Strange Sketches

After night fell, Tang Qi's usual routine at home was to make bullets, then spend about an hour practicing Combat Techniques, and finally meditate through the entire night.

But today was clearly somewhat special. Tang Qi had absorbed the Mental Power gained from devouring Therand Dual-Blade Man's resentful soul, and the saturated, brimming sensation in his head told him that there was no need to meditate again. It would serve no purpose and might even invite danger.

Fortunately, aside from meditation and Combat Techniques, Tang Qi had other things to do.

After adjusting his state, Tang Qi went to the workbench and replenished the two types of bullets he had used tonight.

Once he had tidied up, Tang Qi returned to the first floor.

He now held a fairly large bundle in his hands.

Inside were tonight's spoils.

The rough but sturdy bundle slowly opened, revealing the items within.

There was a messy stack of sketches, more than a dozen snow-white dog teeth, an old notebook, and two rust-speckled cleavers.

Each of them emitted a faint glow.

Tang Qi understood the meaning of that glow: traces of the supernatural.

Only supernatural items could emit a faint radiance under Tang Qi's gaze.

Tang Qi did not immediately inspect the Information Fragments of these supernatural items. Instead, he first picked up the notebook.

This notebook had belonged to Mr. Skana, the dog breeder killed by the Dual-Blade Man.

Curio: Skana's Manuscript.

Status: Intact.

Information Fragment One: It was Mr. Skana's life's work, recording in detail how to cultivate a hybrid Devil Dog. The experiments may have been cruel and unforgivable, but they could indeed produce terrifying wolfdogs possessing a trace of Devil Dog bloodline.

Information Fragment Two: If it were handed over to a high-level Beast Tamer, the manuscript might be perfected and a true Devil Dog might be cultivated.

After glancing at the rapidly passing Information Fragments, Tang Qi opened the manuscript. He casually flipped through only a few pages before setting it aside.

Just as the fragments had said, the experimental process was indeed cruel.

Anyone with even a slight moral aversion would burn it immediately after reading it.

Tang Qi did not do so, but he had no interest in studying it further.

Not because of morality, but because there was no need.

"Beast Tamer?"

"It had cultivated a Hybrid Devil Dog yet still could not enter the ranks of professionals. This path looked extremely difficult, and its combat style did not suit me."

Tang Qi murmured, his words revealing a small secret of the Supernatural Realm.

Although the Mystic Side had lain dormant for a century because of that "Mysterious Meteor," some faint Supernatural Power still remained. Those powers were also the foundation for the Mystic Side's revival, the return of the Spirit Tide, and the reestablishment of order.

And in the future supernatural order, all kinds of "professionals" who had once shone brilliantly in ancient times would inevitably return to the stage of the Mystic Side.

So-called professionals were, in truth, a collective term for beings who had already mastered Supernatural Power and could continuously advance.

For example, the old witch Tang Qi had yet to meet, Old Morgan's mother, Black Serpent Witch Samira.

She was a professional.

Tang Qi could not determine her rank, but she was undoubtedly a Witch, one who had mastered a great deal of Dark Witchcraft.

As the Spirit Tide returned, professionals with complete inheritances would only grow more powerful.

Others who entered the Supernatural Realm could only chase after them passively, with little hope of catching up.

For instance, if a young man accidentally acquired Skana's Manuscript, he would possess the potential to become a Beast Tamer professional. But truly entering that sequence would likely be as difficult as ascending to heaven.

Tang Qi had inferred this knowledge from Old Morgan's manuscript and from extensively reading Odd Books such as Monster Files, Centennial Oddities of the Federation, Overview of Arcane Mysteries...

Perhaps it was not entirely accurate. Perhaps the Mystic Side had other names for these things. But within the order of the Old Era, it still had some degree of accuracy.

Because of this, Tang Qi already had some plans for his future path, and Skana's Manuscript was not part of them.

Setting the manuscript aside, Tang Qi immediately glanced at the dog teeth.

Curio: Devil Dog's Teeth.

Status: Intact.

Information Fragment: From a hybrid Devil Dog, these teeth possessed toughness, sharpness, and certain other mysterious properties. They could be used to make secret medicine or create other supernatural items, such as weapons.

As expected, the teeth were supernatural materials with quite a few uses.

But putting those uses into practice would require a great deal of experimentation.

Unlike the next two cleavers, which were directly supernatural weapons.

Curio: Therand Dual Blades.

Status: Intact.

Information Fragment One: These were the two cleavers Therand used to kill his wife and daughter. Tainted by the power of frenzied resentment, they successfully transformed into supernatural weapons. They required no deciphering; once held, the wielder would automatically learn Mad Blade Technique, but would also descend into chaotic madness.

Information Fragment Two: Those with weak wills would quickly commit suicide after using them.

"Dangerous weapons."

After silently giving them that description, Tang Qi set the dual blades aside as well.

Only the final item remained among the spoils.

Mixed in with the pile of sketches was a supernatural item that could turn a painter into a slave.

After obtaining "it," that painter had transformed from a human into a lust slave.

This meant it was a dangerous item.

Tang Qi did not want to become a lust slave, so after killing the painter, he had not immediately taken it out to inspect it. Instead, he had returned here.

Thorn High School was always enveloped in a mysterious, sacred power.

Even now, Tang Qi had not discovered the source of that power.

But that did not prevent Tang Qi from borrowing it. Even a Dark Witchcraft treasure like the Soul Exchange Scale had been rapidly weakened here.

The unknown sketch could be weakened as well.

Even so, before he began flipping through it, the Furnace Power that had expanded several times over had already started flowing from Tang Qi's body, gathering in his palm, poised to strike.

At the same time, Tang Qi fetched a cup of deep-blue "salt water."

Blue Sea Salt. To prevent any accidents, Tang Qi had deliberately dissolved another piece. Rather than use it to make bullets, he held it directly in his mouth at this moment.

Break curses!

Cleanse evil!

Though it sounded less powerful than the Red Sea Salt Tang Qi had already used up, Blue Sea Salt was clearly more suitable against those strange and evil existences.

Of course, that was also because Tang Qi had only one piece of Red Sea Salt left, while his supply of Blue Sea Salt was relatively plentiful.

Holding the salt water in his mouth and enduring its salty taste, Tang Qi finally began turning through the sketches left behind by the painter who had committed so many bloody crimes.

Rustle, rustle, rustle!

The first was a ruined portrait of a customer.

The second was an apple, likely a practice sketch.

The third was a curvaceous naked woman in a seductive pose.

The fourth was a man and woman entwined together, and the man was actually the painter himself.

In the quiet room, every other sound had vanished. Only the sound of pages turning remained.

Yet after more than half the sketches had been flipped through, no Special Interface had appeared in Tang Qi's vision, nor had any sensation arisen in his mind. The salt water dissolved from Blue Sea Salt could drive away evil, but it was still, in fact, salt water.

Tang Qi felt as though his tongue was about to lose all sense of taste.

Splash!

Acting on instinct, Tang Qi flipped over another sketch.

Just as he was about to move on to the next one as before.

Boom~

Without giving Tang Qi any time to react, black tentacles suddenly burst from the sketch without warning. In an instant, they were about to wrap around Tang Qi's body and drag him into the world within the drawing.