Ocean of Light (Please Follow)

The Weird Corpse died, and the black fog began to disperse. One Sunlight Sunflower after another raised its head again, its shimmering glow blooming once more through the petals.

"Whew... whew..."

Lincon panted heavily and got to his feet.

By then, the corpse spots had spread across his entire face. The bluish-gray patches twisted and wriggled, as though they were about to take root even deeper.

Although the Weird Corpse had been incinerated by Purifying Fire, the corpse spots it left behind still clung to Lincon like maggots on bone.

Painful emotions came from the Shadow Sword through their connection. Lincon raised a hand and stroked its somewhat charred blade, speaking softly.

"Sorry. I made you suffer."

Purifying Fire had a powerful restraining effect on Dark Energy. The Shadow Sword had originally been a Ghostshadow Sword Orchid and had evolved through Dark Matter Crystals, so it possessed a considerable amount of Dark Energy as well.

While Purifying Fire had destroyed the Weird Corpse, the Shadow Sword had suffered no small amount of damage too.

After soothing the Shadow Sword, Lincon began searching for a way to remove the corpse spots from his body.

Without the Weird Corpse's power supporting them, the corpse spots were spreading far more slowly than before, but they remained stubborn.

Leaning beside the Purification Shrine, Lincon tried applying the Purification Rune to himself.

The illusory rune flashed by. A surge of pure energy filled Lincon's body, and more than half the corpse spots on him vanished at once.

"Unfortunately, using Purifying Fire just now consumed too much mental energy. Otherwise, if I used all my mental energy to cast the Purification Rune on myself, I should be able to remove every last corpse spot."

Lincon looked into the darkness beyond the courtyard, where the constant rustling of insects crawling could be heard.

Clearly, with the D-rank Weird Calamity eliminated, the other creatures lurking in the darkness were beginning to grow restless.

The Dark Shrine was like a magnet, madly drawing those things in.

After thinking for a moment, Lincon returned inside, picked up the Dark Shrine standing on the table, and smashed it viciously against the floor.

With a crack, the Dark Shrine shattered, and a wisp of dense black mist flew out.

Yet the black mist was not purified by the Purification Shrine. Instead, it shot into the sky and vanished beneath the pitch-black Dark Veil.

As the Dark Shrine was destroyed, the commotion outside the courtyard immediately quieted considerably.

Lincon's gaze was icy as he silently watched everything outside.

"I'll clean every last one of you up sooner or later. It just so happens that a new main quest has appeared—one that involves dealing with you pests."

Lincon walked to where the Weird Corpse had been. Its body was already gone, leaving only a charred human-shaped outline that gave off a foul stench.

At the center of that outline lay a fist-sized black crystal.

Lincon picked it up.

This crystal was much larger than the ones he usually collected. Just holding it, he could feel the icy energy within.

He had already stored away many Dark Matter Crystals like this, but aside from evolving the Ghostshadow Sword Orchid, they had yet to serve any positive purpose.

He would not be making any more Dark Shrines for the time being, but Lincon had a new idea.

If he engraved a Dark Crystal onto a candle with an Infusion Rune, then lighting the candle would release energy that attracted Dark Creatures.

If he encountered danger in the wilderness, lighting a Black Candle and throwing it out might create an opportunity to escape.

After briefly cleaning up the courtyard, Lincon returned indoors and slammed the door shut.

The night was long. Lincon's house had only a few small holes for ventilation and observing the outside.

After recovering a little mental energy, his stomach began to growl.

Lincon placed Carrion Rat meat and Beautiful Abalone Mushrooms into an iron pot, then went to fetch water from an iron barrel in the corner of the room. He found that the barrel was nearly empty.

"I'm almost out of water." Lincon frowned slightly.

In the Dark Age, water was an even more precious resource than food.

Night was when Dark Energy was most active. It not only corroded the soil and turned it into dead earth, but also contaminated water sources. Drinking such water directly was no different from slow suicide.

Therefore, Lincon's water mostly came from underground water in the dense forest. Only after filtering it through a homemade filter could he obtain water that was barely drinkable.

However, recalling the Pale Wraith that had appeared outside the forest, Lincon immediately abandoned his plan to fetch water there the next day.

As he pondered, his eyes suddenly lit up.

Now that he possessed the Purification Rune, he did not necessarily need to risk fetching underground water.

There was a lake not far from Longwind Fortress. Though its water had been contaminated, using the Purification Rune to obtain enough water for survival should not be difficult.

With that thought, Lincon relaxed.

After simply cooking and eating dried Carrion Rat meat mixed with Beautiful Abalone Mushrooms, he lay on the bed and drifted off with his eyes half-closed.

The next day.

The bell on his wrist had only just rung when Lincon woke up.

As usual, he first crafted two Shrines. Only after the sun was hanging directly overhead did he push open the courtyard gate and head outside.

He was becoming increasingly proficient at crafting Shrines. Ever since his last breakthrough, the chance of producing a Fine Shrine had reached one in five.

That was a good sign.

Carrying a water bucket on his back, Lincon left Longwind Fortress. After walking roughly two kilometers west, he saw a calm lake in a valley ahead.

However, the lake was a faint grayish-black color and carried a subtle rotten stench.

There was no floating trash on the surface, and the water was fairly clean—at least, it did not look particularly filthy to the naked eye.

Lincon filled a bucket with water, took a stone from his pocket, and tossed it in.

He had engraved the stone with a Purification Rune before leaving that morning. If nothing unexpected happened, it should be reusable for a long time, just like the Purification Shrine.

Lincon named it a Purification Stone.

The Purification Stone fell into the water and quickly began working. Like a scorching stone dropped into icy water, it caused the lake water to boil rapidly, and the originally gray-black water gradually became clearer.

Lincon leaned closer and sniffed. The stench had weakened considerably.

"Looks like it works." A faint smile appeared on Lincon's face.

The Rune Blueprint he had obtained from his first mission had provided no small amount of help in his daily life.

The Purification Rune in particular was far more useful than the other two Runes in this environment ravaged by Dark Erosion.

While he still had time, Lincon piled up stones by the lake to build a simple stone shelter that could barely withstand wind and rain, then placed a Shrine inside.

A patch of fog on the panel was illuminated by a yellow marker.

Lincon roughly counted them. He had already scattered fifty-four Shrines outside.

These Shrines could serve as his eyes when necessary, and they were also anchors for his territory. Once Longwind Fortress expanded to a certain extent, the locations of these Shrines would instantly be incorporated into his territory.

Suddenly, a notification appeared on the panel.

[A stranger has entered your territory.]

Lincon narrowed his eyes and withdrew his hand from the Shrine.

He carried the purified water onto his back and quickly returned to the fortress.

Meanwhile, a group of three appeared within the boundaries of Longwind Fortress.

They carried large bundles of belongings, looking as though they were fleeing disaster.

"This is the place!"

Zhang Rui carried a huge pack on his back, holding a woman's hand in one and a child's hand in the other.

The woman was named Xu Wan. She was Zhang Rui's wife, a somewhat thin woman whose appearance was unremarkable and whose body looked weak.

The child was around seven or eight years old, Zhang Rui's son. His eyes were wide as he stared at the vast Sunshine Sunflower Sea before him.

"So... so beautiful! Father, is this really the fortress you mentioned, the one where only one person lives?"

Zhang Rui also stood frozen in place, blankly staring at the scene before him as if his soul had been ripped away.

He clearly remembered that it had not looked like this when he last came.

At that time, there had been nothing outside Longwind Fortress. It had been unimaginably barren, and even the city gates were broken.

Yet the sight before him nearly made his jaw drop.

Light.

The first thing that flooded his senses was light.

It was neither like the dull oppression of Black Iron City nor like Flint City, which resembled a gigantic beast and exuded an aura of savage brutality.

What lay before them was a sea.

Thousands upon thousands of Sunlight Sunflowers stretched into the distance, almost encircling all of Longwind Fortress.

Though they were only knee-high, every one of them bore a brilliant golden flower disk, like tiny suns. Layer upon layer, rising and falling, they swayed gently to a silent rhythm.

A gust of wind swept through, and the golden sea rippled with it. Halos of light rolled like warm tides, wave after wave.

A strange fragrance filled the air. It was unlike the scent of flowers, more like the clean aroma released when sunlight warmed the earth, carrying a life force that soothed the heart and mind.