After his magical perception was promoted to the Platinum level, Char was finally able to sense the subtle changes in magic particles at the microscopic level. Countless phenomena that were previously undetectable to him were now laid bare. It was like looking at the lines on the palm of his hand; every single intricate detail was now perfectly and utterly clear. Even the magic nodes of the mutant Devil's Snare, once frustratingly vague and indistinct, became exceptionally clear at this moment. Char could now perceive the very flow and diffusion of the individual magic particles within those nodes, a feat he could only have dreamed of before.
And it was precisely because of this newfound clarity that Char finally understood the true peculiarity of his mutant Devil's Snare. It was generally recognized in the Herbology community that a normal Devil's Snare could only process nodes up to level three. New branches would extend from the primary node of the initial root, then from the secondary node on that new branch, and so on. The number and size of the branches were therefore inherently limited. The fundamental reason for this was that as the nodes became increasingly tiny, they were no longer able to provide enough magic power to nurture new branches. Only a very small number of high-quality specimens could ever be processed to a fourth-level node. But the variant he had cultivated using Sectumsempra was not only much stronger than an ordinary Devil's Snare, but its magic nodes were as well. With a magic node of the same size, a regular plant could not support the growth of new branches, but his mutant version could. A strange glint appeared in his eyes. "According to my feeling, this batch of mutant Devil's Snare is probably capable of processing up to level five nodes. Some of the most excellent individuals might even process up to level six!"
This meant that the scale of his mutant Devil's Snare could be much larger, and the effect of the reward light ball it provided would be much better than he had expected. This naturally put him in a good mood. In addition, Devil's Snare was a very suitable mother plant for grafting vine-like magical herbs. Professor Sprout had once made a result that caused a sensation in the Herbology community by grafting the branches of the Whomping Willow onto a Devil's Snare. Although the branches still did not survive in the end, the grafting process had been completed smoothly, which had pushed the subject of grafting ancient vine plants forward a big step. And this variant of Devil's Snare that he had on hand, since its magic nodes were extremely strong, its effect as a grafting matrix would be much stronger than that of an ordinary one. He would definitely be exposed to the subject of magical herb grafting in the future, and this was a unique advantage for him.
Thinking of this, his face lit up even more. He immediately came to the mutant Devil's Snare and started processing it. First of all, there were some first-level and second-level nodes that he had previously ignored. Although they were divided into level one and level two, they were relatively weak. Generally speaking, it was impossible to support the subsequent growth of so many branches, so he had never dealt with them. But now, increasingly aware of the potential of the mutant Devil's Snare, he naturally couldn't let go of these missed magic nodes. With a flick of his wand, the Sectumsempra spell was used. He immediately felt the difference in the spell this time. The invisible blade was also composed of countless sharp magic particles, especially those on the edges, which were still resonating at a characteristic frequency. This was definitely an experience he had never had before. Although it had not yet brought about an immediate increase in the power of his spell, after sending it out, he felt more comfortable, a feeling of making light of an important matter and strolling leisurely in a garden.
The Divine Edge Shadowless Spell lightly passed over a tiny magic node, cutting it just right. The whole process was easy and carefree. On the system panel, the originally flickering light on his spell became a little more stable after it was cast. At the same time, above the mutant Devil's Snare in front of him, the reward light ball expanded slightly again. His eyes lit up. The wand waved repeatedly, and one after another, the spells flew out silently. One by one, the previously ignored magic nodes were processed. Although this repetitive process might seem boring to others, after each spell, the light on the system panel stabilized. A small bonus light ball expanded above the Devil's Snare. These little accumulations made him feel very fulfilled. Before he knew it, there would be considerable gains.
Time seemed to stand still in his flow state. It was only when he subconsciously waved his wand but could no longer sense any unprocessed magic nodes that he realized he had already processed all the missed nodes on these variants. Then, his eyes fell on the system panel. He discovered that the light on the Divine Edge Shadowless Curse, which had been flickering, had become stable at this moment. And the brilliance of its platinum luster was significantly greater than before. At this rate, once the spell completely stabilized, although it was still quite a long way from the Diamond-level promotion node, it should be able to create a very obvious gap compared to before his magic perception was improved. After a long period of stagnation in his magic, he once again experienced this feeling of progress, which made his eyes sparkle with joy. Immediately, when his eyes fell on the bonus light ball on the mutant Devil's Snare, the joy became even more intense. After processing these previously missed magic nodes, the reward light ball had continued to expand, and at this time, its volume had expanded by nearly one-third. This improvement was quite considerable. If he continued to process to level five or even level six nodes, he guessed the rewards this batch of mutant Devil's Snare would bring him would be several times more than he had previously estimated.
"This is the benefit brought by the improvement of magic perception," he sighed. He then looked at the suitcase he had received from Malfoy. After the box was opened, the glittering jewels and precious stones mixed with the cold aura of their curses immediately spread out. But he didn't touch the cursed jewels first. His eyes focused on Herpo the Foul's notebook. He was quite interested in the contents left by this famous ancient dark wizard. Carefully, he picked up the human skin notebook. Enduring the strange feeling in his heart, he opened the cover. What caught his eye was some messy handwriting. Ancient Greek, ancient Hebrew, and possibly many other ancient scripts were mixed in. It was quite difficult for him to identify. And the content that could be discerned was even more messy than the font itself. Most of it was incoherent words. Some were simply interjections or angry curses. He took a long time to identify it, but no useful information was captured. This made him frown. Now he understood why this notebook was never mentioned in the original book, and why Lucius Malfoy had just used it as a favor. This thing was of high value, but it had more collection and magic history research value. As for the actual magical value? He was afraid it was very small. When Herpo wrote this notebook, his mental state seemed very worrying. Was it because of the impact of dark magic?
He shook his head. "Never mind. Whatever the reason, it would be very difficult to find any information useful for magic from these words." However, he had never had high expectations for this. He would take his time to look for it. Maybe he could find some valuable information from it later. Immediately, he put the notebook aside. Only then did he look at the cursed jewels. A strange look appeared in his eyes. These jewels were all entwined with extremely powerful curse magic. But in the beginning, when they were first created, the curse magic attached to them should have been extremely weak, at most making people feel a little weak. To reach the current intensity, they would have had to kill at least a dozen or even dozens of people with the curse. The bloodiness and cruelty of dark wizards could also be seen in these jewels. But a moment later, the emotion in his heart subsided. He didn't care how many people these cursed jewels had killed. What interested him was the connection between the cursed magic on them and the object itself, and the flesh and blood of the holder. This was the part that would help him use curses to try to transform plant seeds.
His expression gradually became focused. With his current magical perception, he could feel the cursed magic wrapped around these jewels more clearly. But that was exactly the case, and it made him frown slightly. Because the curse magic wrapped around each piece was extremely complex. There were at least a dozen, and at most dozens or even hundreds of curse magic powers from different sources intertwined together. This was because every time the cursed jewel killed a holder, it absorbed their negative emotions and transformed them into more cursed magic. When the holder died, the jewel would be imbued with an additional source of cursed magic, making it even more powerful. This was quite unfavorable for his research. After all, it was well known that when studying an unfamiliar topic, it was best to start with the simplest system possible. The more influencing factors there were, the more difficult it would be to research something. The intricate curse magic of various natures on these jewels was like a ball of yarn with dozens of threads tangled together. To unravel it, the difficulty could be imagined.
"It's best to find the one with the least amount of curse magic first," he decided. "First, reduce some of the difficulty. Generally speaking, the more recently a cursed jewel was created, the fewer people it has killed, and the less cursed magic power it possesses." According to this standard, his eyes first fell on a piece of crystal as blue as the sea. A moment later, his cheek twitched slightly. He just shook his head. The cursed magic wrapped around this thing had reached a horrifying level. He probably guessed the reason. This should be the famous gem from the Muggle world—the Heart of the Ocean. It had been on the Titanic when it sank. The large number of people who had died in that shipwreck had also created hundreds of new curse magics on it. But it also made it even more profound and beautiful, as if you would be drawn into it at first sight.
But then he shifted his gaze to another ruby. This thing was a little older than the Heart of the Ocean, but its "ingredients" were much simpler. Less than ten curse magic powers. Although it was still a bit much, the difficulty of analysis had been greatly reduced. Moreover, if certain methods were adopted, the difficulty could be further reduced. A thought flashed in his eyes. "The cursed magic on cursed jewelry is divided into two types. One type is to change the jewelry itself. For example, making it more beautiful and attractive, or making it indestructible by ordinary means. This type of cursed magic that can change the cursed object itself is what I need to study. As for the other type, it's a curse that causes torture, hallucinations, or even death to the holder. To me, it's not worth much. So theoretically, if I can temporarily eliminate the cursed magic that torments the wielder, retaining only the magic that causes the jewel itself to change, then this research will be much easier. As for how to do it—" He narrowed his eyes, his gaze falling on the ruby in front of him. He whispered to himself, "Isn't this simple? Just let the curse on the jewel take effect. Then most of the cursed magic will be transferred to the holder. Only those curses that are effective on the jewelry itself will continue to remain on the jewelry. In addition, the bearer of the curse must have exceptionally strong vitality and a strong will, strong enough to endure the torture of the curse. Otherwise, if you die during the curse period, the magic will return to the jewelry."
His expression became rather strange. This candidate… it seemed to be very clear. With his legendary life and Platinum-level attainments in curse studies, a curse that could kill him was probably unknown to the magical world. It was most appropriate for him to trigger the curse himself. The only problem might be that although the curse wasn't fatal, it would still cause some discomfort and pain. But for Char, this had long been commonplace. Thinking of this, he grinned. The next moment, he picked up the ruby pendant and wore it instantly.
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