The morning light streamed through the glass skylight, enveloping the wooden beams and bookshelves. A faint scent of wood mingled with the vanilla and rum fragrance from the bedroom diffuser on Talia's dresser, creating an elegant and refreshing aroma that wasn't overly sweet.

"Uh..."

Lan Qi hadn't seemed to anticipate Talia's increasingly poor attitude towards him.

But he didn't mind, because he had brought something Talia was sure to like again.

"I'm here to pay my tuition."

Lan Qi's lips curved upward, revealing his signature smile, both innocent and a little mischievous.

He handed a magic card to Talia.

[Shadow World Record Program]

[Category: Spell Card]

[Grade: Purple Rare]

[Tier: 1]

[Passive Effect: Records the challenger's challenge information in the Shadow World, can be turned off or on at any time.]

[Note: Issued by the Southern Continent Shadow World Management Association, registered challenger: Lan Qi Wilfort.]

Talia glanced at it indifferently, seemingly not interested in the card at all.

"What do I need it for?"

The words slipped out, but her heart rate quickened slightly.

Originally, Talia hadn't figured out how to subtly hint to Lan Qi that she wanted this.

She hadn't expected him to directly offer this magic card that recorded the complete content of the Demon Realm Shadow World!

This made Talia wonder—

Why would Lan Qi know she wanted this? He had no way of knowing she was a demon.

"Tata, the Shadow World I challenged this time is unusual. Guess what I found inside?"

Lan Qi said smugly, as if sure that his next words would interest Talia.

"What?"

Talia crossed her arms and glanced at Lan Qi's expression with slight curiosity.

She had seen the second half of Lan Qi's challenge and felt that besides the complete historical information of the Demon Realm in the record program, there wasn't anything more valuable.

"Magic that can modify demonic beast fur!"

Lan Qi snapped his fingers, announcing the answer.

Talia's face immediately turned cold upon hearing this, and her initial interest vanished completely.

She felt that Lan Qi was joking with her again, without any sense of propriety.

This guy was getting more and more annoying.

However, as if anticipating Talia's reaction, Lan Qi moved a little closer to her chair, leaned down, and said softly:

"Let's cooperate, a strong alliance, and research magic to modify human hair. Imagine, if you can give your opponent a hairstyle while fighting, wouldn't that be an embodiment of 'friendship first, respect for the opponent'?"

"...?!"

Talia immediately looked at Lan Qi's smiling face.

She realized that this novice was about to open a forbidden door again!

Removing the enemy's hair while fighting.

The enemy wouldn't stop until they killed Lan Qi.

However, knowing that this was a more dangerous magic than kneeling and silencing.

After seeing Lan Qi's previous magic card creations, Talia couldn't help but feel a strong interest this time.

"So Tata,"

Lan Qi stared into Talia's golden eyes, knowing she was tempted,

"Although the content about 'demonic beast fur modification magic' is all in my head and not recorded in the [Shadow World Record Program], to prevent the prototype of this core technology from being seen by others or the Management Association, this [Shadow World Record Program] also records my entire challenge process. I think you should understand the relevant process and background before developing new magic, maybe in case there's something I overlooked?"

He continued to speak slowly and methodically in Talia's ear.

Appealing to emotions and explaining with reason, it didn't sound like the whispers of a devil at all.

"..."

Talia lowered her head and pressed her brow.

She always felt like she was under Lan Qi's mental magic, how could she not refuse him every time?

The complete Demon Realm historical intelligence in the record program was just a gift, but that happened to be what she wanted most.

The "demonic beast fur modification magic," which was the main subject of the transaction, also made her extremely tempted.

Once again, Lan Qi seemed to always know her sweet spot, allowing her to obtain everything that was beneficial to her without any worries or troubles.

Talia, who originally felt that she didn't want to pay attention to Lan Qi today, felt that she should be nicer to him.

Human life was short, and this young man was full of immeasurable value.

She might stay by his side for decades, fully realizing his value.

So instead of always suspecting him, it was better to be a little nicer to him and make him more willing to work for her.

"This is only enough for me to teach you up to the fourth tier."

Talia didn't take the magic card from Lan Qi's hand for the time being, her tone softened a little, and she said.

If she taught him further, Talia would have nothing more to teach in terms of common card-making techniques unless she directly taught Lan Qi thorough demon card-making techniques in a wild style.

But that was absolutely impossible.

Teaching Lan Qi to the third tier was the limit, and she would never teach him anything more, no matter what Lan Qi said in the future.

"No problem."

Lan Qi agreed decisively. Immediately, Talia snatched the [Shadow World Record Program] from his hand:

"I'll return it to you after I'm done reading it."

"Okay, no rush."

Lan Qi nodded. At least before the next Shadow World challenge, he didn't need to rush to get the card back. He had a full two months.

"Tata, before researching the 'hairstyle modification' magic, I encountered a problem. If I want to increase my card-making success rate as much as possible and pass the registered card maker exam, can you help me test the magic type compatibility you mentioned last time?"

In addition to reaching a new transaction agreement with Talia.

Next, the most important thing was to find the direction of his future card-making career.

"...Card Maker Exam."

Talia knew that Lan Qi needed to obtain the identity of a registered card maker in the Southern Continent to make money quickly, and the higher the initial level of a card maker, the greater the benefits and reductions he could obtain.

The money Lan Qi earned was actually hers, so it was indeed necessary for her to help Lan Qi pass this slightly difficult exam for him.

Currently, even if Lan Qi, who had just reached the third tier, were to make the mental magic cards that he was best at, the success rate of making finished magic cards within the limited number of opportunities on the spot would not be high. It wouldn't be strange if he took one or two years to pass.

She also had to find out if Lan Qi had any magic types with higher compatibility.

But Talia couldn't guarantee that the "better" compatibility of mental magic would already be the best of Lan Qi's compatibility with all magic types.

"Follow me."

After saying that, she stood up and led Lan Qi to the inner room next door.

(End of chapter)