Red Nose

"Wuwu..."

The potion took effect!

The little macaque began to merge with the Quasit's extraordinary bloodline.

Flesh melted and blood was born, bringing excruciating pain.

Even while unconscious, it could not help letting out miserable "yiyah" cries.

The Abyss's gloomy, bone-chilling aura shrouded the surroundings.

Its monkey fur was like ripe dandelion fluff, scattering in every direction with a faint breeze.

Its wrinkled skin darkened at a visible rate, becoming as rough as stone.

Its teeth fell out one by one, replaced by a mouthful of sharper fangs.

Its bones crackled like frying beans as its bodily structure changed.

It went from a semi-upright animal to one that walked fully upright.

"Fusing an extraordinary bloodline brings such immediate results."

In barely half an hour,

the little red-nosed macaque had come to resemble a Quasit by eighty percent.

Yin Ming watched from the side, carefully recording Red Nose's reactions after taking the Bloodline Potion.

For a hazy moment, he felt as if he had returned to a laboratory on Earth.

Having spent half his life cultivating, researching, and experimenting, Yin Ming was not skilled at dealing with people.

He knew more white mice, rabbits, and monkeys than people, and he felt an inexplicable closeness toward monkeys.

"Chichi..."

Suddenly, the little red-nosed macaque woke up.

With an agile leap, its feet hooked onto a branch as it bared a mouthful of fangs.

Having shed its monkey form and become a Quasit, it retained the red nose from its days as a monkey, while its physical qualities surpassed those of a low-level Magic Beast.

Its crimson eyes were lively and bright, possessing intelligence no less than that of a seven- or eight-year-old child.

One bottle of Bloodline Potion

had turned a monkey that lived by gathering wild fruit into something so ferocious.

With a crack,

Yin Ming condensed a Wizard's Hand.

The branch and Red Nose were slapped into the dirt together by the giant palm.

He grabbed the red-nosed Quasit, whose ribs had broken in several places, and warned coldly, "You're only a juvenile! You've just gained a little strength, and you dare bare your fangs at me? Have you forgotten who gave you that strength?"

Quasits were rank-one dark creatures!

But they were not born with rank-one strength.

Juveniles needed a long time to grow and excavate the potential contained in their bloodline before becoming fully grown rank-one Quasits.

"Chik, cough..."

It was as if a lump of phlegm were stuck in Red Nose's throat. It opened its mouth and spat out a puff of black smoke.

The elemental energy forming the Wizard's Hand collided with the black smoke like ice and fire, instantly corroding a hole through it.

Red Nose curled into a ball and slipped through the hole in the Wizard's Hand. Its crimson eyes glared fiercely at Yin Ming before it darted through the forest in flight.

With a smack!

Red Nose had not escaped more than a few dozen meters before a searing pain exploded across its cheek.

Several snow-white fangs snapped off, turning into hidden weapons that embedded firmly in a nearby tree trunk.

How was that possible?

The inherited memories of Abyssal Quasits clearly said that once a wizard apprentice's spell was broken, escape should be easy.

Red Nose looked up at Yin Ming, who was right before its eyes, and revealed an expression of utter disbelief.

"Good thing I've got a sturdy body, or you really would have gotten away!"

There was no absolutely reliable spell. That black smoke could actually corrode elemental energy.

The inherited memories of the Quasit bloodline had never mentioned that Quasits possessed such a powerful innate ability.

But on second thought, it made sense. How could cowardly Demonic Beasts like Quasits reveal their life-saving skills to any creature other than themselves, not even to their own blood descendants?

"Your bones really are hard!"

Yin Ming shook his aching palm and revealed a malicious smile.

Rank-zero Flesh Strengthening, one of his primary spells, gave his body an explosive force of two thousand kilograms, in no way inferior to that of a mid-level knight.

It was only because things had not reached the point of no return, where mountains and rivers were exhausted, that Yin Ming was unwilling to engage others in close combat.

"Red Nose, can you understand what I'm saying?" Yin Ming asked.

"Chi..." Red Nose's crimson eyes, which occupied a quarter of its head, widened.

Its face was full of doubt and confusion as it tilted its head and stared innocently at Yin Ming.

"Smack..."

Yin Ming sneered and decisively slapped it again.

He muttered, "A defective product that can't understand human speech can only be dissected for materials!"

At those words, Red Nose's expression changed drastically.

It immediately turned into a frantic nodding machine, indicating that it could understand human language.

"You really can understand!"

Yin Ming's eyes narrowed. A vicious look appeared on his face as a blazing crimson flame condensed in his palm. "Those who are not of our kind must harbor different hearts. A monkey this clever might replace humanity one day. It absolutely cannot be allowed to live!"

Red Nose: !!!∑(Дノ)ノ.

What?

Replace humanity?

Something even the many great figures of the Abyss could not accomplish?

What ability did a tiny Quasit like it have to do that?

To die for attempting to overthrow humanity's rule over the material plane—such a death would have to be carved into the Quasit family genealogy.

"Mercy, Lord Wizard!"

Red Nose had thoroughly inherited the Quasit arts of survival. Dropping to its knees, it spoke in human language: "This lowly one is only a Quasit, one of the lowest demons in the Abyss. I pose no threat to you, Lord Wizard."

It could speak!

Abyssal Quasits possessed inherited memories and were born with knowledge, so speaking naturally posed no problem.

It was a talent bestowed upon every demon by the world of the Abyss.

But Yin Ming had not been certain whether an artificially created Quasit, produced through a Bloodline Potion, could obtain the Abyssal inheritance.

Unexpectedly, the little monkey had perfectly fused with the Quasit bloodline. Other than the huge red nose on its face, it was unmistakably an Abyssal Quasit juvenile.

"Cut the nonsense! If you want to live, offer up a wisp of your soul."

Yin Ming had no restrictive methods like the Tightening Spell or Golden Circlet Spell.

If he had created a Quasit without intelligence, he could only train it like a monkey and use it as a trump card against Quasit blood descendants.

But since the red-nosed monkey had obtained the Abyssal inheritance, the situation was different!

As the lowest and most cowardly demons among Abyssal demons, Quasits needed to ensure that their race could reproduce and avoid being exterminated by other powerful demons.

Their inherited memories contained a method of offering up a wisp of one's soul to acknowledge a master and preserve one's life.

"..."

"Y-you understand the Abyss. You tricked me?" Red Nose said in extreme anger.

It had gained intelligence and inherited everything from a Quasit. But it had originally been only a wild monkey from the mountain streams, and its experience was severely lacking. It had utterly failed to bring out a demon's cunning.

"Die, or offer your soul!"

Rank-zero spell: Crimson Flame Ring.

Yin Ming flicked the last wisp of fading crimson flame onto the large tree behind Red Nose.

In an instant, the tree turned into a pile of charcoal. After a pause, he said, "I can create you, and I can create a second Quasit. You have no right to negotiate."

Red Nose gritted its teeth and found a flat stone.

It bit its finger and used blood as ink, beginning to draw a rune upon the stone.

The spell circuit connected from beginning to end. An illusory monkey-shaped figure emerged, merged into the rune, and then vanished into the stone.

"Ah..."

Red Nose let out a shrill scream.

Its face instantly turned gray-white. The agony of tearing apart its soul made every muscle in its body convulse uncontrollably.

Once it had recovered a little, it raised the stone with both hands and presented it to Yin Ming. "Red Nose offers his soul as proof of loyalty and bows before his honored master."