The Witch Hunter System

Chapter 1156: A Great Rival in Ordinary Times, the Best Ally in Extraordinary Times

As far as they knew, a period of gestation was required before an infected became a Corrupted One, fully embracing the Outerworlders as their sacred creator, supreme in abilities and almighty in power.

The Outerworlders’ power to corrupt was a type of twisting faith and brainwashing, replacing the image of the original faith. Moreover, this process was silent and undetectable to the victim.

Only keen observers would notice changes in their behaviors, such as increased aggression and vulnerability to violence and anger.

Unfortunately, in any given intelligent society, the myriad of beings driven by self-interest and greed would encounter frequent conflicts. Displays of aggression, anger, and violence were rather common.

It was difficult to determine whether such qualities had increased unless they became too much, displaying evil tendencies, excessive brutality, or clear psychosis.

Over the years, no viable cure has been discovered to treat the Corrupted Ones. As such, the Corrupted Ones all shared one fate upon discovery: death by complete annihilation.

After the corruption of one’s soul, reforming faith and memories, transforming a person into someone else, was ultimately the death of their original self. If they didn’t experience true death, they would just reincarnate with the problem, leaving a festering and even bigger problem for the future.

Although a cure couldn’t be found, preventative measures were at least introduced to minimize the risk of corruption. Still, without eliminating the root of the problem, holes would continue to pop up, flooding the ship until it sank.

Now that the Empyreans were revisiting this issue, they all realized it may have grown beyond their control.

Without a doubt, the foreboding crisis that everyone had sensed was related to the Corrupted Ones. While everyone seemed fine on the surface, this problem was actually on the brink of eruption.

Once this hidden disaster erupted on a full scale, the Myriad Sea God Palace would be thrown into chaos.

That would also be a golden opportunity for Outerworlders to attack.

Silence filled the void of space as the Empyreans deduced various unfavorable situations that they would likely have to face in the near future.

"Lord Envoy, is there no way to cure Corrupted Ones?" Empyrean Vastheaven suddenly inquired thoughtfully.

Generally, there was no cure for Outerworld Corruption.

However, a Soul Master should be able to solve a problem of the soul.

Just because the Soul Masters of the Myriad Sea God Palace were lacking in capabilities, the same couldn’t be said for the Soul Master Association’s.

With their deep heritage and pool of talents, they could have discovered a cure.

Suddenly, Empyrean Wavebreaker and the remaining Empyrean Gods glanced at Vaan with hopeful gazes. By now, they have all realized that their hope lies in him.

Such a young talent should be more capable than their Soul Masters.

"Without any test subject to study and experiment with, I can’t say for sure that there’s no cure," Vaan replied with a shake of his head.

Although he had been attacked by a Corrupted One, the encounter had also been too brief for him to derive any useful information from it. With its body reduced to atoms and tampered with, it was also impossible to recover.

Nevertheless, the Empyrean Gods felt more hopeful after hearing Vaan’s answer. Since he didn’t deny the possibility, there was still a chance.

"In other words, we need to catch another live Corrupted One for your research, right, Lord Envoy?" Empyrean Voidcurrent asked.

Vaan paused before replying, "Truthfully, the more samples, the better and easier it will be for me to produce results. It would also be best if they all possess different degrees of corruption." 𝑅Ά₦𝔬𝔟ƐṤ

With more specimens, he would not be burdened by the pressure of mistakes, though he had always been a meticulous person. Even so, the study of the soul was complex and new to him.

He couldn’t claim to be a master in this field.

Thus, the probability of making mistakes in the process of researching the Corrupted One was not low.

"That makes," Empyrean Tidefather acknowledged before saying, "However, finding the Corrupted Ones won’t be easy. If it were so simple, we would have already rooted out all of them."

The power of corruption from the Outerworlders was a foreign power, unrecognized by the worldly laws and beings.

Few would be able to detect it, let alone understand it.

"I believe that won’t be a problem for long. With Lord Envoy here, he will surely find a way," Empyrean Oceanheart spoke thoughtfully.

Originally, she didn’t believe Vaan was a Soul Master Association Envoy.

However, after listening to the other Empyrean Gods, understanding their line of thought, and using her own common sense and reasoning, she was drawn into the lie as well.

Now, she found it even stranger if Vaan wasn’t a Soul Master Association Envoy.

In fact, he could only be a Soul Master Association Envoy. A lot of things would make sense if he were a Soul Master Association Envoy. It was shocking but not outrageous.

Of course, there were other possibilities, but they were too outrageous to believe.

After all, being a Soul Master Association Envoy was much more believable than being the reincarnation of a Primordial Era Empyrean God or even the Lord of the Boundless Seas and Skies himself, right?

That would be truly shocking and hard to believe!

Nevertheless, Empyrean Oceanheart figured there wouldn’t be any harm even if they were ultimately mistaken about Vaan’s identity. It would not change her high opinion of him.

To begin with, it was the Human Ancestor who helped all beings escape the perpetual cycle of creation and destruction, establishing the everlasting.

Given that the Human Ancestor was considered the father of all beings, it was normal to put their trust in a member of the Human Clan. After all, even the Lord of Boundless Seas and Skies worshipped by them was from the Human Clan.

With all of the Empyrean Gods’ attention on Vaan, he began to ponder deeply.

Originally, he planned to replenish the system’s soul power, then focus on cultivating the Body Path and the Spirits Path to establish the Spiritual Body Path.

However, he was attacked by a Corrupted One, delaying his plan, even prompting him to change it.

Since he could understand the severity and potential threat posed by the Corrupted Ones, it was impossible for him to postpone this problem, let alone ignore it. After all, he required the Myriad Sea God Palace’s rich resources and cultivation realms to cultivate.

If there were suddenly no more Myriad Sea God Palace, he wouldn’t just be losing these cultivation opportunities but his protection against his own tribulations.

Upon further thought, it could be said that by staying within the Myriad Sea God Palace, he had passed his tribulation to it. In other words, the Myriad Sea God Palace’s crisis could be the result of his own presence.

He had brought this calamity upon the Myriad Sea God Palace.

This was actually a good thing for both Vaan and the Myriad Sea God Palace.

After all, if he had never come to the Myriad Sea God Palace, the outbreak of the Corrupted Ones would have happened much later, and at that time, its severity would be even greater, most likely enough to sink the Holy Land into ruins.

Still, it didn’t change the fact that this calamity was likely brought forward because of him.

Whether it was because of moral obligation, personal responsibility, or self-preservation, he had to help the Myriad Sea God Palace resolve this problem, nipping it in the bud.

The earlier, the better.

"Finding a way shouldn’t be impossible," Vaan stated with a slight frown.

"However, my stay at the Myriad Sea God Palace has not been long, and my knowledge is too limited. I know too little about the Corrupted Ones and the precedents here. It would help if the Empyreans had records I could peruse."

"That would save me much time and effort, accelerating the formation of a solution," Vaan said.

"Of course, that goes without saying, Lord Envoy. I will have my personal records delivered to you immediately," Empyrean Wavebreaker willingly acknowledged without the slightest hesitation.

There was nothing wrong with assisting the Soul Master Association Envoy in his investigation of the Corrupted Ones by sharing their materials and records.

Shortly after, Empyrean Wavebreaker split open a crack in space, allowing three Memory Crystals to fall out, each protected by a layer of magical power.

Due to Empyrean Oceanheart’s caution, she did not let Vaan retrieve the three Memory Crystals personally. She waved her hand, prompting the three objects to fly over, before she dispersed their protective magical power, replacing them with her own.

Only then did she pass them to Vaan.

Although Empyrean Wavebreaker witnessed actions, he surprisingly didn’t take any offense this time. On the contrary, he felt some respect for Empyrean Oceanheart’s cautiousness.

Such a level of prudence was needed to keep the Soul Master Association Envoy safe.

In ordinary times, she was a great rival. But in extraordinary times, she would also be the best ally.