Chapter 527 - Ethereal Time Crystal (2/2)

“Mmm, mhm!” The Ethereal struggled crazily, but it was no use. Before Link, his strength was like an ant’s.

First, Link pulled out a small knife and sliced the Magician’s arm. He let out half a cup of blood and started testing for its attributes.

The foundation of an Ethereal’s existence is in the host’s blood. This was what an alchemist from the Southern Magician Alliance said in the game. Of course, it was a game, so the master just explained it that simply.

Before, it would have been useless even if Link knew about this. Now, his attainments in alchemy were comparable to that master alchemist. He only needed this breakthrough point; everything else was easy.

Cling, cling, clang, clang. After a bunch of noises, Link completed the blood test ten minutes later. A thin layer of blue appeared on the bottom of the crystal cup. He sniffed it; it smelled like garlic. He shook it and discovered the liquid was viscous. At closer inspection, it glowed faintly too.

Link extinguished the magic light on the ceiling. Now, the glow was even more obvious. The blue viscous liquid under the light glowed green in the dark. Through this light green glow, Link could see the physical attributes of the liquid even more clearly. Paired with the previous test, he knew what the liquid was made up of.

“It’s a Soul Drug made with mink, thorn flower, and gold antlers, right?”

He saw the Ethereal Warrior shudder and Link knew instantly that he was right.

Smiling, he continued, “Using the Soul Drug to repress the host’s soul is a good idea. Sadly, you can’t do it yourself. It must be the trick of some Secret Magician. Where is he? Can you tell me?”

As he spoke, he loosened the shackles on the Ethereal. He immediately shook his head and exclaimed, “Who are you? What do you want?”

“Answer my question!” Link said harshly.

The Ethereal Warrior shuddered. He felt great pressure come from the Soul Realm. It felt like he was a candle facing a hurricane. If he tried to resist it, he would immediately shatter into pieces.

“I won’t say it… I won’t say it.” He gritted his teeth; his consciousness was wavering already.

“Fine. I’ll find him anyway. But first, let me take care of you.”

“What are you—”

Before he could finish, his mouth was sealed again. Link picked up more alchemy material and went to work. Half an hour later, he’d concocted dark yellow liquid with a sharp odor. The liquid bubbled, looking like horse piss.

“Yeah, it doesn’t smell good, but it should get rid of Soul Drug.”

Link carried the cup of yellow liquid to the Ethereal Warrior. He pointed at the man’s mouth, and the force field there opened his mouth. The Ethereal’s muscles kept shaking; he was still struggling even though it was useless.

Ten seconds later, the cup had emptied down his throat. Ten more seconds later, he started trembling uncontrollably. As he shook, green smoke expanded from his body.

The smoke spread for more than ten minutes. Then a shadow appeared above the body like something rushing out of it.

It was obvious that this thing was doing everything to stay inside the Magician’s body. But without the Soul Drug’s restrictive effect, the Magician’s own soul was waking up and forcing the invader out.

Link was well-prepared. He took out a colorless fist-sized crystal. This was a Soul Crystal that Eleanor gave him specifically to store souls. As long as it wasn’t used to store souls of intelligent beings, this crystal was part of the field of Secret Magic. If he went past that, it would become black magic.

Now, Link was using it against an Ethereal from another realm. This was a gray area. Technically, he’d stepped over the boundary, but this guy was an invader so it should be fine.

Dragon Power surged into the crystal, and it emitted an attractive force. The illusory shadow on the Magician was sucked towards the crystal.

It struggled so hard, but it was to no avail. Five seconds later, it was completely inside the crystal. The crystal had also turned silver-white, just like the Ethereal’s Blade of Time.

The crystal wasn’t flesh, after all. It couldn’t provide the energy or environment needed for operation. Thus, the soul could only exist quietly inside the crystal.

Link added some Dragon Power in to test the soul’s other structures. Three minutes later, he found the part with time.

Haha, this is nice.

Link poured Dragon Power into this structure. An instant later, the silver-white light glowed around the crystal. Rings of overlapping runes appeared in the glow. The aura of time thickened in the air. It was just like when he’d used the Blade of Time.

The world’s imagination is boundless, Link couldn’t help but lament. An organism can evolve to have such a peculiar type of power.

At this time, the Magician that had been possessed moaned from the stone. He was about to wake up. Link put the Ethereal time crystal away and walked up, waiting patiently for the Magician to awaken.

He should be able to provide a lot of valuable information.