After understanding the true function of the Soul-Devouring Rune, Wei’en had the Xiaoxis continue their Meditation.

"Apu."

"Baba."

As the two heads swallowed nonstop, Wei’en clearly felt the changes occurring within him during his Meditation.

So that’s what it was. The Xiaoxis’ swallowing was actually them devouring specific elements.

Once these elements entered his Origin, their properties were devoured and converted.

At the same time, thanks to the interconnectedness of his Origin, this converted power would flow into his body and form Spiritual Power.

As for the elements they devoured—they were the very ones the Xiaoxis had spoken of: chaos, despair, death, darkness, and so on.

’It really lives up to the "Ghost Soul" name. Not a single positive element in the bunch.’

Wei’en mused to himself, then stopped paying attention to the Meditation process.

’As long as it increases my strength, does it really matter what kind of elements I’m devouring?’

With that thought, he opened his panel to check, hoping to find the cause of that intense pain from before.

[You have successfully resisted the Origin erosion from an unknown entity. The properties of your Origin have mutated once more. Evaluation: Chaos, despair, death, darkness... Heh heh heh. Special Reward: Origin +2, Spirit Level +1, Resilience Level +1, Survival Points +5.]

[You have successfully branded the Soul-Devouring Rune and learned Soul-Devouring Magic (Level 1). You can now devour and absorb the Origin Power of other creatures. Evaluation: Congratulations, you’re finally starting to look like a Wizard. Special Reward: Spirit Level +1, Survival Points +2.]

[Note 1: The speed of devouring and absorption is dependent on the quality of the Origin being consumed and the level of your Soul-Devouring Magic.]

[Note 2: There is a risk of aberration when devouring an Origin of excessively high quality.]

’My Origin’s properties mutated again...’

’Could it be that the whispering from before was the Origin erosion?’

’And the intense pain I felt... was that because my Origin’s properties mutated again?’

Wei’en looked down at himself, then checked his reflection in a mirror. He breathed a sigh of relief when he confirmed his body hadn’t changed. ’Phew, that’s a relief. As long as I don’t mutate into something like Captain Alianna, I can handle it...’

Next, Wei’en looked at the skills section of his panel. A new spell had appeared—Soul-Devouring Magic.

The moment he received the notification, knowledge about this Magic flooded his mind.

First, this wasn’t a combat spell. Targets had to be on the verge of death or have died very recently.

Only then could he safely devour and absorb them.

He also had to be careful not to devour Origin Power of too high a quality, otherwise it would trigger an aberration.

’I’ve finally learned a spell.’

’Time to test it out.’

Wei’en scanned the room but couldn’t find a suitable target. With a heavy heart, he decided to sacrifice a quill pen... ’Three pence a pop,’ he thought. ’That’s expensive.’

"Devour Soul!"

Wei’en pointed a hand at the quill in the corner. His Spiritual Power surged forth, activating the Soul-Devouring Rune.

At that moment, the meditating Xiaoxis snapped their heads toward the quill. With serious expressions, they chanted in unison, "Adagua!" (Soul-Devouring Magic!)

Simultaneously, the Soul-Devouring Runes on their foreheads flashed with a black light that shot toward the quill.

And then... the two heads lunged forward, clamped down on the quill, and began chewing voraciously until it was completely devoured.

’This is fucking Soul-Devouring Magic?’

’Doesn’t this just look like a hungry dog pouncing on its meal?’

A series of question marks slowly materialized over Wei’en’s head. "???..."

He stared at the Xiaoxis, who had resumed their Meditation after casting the spell, and couldn’t help but curse in frustration.

After a long moment, Wei’en resigned himself to reality.

Regardless, this was the first spell he had learned, and it was the core spell of the Ghost Soul School’s Secret Art Spell System.

Even if the sight was a complete eyesore... he had no choice but to hold his nose and accept it.

Besides, the fact that it cost 5 Survival Points to level up Soul-Devouring Magic was proof enough that the spell’s power was considerable.

So, without much hesitation, he decided to use his Survival Points to level up Soul-Devouring Magic.

Soul-Devouring Magic Lvl. 1 (1/5), Soul-Devouring Magic Lvl. 1 (2/5)...

[Soul-Devouring Magic Lvl. 1 (5/5). Upgrade?]

[Upgrade.]

[Congratulations, your skill: Soul-Devouring Magic has been upgraded to Level 2. Effect: Slightly increases the quality of Origin that can be devoured, slightly increases the speed of devouring and absorption.]

Wei’en looked at the skill in his panel—Soul-Devouring Magic Lvl. 2 (0/50).

’Ten times the Survival Points for each upgrade?’

’That’s so many!’

’Don’t tell me other magic skills are like this too?’

Wei’en looked at his remaining Survival Points and couldn’t help but sigh. ’There’s too much to upgrade, and nowhere near enough Survival Points to go around.’

He had wanted to keep leveling up Soul-Devouring Magic, but it looked like that would have to wait.

As for his other skill, Basic Gunnery... Wei’en added a point to it without a second thought.

’He didn’t have 50 Survival Points.’

’But 1 Survival Point? That was nothing.’

Besides, gunnery was one of the few offensive methods he currently had. Improving it would increase his chances of survival.

Basic Gunnery (1/1).

[Basic Gunnery (1/1). Upgrade?]

[Upgrade.]

[Congratulations, your skill: Basic Gunnery has been upgraded to Proficient. Effect: Increased accuracy when using firearms.]

[Note: Proficient-level Gunnery is equivalent to 10,000 rounds of shooting practice.]

As the Gunnery skill leveled up, images of him training with firearms flashed through Wei’en’s mind.

Whether it was a rifle, pistol, or sniper rifle, it felt as if he had practiced with each of them ten thousand times, achieving a state of mastery.

’Not bad,’ he thought. ’At least now I can guarantee that every shot I take with a firearm will hit its mark.’

Wei’en saw that the Proficient level of Gunnery only required 10 points to upgrade from. ’That’s not much... Let’s keep going!’

Gunnery Proficient (10/10).

[Gunnery Proficient (10/10). Upgrade?]

[Upgrade.]

[Congratulations, your skill: Gunnery Proficient has been upgraded to Expert. Effect: Increased accuracy when using firearms.]

[Note: Expert-level Gunnery is equivalent to 100,000 rounds of shooting practice.]

This time, even more knowledge about the use of firearms flooded his mind.

Even with Wei’en’s current Spirit Level, it took him nearly an hour to fully absorb all the new information.

It didn’t just include practical shooting experience; he now understood the internal structure and component specifications of various firearms with perfect clarity.

Wei’en didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ’Is the system preparing me to start modifying Flintlock Guns?’

You couldn’t blame him for looking down on gunnery... compared to the abilities of a Wizard, the damage ceiling for firearms was just too low.

’Still, it’s a good stopgap measure for now. It won’t be too late to abandon firearms once my Wizard level is higher.’

Gunnery Expert (0/100)... Now *that* required a lot more Survival Points.

Wei’en looked at his remaining 34 Survival Points and did a quick calculation. It should be enough to improve his Potioneering knowledge a little.

He would be happy even if he could only improve his ability to craft a single type of Magic Potion.

After all, Potioneering was crucial to his grand money-making plan.

And based on his observations over the past two days, the rate at which the Secret Investigation Department consumed Magic Potions alone was enough for him to make a fortune.

Of course, the prerequisite was that his Potioneering knowledge was advanced enough to produce the Magic Potions the Secret Investigation Department needed.

After weighing his options, Wei’en took out the dust-gathering book, *An Introduction to Magic Potions—Basic Theories of Potioneering*, and began to study...