"Any ideas on how we should leave this space?"

Considering the current situation, the man decided to temporarily set aside his grudge with Lin Ye. After several confrontations, he was well aware of Lin Ye's troublesome nature. Not cooperating wasn't a big issue, but if they started fighting here, the outcome would surely be that neither could leave.

"How should I know? Shouldn't you, as the senior, be the one to tell me what to do?"

Lin Ye also wasn't planning to fight here, as he didn't truly want to perish together with the other party.

"This is my first time encountering this situation too, but I can tell you, our time is running out."

The man looked at Lin Ye with extreme seriousness.

"...Will the Abyss cause some kind of effect on us?"

Although he didn't sense any abnormalities, Lin Ye didn't think the man was bluffing him.

"Correct. Any creature that comes into contact with the Abyss will begin to undergo Abyssal Corruption. This process is extremely covert; by the time symptoms appear, it's already too late."

The man had some understanding of the Abyss, but this wasn't a good thing. The more one understood the Abyss, the more susceptible they became to Abyssal Corruption.

This had nothing to do with strength; it was an inescapable condition. Even deities could only become part of the Abyss.

"Can the speed of Abyssal Corruption be slowed down?"

Regarding the Abyss, Lin Ye had his own understanding. He had been coexisting with the Abyssal Eye this whole time, yet he hadn't felt any signs of this at all.

"No. Even the most top-tier Abyssal scholars don't understand the principles and patterns of Abyssal Corruption. The speed varies for every creature, and to this day, no one has discovered factors related to Abyssal Corruption. Strength, age, species, gender... none of these factors affect the speed. Many have conducted comparative experiments using cloned creatures."

This was also the main reason the man didn't want to come into contact with the Abyss. He certainly didn't want to suddenly turn into an Abyssal creature. For an existence of his tier, a fundamental change was extremely fatal.

"Then we can only leave here as soon as possible... How much spiritual energy reserve does the base have left? Can you access it?"

Lin Ye had already formulated his next course of action.

"There's probably enough spiritual energy in total to last about half a month here. Definitely enough for you to use. I can access a portion of it. If it's an emergency, using all of it isn't a problem either. Have you thought of a way to escape this space?"

Putting other matters aside, the man quite liked cooperating with reliable humans like Lin Ye.

"I plan to clear out all the Abyssal creatures in this area first."

Lin Ye couldn't determine the conditions for leaving here yet, but ultimately, this was just an Information Space. As long as all the troublesome things were cleaned up, a method to escape this area should be found.

"...Too crude. But I like your approach. Let's go. I'll coordinate with you when we act later."

The man walked out of the conference room first, leading Lin Ye into the base's energy supply room.

The spiritual energy supply room had very tight security measures. Without the man as an inside agent, it would have been difficult for Lin Ye to enter such a core area of the base.

The method to obtain spiritual energy supply was very simple. This place could create a high-energy environment that continuously replenished spiritual energy.

Lin Ye entered the high-energy environment. A massive amount of spiritual energy surged into his body. A city ruin appeared near the base. Embers flickering with dark red light began to drift down from the sky.

The surrounding Abyssal creatures attacking the base started turning to ash. A large amount of ash also drifted out from within Lin Ye's body. Only then did he realize that when he had passed through the Mold Mountain Range earlier, some mold had already seeped into the inside of his body.

Soon, the surrounding Abyssal insectoids were all wiped out. Some butterflies composed of ash began to spread outward, cleansing the entire land of Abyssal creatures.

The man used the flesh and blood remnants of the Abyssal creatures to create some Red Sea creatures. These creatures gathered together and began conducting some bizarre ritual.

The armored combat squad near the base watched this scene in astonishment, thinking it was some pre-prepared war tactic of the base.

"You two made up?"

A middle-aged man composed of ash appeared beside Lin Ye, looking at them curiously.

"Temporary cooperation, that's all. Come help me. I'm going to forcibly connect this place to the Red Sea."

The man had his own ideas too. If he could connect to the Red Sea, this space would naturally collapse completely, and he could return directly to his own territory.

"Such a hassle. Can't you just hurry up and finish off this kid?"

The man composed of ash complained.

"Stop the nonsense. If you're not going to work, then get lost. Don't affect me here."

Seeing the ash version of himself, the man couldn't help but recall previous events, which made him very uncomfortable.

"You think I wanted to come out? That kid summoned me."

The man composed of ash stood next to the man. More Red Sea creatures gathered together, conducting a chaotic and frenzied ritual.

"You think this can affect me? Accelerate my Abyssal Corruption?"

The man glanced at Lin Ye disdainfully.

"Don't think I'm as bad as you. I just wanted to find you a helper."

Lin Ye openly observed the ritual the man was conducting. He was, after all, a Master of Ritual Studies; he could learn ordinary rituals just by watching them once.

However, the ritual the man was conducting clearly didn't fall into that category. Many of its steps weren't something one could easily comprehend.

"Not good. If this were just an Information Space, I could forcibly connect it to the Red Sea. But the black box has sealed off this space. I can't break the black box's seal from inside either."

The man said somewhat impatiently.

"Tell me the principle of this ritual. I can try to cooperate with you to break the black box's seal."

Lin Ye took out the Cross Scepter. It had been a while since he used the Cross Scepter to fully amplify an effect.

"...Here."

The man transmitted the details of the ritual to Lin Ye through a spiritual imprint. Lin Ye only needed to look at it twice to understand the operational principle of this ritual for connecting to the Red Sea.

It was actually quite similar to the ritual for communicating with the Abyssal Evil God, except this ritual communicated with the Red Sea itself.

A large number of ash butterflies began gathering towards the base. Lin Ye consumed the amplification power accumulated by the Cross Scepter during this period, using those ash butterflies to conduct the ritual, cooperating with the man to forcibly communicate with the Red Sea.

Amplified by the Cross Scepter, the ritual was like a giant antenna. They soon received a 'signal' originating from the Red Sea.

The sound of waves echoed around them. The sky, dyed a light red, cracked open a large hole. Red seawater leaked into this space from the hole, with some Red Sea creatures struggling within the water.

"Finally, I can leave this damned place. I'll let it go this time. Next time we meet will be your death. Goodbye."

The man waved his hand nonchalantly. The red seawater lifted him towards the large hole in the sky.