Arkz returned to the farm, and a moment later, he walked back holding a brown potion bottle, a confident smile on his face.
"Everyone, please look. This bottle of 'water of purity' in my hand is the panacea that can purify the Abyssal Power on Barbara!"
[Name: 'water of purity']
[Rarity: Three Stars]
[Processing Materials: Wheat * 3, Pinecone * 1, Tidalga * 1]
[Description: Said to be the legacy of a certain genius alchemist, it can draw out the purest part of the power within the body.]
"water of purity? I seem to have heard of it somewhere..."
Acting Grand Master Jean looked at the bottle of water of purity in Arkz's hand and fell into thought.
"I remember now!!!"
"Lisa told me that this water of purity is said to be a miraculous potion from Fontaine, the Nation of Water, possessing the magical effect of drawing out the purest power in the body. But hasn't this potion been lost for ages?"
Arkz explained, "I happened to obtain the recipe for this water of purity by chance. That was when I was still studying at the Sumeru Akademiya. I met an old man from Liyue whose Mora had been robbed by the Treasure Hoarders..."
Seeing that Arkz seemed to be on the verge of continuing his story, Fischl quickly stepped forward and shouted, "Stop--!"
Fischl put her hands on her hips and looked at Arkz, "My nemesis, even I know that now is not the time for storytelling. The most important thing right now is to save Barbara!"
Arkz nodded, "You are right, but perhaps we need to verify the effect of this water of purity first!"
"Acting Grand Master Jean, based on our previous deduction, the Abyssal Power affecting Barbara might originate from that mysterious young woman you and Noelle encountered earlier. In that case, more than just Barbara might be affected by the Abyssal Power."
"All of us here must drink a bottle of water of purity to discover if anyone among us has been affected by the Abyssal Power but hasn't revealed it yet."
As he spoke, Arkz pulled out a large stack of potion bottles containing water of purity from his pocket and distributed them one by one to everyone present.
Acting Grand Master Jean looked at the potion bottle in her hand, hesitated for a moment, then opened the stopper and poured the entire bottle of potion into her mouth.
Everyone quickly and carefully watched Acting Grand Master Jean, hoping to detect any changes in her body.
Acting Grand Master Jean gulped down the entire bottle of water of purity in one go, without any hesitation.
Seeing the curious gazes of the crowd, she summarized, "Hmm, it has no taste, just like drinking pure water."
"There also seems to be... no change in my body."
Before Acting Grand Master Jean could finish speaking, a plume of black smoke emanated from her body, causing the people surrounding her to rapidly retreat and dodge.
Acting Grand Master Jean looked at the black smoke in surprise. She could feel her body's natural repulsion towards this power. Seeing the crowd dodging, she waved her hand and summoned a gust of wind, sweeping away all the black smoke.
"This black smoke smells so bad."
"Yes, it has no taste, yet it feels more foul than anything else."
"This might be the Abyssal Power. It is said that the Abyss is the opposite of all living things and will be instinctively rejected by life. Perhaps this is why we instinctively dislike this black mist."
Seeing the black smoke flying out of Acting Grand Master Jean's body, Arkz thoughtfully took out a bottle of water of purity and controlled a vine to pour it onto the ground of the arena.
Hiss--!!! x N
Instantly! Everyone gasped in unison.
On the arena, where the water of purity touched the ground, dense black smoke billowed up, its concentration much higher than the black mist that had drifted from Acting Grand Master Jean's body!
Where did this Abyssal Power come from?
Arkz lowered his head in thought. A moment later, he looked up and said, "Did you notice? Barbara's original Hydro Element was pure, but during the recent fight, all her Hydro Element turned black, and it even possessed extremely strong corrosiveness."
Rosaria nodded and said, "I originally guessed that Barbara's Hydro Element turned black because she was in a bad mood, so she deliberately made her Hydro Element look 'cooler'."
As she spoke, she glanced at Fischl. It wouldn't be strange for Barbara's chuunibyou state to pull off such a maneuver just now.
"But now it seems that the reason Barbara's Hydro Element turned black is because her Elemental Power was contaminated and consumed by the Abyssal Power."
"Barbara's Black Water Serpent King just now seemed to be dispersed by Acting Grand Master Jean, but in reality, it was secretly lurking underground, preparing to transform into black mist and contaminate all of us when we got close."
Fischl then asked doubtfully, "Then how did Barbara..."
"Because of Acting Grand Master Jean's actions, the kindness deep within Barbara's heart was awakened, causing her to remind everyone at the last moment."
Although Rosaria's guess made sense, Arkz didn't believe that he, protected by the system, would be controlled by the power of the Abyss. Moreover, Barbatos was surely watching this place at this moment. He wouldn't just sit by and watch the highest authority of Mondstadt City be controlled by the Abyss, would he!
Even for his own sake of slacking off better, that God of Slacking would surely protect Acting Grand Master Jean well.
(Venti, who was drinking at the Angels Share tavern at this moment, sneezed.)
"The Abyssal Power is truly dangerous," Ellin sighed, voicing the thoughts of everyone present.
"But thank goodness we have Acting Grand Master Jean!!!"
Everyone collapsed onto the ground simultaneously, admiring Ellin's dedication as a top fan.
"Hehe, of course, it's also thanks to Uncle Arkz's water of purity!"
"Everyone, I'll take the first drink!"
As she spoke, Ellin held up the water of purity and drank it down in large gulps.
Seeing this, everyone also raised the water of purity in their hands and drank it, Arkz himself was no exception.
After the water of purity went down, everyone except Arkz, including Amu, had black mist floating out of their bodies. Among them, Noelle had the most black mist, the densest, almost catching up to Acting Grand Master Jean.
Fortunately, Noelle's emotions were relatively stable, and her heart was also very pure; otherwise, there would be one more person suppressed by Arkz right now.
(Sealed Arena VIP Seating, One Guest!)
Arkz carefully tasted the water of purity he had made. He felt it had no particular taste, only that his body felt much lighter after drinking it. It seemed he was quite pure after all!
Even the water of purity couldn't find any malice in his heart.
Arkz turned around and looked at the arena, saying, "Now all that's left is to solve Barbara's problem."
He immediately mobilized the Dendro Elemental Power within his body. The vines on the arena took the potion bottle containing the water of purity from his hand and returned to the stage.
At this moment, Barbara still had her eyes tightly shut, her expression serene, like the Sleeping Beauty from a fairy tale.
However, this'Sleeping Beauty' did not wait for the gentle kiss of a prince, but rather the rough 'force-feeding' by vines controlled by Arkz, resembling tentacles.
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