Chapter 21: Shadow Magic

It wasn’t hard to make objects stick to your body.

Su Yun mastered it within a few minutes.

The palm-sized dormouse pouch perched on Su Yun’s head looked absolutely adorable.

Mo Qingqing’s head-patting intervals also shortened quite a bit.

Su Yun felt that sooner or later, she’d be patted bald.

But with such abundant vitality, it shouldn’t lead to baldness…

The day’s auction soon came to an end.

The three of them returned to the inn.

But before long, Lin Mo left.

“An old friend came to see me. I won’t be back tonight, but I’ll wake you up in the morning.”

Leaving those words, she vanished without looking back.

Mo Qingqing seemed long accustomed to this.

If it were before, she might have actually believed Lin Mo’s nonsense.

But now…she more or less knew what Lin Mo was up to.

Having lived for so many years, Lin Mo no longer cared about trivial matters.

“Pa!”

“Uu…”

“Warm my bed for me.”

Mo Qingqing slapped Su Yun’s round, bouncy butt hard.

“Yes…”

Su Yun didn’t dare slack off, quickly undressing and slipping into the covers.

The soft, large bed was wonderfully comfortable.

Far more pleasant than straw mats.

After lying there for a while, Su Yun started yawning.

Her fluffy, big tail lazily swayed outside the quilt.

It had been so long since she felt so relaxed.

Mo Qingqing, meanwhile, took out a crystal panel and began scrolling through it.

Before long, she ordered a pound of ghost tea.

But after searching for ages, she still couldn’t find any elf spring water.

“Still have to steal it, huh…” Mo Qingqing sighed.

So she bought a few more accessory-type magitools and a magic book.

“Don’t idle around, start learning.” Mo Qingqing grabbed Su Yun’s tail and dragged her out from under the covers.

“Uu…”

Su Yun grimaced in pain but didn’t dare protest, quickly sitting up and taking the book Mo Qingqing handed over.

[Flowing Shadow]

This was a shadow magic series.

At its peak, it could be cultivated into Chaos (Lesser → Intermediate → High → Super → Divine → Chaos → Origin) level assassination magic.

Once mastered, it could assassinate Origin Lord-level mages.

Its creator used this move to slay three Elemental Saints (equal to Origin Lord level) and withdraw from the Elemental Church completely unscathed.

Of course, Mo Qingqing didn’t need Su Yun to actually master assassination magic. As long as she could fully hide in shadows and steal the spring water, that would be enough.

Of course, if she could learn more, all the better.

After all, the book cost 8,000.

Even though she was wealthy now, Mo Qingqing still remembered the days when she was poor.

Being poor… was too terrifying!

“Go on, study.” With that, Mo Qingqing undressed, put on a bathrobe, and entered the bath.

Soon, light humming came from the bath.

“Tenfold Shadow Shift, Stacked Shadow Stab.”

The entire book basically talked about these two techniques.

Tenfold Shadow Shift—every fold possessed unimaginable power.

At full mastery, it could create an independent Shadow World.

The Shadow World would be perfectly attuned to the real world. Stepping into it would allow the user to travel to any place in the world through its connection.

Stacked Shadow Stab could, in theory, add unlimited shadow magic power to the paired dagger.

As long as the dagger’s material could withstand it, it would unleash the devastating, annihilating power of Starfall.

If someone at the Origin Lord level failed to detect Su Yun hiding in the Shadow World, they might be killed instantly.

Of course, it was also exceedingly difficult.

Stacked Shadow Stab required at least a High Mage as a starting point.

After the fourth fold of Shadow Shift, comprehension of both the Shadow and Space laws was necessary.

For those witches and sorcerers fighting desperately for the throne of Dominator, comprehending two laws at the same time was practically self-defeating.

That’s why this book was relatively cheap right now.

In a few hundred or thousand years, once the Dominator seats had been more or less filled—

The book’s price might rise to four or five hundred thousand, even a million Orns.

And if it advanced further to become Origin-level magic capable of harming Dominators…

Even Mo Qingqing’s tens of millions wouldn’t be enough!

But for now—

Origin magic was still just a legend.

The Fate Origin Lord said that in the future, such powerful magic would exist, so everyone left a slot for it.

That was also the goal of certain magic-obsessed old scholars.

Instead of fighting others to the death for a seat—

Why not ponder how to injure a Dominator as a mere mortal!

“But…” Su Yun gently put down the magic book, her little face tangled in distress.

She found that she… could barely understand it.

She didn’t know much of this world’s writing.

She could guess when it came to stories.

But such intricate magic theory couldn’t be guessed at all.

It was like mathematical formulas.

If you didn’t understand a word or two, it was useless.

Let alone that Su Yun didn’t recognize over half the characters at a glance.

What should she do?

Su Yun’s face was full of melancholy.

She could only say it directly.

She hopped off the bed, tiptoed to the bathroom door, and knocked gently.

“Mm?”

“Master, I… I can’t read much… I can barely understand…”

“Hah?” Mo Qingqing’s tone rose several notches.

Su Yun’s heart trembled and she hurried to explain.

“I-I’ve been wandering with my family since I was five or six, and once studied a bit at the commoners’ church… but the church soon couldn’t keep going and disbanded… I really didn’t mean to…”

Her voice gradually began to tremble.

Fear and grievance made her voice take on a hint of tears.

“…”

Mo Qingqing fell silent in the bath for a while.

“Come in.”

“Yes…”

Su Yun cautiously pushed open the door, went inside, and then closed it behind her.

“Bring the book over.” Mo Qingqing patted her thigh.

“Yes.” Su Yun sat down.

“What don’t you understand?” Mo Qingqing pulled Su Yun into her arms and asked.

The book was waterproof, fireproof, and spatial-rend proof.

There was nothing to worry about.

“From the second line onward…” Su Yun whispered.

They were too close.

Mo Qingqing’s face was almost pressed against hers.

Behind her was something big and soft.

So was the skin.

Sitting on Mo Qingqing felt like resting in a supremely comfortable chair.

Her little hands trembled as she held the book.

She didn’t know the book was waterproof.

She tried hard to keep it away from the bathwater.

While explaining, Mo Qingqing noticed this too.

“Mhm~” Mo Qingqing’s lips curled into a small smile.

She began to play with Su Yun’s fluffy little ears, and then, dissatisfied, even gently bit them.

Su Yun panicked.

This was a first!

If she went any further…

No… she mustn’t!

But would Mo Qingqing ever care about such things?

She pushed it… even further.

“Ah-ha…”

“Mm? Pay close attention. I’ll be asking questions later.” Mo Qingqing said deliberately.

“…Yes…” Su Yun squinted one eye, forcing the other to look at the book.

On purpose.

She was doing it on purpose!

Why…

Just to… see her embarrassed?

How strange…

Though she knew Mo Qingqing’s intent, there was nothing she could do.

Who told her she couldn’t read?

Who told her… she was just a slave, a pet… a toy…

But… it really wouldn’t do… If the book got wet…

Imagining what might happen, Su Yun suddenly panicked.

Tears immediately welled up in her eyes.

After a moment, Su Yun decided to take a gamble.

She lifted her head, staring at Mo Qingqing with her big, watery eyes.

Softly, light as a feather, her voice quivered with both tears and a hint of coyness, echoing faintly in the bathroom.

“Master… please stop teasing Su Yun… Su Yun really can’t take it…”

Thump!

Mo Qingqing felt her heart struck by something clear and solid.

Her breath caught, and she nearly forgot to exhale.

What was this?

This little thing… really was getting cuter the more she looked at her…