Realm Breakthrough

"Master! What did you just say?"

If he had not gone seven or eight days without sleep, he would have suspected he was dreaming.

Red Nose cocked its head, web-like bloodshot veins densely spread around its crimson pupils, making them look like two scarlet balls of lightning.

Demons belonged to the Abyss!

Red Nose could eat food from the Material World, but it could only keep it from starving to death.

Neither its body nor bloodline would grow.

Only food containing Abyssal aura, soul crystals, or specific souls could allow Red Nose to grow into a Rank 1 Demonic Beast.

A juvenile Quasit, aside from being able to suppress Quasit Bloodline descendants, was far too weak!

Yin Ming had no intention of hunting demons and shattering the current peace. Staying in the Material World, Red Nose would not be much help either. So he decided to release it back into the Abyss and let it fend for itself.

"Unwilling? For the sake of you teaching me Demon Tongue, I'll allow you to continue teaching me other knowledge."

Yin Ming released his brain's high-frequency state, and a fierce wave of exhaustion crashed over him.

Demon Tongue was more complex than the common language. It carried a faint, elusive Dao resonance and could even produce a trace of resonance with elemental energy. Without his brain's high-frequency state, he could spend three to five years learning only its outward form.

"No! The Abyss is a demon's homeland. It isn't dangerous at all."

Red Nose did not hesitate for even a second. To escape this sea of misery, it spoke the most heartfelt lie of its life.

It was too painful! It only remembered its hands constantly writing Demon Script while its mouth mechanically repeated inherited memories.

As for what it had written or said, not the slightest memory remained.

What was even more terrifying was that this human wizard had learned it all!

Compared to Abyssal demons, humans were the truly terrifying creatures. Fortunately, this race did not live long. With luck, it only had to endure one-tenth of his lifespan before he could be sent away.

Pfft...

Red Nose spat out a mouthful of blood.

It dipped its fingers in blood as ink and began sketching the energy circuit of a spell.

When humans drew runes, they needed to use mental power to trace them, then inject magic power to activate them.

Within the living blood of Abyssal demons were substances naturally similar to mental power and magic power. They fused qi and spirit into their bodies to form essence blood.

[Abyssal Sacrifice!]

The rune Red Nose drew was precisely an Abyssal Sacrifice rune.

The Abyss accepted all sacrifices, but only true treasures would receive corresponding recompense.

Demons could return to the Abyssal world through self-sacrifice.

If other races wished to travel to the Abyss in the same way, then the sacrifice would be the real offering!

It was simple and effective, preventing the Abyssal world from being invaded by foreign enemies.

"Ten thousand soul crystals, quality unrestricted, and you can redeem the Soulstone you left with me."

Yin Ming had learned about the types of mineral deposits in the Abyss and knew that soul crystals were a rare mineral there.

Demons fed on pure, high-quality soul crystals.

Cloudy soul crystals, if consumed over a long period, would cause degeneration, loss of control, and madness. They were food for demon bloodline descendants.

Yin Ming had the Scavenger Gourd and did not care about the quality of soul crystals.

"Really?"

The Abyssal Sacrifice rune transformed into a spatial vortex.

Dark, sinister, bone-chilling—Red Nose's body continuously sank downward. Before it could finish speaking, it vanished completely.

"..."

[Year 222 of the Landon Duchy, November 9.]

The Golden Lion Count's Estate was livelier than ever. Luxurious carriages and automobiles stretched from the castle all the way to Tulip Manor.

Every flower in the gardens had bloomed, a riot of purple and red that made every passing noble stop to admire them and cry out in astonishment.

The serfs had been granted a rare day off. Dressed in ragged clothes, they naturally could not enter the castle.

Still, they could glimpse a corner of the grand celebration from afar. In the future, they would at least have something to boast about.

At the same time, Yin Ming's mental power had reached 16 points.

He was still 4 points of mental power away from permanently solidifying his second Mental Rune.

"Brain nerve cells: 24%."

Yin Ming did not go watch the excitement with Randy.

He found a cave and used the gourd to take himself inside.

He took out more than a dozen Grain-Repelling Pills and swallowed them, preparing for the intense energy expenditure to come.

His brain entered a high-frequency state, and his mental power instantly exceeded 20 points.

Whoosh...

He entered meditation.

The Vast Sea was boundless. Waves swept through it, raising towering billows that crashed against Mirror Reef.

His mental power swiftly caught the splashing droplets and solidified them upon the absolutely smooth Mirror Reef. 190 drops, 191 drops, 192 drops... 200 drops, 210 drops.

Yin Ming's control over his mental power had exceeded 20 points. He possessed the qualifications to permanently solidify a second Mental Rune!

The structure of the Vast Sea Meditation Method's second mental power rune had an eighty percent similarity to the first rune. Only the head-to-tail connection nodes differed slightly.

"It's time to condense the second rune!"

After simulating it once, Yin Ming began using his mental power as a pen to draw the rune.

A sharp pain came from his brain. During the process of drawing the rune, his consciousness gradually became sluggish and muddled.

The first rune had been like listening to an English teacher read straight from the textbook at noon in summer.

The second rune was like taking several sleeping pills. As his realm rose, this resistance would only grow stronger.

Once he lost consciousness and the rune-drawing was interrupted, his mental power would dissipate with it, falling back to the original permanently solidified 10 points. He would need to meditate and accumulate it all over again before attempting a second breakthrough.

But at his current stage, it was no obstacle at all for Yin Ming.

As the rune's spell circuit connected head to tail, a smile immediately appeared on his face. "Success!"

The moment the rune formed, it was as though a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head. He instantly became incomparably clear-minded.

Two runes floated in the void, half-real and half-illusory, shrouded in faint divine radiance as they devoured elemental energy and converted it into magic power.

[Name: Yin Ming (Eno).]

[Method: Vast Sea Meditation Method.]

[Realm: Junior Wizard Apprentice (Mirror Reef, Second Layer).]

[Lifespan: 17/98.]

[Constitution: 21.]

[Magic Power: 10/20.]

[Mental Power: 20/20.]

[Wizardry: Crimson Flame Ring, Wizard's Hand, Flesh Strengthening (↑).]

[Knowledge: Demon Tongue, Potionology (Beginner).]

[Items: Pure Character Law Fragment, Fire Bull Bloodline Potion (Apprentice).]

The realm breakthrough first brought an increase in mental power and magic power, raising them from their original 10 points to 20 points.

However, 20 points of mental power was the foundation, while 20 points of magic power was the upper limit.

At the same time, the Rank 0 wizardry Flesh Strengthening had gained a stronger effect on the physical body. Breaking through its former bottleneck, his constitution could reach around 30.

"A realm breakthrough is worth celebrating. I'll relax a little!"

Yin Ming's way of celebrating was naturally not to visit the red-light district and find some young ladies.

Those nightingales whose faces were caked with toxic lead powder, heavy makeup, and cheap perfume masking their body odor truly could not stir the slightest interest under a wizard's overwhelmingly sharp senses.

Smack...

Yin Ming casually threw a stone and killed a wild rabbit that had been watching the excitement!

He skillfully skinned it, removed its innards, washed it clean, propped it over a stick, and lit a bonfire to roast it.

From the yellow-skinned gourd, he took out salt, cumin, chili peppers, and every kind of seasoning imaginable.

Eating Grain-Repelling Pills every day was merely to save time.

Throughout the outskirts of the Magic Beast Forest, Yin Ming was the absolute king. His supplies were abundant beyond measure; eating Magic Beast meat at every meal would not be a problem.

"Eh... you serf, why didn't you go watch the excitement with the other serfs?"