Watching a woman a hundred times over doesn’t guarantee she’ll be yours.
But reading a spellbook for magical study a hundred times…
That really isn’t any better than watching a woman.
With his resolve to grow stronger firmed up, determined to be able to defend himself next time Feng Aotian questioned him, and even more determined not to lose face the next time he got, ahem… pinned beneath Princess Amidina—he swore he wouldn’t just lie there like a helpless fool being kissed unconscious again.
Even with so many clear directions laid out, Lin Nuo still felt that reading spellbooks just wasn’t as enjoyable as watching women… Â
But after chanting spells all day, he’d already lost count of how many elements he’d tried to sense through meditation, most of which responded to him with nothing at all.
Not that it was a total loss. Â
Lin Nuo had more or less grasped a touching level-zero spell—
[lv0: Life Slime Generation]
Don’t get the wrong idea; this really required condensing magic to conjure actual life slime!
But, what the hell use was it! Â
Even as a kind of liquid glue, its stickiness was nowhere near good enough!
Lin Nuo sighed, sitting cross-legged on his bed to concentrate once more.
When he opened his eyes again, the Natural Magic Book that had fused into his body was now floating before his hand. Â
“Chirp chirp?!”
The Fatty Bird pecking at his knee flew up startled by the only two things that had ever appeared in Lin Nuo’s hand besides the life slime.
“I told Amidina yesterday that I could see there wasn’t just blankness inside the Magic Book…”
“Her Sacred Relic can directly merge into my body like a magic weapon that’s acknowledged its master, though I still don’t know if this item qualifies as a magic weapon yet…”
“I remember how Amidina’s reaction to this book was completely different when she saw it compared to me. She looked puzzled, but then didn’t think much of it.”
Lin Nuo tapped the book’s cover with his finger.
“So, does Princess Amidina think her powerless Sacred Relic, even if it acknowledges me as its master, doesn’t actually have any particularly significant effect?” Â
‘Probably not,’ Lin Nuo denied his initial guess.
The ice-blue magic array inside him and Amidina’s magical power shared the same origin.
She must have set it up to help him control that black aura.
It must have cost her a lot of effort, yet it was broken through in an instant. Â
But, the white light emitted by the Magic Book could instantly suppress the chaotic black aura inside him that was so violent it couldn’t even cry out for help—and that his own father couldn’t detect, yet was about to kill him.
That was obviously not something simple. Â
“When I flipped to this page yesterday, even when I pointed it out to Amidina, she still couldn’t see the Goddess Statue drawn there.”
“Could it be…”
“The true function of this book is something only I can gradually explore?”
Lin Nuo recalled,  between yesterday and today, that raging black aura inside him, the one that felt like it wanted to corrode his entire body, had actually appeared a second time.
Though its power was nowhere near the first time that caused his entire body to ache and sweat coldly in madness, the Magic Book still worked. Â
On the very first page with the Angel image, it cast some strange healing magic.
After the black aura was suppressed, he lost all his strength as if his mind had been completely drained and fell asleep… Â
Is it that this power functions like body fat, useless unless you’re starving?
Like it handed him a famous blade? Â
The key is that when he get into real danger again, relying on this baffling book to catch a breath can at most delay his death! Â
Something that gives him no initiative… Â
Might as well be the life slime!
After analyzing the difficulty difference between learning magic through hard work and uncovering this book’s true use, Lin Nuo focused and tried to explore the book’s wonders again.
“Whoosh”
He flipped to the first page, staring more intently at the illustration: an angel holding a Magic Staff, standing on one leg in the center of a magic array, surrounded by ancient Sanskrit glyphs of healing magic…
‘If the Sanskrit corresponds to the book’s healing power then………..  ‘
Lin Nuo’s gaze dropped down.
‘Could the magic array the angel stands on mean this book has some special effect on magic arrays?’
His expectations weren’t high, because magic arrays were a higher-level concept than magic itself.
Magic involves manipulating elements like wind, thunder, earth, fire, light, and darkness through mana, and with enough proficiency, one can perform simple basic magical techniques.
But magic arrays require a level of mana control several times more precise than casting magic, at least enough to externalize mana and construct the required runes and patterns in a fixed location.
The very first step, which Lin Nuo already knew, determined that countless sorcerers who couldn’t even cast magic without chanting were temporarily out of reach of magic arrays.
Not to mention the need to memorize source runes and master mana conduction within runes and patterns…
With so many conditions, those familiar with magic arrays were even rarer than skilled healers. Â
But that didn’t stop many old sorcerers from spending years in secret cultivation of magic arrays.
After all, the difference in power between magical techniques and magic arrays  was even greater than the gap between Qi becoming a horse and Qi becoming wings! Â
It made sense that the Angekesai family spent seven years trying to tame the Magic Whale with magic arrays.
Even Feng Aotian from the original story had no interest in looking into it. Â
How many were really proficient?
Lin Nuo also found the difficulty.
“I can’t even find a magic array to try this guess…”
After who knew how long studying the Magic Book,  feeling the blood inside him surge again, Lin Nuo no longer tensed up as he had the previous two times, stiffening as the mysterious toxin tried to corrode his body, only to be suppressed by white light. Â
Instead, pondering carefully…
Did Amidina leave a magic array inside him?
His consciousness slipped once more into oblivion during meditation.
Changing posture to kneel on his bed, Lin Nuo carefully sensed the ice-blue magic array imprisoning the black aura inside him.
Perhaps the magical power Amidina left in his body was gentle enough, as he detected a faint connection to the array… Â
“Buzz—” Â
The Magic Book spread open on his thigh faintly pulsed with magical power.
Suddenly, the words (Su Hui) appeared printed on the first page’s Goddess Statue.
That was the name of the blue magic array Amidina had left behind. Â
Then, countless source runes needed to build the array flooded into Lin Nuo’s mind like a bursting dam.
The strength and conduction of water magic at various positions in the Su Hui magic array, the geometric framework essential to constructing the array, the nested sub-arrays used to balance the array, preventing elemental imbalance and leakage of array power… Â
Suddenly,  Lin Nuo opened his eyes. Â
Raising his hand toward the void, his wrist slowly twisted. Â
The various elements required by the Su Hui magic array appeared in his mind simultaneously, as if being pulled, materializing in his palm like a living plant naturally growing into shape.
Until a miniature Su Hui magic array actually floated in his palm!
“Chirp chirp!”
The Fatty Bird flapped its wings faster, terrified by this sudden new appearance, losing a few feathers.
“I… damn!”
Lin Nuo exclaimed in shock.
He hadn’t even memorized the source runes needed for magic arrays, yet he could directly generate this array!
‘Could it be that this book remembers the magic arrays I’ve seen before and transfers the construction techniques to me…? No!’ Â
It seemed to be even more than that!
Lin Nuo’s expression shifted sharply.
The Su Hui magic array required Amidina’s purifying power to form, but even without Amidina’s purification ability, the book could automatically supplement that part of the array needed according to the mana he input… Â
Equivalent exchange?
‘My ordinary mana clearly couldn’t compare to mana with purifying power, so it wasn’t equivalent, but it really could be exchanged!’Â Â
Lin Nuo’s mind blanked briefly as he vaguely realized the extraordinary nature of the item in his hands.
‘Could magic arrays that were harsh conditions for others be something I can try learning?’Â Â
‘Then if I wanted to…  add something extra to this array?’
His vision suddenly brightened.
Lin Nuo searched through the scrolls beside him with the other hand.
Before long, he found another extremely rare array with harsh construction conditions, whose function was to convert an enemy’s mana into his own for use—the “Traction Magic Array.” Â
He stared intently at the elemental structure of the Traction magic array.
Simultaneously, this array also appeared to be recorded in the Goddess Statue on the first page of the Magic Book open across his knees, with the ancient characters (Traction) printed above the statue.
Then the source runes for this array emerged in Lin Nuo’s mind, and the routes for mana flow seemed to find direction again…
Lin Nuo raised his other hand.
Before his palm, in the void, the dark purple Traction magic array gradually condensed into an outline as mana circulated. Â
Lin Nuo breathed lightly, almost not inhaling, only trying to fuse the Traction and Su Hui magic arrays.
The Magic Book seemed to sense his intent.
His mind was torn as countless conditions for overlapping the two arrays flooded in—knowledge of arrays he’d never touched before. Â
Like just now, relying on feeling… Â
Just as the purple and ice-blue arrays were about to merge,
“Click!” Â
The sound of glass shattering echoed, leaving only streaks of light of different colors falling between his hands.
Failed…
But Lin Nuo didn’t hesitate.
Feeling a spark of opportunity, he took a few mana recovery pills and reconstructed the two arrays again. Â
Sensing the lack of spiritual power from Lin Nuo’s effort, the black aura inside him grew even more violent, so much that blood spilled from Lin Nuo’s mouth immediately.
But his movements didn’t stop in the slightest… Â
Second attempt-Â Â
Fusion failed.
No matter, took pills, continued!
Third attempt-
Fusion still failed.
No matter, took pills, continued!
Fourth, fifth, sixth…
Almost ten attempts.
He could feel the little mana and spiritual power left in his body draining close to emptiness, the black aura crashing the Su Hui array to near collapse again.
Lin Nuo could see the veins on his arm even darkening faintly, a searing pain coursing through his body causing his once-straight back to sag weakly.
Yet his hands still maintained the posture to build the magic array.
Until—
The eleventh attempt.
Due to lack of spiritual power, the Traction array faded from deep purple to pale purple, but luckily, the two arrays finally fused successfully.
Lin Nuo slapped the bed quickly.
On the entire bed surface, a composite array laid out with him as the array core was now complete.
Suddenly, that black aura inside him, releasing from within outward, was transformed upon touching the strange magic array into a certain black mana no longer corrosive but still wildly violent and resisting him. Â
Lin Nuo gritted his teeth through the severe pain radiating from all parts of his body, carefully manipulating the purifying power of the Su Hui magic array, until that black mana was soothed to the same intimacy level as the ice-blue mana Amidina had left behind.
Only then did he slowly and patiently retract the array.
The mana purified from the black aura, as if it found its master, filled Lin Nuo’s utterly weak body collapsed on the bed.
‘It worked!’Â Â
‘It worked!’
Having witnessed with his own eyes that the corrosive black aura eating away at his body was consecutively transformed and purified by the two magic arrays, even if only slightly purified, yet it could actually be used by him—
As if discovering a chance, Lin Nuo’s bloodied mouth curled faintly as he slowly closed his eyes.
Before him,  the Magic Book seemed to sense the mana filling Lin Nuo’s body, and the Goddess Statue on the first page, as if absorbing enough nourishment, shone with white light once more.
The warm healing power revived and nurtured Lin Nuo’s body… Â
As he finally fell asleep peacefully, glowing golden letters appeared in the upper corner of the Magic Book’s first page:
[Cleric Job Selection · Activated]
[Clerical Position One: Seat of the Goddess of Light]
[lv0: Magic Girl who learned healing spells from loving excessive girlfriend rewards]
[lv0: Love-brained Array Core Master’s Memory]
“Buzz—” Â
As if another unique territory was unlocked, the Magic Book’s second page naturally turned.
The first line appeared in black font, different from the Goddess of Light page:
[Tyrant Sequence · To be Activated]
[Sequence One: Magician]
[……]