"Are you sure you want to use the materials here to make the base?"

Xivia watched Lin Ye cast the freshly made fishing rod into the red seawater, hesitation in her voice.

"Of course. This is a great place to gather materials. If it weren't for not being able to carry everything back, I'd collect even more here."

Lin Ye casually hooked a Red Sea creature. Xivia used her compressed spiritual energy piercing attack to kill it, then Lin Ye used the Flesh and Blood Rule Fragment to break down the creature's flesh into various types of materials.

The two of them coordinated perfectly. Soon a large pile of materials accumulated beside them. While fishing, Lin Ye used various runes to craft these materials into the base.

Cut, Alienation, Synthesis, Molding, Splicing, Protection.

By combining the runes, as long as there were sufficient materials, constructing a base did not take much time.

"To keep things balanced, we can't use materials from only one area. Go chop down some decent-quality wood, and later we'll go to other areas for different materials."

Lin Ye was highly sensitive to the dangerous plane's forces, so he quickly figured out how to build the base. In reality, this was no different from making spiritual energy items; one must consider the interactions among various materials, and this was his specialty.

"Okay... are you sure you can handle it alone?"

Xivia didn't want to leave and immediately see Lin Ye dragged away by some monster.

"I'm fine... unless I run into someone I know. But they probably won't show up, I haven't even used my true body."

Besides, that man had just been dealt with by Lin Ye, so he likely didn't have time to come looking for trouble now.

"Alright."

Xivia entered the jungle alone to fell trees, leaving Lin Ye fishing by the shore. Lin Ye sent the Parasitic Butterflies and the Red Frog to scout other areas; if they found suitable materials, they would help bring them back.

Not long after Xivia left, a group of ritual participants, accompanied by various strange creatures, charged over. Clearly, their target was Lin Ye, who was still fishing.

"The ritual has turned into this, and you still came over to die?"

Lin Ye looked at them puzzled. Killing those people would only speed up the ritual's progress. If possible, Lin Ye did not want to attack them.

"Precisely because it has become like this, we must eliminate Xivia first. The essence of the ritual hasn't changed: as long as ritual participants die until only one remains, that person can leave here with rule power far beyond normal."

The leader of the ritual participants spoke.

He was extremely excited. If Xivia died here, his odds of winning would skyrocket and his gains would far exceed expectations. No one could refuse such a gamble. "And once we control you, we can threaten Xivia and use her to win the ritual." "If we don't deal with Xivia first, we'll all die here." "The one who survives in the end will definitely be me!" "Heh heh, idiots like you are destined to be cannon fodder, I'm the final victor." "Idiot, we've already agreed: after Xivia is dealt with, we'll clean up trash like you!" "Why say it out loud now? Are you stupid?" ... The ritual participants suddenly began shouting; Lin Ye, who had been treated as a target and had been fishing the whole time, had become an onlooker.

"What are you arguing about?! Xivia hasn't been dealt with yet!"

The lead ritual participant tried to stop the quarrelling participants, but they ignored him and continued fighting like lunatics.

Soon, someone struck first. Everyone began slaughtering each other like madmen. The leader, having fallen back, felt chilled by how merciless they were.

"Sit."

Lin Ye swung his fishing rod and casually dealt with the hooked prey.

"...Did you do this? Why spare me?"

The leader sat down beside Lin Ye. Although he felt useless, he prepared to ambush Lin Ye.

"I didn't spare you. It was your caution that saved your life, but it doesn't mean much. In a while you'll become something like them. You shouldn't mix with them."

Lin Ye could sense the mental parasitic entity being copied in the leader's mind. If the Red Frog's parasitic system was likened to a disease, the leader was in its incubation period.

"You say that—aren't you afraid I'll fight you to the death?"

The leader drew his weapon. Gathering so many ritual participants here meant he naturally had the courage to fight to the death in a desperate situation.

"I'm Xivia's summoned creature. What gave you the idea I'd be weaker than her?" Lin Ye asked, puzzled.

"...That's the ritual's norm. But long ago, this plane had no beings beyond ninth-tier. Our ancestors obtained rule power from other planes through summons and rituals, which formed this plane close to the origin. They say that in the beginning, summoned creatures were stronger than ritual participants, but now..." The leader suddenly pulled out a dagger and tried to stab Lin Ye in the back with all his strength, yet his body betrayed his intent; the dagger impaled his chest without resistance.

"Not a bad decision, though your knowledge level is a bit lacking. That causes you to make wrong choices at critical moments."

Lin Ye paid no attention to the leader's movements. He was simultaneously managing fishing, base construction, and the parasitic creatures; there was too much for him to focus on.

The leader fell toward Lin Ye. As he neared the ground, he suddenly pulled the dagger from his chest and wildly jabbed at Lin Ye's lower back.

"Huh? He can resist the mental parasite... but it's still meaningless."

Lin Ye made no move; the leader's body completely collapsed, turning into base materials similar to those from the Red Sea creatures. If even the mind was under Lin Ye's control, the flesh could not be spared.

A black thread shot out from those materials, pierced Lin Ye's spiritual energy shield, and stabbed into his body. The ritual participants stopped fighting one another and charged at Lin Ye together.

A giant tendril, like an archway, appeared behind them. From the tendril archway hung strand after strand of black thread; at the end of each thread was attached a ritual participant, and one of the threads had pierced into Lin Ye.

'So it's the Parasitic Gate. I didn't expect to meet a "familiar" here.'

Lin Ye continued constructing the base. Those who charged died where they belonged.

A mass of black threads pierced into Lin Ye's body, linking him to the Parasitic Gate. Lin Ye did not dodge because even he did not know how to avoid these parasitic threads. The best avoidance was to avoid contact with the parasitic entity of the threads.