Chapter 50: Soul Crystals

Chapter 50: Soul Crystals

The soul is a vessel, and the energy it contains is soul energy. When transformed into a physical form, it becomes a Soul Crystal.

To many wizards, soul energy is the most versatile and all-encompassing form of energy in the multiverse.

Even elemental energy, which is abundant, can be difficult for some creatures to absorb.

Soul energy, however, is different. Almost no creature exists that cannot absorb and utilize soul energy.

Soul energy is, in essence, the most widely used form of energy across the multiverse.

A Soul Crystal is the product of a soul dissipating after a creature's death, a condensed form of soul energy.

Unfortunately, Soul Crystals are extremely rare and difficult to form naturally. Only a few unique beings can drop raw Soul Crystals upon their demise.

Most of the time, wizards create Soul Crystals through artificial means.

To do this, they need a vessel, and the most commonly used vessels are various types of gems.

Currently, Su Nan is attempting to artificially create a Soul Crystal.

With a series of reluctant screams, the spirits are one by one pulled into the gem, causing its color to gradually shift to a grayish hue.

In a short moment, all the vengeful spirits around Su Nan are completely gone.

"Are there more?"

Su Nan looked at the evil spirit with anticipation. The few vengeful spirits he had absorbed were not enough to fully transform the gem into a Soul Crystal.

Seemingly angered by Su Nan's gaze, the evil spirit let out a piercing scream and launched a wave of negative energy at him.

Unfortunately, it was immediately blocked by a shield spell.

Seeing this, the evil spirit decided to abandon her ranged attacks and leaped at Su Nan with both feet off the ground.

"Is this all you've got?"

Su Nan frowned in dissatisfaction, then, without even looking at the approaching evil spirit, he began to chant a complex and difficult incantation.

He currently had three layers of protection: a shield spell, energy particles, and a protective ring.

He also held an Earth Rune Gem in his palm, ready to activate it at any moment.

There was no need to worry about the evil spirit breaking through his defenses anytime soon.

Sure enough, a few moments later, the evil spirit’s clawed hands failed to penetrate even the outer shield.

Magic Missile!

Three missile-sized projectiles, each about the size of a fist, shot out and pierced through the evil spirit's ethereal body. The evil spirit let out a piercing scream, and her form visibly dimmed.

Su Nan remained expressionless, calmly casting another Magic Missile.

The battle quickly intensified.

The evil spirit completely abandoned all defense—indeed, she could defend anyway—and continuously changed direction, trying to break through and tear into Su Nan’s body. Unfortunately, the shield always intercepted her.

Su Nan, on the other hand, focused solely on casting Magic Missiles.

By the time the evil spirit finally managed to tear through the invisible shield, she had already been hit by four Magic Missiles. Her body, already semi-transparent, became even more ethereal, looking as if it could dissipate at any moment.

At this point, the evil spirit finally realized the gravity of the situation and tried to flee.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

Su Nan released the fifth Magic Missile he had prepared, then raised the gem in his hand.

The evil spirit, having been hit by three more Magic Missiles and not even had a chance to recover, was pulled toward the gem by an invisible, powerful force.

Despite her frantic struggles, she could not resist the gem's drawing power. Ultimately, her entire soul was absorbed into the gem.

As her soul was fully absorbed, the gem's color changed completely, turning into a gray crystal!

"Success!"

A hint of joy appeared on Su Nan's face.

Under normal circumstances, he would need dozens of knight souls to create even the lowest tier Soul Crystal.

However, with his current mental strength, he couldn't extract souls from corpses and could only rely on certain magical items or arrays—none of which he had.

Vengeful spirits and evil spirits were much simpler to deal with. After weakening them through combat, he could directly absorb their souls.

A single evil spirit is worth as much as the souls of two or three dozen knights.

Stowing away the crystal, Su Nan looked up at the nearby Blood Mandrake.

The evil spirit is essentially a manifestation of the Blood Mandrake's almost complete power, a free-roaming avatar not bound by the plant's physical form.

As a result, with the evil spirit's demise, the Blood Mandrake suffered a severe blow, visibly withering.

Its size shrank dramatically, reducing to less than twenty centimeters in height.

When Su Nan pulled it out of the ground, the Blood Mandrake emitted a shrill, piercing cry, thrashing violently as it tried to burrow back underground. However, in its weakened state, it could not resist Su Nan's strength and was forcefully placed into a silver-coated box.

The box was engraved with a spirit-sealing array, effectively suppressing the Blood Mandrake's mental energy from spreading.

As long as the box remained closed, the Blood Mandrake would be harmless.

Having completed this, Su Nan dusted off his hands and surveyed the surroundings.

With the evil spirit eliminated and the Blood Mandrake sealed, the Mandrakes in the estate began to wither and die in large patches.

Before long, the environment returned to normal, though it appeared somewhat dilapidated with no obvious abnormalities.

In reality, the air still contained a significant amount of negative energy particles, making the estate uninhabitable for the time being. It would take at least four to five months for the environment to naturally recover to normal levels.

Of course, if a wizard's apprentice were to purify the area, it could be restored to normal within a few days.

However, Su Nan was not willing to do the job for free.

To be honest, one thousand gold coins to eliminate an evil spirit was already a very reasonable price.

If it weren't for the Blood Mandrake and the soul crystal, he wouldn't have taken on this task.

Outside the estate, Viscount Silvermoon paced back and forth, occasionally glancing at the manor with a visibly anxious expression.

Shortly after Su Nan entered the estate, a raging inferno erupted inside, followed by a series of piercing screams that sent shivers down his spine.

He was torn between wanting to send people in to investigate and not daring to take the risk.

His forehead was already covered in a fine layer of sweat from the stress.

Fortunately, Su Nan emerged from the estate not long after.

"Lord Ang."

Viscount Silvermoon rushed forward, hesitating before speaking.

Su Nan replied coolly, "The evil spirit has been eliminated."

Hearing this, Viscount Silvermoon let out a long sigh of relief.

"There are still many negative energy particles lingering in the estate. Do not move in for at least six months," Su Nan added as a precaution.

Viscount Silvermoon nodded in understanding.

In reality, he wouldn't consider reassigning the estate to anyone after such a bizarre incident. The estate would likely be abandoned and left to decay.

However, it didn't matter much to him as long as Stonebell City remained unaffected. A single estate was not worth his concern.

"Thank you, Lord Ang. I have arranged a banquet in your honor. Please, do me the honor of joining us."

Viscount Silvermoon spoke with great enthusiasm.

Having encountered a powerful wizard, he was reluctant to let the opportunity slip away. If he could recruit such a powerful ally to his domain, he would be more than willing to grant a town in return.

To Viscount Silvermoon's disappointment, Su Nan immediately and firmly declined.

"No, thank you. I have other matters to attend to."

Without waiting for a response, Su Nan turned and left without looking back.

At that moment, a guard ran up from a distance, passing by Su Nan.

Before he had gone far, Su Nan's keen hearing allowed him to clearly hear the guard's low report to Viscount Silvermoon.

"My lord, Baron Flash has declared war on Blackstone City!"

With today's ten-thousand-word update, this plot concludes. The story will now return to Blackstone City. I hope for your continued support with votes. Thank you.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end