Chapter 52

Under the cover of the darkening sky, the black mist of Middendorffi and the 'energy gate' at the bottom of the lake were entangled, mapping a chaotic magnetic field in the lake instruments.

'It's coming!' The colleague stood in front of the instrument, looking at the instrument display for a while, and then looking at the dim surface of the lake, 'Tsk, this energy is too much, I've never sensed such obvious fluctuations in my life!'

'This is a bit off ah ...' Henry was considered to be relatively weak in inspiration in the department, but even he clearly sensed the energy churning, 'Bear, didn't you say that that energy would only suddenly come out in a wave? How come it's been sustained for so long, and it's still flowing?'

Because Middendorffi held the door open.

This door was only open for a short moment, and only Middendorffi could sense it, while everyone else sensed the energy that came out when it unfolded. Now that Middendorffi had initially realised her mastery of 'space', she tried to 'violently' hold it open, and the door could not really be closed quickly.

As a natural born devouring thing, Middendorffi instinctively devoured the energy coming out of the door and consumed it while holding it up, just like eating and vomiting at the same time. The good thing is that there are more coming in than going out, so the door was even more stable by him. But also because of this, the energy in the door will hit the whole layer of black fog laid by Middendorffi as soon as it comes out. Instead of Middendorffi devouring the energy, the energy actively crashed into the black mist, filling Middendorffi with a little bit of confusion, where he could still think about Henry's words.

Eli realised that something was wrong with him, and with one hand on his lower back, he felt the energy in his body frantically circulating in an 'eat-exhale-eat' manner. At this speed, he didn't dare to intervene even if he wanted to help. He could only be secretly anxious while answering Henry's question, 'It might be different from last time.'

Henry didn't think too much about it, but only frowned, 'In that case, will that white mist person gain more energy and become more powerful as a result?'

'Perhaps.' Eli didn't even have much heart to care about the White Mist Man right now, and casually replied. It was also at this moment that a white mist began to rise from the surface of the lake. At first it was very thin, but after a few seconds, under the bright light, it was already a thick layer visible to the naked eye. If not for the fact that this thing is 'man-eating', I'm afraid it's really comparable to the attraction of 'Dragon Pool Smoke and Rain'.

'Fuck, why isn't this thing coalescing into a human form today?!' When the 'collectors' realised that this layer of white mist was the thing that was hurting people, they felt that it was not good, and all of them copied their instruments and retreated back, 'Is it because there is a lot of energy today? Where the hell did this come from?

In fact, they didn't guess wrong, it's that today's energy didn't converge into a vortex to float to the surface of the water, but instead seeped outwards from all around the gaps that the black fog couldn't catch in time, so the white fog also spread out over the entire surface of the lake. But this white fog does not sink into the water to compete with the black fog 'first milk', I do not know is afraid of the black fog or other reasons. In short, it is only in the lake surface to pick up the leakage, but also than before to absorb the energy to be more.

Originally, the 'collector' also intends to observe the white fog people first, and then deal with it. Now in this situation, Henry was worried that the white mist would spread out and the threat level would skyrocket, so he reminded Eli, 'Eli, can this situation be handled?'

'Yes.' Eli still had that cold attitude, but it was especially reassuring to hear at moments like this, 'All of you stand back.'

The crowd responded, Henry still trying to come and take Middendorffi away, Eli glanced at him, 'I'll protect him.'

Henry frowned, 'But you're too close ...'

Eli said, 'He's more dangerous away from me.'

Henry had to trust him for now and stepped back.

The men moved away before Eli lowered his voice and asked Middendorffi, 'How's it going?'

'A little ... full.' Middendorffi said slowly, 'Too fast for me to digest it all. I'm going to give it to you.'

'What?'

'I mimicked your purified energy, and now I'm sharing it with you.' With those words, a stream of pure and fierce energy came from Eli's hand that was pressed against Middendorffi's backside!

Eli:!!!

It was the first time he had ever received such direct energy from an external source, and it was more 'potent' than any potion he had ever taken before! His power filled up at once, and his status climbed. He seemed to be stronger than ever before, and his heart for battle was also aroused, as if his blood was boiling, ready to fight anytime, anywhere.

- -This won't do!

Eli's heart thumped, but he forced himself to hold down his urges. He sort of understood those cultivators who had to forcefully absorb other people's cultivation even if they could easily go off the deep end, this feeling of taking a large wave for nothing and instantly expanding was indeed too easily intoxicating. Getting lost under the raging power was a heart demon that was hard to resist for cultivators who pursued greatness.

'Don't give it to me.' Eli uttered the words almost through gritted teeth, 'If you can't eat it, close this door.'

Middendorffi defied him in a rare moment, 'No.'

'Want to eat?' Eli guessed what he was thinking. It wasn't as if Eli hadn't experienced it before, the black mist hard at work gnawing down a corpse the size of a mountain, unwilling to leave any way. Devouring was Black Mist's instinct, and when his nature burst out at once, Eli couldn't even tug on it.

Well, in his previous form, he couldn't even drag him.

And now, Middendorffi would at least be distracted enough to answer him, 'The source of that energy, I can finish pumping it.'

'Good, then you finish pumping it.' Eli wasn't going to take Middendorffi by force either, and began to instruct him, 'Can you close the door a little smaller then? That way less energy might come out and you'll have room to digest as you eat.'

Middendorffi, who had previously been preoccupied with holding the door open, sniffed before he began to attempt finer control, 'Not quite ... stable.'

'Slowly and little by little reduce the amount of energy you use to hold it open, and absorb less as well. Mainly preserve your own state, don't compromise your stability, energy leaks out when it leaks out.' Eli guided him carefully, 'Does that white mist affect you? Do you want me to deal with it?'

'No.' As soon as Middendorffi's words were out of his mouth, the black mist seeped out from the edge of the wild lake before stretching and retracting with a jerk!

-!!!

'Crap, what the hell?!'

The crowd was first startled by a sound that sounded like a scream, and then saw the sudden layer of black stuff under the morning sunlight and illumination. Without waiting for a closer look, in the blink of an eye, the black stuff, along with the white mist, disappeared into thin air.

'What happened?' Worried about the two closest to the lake, Henry raised his foot to come over to check, 'Are you guys okay!'

'Stay back!' Eli inclined his head and glanced at him, 'I crushed it with my power, but the energy outpouring isn't over yet, I want to make sure there's no remnants of it.'

Henry saw that they were standing quite still, not like it was a big deal, so he held back and stopped where he was again.

Eli's head had just turned back when Middendorffi whispered, 'This white mist, it's a bit strange.'

Eli immediately asked, 'What's strange? Can't it be swallowed smoothly?'

'It can.' Middendorffi said, 'But I haven't finished swallowing it ... I seem to be able to, er, infect it.'

He hesitated for a moment before picking out the word 'infect', but really didn't have much energy left to think of a more precise word. Luckily Eli understood what he meant and confirmed, 'You can convert it directly into a part of you? Are you sure about that? Can you manipulate it completely?'

'I suppose, yes.' Middendorffi was also caught up in this strange phenomenon, absorbing energy with less concentration, 'I'm kind of like it, when I want to devour it, it devours me in turn. Our powers meld together, and then I'm all in control ...'

His speech was getting more and more erratic, some of the words didn't make sense, but Eli still understood. Not only did he understand, Eli was vaguely offended. Earlier he was still discussing with Middendorffi about his body being eaten by Middendorffi after his death, and now that there was an inexplicable white mist person who had directly fused with Middendorffi, Eli could hardly ignore this.

But right now, the more important thing is still to let Middendorffi get through safely first.Eli can only keep asking: 'So what are you doing now? Are you still able to stabilise that door?'

Middendorffi didn't answer for a moment. It was as if he had lost his mind, staring straight out at the lake, motionless, as if his breathing had stopped.Eli knew that this was a sign that he was fully occupied with something else. It was a sign of Middendorffi's ability to split control that he was able to leave a human shell here.

Eli didn't dare rush it either. He wasn't sure if Middendorffi was strained or tired or not. Looking at others, he could still observe expressions, faces, sweating, etc., but Middendorffi didn't have any of these reactions at all, and wouldn't even furrow his brows.All Eli could guarantee was to be ready at all times, to snatch Middendorffi down from all kinds of unknown threats.

He wouldn't lose Middendorffi as long as he could snatch some of it off.

It was in this tense silence that Eli soon realised just how much shifting was going on beneath the seemingly calm surface of the lake.

'The door narrowed? Or did ... it just close?' Eli was a little unsure, as the unusual energy in his perception was largely gone, and the white mist was even less visible. This was all Middendorffi's doing, and Eli's senses couldn't penetrate the black fog to get an insight into everything when he wasn't using coercive and violent means.

'I shrunk the door and then was able to completely cover the exit and absorb all the energy that bubbled up.' Middendorffi blinks slowly, his expression becoming animated again as he inclines his head towards Eli, 'I also seem to have learnt a new thing from that white mist part ...'

'What?'

'I can briefly cut a part of me out.' Middendorffi said, 'Should also be able to manipulate and sense that part remotely. After a while, it can still melt back in if I want it to.'

Eli, thinking for a moment that what he was saying was a bit like an extradimensional incarnation, and worrying that it was an instability that had arisen from integrating into the white mist, confirmed, 'It can really be fully controlled? It can't be that white mist lying to you ...'

'You see.'

Middendorffi said, and really disconnected the part of the black mist covering the 'doorway'. He also manoeuvred the black mist to change its form and climb up from the lake, tangling Eli's trouser leg for a moment before retracting back into the lake.

'It picks up the energy and I pick it up. I can leave it here until it eats up all the energy on the other side of the 'Gate' and returns to me.'