“Do you want to live? If you want to live, then hold onto it tightly!”
Su Aoxue lay amidst the ruins, his breathing weak, looking as if his end was near.
Not far from him, monster corpses were scattered across the ground. Many of them were still twitching, appearing to have died only recently.
Standing before Su Aoxue was a mysterious woman draped in a black cloak. It was she who had just spoken.
Looking at the iconic patterns on her cloak, Su Aoxue recognized that the mysterious woman before him was highly likely a Witch.
At this moment, the mysterious Witch waved a crystal emitting a dazzling white light in front of him.
Although the temptation of ‘life’ was laid out before him, Su Aoxue hesitated because the reputation of a ‘Witch’ was not particularly good.
Witches didn’t engage in losing business; they weren’t philanthropists. Everything came with a price.
If he accepted this temptation, he might end up in a state worse than death!
Suddenly, the figures of his mother and younger sister appeared before Su Aoxue’s eyes.
‘That’s right… Father is missing. If I die too, only my mother and sister will be left to depend on each other.’
‘My sister’s illness…’
‘I… absolutely cannot die!!!’
While Su Aoxue was lost in his memories, it might have only been a moment, but it seemed a bit long for the Witch.
Just as the Witch was about to withdraw the crystal, Su Aoxue moved. He shakily tried to raise his arm to take the crystal from her hand.
“Mm-hmm? A wise choice!”
Seeing this, a smile played on the Witch’s lips.
As she tossed the crystal, it seemed to gain a consciousness of its own in the next second, instantly burrowing into Su Aoxue’s chest.
“Woohoo! I finally recruited a newcomer to the organization. My mission is finally complete!”
The Witch, quietly watching the crystal sink into Su Aoxue’s chest, began to smirk.
However, to keep him from noticing anything amiss, she instinctively pulled her hood lower and slightly turned her head away.
But Su Aoxue had long since ignored the Witch beside him. The moment the crystal entered his body, his mind went completely blank.
He seemed to see himself in a vast, white world of ice and snow, where cold winds mixed with flying snow constantly lashed against his body.
Just as he thought he had been tricked by the Witch and used as some kind of magical test subject, an Ice Castle built from blocks of ice suddenly appeared before his eyes.
Inexplicably, Su Aoxue wanted to push open the gates of that Ice Castle.
As he did so, his body began to undergo a certain change, and his injuries were healed in an instant.
However, Su Aoxue, still within the mental world, could not perceive the physical changes at this moment.
The Witch guarding Su Aoxue seemed to notice the changes in his body and leaned in closer to take a better look.
“Oh, oh, oh! The skin is starting to turn white and become delicate!”
“Ah, the chest is starting to curve too~”
The Witch ran her finger along Su Aoxue’s arm.
Even she couldn’t help but gasp when she saw the clothes starting to be pushed out.
“My, my, I didn’t expect it to have the effect of a Gender Swap Potion. Saved me the cost of an extra bottle~”
“Look at this smooth white hair; it’s even a white-haired beauty!”
The Witch wore a smile, but in the next second, she suddenly frowned.
She instantly vanished from the spot and reappeared 5 meters away from Su Aoxue.
“Tsk, is it the Cold Disaster ability that’s awakening? It’s freezing me to death!”
The Witch looked at the frost that had suddenly appeared on her fingers, and her smile vanished instantly.
In Su Aoxue’s mental world, as she pushed the gates halfway open, the scene before her changed again.
A familiar figure appeared — the Witch draped in a black cloak.
And without him knowing when, he was now standing before the Witch.
“I… I’m still alive?”
The moment the words left her mouth, Su Aoxue froze.
“Of course. I didn’t say you would die, did I?”
Likely due to Su Aoxue’s words, a hint of amusement returned to the Witch’s voice.
But perhaps due to some magic, Su Aoxue could not see the face under the Witch’s hood clearly; it was as if it were pixelated.
Su Aoxue, however, acted as if she hadn’t heard the Witch’s words.
She lowered her head, and her hands began to roam over her entire body.
When she realized she was missing something and had gained something else, and that her chest felt heavy, she fell into a complete silence.
The good news: she was alive. The bad news: she seemed to have turned into a girl…
And there was cold air floating around her?
Had she… awakened early?
“As the saying goes, if you can’t see your toes when you look down, you’re a peerless beauty. How about it? Want to see what you look like now?”
The Witch’s voice suddenly rang out, snapping the dazed Su Aoxue back to reality.
“Why… why did I become like this!”
Su Aoxue’s beautiful female voice was slightly hoarse as her blue eyes glared at the Witch in interrogation.
To this, the mysterious Witch simply spread her hands and said matter-of-factly, “If you use a Witch’s power, you naturally become a Witch~”
The mysterious Witch’s words caused Su Aoxue’s pupils to shrink.
She stared blankly at the frost seeping from her hands.
But in the next second, something that startled even the mysterious Witch occurred. A white light began to emanate from Su Aoxue’s entire body.
In the next instant, Su Aoxue reverted to his original appearance.
The snowy-white long hair turned back into short black hair, and the curves on his chest flattened.
However, as soon as the white light subsided, it began to appear again.
A moment later, Su Aoxue transformed back into a girl with long white hair, bearing several similarities to his original appearance.
This seemed to be the Witch form, and he could switch between his original body and the Witch form?
“If I don’t use that power, I can change back!”
‘Good. I can still change back.’
Su Aoxue murmured, reverting to his original body once more. His eyes were filled with uncontrollable astonishment.
The energy belonging to the Witch within him felt as if it were innate, coming and going at his beck and call.
Was this… a good thing or a bad thing?
He could now… change form anytime, anywhere? What exactly had this Witch done to him?
The mysterious Witch also realized what Su Aoxue had done and couldn’t help but mutter under her breath, “Tsk, the newcomer recruited this time isn’t just smart; the talent isn’t half bad either~”
“But being able to change back… is probably because the mana and the physical body haven’t fully fused yet? Once the power of the Witch is completely integrated in the future…”
The mysterious Witch couldn’t help but show a meaningful smile, though unfortunately, Su Aoxue couldn’t see it.
The mysterious Witch then spoke, “A Witch’s power isn’t given to you for free. Within the next month, you must obtain three hearts from Elite-level Abyssal Creatures and two hearts from Elite-level Grey Fog Creatures to pass the Witch’s Assessment.”
“Otherwise, I will take back this power. And as for the consequence of taking it back — well, you’ll die!”
“Make sure you remember that~”
Hearing this, Su Aoxue fell into silence.
Abyssal Creatures were not easy to kill. The monsters that had attacked him earlier were from that group.
Because they were underground, one needed a special channel to go down there.
While Grey Fog Creatures could be encountered on the surface, they could only be found in the Grey Fog Area on the outskirts of the Base City.
Furthermore, both types of creatures required Elite-level hearts!
Those were existences that only an A-rank Warrior could hunt alone.
Were the requirements for the Witch’s Assessment really that high?
And after the assessment was over?
Just as Su Aoxue was about to haggle, the mysterious Witch vanished from before his eyes, as if she had never existed.
The total interaction between Su Aoxue and the mysterious Witch had lasted no more than five minutes.
Following the Witch’s departure, the City Guard arrived at the scene.
It was as if they were deliberately avoiding the Witch.
Su Aoxue sat down slowly on the pile of rocks, holding his head as he began to organize his thoughts.
Then, as if remembering something, his expression tightened. He hurriedly felt his pants pocket and pulled out a phone with a shattered screen.
As the screen lit up, Su Aoxue breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness, the screen is just a bit cracked!”
‘Otherwise, replacing the phone would be another expense.’
Afterward, Su Aoxue began to think about his next move.
The place where he worked part-time had been destroyed; even his boss might be dead.
And now he still had the Witch’s Assessment to deal with.
‘Five Elite-level hearts in just one month.’
‘Can I really do it?’
‘Is that Witch just messing with me?’
‘Tsk, I’d better not tell them about this, lest they worry.’
He couldn’t help but scratch his head, feeling a massive headache coming on.
Although he had survived, if he didn’t complete the Witch’s Assessment, he would still die in a month.
Moreover, his sister’s illness required a lot of money; he had to find a new way to earn it.
‘I wonder if I can use the Witch’s power to…’
Recalling the power that flowed through him when he transformed into a Witch, Su Aoxue hesitated.
At that moment, Su Aoxue thought he heard someone calling his name.
He raised his head toward the source of the sound and paused. “That sounds like Old Shen’s voice!”
Shen Yan was Su Aoxue’s good brother.
The tone was urgent; he seemed to be looking for him.
The taste of demoness ain’t bad