Red Nose

"Wuwu..."

The potion's effects took hold!

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

Flesh melded and blood was born, bringing excruciating pain.

Even unconscious, it could not help letting out shrill, babbling screams.

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

Its monkey fur scattered in all directions like ripe dandelion fluff caught by a breeze.

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

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

Its bones crackled like beans in a frying pan as its body structure changed.

It transformed from a half-upright animal into one that walked fully erect.

"Merging an extraordinary bloodline brings such immediate changes."

In merely half an hour.

The red-nosed little macaque had become eighty percent similar to a Quasit.

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

In a daze, he felt as though 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 felt an inexplicable closeness toward monkeys.

"Squeak, squeak..."

Suddenly, the red-nosed little macaque woke up.

With an agile leap, it gripped a tree branch with both feet and bared its fangs.

Having shed its monkey form for that of a Quasit, it retained the red nose from its days as a monkey, while its physical qualities surpassed those of low-grade Magic Beasts.

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, along with the red-nosed monkey, was slapped into the earth by the palm.

He grabbed the red-nosed Quasit with several broken ribs and warned it coldly, "You're only a juvenile! You've just gained a little strength, yet you dare bare your teeth at me? Have you forgotten who gave you that power?"

Quasits were First-Ring dark creatures!

But they were not born with First-Ring strength.

Juveniles needed a long time to grow and unearth the potential contained in their bloodline before becoming fully grown First-Ring Quasits.

"Squeak—cough..."

It was as though a lump of thick phlegm were stuck in Red Nose's throat as it opened its mouth and spat out a cloud 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, slipped through the hole in the Wizard's Hand, shot Yin Ming a vicious glare with its crimson eyes, and fled swiftly through the forest.

With a smack.

Red Nose had not even escaped several dozen meters when a burning pain flared across its cheek.

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

How was that possible?

The Abyssal Quasit's inherited memories clearly said that once a Wizard Apprentice's spell was broken, escaping should be easy.

Red Nose raised its head, looked at Yin Ming standing right before it, and revealed an expression of utter disbelief.

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

There was no absolutely reliable wizardry. Black smoke could actually corrode elemental energy.

The Quasit Bloodline's inherited memories had made no mention whatsoever of Quasits possessing such a powerful innate ability.

But on second thought, it made sense. How could a cowardly Demonic Beast like a Quasit reveal its life-saving skills to any creature besides itself, not even to its own bloodline descendants?

"Your bones really are hard!"

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

Zero-Ring Wizardry, Flesh Strengthening, was one of his primary spells. Its bodily explosive force reached two thousand kilograms, not inferior in the slightest to a mid-level knight.

It was only that unless there was no other way out and the mountains and rivers were exhausted, Yin Ming was unwilling to engage others in close-quarters combat.

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

"Squeak..." Red Nose widened its crimson eyes, which took up a quarter of its head.

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

"Smack..."

Yin Ming sneered and decisively slapped it again.

He murmured, "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.

"So you really do understand!"

Yin Ming's eyes narrowed, a fierce glint appearing on his face as a blazing crimson flame gathered in his palm. "Those not of our race are sure to harbor different hearts. A monkey this clever might replace humanity one day. It absolutely cannot be kept alive for long!"

Red Nose: !!!∑(Дノ)ノ.

What?

Replace humanity?

Something even the many big shots of the Abyss could not accomplish?

What virtue or ability did a tiny Quasit like it possess?

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

"Great Wizard, spare my life!"

Red Nose had thoroughly inherited the Quasit's secret arts of survival. Dropping to its knees, it spoke human words: "This lowly one is merely a Quasit, one of the lowest-ranking Demons in the Abyss. I pose no threat to you, Great Wizard."

It could speak!

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

It was a gift the Abyssal world bestowed upon all Demons.

However, Yin Ming was not certain whether an artificially created Quasit, made through a Bloodline Potion, could obtain Abyssal inheritance.

Unexpectedly, the little monkey had perfectly merged with the Quasit bloodline. Apart from the huge red nose on its face, it was undoubtedly an Abyssal Quasit juvenile.

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

Yin Ming did not possess restrictive methods like the Tightening Band Spell or Golden Hoop 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 Bloodline descendants.

But the red-nosed monkey had obtained Abyssal inheritance, making things different!

As the lowest-ranking and most cowardly Demons among the Abyss Demons, Quasits needed to ensure their race could reproduce and avoid being exterminated by stronger Demons.

Their inherited memories contained a method of offering up a wisp of one's soul and recognizing a master in exchange for survival.

"..."

"You—you know about the Abyss. You tricked me?" Red Nose said furiously.

It had gained intelligence and inherited everything from a Quasit. Yet it had originally been only a wild monkey from the mountain streams, severely lacking in experience and completely unable to display a Demon's cunning.

"Die! Or offer up your soul!"

Zero-Ring Wizardry: Crimson Flame Ring.

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

In an instant, the tree turned into a heap of charcoal. After a pause, he said, "I can create you, and I can create a second Quasit. You aren't qualified to negotiate terms."

Red Nose gritted its teeth and found a flat stone.

It bit its finger open, used blood as ink, and began drawing a rune upon the stone.

The spell circuit connected end to end. A phantom monkey shape emerged, merged into the rune, then vanished into the stone.

"Ah..."

Red Nose let out a miserable scream.

Its face instantly turned ashen white. The pain of tearing its soul apart made every muscle in its body convulse uncontrollably.

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