Konda Village, underground space.
After Nolan contacted Lumine and asked her for help, it wasn't long before she and Paimon teleported over.
"Miss Miko, Yoimiya, and... a shrine maiden Paimon don't recognize—wow, there are so many people here!"
Paimon, wearing her metallic tiara, looked around upon arrival and exclaimed in surprise.
"What's going on? I was working with Nahida to improve the 'Akasha Forum.' I'll need to head back soon after this," Lumine said, turning to Nolan.
The "Akasha Forum" was easy enough to understand—it was essentially an online community for posting and chatting.
Nolan already knew about it, and had heard that Lumine and Nahida had developed many basic apps together, like a camera, a voice recorder, and more.
Since the "Akasha" system was entirely under Nahida's control, these apps didn't require coding and were easy to develop.
As for hardware, the "Akasha Terminal" was supported by the full resources of the Akademiya and saw rapid iterations. In Sumeru, the device had basically become universal. People there were very open to new features in the Akasha system.
After all, they were already used to directly transferring knowledge into their brains via the terminals—something Nolan had dreamed of during his school days!
Some newer features, like the camera and recorder, required hardware upgrades, so the people of Sumeru were happy to pay for newer terminals.
Thus, the Akademiya wasn't just investing in research—it was also making Mora from selling the upgraded devices. A sustainable development path.
There were even discussions about rewarding users who uploaded valuable knowledge to the Akasha system once terminals started selling abroad.
That way, the world's most advanced knowledge would be centralized in the Akasha system, and those with the capacity to learn would have access to cutting-edge advancements.
Teyvat's technological explosion was all but inevitable!
Of course, that was the ideal scenario. While not impossible, it would require systems carefully crafted to fit each region's specific societal conditions.
Otherwise, problems could easily arise. They were still in the discussion phase, and it would take time to draft preliminary plans.
As these thoughts swirled in Nolan's mind, he briefly explained the current situation to Lumine and Paimon.
"So basically, like before, you want Lumine to try controlling this corrupt power, right?" Paimon nodded, indicating she understood.
"That's right," Nolan confirmed.
Lumine's strength had grown far beyond what it was when she controlled forbidden knowledge in the Irminsul.
It shouldn't take her long to master the filth here.
"Okay, leave it to me."
The blonde-haired girl listened to his explanation and agreed without hesitation.
"Lumine really is reliable," Yae Miko said with a smile, then looked toward Nolan. "Then I'll leave the barrier to you."
"Of course."
As he responded, Nolan summoned the Sword God of Lumine, controlling her to slash at the barrier with a single strike.
Though the barrier was formidable, to Nolan it was nothing.
The instant the golden sword aura touched it, it was sliced through like tofu, revealing the roots of the Sacred Sakura.
The roots looked no different from those of an ordinary tree—only far thicker—and they emitted a black miasma.
"That miasma is the filth," said Hanachirusato, her fox mask facing the roots.
Nolan nodded. Just as he was about to ask Lumine to attempt controlling the corrupted energy, a figure suddenly appeared in front of them.
It was a warrior formed entirely from condensed black mist, gripping a sword and glaring at them warily.
"It, too, is a manifestation of filth, shaped by memories and lingering thoughts within the ley lines," Hanachirusato explained. "But unlike me, the person whose memories shaped this warrior was not as powerful as Lady Saiguu, and so it lacks self-awareness.
"Still, I believe this samurai must've been a truly admirable person in life. The corrupted form shaped by their memory instinctively reacted when it sensed us—perhaps it mistook the root system, born of the same corruption, as something it once protected."
"I see..." Nolan watched as the blackened samurai began charging toward them—completely irrational, just as expected.
His pupils began to glow gold—Eye of Judgment activated.
The enemy's weak points and level marks became visible on the samurai's body:
[Level: 82]
Over level 80, huh? Probably because this area held a higher concentration of filth.
Nolan thought to himself, slightly surprised.
But power at that level could no longer threaten him. He raised his hand, and green Dendro energy surged forth.
He extended his palm toward the charging samurai, sending out countless glowing green orbs like fireflies.
The Dendro clusters zipped through the air and stuck to the samurai's body like tiny insects.
As more and more orbs latched on, the dark samurai's figure gradually lit up with green, transforming into a glowing emerald warrior.
In the next second, all the green lights silently exploded.
The others saw the samurai collapse into itself like a pool of water—and vanish without a trace.
[Defeated A Powerful Enemy. Obtained 6432 Adventure EXP.]
The character panel popped up just in time, signaling that Nolan had finished off the enemy.
He turned to Lumine and said, "All yours."
"Mm."
Lumine gave a small nod and entered her Abyssal Princess form. Her golden hair and amber eyes turned platinum, and a cold aura enveloped her.
She walked up to the roots tainted with filth, carefully sensing the corrupted energy. She found that the pure Abyssal power within her could indeed interfere with it.
Moreover, she could gradually convert her pure Abyssal power into this corrupted filth—likely thanks to her past experiences in transforming forbidden knowledge, the power of the Withering, and black mud.
With that accumulated experience, Lumine estimated it would only take her one to two hours to fully grasp control over this corrupted energy.
She reported her findings to Nolan and the others.
Whew—hearing that Lumine could indeed control the corrupted energy, Nolan let out a small sigh of relief. It seemed their luck wasn't bad.
Once Lumine mastered the corruption, purifying the Sacred Sakura's taint would become far easier. One or two hours? They could wait that long.
During that time, they didn't disturb Lumine. But they didn't just sit idle either—instead, they explored the surrounding area.
Using his spiritual perception, Nolan sensed some monsters living nearby in the underground space. Though their strength was a bit low—only yielding 500 to 600 EXP when defeated—
He figured since they were here anyway, might as well clean them out.
While clearing out the monsters, he even stumbled upon several treasure chests. Each contained one or two Primogems. Perhaps that was Yae Miko's blessing at work.
After a little over an hour, Lumine reported that she had successfully mastered the corrupted energy. Nolan immediately teleported back.
Curious, he asked, "Is there anything special about this corrupted power?"
The Withering could drain life force, the Withering Sickness could infect living beings, black mud disrupted the mind, and forbidden knowledge was even more dangerous—it could corrupt the Irminsul and spread through memories.
If nothing else, the Sacred Sakura's corruption should have its own unique traits too.
"There is. It can use memories from the ley lines to form corrupted phantoms and even control them—like that black samurai from earlier... and this masked shrine maiden as well," Lumine said, giving a slight nod before turning to Hanachirusato.
Now that she had mastered the corrupted power, Lumine could clearly sense that this shrine maiden and the black samurai weren't fundamentally different.
Hanachirusato had already explained her origins earlier, so she didn't feel the need to elaborate.
"Speaking of Hanachirusato… Lumine, can you use the corrupted power to help her maintain her form? Otherwise, once we finish purifying all the Sacred Sakura's corruption, she won't be able to continue existing,"
Nolan glanced at Hanachirusato, then asked.
He thought this new ability of Lumine's was quite impressive. However, memories didn't exist everywhere—they typically flowed through the ley lines.
If one wanted to create more shadowy phantoms like the samurai, they'd have to rupture the ley lines to extract the memory-laced corruption. But that would damage the ley lines and leak energy.
Unless absolutely necessary, it was best to aAkasha using such a dangerous method.
The exception would be near the Sacred Sakura's roots—during purification, the tree naturally expelled memory-corrupted filth, which Lumine could directly control.
"In theory, it should be possible."
Lumine formed a black orb of corruption and sent it toward Hanachirusato.
Hanachirusato didn't dodge and let the orb touch her body, merging with her.
There was no visible change on the surface. But upon close examination, she realized that the corrupted power contained in the orb would allow her to survive for about one month even after severing her connection to the Sakura's filth.
She didn't hide this and explained her condition truthfully.
"Not bad! Looks like this plan works!"
Nolan said, clearly pleased.
"Perfect. Then let's gather all the corrupted power from the Sacred Sakura's roots and give it to Hanachirusato. That way, she should have no problem lasting for hundreds of years!"
Since Lumine's method worked, there was no need to purify Hanachirusato with "Devine Maiden's Purity."
While purification would free her from her corruption-based body, it would also severely weaken her. Who knew how long she'd have to sleep before waking up again?
That wasn't necessary. After all, she was born from corrupted energy—absorbing more didn't really affect her.
The only "effect" would probably be making her even stronger. But since she was deeply influenced by Kitsune Saiguu's memories—half a Saiguu, so to speak—even if her power grew, she wouldn't turn evil.
All in all, this was clearly the best solution.
"...Do as you wish."
Hanachirusato thought it over. Absorbing all the corrupted energy would, in essence, resolve the Sakura's corruption problem. So she offered no objection.
"Excellent. Then Lumine, I'll leave the rest to you!"
Nolan gestured for her to begin.
Lumine's fair, composed face remained unchanged as she gave a faint nod. While absorbing the Sacred Sakura's corrupted power, she explained:
"As I absorb and convert the corruption, it will inevitably mix with my own power. If someone absorbs too much of it… they may fall under my control."
After all, pure Abyssal power inherently influenced other Abyssal energies. If Hanachirusato absorbed too much of the energy Lumine processed, she would no longer be any different from one of Lumine's summoned phantoms—completely controllable.
"I don't mind," Hanachirusato replied calmly.
To her, her mission ended with the purification of the Thunder Sakura. She should have disappeared after that.
The only reason she was absorbing this power and continuing to exist was to repay Nolan and the others for helping purify the tree.
Whether she was controlled or not didn't matter.
"Alright then."
Since Hanachirusato had no objections, Lumine began fully absorbing the filth within the Sakura's roots.
Soon, the corruption in front of her condensed into a basketball-sized black mass—thick, dark, and dense.
About ten minutes later, the ball of corruption had grown several times larger. Meanwhile, the Sacred Sakura's roots, once wrapped in decay and showing signs of withering, now pulsed with renewed vitality.
However, because not all the roots had been cleansed yet, the restoration was only partial—despite the fresh look, the roots weren't completely healthy yet.
"Alright, that should do it. Miss Hanachirusato, once you absorb this filth, we can move on to the next location."
Still in her "Abyssal Princess" form, Lumine sensed that the roots before her were now completely purified. She let out a quiet breath and relaxed slightly.
"Thank you for your hard work, Miss Lumine."
The fox-masked Hanachirusato nodded. Her voice was still calm and even.
She stepped up to Lumine and touched the several basketball-sized blobs of corrupted power.
Under Lumine's control, the corrupted energy flowed into her smoothly and without resistance.
Though her appearance didn't change, the feeling she gave off became vastly stronger.
Nolan had previously used his golden "Eye of Judgment" to check Hanachirusato's level—before absorbing the corrupted power, she was only Level 62, weaker than the black samurai from earlier.
She had stood out only because she was formed from Kitsune Saiguu's memories.
But after absorbing the filth—
Nolan saw her level surge from 62 straight to 73, as if there were no bottleneck at all—a terrifying feat for any human.
Perhaps that was just one of the traits of a body made entirely of energy!
(End of Chapter)
Author's Note:
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