What's wrong with me, a mage, loving to farm?

Chapter 270. The Air Coral Spirit, Ark Fragment

Air coral base.

The last time I came here was five years ago.

With the tower spirit and the wooden vine transmitting images from various locations in real time, he had never actually come here to inspect the area himself.

And now we've arrived here...

He silently looked up at the enormous bubble—it held back millions of tons of seawater, seemingly thin, yet incredibly strong.

Kroya suddenly spoke:

"You are alive, aren't you?"

"With so many surveillance cameras, you still managed to evade them. But I created you myself, and you cannot hide from me."

His clear voice echoed across the untouched seabed, as if he were the only person in the vast ocean.

—That's right, there was indeed only one person.

There's also... an elf.

A distant aerosol trembled slightly, from which floated a tiny ball of light, about the size of a little finger, which gracefully approached Kroa.

Despite being so small, the magic contained within the sphere of light was incredibly powerful, almost like facing a vast ocean.

Kroya stretched out his finger, and the tiny sprite immediately landed on it, shimmering with light.

It has no physical body; it is a constantly flashing pale blue sphere of light, within which one can vaguely make out human facial features.

To be honest, it was a bit creepy to see it at night.

"Dear Father," the elf said, "I didn't mean to hide it from you, it's just that your men are all useless and haven't discovered me yet."

"..."

Kroya blinked, once again marveling at the divine translation of the All-Encompassing Communication Technique, which could even translate "all trash".

Of course, he would never admit that all the surveillance magic circles he set up were useless.

All I can say is that the Coral Sprite is really well hidden.

"Do you want to leave?" He looked down at the small ball of light. "Your power is immense, even surprising me, so you deserve the right to be free."

"If you want to leave, I will set you free."

"...Why are you leaving?"

The light of the coral fairy flickered gently: "I love it here. I feel happy to see people living freely under my protection."

My father, my creator...

Do you still remember the first wish I made to you?

Kroya recalled their past wishes—

Air! Not the ocean!

"Waaaah, finally I can breathe some air!"

"We also want to spread the word!"

When I first got the air coral, it was so small. Now, in just five years, it has become such a huge creature.

Even Kroya had to admit that without the air coral, his underwater base would be much more difficult.

Building the waterproof magic circle and the ecological park alone would require hundreds of times more effort than it does now to complete.

"I have neglected you and do not understand your wishes."

"You still hold onto that initial wish, and it has never changed to this day."

He gently stroked the orb of light, the blue orb radiating a warm glow.

"Then please grant me a wish." The elf's voice was slightly troubled: "Recently, I have often heard voices from the ocean, as if a great will is calling to me."

He wants me to be His chosen one, but I really don't want to be His chosen one.

"The One Who Favors?" Kroa was slightly taken aback. "Is it the God of the Sea?"

The so-called "favored ones" are actually those favored by the gods, like oak trees, who are blessed by the gods.

If the god of the ocean has taken a liking to one of my magical beasts, then things are really going to get complicated.

The Coral Sprite's voice was uncertain: "I don't know..."

"All I know about Him is that He seems to be barking."

Kroa: "???"

Barking? Are there any gods that bark?

God of Dogs?

Even Kroya was baffled. He was no longer the naive god he used to be; under the tutelage of the angels, he had long since come to understand almost all the gods of this world.

But he had never heard of any barking god.

"Listen." The Coral Fairy suddenly leaned close to his forehead and gently conveyed a voice.

"Woof woof—"

"...This voice sounds like both a dog's and a wolf's." Chloe felt even stranger. "Do you want to block out His voice? I can cast a spell for you."

If he simply wanted to refuse to listen, he could just use the Eternal Magic to create a thin film.

"No, He wants me to help Him purify an area, but I have no way to do it."

So please help me.

"Father...please come with me."

The sprite floated gently, drifting like a jellyfish, carrying Kroa forward. Finally, near the edge of the air coral bubble, a deep hole appeared.

Without hesitation, it crawled inside, and Kroya had no choice but to follow. Fortunately, he had now learned True Shapeshifting, so becoming a little smaller was not a problem at all.

The cave was long and deep, and it took about five minutes to finally reach our destination.

During the drilling process, Kroya sensed that the air bubbles from the coral had actually enveloped the entire hole and the hole below it.

Theoretically speaking, this is also part of the air coral.

Clearly, the air bubbles in the air coral have mutated.

"That's pretty impressive," he praised, then looked ahead.

What appeared before him was a very strange cave.

The cave was so vast that even with his eyesight, he couldn't see its boundaries. The entire cave was covered with moss that shone with a deep blue light, making it both mysterious and beautiful.

And not far in front of him.

Several deep black mineral stones could be vaguely seen on the ground covered with azure moss, which immediately caught his attention.

Kroya's eyes widened in astonishment: "Wait, is that the Time-Shining Mine?"

There's absolutely no need to doubt it; his ability to identify things is absolutely infallible. Those black stones that are faintly visible in the earth are the crystallized Time Stars, the top three of the Seven Luminaries!

The elemental attributes of the Seven Luminaries are not entirely the same as the general elements; they are more like seven independent elemental attributes, among which the three elements of time, space, and illusion are particularly special.

The function of the Sky Radiance is to create some spatial magical artifacts. Its power is more stable than spatial power, and it can also cast Sky Radiance magic.

Illusion can create illusions; even a small piece can create a beautiful illusion that one can immerse oneself in, and it can also cast special Illusion magic.

The Time Crystal is the most special one. Its power can affect time to some extent. If there are enough Time Crystals, it can even build a Time Crystal Magic Array!

When it comes to time... of course it becomes extremely precious.

Although in theory both time and space are superior attributes, at least for now, "time" is definitely more special.

I never expected that I would actually be able to find a vein of Time Crystal.

For a moment, even he felt that his luck was too good, as if he were dreaming.

But he immediately realized: Did the "Sea God" ask the coral to clean up some kind of pollution? If it's here, could it be related to the birth of the Shiyao mineral vein?

"Where is the pollution located?"

"Here."

The Coral Sprite floated to a piece of land about two hundred meters away from the Time-Shining Mine and cautiously said, "This is it!"

Its light illuminated the land, revealing a small fragment within it—a white-gold wooden fragment, irregularly rectangular, radiating a bright white-gold glow.

The white-gold light and the azure light clearly clashed, causing the space to appear somewhat distorted.

"!!!"

Kroya's mouth dropped open.

ark?

The color is exactly the same as the ring inside the mushroom he saw. Could that color and luster be a fragment of the Sky Ark?

He took several deep breaths, gathering all his magic in his palm, trying to touch the fragment stuck in the ground.

But as he approached, a ferocious barking suddenly erupted—"Woof woof woof woof!!!"

The azure light flickered wildly, and a foxtail grass suddenly sprouted from the side, pushing his hand away.

The barking gradually turned into a deep male voice:

"Son of man."

Please do not touch it.

Even if He has chosen you now, do not touch it.

Kroya had no choice but to withdraw his magic, his brow furrowed: "You are a demigod of the merfolk? Is that a fragment of the Skyward Ark?"

The voices answered one by one: "I am merely a divine beast of a phantom god."

"That is indeed a fragment of the Skyward Ark."

"Although it looks small, its internal space is actually extremely large. If you don't have enough strength and the corresponding knowledge, you will be crushed the moment you pick it up."

The male voice was very calm: "The little guy beside you has extremely great potential. I hope it can absorb the power of the Void here and truly form its own independent space in the future."

His attitude seemed unusually friendly.

Kroya's heart skipped a beat: "Virtual God, is your promise still valid?"

He was referring, of course, to his previous wish that any territory occupied by magical beasts and magical plants would be his territory.

Isn't this place right inside the air coral bubble?

The illusory god understood Kroya's meaning and said with a smile, "Of course, this place belongs to you."

"If your child finds and covers this place, then it belongs to you, and not even the gods can stop it."

"Then please don't worry about it, I'll take care of this piece of debris."

"If this is your wish."

"Then I will grant your wish, lucky son of man, free it."

The foxtail grass, also known as the grass of wisdom, disappeared silently, and even the azure moss growing around it vanished without a trace.

The entire cave instantly became empty and pitch black, with only the fragments of the Sky Ark in front of him radiating a bright and holy white-gold light.

The illusory god actually left as soon as he said he would, extremely quickly, withdrawing all his power.

His decisive and swift departure seemed to finally get rid of the hot potato—at least, Chloe always had this strange feeling about it.

But it didn't matter; what lay before him were fragments of the Sky Ark.

He silently took out a specially made magical artifact: "Miya, I think I've found your body."

"I know." Miya's voice on the other end didn't seem surprised: "The Ark only represents the past. I no longer need it. How you deal with it is your business."

"Good luck, I hope you can handle that piece of debris."

"Lucky friend, the knowledge I've taught you should be enough to handle it."

After she finished speaking, a cheerful shout came from the other end of the magical device, as if someone was calling for Miya, and then the communication was cut off.

"...You really believe me, don't you?"

Kroya put away the magical artifact, glanced at the coral sprite, and instructed:

"Bring your true form here."

"I'm going to reform you."

"Make this fragment your domain."

The Coral Spirit immediately brought its true form over, which was an ordinary Coral, but it was the very first one that Kroa had imprinted.

All subsequent air corals are its offspring.

The earliest engraved "bubble spell" has now undergone tremendous changes—

【Air Coral (Oceanic Bubble Technique)】

During their growth and reproduction, air corals draw air from the seawater, creating powerful, magical bubbles.

This seal can be passed down through procreation.

[When bubbles form, they connect with surrounding bubbles, sharing resistance to magic and increasing resilience; the more bubbles there are, the stronger they become.]

[Current highest resilience: Slightly divine power]

This bubble possesses a certain degree of sentience, allowing those whom Kroa approves to pass through.

[While inside the bubble, the Air Coral Fairy will automatically adjust the magical composition within the bubble, maintaining the temperature and humidity within a suitable range.]

When Kroya saw the inscription, he was almost shocked. A faint divine power? Really?

So why would you be constantly worried that people walking around might affect the bubbles in the coral? Isn't that just needless anxiety?

Even if you put everyone in the North up for a bungee jump, the bubbles on the coral would probably stay intact.

"You've grown into such a powerful being without my noticing."

Kroya reached out and touched the body of the air coral. Who would have thought that this ordinary air coral could actually unleash a defensive power at the level of a weak god?

If we're just talking about the accumulation of magic power, even the Void Moon Divine Tree, which he had carefully cultivated for so long, probably didn't have this level of strength.

The joy of a child who grows up wildly and suddenly brings you such a surprise is indeed much greater than the joy of a child who is carefully raised.

Therefore, he felt somewhat guilty.

Even though the coral had given her so much help, she hadn't seen it and had even gotten used to its daily efforts.

The Coral Fairy seemed to sense Kroya's emotional change and nuzzled the latter's face with its warm little body.

—It seems to be saying: It's alright.

But the more this happened, the more guilty Chloe felt. There was no way around it; sensible children always make people feel more heartbroken.

"I want to make it up to you."

"Cute little guy."

Kroya first used his powerful memory to record the new bubble spell, stroked it, and began to imprint it with his powerful meditation technique enhanced by his level six mage skills and the "Poem of the Rainbow".

He also used his magical tentacles to absorb the power of the Void within the fragment, transforming it through his own body and the Seven Luminaries Separation Technique.

He frequently interacted with Miya, who often bestowed blessings upon him, so the Ark's Radiant Power did not resist. Although there were some difficulties, things went smoothly.

For the past five years, he had been living in a dream, but he had never given up on the art of spatial folding even for a moment.

I wouldn't say I've completely mastered it, but I have no problem applying it.

As his spiritual power surged into the coral's body like a tidal wave, the small coral, which was at most half a meter tall, remained unmoved.

It withstood all the impacts, magic, and spiritual power.

Inside its astral body and on its surface, characters resembling flowering vines and ancient tree buds emerged.

Time passed second by second.

It took nearly five hours for Kroa's inscription to finally be completed.

[Imprint successful, Air Coral (Sky Ark - Space Folding Technique)]

This magical plant will be able to absorb and control the power of the void, transforming and folding spatial power into independent spaces.

[It can draw upon the power of space and also perform spatial folding (incomplete, requiring time to evolve).]

[All spaces can be merged and split (not yet proficient, please proceed with further imprinting).]

The description of this engraving is quite concise, but the effect is quite exaggerated.

"Go, treat the Ark fragments as your bubbles."

"That is my gift to you, a gift that is uniquely yours."

Kroya pointed to the ark fragments stuck in the ground.

The coral had already sensed the magic emanating from the platinum fragments. That magic was tempting it, as if saying: Come and absorb us!

How could it resist? It pounced on the spot, boldly covering the ark fragments with its own body, trembling with the power within—painful yet exhilarating.

That's the Ark! Nothing in the world can provide more celestial power than it, not even the gods.

As it absorbed the power of the void within, the light on the surface of the ark fragment flickered intermittently.

For some reason, Kroya seemed to vaguely sense that the fragment was emanating a sense of relief, even though it was lifeless...

Kroya noted down the question, but did not ask Mia directly; he wanted to find the answer himself.

He watched the Qi Coral quietly as it gradually turned platinum gold and its power grew stronger.

until late at night.

The coral suddenly moved.

The platinum-gold light flowed, gathered with great difficulty, surged, and finally rose as a tiny bubble.

The bubble floated gently to Kroa's side, its surface shimmering with a metallic white-gold luster, making it quite beautiful.

Inside that bubble... there was a separate space.

Qi Shanhu's voice rang out—

"Dear Father, this is a gift for you."

(End of this chapter)