Dear, It's Time to Take Your Medicine!

Qin Chu was jolted awake by that scream.

He silently shook his head and dispersed the Devourer.

Candice, having escaped death by a hair's breadth, gasped in huge breaths. Her pretty face was deathly pale, beads of sweat the size of soybeans covered her cheeks, and she was utterly terrified, her body still trembling without end.

Looking at Matras on the ground, this Yin-Yang Demon whose strength had been quite formidable had now completely changed into something else, lying motionless on the floor like a dried corpse.

His face, eye sockets, and mouth had sunk deeply inward. His entire body looked like a skeleton draped in a layer of skin, shriveled and clinging tightly to the bones. All of Matras's power had been drained completely clean by Qin Chu.

Without energy to sustain it, the two halves of the corpse that had been forcibly stuck together could no longer hold on. With a crack, they split apart, revealing the cavity within, which had long since become hollow.

That was right. The insides of the two halves had been completely hollowed out. Internal organs such as the heart, liver, lungs, intestines, and stomach had vanished without a trace, replaced by a clump of grayish-black matter that resembled a tangled mass of hair.

That was the Yin-Yang Demon's true body. It had a bizarre head somewhat like an octopus's, except beneath that head were not octopus tentacles, but countless densely packed, thin threadworms like strands of hair...

Had he ever seen horsehair worms inside a praying mantis's belly?

They were like those things, only several times longer, densely tangled together and writhing.

Though it was not his first time seeing a Yin-Yang Demon's true body, Qin Chu still felt his scalp tingle. This thing was truly disgusting.

He had heard that if they were coated in flour and thrown into a wok of hot oil, they tasted quite good.

But Qin Chu had never tried them.

The Yin-Yang Demon relied on those hundreds—perhaps even more—of horsehair-worm-like things to pierce through the corpse's head, torso, and limbs, manipulating it in battle.

In some ways, they were more like a type of parasitic Demonic Beast.

Once the puppet corpse they controlled was destroyed, their frail true bodies would be exposed. At this moment, even a brat could easily kill the Yin-Yang Demon.

Unable to bear that disgusting appearance, Qin Chu stomped on that bald, translucent head, which seemed full of grayish-white mucus sloshing about inside.

With a squelch, he crushed it outright.

Mucus splattered everywhere.

Squeak, squeak, squeak...

In that instant, Qin Chu seemed to hear those horsehair worms making strange noises as the long worms curled up at once.

After the head died, these threadworms would still struggle for several hours before truly dying.

"Pretty disgusting, isn't it, Miss Candice?" Qin Chu asked lightly.

Candice's lips trembled, and an unnatural flush colored her face. She knew that a little of her power had also been Devoured just now. That was great Horus's warning to her.

Humanity's strongest fear was the fear of the unknown.

That was precisely how Candice felt toward great Horus now.

This man stood right before her, and they had spoken for some time, yet Candice could not see through him at all.

Mysterious and profound, like the starry sky, yet also like standing at the edge of an abyss.

Rather than killing Matras outright, Candice had pinned him beneath her foot and handed him over to Horus because she wanted to see Horus's methods.

Candice had never doubted that Horus was powerful. She had merely been very curious about exactly what power Horus possessed and what level his strength had reached.

Yet she had never expected Lord Horus to drain Matras into a human husk. It was a mysterious power she had never even heard of. As expected of great Horus.

Even after witnessing Lord Horus's methods, she understood little more about him. On the contrary, Candice only found Lord Horus even more unfathomable.

For the first time, an uncontrollable impulse rose within Candice to peer into Horus's most mysterious side, to understand more.

But some of her magic power had just been Devoured.

Without a doubt, Lord Horus had seen through her thoughts. What had just happened was his warning and punishment.

If she continued probing, it would no longer be something as simple as a warning. Candice suppressed the impulse in her heart.

Hearing Qin Chu's voice, Candice forced out a smile. "It is rather disgusting."

"I accidentally drained a little of your magic power just now..." Qin Chu said, somewhat annoyed.

The Devourer's effect was too powerful. Moreover, as he Devoured another's power, his own strength continuously grew and became ever stronger. The excitement and stimulation brought by that feeling were simply too intense. Even with Qin Chu's self-control, he had carelessly sunk into it. Matras had already been drained dry, yet he had not stopped the Devourer, even drawing away a little of Candice's power.

Fortunately, Candice had not counterattacked in panic. Otherwise, his carefully crafted image as an unfathomable master would have completely Ruined.

As her emotions gradually settled, Candice relaxed slightly and hurriedly shook her head. "I was the one who acted rashly. It was not Lord Horus's fault."

Huh?

Qin Chu was somewhat bewildered. Clearly, he had been the one who failed to control himself, so how had it become her fault?

Though he did not understand, Qin Chu was quite adept at going with the flow.

"Even so, the fact that I drained your magic power is indisputable."

"Do this. Prepare a sheet of paper for me."

By now, Candice no longer had the slightest hesitation when facing Qin Chu's orders. She immediately turned and fetched a notebook.

Qin Chu sat in a chair. After a brief moment of thought, he picked up a quill and began writing rapidly in the notebook.

Before long, he had filled four entire pages.

After blowing on the ink in the notebook, Qin Chu handed it to Candice.

Candice took the notebook with some suspicion. But after lowering her head for just one glance, her expression instantly changed.

She looked through it page by page in disbelief. Her fingers... no, her entire body trembled constantly. Her breathing turned into harsh gasps, her chest heaving like waves.

Her long purple hair swayed along with the trembling of her voluptuous body.

Her fair cheeks had turned crimson.

A mist had even clouded her violet eyes, making her look almost as if she had been stirred by desire.

Hey, hey, hey, what I wrote was perfectly serious stuff. It wasn't some dirty little novel. Was that expression really necessary?

Qin Chu grumbled inwardly.

Anyone who did not know better would think he had written something terrible.

After a long while, Candice suddenly took a deep breath. The excitement on her face remained impossible to conceal. Her hand clutched the notebook tightly, and even her voice trembled.

"Trans... Transcendent Magic."

"Skyfire Meteor..."

"This is for me?"

Here is the first chapter. If everyone has recommendation tickets, please cast one. Thank you.

Jello's Soul Fragment (2)

Transcendent Magic was the strongest power human mages on the Skyvault Continent could wield.

Mages had many weaknesses. For instance, their physical condition was too frail, and after running just a few steps, they would be gasping for breath. High-level spells also required far too long to chant...

But despite their many flaws, everyone acknowledged that mages possessed the greatest destructive power among all combat professions.

Especially for high-level mages, a single spell could directly crush a whole swath of enemies to death.

Transcendent Magic could even directly destroy a small town. It absolutely qualified as a weapon of mass destruction.

However, learning Transcendent Magic was extraordinarily difficult.

Every Transcendent Magic incantation had been passed down through generations. They were a mage's most precious treasures, hoards classified at the level of national secrets.

Even if one possessed astonishing talent, without an exceptionally powerful master or background, it was difficult to obtain a Transcendent Magic incantation.

Across the entire Skyvault Continent, the number of Transcendent Magic incantations could be counted on one's fingers.

The royal family possessed three. The Holy Church and Earth Mother Church possessed five. The Thirteen Sages possessed two. Athena, the Archmage of the Hero's Party whose strength had long reached the level of a Grand Sage, inherited one from her master...

Once those numbers were laid out, one could understand just how precious Transcendent Magic truly was.

These incantations generally were never passed on to outsiders. Under normal circumstances, Candice would have had no chance of obtaining one. The only way for her to master Transcendent Magic was to create it herself.

And the difficulty of creating it herself...

No matter what, she had never imagined that what Lord Horus gave her would actually be a Transcendent Magic incantation. And that was not all. Besides the incantation, there were even detailed cultivation methods and matters requiring attention during practice.

After all, power such as Transcendent Magic was simply too formidable. A single careless mistake during cultivation could lead to eternal damnation.

Candice gulped down breath after breath. She felt as though she were about to suffocate, and even her vision had begun to blur.

"Th-this is for me?" Candice's voice trembled.

"Of course. Though it was caused by your mistake." Qin Chu nodded, shamelessly pushing the blame for failing to control the Devourer onto Candice's head. Since Candice herself had admitted it was her fault anyway. "However, the fact that I drained your power remains..."

"So naturally, I must give you some compensation."

"Moreover, I, Horus, have never been stingy toward those who work for me. Take this as your reward for serving me."

"Remember this: with your current strength, trying to cast Skyfire Meteor would be no different from playing with fire and burning yourself." Qin Chu warned in a deep voice. "But studying it in advance will be very helpful to your magical cultivation."

Candice firmly engraved every sentence and every word Qin Chu spoke into her heart. These were the teachings of a senior master, immensely precious experience.

As expected of great Lord Horus. He began by handing out Transcendent Magic.

Compared with the value of this Transcendent Magic, the tiny amount of magic power that had been drained from her was not worth mentioning. If possible, Candice would rather let Lord Horus drain away a little more.

If Candice's feelings toward the Horus before her had originally been fear and curiosity, they had now become reverence.

During all her years serving Demonic Beasts, she had received no reward whatsoever. All she received in return was scolding and rebuke. Yet when facing Lord Horus, though she was afraid, she also felt respected.

Overcome with emotion, Candice dropped to one knee and lowered her proud head.

"Thank you for your reward, Lord Horus. Candice is willing to follow you unto death and never betray you." Candice made her oath.

Yet this oath clearly did not move Qin Chu. His eyes narrowed slightly. Having gone through one cycle, he did not believe in any oath of never betraying.

He had once saved this world. How many people had he rescued?

Those had been life-saving debts.

How many had wept with gratitude, repeatedly declaring that they would remember his kindness for all eternity?

But in the end, what had there been? Betrayal!

He did not need Candice's loyalty. All he needed was a useful tool.

"Prepare for me every low-level and intermediate-level magic incantation you know."

Low-level and intermediate-level magic incantations?

What did Lord Horus want such things for?

After all, Lord Horus could casually produce a Transcendent Magic incantation. Could he really care about such low-grade things?

Could it be that Lord Horus wanted to learn them himself?

Impossible. Lord Horus could not possibly be unfamiliar with such low-level things. There had to be some other use.

"And a list."

After obtaining what he had requested, Qin Chu's figure vanished from the tavern. Candice glanced at the corpse on the floor and gently shook her head. She knew that from this day forward, she had completely broken with the Demonic Beasts.

If the matter here became exposed, she would face the Demonic Beasts' bloody retaliation.

The days ahead would likely be difficult.

But Candice did not regret it.

Even though Candice did not know whether Lord Horus would truly protect her or, like her mother, treat her as nothing more than a tool to discard once used, she did not regret it. This was the path she had chosen.

Qin Chu landed atop a lamppost.

The mark left on the back of his hand by the Phantom Demon had already been removed.

With a certain foundation of magic power within his body, along with a Witch sitting on his shoulder, removing the Phantom Demon's mark was not difficult.

Saya Nicholas very much liked that spot on Qin Chu's shoulder.

Her pale little legs swung gently, silver hair fluttered in the night breeze, and her scarlet eyes stared at the palace ahead just like Qin Chu's did.

"You actually handed that girl Transcendent Magic directly. You're really generous." Saya giggled. "Don't tell me you've taken a fancy to that girl?"

"That girl is indeed not bad, but compared to this young lady, she still falls a little short."