Chapter 304

Chapter 304: Blood Purification

On the eight-meter-long engineering vessel, Midi was accompanied by Reinhardt, Avril, and the ever-chattering Wiseman. Together, they ventured deeper into the Star Ocean to wage a preemptive "outpost battle."

Though the mysterious Star Ocean remained entirely unknown to the other three, Midi—armed with memories of his past life—knew its secrets well. Yet this very knowledge made him acutely aware of the immense difficulty in defeating the Blue Truth Sect. Founded by Leslie Behrens, who first entered the Star Ocean alone, the sect had existed for thousands of years, monopolizing the region’s resources for at least a millennium.

A thousand years was enough to build legacies, nurture geniuses, birth heroes, and forge an unstoppable force. Calling the Blue Truth Sect the Star Ocean’s overlord was no exaggeration.

In truth, the sect had long possessed the power to dominate the entire Sea of Clouds. They simply disdained the resources at the Stormy Region’s outskirts. But with Sky City’s emergence and the bridge linking the Sea of Clouds to Arad, the sect grew restless, eager to seize control of the continent.

The Magic Griffin warships and their so-called Saint were mere tentacles testing the waters—just the tip of their true power’s iceberg.

To oppose such a formidable force, allies were essential. Drawing on past memories, Midi knew of a potential ally within the Stormy Region: "another Blue Truth Sect."

Under a starry sky, the engineering vessel crept forward, skirting massive floating islands. They paused occasionally to resupply or gather magic crystals, erasing all traces before continuing. Though the Stormy Region’s center seemed small, the Star Ocean stretched endlessly, like a separate realm. After over a week of travel, they spotted something unusual.

A kilometer-wide floating island lay strewn with wreckage—a crashed Skyship. Amid the smoldering debris, clashes of blades and bursts of magic echoed.

After days of silence broken only by rare minerals and herbs, the commotion electrified the group.

Midi steered the vessel to hover silently behind a shadowy rock formation hundreds of meters from the island. Below, two factions fought. One group included a tall figure in a black hooded robe, identical to the escaped Saint—clearly Blue Truth Sect members.

The opposing team wore the sect’s uniform, but dyed a vivid red, like fresh blood.

"Blood Purification… found at last," Midi muttered, glancing at the dark elf assassin beside him.

Blood Purification—the "other" Blue Truth Sect within the Star Ocean—was the ally he sought.

Long ago, the dark elf explorer Leslie Behrens founded the Blue Truth Exploration Association to uncover the Stormy Region’s secrets. Over time, the association warped into a fanatical cult worshiping Leslie as a god.

Decades before the Forest of Gran’s mutation, a hidden upheaval split the sect. One faction became the Blue Truth Sect headquarters; the other, Blood Purification.

Midi knew fragments of the schism’s causes: tangled interests, power struggles, and the sect headquarters’ supreme expert. But one truth was certain—Blood Purification and the headquarters were irreconcilable enemies. This guaranteed their potential as allies.

Moreover, Midi understood that Avril "Shadow Snake" and Emil "White Snake"—the enigmatic dark elf sisters—shared blood ties to Leslie Behrens himself. With them at his side, winning Blood Purification’s allegiance would be no great challenge.

Several factors combined, and after repeatedly weighing the pros and cons, Midi chose to abandon the fragile forward base under construction, racing against time to find this new ally.

Now his persistence finally bore fruit – he’d located Blood Purification.

However, the situation looked dire for these sect members.

The sect headquarters had The Saint using mind-related abilities for full suppression, along with nearly twenty personnel mostly above level 55.

Blood Purification only had seven members total. Though possessing two awakened experts above level 60, two were recent awakeners at level 51 who appeared to be non-combatants – likely Support alchemists.

Pinned in narrow wreckage terrain, the Blood Purification members struggled to hold their ground against overwhelming numbers, clearly nearing their limits.

What shocked Reinhardt most was the bearded middle-aged man leading Blood Purification – he was actually countering The Saint’s mental attacks!

Having endured telepathy himself, Reinhardt knew The Saint’s power. Though weaker than the Magic Griffin warship encounter, this Saint remained formidable.

Yet the bearded man calmly deflected psychic explosions without flinching. Incredibly, he appeared to be a psionicist!

Midi could barely resist mind-related abilities through iron will and protection from his mysterious demon god. Demon Swordmen naturally resisted mental attacks – but psionicists lacked such advantages.

Despite this, the bearded man moved effortlessly even when trapped in a Mind-Related Illusion Formation, his mental resistance far surpassing Midi’s.

Who was this guy?

Though Midi had briefed his three companions about Blood Purification, this extraordinary capability went unexplained.

Seeing Reinhardt and Avril’s questioning looks, Midi clarified: "If correct, he’s the legendary Thought Capturer!"

Counterparts to psychic users, Thought Capturers specifically existed to defeat them.

Decades earlier, the supreme expert’s emergence split the Blue Truth Sect. Psychic users then empowered the headquarters faction to crush Blood Purification, slaughtering most members and scattering survivors across the Star Ocean.

Facing mental assault pressures, Blood Purification developed Thought Capturers to balance the scales.

In Midi’s past life, adventurers from the Sea of Clouds only gained anti-psychic capabilities through Blood Purification’s leaked Thought Capturer methods, eventually reaching the supreme expert.

Victory against the sect required both ancient warships and Thought Capturers.

Midi had been low-tier Thought Capturer before, using crude leaked techniques that barely resisted mental attacks while immobilizing him. This bearded man’s advanced methods allowed free movement and active counters.

Midi knew better techniques existed – past-life True Experts could even retaliate with mental attacks. He aimed to secure these supreme methods now.

Alliance with Blood Purification was step one.

"With their Thought Capturer occupying The Saint, we’ll flank the sect forces," Midi ordered, turning from the bearded figure.

Four shadowy figures slipped from the engineering vessel, leaping across floating island rocks toward the wreckage battlefield.