Gift

Late at night, St. Thorn High School, a brick house on campus.

Tang Qi stood before the workbench, a light sheen of sweat on his forehead and both hands trembling slightly. The coffee beside him had long gone cold, but his face was full of excitement as his eyes stared at the wooden box on the workbench.

Inside, roughly twenty or thirty bullets lay piled in disorder.

Every one of them was a bright yellow, but after looking a little longer, one could vaguely see azure light flowing within them.

Before Tang Qi's eyes, a Special Interface appeared.

Curio: Sea Demon Bullet.

Attributes: Curse Breaking, Exorcism.

Information Fragment One: A bullet soaked in Sea Demon's Tears. It has gained a trace of Sea Demon Magic Power, transformed from an ordinary object into a supernatural one, and acquired the properties of breaking curses and dispelling evil.

Information Fragment Two: Due to the special nature of Sea Demon Magic Power, these bullets also possess a hidden attribute. If their owner points the gun at themself, there is a chance of triggering an effect that restores injuries and breaks free from special conditions.

"Whew~"

Tang Qi's breathing immediately grew a little faster.

The freshly made Sea Demon Bullets had attributes that did not surprise Tang Qi.

They seemed somewhat redundant with Furnace Bullets. That exorcism attribute was very similar to the Furnace's "Evil Breaking."

But there were differences too, such as Curse Breaking.

This attribute was easy to understand. It probably meant breaking evil curses.

Although Tang Qi had yet to encounter anyone capable of casting curses, he was certain that he would in the future. He definitely would.

The Samira Family!

This sorcerous family that had migrated from the Saha Continent was still the Sword of Damocles hanging over Tang Qi's head.

Although they had yet to come seeking revenge, Tang Qi understood very clearly.

It was not that they had given up. Rather, Tang Qi had been doing his best to stall for time. That old witch known as the Black Serpent Witch was traveling outside, while the remaining members clearly had not yet discovered that Old Morgan, their temporary family elder, had already been burned to ashes and scattered into the sea.

Scattering ashes into the sea was naturally not a Samira Family tradition. In fact, it was an insult.

The Samira Family tradition was that when a family member died, they had to be buried beneath a great tree called a "bobab." Otherwise, their soul would be unable to find peace.

If the Samira Family learned what Tang Qi had done, they would probably go mad seeking revenge.

Of course, if they learned that Old Morgan had become a Judgment Demon after being tricked by Tang Qi, enduring torture day and night upon the Soul Exchange Scale in his place—

This family would stop at nothing to kill Tang Qi.

Even the mysterious power of St. Thorn High School would be unable to stop them.

From Old Morgan's Diary, Tang Qi had seen just how twisted and united this family was.

Because of that, Tang Qi had never considered reconciliation.

Between the two sides, it could only end in death.

If not for that, Tang Qi would not have been in such a hurry to strengthen himself. Despite possessing enormous wealth, he had not the slightest intention of stopping to enjoy life.

"With these bullets, I'll be more confident in the first step of that plan."

"Next, I still need to strengthen my fundamental power."

"A shortcut has appeared before me, so every step I take must be steadier. Power cannot make people lose themselves; letting down one's guard can."

Holding a Sea Demon Bullet and feeling the faint magic power flowing within it, Tang Qi thought to himself.

He drained the cold coffee in one gulp, cleaned up the workbench, carefully put away every Sea Demon Bullet, then walked toward the bedroom to begin his daily ascetic training.

Ever since cultivating the Golden Furnace Meditation Method, sleep had completely left Tang Qi.

Although it was strange, a night of meditation was obviously far more beneficial than sleep, so Tang Qi had unhesitatingly abandoned this form of rest belonging to ordinary humans.

He sat cross-legged on the soft carpet. With a thought, Tang Qi entered a meditative state.

Boom~

As his thoughts outlined the Golden Sun, Tang Qi once again entered that dark, void-like space. He felt the warmth and scorching heat coming from his own body while facing the endless stream of increasingly surging aberrations pouring forth from some unknown fissure.

The next morning, Tang Qi woke up without needing to check the Special Interface first.

Tang Qi could feel it himself. His strength had increased again.

His gaze fell upon his body, confirming his premonition.

It was still the Skill Bar. The progress after the Meditation Method had risen from last night's 0.32% to 0.33%, while Furnace Eyes had likewise increased by 0.01%.

The Chaga Combat Technique, however, had not changed at all. As expected, Tang Qi would need to find another method.

Feeling the warm power surging through his body, Tang Qi rose with satisfaction, prepared breakfast for himself, and returned to the study after eating. He looked over the desk for a moment, took a copy of Monster Files, then picked up that century-old strange book as well.

After locking the iron door, he headed toward campus. But before turning away, Tang Qi seemed to think of something and looked once more toward the quiet area not far from his temporary home.

The most conspicuous structure there was an ancient clock tower.

Originally, according to Pastor Sinbani, that place was supposed to be the headquarters of an organization called the Ascetic Society Club.

But now that the Ascetic Society Club had been disbanded, it should have been vacant.

Based on that Treasure Map, corroborated by Old Morgan's Diary and Tang Qi's exploration of the campus on his first day—

It was entirely reasonable to speculate that the legendary Penitent's Legacy might be within the Bell Tower Area.

If he had learned all this on the first day, Tang Qi might have risked investigating it.

But now, having already caught the scent of conspiracy, Tang Qi naturally would not act so rashly.

After pretending to give it an accidental glance, Tang Qi turned around and resumed the appearance of an ordinary Asian boy, blending seamlessly into the crowd of students.

Although St. Thorn High School was a famous elite high school—

That did not mean there were no diligent, outstanding students here. In fact, the proportion of good students was extremely high. Even those youths from wealthy families had learned what they were supposed to learn. Excelling in both character and academics, developing comprehensively—that was the future path their parents had planned for them.

Of course, there were also plenty of poor students.

For example, those prominent upperclassmen and upperclasswomen Tang Qi had met on the first day. They were all unquestionably poor students.

But their family backgrounds were absurdly impressive, and they held positions like Cheerleader Captain and boxing club president. That allowed them to disregard academic performance entirely and even proudly proclaim slogans like, "Even the most talented students will end up working for my family."

Aside from them, Tang Qi was also a poor student.

That was why the parents of the original owner had needed connections just to barely get him admitted.

If he had not been a poor student, he could have relied on his grades to force his way in like Sally. Not only could he enroll, but he could also have his tuition waived and receive a scholarship.

After Tang Qi the poor student had shown a serious attitude toward studying on the first day and discovered that he had already learned almost all the common knowledge he needed, he returned to his true nature as a poor student. Openly, in class, he began reading those "odd books."

He was so absorbed in them that Sally had no choice but to cover for him so the teachers would not notice.

Until school was over, Sally wanted to remind Tang Qi, out of concern for her first good friend, that every grade at Thorn High School underwent an assessment at the end of the year, and those who failed would be expelled.

But she also worried that saying so would make her good friend unhappy.

Just as she hesitated, wanting to speak but holding back, Tang Qi gave a faint smile. He suddenly took Sally's hand and led her out of the school again, saying, "To thank you for showing me the way last night, I plan to give you a mysterious gift today."

"Trust me, you'll like it."

Tang Qi's voice entered Sally's ears. The girl had already blushed scarlet. Passively following him out of the school, she had long swallowed the warning that had been on the tip of her tongue. Her mind was blank, completely occupied by the word "gift."

Someone is giving me a gift?

That voice echoed through the girl's mind.