216: Chapter 216 Strong Protective Desire

Nie Ning descended from the air. After questioning the old man, he finally gained a general understanding of the whole story.

More than a decade ago, a Corruptor had appeared here.

As the lord of this land, Viscount Carter had naturally taken the lead to slay the Corruptor.

Although they killed the Corruptor, it was too powerful, causing the entire town to be contaminated, and Viscount Carter himself was also eroded by the Power of Corruption.

With no other choice, Viscount Carter took out a wizarding item he had obtained from somewhere unknown, which was that crystal vanity.

The crystal vanity had the effect of sealing Corruptors.

Under these circumstances, Viscount Carter used the effect of the crystal vanity to bind himself to it.

He then began to absorb the Power of Corruption within the town, hoping to save the townspeople.

But Viscount Carter had clearly overestimated himself and his understanding of Corruptors.

After Viscount Carter transformed into a Corruptor, he clung to the obsession of saving the town, using the abilities of a Corruptor to keep the town as it was.

However, the effect of the Power of Corruption is to twist the will of living beings.

Even though Viscount Carter wanted to save the town, it ended up being sealed within an illusion along with the town, and slowly, the townspeople lost their memories of this.

Under the influence of the crystal vanity, Viscount Carter was at least able to maintain his obsession.

But this was clearly only temporary.

As time passed, Viscount Carter would sooner or later be consumed by the Power of Corruption.

Under the dual concepts of protecting the townspeople and consuming living beings, the corrupted Viscount Carter eventually chose to consume outsiders to strengthen himself.

It must be said that this story truly shocked Nie Ning.

Everyone has obsessions, but they vary in strength.

An obsession like this, to protect a town, even going so far as to actually absorb the Power of Corruption within the town to prevent the townspeople from being eroded by it.

A Corruptor protecting living beings—this level of obsession shocked Nie Ning for ten thousand years.

Of course, for the victims, this was clearly unfair.

But for the residents of the town, even if they slowly lost their memories of this, at least Viscount Carter had truly protected this place.

Nie Ning was filled with emotion.

No wonder Sensen couldn't perceive the changes here earlier.

The town was full of living people; even if one wanted to be suspicious, one wouldn't know how to be, and even the local delicacies they ate were normal food.

Only with such an intense desire to protect could the town remain unchanged for decades.

If it weren't for the fact that the degree of corruption had worsened recently, perhaps Viscount Carter really could have kept protecting it forever.

However, this was only temporary; total corruption was only a matter of time.

When that time came, his will would be twisted, and it would naturally evolve into consuming the entire town.

This is what a Corruptor is.

After the residents retreated, Nie Ning immediately went to check on Sensen's condition.

Just as before, Sensen had entered a deep sleep again, and it was unknown how long it would take for it to wake up.

Heloise was fine; after all, the Power of Corruption had been transferred to Sensen, and she was merely mentally fatigued.

Nie Ning walked over to the half-dead Crimson Feather Fire Demon.

"Boss, I knew you would come to save me!"

The Crimson Feather Fire Demon said with teary eyes.

"That's not what you were saying just a moment ago; you were cursing quite happily, weren't you?"

Hearing Nie Ning's cold words, the Crimson Feather Fire Demon's expression froze; it clearly hadn't expected its cursing to be heard by Nie Ning.

It just didn't know how much Nie Ning had heard, as it had been cursing for a long time.

"Boss, I've been wronged! I was just influenced by the Power of Corruption; I didn't truly want to curse you. My admiration for you is like a surging river..."

The Crimson Feather Fire Demon began to play the victim.

Nie Ning remained unmoved and, still feeling unsatisfied, kicked the Crimson Feather Fire Demon twice.

If it weren't for its decent strength and ability to protect Heloise, he would have roasted this motormouth right then and there.

He checked the Crimson Feather Fire Demon's injuries.

Perhaps because too much of its source power had been drained, the Crimson Feather Fire Demon was now extremely weak, and it probably wouldn't be recovering anytime soon.

This meant that for the journey ahead, he would have to rely on flying himself.

The key issue was that he had no idea where the direction indicated by the necklace was, and no one knew how long it would take to get there.

"My Lord!"

Just as Nie Ning was deep in thought, Kim's voice rang out from outside the castle.

Looking up, he saw Kim waving at him with an excited expression, with two large chests placed beside him.

Seeing this, Nie Ning was speechless.

This guy really wasn't afraid of death; after so many knights had died, he still dared to stay here.

Well, one couldn't say he wasn't afraid of death; at least Kim didn't dare to step into the manor.

"It's not worth losing your life over a bit of bounty, is it?"

Nie Ning walked forward to ask, only to see Kim kick the chest beside him.

Kim smiled apologetically, "It's just that you forgot to take your things, so I specifically brought them to you."

Hearing this, Nie Ning looked at the chest; it was indeed the chest that had contained the treasure earlier.

It was just that at the time, he thought he was still within the illusion, so he naturally assumed the things inside the chest were fake.

Nie Ning beckoned with his hand, and the chest opened, revealing the gold, silver, jewelry, and precious materials inside.

After carefully examining them, Nie Ning discovered that those things were indeed real.

"This Viscount Carter is actually quite interesting."

Nie Ning's expression showed a hint of emotion and melancholy.

"I will keep these materials. You take ten percent of the remaining gold, silver, and jewelry for yourself, and give the rest to the townspeople."

Now that the town was in ruins and needed to be rebuilt, and those who had exhausted their lifespans were about to die, this was precisely the time when money was needed.

Seeing Kim looking reserved and hesitating to move, a look of confusion appeared on Nie Ning's face.

"What is it? Is there something else? Or do you think the reward is too little?"

Upon hearing this, Kim hurriedly shook his head and waved his hands, "It's not little, not little at all."

Then, Kim gritted his teeth, as if making a major decision, "I want to follow you, My Lord. I don't know if you..."

To him, being able to follow such a powerful wizard was at least better than wandering alone.

If the other party casually bestowed a few things upon him, it might allow him to go much further.

"I don't really need a servant. If you had wizarding aptitude, you could stay, but unfortunately, I don't have any tools to test aptitude with me."

Nie Ning shook his head slightly, refusing Kim.

Just as Kim was about to plead with Nie Ning, he saw Nie Ning take a book and some pills out of his spatial ring.

"Meeting is fate. I give these things to you; I hope you can go further on the path of the knight."

As his voice fell, the items in Nie Ning's hand flew into Kim's arms.

He knew what Kim was thinking, and he didn't mind helping others when he had the spare capacity.

And Kim was not bad by nature; that alone was enough, but it was just a pity that it was truly inconvenient for him to take Kim along.

Looking at the pills and the knight cultivation method in his hands, Kim sighed inwardly, knowing he couldn't force it, and then bowed to Nie Ning.

"Thank you for the reward, My Lord."

Then, Kim picked up the chest and left the manor.