Chapter 159: Research Material? [Please Subscribe]

The battle inside the Human Emperor Palace continued to rage.

After activating the divine descent state, Yishen’s perception of his surroundings had been pushed to its absolute limit, yet he still found himself unable to capture Nicole’s trajectory.

She was not only the strongest enemy he had ever encountered, but also the first mage who could stand on equal footing with him.

If not for the infinite blessing of the Mage God’s Heart, he truly might not have been a match for this woman!

Fortunately, as Yishen gradually grew accustomed to the rhythm of battle, backed by his terrifying regenerative powers, his opponent could do nothing to truly threaten him.

While fighting, Yishen also maintained a keen observation.

Her combat style was vastly different from that of ordinary explorers. With every gesture and movement, she commanded elemental energy.

Although she was his enemy, Yishen still felt a sense of awe and even fascination.

After all, he had long been searching for a new way to control the elements within his body without ever finding the trick to it. Yet here was someone who had completely transcended the elemental domain.

If he could learn the secret of controlling elements from her during combat, Yishen felt it might be a monumental step forward for him in the realm of magic!

"Every time she casts a spell, special capability circuits seem to light up on her body."

Most of Yishen’s attacks involved directly throwing out skills and bombarding the area, but through observation, he quickly noticed a strange phenomenon.

Although Nicole’s casting motions were extremely subtle and she was constantly blinking through space, Yishen could sense that before every gesture, a rune circuit formed first, followed immediately by the resonance of the elements.

Regrettably, perhaps because these rune circuits belonged to advanced magic, or because what Nicole conjured was far too complex, even with his terrifying memory, imitation remained extraordinarily difficult.

The only thing he truly learned was that elements could indeed be awakened through specific methods.

Subconsciously, he began to experiment during the battle, which elevated his control over the elements to a whole new level.

The battle lasted for more than twenty minutes.

Neither side held an absolute advantage, and meanwhile, other people were arriving near the Human Emperor’s Tomb one after another.

Yishen was learning to his heart's content. Even if he could not replicate her exact movements, his understanding of magic was steadily deepening.

He now possessed a terrifying mastery over moonlight energy. Remembering every single movement the woman made, he occasionally synchronized his own spells with them.

Perhaps due to this further comprehension of the elements, Yishen finally managed to perceive Nicole’s presence with his physical eyes once again!

At this moment, Nicole was no longer wearing her cloak. Instead, her pale green hair and fair skin were fully revealed.

Around her neck was a purple garland, and from her ears hung a strange pair of pendant earrings. Her pupils were a mixture of brown and blue.

Though she bore a slight resemblance to humans, Yishen could be almost certain that the woman before him was absolutely not a normal creature!

"Whoosh."

Finally, at a certain moment during the clash, while releasing a skill, Yishen used moonlight energy to simultaneously sketch a special energy field right in front of him. From this energy field, a surge of frost elements poured out, forming a thin layer of ice.

Compared to the ice layers Nicole used, this one was exceptionally fragile—a difference as vast as heaven and earth. Yet it was the first time Yishen had used his own power to cast a skill that transcended his data panel!

The very instant Yishen executed this skill, the opponent’s attacks abruptly ceased. The entire space formed an energy field, plunging into an eerie silence!

"You are mimicking my spellcasting?"

Yishen heard a very strange sound. It came from the lips of the woman opposite him. Her tone was not in any human language, but the fluctuations of energy allowed Yishen to perceive her meaning.

This was a fascinating way of utilizing energy, one that incorporated conscious intent.

"Your body is so peculiar. It can spontaneously convert energy into elements, and you can even learn Elven magic."

Before Yishen could reply, Nicole uttered a sigh of amazement. This was the reason she had stopped.

Although the magic she used bore stronger elven characteristics, the explorer of the new era before her clearly lacked orthodox knowledge of magic, relying mostly on digitized abilities. Yet the longer the fight dragged on, the more she felt that the boy in front of her was far from simple.

Inside Yishen’s body lay an energy source that even Nicole viewed with a certain wariness, and it was far more stable than she had imagined.

Her purpose in coming here to acquire the Human Emperor’s Blood was precisely to stabilize the magic power within her and extend the time before she needed to fully awaken. Otherwise, eroded by the digital corruption, she would sooner or later plunge into deep slumber again or be assimilated by the data.

However, if she could obtain a stable energy conversion source like the one before her, she might no longer need to suppress her power and could even undergo further awakening, breaking through the current progression of the world. Thus, the gaze she cast upon Yishen grew slightly brighter.

"..." Yishen looked at Nicole in speechless silence. "And so?"

Too many people had taken an interest in him. The previous Lord of Moonlight had been the same, and now this strange woman too. They had been fighting fiercely halfway through, only for her to suddenly stop, leaving Yishen feeling somewhat out of place.

"If you want to fight, let's keep fighting. Cut the nonsense. We're all here for the Human Emperor's Blood, so there's no need to waste time. The blood is inside the main hall, and who knows what other strange things might wander in."

With those words, ignoring whether Nicole understood or not, Yishen strode toward a new palace.

He could already sense that there were far more people outside the Human Emperor Palace than before. A strange woman had shown up now, and more people would likely arrive shortly.

This woman’s strength was greater than he had anticipated. It seemed he wouldn't be able to monopolize all the Human Emperor's Blood by himself, but Yishen was determined to take as much as possible. Such items provided an immensely powerful boost to his Shan-Hai bloodline.

"Swish!"

Unexpectedly, another screen of ice blocked Yishen’s path. Nicole seemed determined to cross him.

"Depending on external objects is useless. These digitized portions of the Human Emperor's Blood will only cap your upper limit. Your talent is extremely high; you don't actually need these things to walk a crooked path," Nicole said.

"What if I just display them at home as decorative ornaments? Wouldn't that be fine?"

Yishen smiled faintly. Words like Nicole's were things he only listened to half-heartedly. He knew very well whether they were effective for him or not. Even if he didn't use them directly, breaking them down with the Mage God's Heart would definitely yield SS-grade materials.

Nicole glanced at Yishen. While using an ice screen to block his path, she vanished on the spot.

After about ten seconds, Yishen sensed slight activity coming from the fourth subsidiary hall. Moments later, when Nicole reappeared, a red ball of light had materialized in her hand—unmistakably the fourth portion of the Human Emperor's Blood.

This left Yishen stunned. He hadn't expected Nicole to acquire the Human Emperor's Blood in such a short amount of time, especially after stalling with him in the main hall for so long.

"..." The air suddenly froze.

"If you truly need this item, we can make a deal. I am very interested in the power within your body. I can give this to you, but you need to cooperate with me for observation and experimentation," Nicole raised her hand and said.

Although her initial goal had indeed been merely to acquire the Human Emperor's Blood to stabilize her magic, the Yishen before her clearly held a much greater attraction. Having slept for so many years, she had occasionally awakened a few times in between, yet this was the first time she had encountered something that could rival her own primal source of power.

"Uh." The more Yishen listened, the more familiar the scenario felt.

Back then, the Lord of Moonlight had also been curious about the Mage God's Heart inside his body, came to investigate, and was ultimately repelled by it.

Now, this inexplicably appearing woman had also sensed the Mage God's Heart and wanted to study it. Was he destined to be the lab rat in everyone's eyes?

He remembered that the Mage God's Heart should have had a defensive mechanism specifically designed to prevent others from probing it. He hadn't expected that to these people, the abnormality of his internal energy source would be seen right through at a single glance.

"I refuse." Yishen cast a protective shield on himself first, expressing his rejection. The Human Emperor's Blood was merely the icing on the cake for him; there was no need to "sacrifice himself" over such a thing.

"The Human Emperor's Blood goes to whoever has the ability to take it, but studying other people's bodies isn't very polite. For instance, I'm also quite interested in the way you use magic. Are you willing to let me study your body?" Yishen looked at Nicole and asked.

This elven-like woman clearly looked like a supernatural being. To be fair, Yishen did want to study what kind of entity she actually was. Of course, he also knew that was unrealistic; in terms of magical comprehension, this woman was likely several tiers ahead of him, and even if they continued fighting, Yishen wasn't guaranteed to gain any advantage.

Hearing Yishen's words, Nicole fell into deep thought.

After pausing for several seconds, she continued:

"Then let's renegotiate the trade. You are a person of the new era, already tainted by digitization. I can tell you the secrets of this world, and the Human Emperor's Blood can be given to you as well, but I need to borrow the energy inside your body to transition and maintain my stability."

"The energy within your body is far purer than the Human Emperor's Blood. My current magical fluctuations are unstable; I need a digitized form of energy to disguise myself. This is mutually beneficial for both of us."

"I can even help you obtain the subsequent portions of the Human Emperor's Blood. Those things hold very little significance for me."

Nicole looked at Yishen earnestly.

She was not lying.

Whether it was being revived by the Blood Clan after her slumber, obtaining the Human Emperor's Blood, or anything else, her sole purpose was to leave the current progression of this world without being tainted by digitization.

Following this awakening, she could clearly sense that various energy nodes in the present world were unstable. The advancement of digitization had generated all sorts of loopholes, and even Yishen's every action contained behaviors that transcended digitization.

As long as she destroyed these world energy nodes, she would have a chance to achieve transcendence. The energy inside Yishen right now was far more stable than the Human Emperor's Blood; she could completely cooperate with the explorer before her and even have him help her break through the constraints of digitization.

The man in front of her was most likely a standout among the new-era explorers, having already discovered the limitations brought by digitization. Nicole considered this a multi-win transaction.

"..." Listening to Nicole's words, Yishen fell into a state of bewilderment and hesitation.

"What do you mean by borrowing the energy in my body to help you transition and maintain stability?"

If the other party was truly willing to cede the Human Emperor's Blood, Yishen would certainly agree. It was just that Nicole's subsequent words left him somewhat confused.

"Cast runes, have your energy envelop me, and then lend it to me for use so I can disguise myself using your power."

Nicole raised her fair arm, and a dark green energy cluster emerged from her body, attaching itself to Yishen.

To his astonishment, Yishen discovered that he could actually control these dark green energy clusters, and his affinity for the elements instantly spiked by a massive margin.

"Just like this form. If you don't know how, I can teach you. Of course, what I need is not that dark-light energy, but your primal source power," Nicole said.

This dark green energy held an extreme affinity for Yishen, and it transmitted quite a bit of information regarding Nicole. Among this information was a special rune-flowing method. When Yishen attempted to use it, he found that it actually allowed him to mobilize the power of the Mage God's Heart inside his body!

Yishen tried to cast a spell. A trace of transparent, chaotic power emerged from his body. He only separated a billionth of it, yet in terms of purity alone, it already far exceeded the moonlight energy and even suppressed it.

Following Nicole's method, this power gradually approached Nicole. During this process, Yishen maintained absolute control over this force at all times; at the slightest sign of trouble, he would withdraw and annihilate it.

Nicole was soon enveloped by this thin film of Yishen's energy as well.

Their current state felt somewhat bizarre.

Although the two had no formal physical contact, there was an inexplicable blending of their energies.

Nicole trusted Yishen quite readily. Over on her side, she too began executing some rune circuits, and the two black Blood Clan venerables who had previously accompanied her instantly dissipated and dissolved into dust.

Just as Nicole had anticipated, this energy source borrowed from Yishen’s body was far purer than what the Blood Clan had previously provided.

If she could simply remain by this Yishen's side, she might not even need to enter a recovery slumber again.

"Let's help you get the Human Emperor's Blood first. Don't stray too far from me."

"We can also sign a contract. As long as you provide me with energy protection, I can help you break through the restrictions of digitization." Nicole breathed a sigh of relief. Under the cover of Yishen's ability, her whole body felt much more relaxed than before, freeing her from the tense vigilance against digital erosion.

Her guess had been correct: Yishen's ability surpassed digitized energy, or else there was no way to explain how he could continuously supply such terrifying magic power.

What Nicole needed to do now was to stabilize this Yishen first, ensuring they at least did not become enemies.

She even had a hunch that the man before her was the key to breaking through the entire world's digital progression.

(End of this chapter)