Pollution Source

With the All-Seeing True Eye active, Su Ziyu discovered that he could see in all directions without a single blind spot. After adjusting to it slightly, he looked at himself...

In an instant, besides his spirit body, he saw two additional layers of different colors. One was white and looked very healthy, while the other was tainted with a trace of black!

Of these two layers within the spirit body, one was called the Astral Spirit Body, and the other was called the Mental Body.

The Mental Body represented a person's mental state. If black appeared within it, it likely meant that person had been corrupted by evil.

Su Ziyu had grown up in a family of sorcerers, so naturally, he understood this basic theoretical knowledge.

He frowned and recalled his experience of living in this psychiatric hospital. He did not seem to have encountered anything particularly strange.

After pondering for a while, Su Ziyu thought of the "Grimoire of the Old Days"!

"I remember Grandpa saying that when cultivating the chapters of darkness, one must keep light in one's heart and remain kind-hearted. Otherwise, it's easy to be corrupted by evil... Could the problem be with this grimoire?"

"Looks like this grimoire has quite a story behind it... I wonder how much those old folks in the family know..."

After thinking it over, Su Ziyu formed a few guesses. He put away the grimoire, stood up, and formed a hand seal for a dark spell under his panoramic vision.

Now that he knew his Mental Body had been corrupted, he could not simply leave it alone.

With panoramic vision combined with soul-based dark magic, he had a chance of cleansing the corruption from his Mental Body.

Dark Wisdom: Spirit Severing!

A pair of Spirit Scissors slowly appeared in midair. Su Ziyu moved his fingers and operated them with extreme care. With the aid of his vision, he soon reached the Mental Body.

Crack!

After a series of actions, that small corrupted section gradually vanished. The pollutants were squeezed out bit by bit. Like the most precise surgeon in the world, Su Ziyu completed his self-treatment quickly and accurately.

Before long, the black substance fell away piece by piece. It actually began wriggling on the floor. Su Ziyu stretched lazily, feeling refreshed as his mental exhaustion was swept away.

Looks like I should undergo this sort of mental treatment more often...

Su Ziyu made a joke to himself and turned his gaze toward the pitch-black worms on the floor.

They had fallen from the black substance in his corrupted Mental Body. He had not expected them to be so active. Not only had they not died after crawling around on the floor for so long, they had instead combined with scattered debris and grown increasingly numerous.

"The essence of pollution?"

Su Ziyu muttered, extending one hand toward the mass of ink-black wriggling matter as he silently recited:

"Extract material!"

The black wriggling creatures fell apart, and a ball of light flew into his palm. Su Ziyu casually examined this new material.

[Small Amount of Pollution Source (One-Star): A dark substance produced by the corruption of a spirit body. It originates from the ancient forbidden place known as the Dark Abyss. There are few detailed records of it, but if accumulated in sufficient quantities, it would also be an excellent material!]

The description was simple, but Su Ziyu noticed that it seemed like collecting a large amount of this substance would not be a bad idea.

After properly storing the new material in the material space, Su Ziyu's consciousness returned to the hospital room.

"Eee, eee, yah, yah!"

Like a restless child, the Dread Demon Eye flew around Su Ziyu, constantly making eerie cries resembling those of a baby.

Although Su Ziyu had no idea how a monster made of nothing but an eyeball could produce sound...

What lay before Su Ziyu now was the question of how to escape this psychiatric hospital.

Jiangyuan Psychiatric Hospital was the most famous psychiatric hospital in Second Satellite City. Besides its official name, it had always had another nickname: Madman's Asylum!

Some of the people inside had gone insane after witnessing the monsters outside the city, while others had been born that way. Quite a few were born as Awakened, but their intellects were deficient, making them unusable by the Special Affairs Department. They could only be locked up here.

To guard such a psychiatric hospital, the City Defense Department had even specially assigned personnel here. Every one of them was a fully armed soldier and a Beyonder.

Escaping from such a heavily guarded fortress, as impenetrable as a wall of bronze and iron, was easier said than done.

Moreover, the hospital had already identified him as a psychiatric patient. This hospital had strict review standards and would not easily release patients. If Su Ziyu wanted to leave, sneaking away was his only option.

However, Su Ziyu was no longer the same as before. Now that he possessed the system and had mastered the grimoire, he was quite confident in his ability to escape.

He was in no hurry to use his ability to open the lock. At this moment, the clock on the wall had nearly completed half its circuit, and the hour hand rested at six.

It was almost time for dinner at the psychiatric hospital. A doctor would come take Su Ziyu to the cafeteria, followed by one to two hours of activity time. That would be his chance to slip away.

"Today is Friday... Hmm, I remember ball games were scheduled. That'll be my chance to escape..."

As Su Ziyu silently considered this, a dull thump suddenly sounded beside his ear. It seemed to be the sound of a bell, echoing from afar throughout the entire hospital.

It was a reminder that it was six o'clock, time to eat!

Su Ziyu straightened his hospital gown, sat on the bed, and stared blankly at everything before him.

With the ringing of the bell, the door lock was suddenly pried open. Light from the corridor shone in, illuminating the man's face as well.

"Oh? Did you take your medicine?"

The man's expression was calm as his gaze swept around the room.

"Director Li... I took it..."

Su Ziyu lowered his head and answered in a deliberately muddled manner.

Director Li withdrew his gaze, the corners of his mouth twitching as if he were slowly smiling.

"Dinner's ready. Go gather at Cafeteria No. 2."

Su Ziyu did not know whether his eyes had deceived him, but when Director Li said dinner was ready, his tongue seemed to have licked his lips.

Still, Su Ziyu controlled the twitching of his facial muscles well and blankly replied:

"Okay."

After changing his shoes, he followed Director Li out into the corridor.

Every room along the same side of the corridor had its door open. Without exception, all the patients had been summoned out as well.

They formed a line ahead of them. Following Director Li, Su Ziyu joined the large group as they made their way to Cafeteria No. 2.