Ch.253253. Purification Level 20

“Is this all corrupted resources?”

“Yeah. A lot of it came from the Ore Vein Mountains.”

I had already purified everything from the Steam Forest last time.

It hadn’t been long since I had searched through the Steam Forest, using the full capacity of the purification cauldron to catch the Golden Beast.

I was contemplating whether to include this in my spec-up methods, so I asked Kim Su-jeong. She told me to go ahead since there was quite a bit piled up in storage. When I looked at what had been organized this time, it was much more than I expected.

Well, the Ore Vein Mountains were a biome saturated with dense chaotic energy.

Every area was covered in chaotic energy, and many resources there had been exposed to it, resulting in numerous corrupted materials.

Essential resources like Bratrium had already been cycled through the purification cauldron so much that the purification level, which was 14 last time, had now reached level 17.

“There’s really a lot.”

Especially now, large quantities of ore were being sent in daily by part-time workers mining 24 hours a day.

Since they weren’t just ordinary laborers but carefully selected B-rank or higher hunters, the amount they mined was incomparably greater than what regular slave labor could produce.

I gathered all the corrupted resources and put them through the purification cauldron.

After purifying them, I ran them through again to convert them into purification stones.

The resources in the Ore Vein Mountains are practically infinite anyway.

There’s a reason why the resource deposits are classified as immeasurable, SSS+ rank.

It’s more efficient to convert the ever-accumulating ores into purification stones, maintain a certain amount, and organize them periodically.

After organizing everything:

– Current Purified Energy Level: 20 [1%]

The purified energy level had reached 20.

“Wow. It actually worked.”

If there was one minor drawback to sequential biome conquest, it was the inability to quickly raise the purification level of the Chaos Stone Cauldron.

Since the amount of purified energy gained depends on the level of chaotic energy, you need to input higher-level corrupted resources. Even if you move to the next stage, it fills up quickly and gets blocked. To raise it further, you need to advance to an even higher stage, which requires waiting sequentially.

This process felt somewhat piecemeal and unsatisfying, but now that I was advancing two levels at a time, it was definitely nice to see the purification level rising smoothly.

Well, this is the normal growth method in a farming world.

You push through the highest difficulty level possible with your current specs, and once you break through, the ceilings that were previously difficult and blocking become easily surmountable.

The challenge and preparation become twice as enjoyable, and the dopamine rush and sense of achievement when you succeed multiply exponentially.

That was the fun of it.

1. Effects from chaotic energy increase by 60% and transform into purified energy.

2. 60% chance for items containing chaotic energy to be purified and increase by 1 grade.

3. 15% chance for one random option on a purified item to increase by 1 grade.

4. When chaotic energy is purified, there’s a 5% chance to produce additional purified energy.

5. Purified resources can be broken down. When broken down, there’s a 3% chance to obtain a ‘Purification Stone.’ ‘Purification Stones’ can be used to apply ‘Purification Enhancement’ to items.

6. 11% chance to trigger ‘Power of Purification’ when attacking.

And upon reaching level 20, a new purified energy effect emerged.

The probabilities for the five options above had increased enough to trigger quite frequently.

Now that the level had reached 20, even the options that seemed too incremental to be effective had become properly valuable.

Especially the 60% chance for purified items to increase in grade was practically like getting a free item upgrade, and with the additional 15% chance for another grade increase, even an A-rank item could instantly become an S- rank item.

Moreover, the 5% chance for an item to be duplicated was like winning the lottery—except the lottery odds were 5%.

With a 3% chance for purification stones, a considerable amount was produced.

“But after not giving any new options until level 20, what’s this ‘Power of Purification’? What is it?”

This was a new option from the purified energy that never failed to meet my expectations.

What could it be?

Would it trigger like a skill?

Since there was no explanation, I had no choice but to experiment directly.

“Hmm… going straight to the Abyssal Sea seems a bit much right now.”

Of course, I had become strong enough with Lulu’s enhancement and various other improvements to feel confident about diving into the sea right away, but I wanted to complete all my planned spec-ups thoroughly and safely before entering.

Then should I look for another biome?

That would be fine too, but I was waiting to conquer the Abyssal Sea and didn’t want to just dabble in another biome after mapping this one.

If I found another biome but it was awkward to just sample and leave…

I just needed to test one option, and the easiest place to do that was outside.

“It’s good that there’s chaotic energy out there too.”

Someone could probably use the extra help anyway.

I headed out to Earth.

———————

The whole world was in chaos due to dungeon backflows.

Many monsters had been cleared in some areas, but there was already significant damage, and many dungeons still hadn’t been dealt with.

Backflows from dungeons ranked A or below weren’t a major problem.

While there was damage to people and buildings that couldn’t evacuate quickly enough from the sudden, unannounced backflows, the monsters weren’t impossible to handle.

But S-rank dungeons were the real issue.

Even regular S-rank dungeons were difficult to conquer without parties of top-ranked hunters, and S-rank dungeons enhanced with chaotic energy were so powerful that even hunters capable of clearing normal S-rank dungeons had to flee with heavy casualties.

The same went for A-rank dungeons enhanced with chaotic energy.

While other dungeons could be contained with acceptable losses, these A-rank and above dungeons were the problem.

Therefore, countries that couldn’t handle dungeon backflows on their own, or those that couldn’t clean up the backflow but were desperately trying to prevent it from overflowing further, requested help from countries with hunters or parties capable of quickly dealing with backflows.

The Hunters Association was originally established for this purpose.

In case of such disasters or calamities that couldn’t be handled independently, they would dispatch hunters to help.

Of course, it wasn’t without cost, but it was like an association formed by countries that promised, “We’ll at least consider accepting when you ask for help!”

Nevertheless, since backflows weren’t happening in just one or two places, everyone was busy keeping things quiet.

They were responding cautiously, fearing that if they depleted their forces and suffered an accident, they might not be able to stop the next crisis or the ongoing march of backflows with no end in sight.

No one could be blamed for this.

There was no certainty of 100% success, and ultimately, citizens didn’t want their nation’s hunters to be sent elsewhere.

That’s why my appearance was quite welcome at times like these.

Swish-!

On an island in Thailand.

An S-rank dungeon had backflowed, covering the entire island with monsters. Chaotic energy enveloped the island, making visibility difficult and response slow, with over 100,000 people trapped inside for more than 24 hours.

There, a sword of light appeared, cutting through the dark red chaotic energy.

Swish!

Dozens of swords scattered, entering and exiting the island like their own home, beheading monsters that were hiding and picking off humans.

Beheading them.

And from the severed necks, bright light burst forth.

BOOM!!!

“Wow.”

The 11% probability was honest.

The bright white light that erupted about once every ten monsters shone brilliantly, purifying the darkness, and other monsters caught in the power of purification disappeared as if the parts touched by the light simply vanished.

The same happened to the space itself.

The chaotic energy that filled the area cleared out as if that space had been sanitized, becoming clean and empty until the light faded.

For almost 2-3 minutes, nothing could invade that space; rather, the chaotic energy seemed to struggle to get away as if repulsed by something filthy.

Power of Purification.

A power with the exact opposite compatibility to chaos.

Divine power had a similar effect, but the Power of Purification felt like a superior, overwhelmingly natural predator.

“This is good.”

Despite the low probability, the massive potential damage when it triggered made the 11% chance not feel low at all.