Lord of Enigma

Late at night, at Holy Thorns High School, a small brick house on campus.

Tang Qi stood in front of his working table, his forehead slightly sweaty, his two hands somewhat trembling. The coffee beside him had cooled long ago, but Tang Qi looked full of excitement; his eyes were staring at the contents inside a wooden box on his working table.

Inside, a pile of about twenty to thirty bullets were laid in a disorganized manner.

Each was shiningly yellow, but if one looked a bit longer, one would vaguely see that there was a clear blue light flowing within them.

Inside Tang Qi's eyes, a special interface emerged.

[Wonder: Sea Monster Bullets]

[Attributes: Breaking spells, exorcisms.]

[Information Fragment 1: A bullet soaked in the tears of a sea monster. It had acquired a trace of the magic of the sea monster and transformed from an ordinary object to a supernatural one. It has also obtained the properties of breaking spells and dispersing evil.]

[Information Fragment 2: Because of the special character of the magic of the sea monster, these bullets still have one more hidden attribute. If their owner points the pistol at himself, there is a possibility that it will have the effect of recovery from injury and breaking free from a special state.]

Tang Qi's breathing immediately became quicker.

The attributes of the freshly made sea monster bullet actually weren't unexpected for Tang Qi.

It seemed that there was some overlap with the furnace bullet, and that exorcism attribute was very similar to the evil-breaking attribute of the furnace bullets.

But there were differences, such as in "breaking spells".

This attribute was very easily understandable. Presumably, it meant breaking evil curses.

Although Tang Qi had yet to encounter anyone who could use evil curses, Tang Qi could be sure that he would in the future; he definitely would.

The Samra family!

This witch family who migrated over from the Saha Continent was, until now, still a Sword of Damocles hanging above Tang Qi's head.

Though they had yet to come to his door to seek revenge, Tang Qi knew clearly that it was not because they gave up on it.

Instead, it was because Tang Qi was delaying it to the best of his ability. That old witch known as the "Black Snake Witch" was traveling outside, and the other members apparently had yet to realize that their temporary leader, Old Morgan, was already burnt into ashes and spread into the sea.

Of course, spreading cremated ashes into the sea was not a tradition of the Samra family. In fact, it was an insult.

The tradition of the Samra family was that after a member of the family died, they must be buried under a big tree known as "Bobab", or the soul would never be at peace.

If the Samra family knew about what Tang Qi did, they would probably go crazy and come seeking revenge.

Of course, if they knew that Old Morgan had become a "demon of adjudication" because of what Tang Qi did and suffered day and night on the Balance Scale of Soul Exchange, this family would kill Tang Qi at any cost.

Even the mysterious power of Holy Thorns High School wouldn't stop them.

From Old Morgan's diary, Tang Qi saw the family's pervertedness and unity.

It was also because of this that Tang Qi never considered reconciliation.

Between them, it could only end with the death of the other party.

Otherwise, Tang Qi wouldn't be so anxious to strengthen himself, not showing the least bit of intention to stop and enjoy his life despite the great wealth he owned.

"With this bullet, the execution of the first step of my plan is better assured.

"Next, it's about enhancing the fundamentals.

"There is a shortcut in front of me, so I've got to carry out each step more stably. Strength cannot make people lose themselves, idling can."

Tang Qi held a sea monster bullet and said to himself as he felt the faint magical powers flowing within it.

He finished the completely cold coffee at once and cleared up his working table, putting away each sea monster bullet before walking towards his bedroom to begin his daily ascetic cultivation.

Sleep has bid farewell to Tang Qi since he started practicing the Golden Furnace Meditation Method.

This might be strange, but the benefits of a night of meditation were obviously higher than that of sleep, so Tang Qi did not hesitate to abandon sleep, the resting activity of ordinary humans.

Sitting down on the soft carpet, Tang Qi entered a state of meditation in one thought.

Boom!

When his consciousness traced out a golden sun, Tang Qi once more entered the dark space of the void. He felt the scorching heat of his own body, while at the same time, facing the endless weirdness surging from unknown gaps.

…

The next morning, when Tang Qi woke up, he didn't have to check the special interface at once.

Tang Qi could feel it himself; his strength had increased a bit more.

His look fell on his own body, proving his feeling.

In the skills column, the progress of Meditation Method improved from 0.32% from last night to 0.33%. Furnace's Eyes also increased by 0.01%.

The Chaga Fighting Technique actually didn't change at all; it really required Tang Qi to find some other way.

Feeling the warmth surging in his body, Tang Qi got up with satisfaction, prepared breakfast for himself and returned to the study after eating. He looked for a moment by his desk before taking out a copy of Monster Archives and then took the Hundred Years of Monstrousness as well.

He locked the iron door and walked towards the campus. But before turning around, Tang Qi seemed to think of something and looked again at the quiet area not far from his temporary home.

The most noticeable building there was an old bell tower.

That was supposed to be the compound of something called the Ascetic Society, according to Priest Simbani.

But right now, the Ascetic Society was dissolved, and the building was supposedly vacant.

According to the treasure map, and supported by the diary of Old Morgan, as well as Tang Qi's first day of exploration in the school compound, one could reasonably predict that the "legacy of the Confessor" was in the area of the bell tower.

If he had known all this on the first day, Tang Qi might have ventured to examine the place.

But right now, Tang Qi who had already smelled the scent of conspiracy would naturally not be so reckless.

After giving it a seemingly inadvertent gaze, Tang Qi turned around and returned to the look of an ordinary Asian boy, mixing perfectly into the crowd of students.

Holy Thorns High School was a well-known aristocratic high school, but this didn't mean that there were no hardworking students here.

In fact, there was a very high percentage of good, hardworking students. Even the youths who came from very well-to-do families learned everything they were supposed to learn and were good in both character and academics. An all-rounded development was the future path planned for them by their parents.

Of course, there were a lot who weren't good at study.

Such as the popular seniors he met on his first day of school. None of them were good at their studies.

But having too good a family background coupled with a position such as cheerleading president or boxing club president were enough to make them ignore so-called academic grades. They could even proudly say things like "even the most talented students have to end up working for my family".

Besides them, Tang Qi was also bad at his studies…

Which was why back then, the parents of the original Tang Qi had to manage with effort to get him in by relying on relationships.

If he was better at studying, he could definitely get in by grades like Sally, and be able to not only enroll but be exempted from tuition fees, and moreover, get paid a scholarship.

Tang Qi put on the look of studying hard on the first day. After realizing that he had learned pretty much all the common knowledge and didn't need to do so anymore, he once more returned to his uncaring attitude towards studies. He started openly reading those "strange books" in class.

He was so absorbed that Sally had to cover for him to keep the teachers from finding out.

After school, thinking for her good friend, Sally meant to remind Tang Qi that Thorns High had a final examination at the end of each year, and anyone who didn't pass would be forced to drop out.

But she worried that by saying so, she would make her good friend unhappy.

Just when she was hesitating whether or not to say it, Tang Qi smiled a little and suddenly brought Sally to walk out of the campus. He said, "To thank you for showing me the way last night, I'm giving you a mysterious present today."

"Believe me, you will like it."

Tang Qi's voice came into Sally's ears; the young girl had already blushed from shyness and followed him out of school. She swallowed back the persuasion that had already come to her lips. Her mind was totally blank and completely occupied by the word "present".

Someone is giving me a present?

This sentence echoed in the young girl's mind.