Life Code

This was an advanced microscope with a mechanical structure so precise it was almost exaggerated.

After a day and a night beneath this microscope, within the microscopic world of the little white mouse's already dissected cells, Green used the Hunting Nose potion's neutralized brown color to vaguely see a mysterious region he had never come into contact with before, never heard of before, and had not even imagined before. Moreover, this mysterious region seemed to exist in every cell of life.

The mysterious region was simply too tiny. Even with the super-advanced microscope before Green's eyes, he could still only judge, through the synthetic pigments once injected into the little white mouse's cells, that the Hunting Nose Modification had indeed affected this mysterious region, which was what had caused the little white mouse's deformed evolution.

In fact, if not for the influence of those synthetic pigments, even if Green observed under the microscope for an entire year, it would still have been very difficult for him to find this mysterious region.

Even if he saw it, he would not have noticed it. Its existence was like a special pearl on a beach, simply too minuscule.

Green secretly named this mysterious region of the infinitely tiny microscopic world the Life Code Forbidden Zone!

Since he had already successfully verified that the sorcery of Hunting Nose Modification was indeed different from bloodline sorcery, and had found the direction for his next step of research—namely, to find an even higher-grade ultimate microscope to observe that Life Code Forbidden Zone—

With that, the basic task this time could be considered successfully completed. He was so excited that his face flushed an unnatural red.

Although the wondrous knowledge he had discovered at present had not brought Green any improvement in combat ability, and Green could not even see its prospects at all, the instinct of a wizard to explore unknown knowledge made an indescribable pleasure surge from the depths of Green's soul. This pleasure left Green utterly intoxicated.

Since that black cat and Varo had not urged Green to leave, Green simply shamelessly stayed on and began to study the frog cells parasitized by the Gadfly Snail, as well as the intact hind-leg cells that had been cut off and preserved earlier.

Another half a day later.

Green was completely certain that this frog's bloodline had not changed in any way!

Then, the cause of this frog's deformed evolution naturally made Green think of that Life Code Forbidden Zone.

Could it be that the Gadfly Snail, a parasite in the natural world, was actually able to touch the Life Code Forbidden Zone in that infinitely microscopic, tiny world?

This same delightful discovery made Green so excited he could barely put it into words.

Just what sort of world was this Life Code Forbidden Zone, that it could actually change the form of life at its very source?

Even those so-called curse transformation spells were merely using certain occult methods to temporarily "graft" one life's soul onto another life's body.

For example, back in Bissell City, Wizard Arowoz had turned a knight into a pig.

In the world of wizards, things like faith and gods did not exist.

Green was certain that if one day, a god truly appeared in the Wizard World, those terrifying ancient old wizards who had lived for who knew how many eras would surely go mad, use every bit of power to capture this god, and then slice him up for research.

The books mentioned that in those native worlds once conquered by wizards, there had indeed been some fellows who called themselves gods. The wizards had unceremoniously killed them all and sliced them up, only to discover that these fellows were merely somewhat stronger lifeforms.

These so-called gods had nothing whatsoever to do with the gods in myths and legends who split heaven and earth apart and created the stars, sun, and moon.

Because there were endless worlds, even the worlds the wizards had conquered, come into contact with, communicated with, or even merely heard rumors of were still only a single grain of sand amid the vast sea and drifting clouds. Therefore, most wizards still held a reverent attitude toward unknown worlds.

Even if they had never seen such a thing as a god, they would never deny the possibility of its existence.

The ultimate goal of wizards was to obtain the knowledge of endless other worlds through repeated campaigns into foreign worlds, allowing themselves to reach an ability capable of changing everything they could imagine.

The excitement in his heart did not calm for a long time!

At this moment, the laboratory door opened, and the black cat walked in with a calm expression.

"Little guy, the old man will probably be back today. If you don't want to die, you'd better leave quickly. Though the old man usually has a decent temper, that's only when he's in a good mood."

Green's expression changed. After thanking the black cat, he hurriedly left with all his experimental materials.

The black cat shouted from behind, "If you need anything next time, keep contacting that kid Varo. The same conditions will do."

"Oh, got it!"

Green left without even looking back. He did not want a wizard to discover that an apprentice had barged into his laboratory. When that time came, heaven knew what the consequences would be.

Perhaps this wizard would blast Green straight into dregs in a fit of rage.

Green did not hurry back to his little hut. Instead, he ran to the first floor of Black Isotta Tower, spent one magic stone in the experimental materials area to buy a wild crane, and only then walked toward his little hut.

"Perhaps the next step will also be to study why wild cranes can resist the deformed evolution after being parasitized by Gadfly Snails. However, the most important issue now is to cultivate a batch of mature Gadfly Snails as companion insects as soon as possible. I heard this step will take quite a lot of time."

The time until the trial exam was drawing closer and closer. Green had no choice but to devote all his time to improving his strength.

Including some unconventional methods!

Half a month later, after finishing meditation, Green came before the wild crane he was raising and used his mental power to sense the Gadfly Snails he had carefully cultivated in the wild crane's stomach pouch.

"Not bad. In another month, these little fellows will be able to grow into mature forms. When the time comes, I'll take them..."

Ding...

Just then, a soul signal came from Green's crystal ball. Green frowned slightly and came before the crystal ball, then infused it with magic power.

Green wondered aloud, who would be contacting him? These days, he had already kept such a low profile...

"Green, I know you're preparing for the newcomer trial, but I had no choice but to contact you."

In the crystal ball appeared the fat man's bitter smile. This fat man was, of course, the fellow with whom Green had consigned the Love Goddess Venus Fragrance.

Green asked in surprise, "What happened?"

After the image on the other side of the crystal ball shook for a moment, another face replaced it.

When Green saw this face, he was greatly shocked. This person was actually the "beauty" wizard who had taught him the basic knowledge of wizards. Of course, her act of eating a centipede raw at the time had left a deep impression on many people.

The female wizard looked at Green from the other side of the crystal ball.

"You're the creator of Love Goddess Venus? Not bad, little fellow. You actually managed to invent something this miraculous."

Green forced a smile. Unless it was to take on a disciple, having a wizard notice a wizard apprentice was no good thing, because the two of them were simply not on the same level of strength.

"All right, I won't say more. Look how frightened you are. I'm not a wizard who enjoys slaughter, and of course, I don't have the habit of casually taking disciples either."

After a pause, the female wizard said, "The reason I came to you this time is for Venus, Goddess of Love. Make me thirty bottles of Venus, Goddess of Love suitable for ladies at once. Name whatever conditions you want."

The corner of Green's mouth twitched as he said, "To be honest, Master Lianyi, I'd also like to make some Venus, Goddess of Love and earn more magic stones, but because the exam trial is coming..."

Suddenly, the female wizard's face turned cold, and she said in a low voice, "I said, name whatever conditions you want!"

Green was startled, and just as he was about to agree, the female wizard suddenly sighed again.

"Ah... Forget it. I won't scare you. I like your Venus, Goddess of Love very much. It's a decent idea. Knowledge of scent-molecule pharmaceutics? But since you're going to the trial, I won't force you into a difficult position. Three days from now, bring thirty bottles of Venus, Goddess of Love to the library, and I'll give you a few little trinkets you'll definitely be able to use during the trial."

After she finished speaking, the other side of the crystal ball cut off the connection directly without waiting for Green to reply.

With a bitter face, Green had no idea whether being noticed by a wizard this time was a blessing or a disaster.

Even worse, the reason he had been noticed by a wizard was actually those perfumes Green had not cared about at all. This was far beyond Green's expectations.

However, Green did not dare defy a wizard's will. Otherwise, if he displeased her, she would have a thousand ways to avoid the enforcement team and kill Green.

"No, when I go to Black Isotta Tower later to prepare the perfume-making materials, I have to buy a wizard tool for self-defense, especially protection against curses."

Thinking this, Green shot off toward Black Isotta Tower like a wisp of smoke.

The female wizard had already left. The fatty kept explaining to Green with a bitter face, and Green also knew his difficulties and did not blame her. What wizard apprentice would dare refuse the demands of a formal wizard?

If it had been Green himself, he would definitely have done the same.

However, understanding was understanding, and compensation was another matter altogether. Green simply stated his demand directly.

"Uh, I do indeed have a few things here that defend against curses. Of course, they're all low-grade goods suitable for wizard apprentices. If you run into some high-level curse, these things won't be of much use, so you'd still be better off cultivating a symbiotic insect as soon as possible."

As he spoke, the fatty took several objects out from behind the counter.

"This is Mermaid's Tear. It's a consumable. I only have this last drop here. I usually list it for fifty magic stones. For you, I'll give it at cost, forty magic stones. How about it?"

Seeing that Green did not speak, the fatty pointed to the other small items with a bitter face.

"This is Eternal Earring. It's a fine wizard tool among wizard apprentices. Six hundred magic stones minimum. I really can't go any lower."

"This is Crying Branch. Wearing it on your body can stop a curse from worsening for a period of time, solidifying the curse on your body. Most formal wizards usually carry a piece of it on them. At least five hundred magic stones."

"This is Troll Blood..."

Green clicked his tongue as he looked at the fatty. This fellow was actually so wealthy!??

At once, the fatty's status in Green's eyes rose by a large chunk, turning into a great big magic stone gleaming with dazzling light, slick and shiny.

When the fatty saw Green looking at him in shock, and at the same time the desire appearing deep in his eyes, he could not help feeling secretly pleased. His goal had finally been achieved, and only then did he tempt him, saying, "Brother Green, I wonder if you'd be interested in a cooperation?"

Green gave the fatty a wary glance.

"Cooperation? How?"

The fatty chuckled. "A very simple cooperation! To be honest with you, being able to open a shop in Black Isotta Tower means I still have some backing here. Ordinary wizards wouldn't dare do anything to me at all. So... Brother, if you're willing to cooperate with me and hand the perfume formula to me, I'll sell it, and in the future it'll save you from having troubles like today's happen again."

The fatty continued in a low, suggestive voice, "And after the perfume is sold, we split it four-six. I take four, you take six. It continues until the end of your life. How about it?"

Green looked at the fatty with a sneering attitude.

He was not one of those little children anymore, to be coaxed and tricked so easily!?

Gritting his teeth, the fatty said again with a pained expression, "How about this. Since you're about to undergo the newcomer trial, and there's considerable risk of death, I can advance you five thousand magic stones. Also, to make our agreement valid, we'll sign this Seven-Ring Contract. How about it?"

Five thousand magic stones! Seven-Ring Contract!

What was this fatty's background? Green stared at the fellow in disbelief, dumbstruck, and did not come back to himself for a long while.

Besides, was this broken perfume worth such a big move from the fatty?

Even if he sold thirty bottles to every wizard in all of Black Isotta Tower, he wouldn't earn back the cost of the Seven-Ring Contract...

No matter how he looked at it, this fatty was making a money-losing deal, stupid to the extreme. But since the other party was able to open a shop like this and run it in good order, could he really be stupid?