As the surging leyline energy from the clog was gradually suppressed and forced back by Nolan, it didn't take long for him to completely push it back and seal off the leak.
However, there was still a bit of a problem: while Nolan had temporarily blocked the overflow of leyline energy, the moment he stepped away, it would begin leaking again.
In simple terms—
It was like a leaking pipe: Nolan was currently using his hand to cover the crack. But if he let go, the water would gush out once more.
He needed to find a way to actually repair the break if he wanted a permanent solution.
In the original work, the problem was solved using a Celestial Nail—an artifact.
Its function was to seal leyline fractures and maintain its effect by drawing on the leyline energy itself.
And the technology behind this Nail seemed to be related to Khaenri'ah, who were pioneers in harnessing leyline power.
The issue was, Nolan didn't have one of those right now, so he'd have to try sealing the clog with a different method.
If that failed, he could always ask Nahida to find the scholar who possessed the Nail via the Akademiya and invite them to help.
Fortunately, things didn't seem to be that troublesome.
While manipulating the leyline energy, Nolan discovered that he could use the energy itself to achieve an effect similar to the Celestial Nail and seal the clog.
After all, no matter how the Celestial Nail worked, its core principle was leveraging leyline energy. Since he could now control that energy to some extent, it wasn't impossible for him to replicate the effect on his own.
He just needed to spend a little time researching it.
So, Nolan began channeling the leyline energy under his control and mixed it with the overflowing energy from the clog—
Trying to use the leyline's own energy to plug the leak.
However, every time he tried to form a seal and began withdrawing his control, the energy would burst through and destroy the seal again.
He figured the problem was that his manipulation of the leyline energy was too crude.
Nowhere near the level of precision and efficiency of a Celestial Nail.
Still, from his perspective, leyline energy was simply another form of power—just like elemental energy or harmony energy, differing mainly in nature, not in application.
And if elemental energy could be used to set up formations and enchantments—like Shenhe's adeptus arts or Yae Miko's yokai powers—then theoretically, leyline energy could be used the same way.
So what if he constructed a sealing formation out of leyline energy, one that could sustain itself by absorbing the energy from the very leyline it sealed?
Wouldn't that be functionally identical to a Celestial Nail?
Maybe that was how the Celestial Nail worked in the first place.
As for how to design such a formation, that was much simpler.
While Nolan didn't have deep expertise in formation techniques himself, he was surrounded by plenty of formation masters.
There was Shenhe, trained by adeptis and experienced in laying formations for Ningguang's Jade Chamber; Lisa, who could use magic circles for long-distance teleportation;
And of course, Raiden Ei—who had created the puppet body of the Shogun, a divine automaton, which surely involved formation techniques.
Then there was Yae Miko, Nahida the God of Wisdom, and others—so many formation experts around that surely someone could guide him through a basic sealing formation.
Naturally, the first person he turned to was Raiden Ei, whose soft hand was still resting on his back, sending him energy from the Wonderland.
No need to trouble two people for the same task...
So he asked her about it through the "Waymark" system.
"A simple matter," Raiden Ei replied. Her mastery of formations was indeed profound. She thought for a moment and said, "It's difficult to teach on the spot. I'll construct the formation slowly—just follow my steps."
"Alright."
Nolan nodded.
It was true he didn't have time to learn it from scratch. Copying her work step-by-step was the most practical option.
From within the Wonderland, Raiden Ei extended her materialized mental energy through her arm. It formed a stream of energy threads that began shaping the formation bit by bit.
Nolan used his own spiritual perception to carefully follow every movement she made, simultaneously guiding the leyline energy to mimic her construction.
Thanks to his powerful mental focus, there were virtually no mistakes.
Very soon, Raiden Ei's sealing formation, formed of spiritual energy, was complete.
It looked similar to a regular magic circle and had a semi-transparent glow.
Of course, this was only a model made of mental energy.
At the same time, Nolan had finished his leyline-energy-based replica. He could feel the leyline energy circulating within it.
Proof that the formation could sustain itself. As for its actual effectiveness—there was only one way to find out!
With that thought, Nolan pressed the sealing formation directly onto the leyline clog. Instantly, the formation adhered to it like a bandage and completely sealed the rupture.
The formation began automatically absorbing leyline energy to maintain its structure.
As long as the clog continued to leak leyline energy, there was no fear of the formation suddenly failing.
Only when the leyline fully healed itself and stopped leaking would the formation dissolve on its own from lack of energy.
"Whew, that's done. Thanks for the help, Ei," Nolan said, flexing his slightly sore wrist.
If it weren't for Raiden Ei's support, there was no way Nolan could've withstood such a violent surge of leyline energy—after all, this was the raw power of nature itself.
"Mm."
Raiden Ei responded softly. Seeing that Nolan had taken care of everything, she withdrew her hand.
"Looks like it's all settled. You're pretty efficient, huh?
"Let's move on to the second leyline overflow site. It's so dark around here, I'm getting sleepy."
Yelan raised her arm, lazily covering a yawn with her palm.
[Yelan Has Developed Good Feelings Towards You, Obtained 220 Affection Points. Current Affection Level: Lv.4 (380/400)]
Nolan nodded and said, "In that case, let's go."
...
Even with the illumination of Lumenstones, the underground mining zone still felt oppressively dim.
Nolan, Lumine, and the others moved swiftly over the uneven path littered with scattered rocks, heading toward the second leyline leak.
This second leak was located even deeper in—specifically near an area commonly known as the Rugged Stone Hall.
It was a bit of a trek from their current location. It took them over ten minutes to reach it.
The area was strewn with large rocks, justifying the name Stone Hall. At its center, there was a massive pit—one that led even further downward if you walked into it.
However, they didn't need to go into the hall for now. The second leyline clog was in a tunnel just outside the Stone Hall itself.
Thanks to Yelan's familiarity with the terrain, they quickly located the damaged leyline. What surprised them slightly, though—
Was that this clog had clearly gone unnoticed for a long time. Not only was leyline energy bursting out violently,
There was also the presence of black mud and monsters.
Of course, that wasn't a huge problem. As long as Nolan stepped in to clear them out, everything would be fine.
The highest-level monsters here were only around level 60—not enough to take much of his time.
Adventure EXP +2356
Adventure EXP +1953
Adventure EXP +2231
As notification after notification of gained Adventure EXP popped up, Nolan finished clearing out the monsters and was about to deal with the black mud—
"Hold on a sec," Lumine suddenly stopped him.
"Hm? What is it?"
Nolan looked at her in confusion, and both Paimon and Yelan turned their eyes toward her as well.
"I feel like the power in this black mud... has a certain similarity to Abyssal energy. I want to see if I can try and grasp it."
Lumine offered her explanation.
Although the black mud surged out alongside the leyline flow, it wasn't actually leyline energy. It was a manifestation of the Abyss's power that lay hidden within the leyline.
Otherwise, it wouldn't be able to enhance monsters the way it did. Of course, the leyline contained all sorts of things—mora, experience books, you name it.
So it wasn't all that strange for Abyssal power to be mixed in there too.
Nolan, already aware from the original story that black mud was related to the Abyss, thought for a moment and said to Lumine:
"Go ahead and try. Even if you don't gain anything, there's nothing to lose."
"Eh? You mean like trying to control it the way you did with Withering Power or Forbidden Knowledge?"
Paimon looked surprised, then a bit worried.
"This black mud feels pretty dangerous… Be careful, Lumine!"
Yelan didn't speak, but she clearly understood Lumine's intention—she was trying to harness the black mud's power.
Was that really possible?
Curious, she watched closely to see what Lumine would do next.
Lumine slowly stepped forward, her long boots crunching softly against the ground, approaching the dark mass of black mud.
At the same time, her hair faded to a light gold hue, and her aura shifted to something colder and more aloof—this was her Abyssal Princess state.
In this form, while she didn't feel any familiarity with the black mud...
She did sense something within it that resembled the essence of Withering Power—something she could potentially control.
Lumine stepped to the edge of the black mud and began using her spiritual power to probe and isolate the energy within it. With her prior experience in mastering the powers of Withering, Forbidden Knowledge, etc,
She quickly entered a state of resonance and insight, beginning her attempt to understand and manipulate the essence of the black mud.
Before long, Lumine successfully gained control over the power of the black mud. Clearly, its level was comparable to that of the Withering Power.
It wasn't all that difficult to master.
After acquiring yet another new power, Lumine disguised her pure Abyssal energy as the newly mastered black mud energy,
Then slowly let it seep into the actual black mud before her. It didn't take long before the energy within the black mud was fully overwritten by the energy she'd infiltrated.
Finally, Lumine instantly withdrew her controlled black mud energy—causing the actual black mud erupting from the leyline to vanish as well.
"Looks like it worked," Yelan said in surprise, stroking her chin. "In that case, I'll leave this leyline breach to you."
With that, she turned to look at Nolan.
"Mm."
Nolan gave a small nod.
Now that he had the prior experience, he once again asked Ei to help transmit energy while he constructed a sealing array to conceal this leyline breach successfully.
With two breaches sealed smoothly, even if more black mud emerged elsewhere in the mining zone, it shouldn't happen too often.
"Hehe, with those two spots dealt with, we've only got one left, right?" Paimon said excitedly.
After staying in such a gloomy, oppressive environment for so long, she was starting to really want to get out of here.
"That's right. Yelan, mind leading the way again?"
Nolan looked at the tall woman beside him.
"Sure. The last one is located in the nameless ruins below the central pit of the Rugged Stone Hall. But we may have to search a bit for the exact spot.
"The cavern is just too deep—those scholars couldn't descend, so they were only able to estimate the general location of the final leyline breach,"
Yelan said, crossing her arms.
"Haha, no worries. Between me and Lumine, one can sense leyline energy and the other can sense the black mud—there's no way we'll miss it."
Nolan replied with confidence.
"True enough. Then let's get moving. Once we've sealed the last leyline breach, we can clock out!"
Yelan raised her arms and stretched, exposing the snow-white skin of her arms and underarms. Then she waved to the others, signaling them to follow.
Before long, they arrived at the central cavern of the Stone Hall. Without hesitation, they leapt in, activating their Wind Gliders.
They slowly descended.
There was no other choice—the cave was deep, visibility was poor, and the walls were jagged with protruding rocks. Gliding was the safest method.
After a few minutes of descent—
Nolan and the others finally emerged from the lengthy tunnel, landing in an even deeper region of The Chasm.
And what they saw left them somewhat stunned.
—They were still suspended in mid-air, and below them was a dark red expanse of land. On that land floated a dark red, flame-like orb.
If that were all, it wouldn't be that unusual.
But when they shifted their gaze upward—
They saw an entire inverted city rising from the ceiling above them, standing upside down in defiance of gravity.
"Whoa—what is that…? This place feels kinda creepy!"
Paimon didn't seem excited by the strange sight—instead, she was clearly unsettled.
And she wasn't alone. Nolan, Lumine, and Yelan all felt the same sense of unease.
"Maybe those weird hilichurl sightings the guards mentioned have something to do with this place. Since we're already here, we might as well check it out afterward."
Relying on his knowledge of the story, Nolan tried to connect the dots.
He looked down at the flame orb and chuckled, then added:
"But before that, let's seal up the last leyline breach. I can already feel the wild surge of leyline energy—it's right below us.
"Though… it seems like someone doesn't want us here."
(End of Chapter)
✨✨✨
Support me on Patreon/RedX43 - Read up to 20+ Advanced Chapters There!
✨✨✨