Raphael had not expected the White Jade Bead to be so useful after his advancement to Sequence 7, Werewolf. It had actually provided him with potion formulas!
Then Raphael reined in his delight. "What exactly are you? Why did you choose me? And why do you have all the potion formulas for this pathway?"
"Heh heh heh." The Jade Pearl laughed, its voice sounding somewhat aged. "Once you advance to a demigod, I'll tell you who I am.
"As for why I chose you, it's because you're more likely to become a qualified Devil and an outstanding Abomination."
It paused before continuing, "Your third question is really the same as your first. Not only do I know all the potion formulas for the Criminal and Prisoner pathways, I also know the potion formulas for every pathway."
Raphael was about to ask more questions, but the Jade Pearl said, "Enough. Don't waste time. You don't need to worry about your safety at all right now, because you're still too weak. I can't even be bothered to harm you."
It said, "The second way I'll help you is by granting you a very advanced ability that lets your spirit body split in two... hmm, actually, that doesn't seem particularly difficult for you. After all, when you were acting as a Lunatic, you liked arguing with yourself.
"With this ability, you can exist in this world and the world of the Dark Hut at the same time. Your consciousness in both worlds can stay synchronized without either interfering with the other."
Raphael opened his mouth. "Was it because of you that Chen Qingzhi summoned me over there?"
"That's right," the Jade Pearl said. "I may be the only one who can easily break that fellow's seal."
Then he added, "You're still too fragile. We can't converse for long. If you have questions, hurry up and advance to a demigod. Only then will your soul body and spirit body be able to sustain a lengthy conversation with me."
Immediately afterward, the Jade Pearl's voice vanished, but knowledge of two potion formulas appeared in Raphael's mind.
He hurriedly took a "look" at them. Sequence 6: Zombie...
At that moment, Raphael suddenly felt an intense pain in his head, as though something were trying to tear him in two.
Fortunately, the sensation vanished in less than a second. Raphael took a deep breath, guessing that this was the ability to split his spirit body, though he could not currently feel anything unusual about it.
Once Raphael was certain that the Jade Pearl had gone dormant again, he fetched a dressing gown and put it on. Then he smiled. "Let's take a look at our new abilities."
Then Raphael's expression turned solemn. "That's what I was thinking, too."
He used his spirituality to examine the Werewolf abilities. They were much as he had previously understood: a Werewolf's primary weapons were its claws, which were sharper and harder than daggers.
Overall, the sequence offered considerable combat strength, along with nimble speed and excellent self-healing capabilities.
There were two ways to transform into a werewolf. The first was to enter the werewolf state voluntarily, which allowed him to retain most of his reason.
However, there was a time limit. It was best to keep the transformation under ten minutes. This did not mean the Werewolf state would end after ten minutes, but rather that his reason would gradually begin to slip away.
If he remained in the Werewolf state, he would become a true werewolf within thirty minutes at most, losing his reason completely.
After digesting the potion, the safe duration of the Werewolf transformation could be extended to around fifteen to eighteen minutes.
The other way to enter the werewolf state was involuntarily.
Whenever there was a full moon, Raphael would transform into a werewolf against his will. He would lose most of his reason and become a bloodthirsty beast with tremendous offensive power.
Once the full moon ended, however, Raphael could leave the werewolf state on his own and return to being a normal human.
Raphael scratched his head. There was no good solution. He could only leave Backlund before the full moon and head into the forests on the outskirts to transform.
Whether he encountered a high-level Beyonder or suffered any harm would be entirely down to luck.
At that thought, Raphael could not help frowning. He could only digest the potion as quickly as possible and get through this stage sooner.
Aside from the most important ability, werewolf transformation, Raphael had also acquired three kinds of black magic. The first involved introducing "wolf venom" into an ordinary person's body to turn them into his subordinate.
These subordinates had a werewolf-like appearance and combat strength comparable to that of a Sequence 9 Beyonder from a combat-oriented pathway.
However, these "subordinates" could only exist for twenty-four hours.
The second kind of black magic involved using spirituality to ignite his own hair, granting him anti-divination capabilities for a short time. This ability was automatically active in his werewolf state.
The ability was fairly potent. Anyone below the demigod level who attempted divination on a Werewolf would only see a face covered in short gray fur, without being able to make out its actual features.
The last involved concocting a poison that caused people to lose their reason completely. This poison also worked on Beyonders, though its effectiveness decreased as their sequence rose.
For example, a Sequence 9 Beyonder who drank the poison would lose their reason for five or six seconds, while at Sequence 7, it might last only one or two seconds. At Sequence 6, they might as well be drinking a flavored beverage.
Raphael reflected that the Werewolf sequence mainly relied on its transformation ability. Of the other kinds of black magic, only anti-divination was reasonably useful.
Yet that ability was rather redundant for Raphael. His own unusual nature already provided extremely high-level anti-divination capabilities, so he had no need for this black magic.
After familiarizing himself with his new abilities, Raphael worked hard to rein in his spirituality. Once it had largely stabilized, he tried transforming voluntarily to practice his abilities.
It was not until sometime after ten that night that Raphael returned to his room to rest.
The next day, Raphael slept in. By the time he arrived at the Mafia headquarters, it was already noon.
As usual, people came seeking Raphael's help, but today he did not handle their requests personally. Instead, he entrusted them to several capable subordinates.
Raphael had no intention of leaving the Mafia headquarters before meeting up with Miss Sharron.
Toward evening, just as Raphael was wondering why Miss Sharron had yet to arrive, his spiritual intuition stirred, and he looked at the glass cover of the wall clock.
A cold-faced woman in a court gown, with delicate features and a small formal hat, had appeared clearly upon it.
The glass cover was not large, and the woman was only as tall as the cover itself. She looked like an exquisite, lifelike printed image.
The next second, the woman's figure vanished.
Only then did Raphael come to his senses. That must have been Miss Sharron greeting him.
Before you continue