Chapter 170: Blood Drop, Ancient, and Flute Sound

Inside the ornate box appeared before Ciel's eyes... seeds again, and quite oddly shaped ones. At first glance, they gave one the feeling these were definitely not plant seeds from the current era but should be older and more powerful. Like the Whomping Willow! His eyes showed some strangeness. "These should be ancient plant seeds Bogey Lockman collected." But after a moment, he shook his head again. "Unfortunately, they've all lost vitality. All in specimen state. Apart from collection value, even Herbology masters can't bring them back to life." He had seen many similar ancient plant seed specimens at Professor Sprout's... probably a whole wall's worth. Professor Sprout had also told him these things were perfect gifts among herbologists. Almost every Herbology master would stockpile some specimens. If he liked them, he could collect dozens like chocolate frog cards. He hadn't expected Bogey Lockman to value them so highly, keeping them in such an exquisite box when they were just specimens. After a moment, he understood. "Right. For Herbology masters, such specimens are rare but not difficult to obtain. Through social exchanges, they naturally accumulate many. But for Bogey Lockman, who desperately wanted to become a Herbology master but couldn't, imitating the collection behaviors of real masters wasn't incomprehensible. Like some people in past lives who tried desperately to squeeze into circles they didn't belong to, paying special attention to what that circle ate, drank, and played with. Imitating such behavior seemed to make them feel they belonged too." He shook his head, still feeling regret. When first seeing these ancient plant seeds, he'd had some hope, thinking he might get lucky and find a seed with remaining vitality. But he knew finding ancient plant seeds with vitality wasn't easy. According to Professor Sprout, only annual young Herbology award winners evaluated as exceptionally outstanding by the Herbology Association might be rewarded with one active ancient plant seed. This was to encourage young scholars to tackle these challenges. Imaginably rare. Bogey Lockman's chances of obtaining one were really low. But looking at this box, he felt something was strange. Though Bogey Lockman wasn't a Herbology master but a rogue who only wrote critical articles, even wanting to squeeze into Herbology master circles wouldn't warrant what Eugene described... spending time alone with this box daily, allowing no one near. This box of specimens might not even be worth more than the exquisite box itself. Something seemed wrong. This sense of discord made him look more carefully at the box again. "Bogey Lockman's behavior isn't normal. Unless... There's something else hidden in this box. Even these specimens are surface camouflage. The box's real secret made him not dare reveal anything, only daring to secretly appreciate it alone." Thoughts flashed through his mind as he picked up the box again, examining it carefully. But whether visually or by weight, nothing seemed wrong. Not even a suspicious crack was visible. After long contemplation, he asked Eugene. "Before and after Bogey Lockman approached this box, did he show any unusual behavior? Any unusual behavior at all." After struggling to recall, Eugene said hesitantly, "Seems like every time Bogey Lockman came out, he'd have me prepare hemostatic potions. But he often used dark magic to modify seeds, so hemostatic potions were daily necessities. I don't know if this counts as unusual." Eugene's words made his eyes flash slightly. Hemostatic potions? Needed every time after finishing contact with the box? Could it be blood? He recalled rumors he'd heard occasionally. Originally, entering Gringotts underground vaults required vault owners to drop blood on doors to pass protective magic. Though inconvenient, this protection was maximally secure. No disguise magic or potions could pass this final barrier. But later something happened... thieves wanting to break into underground vaults actually found vault owners, brutally killing them for blood. Though ultimately repelled by Gringotts, after this incident, ancient family members pressured Gringotts to cancel such blood protection measures, fearing future vault breakers might target them. "Could it be... Bogey Lockman's design on this box was similar blood protection? But Bogey Lockman is already dead... where to find his blood now?" He frowned slightly. While thinking, his gaze suddenly fell on the seeds modified by Dark Magic Transfiguration nearby. His mind found direction. "These seeds were all modified by Bogey Lockman. Meaning they were all soaked in Bogey Lockman's blood. Perhaps some can be extracted from them." Then he immediately waved his wand. Seeds floated up one by one. Next, the Bronze-tier Dark Magic Transfiguration on his system panel glowed slightly. Profane, twisted magical power penetrated these seeds. Under his dimensionally superior Dark Magic Transfiguration compared to Bogey Lockman, these seeds' surfaces gradually oozed dark red blood. Bogey Lockman's blood remaining within it was expelled, gathering into a pool of blood. Under his gaze, this blood pool dripped onto the box. The next second, the box absorbed the blood completely. Then abnormal changes erupted. The reliefs and exquisite patterns on the box seemed to come alive, beginning to flow. When they stopped, they had formed a smaller box pattern on the box, and the pattern became three-dimensional. A new small box appeared before him. When the small box opened, his gaze suddenly became intense. A seed emanating ancient magical power while retaining strong vitality appeared before him. He took a deep breath. "Bogey Lockman really did get an ancient plant seed!" Though ancient plant seed information was rare and he couldn't see this seed's specific reward information yet, he was certain it was at least Diamond tier. Possibly even Epic tier rewards after mature cultivation! Though every ancient plant seed's replanting difficulty was extremely high, with many Herbology masters devoting lifetimes without success, this didn't prevent him from preparing early. Carefully storing this ancient plant seed and recalling the harvest from Bogey Lockman's collection, he felt excited. Truly, unexpected wealth makes one rich! After a long time, his mind finally calmed, thoughts gradually becoming clear. Ancient plant seeds required extensive time for planting research... definitely unsuitable now. Though Foxglove seeds provided practical rewards, their main use was in the third year... no rush. As for the parchment involving the dark wizard named Ed, he needed his magical perception to undergo qualitative change before seeking related clues. Otherwise, even finding him would be useless without sufficient magical perception. Moreover, seeking a mysterious dark wizard was best done after harvesting Guardian Trees, Devil's Snare, and such, with further strength enhancement and dark magic resistance for safety. "These things don't need doing now. The urgent task is preparing to land on Drear Island." His gaze then fell on the Kraken-summoning whistle. Picking up the whistle, he blew hard. Strange flute sounds emerged. He could feel the sounds contained special magical power spreading through seawater toward the distance. Simultaneously, in the deep sea, in dark trenches, the Kraken was curled up here. Its tentacles were nearly half fewer than before, emanating a much less oppressive presence. Obviously, his Giant Killer toxin had made the Kraken suffer greatly. The current Kraken needed time to recover. But while sleeping, flute sounds came through the seawater, mixed with magical power particularly sensitive to the Kraken. The Kraken immediately opened its eyes. But after a moment, it closed them again, body unmoved. The whistle's special sound could interest the Kraken, but not now. It just wanted to sleep. On the island, after initially playing the whistle and waiting long without seeing the Kraken, he frowned. "Hmm? Why isn't the Kraken coming? Is it because it suffered last time, so it won't come this time?" He shook his head. This wouldn't do. Without the Kraken coming, his plans for this period would be ruined. So he picked up the whistle again. "A famous musician living in Bikini Bottom once said no one could match an octopus's musical sense. The Kraken should be somewhat related to octopuses. So I'll use beautiful music to attract it. Coincidentally, in my past life guarding experimental fields in the countryside, I often heard nearby hammering that moved people to tears. Over time, I learned some." Then he puffed his cheeks and blew hard. An ear-piercing melody immediately erupted, like nails scraping a blackboard, making listeners' scalps tingle. He frowned, blew a few more times, then stopped. Didn't feel right... missing something, no atmosphere. The next moment, he looked at Eugene nearby, seeming to remember something. "Cry. Cry for me." Eugene was stunned. "Ah?" He continued, "Think about all the suffering and crimes you've endured this lifetime. Think about your dead former master, Bogey Lockman. Eugene, cry..." Hearing his words, Eugene's mind filled with abuse suffered at the Lockman house and the unprecedented relief felt when Bogey Lockman died. Eugene first sobbed, then began crying loudly. "My life was so bitter! Bogey Lockman, good that you're dead, good that you're dead!" Hearing this crying, he took a deep breath. Right. This feeling was correct! Unfortunately, the whistle wasn't very handy. If he had the instruments those masters used in his past life's countryside, it would be much better. But no matter... the atmosphere was there. Make do with this. Suona song, "Great Funeral March," let's go! A mournful, grieving melody mixed with Eugene's sounds of unclear crying or laughing spread through the deep sea. In the trench, the Kraken that had closed its eyes preparing to sleep again suddenly heard the spreading tune. It startled awake immediately. Who? Who died? Was it that distant relative who went to the Pacific to start a business and changed its name to Cthulhu? Heard it got hit by ships while napping, hit terribly. Finally couldn't hold on? Should I pack up and attend the feast...? The next moment, the Kraken suddenly realized. Tentacles thrashed violently on the seabed, obviously furious to the extreme. Sleeping peacefully. Who the hell was playing funeral music on the seabed?! Not taking the Kraken seriously?! The Kraken finally couldn't stand it. It burst from the trench, swimming rapidly toward the flute sound's source. But the closer to the sound source, the more the Kraken felt something wrong. This route... hadn't it recently traveled this way? Then the Kraken saw through deep seawater his tiny figure on the island, recalling the previous painful experience. This tiny human could actually wrestle with it! Though terribly brutal, he'd truly blocked its tentacles' continuous bombardment. And the strange toxin in this human's blood made it actively sever several tentacles to expel the blood before it spread throughout its body. Even now, it remained weakened. Recalling this, the Kraken suddenly dove deep into the sea. This North Sea-dominating magical creature actually fled without looking back before him! He slowly grinned, his gaze firmly locked on the Kraken beneath the sea surface. He certainly wouldn't rashly enter the sea. But the Kraken wanting to escape his sight wasn't so easy. Then he called to Eugene. "Let's go!" Eugene looked completely confused. "Young Master Sprout. Where are we going?" He smiled slightly. "To the Kraken's home. Play the suona. Open the feast!" Then he rode his Nimbus 2000 with Eugene, closely pursuing the Kraken. The Kraken helplessly discovered that though it moved quickly in seawater, it couldn't outrun the Nimbus 2000 in the sky. He remained directly above it. What did this damned young wizard want? It hadn't even provoked him! The Kraken stopped fleeing. Its intelligence was high... it saw he didn't want to rashly enter the sea. Since so, whatever he wanted to do, just wait it out. The Kraken dove into its usual sleeping trench, wrapping itself with tentacles to isolate the mournful music from the water as much as possible. It had one thought. If you can, stay on the sea being blown by wind and sun. Keep playing. You're human... you'll get tired, and you'll need food and water, right? I, the Kraken, can go a year without eating. Let's wait. See who outlasts whom!