Energy.
This was the "bait" Ian had specially crafted using his own knowledge.
Sealed inside the Crystal was a barely perceptible wisp of an Abyssal Rule Fragment.
Though the panel’s Purification had removed most of the contamination, it still retained the Abyss’s unique properties of "Erosion" and "Link."
However, this Erosion was extremely weak—so weak that under normal circumstances, it would struggle to even infect a single adult.
It wasn’t a poison. It was... a catalyst.
Ian activated Starry Sky Festival and Abyssal Soul Contract, using the faint resonance between them to carefully inject a wisp of this order-aligned abyssal fluctuation into the Crystal.
At the same time, he controlled his breathing and slowed his heart rate, his entire being melting into the shadows, his aura achieving complete Assimilation with the background.
The Shadow Wizard outside had stopped at the corner of the wall beneath the window.
He extended his right hand, fingers spread, as fine tendrils of Shadow Energy reached out like Tentacles to inspect the window’s Protective Rune.
Using Gaga’s Shadow Energy, Ian moved silently into the shadows thirty meters away from the man.
This was a dangerous distance, but he was betting that the man’s attention was currently focused entirely on his probe.
He gave the Crystal a light flick of his fingers.
The Crystal sailed through the air in a nearly invisible arc, striking a small, inconspicuous bump on the edge of the window frame with perfect accuracy.
CLINK.
The sound of the impact was barely audible.
The Wizard outside froze. His shadow Tentacles snapped back, and his body tensed as he whirled toward the source of the sound.
Ian had already retreated deeper into the darkness.
The Wizard scanned the area warily for several seconds but found nothing out of the ordinary.
His gaze fell on the bump on the window frame, where a small, translucent crystal fragment now rested.
He hesitated for a moment.
As a professional intelligence agent, he knew better than to touch any unidentified object.
But professional habit and powerful self-confidence drove him to make a quick assessment.
The fragment had no dangerous Energy fluctuations, no sign of a trap Rune, and even the material itself seemed simple and harmless.
’More like... a piece of research material, dropped by accident?’
He recalled Julian’s instructions.
"That new Magic Potion Alchemist seems to be conducting some kind of research involving alien Rules. Focus on any physical evidence he might come into contact with or leave behind."
’Should I collect it?’
’If I can get a direct sample from Ian’s research, it would be a major intelligence boon.’
Just as the man was hesitating, the wisp of specially-treated abyssal fluctuation inside the fragment made minuscule contact with the Shadow Energy surrounding his body.
HUM!
An imperceptible sense of wrongness flickered through his Sea of Spirit.
It was faint, like a fleeting, bizarre thought that crosses one’s mind when sitting alone late at night, gone in an instant.
The Shadow Wizard frowned.
After confirming there were no dangerous Energy fluctuations, he took out a special collection Crystal Bottle and used his Spiritual Power to levitate the fragment into it.
’Whatever, there’s no harm in taking it back for analysis.’
What he didn’t notice was that the very instant the fragment was collected, a "connection" so subtle that even Spiritual Power could barely detect it had been quietly established.
It wasn’t a powerful Energy Link, but a faint, higher-dimensional sense on the level of pure Rule.
The Abyss’s unique property of "Erosion" began to take effect.
Like a drop of ink falling into clean water, it began to spread slowly.
As for the Shadow Wizard, the only thing he felt in that moment was a sudden, fleeting burst of mental clarity.
The clarity felt pleasant, like the feeling of a perfectly clear head upon waking in the morning.
He even took a deep breath instinctively, feeling as if his Perception had become a little sharper.
’Something’s not right...’ He was suddenly jolted to his senses and hastily scanned his surroundings.
In a corner of the room, the smoke from a stick of precious Calming Incense drifted lazily.
’Damn Magic Potion Alchemists, they’re all so extravagant...’
Many Magic Potion Alchemists lit concentration-aiding incense in their workshops.
He let his guard down, quickly finished the rest of his inspection, and after confirming there was nothing else to find, he quietly withdrew from the area.
