Mystic Ice Demon Flame Art

Sure enough, as soon as Gene finished speaking, Fitch's face darkened as though someone had stepped on it with a filthy shoe. He glared at Han Shuo, who wore a simpleminded expression, but addressed Gene instead. "Teacher Gene, this brazen errand boy actually dared to trip me. How could I not teach him a lesson?"

As he spoke, Fitch rolled up his sleeves, raised his gray Magic Wand, and swung it at Han Shuo's forehead. Seeing that Fitch was only going to hit him with his wand rather than use magic, Han Shuo actually felt relieved. Although Fitch was tall, he wasn't particularly strong. Han Shuo saw little force behind the blow and simply ignored it, standing there without dodging, an honest, foolish grin on his face.

Smack!

The Magic Wand struck Han Shuo's forehead, and a sudden stab of pain made him cry out, "Ow!" Grimacing, he stared at the Magic Wand in Fitch's hand. He had never imagined that the seemingly wooden wand would be as hard and heavy as iron or stone. His head instantly rang, and when he felt his forehead, he discovered that a large, round lump had already risen.

Damn it, how could this Magic Wand be so hard and heavy? I miscalculated! While Han Shuo was still reeling, his head buzzing, another blow landed on his forehead. His head sank, and he toppled stiffly to the ground, unconscious.

When Han Shuo woke, he found himself lying on a large, soft bed. A faint smell of medicinal preparations filled the air. He reached up to touch his forehead and found that the two large lumps had subsided. Something seemed to have been applied to them, leaving a pleasantly cool sensation.

"You're awake?" A pretty face suddenly leaned close. Long, wavy, pale purple hair framed bright eyes and gleaming white teeth, and a faint fragrance wafted from her sensuous red lips onto Han Shuo's face.

"Huh? Teacher Fanny... Fanny!" Stirred by the sight of the pretty face before him, Han Shuo gave a soft exclamation. Then he straightened, sat up on the soft bed, and looked around.

The room was twenty square meters in size, with tall cabinets standing around it, filled with all sorts of potion bottles. There were also some magical beast skeletons nearby. Magical diagrams and writing covered the walls, and a simple magic array lay on a round platform of dark stone in the middle. One glance told Han Shuo that this was Fanny's laboratory.

While Han Shuo surveyed his surroundings, Fanny studied him with astonishment. Only after he had turned his head all the way around and looked back at her did she extend a slender finger and lightly touch his forehead. Then she exclaimed softly in surprise, "Huh? The swelling went down so quickly. A Magic Wand that heavy struck you, yet you didn't even bleed. How is that possible?"

At the touch of Fanny's finger, Han Shuo's heart fluttered involuntarily. He greedily drew a deep breath through his nose, taking in the faint fragrance that accompanied her finger, and a satisfied smile spread across his lips.

His behavior gave Fanny a fright. There had clearly been something flirtatious and wanton about Han Shuo's movements, entirely unlike Brian's usual timid, cowardly behavior. Fanny was momentarily bewildered, then sighed softly as understanding dawned. "I didn't believe what they said before, but now it seems Brian really has become a little mad and dim-witted. To think a single Soul Pain spell would leave him like this. Ah!"

Although Fanny's murmur was extremely quiet, Han Shuo heard every word clearly. He smiled bitterly to himself, thinking that yet another person believed he had truly gone mad.

Suddenly, an intrigued expression appeared on Fanny's pretty face. "Brian, the bruising and swelling on your forehead healed so quickly, and now there's nothing wrong at all. Could it be because of that Soul Pain spell last time? Oh, this is simply unbelievable! I have another research topic. Necromancy really is incredible!"

Watching Fanny rummage excitedly through things with a clatter, Han Shuo could only smile bitterly again at her assumptions. Now that she regarded him as nothing more than a mad fool, he naturally couldn't explain that the unusual changes in his body were entirely due to his practice of the Demonic Cultivation Art.

Fanny wasn't wearing her glasses today either. Her delicate hands swiftly searched through the magical items around her. After a while, she picked up a pale green sphere the size of her palm and hurried gracefully toward Han Shuo, her rounded hips swaying. She suddenly recited a spell, and the pale green sphere lit up with a soft green glow. She pressed it against Han Shuo's forehead.

Strong magical fluctuations emanated from the sphere. Pressed to Han Shuo's forehead, the pale green ball seemed like a magnet, drawing a trace of Mental Power out of his mind. It suddenly began flickering like a faulty green light bulb.

"Oh... this is unbelievable! Brian, you actually have Mental Power in your mind. Heavens, what's going on? Could Soul Pain also have the effect of a magical baptism, giving ordinary people Mental Power? This is amazing!" Fanny suddenly cried out, her face filled with shock and astonishment. The presence of Mental Power in Han Shuo's mind clearly had quite an impact on her.

"I've decided. This will be my research topic from now on. If Soul Pain could leave Mental Power inside someone without driving them mad, wouldn't that give an ordinary person a chance to become a mage? Oh... this is simply amazing!"

Gurgle, gurgle.

At that moment, Han Shuo's stomach protested with hunger. The excitement had yet to fade from Fanny's face as she enthusiastically told Brian, "It's getting late today. Go back and rest for now. I'll be calling for you often from now on. In a little while, I'll discuss things with the academy authorities and have your workload reduced and your meals improved somewhat, until I've successfully completed this research."

Han Shuo couldn't help feeling delighted at her words. Looking at the beautiful, captivating Fanny, he kept entertaining wicked thoughts. His workload had suddenly been reduced, his meals improved, and he could even take the opportunity to get close to Fanny. When luck came, there really was no stopping it. It seemed that Fitch's blow with the staff had actually done him a huge favor.

After leaving Fanny's laboratory, he looked up at the lingering sunset clouds and realized it was already evening. He felt his forehead and found that, apart from a little tenderness, there was nothing much wrong with it anymore.

He quickly completed his afternoon tasks and, panting for breath, met Jack at the bread distribution point. Seeing Han Shuo appear, Jack looked surprised. He gave Han Shuo's forehead a strange look and asked in puzzlement, "Brian, didn't I hear that Fitch hit you on the forehead with his Magic Wand, leaving two big lumps and knocking you unconscious? How come there's no sign of them now?"

"Teacher Fanny applied a magical preparation for me, so of course the swelling went down quickly. Hehe, Teacher Fanny really is both beautiful and gentle!" Han Shuo told Jack with a laugh.

"Brian, here's your food for today!" a shout came from the dining hall window. Han Shuo immediately hurried over and took a piece of white bread, a small cup of milk, and a fried egg through the window.

"Huh? Mr. Goda, haven't you made a mistake? Brian's food should be the same as ours, and his bread should be smaller than mine!" Keri, whom Han Shuo had beaten up last time, waved a piece of black bread and loudly addressed Goda, the fat man in charge of distributing the errand workers' meals.

Goda gave Keri a cold look and snorted. "There's no mistake. These are the academy's instructions. From now on, these are Brian's meals. If you have any objections, take them to the academy authorities. Hmph, but a little errand boy like you would probably only be asking for trouble."

Holding his white bread, milk, and fried egg, Han Shuo looked at the angry faces of Keri and Borg and burst out laughing. He deliberately smacked his lips loudly as he ate the bread, praising it all the while. "Tsk, tsk, white bread really does taste different from black bread. Oh, there's even milk and an egg! Heavens, what a happy day."

"Uh... Brian, let me have a sip of milk. It looks really good!" Jack, the little fatty, licked his lips and looked at Han Shuo enviously.

"There's a little less than half a cup left. Here!" Han Shuo generously handed it to Jack, then pulled him along and strode away with a smile, leaving the indignant Keri and Borg behind.

After returning to the storage shed that night, Han Shuo looked at the little skeleton and found it still lying in the small wooden tub. However, the seven little whirlpools that had been spinning inside the tub had stopped. One glance told Han Shuo that the demonic energy had run out. He gathered demonic energy in his hand and infused it into the positions of the seven bone fragments again. Only after whirlpools appeared around all seven fragments, one after another, did he stop and get onto the bed.

The Yin Demon Essence-Congealing Array was merely one method of refining demonic treasures. In principle, a single infusion of demonic energy should have kept it running for six times six, thirty-six days. But Han Shuo's demonic energy was too weak, and all the materials had been haphazardly cobbled together, so it couldn't achieve the expected results.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, Han Shuo practiced his Demonic Cultivation Art for a while and felt that the Demonic Essence inside him had grown considerably stronger. Then inspiration struck him. Since he possessed Demonic Essence, could he practice the offensive Demonic Cultivation Art Chu Canglan had left behind?

Once the idea occurred to him, Han Shuo immediately frowned in concentration. He could actually faintly sense numerous methods of practicing the Demonic Cultivation Art in his mind, but the secrets of many of them were hazy, as though obscured by a thin sheet of paper, preventing him from seeing them clearly right away.

Frowning as he painstakingly searched his memories, Han Shuo discovered that the memories in his mind seemed hopelessly jumbled. He couldn't recall everything. Only three techniques could be remembered in full. One was the foundational method for practicing the Demonic Cultivation Art, another was the Yin Demon Essence-Congealing Array used to refine demonic treasures, and the last was a technique called the Mystic Ice Demon Flame Art.

The Mystic Ice Demon Flame Art was a way of using Demonic Essence whose power could continually increase as one's cultivation realm rose. By circulating energy along particular meridian routes according to the technique, one could produce two kinds of demonic flames, red and purple, in the fingers and palms. The red flames were scorching hot, the purple flames freezing cold. With sufficiently powerful Demonic Essence and a sufficiently high cultivation realm, one could condense Demonic Essence into two enormous masses of red and purple demonic flames in the palms, possessing searing and bone-chilling offensive power.

Once he understood this, Han Shuo felt as though he had found a treasure. Ignoring the other memories he couldn't see clearly through their obstruction, he immediately followed the instructions of the Mystic Ice Demon Flame Art and began circulating his Demonic Essence, slowly gathering it in his right hand. As the Demonic Essence flowed through the meridians of his right hand, he felt a burning, stabbing pain. His entire right hand became numb and stiff, and the fine, threadlike meridians felt as though they were being shocked by electricity.

Without following the routes of the Mystic Ice Demon Flame Art, his Demonic Essence could reach his palm in an instant. But once he circulated it according to the technique, it seemed to encounter one obstacle after another, every tiny advance bringing unbearable pain. Only late into the night did Han Shuo manage to move a little Demonic Essence from his shoulder into his wrist, but his entire arm was already aching and weak.

Han Shuo understood that he could only truly use the Mystic Ice Demon Flame Art once he had circulated all the Demonic Essence into his palm and fingers. The reason it hurt so much now was that he was opening those tiny meridians and making them adapt to the Demonic Essence. The stabbing pain was unavoidable at this stage. Once they were all opened, he would no longer feel it.

Unusually exhausted, Han Shuo struggled to keep his eyes open. Remembering that he still had work tomorrow, and that mastering the Demonic Cultivation Art wasn't something he could accomplish overnight, he simply flopped onto the bed and went to sleep.

That night, Han Shuo had another dream. He dreamed that the little skeleton obeyed his orders and beat up Fitch, who had struck his forehead, taking revenge for him.