The world begins with refining skills

Chapter 306 Brother, you smell so good! (Happy New Year!)
In the Scottish Highlands in October, it is already the season to wear sweaters.

The westerly wind from the Atlantic brought abundant moisture to Hogwarts, and before the sun rose in the morning, a drizzle began to fall over the castle.

The already chilly weather became even colder due to the rain.

This kind of weather is perfect for sleeping in!

Astoria turned over and lay on her side, then she tightened the goose down quilt around her, burying her body completely in the quilt with only her head sticking out.

Her long, slightly curly golden hair cascaded over the quilt, her long eyelashes occasionally blinked, and her mouth corners were slightly curled, revealing a pair of cute dimples.

It seems like I'm having a sweet dream!
Just as Astoria was reveling in the warmth of the quilt, a rhythmic vibration disturbed her sweet dream.

"It starts again!"

Astoria frowned and muttered without opening her eyes.

A few fingers came out from under the quilt, grabbed the upper edge of the quilt and pulled it upwards, burying his head in it.

Only a bunch of golden hair was left outside, which, against the backdrop of the turquoise goose down quilt, looked like an unhusked corn cob.

However, this was of no use. The vibration became louder and louder, as if something was approaching little by little.

Faintly, a burst of neat and loud slogans became clearer and clearer as the vibration grew louder.

"Forward, forward, forward!"

"The magic is roaring! The holy light is shining!"

"Warriors bathed in glory, marching towards victory"

The singing in my ears became clearer and clearer, and the resonance created by the uniform footsteps became louder and louder.

It easily penetrated the fluffy goose down quilt, along Astoria's eardrum and skull, and into her brain.

"It's so noisy!"

Astoria really couldn't understand. It was raining, so why were those members of the Glory Society still jogging in the morning?

Aren’t they afraid of catching a cold?
Astoria, who suffers from a family blood disease, has been weak and sickly since childhood and cannot understand the thoughts of the Guangyao Army.

Fortunately, as the morning jogging troops passed outside the Astoria dormitory, the vibrations and slogans became less and less.

But another sound was heard, the curse from the Slytherin students.

The biggest change in Hogwarts in the new semester is not the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Lupin, but the Hufflepuff students who run around the castle every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning.

To be precise, they are students of Guangyao Society.

The student dormitory of the Serpentine College is located in the basement of the castle. Every time the Hufflepuff morning jogging team passes above the dormitory, the Slytherin students can clearly feel the movement.

As a pure-blooded aristocrat among wizards, Slytherin had never been bullied like this.

A few days later, someone came to the door, and then nothing happened.

In Hogwarts now, Hufflepuff is the boss!

The helpless and furious Slytherin students could only vent their dissatisfaction and resentment by cursing.

The footsteps and slogans kept going away and coming closer. After several times, Astoria finally couldn't stand it anymore.

He crawled out of the bed yawning, and sat on the bed, his eyes dazed, not yet fully awake from his sleepiness.

“I hate the rain!”

It was several minutes later that Astoria grumbled and got out of bed.

By the time she had washed and packed up, and was heading out with the textbooks she would use for today's class, the students at the Guangyao Society had also finished their morning run.

More than eighty students who were jogging in the morning gathered outside the restaurant, their clothes already soaked with sweat and rain.

It's wet and sticks to the body. If it's not treated in time, more than half of the people will probably catch a cold.

"Remove dampness and drive away cold!"

Justin stood on the steps at the entrance of the restaurant, raised his wand, and waved it at the students of the Radiant Society below.

A stream of light yellow water appeared out of nowhere above everyone's heads, and then turned into more than eighty smaller streams of water, penetrating into everyone's collar.

The hot soup, exuding a light herbal aroma, instantly caressed the skin of every student.

The medicinal properties in the hot soup enter the body through the pores, eliminating the chill brought by the cold rain and the fatigue caused by exercise.

“It’s so comfortable, just like taking a hot spring bath.”

"This is the anti-cold spell created by Lord Vectrey. It is said to be a combination of pharmacology from herbal medicine class."

"That's amazing. Master Victory's talent has surpassed that of the professors in the school, right?"

"No, that's a man who can tear a basilisk apart with his bare hands!"

"."

Ten seconds later, the water disappeared and the wet clothes became dry again. Then the students, according to their grade, called their friends and walked into the restaurant.

After they left, Astoria walked up the stairs leading to the basement level.

"Victori, humph!"

Astoria pouted angrily. It was this guy who prevented her from sleeping in.

Astori was born into the Greengrass family, a pure-blooded 28 holy family, and entered Slytherin House at Hogwarts in 1992.

Because he entered school a year later than Mu Sheng, and they belonged to different colleges, the two did not have much interaction.

Astoria's understanding and impression of Mu Sheng, in addition to the powerful martial arts he displayed in the battle against the basilisk last year, came from the evaluation of her sister and other Slytherin students.

Most of the Slytherin students, on the one hand, were afraid of Mu Sheng's powerful strength, but on the other hand, they stood on the superiority of his bloodline and belittled his Muggle origin.

However, in Astoria's view, this kind of belittlement was more of jealousy, jealousy that Maki Sheng possessed talent and strength that they could never reach.

The worst of them was her sister, Daphne Greengrass. Astoria had never heard a good word from her about Mu Sheng.

Unlike her sister Daphne, Astoria, who has been in poor health since childhood, does not agree with the value of distinguishing people by bloodline.

But things are different now. Astoria, whose sweet dreams have been disturbed intermittently for a month, says she is very angry now.

Waking up in a bad mood!
After walking into the restaurant angrily, Astoria looked around for several times but couldn't find Mu Sheng.

I get even angrier when I think that the other person might still be sleeping soundly!
"Bite you to death!"

Astoria couldn't find the culprit, so she could only vent her anger on the food on the plate.

"So that's how it is. I understand. I understand."

In the Hufflepuff Headmaster's office, Mu Sheng leaned over the desk, staring at the small hourglass with a golden base in his hand, muttering excitedly.

During this month, Mu Sheng has already understood the changes in the refining panel, and roughly understood how the 'Idealistic Chaos Magic System' is refined.

Before the star map was completed, Mu Sheng was like Party A. Whatever skills or bloodlines needed to be refined would be directly contracted to Party B, and Party B would deliver the results of the refining to Party A, Mu Sheng.

However, Mu Sheng, the black-hearted Party A, will not pay a penny to Party B, which is purely exploitation of labor.

After the star map is completed, Mu Sheng can use his mental power as fuel to activate the refining function of the panel.

This is equivalent to that in addition to simple exploitation, Mu Sheng can choose to pay a certain price (mental power) to borrow Party A's factories and machines (refining functions) to produce the products he needs.

Of course, the unscrupulous party A will still not pay a penny during this borrowing process.

The mental energy that Mu Sheng expended was consumed in refining and comprehending his skills.

As for the refinement of the 'magic system', any knowledge containing magical power, or specific things, can be refined on the panel.

For example, the [Time Converter] that Mu Sheng had disassembled into a pile of parts could be thrown into the refining space for refining. However, Mu Sheng did not choose to let the panel refine the [Time Converter], but chose to burn his mental power to "understand" the magical secrets.

The reason why this refining state is called "comprehension" is because Mu Sheng discovered that during the process of burning his mental power, his body would be in a very strange state.

It was like applying a suppository on the top of my head, inspirations popped up one after another, and knowledge poured in one after another.

Hmm, something seems to be wrong with this metaphor?

Forget it, it’s not important!

In short, I am enlightened!

While Mu Sheng was 'comprehending' the [Time Converter], the panel was not idle either, constantly refining the blood of various magical animals and plants that Mu Sheng had collected before in the space.

This is also the reason why Mu Sheng chose to "comprehend" the [Time Converter] by himself. After all, it is normal to hold a magic item like a pocket watch in his hand.

But it is very abnormal to hold the head or organ of some magical animal in your hands and observe it over and over again all day long.

If you don’t know him, you might think he is some kind of perverted murderer!
Although Maki Sheng did kill people and occasionally had a bit of a bad taste that crossed the line, he was a good boy!

"I have finally completed the half of my comprehension of the sand of time. In just over a month, or maybe two or three months, I will be able to go back to the past without the help of the 'sand of time'."

"Congratulations, congratulations!"

Mu Sheng stretched and stood up. After burning his mental energy for a whole night, even Mu Sheng felt a little sleepy.

"Let's have breakfast and replenish our energy!"

After collecting the [Time Converter] parts scattered on the table, Mu Sheng left the dean's office and walked towards the restaurant on the first floor.

When he arrived at the restaurant, there were not many people there. Mu Sheng didn't care and just found an empty seat and sat down.

He grabbed the grilled sausages and snacks on the table and started eating them in big mouthfuls.

Just as he was eating, Mu Sheng suddenly felt someone was watching him.

At first, Mu Sheng didn't care. With his reputation in Hogwarts, people would often secretly watch him.

But this time it seemed different. Not only did the owner of the gaze keep staring at him, but the resentment in his gaze was also getting heavier.

resentment?

Mu Sheng was a little confused and turned his head to look at the owner of the gaze.

A little girl with long, slightly curly golden hair and a delicate and cute face appeared in his eyes.

After recalling for a few seconds, Mu Sheng recognized who the other person was.

Astoria Greengrass is a sophomore in Slytherin and the official partner of Malfoy, who has been taught a lesson (bullied) by Makisho several times.

Where does this little girl get so much resentment?

Mu Sheng was even more confused. He didn't remember any interaction between him and the other party.

Thinking of this, Mu Sheng picked up the plate and walked towards Astoria.

And his action made Astoria suddenly nervous.

'Oops, oops, we've been discovered!'

Astoria instinctively wanted to lower her head.

Then she felt a little indignant. Why did Mu Sheng prevent her from getting a good night's sleep for such a long time, but she could sleep until now?

Astoria also saw Mu Sheng yawning as he walked into the restaurant just now. It was obvious that he had just woken up.

So Astoria stopped lowering her head and stared stubbornly at Mu Sheng who was walking towards her.

"I suppose I haven't offended you, have I, Miss Astoria?"

Makisho placed the plate on the table across from Astoria and sat down.

'How did Victory know my name?'

Such a thought flashed through Astoria's mind, but she didn't think much about it and looked at Mu Sheng without any fear.

"You didn't provoke me, but your Guangyao Association did."

Astoria complained about the impact that the Glory Society's morning jogging activities had on her over the past month.

"Is that so?" Mu Sheng thought for a moment and said, "Getting up early to run and keep fit is one of the most important rules of the Guangyao Association and cannot be changed easily."

Astoria snorted in dissatisfaction, and then listened to Mu Sheng continue.

"But the problem that affects your sleep is easy to solve."

Eh?
Astoria blinked in confusion, and then saw Mu Sheng take out a thumb-sized gold nugget from behind his butt and started to squeeze it in his hand.

Soon, a hollow golden pig the size of an egg appeared in Mu Sheng's hand.

“Well, the solution is right there!”

Mu Sheng handed the cute little golden pig to Astoria.

'Great!'

Astoria looked carefully at the little golden pig in her hand. It only took a few pinches to make it. Isn't this craftsmanship amazing?

Astoria couldn't tell whether Maki used magic or not, but whether he did or not, he was very powerful in her opinion.

But what's the use of this?

"Touch the piglet's head," Mu Sheng reminded.

Touch your head?
Hearing this, Astoria stroked the little golden pig's round head with her fingers, and the surroundings suddenly became quiet.

It was as if the only space left between heaven and earth was the space where she and Mu Sheng were.

Astoria looked around in surprise. There were a few students chatting not far away, but she couldn't hear any sound.

"Is this a silent spell?"

"Not only that, there is also a shock-stopping spell."

Mu Sheng introduced the functions of the little golden pig to Astoria in detail.

"You just pinched it a few times and made a magic prop?" Astoria asked in surprise.

"What else?" Mu Sheng said lightly.

Astoria felt an inexplicable pressure coming towards her.

After the two chatted for a while, Mu Sheng felt full, so he got up and said goodbye and left.

"Goodbye, Astoria, you are a very special Slytherin."

"Goodbye, Victory," Astoria looked at Mu Sheng's leaving back and squeezed the hollow golden pig in her hand.

In the Divination classroom on the top floor of the north tower of the castle, Ron looked at the drastically changed Harry and couldn't help but look at him a few more times.

Even though school had already started for a month, Ron still hadn't adjusted to Harry's new look.

Not only has his hair grown a lot longer and his chin become sharper, but even his iconic black-framed round glasses are gone.

Without his glasses, is he still Harry Potter?

Ron muttered to himself, then couldn't help sniffing and smelled a faint fragrance.

Harry, you smell so good, did you know that?

(End of this chapter)