Buzz! The formation activated around me and began to meld with dense corruption energies. It is because of these energies; that I had dared to fish for the corruption crystals. Despite the danger of Sky Sovereign monsters and beings who are coming for the resources in the lake. The corruption is so dense in the place I am hiding, that not many Earth Sovereigns would dare to come so close. Normal Initial and Mid-Earth Sovereigns wouldn't be able to bear it for a few minutes. Even those above would find it uncomfortable and wouldn't want to stay more than an hour. It's not like I am not feeling anything; I am feeling the corruption energy that makes me feel breathless, among other things. Though it is only at that level. It is not powerful enough to harm, which it would do if I crossed twenty-some meters. I took a deep breath, and one invisible string came out of my hand and moved toward the lake. It moved quite fast and reached the lake within seconds, before going inside. Hun! Immediately, I felt the power of corruption and it was powerful. More than I had imagined. Enough that, likely, anyone with Earth Sovereign powers enters this water and survives more than a minute. Hell, they will become one with it in a matter of seconds. A bottle appeared, and my hand and string split, adding its split end to the bottle. Soon, it had started to fill it with the corruption water. Initially, I didn't want the water, since I have enough for it, but seeing its power, I want to collect it. The string begins to get deeper; as it does, the stronger the corruption begins to get. It made me marvel at the power of strings; not many things from those with Earth's Sovereign power could survive in the lake like my strings are doing. It is now making me worried, because the corruption will only get stronger, and my string might be able to bear it. It needs to bear the strongest corruption at the base; it is where these corruption crystals would be. A minute passed and my strings continued to go deeper and deeper. Oblivious to the monsters around it; there are a lot of monsters, more than I thought there would be. All of them are Peak-Earth Sovereigns, with their skin evolved to bear this powerful corruption. Hun! Another minute had half passed when the string stopped. I had not reached the base, but the corruption had become powerful enough that my strings couldn't get any deeper. 'It is such a regret,' I thought. I really love to have corrupt crystals, especially now, when I realize the crystals would be much stronger than what I had expected. It would have helped me a lot; not only in growing the resources in high quality, but also with my experiment. Corruption is useful in healing, artifice, and healing. People don't use it much due to its instability and unpredictability it brings. Even I didn't use it in healing unless I had no choice. I sighed in regret before focusing on pulling the densest corruption from the place the string was. It is the highest level of corruption it could get, and its quality is, really. I would have to be satisfied with it since I couldn't get the crystal or those precious resources. There are a large number of resources, both beneath and over the water, some even a few meters away from the strings. I didn't dare to touch them, despite wanting to very badly. Each of them is under the eyes of a monster. If I tried for it even the smallest one; the bastard would sense, it. I didn't fear the monster of the Earth Sovereign stage, but there are many Sky Sovereign monsters in the lake. ROAAAAAR! Over twenty minutes passed, and I had gathered enough corruption and was preparing to pull out my strings when I heard they might roar from deep within the lake. ROAAAR ROAAAR ROAAAR A moment later, another monster roared, with the roars of Sky Sovereign monsters being the loudest. It is when I was released, even in my overestimation. I had underestimated the number of monsters. For a moment, I was confused about the sudden reaction, but soon, I understood, when I had sensed the Sky Sovereign and there were a lot of them. Twelve Sky Sovereigns appeared in the space above the lake, and not all of them were Grimms. Eight were the Grimms, while four were natives. Two I recognized. The woman I had sensed a few hours ago, while the man was from Tor. He was part of the group. Looking at the huge number, I felt scared. More scared than when I saw Iron Horn Rhinoman entering the hall. There I know I have a chance to survive; here, I will be completely luck's mercy. It is not just monsters and Grimms, but also the corruption energy itself will kill me. I wanted to run away, but it was futile; the monsters had been roused. If I try to move now, I will get discovered and that will be my end. So, I did the only thing, I could and activated the formations in my armor, with the formation in my core activating and releasing the energy into the armor, which I had crafted to deal with corruption. I had just done that when I saw all the Sky Sovereigns moving in unison. They all went for the resources; some dived toward the lake, while others used artifacts and methods to collect the resources. ROAAAARRR! The monsters roared and moved toward the Sky Sovereign, creating waves across the lake. Immediately, I felt the corruption energy around me getting denser and even lake water coming stopping a few meters away from me. CLANNNNNG BANNNNNG CLANNNNG The monsters clashed against the beings, and it was earthshaking. Despite them being so far away from me; I felt their immense power. I am so glad that I had chosen the spot, which is underground and blocked the entrance. I am completely packed, without any exit. It had protected me from the shockwaves; that would injure me seriously or even kill me. Though it was not a perfect protection and some part of it had still hit me, giving me injuries. I have activated the formation, and healing energy spread into me, mixing with my own. It won't be the last injury I will receive, and I was right. Second later another shockwave and then another, in a matter of seconds, over a hundred shockwaves passed by me. It is a good thing the Grimms and natives are not interested in fighting the battles with monsters. They are interested in resources, and they are collecting them, but monsters are not making it easier. They are angry and mad and use everything they have to kill them. Forcing them to defend against the powerful assault of monsters. Still, they are using everything they get to collect the resources. The woman I had seen fly by a few hours ago dived into the lake, dodging the attack of over five Grimms, and collected the resources she wanted, before getting out. Which made the monsters even more angry. Hun! I was engrossed in battle, despite injuries piling on me, when I noticed something, that made my heart beat wildly.