Talking Money Hurts Feelings

"Desert-Skinned Frog, eighty-six species!"

"Hmm, let me check. This is Cloud Frog, very rare. You can transform too? Eighty-seven kinds!"

"Anything else? No, that's all. Eighty-seven in total, not quite a hundred. According to your master, your Transformation Spell is barely at its peak. I'll tell him about it next time we meet."

Jili looked at the snow-white Frog on the ground and spoke without batting an eye, but when she looked at Li Ziran, the joy in her eyes was completely undisguised.

That's amazing!

This trip only lasted a little over six months, and the number of Frog I've been familiar with has increased from eighty-three to eighty-seven, adding four more species.

Although there are only four types, she has gained some understanding of the Transformation Spell through her years of testing Li Ziran.

Besides needing a fixed magic circle, the most important thing about the Transformation Spell is an absolute understanding of the Frog's habits, skin structure, internal organs, and soul state. But that's secondary. The soul of the Transformation Spell is the complex and ever-changing Tadpole Script. To transform into more Frog, you need to constantly change the Tadpole Script within the magic circle. Only by constantly exploring and experimenting, and finding the position, order, and continuity of different Tadpole Script within the magic circle, is it possible to master new Frog.

At the beginning, with a teacher to guide you, it may be easy, but as you go on, the sheer volume of materials and the vast amount of Tadpole Script make it increasingly difficult to figure things out on your own.

Even Li Ziran's teacher, Watt, could only conjure thirteen kinds of Frog, and he had no patience to study those strange Tadpole Script.

"Genius! A genius with the Transformation Spell!"

Jili couldn't help but sigh. No wonder Watt always praised his student as an amazing shapeshifter during the war, and at the same time, he felt sorry for Li Ziran's talent. If the Healing Curse was so powerful, he would have become rich long ago.

Shapeshifters are extremely unpopular and not popular at all.

"It seems I'll have to provide him with four women!" Jili made up her mind. Unlike others, she valued a person's earning ability and character.

Whether the Transformation Spell is powerful or not doesn't matter; this kid's ability to make money is definitely extraordinary.

Li Ziran was unaware of Jili's astonishment; he was simply lamenting the outcome. Tadpole Script wasn't a problem for him; with patience and careful deduction, he could always find Transformation Spell that matched a certain type of Frog. However, what restricted his transformation ability was the type of Frog.

Frog have an extremely wide range of habitats. As amphibious creatures, they can adapt to almost any environment. The frogs that Li Ziran can conjure up are all the Frog he has ever encountered so far.

Perhaps, as his teacher said, he was a genius when it came to the Transformation Spell.

With eighty-seven kinds of Frog, Li Ziran might be the number one shapeshifter in the Wasteland.

But when he calms down, Li Ziran laugh at himself, saying that only a fool would study Tadpole Script when he has nothing better to do.

In the eyes of all living beings, only magical scripts that resonate with the Elemental Tide are worthy of pursuit.

Li Ziran didn't find anything wrong with it. He would use everything he had to improve his existing abilities. If he could get a new Frog, he could quietly dissect it for a whole day and figure out the outline of the Transformation Spell, which would basically allow him to transform the Frog.

Unfortunately, the book of parchment recorded many Frog, but Frog habitats were either Abyss or unheard-of desolate places, and more importantly, very few people were willing to collect Frog.

A species that is not even worth a copper coin is the most pathetic.

Li Ziran was able to come into contact with so many Frog thanks to a few friends who were involved in the slave trade; they did it for him on a whim.

Reaching the level of Forbidden Spell depends entirely on chance.

He's incredibly adept at Frog Transformation, but his Snake Transformation are still in their infancy. The snakes he transforms into are completely uncontrollable; one moment he's a python, the next a water snake. To truly master them, he really needs to calm down and hone his skills.

The vast Snake Script, in particular, is a complex and ever-changing new language, much like the Tadpole Script.

This trip to Blackwind Pass is a good opportunity to study Snake Transformation, at least to the point of reaching the level of advanced spellcasting.

"Alright, do you know the Healing Curse? Your master specifically instructed me to ask him about it." Jili suddenly became serious.

Li Ziran smiled bitterly to himself. The Healing Curse was completely useless. According to Anfuni, what he needed to communicate with was the Elemental Bug that released healing power, but this kind of Elemental Bug could not be detected by mental energy. How could he communicate with it?

However, instead of shaking his head in refusal, he pricked his finger in front of Jili, then closed his eyes and felt the few remaining grass roots around him.

Jili stared intently at Li Ziran's broken finger. The wound was smaller than her front tooth, and there was no healing light as she had imagined. She could only see the broken wound constantly wriggling, like the delicate white and pink Corpse Bug in Corpse Mountain.

After wriggling for a while, the wound finally scabbed over. By then, Li Ziran was already drenched in sweat, his eyes fixed on the small wound on his finger.

"This is... Healing Curse?" Jili asked incredulously.

Li Ziran peeled back the scar, blew on it twice, revealing his smooth fingers, and nodded confidently, "See, it's Healing Curse. What message did the teacher leave behind?"

This show-off made Jili giggle; she had never seen such a weak Healing Curse before, it was nowhere near the level of her teacher's.

"Hmm... he seemed to have said that if you know Healing Curse, you could become a healer in the Dark Council; the connections there have already been made."

Upon hearing this, Li Ziran was speechless; all the teacher had left him was this little bit.

However, this spot is indeed highly sought after.

As the most powerful underground force, the Dark Council gathers races such as dark mages, Vampire, and Werewolf. An ordinary healer's salary should be around two gold coins a year.

Li Ziran knew that his teacher really wanted to become a therapist, but due to his advanced age and the fact that he was one of the few amphibians, his applications were repeatedly rejected.

But he would go to the Dark Council to apply every year, and now it seems that the teacher has basically given up and is beginning to pour the resources he has accumulated over the years into him.

However, Li Ziran was well aware that the Dark Council only had a small branch in the Wasteland, with its headquarters located on Council Island in the Endless Sea, while its strongest forces were hidden within the Human Race.

Resources on the Wasteland are quite limited; most tasks are available, but there is no specific training.

Among Human Race, it is said that the Dark Council organizes training sessions every year to select talent to fill positions in the Dark Legion and Dark Mercenary Corps. They also hold elections for councilors every four years.

Training was what Li Ziran longed for most. There, the expensive Devouring Curse was free, and more importantly, he could come into contact with Witch Doctor and even Witch Priest, with countless opportunities for advancement.

Unfortunately, the Dark Council of the Wasteland was too weak, the environment was too harsh, the number of missions was ridiculously high, the casualty rate was extremely high, and what's even more speechless is that the rules for selecting members were ridiculously numerous.

Dealing with such a behemoth of a power, Li Ziran had to prepare.

"Didn't Master leave you anything else, like knowledge about curses?" Li Ziran asked, Undead. His left arm had been cursed by Medusa and was still stiff. He also had the Wind Blade Curse bestowed upon him by the Elves, which caused him to experience pain every now and then.

Although he could tolerate all of this, he would inevitably come into contact with more advanced beings in the future, most of whom carried curses.

If one day he were to transplant Great Dragon or Titan, the Bloodline Curse he would have to endure would be immeasurable.

His master had two unique skills: Healing Curse and Curse Art. He only taught him the most useless Frog Transformation.

Jili's eyes suddenly lit up. "You can curse?"

She knew all too well that in the Dark Council, curse casters were far more sought after than healers.

Li Ziran shook his head. If he knew how to do it, what would be the point of having a teacher to pass on the knowledge? It seemed that if he didn't meet the teacher's requirements, he wouldn't be able to obtain the curse inheritance.

"When will Master return?" Although the inheritance cannot be achieved, if I could meet with Master, the two minor curses on my body could be basically resolved.

"I probably won't be back for at least the next year," Jili said.

"Why?" Li Ziran was puzzled. "Doesn't he come back every two or three months?"

"It's a mission. The Wasteland is in turmoil right now, have you heard? Brando is dead, and his daughter Nicole Brando has become the city lord. This city lord is ruthless; she's not only killing people everywhere, but she's also planning to start a war in the Wasteland. There are tons of missions in the Wasteland right now. Watt, if you don't take advantage of this time to make some money, when will you ever make any? Unlike you, who can make a fortune just by going out once."

Li Ziran rolled his eyes. War? He'd never heard Nicole mention it.

These women must have nothing better to do than listen to the gossip of a passing corpse carrier.

However, it's a good thing that the teacher has assignments. He's not young anymore and needs to find a companion. If he can earn more money, he can support himself in his old age.

Of course, Li Ziran could support his teacher, but his teacher was stubborn and always felt that accepting money from students was spineless. However, when he came to the Mill, he always indulged in extravagant and dissolute behavior.

Li Ziran was speechless at this hooligan's temperament, but he was really good to him. Without his teacher, he probably wouldn't be alive today.

Having transmigrated to this world with no relatives or friends, he was actually grateful to have a caring elder by his side.

Even if this elder is somewhat unreliable.

Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Li Ziran glanced at the tin box in the corner and chuckled, "San Niang, did Teacher hide something else? Like a cursed inheritance or something?"

Jili's eyelids twitched, and she chuckled, "Hehe, a curse! Is it a dark, tattered little notebook? It seems to have something about peeling skin written on it, but it's all in Tadpole Script. I'm just a woman, I can't understand it!"

Li Ziran's eyes lit up, and he nodded repeatedly. His master truly loved him; indeed, he left the Curse Book for him.

"Yes, yes, San Niang, look..."

"Sure, sure!" Jili chuckled. "But if I let you see it, I'll break your teacher's promise, and it will torment my conscience. I can help with that, but what can you give me in return?"

Li Ziran sighed inwardly, speechless, but thinking of the curse, he could only steel himself and say, "San Niang, just name your price."

"No, no, no! Talking about money hurts feelings." Jili quickly waved her hand, and just as Li Ziran was puzzled, she quietly leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Take the four girls I prepared for you. Two of them are guaranteed to be stunningly beautiful, and you can choose any of the other two. If not, I'll have my sister send her daughters over in a couple of days. They're just as beautiful as me, and they're twins..."