In the dark woods, Isaac floated in the air, connected to a blue heart. The ground was a complete mess, covered in sword scars and tree stumps. No one else was in sight; only the whistle of Sword Qi echoed around him.

Just then, Isaac discovered another one of his shortcomings—he was too bright!

Especially at night, he was a freaking beacon, shimmering with a rainbow of colors.

But there was nothing to be done. These were the only defensive measures Isaac had right now. ’I’ll just have to make do,’ he thought.

THUMP-THUMP~

At that moment, the blue heart behind Isaac gave another violent pulse, and a powerful surge of Magic Power was once again channeled into his body. Isaac took a handful of Rubies from his pocket and infused them with Magic Power. A bloody mist slowly spread out, condensing into two new Great Sword Ghosts before him.

’Honestly,’ Isaac thought, ’my biggest gain from this Trial so far hasn’t been the thousand-plus Gold Coins I’ve earned, but this pocketful of high-quality Flesh Essence!’

’No wonder all those Exotic Beast-taming novels from my past life always had plots moving to the Deep Sea. Turns out they weren’t just making it up—the place is a real gold mine!’

’But that’s fine. Soon, this vast ocean will be my hunting ground too!’

A slight smile touched Isaac’s lips as he imagined the wonderful future ahead.

At the same time, the Swordsman, who had been barely holding on, was swiftly defeated. With two new Great Sword Ghosts joining the fray, he was now besieged by a total of four, and he quickly fell.

After losing an arm, he was killed by a sword that pierced his heart.

Although the Swordsman was dead, Isaac remained cautious. He didn’t approach to loot the body himself. Instead, he had a Great Sword Ghost do it, retrieving the man’s money pouch, tattered armor, and five Crystal Stones.

SHLUK!

As it turned out, Isaac’s decision was extremely wise. The Swordsman was a true Great Knight; although not from the Nobility, he had received formal training. His Life Force was far stronger than that of an Ordinary Great Warrior. Even with his heart destroyed, a sliver of his Life Force remained.

This final strike was meant as a sneak attack on Isaac, but who would have thought he’d be so cautious?

’But I’ve already committed to this final blow,’ the man thought. ’Can’t just let it go to waste, right?’

’That would be too much of a loss.’

So, he shaped his remaining hand like a blade and plunged it straight into the Great Sword Ghost’s heart. With a burst of Battle Qi, he shredded the organ to pieces!

Then, he closed his eyes in peace. ’Took one with me. Worth it.’

Isaac shook his head. With a wave of his hand, the Great Sword Ghost with the pierced heart, along with the other three, dissolved into a crimson liquid that flowed into his palm and re-formed into a single Ruby.

’Worth it?’

’It was a huge loss!’

Keeping one Great Sword Ghost out for protection, Isaac tossed out the pumpkin to summon his carriage. He boarded it with the Great Sword Ghost, and they tore through the night sky, flying directly toward Shushu.

’The battle just now was intense; other people are bound to come investigate. I’d better leave now. I need to save my current Firepower for after daybreak. As for the Swordsman’s body...’

Isaac didn’t dissolve the body into Flesh Essence. It wasn’t a matter of respect or admiration; after all, the Great Sword Ghosts had done all the fighting. He had just stood on the sidelines summoning his minions. He hadn’t even cast any buffs, and it had been a group beatdown. There were no noble sentiments involved.

His decision not to process the Swordsman’s body was influenced, to some extent, by that blonde-haired girl. ’That girl... she’s someone with ideals. The kind of person who dares to act on them, too.’

’In both my past life and this one, I’ve always been rather envious of people like that. Unfortunately, I can’t be like them, because I’m both a coward and selfish.’

’But that doesn’t stop me from setting a few bottom lines for myself. For example, not using human corpses as Casting materials. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to stick to it, but for now, at least, it’s what I want to do.’

...

"Master."

"Mm."

As Isaac drew near, the first to detect him was Shushu, who could share its vision with all rats. However, the first to actually reach his side was Liu Li—after all, she had nothing better to do.

Of course, there was another reason—Shushu was currently tied up.

The carriage landed in front of the giant serpent’s cave. A ceaseless stream of rats poured from the entrance, automatically parting around Isaac to give him a place to set his feet.

Isaac walked into the cave, his curiosity piqued. Inside, he saw three ethereal blue Legend gates. The rats were pouring ceaselessly from them, and the barely detectable traces of Death Magic Power on their bodies had been picked up incidentally within the cave.

Walking deeper into the cave, Isaac’s brow furrowed, and he instinctively raised a hand to cover his nose. He had caught a thick, putrid stench.

He quickly lowered it, though. Not because he had grown accustomed to the smell, but because covering his nose was pointless. The putrid stench was the "scent" of Death Magic Power, perceived through his magical senses, not his nose.

Isaac curiously sized up Shushu’s "laboratory." He only had a rough idea of the place from Liu Li’s reports and wasn’t clear on the specific details.

Harmon was just as curious as Isaac. It had been quite stunned when it first learned that Shushu was researching Divine Art. Harmon had been responsible for Shushu’s early education, so it was keenly aware of the creature’s intellectual capacity.

’But now,’ Harmon thought, ’this little guy who couldn’t even handle single-digit addition and subtraction, who was basically illiterate, is actually mimicking the Master and running experiments?’ 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

’It’s so...’

’Bizarre!’

Shushu’s laboratory was more or less as Isaac had imagined. Though the forms were a bit abstract, he could still generally tell that the layout was a copy of his own laboratory—especially those few platforms that stood over a meter high...