117: Chapter 117 The Sealed Box is Lost

[Class: Great Knight (Early Stage) First-Ring Wizard (Peak)]

[Talent: Supernatural Adaptability]

[Bloodline: ??? (Unactivated)]

[Derived Traits: Strange Beast Body, Elemental Spring, Beginner Self-Healing (Corrupted), Power of a Hundred Beasts, Intermediate Mental Strength Amplification, Malice Perception, Intermediate Five Elements Affinity, Primary Thunder Attribute Affinity, Primary Ice Attribute Affinity]

[Derived Skills: Assisting Evil, Intermediate Five Elements Manipulation (Corrupted), Lightning Edge Blade, Lava Burst]

[Cultivation Methods: ..., Shi Jue Flying Swallow Technique, Qiong Guang Meditation Method]

[Imprinted Sorcery: Meteor Blast]

[Skills: ... Breath Condensation Technique (Great Success), Shadow Gliding Steps (Great Success), Blood Burst Technique (Primary), Earth Spirit Puppet (Great Success), Vine Entanglement (Proficient)]

Nie Ning stared blankly at his panel.

He had only recently reached the late stage of the First Ring; how did he reach the peak after just one sleep?

Not only that, looking closely at the panel, Nie Ning found that his Spiritual Power amplification had reached the intermediate level, and he had gained an ice attribute affinity.

"Was it that...?"

Recalling what happened before, Nie Ning couldn't help but look at his right arm, which had already recovered.

He had let the Jerky Bear Head use Black Tide and then devoured Wade to receive energy feedback.

Thinking of this, Nie Ning's eyes flickered, and his expression turned somewhat grim.

A Corruptor capable of destroying a faction was indeed not to be underestimated!

Just the ratio of this energy feedback was high enough to be terrifying.

But the side effects were equally horrifying.

Those feedback energies carried an extremely high Power of Corruption.

If the Black Tide had devoured even a few more people earlier, Nie Ning felt he would have inevitably been assimilated into a Corruptor.

Even so, the intensity of Malice Perception had still risen by a notch.

Originally, relying on Supernatural Adaptability, the intensity of malice brought by the Human-Faced Balloon and Jerky Bear Head had significantly weakened.

Yet the Black Tide, having devoured only most of one person, caused the warning intensity of Malice Perception to increase drastically.

Nie Ning sighed inwardly.

'What a pity, I can't even use such a powerful ability.'

The thought even crossed Nie Ning's mind that it might be better to just become a Corruptor.

But it was just a thought.

Corruptors were highly aggressive creatures without thought.

Even if he were willing to become a Corrupted Creature, he probably wouldn't experience the pleasure of becoming stronger then, and the Black Tide would become meaningless.

Because everything would have nothing to do with him; he would just be a walking corpse.

...

"Sir, would you like something to eat?"

While Nie Ning was lost in thought, Milei's voice interrupted his train of thought.

Nie Ning stood up and stretched: "Forget it, I'll eat when I get back."

Just as Nie Ning was about to leave, the office door opened, and Lida walked in with a complex expression.

Looking at Nie Ning, Lida didn't know what to say for a moment.

Just looking at the sealing boxes Nie Ning had brought back, he could guess roughly what had happened.

But why did Nie Ning do this?

After all, the The Federation was not to be trifled with; its internal relations were complex, and no one knew Wade's background.

"Are those sealing boxes safely stored?"

Nie Ning didn't mind Lida's expression and instead asked about the sealing boxes.

"The sealing boxes have been placed in the sealing room, but..."

Lida placed the key on the desk, his hesitant manner making Nie Ning frown.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

"I don't know much about the other sealed objects, but one of our sealing boxes is missing."

Hearing Lida's words, Nie Ning immediately realized something.

Being eroded by the Power of Corruption earlier had made his return very hasty; his head was groggy, and he felt like he would faint at any moment.

Lida's reminder made him remember that it seemed one sealing box hadn't been brought back!

It was the sealing box that had been swatted away by the Jerky Bear Head with a branch!

"Wait here, I'm going out for a while."

After saying that, Nie Ning left the Federation Branch with a serious expression.

...

Half an hour later.

Nie Ning returned to the Federation Branch again.

Compared to before, Nie Ning's face was now much grimmer.

He didn't find it!

Although it was lost in a remote place, it didn't mean no one passed by there.

By the time he went there, that sealing box had already vanished.

Even worse, one seal on the missing sealing box had been broken!

Usually, a sealing box had three seals, but in reality, the seals had to be reinforced periodically.

Once they weren't reinforced for a long time, the Power of Corruption would corrode the Runic Formulas, similar to when he reversed the Runic Formulas of the Five Element Orb.

Now that the sealing box only had two seals left, the speed at which the Corruptor broke the seals would only be faster.

"Go notify the City Lord's Manor. Tell them a sealing box is missing, and have the City Lord order a search of Muddy Pond Bay in the north of the city. No suspicious person should be overlooked."

Nie Ning called Lida and told him to rush to the City Lord's Manor.

He, meanwhile, returned to the sealing room and began to check what exactly the missing Corrupted Creature was.

But what he found shocked him.

The missing Corruptor was named the Sludge Monster, a Corrupted Creature that liked to hide in sewers and emitted a special contagious toxic gas.

The previous batch of apprentices at the The Federation had all died because of it, and it was eventually subdued only after Audrey intervened.

Nie Ning's mouth twitched slightly as he cursed the deceased Wade in his heart.

Out of all those Corruptors, why did he have to choose this most troublesome one?

Perhaps the Sludge Monster wasn't the strongest, but it was definitely the most troublesome; the contagious toxic gas alone was more than an average person could handle.

The nature of the toxic gas was unknown; by the time you felt unwell, you were basically handed a death sentence.

Audrey had mentioned this before: not only had all the Wizard Apprentices died, but over two thousand residents in the city had also perished.

This was even with it being discovered early; if it had been any later and the toxic gas had spread, the daily death toll would likely have increased several-fold.

In less than a month, Ska City would have become a deserted city filled with toxic gas.

...

Over the following week, Valk mobilized a large number of police personnel in the city.

However, the sealing box seemed to have vanished; not only were no clues found, but there was also no news of any Corruptor causing trouble.

Nie Ning had no choice but to report the matter to the Federation headquarters, along with an explanation of the issues regarding Wade and the relevant shadow recording stone projections.

But he didn't pin all his hopes on others.

Currently, he had reached the peak of the First Ring; he only needed to purify the energy obtained from the Black Tide to formally begin his advancement.

But problems followed.

When advancing to Great Knight, he had obtained the promotion potion from Valk, who, as the City Lord, had some resources.

But for a Wizard's advancement, there was no way; Valk couldn't help at all.

...