Reward

Li Feng had no idea what Ancient One discussed with Mordo in the lounge. He only knew that after waiting and waiting in his room without seeing Mordo return, he got so bored that he lay down on the bed and fell asleep. It was not until Mordo came looking for him with food that he realized it was already the next morning. More than a month of consecutive wilderness living had clearly exhausted Li Feng to the bone.

Mordo set down the tray and said expressionlessly, "Master Ancient One wishes to see you. She hopes that after breakfast, you will take The Key of Solomon spellbook to her meditation chamber."

After saying that, Mordo turned and left Li Feng's room. As he casually closed the door, he suddenly hesitated and said, "I told Ancient One about you using a Time Spell on the demon. She was very surprised. She said it was originally your spell, and that she had first learned it from you."

Li Feng was just lifting the tray when he blinked blankly at Mordo, who had one hand on the door and looked ready to close it at any moment. What did Ancient One mean by surprised? Didn't she already know I could use time-related spells?

Seeing the conflict and envy in Mordo's eyes, Li Feng more or less understood why Mordo had told him this. You want to learn Time Spells, but you don't know how to ask?

Rolling his eyes at Mordo, Li Feng walked out with his tray and said with a grin, "Yes. Back then, Master Ancient One exchanged books from her private collection for it."

Mordo understood Li Feng's meaning. Want to learn Time Spells? Sure—but what do you have to offer in exchange?

One only had to look at Kamar-Taj to see how precious Time Spells were and how difficult they were to learn. Other than Ancient One, who else there could use such spells? Mordo wanted to learn them, but he also feared that he lacked the talent for time-related magic. He might give Li Feng something valuable for nothing, only to end up staring blankly at the spellbook himself.

Li Feng saw Mordo's hesitation and smiled as he patted him on the shoulder. "Study under Ancient One for a while. Just tell her I gave you permission."

Mordo gave an embarrassed smile and turned to leave. He thought to himself that regardless of whether he would ultimately learn Time Spells, Li Feng allowing him to try practicing them meant he ought to give Li Feng a gift.

Li Feng had no idea what Mordo was thinking. He ate breakfast from his tray as he made his way toward Ancient One's meditation chamber.

Outside Ancient One's meditation chamber, Li Feng straightened his clothes and gently knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Li Feng entered the room, pressed his palms together, and respectfully bowed to Ancient One. Then he sat cross-legged opposite her and handed her The Key of Solomon spellbook. Along with it, he gave her his own Magic Book. Li Feng wanted Ancient One to interpret the dark spells the demon had taught him.

As she flipped through The Key of Solomon spellbook, Ancient One said with a smile, "Mordo told me that you used a time-slowing spell to trap a demon."

A little embarrassed, Li Feng said modestly, "That demon had already lost at least half of its strength before I could trap it with the Time Spell, and it was only trapped for a short time."

"That is still an extraordinary talent." Ancient One looked up at Li Feng, blinked, and said, "At the very least, you can now use Time Spells in combat."

Ancient One quickly finished reading The Key of Solomon spellbook and said regretfully, "They are very interesting spells, but they are not especially useful to us Mages. They rely more on faith in God to cast."

As she returned The Key of Solomon spellbook to Li Feng, Ancient One said, "Unless you give up being a Mage and become a devout Priest of the Church."

Like hell I wanted to be a Priest. Mages were way cooler.

With some regret, Li Feng frowned and asked, "Is it completely useless?"

Ancient One shrugged and smiled. "It is not impossible to convert Faith Power into Mana, but first we would need to understand the principles behind these spells. The problem is, this is God's book. Where would we find God to explain the principles of these spells to us?"

Before she could finish, Ancient One seemed to realize she had said something wrong. After pondering for a moment, she gave a wry smile. "I nearly forgot. Others might go their entire lives without ever encountering an angel or God, but you are different. In one of the worlds behind you, angels and God may exist. If you meet Him, perhaps you could ask about the principles behind these spells. Once you understand them, you may earn the title of demon's bane."

Demon's bane, I could understand. After all, The Key of Solomon was mainly meant to destroy demons. But asking God about spells? Heh, that was truly insane. I thought I'd rather ask a demon. Demons showed up far more often than God, after all. And who knew how God felt about someone using Dark Energy? What if He decided I was evil and wanted to hang me up and beat me? Should I kneel and beg for mercy, throw myself flat in surrender, or die heroically with dignity?

While grumbling inwardly, Li Feng opened his Magic Book and handed it to Ancient One, pointing at the spells inside. "The demon taught me all of these. I know there are problems with them, but I can only identify some of them. For example, the demon can locate the caster, and repeatedly using certain spells corrodes the mind with darkness. So right now, I can only look at them longingly. I don't dare practice a single one."

As she examined the spells, Ancient One said, "Your caution is correct." Pointing at a Plague Flame spell, Ancient One smiled. "For example, repeatedly using this spell will infect your body with a supernatural plague. Once the demon senses your location, you will eventually become a piece of 'clothing' for his wardrobe, something for him to show off."

Clothing? Couldn't you just say demonic possession? When you call it clothing, I feel like I'm wearing clothes, but it still sends chills down my spine.

"I don't know whether you can help me sort out these dark spells. I want to learn them, because..." With a trace of bitterness, Li Feng let out a long sigh. "Because the nature of my Mana leaves me with no choice. And Mordo already knows about my Mana problem. I probably won't be staying in Kamar-Taj much longer."

Scratching his head, Li Feng said with an embarrassed expression, "As for payment, I can give you some magical items I collect in other worlds in the future, if there are any you like."

Ancient One did not actually want Li Feng to come into contact with spells taught by demons so early. She had originally been considering how to guide him step by step. Now that Li Feng wanted her help modifying the magic, she felt she should revise the spells more thoroughly—turning the dark spells into general-purpose spells where possible, or at least spells only loosely connected to darkness. It would also give Li Feng a transition period when dealing with Dark Energy.

With that in mind, Ancient One stood, took the Magic Book, and returned to her desk, where she copied the dozens of dark spells within onto sheets of paper.

Then Ancient One returned the Magic Book to Li Feng and said with a smile, "Although I am pleased with some of the subtle changes in Mordo, he himself is somewhat disappointed with his first journey through another world. He feels that he did not get to witness a wonderful Magic World and hopes to travel with you once more."

Pointing at the dark spells on the desk, Ancient One smiled and shook her head, refusing Li Feng's empty promise. "I will examine and modify these spells for you. Consider it payment for Mordo borrowing your Transdimensional Portal."

Only Ancient One, with her vast resources, would not care about Li Feng's small private collection. If he asked anyone else to help modify dark spells, Li Feng could sell even his underwear and still might not find anyone willing to do him such an enormous favor.

Li Feng had already planned to take Mordo through another world, but he had not expected this extra benefit. What did borrowing the Portal matter? To Li Feng, this was simply getting Ancient One to help him for free.

Thinking that, Li Feng pressed his palms together and bowed. "In that case, Mordo and I will depart for another world now. However, I cannot control which world we go to. I only hope this journey will satisfy Mordo."

After saying goodbye to Ancient One, Li Feng quickly returned to his room. Before he even pushed open his door, he could already hear the commotion Mordo was making inside.

Li Feng pushed the door open and saw that Mordo was already fully dressed and waiting for him.

After their previous journey, Mordo understood why Li Feng carried every item he could. If they had brought equipment that countered demons during their first trip, he could have tortured Hegma to death long ago. There would have been no need to use The Key of Solomon to weaken the demon.

So this time, Mordo insisted on bringing several commonly used items in case they encountered another demon. After all, there were simply too many worlds where demons roamed.

When Mordo saw Li Feng return, he casually tossed him a cloak. "This is a Thermal Cloak. At least if we land in an icy wilderness again, you'll still be able to breathe. I don't want to see you shivering from the cold again. It's too embarrassing for a Mage."

With a free Magical Artifact to use, Li Feng had no idea what politeness was. He immediately draped the cloak over himself. As he opened the Transdimensional Portal behind him, he said, "Welcome, Mr. Mordo, aboard this flight. This flight will take off in three seconds. Passengers, please hold tightly onto the pilot. Also, passengers prone to airsickness, please do not vomit on the pilot. The pilot's clothes are damn expensive."

Speechless, Mordo grabbed hold of Li Feng, who kept spouting nonsense. The instant he rolled his eyes, the Transdimensional Portal swallowed him once more.

The moment the two were squeezed out of the Transdimensional Portal, they discovered they had arrived in a filthy, messy, foul-smelling alley. Li Feng felt that Mordo's luck was seriously questionable. Last time, they had traveled to a world ravaged by plague, a world with hygiene so poor it practically forbade bathing. This time, they emerged into an alley where trash was piled like mountains and rats seemed ready to dance in formation before them.

Lord Mordo, had you gone so long without washing your face that it turned black? Why was traveling with you always a battle against bad smells?

Beside him, Mordo, who had briefly vomited, rubbed his stomach and asked, "Where are we?"

Li Feng rolled his eyes. "Earth."

Mordo: "..." Of course I knew it was Earth. You would need the ability first if you wanted to travel to another planet.

Before they could leave the alley, Mordo suddenly grabbed Li Feng and pulled him into a corner, whispering, "I smell a demon."

A demon last time, and another demon this time? Sure enough, you probably hadn't just skipped washing your face—you hadn't bathed in years. Your whole body must be growing mold.

Li Feng glanced at Mordo in exasperation and grumbled inwardly. Couldn't we go to an easier world for once? I'm just a rookie. Why did I keep traveling to worlds with demons?

After waiting only a short while, Li Feng saw a man whose face was covered in scars enter the alley, holding two metal Short Staffs. At the same time, a middle-aged man with a Mediterranean hairstyle bared his teeth as he ambushed Scarface from the darkness.

Unfortunately, Mediterranean was far too weak for Scarface. He was immediately subdued, then let out a beast-like roar.

At that point, Li Feng did not even need to use a Magic Artifact to tell which one was the demon Mordo had mentioned.