What the hell?

That was Jiajia Gu’s first reaction when he heard Saul offer to check his body for pollution.

Wizard apprentices need to reach Third Rank before the age of 30 to prevent mutations caused by their own mental energy and magic radiation pollution.

True wizards fear even more the temptations and corruption that come from knowledge itself.

Wizards wandering the Borderland and other demonic creatures must constantly resist the endless pollution that the Borderland itself continuously spawns.

Every year, a large number of wizards and demonic beings die from the Borderland’s pollution. Yet, a small minority endure it, using the unique resources and rules of the Borderland to strengthen themselves and successfully advance.

This is the fundamental reason why outsiders keep flooding into the Borderland.

Dangerous, but full of opportunity.

It gives those stuck in barren lands a chance to take a step forward.

Seeing Jiajia Gu’s suspicion, Saul also knew that strangers’ offers easily raised alarm.

Saul tilted his head, thought for a moment, then threw out a more tempting condition.

“You are the first visitor since the establishment of the Purity Wizard Tower. For this first transaction… I will provide a free diagnosis and treatment.”

“Oh, young wizard, after traveling the continent for many years, I’ve learned the most expensive things are the free ones. I’d rather you set a condition first, then I’ll decide whether to proceed with this deal.”

“If you want a trade, how about establishing a stable supply channel?”

Saul steered the raft to shore, jumped onto the lakeside, squinting as he sized up Jiajia Gu from head to toe.

“Of course, if you’re really afraid, you can also choose to walk away from this deal.”

Unexpectedly, Jiajia Gu straightened his chest. “Anyone who can replace a Dodge wizard is no ordinary wizard. I trust your strength. If that means risking it, so be it. The greater the risk, the greater the reward. I accept this deal!”

Saul was not surprised. Who dares to be a wandering merchant in the Borderland would never be a timid survivor.

“Then put down your luggage first. Let me check your back.”

Jiajia Gu first clenched the straps on his shoulder, then relaxed.

He bent his knees slightly, letting the bottom of the luggage rest on the ground.

“I can’t put down this pile of luggage. If you want to see my back, come look at the gap between me and the luggage.”

His voice grew steady.

Saul’s words made him realize the other party truly had skill. Those with ability deserve respect.

Saul’s expression remained calm as he exhaled slightly. He had just used a meditation technique to observe Jiajia Gu’s body. Behind him, he saw some disturbing dark shadows.

If the other had pollution, it was likely hidden behind those shadows.

Jiajia Gu’s reaction confirmed Saul’s guess.

“If I continue to improve my meditation technique, maybe I can achieve the ‘observation’ part of the diagnostic process.”

He stepped behind Jiajia Gu, tracing the gap between the man’s slightly lowered neck and the luggage.

As expected.

There was a patch of black slime connecting Jiajia Gu’s back to the luggage.

It was temporarily unclear whether it grew out from him or from the luggage.

Saul transformed his newly grown right pinky finger into a slender tentacle and slowly approached the black slime.

When the tentacle was less than ten centimeters away, the black slime suddenly reacted violently, contracting, expanding, changing shape, and making a bubbling “glug glug” sound.

A thin layer of sweat immediately appeared on the back of Jiajia Gu’s head.

He endured without crying out or stopping Saul.

But Saul saw his entire body tense, as if he was about to jump up and attack at any second.

“Willing to risk it, but always ready to flip the table?”

Saul wasn’t nervous. He was even a little excited, like when he first became an apprentice and was assigned to the morgue to dissect corpses endlessly.

Through constant practice and exploration, his understanding had undergone a complete transformation.

Snapping out of his memories, Saul withdrew the mental energy waves from the tentacle and covertly sent a trace of pollution from the Black Tide to the tip of the tentacle.

The violently reacting black slime instantly calmed down.

Jiajia Gu, who had been enduring to his limit, suddenly stiffened, and his heart surged with enormous joy mixed with intense unease.

That was the unreal feeling of hope after long torment.

He bit his teeth but still neither moved nor spoke.

Saul ignored Jiajia Gu’s mental turmoil. Carefully guarding against counterattack, he slowly let the tentacle deepen its contact with the black slime and expand the contact surface as much as possible.

The black slime did not resist. Instead, it affectionately wrapped around Saul’s tentacle, like a lover’s lingering caress.

But then, the facade fell and the deadly intent showed.

The tentacle that had been entwined suddenly opened all its suckers.

The suckers’ sharp teeth and bifurcated tongues sucked the pollution inside the black slime.

For a moment, the black slime tried to escape and resist but was trapped by the tentacle and couldn’t break free.

In the next second, its volume rapidly shrank and it gradually lost all resistance.

As the translucent gray tentacle slowly became stained with nerve-like, thin, forked black strands, Saul felt the pollution and a familiar mental energy filling the Soul Fishing tentacle.

Though he still had the strength to absorb all the pollution, and could have absorbed it all, he stopped before the black strands spread fully to his palm.

Then he severed the newly grown pinky finger again and held the tentacle, now covered in black lines, in front of Jiajia Gu.

Jiajia Gu stared at the less-than-half-meter-long black slender tentacle in stunned silence.

He finally understood what kind of wizard he had encountered, and what kind of mad yet correct choice he had made.

“You… you removed the pollution inside my body?”

Saul shrugged. “I wish I could say that, but unfortunately, I didn’t remove it completely.”

“The pollution has been inside you for a long time, intertwined deeply with your magic and mental issues. With my current ability, I can’t completely eradicate it. I can only clear most of the mutated visible pollution first, then give you treatment to enhance resistance and healing. But it will likely take a very long time to fully eliminate the source… the pollution.”

But the cunning merchant didn’t fully believe Saul’s words.

He maintained a respectful attitude and carefully tested the waters.

“If you think my payment isn’t enough, I’m willing to offer all my goods and treasures for a chance at full health.” Jiajia Gu kept rubbing his hands, begging. “Please have mercy on a cave dweller who’s suffered pollution pain for over ten years.”

Cave dwellers are one of the common races on the Nephret Continent.

It was unexpected someone would come to the Stat Continent and become a roaming merchant in the Borderland.

Saul had his own principles.

No matter what treasures or wealth Jiajia Gu offered, and no matter how pitiful he seemed, Saul could not fully cure this cave dweller.

Such an ability was far beyond what Saul could control and would likely make Jiajia Gu a rare specimen for experiments by other powerful wizards — kept alive in eternal captivity.

Saul’s expression did not change. He extended his prepared right hand, which was being slowly corroded by thin strands of black slime.

It seemed to want to enter his body to become a new parasite.

“I’m not unwilling to treat you. But if I continue, before you’re fully healed, I’d become the new host for this pollution. If the pollution fights back, we’d both die.”

Jiajia Gu looked at Saul’s palm, desperately searching for any flaw in those words, but he knew too well the power of the black slime.

Finally, he smiled bitterly. “Also, if an outsider wizard could easily solve the pollution imposed by the Borderland, you’d definitely become the new lord of the Borderland—a god here.”

Cave dwellers had their own beliefs. They worshipped the Earth Mother God, believing She was the will of the world.

Saul withdrew his hand and looked down, speaking calmly: “I won’t become a god. I don’t believe in gods.”

(End of chapter)

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