The Witch Hunter System

Chapter 1172: Abnormality

Although Sovereign Trueblue and the other True Divinities were surprised that the Wind Spirits would bully one of their own, they didn’t think too deeply; they simply thought it was the internal affairs of the Wind Spirit Clan.

At the same time, they thought it was not a bad idea for Vaan to choose the pitiful Wind Spirit.

Yet, such a pitiful Wind Spirit turned out to be royalty among the Wind Spirits.

"Isn’t that strange?"

"What is?"

The True Gods glanced at Sovereign Trueblue, who seemed to be frowning with a contemplative look.

"The Wind Spirits’ attitude and action toward the shunned Royal Wind Spirit. Even if the Royal Wind Spirit hasn’t awakened its royal talent, the Wind Spirits shouldn’t have been mistreating it like this."

"On the contrary, they would still treat it with utmost care and respect. After all, it is the future ruler of the Wind Spirits. The Wind Spirits should have felt some sort of innate reverence or worship toward it, even if it hadn’t revealed its royal talents."

"Yet, as we have seen, the Wind Spirits detested the Royal Wind Spirit—the one they were supposed to serve. This is not normal."

"Now that Sovereign Trueblue has point this out, it does seem rather abnormal yet familiar. Isn’t this like the inversion of faith? Despising the faith one is supposed to revere and respect? The power of corruption is at play, no?" Galevyr suspected.

The other True Gods were immediately startled by Galevyr’s suspicion.

"That can’t be right," another True God doubted as he pointed out, "Look at the Wind Spirits now. They have become obedient and subservient after the Royal Wind Spirit displayed her ruling power."

"If the Wind Spirits did have their faith twisted by corruption, they shouldn’t have acted like this. On the contrary, they would despise the Royal Wind Spirit even more, even try to kill her."

"Perhaps... the Wind Spirits have not been affected by the corruption to such a degree yet, and could still break free from its effect?" Galevyr guessed.

"This... could be possible."

"Whether it’s true or not, the Nine Divine Starwind Realm’s situation needs to be investigated and cannot be ignored. Empyrean Oceanheart should be informed about this."

"Right."

Sovereign Trueblue and the other True Divinities quickly reached a unanimous decision.

At the same time, they became more vigilant of their surroundings in the Nine Divine Starwind Realm. Since it was potentially corrupted, they couldn’t determine whether other dangers were lurking in plain sight. RАΝȏＢ˧

Due to the recent assassination attempt, Sovereign Trueblue and the other True Divinities have become wary of the Corrupted Ones.

As such, they tend to relate any abnormal situation to the power of corruption.

Even now, no one in the Myriad Sea God Palace could determine the source of the corruption. Neither its form nor its exact existence was clear to them. The True Divinities only knew it belonged to the Outerworlders.

If the corruption existed in an energy form, they only needed to locate and eliminate it.

However, if corruption was embedded in the governing laws themselves, the problem was much more difficult to resolve.

After all, it would imply the world itself was sick, and they couldn’t just purge it.

Not only would it not resolve the corruption, but it might even release its shackles, allowing it to infect other worlds on a grander, more rapid scale, worsening the overall situation.

In that case, sacrificing the Wind Spirit Clan and its home would be in vain.

’Sir Vaan, are you able to confirm if these Wind Spirits are corrupted by the power of the Outerworlders?’

’The Wind Spirits could be corrupted?’

After receiving Galevyr’s telepathic inquiry, Vaan paused with surprise.

Speaking of which, he did not know too much about the Wind Spirit Clan of the Nine Divine Starwind Realm.

The incredible accumulation of knowledge within the Myriad Sea God Palace’s vast libraries wasn’t something he could digest in a few days. In fact, it wasn’t possible to learn everything even if he were given a thousand years.

After all, the Myriad Sea God Palace itself had existed for at least one Chaos Cycle, and used to be part of the Boundless Sea and Sky Domain, which had existed for a much longer period.

With countless realms under its control, each with equally long accumulations of history, it was impossible for Vaan to read through everything in the timespan he gave himself.

Unless he were willing to delay his cultivation, he wouldn’t spend so much time reading up on miscellaneous information.

That said, as one of his main cultivation destinations, he naturally learned a great deal about the Nine Divine Starwind Realm and the local Wind Spirit Clan. It indeed had a superstition and prejudice against black things.

As such, he hadn’t considered whether the Wind Spirits were affected by corruption.

However, since the True Divinities had suspected something amiss, it didn’t hurt to check to reassure them and himself. After all, it ultimately concerned his life. He wouldn’t ignore unknown variables.

Vaan cast out his Omni-Sense, scanning each and every Wind Spirit within his sensory range, analyzing their information.

Still, he didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary.

If the Wind Spirits had their souls corrupted by the power of the Outerworlders, he would have already seen through them. He wouldn’t have even given them a chance to get close and play pranks on him.

That was simply risking his life and playing with fire.

Since such a case did not appear among the Wind Spirits, it proved that none of them were affected by the power of corruption—at least, not on the soul level.

’No, spirits are fundamentally different from other life forms like the Mermaid Race and the Fishmen Race. It’s an energy-based life form. Thus, it could also be affected by the power of corruption differently from carbon-based life forms.’

Vaan suddenly thought.

After reviewing the information on the Wind Spirits with greater focus and scrutiny, Vaan picked up an important detail among them.

Spirits were born from the concentration of elemental power, and the elemental environment also shaped their general nature. If the elemental environment was pure, the spirits it birth would also be pure of that element.

But if the elemental environment was mixed or contaminated with other elements, the spirits it would birth could also have impure or chaotic natures.

’The souls of Wind Spirits are clear, but what about the elemental environment or even the Wind Law itself?’

After having this thought, Vaan immediately cast his Omni-Sense on the world, studying the elemental environments and the illusory governing laws of the Nine Divine Starwind Realm.

However, Vaan couldn’t seem to detect anything out of the ordinary either.

If corruption were present in the Nine Divine Starwind Realm, it wouldn’t affect any of the nine Divine Starwinds. It was the origin of all wind sources in the Nine Divine Starwind Realm.

If it had been infected with corruption, it wouldn’t just affect Celestite but all Wind Spirits.

Ultimately, Vaan ruled out the wind element and began investigating the other elements for potential corruption.

After all, the Nine Divine Starwind Realm wasn’t composed of just the wind element. It was simply the dominant force. Right behind it in strength was undoubtedly the earth element, occupying most of the surface and underground.

Vaan’s Omni-Sense seeped into the subterranean region before he finally noticed something.

’Damn, something turned out to be wrong with the Nine Divine Starwind Realm?’ Vaan felt speechless, lamenting his bad luck.

Indeed, deep within the subterranean region, beyond his normal guarded range, a sinister, unnatural force was hidden, contaminating the earthen elements with its corrupting power, which was ultimately derived from Origin Energy.

Unfortunately, Origin Energy was not a force that could be withstood by many things in the third-dimensional world.

In the process of corrupting the earthen elementals, twisting their fundamental nature, it also caused irreparable damage to their essence. It was a forceful transformation, uncaring about the structural integrity afterward.

It could be imagined as forcefully twisting a person’s head 180 degrees around, tearing blood vessels, skin, and shifting bones in the process. Even if the person still lived, it was only temporary.

Moreover, they would have to endure agonizing pain during their remaining time alive.

After understanding the nature of corruption, Vaan could already foresee the fate of the Corrupted Ones—They all lived on limited time, no longer immortal. Unless they received treatment, they would eventually die.

’Indeed, Origin Energy is simply too powerful for most beings to handle. Even Empyreans would find it difficult unless they are top-tier Empyreans,’ Vaan thought.

It was no wonder that no one in the Myriad Sea God Palace could make a breakthrough in their investigation of the corruption. One would need to be at the pinnacle stage of the Empyrean rank to even have any hope of understanding Origin Energy.

However, the strongest Empyrean in the Myriad Sea God Palace was only at the middle stage.

’But how did this Origin Energy get here?’ Vaan pondered.