Chapter 7: The Jackal Demon Ring and the Harvest

Roar!! I'm free!!

At the moment the red‑robed mage died, the Barbarian Soldier shouted loudly; he knew that the magical device controlling him had lost its controller.

Naimi Xisi turned his gaze toward the Hyena Werewolf; only three warriors were still barely clinging to life there, but the Barbarian Soldier had also paid a price—a massive wound ran across his waist, and the pale intestines could even be faintly seen.

The level‑5 Warrior granted him a powerful constitution; despite such a dreadful wound, the opponent still stood firmly in place, unflinching before the two glaring Jackalman Warriors.

But Naimi Xisi had already seen the end of his strength; the ring on the red‑robed mage's hand fell silent at his death, and the dark energy that granted the Hyena Werewolf's bodily regeneration was severed.

The Barbarian Soldier brandished his long sword, striking a threatening pose; he roared, trying to intimidate the Hyena Werewolf Warrior before him, but they, already fully controlled by the Mind Gem, had completely lost the emotion of fear.

"Damn, that dark energy vanished along with the control," the Barbarian Soldier's face turned sallow; originally, relying on his regeneration and great strength, he could have slashed all those Hyena Werewolves to death, but now that the dark energy was gone, he could barely even swing his sword.

Juan Ce Long fanned his massive wings, slowly descending beside the mage's corpse; with agile fingers he plucked the ring off and placed it on his own hand.

Mana flowed from Naimi Xisi's body into the ring, and its name and usage instantly appeared in his mind.

The ring is called the Jackal Demon Ring, possessing extremely powerful necromantic magic; it grants its bearer three functions.

1. The ring‑bearer can unconditionally control six Hyena Werewolves, making them serve the bearer.

2. Once per day, the Sixth Circle Necromancy Spell 【Terror Metamorphosis】 can transform up to six Coyote Wolves into Hyena Werewolves, with a small chance of producing a Barbarian Soldier.

3. Hyena Werewolves controlled by the ring‑bearer receive the permanent effect of the Third Circle Necromancy Spell 【Animate Flesh】, which grants the recipient powerful regenerative ability.

When the Barbarian Soldier saw that detestable dragon put on the ring, he hurried to rush forward, but he fell to his knees before taking a single step, as the loathsome dark power descended upon him once more.

"Master." The Barbarian Soldier bowed his head helplessly, indicating submission.

Naimi Xisi nodded with satisfaction; the Jackal Demon Ring's control exceeded his expectations—besides free will, the subjects cannot resist the ring‑bearer, and any action attempting to harm the bearer is prohibited.

"That red‑robed mage could only control six Hyena Werewolves with this ring, but I'm different; the Mind Gem lets me command all Hyena Werewolves, and even if a Barbarian Soldier is born, I can still harness the ring's own power to wield it."

Juan Ce Long ran calculations in his mind; the appearance of this ring let him foresee the possibility of building his own monster force. The once‑daily 【Terror Metamorphosis】 can convert six Hyena Werewolves; if he gathers enough Coyote Wolves, in ten days he could have sixty Hyena Werewolf warriors! He had once considered reclaiming some subordinates, but first, during his Hatchling Dragon Stage he was far too weak, and second, he did not want too many people to discover his existence.

That is why he has been hiding inside that Mage Tower for five years, even to the point that insufficient nutrition caused his Hatchling Dragon Stage to take a full five years to complete! One should know that the evolution from Hatchling Dragon Stage to Young Dragon Stage normally takes at most five years, and most True Dragons may finish energy accumulation by the third year, but he dragged it out to the very limit.

It's not that he doesn't wish to hunt more creatures, but this forest holds more than just him; for a Hatchling Dragon Stage Juan Ce Long, many Monsters pose great danger.

But now it's different; the Jackal Demon Ring can provide him with enough Monster Army, and he himself has advanced to a level‑4 Warlock. His First Circle Conjuration and Divination offensive power is almost nonexistent, but the Second Circle spells are different; having inherited all Conjuration spells in his bloodline, Juan Ce Long now possesses sharp blades. Naimi Xisi continued to scour the red‑robed mage's corpse; as a seasoned big shot capable of wielding two Third‑circle spells, he believed there was still some loot to be had.

His agile fingers undid the red‑robed mage's wide robe, and from a hidden pocket inside the garment he retrieved a silver genuine‑leather bag.

"This is a Space Pouch!"

Naimi Xisi recognized the Magic Item; as an expensive storage device, even the smallest 1 m × 1 m Space Pouch is worth 2,000 gold coins—nearly a hundred times his pitiful treasure! The suddenly wealthy dragon hurriedly opened the Space Pouch, eager to see what lay inside, but beyond three hundred plus gold coins there were only two books.

"Hey, isn't this the one packaged by Hermes with chive buns?"

Naimi Xisi sighed mournfully; he had thought that anything that could fit into this Space Pouch would be at least worth more than the pouch itself.

He took the two books out; one was a cow‑hide volume edged in gold, exuding a faint magical aura, while the other was a plain diary.

Naimi Xisi first opened the cow‑hide book and discovered it was the red‑robed mage's Spellbook! Aside from photographic geniuses, the vast majority of mages possess a Spellbook, transcribing the spells they have learned into it to prevent forgetting them someday.

After all, for those high‑circle mages, the number of spells they learn reaches hundreds, even thousands, and the spells have extremely complex Spell Models and incantations; without proper recording, they are easily forgotten.

More importantly, the Spellbook serves a crucial function: when a mage forgets how to cast a particular spell, the Spellbook can quickly locate the page that records it, a very practical feature in combat.

Thus, compared with those instructional books that record only two or three spells per volume, Spellbooks are extremely pricey, since their pages must bear Spell Models, meaning each page, like a Spell Scroll, requires magical paper.

Of course, as a pinnacle of magical power, Juan Ce Long does not need such things; the surging mana makes each of his scales akin to the finest magical paper, and he merely needs to inscribe spells onto his body, which then obeys him like an arm.

Naimi Xisi flipped through the Spellbook and found it recorded many Evocation spells.

Beyond those he already knows, it includes a First Circle Evocation Spell 【Lunia's Light】【Steam Jet】【Sonic Burst】, Second Circle Evocation Spells 【Scorching Ray】【Gust of Wind】【Force Blast】【Dark Arrow】【Ether Prison】, and Third Circle Evocation Spells 【Fireball】【Lightning Bolt】【Thunderous Clap】【Aphano's Star】.

And a Second Circle Abjuration Spell 【Protection from Arrows】.

The abundance of Evocation spells gave Naimi Xisi many offensive options he urgently lacked; compared with Conjuration's methods of summoning elemental attacks from other realms, Evocation spells of the same circle have at least two to three times the damage.

He stowed the Spellbook back into the Space Pouch, then opened the diary and began to leaf through it.

"Interesting. So that's how it is," Juan Ce Long became excited.

(End of Chapter)