Ye Lin gripped his bone knife tightly. He knew he couldn't let the Harvester Beast drain his soul. That would make him vulnerable—or worse, just another empty fragment for the Collector.
"My field of hearts," he whispered. He closed his eyes, focusing his mind on his Inner World. The sweet aroma of heart-fruits lingered in his senses, and a surge of connection bloomed within him. "Lend me your strength!"
From the Inner World, golden light poured from Ye Lin's body, forming a translucent shield around him. The Harvester Beast screeched in pain as the light struck its eyes. Every time it tried to drain him, the golden light responded, purifying its suction into drops of light that fell harmlessly onto the barren ground.
"HE'S TURNING ABSORPTION INTO PURIFICATION!" the butterfly tattoo screamed, its voice filled with awe. "YOU'VE OVERWRITTEN THE CONCEPT OF SOUL-CONSUMPTION!"
But the Harvester Beast was too massive, and its pull too relentless. Ye Lin's shield began to flicker, showing signs of strain. He couldn't hold out forever.
"We can't just defend," said the small shadow beside him. "We must create."
Ye Lin looked around. The land was scorched, cratered, lifeless. But then he remembered—the golden corn seed he had just planted in his Inner World, a seed from the Guardian of Balance he had once saved.
"If I can plant in my world," Ye Lin thought, "then I can plant here too."
With fierce determination, Ye Lin tore off a small piece of golden light from his body—a living fragment from his Inner World. He threw it into the earth in front of the Harvester Beast.
The golden fragment struck the ground, and instantly, the scorched soil beneath began to pulse. Tiny golden shoots burst forth, rapidly growing into transparent corn plants, just like those he had once nurtured within.
The Harvester Beast recoiled. It tried to crush the sprouts, but whenever its stone shell struck, the plants absorbed the impact, drawing energy from it, and growing stronger.
"WHAT IS THIS?!" the beast roared, its voice losing strength.
"It's a seed of life!" Ye Lin shouted. "And where life grows, the void has no dominion!"
The transparent corn shoots from Ye Lin's Inner World spread quickly, anchoring themselves across the cursed land. Each time they drew in the beast's corrupted energy, they grew taller, their stalks glowing with a dim, golden radiance. The creature howled in pain. Its stone body began to crack. It could no longer drain souls; each attempt only fed the golden field.
"He is a parasite!" the Harvester Beast shrieked, trying to flee. But golden roots had already wrapped around its legs, holding it firm.
The butterfly tattoo vibrated violently. "NEW FUNCTION: WORLD SEEDING. YOU CAN TRANSFORM NEGATIVE ENERGY INTO THE FOUNDATION OF LIFE IN THE REAL WORLD!"
Ye Lin trembled with exhaustion, but the strength from his Inner World's heart-field flowed endlessly. He reached out toward the Harvester Beast. His bone knife shimmered with golden light.
"You serve the void," Ye Lin said, his voice deep and resolute. "I serve life."
He leapt forward, plunging the knife into a weak point on the beast's head—not to kill, but to purify.
Golden light surged from the blade, seeping into the creature's stone shell. The Harvester Beast let out one final cry—a cry no longer filled with rage, but with confusion and release. Its body began to break apart, not into dust, but into fragments of light that drifted into the air.
From those fragments, countless golden corn seeds appeared—soul fragments long corrupted, now freed. The seeds floated down, landing among the transparent shoots Ye Lin had already grown.
As they touched the soil, they sprouted—becoming small heart-sprouts that radiated warm light, filling the Cursed Zone with a soft golden glow.
Ye Lin collapsed, gasping for breath. He had done it. He had not only defeated the enemy, but transformed it into the foundation for life.
The small shadow now sat beside him, gazing at the golden field stretching far and wide. "You've planted your field in the outer world, Lin'er. This is the bridge between two realities."
But in the distance, the jagged black bone tower began to pulse, radiating a cold and menacing aura.
"THE COLLECTOR KNOWS," hissed the butterfly tattoo. "YOU HAVE INTERRUPTED HIS WORK. HE WILL SEND MORE. STRONGER."
Ye Lin turned toward the bone tower, now pulsing with a threatening presence. Its cold aura sliced through the warmth of the newly grown heart-field like invisible blades. Though he had defeated the Harvester Beast and changed the Cursed Zone, he knew this was only the beginning.
"We can't wait for him to come," said Ye Lin, rising with the last of his strength. "We have to move closer."
"What's your plan?" asked the small shadow, its eyes fixed warily on the tower.
"If he collects souls," Ye Lin said, staring at the golden corn sprouting across the land, "and I can purify them… then I'll find the source of his gathering."
The butterfly tattoo throbbed on his arm. "HIGH RISK. THE COLLECTOR'S DOMAIN IS WHERE THE MOST CORRUPTED SOULS CONVENE."
Though weary, Ye Lin's resolve remained unshaken. He had glimpsed the void within—and he would not let it spread. He closed his eyes, steadying his breath. His connection to the new heart-field in the Cursed Zone burned bright. He could feel every pulse of new life he had planted.