Their commission was suspicious.

"Yes." Patchouli nodded and then sat up on the operating table that Chen Luo had somehow gotten his hands on.

However, Patchouli was sitting with her back to Chen Luo, and at the same time, she lifted her nightgown at her stomach to check her physical condition.

The main purpose was to see if Chen Luo removed the scars while performing the surgery on himself.

"To be fair, dissecting a mage is indeed different from dissecting an ordinary human," Chen Luo remarked.

"...Could you please not say such things in front of me, the person involved?" Patchouli turned around and said helplessly.

“But I’m just stating the facts,” Chen Luo said honestly.

"...As expected, all mages have some quirks. I should have known that sooner." Patchouli sighed.

"You can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want. What weird quirks do I have? I'm just stating this out of professional ethics as a puppeteer." Chen Luo shook his head and quickly denied it.

“Then give me back what you have in your hand,” Patchouli said, pointing to the crystal ball in Chen Luo’s hand.

“No, this is mine now, that’s the rule. Since I’m treating you, shouldn’t rare cursed items like this belong to the doctor after you’re cured?” Chen Luo shook his head.

The crystal ball in Chen Luo's hand is the one that holds Patchouli's curse. This crystal ball was transformed from the glass of Void Wine and has excellent storage and sealing properties.

"You still say you don't have any quirks? Then why do you insist on having the curse on me?"

“Even if you do have one, it’s just a collecting obsession,” Chen Luo denied.

"Moreover, this is not a curse, but a concept, which may be used as a rare material for creating cursed dolls."

Although Chen Luo usually acquires puppets by directly turning deceased beings into his own puppets, this doesn't mean that Chen Luo's puppeteer skills are useless. Chen Luo is indeed a qualified puppeteer, which means that he can make most kinds of puppets. It's just that he can't make some types of puppets due to limitations in strength and skill proficiency.

"Besides, you wouldn't need this curse, would you? It can't be used for remembrance, can it?" Chen Luo retorted.

“What a coincidence, I think this is also a very valuable spellcasting material.” Patchouli shrugged.

Chen Luo and Patchouli had the same idea.

As expected of someone who is also a mage, though calling them a mage might not be entirely accurate; they should be called scholars.

"You seem to be in a good mood. It's quite different from the calm and rational Seven Luminaries Sage just now."

“Nonsense, if someone could cure your lifelong illness and they didn’t ask for anything in return, you’d be very happy,” Patchouli said matter-of-factly.

"Listening to what you're saying, I feel like I'm missing something..." Chen Luo muttered.

"Since the die is cast, I'll just tell you straight: this deal is incredibly tempting to me. If you're good at bargaining, you might even be able to take half of my collection of books. Hmm, I mean, the grimoires."

"..."

"What? Regretting it?" Patchouli asked teasingly, seeing Chen Luo's silent expression.

Now that the illness is cured, there's no need to maintain an absolutely rational trading state.

"No, I was thinking, could I use this curse that will accompany you for life to make a doll of you, to stab you with my own magic?" Chen Luo said, looking at the crystal ball in his hand.

"..."

"But I don't know anything about curses, so Patchouli, do you have any magic books about curses in your collection?"

"Use my knowledge to create my cursed doll? How could you even think of that?" Patchouli scoffed.

So you mean there isn't any?

"Here you go." Patchouli raised her hand, and three books floated up from somewhere in the Great Library, then quickly flew to the door of the room.

After Patchouli opened the door, three magic books floated in and were placed on the table by Patchouli.

"Here are three of the grimoires about curses you wanted. Come find me again after you've finished reading them," Patchouli said calmly.

"Huh? You actually gave it to me?" Chen Luo was surprised.

"After all, a deal has been made, hasn't it? You can borrow any books from my library."

Patchouli spoke as she walked towards the door.

Fresh air... cough cough, not so fresh air.

"But you can let me find it myself." Chen Luo found the mentality of these mages quite strange. Did they want to cultivate an enemy worthy of being their opponent or something?

"Just think of it as, I find you pleasing to the eye," Patchouli said after stretching.

Patchouli personally thought highly of this junior mage; he was humble, eager to learn, and had a great thirst for knowledge. Of course, most importantly, he saved her life.

Asthma can sometimes be worse than death.

“It took me two months to finish reading these three books about curses. So I’ll make an exception and give you three months to borrow them,” Patchouli said, standing at the door with her back to Chen Luo.

Patchouli was well aware of her own talent, which was incredibly impressive.

I need two months myself, and the other party needs at least three...

"I've finished reading them," Chen Luo said, having spent three seconds touching all three books.

"???"

Chapter 499 The Gluttonous Tree of Imaginary Numbers and the Sea of ​​Quanta

Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?

This was Chen Luo's first thought after he sat up in shock from his deathbed.

"You're awake?" A gentle voice, one that easily inspires trust, rang out.

Chen Luo subconsciously looked toward the source of the sound and saw a girl dressed in pajamas reading a book.

"Yes, the surgery was a success. You are now my familiar, and you must obey my every command," the girl said calmly.

"???" After a moment of confusion, Chen Luo shook his head and finally came to his senses.

"What are you up to now, MuQ?"

"MQ? What a strange name?" Patchouli's calm expression finally turned strange when she heard this name.

Patchouli could barely accept that Chen Luo called her Patchouli after performing surgery on her, since he had met Remilia and it was acceptable for her to have such a special nickname. But what the heck was "MQ"?

"Uh, don't mind it, let me think about what just happened?" Chen Luo, who had blurted out that name in a moment of impulse, covered his head and fell into recollection.

What exactly happened?

"No need to recall. To demonstrate that you have enough talent, you read through all five bookshelves of magic books in half an hour and mastered the forbidden knowledge within them. It's a miracle that you're still alive." Patchouli closed the book after confirming that Chen Luo was indeed fully awake.

"Question: What is the significance of the insect-discarding magic?" Patchouli suddenly asked.

"By abandoning the physical body of sentient beings, one can attain the Dharma body; by abandoning the insect body, one can purify the mind and body and prevent them from being eroded by certain negative spiritual factors. This is a necessary practice for magicians to stop aging," Chen Luo replied instantly.

"Tsk, she actually memorized it all." Patchouli bit her thumbnail in annoyance.

"Mastering the knowledge of five bookshelves of magic books in half an hour..."

Patchouli is getting more and more annoyed with Chen Luo the more she looks at him.

How can such an outrageous ability exist in the world?

"How long have I been unconscious?" Chen Luo asked.

“It’s only three hours, and while you’re unconscious, your body might act on its own out of self-defense, which could potentially affect others. You need to be careful.” Patchouli said, subconsciously touching her waist.

Tsk, that really hurt.

How do you know so much detail?

“What a joke, who am I? I am the Sage of the Seven Luminaries, how could I not know this?” Patchouli said, raising her head.

"Hmm... I don't really think this has anything to do with whether someone is wise or not. But whatever, just five bookshelves of magic books made me unconscious for three hours. I'm getting old and useless." Chen Luo said sadly.

Those were just five bookshelves full of magic books, yet I was unconscious for three hours.

Although I do know all the magic books on those five bookshelves, if this is all I know, how long will it take me to finish reading all the 5 little yellow books that I got from Index?

Moreover, being familiar with something does not mean mastering it.

It seems I need to strengthen my mental fortitude in the future.

"Tch." Seeing that Chen Luo seemed genuinely dissatisfied with his efficiency, Patchouli, who was sitting to the side holding a book, even found it hard to concentrate on her reading.

Is anyone going to do something about this bastard?

"Those are five huge bookshelves full of magic books, each with at least 300 books and at most 500 magic books, that's about 2000 magic books! 2000 magic books, you think you can finish reading them in half an hour? You're not reading books, you're eating them!"

"Your collection of demonic knowledge is soulless!" Patchouli accused Chen Luo.

"Uh, spirits and stuff, I was unconscious for three hours, wasn't I?" Chen Luo was a little confused as to why Patchouli seemed unhappy.

My asthma, which had plagued me for so many years, has been cured. Shouldn't I be happy?

"...Even if you include the three hours of unconsciousness, it only took three and a half hours. You... never mind, just memorizing the knowledge in these magic books is not enough. You also need to learn to use it freely and integrate it into your understanding."

"And I must also warn you that all forbidden knowledge is poisonous. If you digest it little by little, it won't cause too much trouble. But if you swallow it whole like this, the poison from forbidden knowledge may slowly accumulate until it explodes your brain," Patchouli warned.

All forbidden knowledge is called forbidden knowledge for this reason.

Do you know why witches are universally hated? Magicians, in particular, faced a wave of trials from the church back then.

It is precisely because this knowledge is toxic that if one rashly acquires power and knowledge that one cannot control, one may even be devoured and controlled by these powers and knowledge, ultimately becoming enslaved.

At least among magicians, there have been numerous cases of people meeting a terrible end because they touched a forbidden magic book.

When it comes to acquiring knowledge, one should act within one's capabilities.

“That’s true.” Chen Luo nodded seriously upon hearing Patchouli’s words.

When this was mentioned, Chen Luo looked directly into his sea of ​​consciousness.

Aside from the Herrscher of Consciousness, who was still asleep, there were only two other entities in Chen Luo's sea of ​​consciousness: the Tree of Imaginary Numbers and the Sea of ​​Quanta.

But then a problem arises.

That's how it should have been, but now there's something else in Chen Luo's sea of ​​consciousness.

A light mist drifted on the sea.

Fog cannot be generated in the sea of ​​consciousness, nor can any special phenomena occur, unless the owner of the sea of ​​consciousness is stimulated in some way or the nature of consciousness changes.

In fact, the appearance of even a single tree and a dog is already quite astonishing.

If Chen Luo's guess is correct, this faint gray mist is the so-called forbidden poison.

Ordinary knowledge naturally cannot produce toxins, and ordinary people would not learn that kind of knowledge so quickly, so there is no need to worry. However, mastering about 2000 magic books in half an hour is something that only Chen Luo could do.

This resulted in Chen Luo being subjected to slightly more of the poison of knowledge in an instant.

There's always a price to pay for reading too much about forbidden power and knowledge, just like now.

but……

"The tree and the sea are indeed terrifying," Chen Luo exclaimed, looking at the Tree of Imaginary Numbers and the Sea of ​​Quanta.

The fog on the sea surface is now so thin that it is almost invisible, but before Chen Luo lost consciousness, he remembered that the fog was very thick.

Where did all this fog go?

Of course, it was eaten by the trees and the sea as nutrients.

In fact, the Sea of ​​Quanta and the Tree of Imaginary Numbers are vying fiercely for ownership of these fogs.

Moreover, whether it was Chen Luo's imagination or not, the Imaginary Tree and the Quantum Sea both seemed to have grown slightly larger.

If it weren't for the competition between the Imaginary Tree and the Quantum Sea, neither would want the other to properly digest this fog; otherwise, three hours would have been enough for both the Imaginary Tree and the Quantum Sea to process it.

What puzzled Chen Luo was what exactly the food definitions were for the Imaginary Tree and the Quantum Sea.

"Aren't these two going to start fighting sometime soon?" Chen Luo muttered.

"And to be honest, the light mist floating on the Sea of ​​Quanta is quite beautiful."

"So, to prevent that poison of knowledge from exploding your brain, you either need to slow down your reading speed of the grimoires or find an efficient way to digest this poison. I have a method here that can increase the digestion speed by 10%, but it's not available for borrowing from the main library. If you want to know, you can exchange your magical knowledge with me," Patchouli said.

To be honest, after learning that Chen Luo could read 2000 magic books in half an hour, Patchouli became interested in just how much knowledge of magic books Chen Luo had stored in his mind.

Moreover, Patchouli was quite curious about Chen Luo's mysterious puppeteer school. Patchouli had never heard of any puppeteer's skills developing a special ability like "stripping".

This ability is less of a professional talent and more of a completely independent, even infinitely growing, domineering ability given enough time.

The fact that it can be stripped away means that any material in the world can be obtained through various means.

By stripping away and consuming a soul, one can make that soul stronger; by stripping away the other's magic, one can make one's own magic stronger...