Maggie was still a little scared, while Rosen stepped forward, reaching out first to grab the book glowing with silver light.
But it was firmly held by the corpse, unable to be pulled out.
Rosen didn't believe that a corpse could be stronger than him; even if he had to break the corpse's arm, he would pull it out.
However, no matter how hard Rosen tried, he couldn't pull it out.
Rosen's palm slipped, and he was sent flying backward.
And that book also flew out from the icy corpse's embrace, landing in Maggie's arms.
"This is the book you wanted," Maggie handed the book to Rosen, who rubbed his backside and, the moment he took the book, it seemed to be imbued with immense power, instantly pressing Rosen's hand to the ground.
"Ah ah ah…" Rosen screamed, his hand pinned under the book, unable to be pulled out.
"Quick… quickly help me move it."
Maggie hurriedly picked up the book, and Rosen was finally able to free himself.
Damn it, did it choose a Master?
Rosen then looked at the black-glowing book still in the icy corpse's embrace; he wondered if this book would be the same.
Rosen came before the icy corpse: "If you pull any more tricks, don't blame me for feeding you to the dogs."
After a brief hesitation, Rosen still reached out for the black book.
This time, there was no difficulty at all; he easily pulled the black book from the icy corpse's embrace.
The next moment, the icy corpse crumbled into ash, like burnt charcoal.
Rosen looked at the black book in his hand, then at the white book in Maggie's arms.
Could these two be the legendary vishanti book and the darkhold?
If these two were the vishanti book and the darkhold, then was the figure he saw earlier the remnant soul of this icy corpse? Or someone from the future?
Rosen left the ice cave with Maggie, his thoughts churning.
Ancient One was over five hundred years old when she appeared in the Marvel movies; it's now the early Ming Dynasty, which seems to be just over five hundred years from that era.
So… could Maggie be Ancient One?
Originally, Rosen had thought of searching for Kamar-Taj, but now it seemed Kamar-Taj might not even have been established yet.
Maggie pointed at the two dead snow wolves not far away, and Rosen understood her meaning.
In this era, two wolves could also serve as meat.
Rosen dragged the two snow wolves back to the Village.
Just then, Abang and several villagers came out with torches, looking for Maggie.
Seeing Maggie return safe and sound, with Rosen dragging two snow wolves behind her, Abang also breathed a sigh of relief.
"Father, I heard wolves howling tonight. When I came out, I saw a pack of wolves trying to jump into the sheepfold, but they targeted me and dragged him into the mountains. Fortunately, Amu heard the commotion and saved me," Maggie explained to her father.
Abang's gaze towards Rosen became more grateful upon hearing this.
He had initially thought Rosen was there to steal a girl from the Village.
Now it seemed he had misunderstood him.
For the next few days, Rosen was engrossed in reading the black book.
The content of the black book was not conventional text but some indescribable symbols, yet Rosen could understand them.
However, each time he turned a page, Rosen found it extremely strenuous.
After a few days, Rosen had already learned two magic spells recorded in the black book: magic Tempering and Shadow Demon Creation.
Rosen found Maggie, wanting to talk to her, but when he found her, he realized she had already read more than half of the white book.
Rosen gasped, wasn't this difference a bit too great?
"Maggie."
"Brother Rosen, are you looking for me?" Maggie was still speaking Tibetan, but Rosen understood her words.
"Oh, how did you do that? Why can I understand you?"
"This is Mental Speech, a very simple little trick," Maggie said.
Very simple? Rosen felt a rush of embarrassment, where was it simple?
You're telling me to say it again!
"Is there something you need me for?"
"Regarding the magic Tempering recorded in my magic book, I'm wondering if your magic book also has this magic Tempering?"
"Yes, there are many methods of magic Tempering in this World. My vishanti book records one, but through the records on it, I've deduced several other methods of magic Tempering."
Rosen gasped again, was this the value of Sorcerer Supreme Ancient One?
"Ancient One? Brother Rosen, why do you call me Ancient One?"
"Wait… did I just say something?"
"When you speak or think words related to me, I can sense them. You haven't answered my question, is Ancient One related to me?"
Rosen's eyes flickered, and he said, "This is a type of prophecy magic recorded in my magic book. It calculated your future; in the future, you will receive the title Ancient One."
"I see." Maggie was still Maggie, not Sorcerer Supreme.
So she didn't have so many twists and turns in her mind.
Rosen felt very guilty at this moment, after all, if Ancient One remembered this old story at some point in the future, would she come back to beat him through the internet cable?
No, I can't stay here anymore, after all, I cultivation the darkhold.
If the future Ancient One suddenly decided to eliminate evil and uphold Dao, then how would I live?
"Maggie, I've been here for many days, and I plan to go home tomorrow."
Maggie looked up at Rosen, nodding silently.
Rosen saw Maggie's indifferent expression and felt a slight stir in his heart.
This white book doesn't look like a good thing either; could it be that Ancient One, the ten-thousand-year-old virgin in the future, is also due to her Cultivation of the vishanti book?
Crack—
The stone slab beneath Maggie's feet suddenly cracked, and Maggie looked at Rosen with a forced smile.
"Brother Rosen, you have to travel tomorrow, so get a good rest."
With that, Maggie turned and left.
Cold sweat broke out on Rosen's forehead. It's over, it's over, Maggie must have sensed what he was thinking just now.
Fortunately, Maggie's Combat strength isn't high now, as long as the future Ancient One doesn't come directly through the internet cable to deal with him, it'll be fine.
The next day, Rosen packed his things. This time, he only had one more black book, so there wasn't much luggage to carry.
As Rosen walked out of the small Village, he saw Maggie standing at the Village entrance, gazing at Rosen from afar.
Shadow Demon Creation, a strange creature created by fusing one's shadow with desire.
This wasn't a particularly complex magic, after all, the first magic Rosen learned, besides magic Tempering, certainly wouldn't be too profound.
Shadow Demon also didn't have any very special abilities; its only ability was to freely extend from Rosen's feet and then swap bodies with Rosen, which was a relatively crude form of teleportation.
Secondly, Shadow Demon also had its own emotions and could chat with Rosen when there was nothing else to do.
Although he was created by the Fusion of Rosen's desires and Shadow, he had already developed his own emotions and consciousness.
"I say, Sen, when are we going to a brothel to have some fun?"
"I'm an honest man," Rosen replied earnestly.
"Yes, yes, who was it who wanted to take care of Ancient One before she achieved Dao?"
"Didn't I not implement it yet? Is it not even allowed to think about it?"
"You're afraid that the future Ancient One will come and pin you against the wall, aren't you?"
"No, I respect women." Rosen felt like he wanted to destroy the Shadow Demon.
After all, an existence that knows all his thoughts is truly terrifying.
"What kind of look is that? Do you want to kill to silence me?"
"You're not human."
"Hold on a minute… I'm still your child, aren't I?"
Rosen bent down, reached for the Shadow on the ground, pulled it to his front, and grabbed the Shadow Demon's neck: "Nonsense, I'm still a 24K pure virgin, where did I get a Prodigy child like you?"
"Wait, I'm still useful."
"Useful for what?"
"I can help you refine magic."
"Oh? Show me." Rosen immediately perked up.
The Shadow Demon immediately began to refine magic, and Rosen felt the magic flowing from the Shadow Demon. Although it was a little slow, it was indeed useful.
Rosen then began to think, if he created enough Shadow Demons, his magic refining speed would surpass anyone, even Ancient One wouldn't be able to compare to him.
I can try it! Rosen stopped in place and began to create a second Shadow Demon.
For the first Shadow Demon, Rosen injected his lust.
Then for the second Shadow Demon, Rosen injected his Greed.
For the third Shadow Demon, Rosen injected his Gluttony.
But when creating the fourth Shadow Demon, he couldn't succeed no matter what. Rosen didn't know if it was because his magic Rank was too low, or because his desires weren't enough.
However, the three desire-filled Shadow Demons chattered incessantly in Rosen's ears all day.
This made Rosen understand why people who cultivation the darkhold were all crazy.
They were all Incarnations of Rosen, and their desires were amplified, each possessing Rosen's character flaws.
"Master, look at that caravan ahead, let's rob them. The wealth can satisfy Greed, women can satisfy lust, and men can satisfy me," Gluttony said wildly.
"I, your Master, am a normal person, please stop saying such perverted things in my ear."
"When I said men satisfy me, it's not what you think."
"No matter what, it's not allowed." Rosen's face darkened.
Among the three Shadow Demons, Gluttony Shadow Demon was undoubtedly the most perverted, anti-human in every sense.
What could move, what couldn't move, he could define as food.
"I created you not to distort my outlook on life, values, and Worldview, and if you tell any more twisted Hell jokes, I'll send you back to be remade, understand?"
"Master, can I ask you one thing?" Lust asked.
"What is it?"
"If I'm remade, can I be shaped into a female form? That way…"
"Alright, no more perverted remarks after that, I don't want to hear it."
Rosen felt like he was truly perverted, otherwise, why would his Shadow Demons be so perverted?
Although the three Shadow Demons made Rosen see his true face, they were indeed of great help in Cultivation.
In fact, not only magic refining, but even the Twenty-Four Qi Refining Arts could be assisted in Cultivation.
It's a pity only three Shadow Demons could be created; if possible, he really wanted to create a few more.
Of course, next time Rosen would definitely sew up the Shadow Demon's mouth when creating them.
After three months of travel, Kaiyuan County was still two hundred miles away, and he would be home in two or three more days.
Sitting under a tree, he sent the three Shadow Demons out to hunt, while he took out the black book again to study.
magic and Qi are not the same System; from Cultivation methods to energy forms, they are completely different.
Qi has elemental distinctions, and if two types of Qi are Cultivated, and their elements clash, the reaction will be particularly intense, just like when Ice and Fire meet, there will be a fierce energy conflict.
However, two clashing types of Qi are not absolutely incompatible; just like Yin and Yang in Tai Chi, as long as they are circulated in a certain way during Qi circulation, not only will the two types of Qi not clash, but they can also unleash even more astonishing power.
Within the Twenty-Four Qi Refining Arts, there are a large number of mutually reinforcing and conflicting elements, and different combinations yield different effects.
However, it was too early for Rosen to consider practicing a second type of Qi; currently, Rosen had only achieved Minor Achievement in the awakening of the spirit, and was still far from Perfection.
magic, on the other hand, has no elemental distinctions; the strength of magic largely determines the strength of one's power.
Of course, if a magic that violates rules, or even violates Karma, appears, it can still sway the outcome.
For example, Ancient One's Time Magic, a magic that directly reverses Karma. She could even descend to eliminate an enemy before they grew, an opponent Rosen absolutely did not want to face.