I Arrived At Wizard World While Cultivating Immortality Chapter 656: Harvesting a Disaster-Level!

“It appears that by adhering to the traits of The Strange, it can be conveniently subdued even without a sealing formation,” Jie Ming mused. He clapped his hands together, sitting up from the bed, quite pleased with having discovered yet another characteristic of The Strange. He cast a glance down at his chest, noting the absence of any red marks on his skin. Everything appeared as usual, as if the silent confrontation from earlier had never occurred. Looking at the metal sheet in his hand that contained the sealed Rift Dweller, Jie Ming pondered for a moment before directing his gaze towards the basement. Soon, the sound of footsteps ascending the stairs echoed from outside the bedroom door. As the door creaked open, a metal box with appendages ambled over to Jie Ming’s side. The metal box hopped onto the bed, knelt respectfully before Jie Ming, opened its “skull,” and retrieved the other metal sheet stored within, which held the sealed Shadow Thief.

Jie Ming casually picked it up. Sensing the mutual attraction between the two metal sheets, an idea sparked in his mind. He stood and walked to the window, pushing it open. The cold midnight wind, carrying a salty, damp air from the sea, surged in. Most of the lights in the old district had already been extinguished, leaving only a few scattered gas lamps that valiantly struggled against the thick fog, casting dim yet persistent glows. Like a fallen leaf caught by the night wind, Jie Ming’s body floated out from the window, ascending silently into the night sky. The distance below seemed to compress within his perception. In mere moments, the rooftops of the old district had shrunk to a blurry silhouette far below him. A faint luminescence gradually enveloped his body, acting as a shield against prying eyes from the darkness. He flew towards the sea, his form swiftly dissolving into the dense fog.

The wind above the sea was significantly more ferocious than on land. The dense fog drifted languidly between the sea and sky, resembling the exhalations of some colossal entity. Jie Ming hovered in the air, approximately three hundred nautical miles offshore. The seawater beneath him was as black as ink, reflecting no glimmers of light. It gave the impression that what lay below was not the sea at all, but an unfathomable abyss. He raised his right hand, palm facing downwards. The Alchemy Technique spell model within his spiritual sea was activated. An invisible force began to reshape the water molecules in the air and the substances within the seawater. Under the command of his spiritual power, molecules collided at great speed, and the ocean’s liquid quickly coalesced into a tangible form. Grayish-white stone slabs began to spread outward from beneath his palm, like a stone flower silently unfurling in the dark night. Before long, a circular stone platform, roughly five hundred meters in diameter, emerged upon the sea’s surface. The platform’s surface was polished to a mirror-like sheen, with slightly elevated edges and a subtly depressed center, naturally forming a basin-like structure. Jie Ming stepped onto it, his fingers tracing patterns in the air. Runes materialized stroke by stroke beneath his fingertips, each one imbued with precisely controlled spiritual power. As energy runes illuminated one after another, sealing formations were imprinted onto the stone surface layer by layer, interlocking and weaving into an invisible net. Isolation, lockdown, suppression… various sealing formations were stacked upon each other, each line meticulously embedded into the gaps of the preceding one, fitting together flawlessly without any interstices. Jie Ming employed not only the standard runes from this plane’s Spirit Medium Association but also integrated sealing formations from the wizarding world. He had thoroughly studied the Association’s techniques, yet when undertaking such high-risk experiments, he placed his trust in what he was most familiar with at his core. Moments later, the sealing formation was complete.

Having concluded these preparations, Jie Ming stood at the center of the platform and successively withdrew the two sealed metal sheets from his coat. In his right hand was the Shadow Thief. In his left was the recently apprehended Rift Dweller. He placed both containers onto the designated positions at the formation’s center, then retreated to the edge and took a deep breath. Activating his spiritual power, Jie Ming simultaneously initiated the seal-release technique. The silver-white metal sheets automatically sprang upwards. A mass of thick, black shadowy membrane surged forth from one, spreading across the stone platform like a living pool of ink. The runes on the other metal sheet flickered a few times before their glow extinguished, and a nearly invisible black line “squeezed” out from within. It slowly unfurled in the air, eventually reforming into that flat, dimensionless, human-shaped membrane. Upon their initial release, the two Stranges seemed to exhibit no reaction towards each other. The Shadow Thief glided slowly across the platform, moving towards the Rift Dweller. The Rift Dweller, in turn, clung to the stone surface, inching towards the platform’s edge. Then, as the distance between them diminished to a specific critical point…

Their physical forms simultaneously turned towards each other, as if traversing vast distances to meet. Immediately afterward, their energy signatures began to align. Each adjusted their frequency, drawing nearer in unison.

The moment synchronization was achieved, the two Stranges launched themselves at one another. Like metallic plates forcefully drawn together by immense magnetic pull, they crashed with incredible velocity.

Their forms met silently in the air, merging into a single entity upon contact. The shadowy membrane enveloped the human-shaped one, which then embedded itself into the heart of the shadow. The lines between them started to dissolve.

The fusion commenced slowly, akin to two liquids of differing densities gradually intermingling. Probing, blending, and mutually permeating each other.

But quickly, the energetic surge intensified dramatically, resembling a whirlpool erupting beneath the tranquil surface of a lake. Black luminescence burst outward from the core of their union, eclipsing the moonlight and consuming the fractured silver light path across the sea.

The midnight sky abruptly deepened into an even profounder blackness. It was a darkness so absolute it compelled gazes to avert, as if even light itself found its presence redundant. Such was its depth, it felt as though reality had ripped open a void in this very location.

Across a vast expanse of the ocean, the water's surface appeared smudged with an indelible gloom, rendering even the waves dark and heavy. A chilling cold descended, piercing to the bone. The seawater temperature surrounding the stone platform plummeted by at least ten degrees instantaneously, and a fine layer of frost formed on its surface.

The night sky above, already as black as ink, grew even more dense, as if an entire bottle of darker ink had been poured into it. Ambient natural light began to vanish. The very essence of 'light' seemed to be eroded by an unseen force.

The orb of energy light hovering above Jie Ming's head cast a soft white glow, but now its edges started to fray. It was as if an eraser were meticulously removing a pencil sketch, fading little by little from the periphery towards the center.

Jie Ming's All-Purpose Eye worked at maximum capacity. The Fate Subsystem performed rapid calculations within his consciousness as a torrent of data flowed in. The power of the newly formed Strange before him was escalating at an exponential rate. The hazard-level threshold was breached with ease. Jie Ming could distinctly feel the momentum of this burgeoning power, skyrocketing at an astonishing pace.

In mere seconds, the fused body of the two Stranges surged from hazard-level into Threat-level. And after breaching the Threat-level, the Strange's power growth did not abate; instead, it continued to climb even more rapidly.

Jie Ming's brow furrowed slightly, a flicker of astonishment surfacing in his heart. He had initially predicted that the fusion of the two Stranges would reach the mid Disaster-level at most, but the current rate of growth indicated his assessment had been far too conservative. Threat-level high stage… Threat-level peak… and then, another barrier was brutally shattered. A Disaster-level Strange!

The seawater surrounding the stone platform underwent a profoundly peculiar transformation. The water no longer reflected any light, as if all surrounding luminescence had been devoured by encroaching darkness. Gazing upon the sea's surface revealed not water, but a pure, void-like darkness devoid of thickness or texture. Jie Ming felt the corners of his mouth lift involuntarily, akin to a gem appraiser unearthing a priceless artifact from a pile of refuse.

Before he could fully savor this elation, the darkness before him completed its metamorphosis. The original solid form dissolved into nothingness. After the Shadow Thief's shadow and the Rift Dweller's rifts merged, what remained was an unadulterated darkness without defined edges or boundaries, yet one that sent shivers crawling up the spine. Even Jie Ming felt an overwhelming sense of awe surge through him the instant their gazes met.

Through the analysis performed by the All-Purpose Eye, Jie Ming comprehended that this was not fear induced by external might, but an primal instinct embedded within all life – the fear of darkness, of enclosed spaces, of those 'unseen places' lurking within shadows – amplified infinitely and manifested as the all-consuming blackness now before him.

“So that’s how it is. A Strange born from the innate fears of living beings? In that case, though it appears to be pure darkness, it should rightly be called a Shadow Strange…”

As Jie Ming clicked his tongue in wonder, the fully evolved Shadow Strange began to shift. From within that boundless darkness, appendages emerged. One, two, ten, a hundred… They spread forth from the abyssal depths, long and twisted, as if every childhood nightmare of staring into closet cracks had materialized and was reaching out. Each appendage was indistinct, its shape perpetually wavering, yet their 'grasping power' was undeniably real.

Countless tendrils, like grasping claws, latched onto Jie Ming's arms, waist, and ankles, relentlessly pulling him towards the abyss of that encroaching darkness.

Upon contact with the void, Jie Ming's form began to unravel. Like paper submerged in water, his essence started to crumble from the edges, disintegrating bit by bit under the relentless pulling and corrosive assault.

His very existence was being consumed.

Where those spectral claws made contact, the boundaries of his being blurred, his shape destabilizing, flickering between states of coherence and dissolution.

Observing these erosive transformations, Jie Ming felt a profound sense of astonishment.

Although this manifested body was a far cry from his true form, it had undergone rigorous reinforcement through numerous body-forging techniques and Internal Circulation. Its resilience far surpassed any known entity on this plane, yet it proved incapable of resisting this pervasive erosion.

The speed at which the shadowy appendages eroded his form accelerated relentlessly.

A significant portion of his body had already turned translucent. The underlying musculature was indistinct, much like a sketch being smudged and erased by a clumsy hand.

“So, this is the power of Disaster-level…” Jie Ming uttered, his voice a low murmur.

Through the analytical capabilities of his All-Purpose Eye, Jie Ming had gained a rudimentary understanding of the Shadow Strange confronting him.

Strictly speaking, the entity's power fluctuated. During daylight hours, it might only possess ordinary Disaster-level strength.

However, it exhibited an exceptional affinity for the characteristics of night, almost as if they were complementary.

Whereas the Night Strange commanded absolute dominion in "lightless states," this fused entity embodied the very essence of "shadowy fear."

During the day, the sunlight cast insufficient shadows, and the collective fear of shadows among people remained weak.

But at the stroke of midnight, in the complete absence of any natural light, it ascended to become a true Disaster-level entity.

Jie Ming could vividly picture the catastrophic impact if such a creature were to materialize within a populated city.

At midnight's peak, it would emerge from some obscure corner, gradually expanding like an inky, opaque fog.

Weak gas lamps and electric lights would not only fail to push it back but would instead cast even deeper, more ominous shadows upon the ground and walls.

And these very shadows would serve as its sustenance.

The primal fear harbored by people towards dark recesses would empower it, enabling it to engulf an entire urban landscape within mere minutes.

Left unchecked, an entire city could be transformed into a desolate wasteland overnight.

“Fortunate indeed that I was the first to encounter you,” Jie Ming remarked, his gaze fixed upon the churning darkness, his tone regaining its composure.

With that, he relinquished his internal suppression.

A radiant, dark golden light erupted outward from his being. Jie Ming's stature rapidly increased as his dual-sided Dharma image materialized above the vast expanse of the sea.

The colossal Dharma image, stretching a thousand meters into the sky, hovered silently, its spine seemingly piercing the low-hanging clouds. Each intricate contour appeared as if forged from pure gold, meticulously tempered in a furnace for a century, exuding an aura of immense weight, solidity, and majestic grandeur.

As the true body's visage gazed down upon the maritime domain below, it projected an overwhelming field of pressure, compelling all lesser things to bow in deference.

Beneath his manifesting form, the stone platform visibly sank several meters under the immense pressure exerted by the Dharma image's appearance.

Fortunately, Jie Ming had foreseen this possibility and constructed the platform with exceptional sturdiness, ensuring its structural integrity remained intact.

Above, the boundless night sky stretched endlessly. The darkness, which had previously been so dense it felt almost tangible, now appeared thin and impotent before his transcendent presence.

The gentle luminescence naturally emanating from the Dharma image was not a product of any divine ability; it was merely the passive dissipation of inherently potent force. Yet, this soft glow flowed outward serenely, already sufficient to compel the surrounding shadows to retreat, inch by painful inch.

The encroaching darkness, attempting to erode the light, shattered and disintegrated the instant it encountered the dark golden radiance, as if striking an unyielding, invisible barrier of iron.

The moment it manifested, the darkness within several hundred meters surrounding the Dharma image was completely dispersed.

The Shadow Strange thrashed violently upon the ocean's surface.

Its oppressive darkness continuously contracted under the formidable pressure of the dark golden light, desperately attempting to retreat once more. However, the Dharma image's luminous aura acted as an insurmountable mountain range, sealing off every conceivable avenue of escape.

Driven by primal instinct, it then attempted a forceful breach.

It surged towards the perceived edge of the radiant barrier, striving to re-integrate itself with the world's fundamental rules and the embrace of the night.

That was its natural sanctuary, its most instinctive conclusion after fusing: the vast world was its domain, and every shadowed place was its rightful domain.

As long as it could merge back into the established order, it would be free!

At that critical juncture, the intricate runes meticulously engraved upon the stone platform simultaneously ignited. Azure light surged from the platform's surface, ascending to form a complete energy barrier along the perimeter of the grand formation.

This isolation barrier stood firm, an invisible bulwark separating the entity from the world's natural laws, utterly immovable.

The Shadow Strange collided forcefully against the barrier's edge, emitting a profound tremor that resonated through the air, only to be violently repelled backward.

It thrashed and tore at the inner walls of the barrier but was thoroughly unable to breach the lockdown by any means.

The dharma image's true body flickered, effortlessly crossing the barrier to stand beyond it.

Jie Ming tilted his head down slightly. His perfectly refined Daoist visage observed the Strange trapped within the formation below.

Then, he extended his hand downwards.

Within the