Chapter 169 – Shadow Maggots

Though incredibly frustrating, these difficulties alone weren’t enough to make Punk give up. After all, the most suitable materials for breeding Wraith Moths had been discovered by someone before. Since ready-made experimental results were unavailable, he had no choice but to conduct experiments step by step himself.

After careful analysis and consideration, Punk realized there were roughly three types of magical insect larvae he could currently obtain.

The first were Shadow Grubs, the second were Arcane Devourers, and the third were Abyssal Worms.

All three types of larvae could serve as raw materials for cultivating Wraith Moths, with their larval magical energy mostly around one standard unit.

However, the Abyssal Worms had to be crossed off the experimental list. Capturing them required opening an Abyssal portal, which wasn’t a wise idea in Sunset City. Just think about the commotion caused in Nielan Town – anyone with eyes could see it wasn’t worth the risk.

In the end, Punk decided to start with the easiest to obtain and least conspicuous option – Shadow Grubs. As the saying goes, why not pick the softest persimmon to pinch?

Shadow Grubs were creatures native to the Shadow Plane. Though genuine magical beings, they occupied the bottom of the food chain, their status equivalent to weeds on the material plane. Even as adults, they remained merely larger insects with no combat capability to speak of.

Frankly, Punk didn’t believe these creatures possessed any adaptability. The Shadow Plane lacked climate variations, making it hard to expect organisms living in such eternally stable conditions to develop adaptability through evolution alone.

But Punk wasn’t worried about adaptability issues. At worst, he could place the experimental subjects within the influence range of “Haitzita’s Nurturing Fluctuations” during catalytic fusion. Surely the power of Legendary magic could compensate for mere adaptability gaps.

With his decision made, there was no reason to hesitate. Punk immediately began preparing to capture Shadow Grubs.

For a formal mage, Shadow Grubs were extremely easy to catch. One only needed to gather high-density dark elements in the Shadow Plane, and within a day, dozens of the foolish grubs would be attracted. Moreover, the Shadow Plane wasn’t as aggressive as the Abyss – opening a small rift wouldn’t cause significant shadow energy leakage, allowing Punk to safely create spatial fractures in his basement.

What? You ask what if discovered by powerful beings from the Shadow Plane? The answer should be obvious – run! If a Shadow Hunter actually emerged after opening the rift, Punk would immediately activate his “Anywhere Door” without hesitation. After all, when the sky falls, the tall will hold it up – there would always be “helpful souls” from the Dillon Kingdom to handle the aftermath.

In reality, most Shadow Plane creatures strongly disliked the Prime Material Plane and were generally unwilling to enter it. As long as Punk closed the rift promptly, there wasn’t much to worry about.

Extinguishing the basement’s only magical light, Punk stood beside a fully inscribed magic circle. As sparkling black dust flew from his palm, an ethereal, hazy rift began to form at the center of the array.Soon, Punk completed the spellcasting. He raised his staff and pointed it at the black rift suspended in mid-air. A surge of mana gushed forth, the azure magical energy illuminating the runes on the magic circle one by one. Finally, after all the runes were lit, the rift at the center of the circle began to gradually expand, soon reaching a size large enough for a child to pass through.

“It’s done. The shadow energy here is quite inert—the rift’s opening must lead to the borderlands of the Shadow Plane.”

Punk gently dispersed the faint shadow energy leaking from the rift, silently noting to himself.

Thanks to the room’s isolation barrier, this trace of shadow energy wouldn’t emit any detectable anomalies.

Seeing the rift stabilize, Punk quietly retrieved a pitch-black crystal ball from his Storage Ring. The spherical crystal was filled with swirling dark clouds—clusters of shadow elements he had gathered.

He placed the crystal ball at the rift’s entrance, allowing wisps of shadow elements to be drawn into the Shadow Plane.

“Now, it’s a matter of patience.”

Punk remained motionless, channeling mana into the magic circle while staring expressionlessly into the lightless darkness of the rift. Though he disliked waiting, experiments demanded meticulous care, and such waiting would inevitably repeat countless times.

The process of collecting Shadow Leeches lasted from morning until the following afternoon. The advantage of establishing a base in the slums became apparent: the starving residents had no interest in visiting their reclusive neighbor. In the lives of the impoverished, even children had to focus entirely on scavenging for food in the Garbage Mountain, leaving no room for curiosity or exploration. Thus, Punk remained completely undisturbed.

Had he chosen to disguise himself as an ordinary person living in the city, such tranquility would have been impossible. Even if Punk ignored the street noise, someone who never left home for years would inevitably arouse suspicion.

After a day and night of effort, Punk successfully harvested several dozen Shadow Leeches, about five of which were suitable juveniles—enough for initial experiments.

Under the dim glow of magical lighting, Punk could clearly see the Shadow Leeches writhing violently inside the glass jar, desperately crawling in search of an escape. But the magically reinforced container was far beyond the leeches’ ability to breach.

These palm-length creatures resembled headless leeches, covered in glossy black skin. Despite their size, they weighed less than a milligram and could even float in the air.

In truth, Shadow Leeches lacked anything resembling a head. As semi-energy beings, they absorbed energy by consuming stray matter and energy through their skin. One might say they differed little from ground-dwelling plants—except for their ability to move.

“Excellent. They appear quite lively. Let’s hope you can bring me some surprises.”

Punk shook the transparent bottle with satisfaction, separating the five entangled Shadow Leeches. Then, using an alchemical tweezer, he picked out the most active one.The extracted Shadow Worm clearly disliked being clamped, so it began twisting and struggling desperately, its long body completely coiling around the tweezers while simultaneously releasing clouds of intimidating shadowy mist.

However, Punk wouldn’t be frightened by mere mist. Though the smoke released by the Shadow Worm appeared pitch black and seemingly highly toxic, these vapors were merely deceptive. Anyone with basic common sense wouldn’t be intimidated by them.

Casually generating a gentle breeze to disperse the smoke, Punk walked step by step toward the Experiment Table at the center of the hall.

Lying on that Experiment Table was a young man with brown skin. At this moment, the unconscious youth remained unaware that he had already become Punk’s Test Subject One.

Earnestly requesting subscriptions, collections, and votes~ Poor performance means no recommendations!

(End of Chapter)