Chapter 107: The Book of the Demon Spirit

Such a powerful witch artifact was practically tailor-made for him.

Grimm held the Flame Lord’s Staff in his hand, turning it over and over, unable to part with it.

The entire staff consisted of three parts: the tail ornament, the shaft, and the head. The shaft measured one meter in length and was crafted from a special translucent, fiery red material. Though it emitted a faint crimson glow, it felt pleasantly warm to the touch and was exceptionally comfortable to hold.

The tail end was inlaid with a non-elemental magic gem, clearly designed to fit snugly into the Flame Altar. The staff’s head was intricately carved with three entwined fire dragons, their heads curling protectively around the Flame Lord’s Heart.

This was no ordinary gem—it originated from the Fire Elemental Realm and contained a trace of the very essence of fire magic. As long as this gem was embedded, the staff’s bearer would possess immunity to fire damage. However, this protection applied only to natural flames in the environment, not to elemental flames conjured through witchcraft.

With the Flame Lord’s Staff in hand, Grimm at least had the right to bathe safely within molten volcanoes.

After fondling and admiring it for a long while, Grimm reluctantly stored it away into his storage belt. From this moment on, he possessed a witch artifact uniquely suited to himself. No wonder the Flower Spirit had only collected it without ever using it—it simply didn’t align with her attributes!

Continuing to sift through the pile of gems, Grimm pulled out two peculiar items: a purple sulfide vial containing a mysterious potion and a grim-looking grimoire decorated with a sinister ghostly face.

Grimm pinched the vial, uncorked it, and sniffed. A pungent aroma, a mix of fishy smell and pepper, stung his nostrils, causing him to frown. Inside was a full reservoir of purple magical potion, which shimmered faintly with a violet glow as he gently swayed the vial.

Bloodline Enhancement Potion?

Grimm’s eyes lit up. He couldn’t help but dip a fingertip into the potion and taste a drop, carefully analyzing it. Moments later, his chip confirmed it.

Bloodline Enhancement Potion!

For Grimm, who aspired to follow the elemental witch path, this might not hold much significance, but for apprentices like Mary, who relied on their bloodline path, it was priceless. Its greatest value lay in its ability to purify the apprentice’s bloodline to some extent, bringing them one step closer to the source of their lineage.

Having identified the potion’s nature, Grimm wasted no time and administered it to Mary. After all, Mary was already assimilating the surging blood power from the Flower Spirit’s body through her slumber, effectively evolving her vampire talent. A little external aid now would undoubtedly ease her breakthrough and broaden her strides!

Drinking the blood of mighty beings could enhance a vampire’s life rank, and the Bloodline Enhancement Potion could stimulate the vampire talent’s further evolution. Together, they complemented each other, constituting a tremendous boost for Mary. After giving her the potion, Grimm rubbed his hands eagerly, filled with anticipation.

He truly wanted to see Mary’s strength and bloodline rise in tandem as soon as possible!

After dealing with the potion, Grimm settled his mind to carefully examine the eerie grimoire.

As his gaze fell upon the sinister ghostly face on the book’s cover, a pale mist billowed forth from the tome, and the ghostly visage seemed to come alive within the fog.

It was a grim ghost face lurking in the shadows, its expression forever obscured by the mist. As Grimm furrowed his brow, a faint, uncanny voice echoed softly in his mind:

“Upholding ancient will and the principle of equivalent exchange! Young traveler on the witch’s path, do you wish to acquire great and mysterious ancient knowledge? Then open me swiftly!”

Grimm was slightly startled.

He had heard of such self-aware grimoires before. Most were crafted by ancient witches and likely concealed mysterious or forbidden spells, though some might simply be ancient pranks. Even official witches had fallen prey to these deceptions!

To open a grimoire guarded by a magic spirit, one must heed the will of the book’s previous owner and satisfy the capricious whims of the guardian spirit—making it a gamble of fate and fairness.

“Honored magic spirit, if I wish to read the contents of this book, what price must I pay?” Grimm asked calmly, unfooled by the spirit’s sweet words.

From Grimm’s knowledge, he knew some ill-prepared apprentices had foolishly opened such grimoires, only to discover the price was unbearable—too late to turn back. These unlucky souls lost their lives instead of gaining ancient magic.

Hence, an apprentice’s fundamental rule was to exercise extreme caution when dealing with foreign beings or magical spirits. Falling into their verbal traps or binding contracts could cost not only one’s life but also one’s soul.

These magic spirits were formidable entities, on par with necromancers in their mastery over souls.

Perhaps realizing its ruse was seen through, the ghostly face lost its vigor.

“You are indeed a dull and annoying bore. Do you feel no desire for ancient witchcraft or mysterious knowledge? Such tedious objections!” it growled.

“Ancient magic spirit, please answer my question!” Grimm retorted firmly.

“Fine, fine. To read this book, you must pay 15 points of Constitution…” The spirit’s voice trailed off into a faint murmur, almost like a purring kitten, making the words barely audible.

Grimm broke out in a cold sweat, nearly throwing the grimoire across the cave.

Damn! Fifteen points of Constitution!

No wonder the Flower Spirit never opened it—she probably couldn’t bear to lose such a precious portion of her Constitution. Grimm himself had barely three points to spare. If he unwittingly opened the book, the binding contract would be sealed. Failure to fulfill the contract meant certain death and soul extraction!

Just as Grimm raised the grimoire, about to hurl it aside, the chip transmitted a set of data that halted his impulse.

In the chip’s greatly enhanced and restored real-time monitoring, the spirit’s final garbled words were clearly revealed:

“…or an equivalent substitute!”

It was Ancient Eima language, spoken in a bizarre tone to confuse listeners. Most who communicated with the spirit were likely deceived by this trick.

Although ancient witches forcibly enslaved magic spirits to guard their knowledge and imposed strict rules, the spirits’ cunning could not be fully restrained. This spirit exploited a loophole in the contract, raising the reading conditions to staggering levels and concealing the critical clause.

Even if that ancient witch were resurrected, they could not accuse the spirit of breach—it acted exactly as per their contract! If you couldn’t understand Ancient Eima or hear clearly, that was your own fault, not the spirit’s. You simply lacked knowledge and diligence.

Wiping the cold sweat from his brow, Grimm spoke deliberately to the ghostly face, word by word: “Honored spirit, please tell me all the substitute conditions. I wish to choose carefully.”

The ghost face suddenly erupted in fury, roaring savagely at Grimm. But Grimm saw through its bluster and narrowed his eyes, quietly enjoying the show.

Seeing intimidation fail and its ruse exposed, the spirit, wary of triggering the dreadful ancient contract, reluctantly disclosed its true demands.

“Fifteen Constitution grants full mastery of this grimoire; eight Constitution grants access to all its contents; five Constitution allows reading of spells below the witch rank; three Constitution permits learning one designated spell; one Constitution yields a random spell.”

“Substitutes—what items can serve as substitutes?” Grimm pressed harshly.

“Magic gems, mana materials, mysterious knowledge not recorded in this book… anything related to witchcraft can serve as a substitute, but in large quantities!”

“And this?” Grimm placed a large green gem on the grimoire.

It was a giant emerald, roughly the size of a human heart, worth at least 230 magic crystals in the witch market.

“0.3 Constitution.”

The spirit’s reply sent a chill through Grimm.

By this valuation, to fully master the grimoire’s knowledge would cost nearly 12,000 magic crystals! Such an immense price might be trivial for a seasoned witch but astronomical for struggling apprentices.

Grimm twitched his mouth, glancing sideways at the previously overwhelming pile of gems, now seeming insufficient for the cost.

He laid the magic spirit’s book on the ground and began stacking magic gems on top. Each time he added one, the spirit announced a tiny, almost negligible number.

Shadow Stone, Tiger’s Eye, Malachite, Green Agate, Lesser Moonstone, Jade, Citrine, Amazonite, Ruby, Big Cat’s Eye, Sapphire, Giant Emerald, Moonstone, Garnet, Dranoth Gold Diamond, Dawnstone, Red Obsidian, Yellow Crystal Jade…

As the gems piled up, the total value finally reached 11 Constitution points. The remaining pile consisted of rare treasures like Mountain’s Blood, Blood Garnet, Peridot, Aquamarine, Night Eye Stone, Lion’s Eye, Burning Stone, and Crimson Spike Stone—too precious for Grimm to discard lightly.