Black Book

Chapter 495 Ancient One, you lied to me!
The poor Diao Chan was lost for only a few seconds before he quickly regained his spirits and climbed onto Zhu Haomiao's head with high morale. He stood up like a meerkat and looked around.

"Gee~"

There was a slight lightness above his head, and Zhu Haomiao knew without looking that Diao Chan had disappeared again. He sighed helplessly, leaned back and lay on the grass.

A cool breeze blew, and the young man in black picked up a piece of dogtail grass and put it in his mouth. He looked at the magnificent and beautiful golden mountain in the sun, and felt the long-lost peace in his heart.

He emptied his mind and enjoyed the rare leisure. After an unknown amount of time, Zhu Haomiao's pupils, which were in a trance, shuddered slightly.

He stood up and lowered his head, and the [Dragon Emblem] on his chest burst into a faint mysterious light. An illusory translucent lotus slowly bloomed, revealing the Jade Disc of Creation in the center, and the wriggling and twisting golden "stamens".

With the corners of his mouth slightly raised, Zhu Haomiao took the "stamen" into his soul and carefully comprehended the mystery within.

"Gee~"

After being absent-minded for a long time, a clear humming sound brought his attention back. Zhu Haomiao looked up and found that Diao Chan was holding a translucent strange flower in front of him.

"Little Flower, give it to Shui Shui~"

Looking at the flower that was glowing with spiritual light and emitting a cool aura, like one made of crystal, Zhu Haomiao wanted to say something but stopped himself. Finally, when he met Diao Chan's expectant eyes and the wildly swinging white tail, he could only sigh helplessly.

"Thank you."

Touching Diao Chan’s little head, Zhu Haomiao took her kindness into his heart.

This thing looks very suitable for making soup, so I'll put it away first...

On the other side, as if greatly encouraged, Diao Chan stood up excitedly and puffed out his chest.

"Don't be afraid, Shuishui, I'll wait until you're done washing, and then I'll pick up something to feed you~"

Zhu Haomiao: “…………”

Covering his face, Zhu Haomiao felt the throbbing pain in his temples and squeezed out a few words from between his teeth.

"Who taught you this?"

"Ningning taught me. She said that when you are about to take a bath..."

"I am old!"

"Yes, yes, yes. When we get old, Xuxu will go out and find things to support you~"

As he spoke, Diao Chan patted his chest, his face full of pride, and made a solemn promise.

"Shuishui, don't be afraid. Xuxu is super awesome. He will pick up a lot of things for you to eat~"

"........."

Ye Wanning, are you sick? ! !
Rubbing his temples in pain, Zhu Haomiao was speechless for a moment.

On the other side, fearing that his master would not believe him, Diao Chan put his claws into his mouth and fiddled with it, pulling out all kinds of strange things.

There were strange-looking insects, branches, young leaves, mushrooms, flowers, fruits, and Zhu Haomiao even saw many half-eaten metal ores.

"Treetree, so good~"

"It smells so good~"

"Stinky, so stinky~"

"Sweet, so good~"

"Hard, so good~"

…………

Seeing Diao Chan counting her delicacies as if she were presenting treasures, Zhu Haomiao quickly stopped her desire to share.

"Okay, okay, Ye Wanning loves to eat these. Next time you go back, you can stuff them into her mouth. She will be so moved that she will be speechless."

"Ningning loves to eat?!" "Yes! She definitely loves to eat!"

After sending away the extremely filial Diao Chan, Zhu Haomiao let out a long sigh of relief, got up to find Wang An, and started today's practice.

………………

"Concentrate your mind and imagine your destination. In the beginning, it's best to go to a place you are familiar with and have been to before..."

With Wang An's whispers echoing in his ears, Zhu Haomiao put on the brass ring. He put two fingers of his left hand together to fix the void, and used his right hand to draw circles gently like a sword. In his mind, he imagined the small hill where he had lain at noon.

However, after painting for a long time, the air in front of him did not react at all, not even a spark was produced.

"........."

Seeing the young man in black exerting force on his facial features and drawing circles like he was constipated, Wang An looked at him strangely and sighed subconsciously.

"You are the least talented person in magic I have ever seen..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang An suddenly realized what kind of existence he was facing. He shuddered all over and quickly changed the subject.

"It's not physical effort, it's mental. Use your soul to feel the fluctuations of time and space. Imagine that you are standing in a higher dimension and folding two different spaces together. The point of contact is the [door]!"

Hearing this, Zhu Haomiao, who was tense all over, held his breath and slowly exhaled, relaxed his muscles, and continued to try to feel the time and space with his mind.

Finally, a mysterious sensation arose in the soul, and sparks of fire suddenly burst out in the void not far in front of him.

"It's done!"

Zhu Haomiao's eyes lit up and he roared in excitement, but as his mental strength weakened, the faint spark quickly died out and dissipated into the air.

Beside him, Wang An couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and clapped with satisfaction.

"Congratulations, you have mastered the trick of [Portal]. The next step is to keep practicing and make it more stable until you can use it as easily as your own arm..."

The young man in black nodded happily, then took off the brass ring with some reluctance and returned it to Wang An.

However, Wang An did not take the ring, but just smiled and shook his head.

"I didn't give it to you before because I was afraid you would accidentally open some dangerous different-dimensional space. Now that you have gotten started, you can wear it with you and practice."

Hearing this, Zhu Haomiao was shocked: "Such a precious thing was given to me so easily?"

Although he agreed to Ancient One's condition of protecting the Earth, wasn't there still some test?
Hearing his words, Wang An just silently took out an identical brass ring.

Zhu Haomiao: “…………”

Wasn't there only one?

Ancient One, you lied to me!
Obviously noticing Zhu Haomiao's emotions, Wang An explained with a chuckle.

"The rings you and I are holding now are replicas. They contain a trace of the original's power. With the help of magic, they can trigger the original and complete a weakened version of the [Portal], allowing you to travel freely within a certain range."

"Although it can't reach the ability of the Suspended Ring to move freely in the multiverse, it is enough for our daily use."

As he spoke, Wang An changed the subject and spoke in a serious tone.

"To use an inappropriate analogy, the replica ring is the client, and the original ring is the cloud server. If you control the original ring, you can decide who to grant [access rights] to."

"If you shut down the 'server', many of the Earth's magic systems built on the basis of the Suspension Ring will be paralyzed in an instant..."

"Currently, the main body of the hanging ring is in the charge of the Supreme Mage himself. In the future...if I hand it over to you, I hope you will not let down the Master's trust..."

Patting Zhu Haomiao on the shoulder, Wang An sighed, turned around and slowly left.

Behind him, Zhu Haomiao frowned strangely, looking at the brass ring on his hand, pursed his lips in an indescribable manner.

(End of this chapter)