Published at 8th of January 2026 7:38 am

Chapter 1399: Pair of Eyes

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Once the abomination had been dealt with and the gate taken care of, the effects were immediate.

The corrupted creatures surrounding the skull dome froze in place as their connection to the abomination was severed. One by one, they collapsed. Some crumbled into ash, others fell lifelessly to the ground.

Whatever force had animated them vanished completely, leaving only death and silence behind.

The corruption that saturated the dark valley began to recede. The oppressive ravings thinned, then dispersed entirely. The constant sense of dread that had lingered over the valley weakened, then disappeared, as if a pressure had finally been lifted.

At a certain part of the valley, the serpent guarding the unholy tree turned in the direction of the tomb with shock and fear. It then convulsed once before going still. Its body rapidly decayed, breaking apart into dark residue that scattered, then faded.

Deprived of its guardian and sustaining power, the unholy tree began to wither. Its twisted trunk cracked, its branches shriveled, and the unnatural glow within dimmed. Moments later, the tree collapsed inward, leaving behind five intact fruits resting among the remains.

Space and time within the valley slowly started to stabilize. Distortions in distance corrected themselves, warped paths straightened out, and echoes that once lingered unnaturally faded at a normal pace.

By the time the changes finished, the valley had returned to a state that obeyed the world’s natural laws, stripped of the influence that had once corrupted it.

However, the Dark Valley still remained... well, dark.

Moreover, it would still take a few more years for outsiders to safely enter this zone without feeling the lingering effects of the corruption.

And in a few more years, perhaps life would once again return to this valley, and it would no longer be the forbidden zone it once was. And because of the dense mana permeating the place, it was highly likely.

In the cavern underneath the skull tomb, Adam finally gained consciousness several days after this battle with the abomination.

However, he remained lying on the broken ground, his breathing shallow and his heart... empty.

His lips curled into a sad, regretful smile, and he murmured, "My staff... it’s really gone."

He silently circulated the Five Elemental Codex and began practicing mindfulness. In his battle with the abomination, he had run out of mana after having to sustain the House of Mirrors for so long.

A long time later, after his reserves were full again, he retrieved a fruit from his ring and consumed it. While countering the corruption from the fruit, he absorbed the vitality in it to heal his broken body. He had repeated this process several times in the past, so by now the action was almost instinctual.

After defeating the abomination, there were many questions he wanted to ponder. But for now, all he could think about was the fact that he had to sacrifice the Staff of Calamity.

In the final moments of the battle, just as he had pushed the abomination into the gate, he had felt his stalwart weapon slowly destroying itself in the process.

But the artifact had a will of its own. It had stubbornly obeyed his final command and driven the creature back where it came from. Only then did it allow itself to completely shatter.

In that moment, Adam felt his connection with the Staff of Calamity completely severed. As a result, he received a brutal backlash to his soul, for the artifact was bound to it.

He was truly sad that he had lost such a precious artifact. But this was the price he had to pay for defeating the abomination.

Despite emerging victorious, he didn’t feel triumphant at all.

"But I guess... it’s a small price to pay?" He tried to console himself.

At the very least, he was still alive, wasn’t he?

Exhaling a helpless sigh, he spread his Sphere of Resonance outward to check for enemies that might have been attracted to the commotion he had caused.

The feedback he received, however, startled him.

His body now healed by the fruit, and his soul nourished by the lotus, Adam finally rose to his feet and ventured out.

What greeted his senses was a sea of corpses littered across the valley’s floor.

Adam stood there for a long time, deep in thought.

He then journeyed back the way he had come from. There was no urgency in his footsteps. He simply moved across the valley at a leisurely pace. There was nothing that could pose a threat to him now.

Adam crossed the giant carcass of the ancient beast, and a long time later, he finally arrived before the unholy tree.

He perceived the tree had withered away, and the six-winged serpent, too, had died. He had really wanted to vent out his frustration on this beast.

"...No matter," he murmured.

He walked around the corpse of the serpent and retrieved the fruits. They were crucial for his plan.

The youth silently travelled across the Dark Valley. There were countless corpses of corrupted monsters along the way. Even the dark tendrils inside their bodies had withered away.

These monsters had all died, and so had the corruption within them.

Adam finally arrived at the base of the valley wall, beneath the natural cave he had first taken shelter in all those years ago.

Entering the cave, he sensed that the runes he had once carved with his own blood were still there. Albeit, with the passage of time, they had faded away slightly.

He inhaled deeply, then began working on strengthening the runes. He also altered them greatly, incorporating the mana gathering formation into it.

After all that was over, he carved a highly complex rune at the center of the cave. He retrieved the thick tendril of the abomination from his ring, then used some of its black blood to carve the core of this formation.

At the edges of this octagonal runic formation, he placed eight fruits of the unholy tree.

Then he surgically removed two eyeballs from the tendril and put them away. He took out a large cauldron from his ring and put the slimy tendril into it. He then put the remaining fruits inside it, alongside several other magical herbs and ingredients he had bought from the Tsuitsui Clan.

Several more days passed, and the concoction was finally ready. He had to take it slow because this was the only shot he got. He couldn’t afford to make any mistakes.

Adam now held in his hand a bowl full of dark red liquid, purified and refined from the flesh and blood of the abomination’s tendril, the fruits of the unholy tree, Grade 4 magical ingredients, and his own mana.

This potion would help him in accommodating the abomination’s pair of eyes.

Adam took a deep breath and removed his tattered clothes. He then sat cross-legged in the center of the runic formation, fully naked.

Before him, on a piece of cloth, were the two eyeballs he had already sterilized.

It was time to regain his eyesight.

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