Refining Books and Restoring Blood

"That should be about it. Let's give it a try," the Old Man said, watching the flames die down, and reminded Zheng Qing.

Zheng Qing stared at him blankly, wondering hazily how one would test a piece of parchment. Weren't spellbooks supposed to look like books? Could it be that my spellbook is special and it's a scroll made of animal hide?

The parchment lay softly in mid-air, squirmed, and curled itself into the shape of a scroll. It rolled twice, then unfurled again, returning to its parchment form.

This parchment seems to dislike turning into a scroll! Zheng Qing was startled by his own thought.

He felt he must have lost too much blood and was dizzy.

"What kind of spellbook do you prefer?" the Old Man prompted from the side.

Shaking his dizzy head, Zheng Qing tentatively imagined in his mind what his spellbook should look like.

In mid-air, the off-white parchment shifted according to his thoughts, like latex.

A soft, white cover, a blank title page, translucent pages, and a leather clasp.

It was exactly as he had imagined in his mind!

Zheng Qing reached out and grabbed it.

The spellbook shivered, making a rustling sound, as if laughing with satisfaction.

A sense of blood connection spread from his palm to his entire body. Zheng Qing's mind cleared, he took a deep breath, relaxed his whole body, and slowly landed on the ground.

"A good naked book," the Old Man nodded approvingly. "A wizard without imagination is not a good wizard. The more detailed your imagination, the greater the potential of your spellbook."

He beckoned, calling the spellbook from Zheng Qing's hand.

"Are there any taboos?" the Old Man asked, pulling open a drawer on the table and lining up tools like scissors, hammers, awls, and nails. He raised his eyelids and asked, "For example, it can't come into contact with silver? Or is it allergic to peach wood?"

"I don't know," Zheng Qing shook his head.

"You don't know!" The Old Man frowned, then relaxed. "Then we'll use brass. Brass has a gentle nature and good texture. As far as I can remember, no one has any taboos about brass."

He tapped the toolbox beside him. Copper sheets, copper nails, and copper clasps in neat rows jumped onto the white spellbook. Under the Old Man's ding-dong hammering, they were obediently flattened and rounded, becoming book clasps, corner protectors, and decorations for the clasp.

After hammering the last copper wire on the spine, the Old Man put down his tools, patted them, and blew on them.

"Very good, a little guy with great potential. I almost don't want to sell you," the Old Man's layered wrinkles twisted, squeezing out a less-than-successful smile, and he handed the book to Zheng Qing.

"What was that black stuff you took out of me earlier?" Zheng Qing took the book, his mind still a bit jumbled. He remembered the black ink drops the Old Man had extracted from his chest with a spell, and his face turned a little pale.

"Wasn't that the demon spirit you brought?" The Old Man's smile, which was not very successful, disappeared, replaced by a displeased expression. "First, give me the invoice from the front desk."

Zheng Qing was stunned for a moment and immediately handed the green order form to the Old Man.

"New student?" The Old Man's eyes widened as he looked at the green paper in front of him. His dark eyeballs looked even more terrifying. "You're a new student at First University? And a scholarship student at that?"

"Mhm," Zheng Qing blinked, a strange thought floating in his mind. He nodded powerlessly.

"Then it'll be one Gold Bean," the Old Man said, surprisingly calmly nodding without further comment, and closed his eyes again. "Scholarship students sneaking into my dark studio are looking for the bottom line of a single Gold Bean, aren't they?"

Zheng Qing gave an embarrassed smile.

"Your little elves just now pulled out quite a few of my hairs," he took out those shiny little things from his shirt pocket and handed them to the Old Man, asking doubtfully, "And they gave me these things."

"They usually only pull out a couple of loose threads or unfasten a button from customers. They're rarely this rude," the Old Man extended his pinky finger, picked up a small crystal with his long fingernail, and brought it closer to his eyes.

"It's not exactly rude," Zheng Qing thought of those delicate little beauties and changed his wording. "At most, they're a bit spoiled."

He was a little worried the Old Man would punish those little elves.

"Not bad. It seems they really like you and didn't give you glass shards," the Old Man's voice was full of amusement. "Before, when they took souvenirs from customers, they would at most give them some glass shards. What you have here are good jade fragments, excellent stabilizers from the laboratory. They're worth much more than a Gold Bean."

Zheng Qing licked his dry lips and tightened his grip on the off-white wizard book.

He really wanted to invite those little elves to pull his hair again. Perhaps if they pulled a couple more times, he'd have his living expenses for the academic year covered.

But such shameful thoughts could only remain as thoughts.

Stepping out with unsteady legs, Thomas was already waiting not far from the bookstore.

Seeing Zheng Qing, who was pale and unsteady on his feet, and hearing his general experience, Thomas couldn't help but shake his head and say, "Old Payne is messing around. Why would he use the Blood Refining Method to forge a wizard book for you?"

"Is there great danger in that?" Zheng Qing's vision went a little dark upon hearing a few sensitive words.

"Not exactly," Thomas glanced at Zheng Qing and explained, "On the contrary, a wizard book forged this way has good buffs for spells and strong growth potential. It's just that you're only a scholarship student, you shouldn't be receiving this kind of treatment no matter what!"

"Maybe he mistook me for someone else," Zheng Qing recalled the scene when he entered the shop and sounded uncertain.

"Very likely. Or maybe he saw something he liked. Old Payne is famously capricious," Thomas took out a jade bottle from his embrace, poured out a bright red pill, and stuffed it into Zheng Qing's mouth. "It's a blood replenisher. Eat it, or I highly doubt you'll be able to walk a few steps before collapsing. Being an interviewer is really not what I should be doing; I'm practically a male bodyguard."

He patted his spellbook, leaving a ball of clear water near Zheng Qing's mouth.

The red pill entered his mouth. Zheng Qing chewed it with difficulty for a few bites, tentatively took a few sips of the clear water ball in front of him, and swallowed.

Wiping his mouth, a fiery sensation surged from his stomach to all parts of his body.

His face felt hot, and he even felt a swelling sensation in his lower body.

"This is supposed to replenish blood? It feels so strange!" Zheng Qing spread his legs awkwardly, fanning himself with his brand-new spellbook, and tried to convince himself in his heart that the blush was due to the surge of blood.

"You'll know how to prepare it by your sophomore year," Thomas grinned maliciously and said with a laugh, "For many sophomores and juniors, these little pills with no side effects can be quite useful in many situations! Of course, that's assuming you can pass the freshman exams."

Zheng Qing really couldn't ignore Thomas's teasing, and his face turned even redder.

It's not like I said those embarrassing things, why am I blushing!

He roared in his heart.