Just as Borgin heard the news and sent out the Obsidian Gargoyle, those pure-blood families who were still waiting and watching, after confirming that the Malfoy family could really handle such a large number of dark magic items, were all overjoyed. Although sending their own collections to the Malfoys truly hurt them a bit, they imagined what would happen if the Ministry of Magic found out later. That would be really troublesome. Even if they weren't sent to Azkaban, in order to settle the matter, they were afraid they would have to bleed heavily. The price paid would be much higher than the item itself. Besides, even at a time like this, the Malfoy family's asking price was only slightly lower than usual. Compared to that profiteer Borgin who asked them to pay a processing fee, there was no doubt that the difference was obvious.
Therefore, a number of pure-blood families also rushed to send their real treasures and those extremely dangerous dark magic items to the Malfoy family. Lucius accepted everyone who came. Although he had the ability to lower the bid by more than half, the Malfoys never saved money where it should be spent. He had made up his mind. He must establish a good relationship with Char, the young wizard who was very likely to become the next Dark Lord in the future. To this end, they naturally had to show the greatest value of their family. Do things neatly and beautifully. In order to save a few gold Galleons, it had taken two or three days to complete. Wouldn't that be a waste of time? Lucius calculated the pros and cons of this clearly.
After twelve heavy boxes were delivered, Lucius let out a breath. He had a rough idea of the number of treasures in each family's collection. Except for a few scattered items, the dark magic items on hand from the pure-blood families of the British wizarding world should all be here. He could feel an unsettling, creepy aura even through the boxes. He was also filled with curiosity. He really didn't know how Char had dealt with these dark magic items. He didn't know why he had gone to so much trouble to do this. But the next moment, Lucius immediately nipped his curiosity in the bud. "Countless incidents arise from curiosity. The more you know, the faster you die. I have to keep this in mind." Immediately, he hurriedly took the twelve boxes and sent all of them to the room where Char was.
"Young Mr. Sprout, this is pretty much everything we can collect at the moment. There are a lot of things in there. If the Ministry wasn't serious this time, those families wouldn't have taken them out."
Char was impressed by Lucius's efficiency. He also showed an expression of admiration, praising him sincerely. "Mr. Malfoy, as expected of a noble wizard who has led the Malfoy family to stand firm and maintain its prominence for so many years. No one in the entire British wizarding world can compare to you in terms of ability and connections."
As soon as these words were spoken, Lucius couldn't help but reveal a hint of pride. He knew the value of the Malfoy family, and it was revealed to the promising young wizard. The cooperative relationship between the two parties had undoubtedly become deeper than before. "So that's it. Wait until Dumbledore and the Dark Lord are gone. In the next era, Draco's relationship with this young wizard will be enough to keep our family standing for decades." Breathing a sigh of relief, Lucius didn't even glance into the room again, afraid of catching a glimpse of some extremely dangerous and twisted magic of Char's. He quickly retreated.
Char looked at the twelve boxes. A burning sensation gradually appeared in his eyes. He could feel it. The dark magic power emanating from these boxes was much better than what had been sent before. Without a doubt, the major pure-blood families had really taken out all their treasures. "I wonder if it's possible to make the guardian tree seed go further?" Thoughts flashed through his mind. He then waved his wand and opened a box. Instantly, twisted, malicious, and ominous magic poured out from it like a fountain. The air was practically filled with deadly black smoke condensed from dark magic.
But it was at this moment that the guardian tree seed in his arms cast bursts of silver light. When these deadly magic powers were enveloped by it, they melted at an extremely fast speed, just like ice and snow encountering the sun. At the same time, the seed was also known for its actions in destroying dark magic. Its potential was constantly being stimulated. The reward luster shining above was getting brighter and brighter. But after he glanced at it a few times, he still shook his head slightly with a bit of disappointment. "As expected. It's much more difficult to upgrade the Guardian Tree Seed from Epic to Legendary. Even though there are many treasures in here, it's still far from enough for a promotion. I'm afraid it will only make the luster a little brighter and add a little more legendary light, but it won't produce any qualitative change." But fortunately, the protection given by the seed was still increasing slowly in this process. As a result, the number of holy magic particles surrounding him also increased. It wasn't like he would gain nothing. At least, if these twelve boxes were disposed of, the sacred magic surrounding him could reach a higher level.
"It will still take some time for the seed to process so many items. It can't be wasted." Immediately, his eyes fell on the system panel. Compared to studying other abilities, the ancient shadow magic he had just acquired, as a type of ancient magic, naturally had the highest priority. And with previous experience in studying ancient weather magic, he was no longer completely ignorant of ancient magic and had already understood its principles. "The essence of ancient magic lies in two parts. One of them is to master the corresponding runes, especially their magical configuration. Only specific magical configurations can activate corresponding ancient magic." And this part, he had already obtained from the Ancient Shadow Magic Insights found in the Shadow-Thorn Tree reward. Although the ancient shadow magic only corresponded to one rune, far inferior to ancient weather magic, even if it was just one, the mysteries were also vast. But he still remembered what he had witnessed when he had received this realization: the Titan who controlled the shadows had directly flooded the world with them. This was not something he was qualified to be small. "Compared to ancient weather magic, the insights I gained from ancient shadow magic were more complete. I've only mastered the basic configuration of the three runes. There's no way forward if I want to go any deeper. As for ancient shadow magic, I have obtained a more profound structure encompassing thirteen nodes. Once I perform it, the mystery won't disappoint me."
Then, his wand slowly moved in the air. Magic surged at its tip. If a wizard who had studied magic runes were here, he would see him drawing glowing tracks in the air. You could see that Char was constructing and writing a rune using magic nodes one by one. This was different from the previous situation where it had taken a long time to master the basic structure of the runes. Nowadays, whether it was his magical attainments or his magical perception, things were completely different. The basic structure of the runes could be constructed with seven magic nodes. For him now, it was no longer too difficult. Even if it was the first time constructing this rune, he only tried a few times and it was done in one go. The seven magic nodes echoed each other, forming the basic structure of a magic rune. On the ground around him, suddenly, a group of shadows began to wriggle. On his system panel, a black iron luster quickly covered the words of ancient shadow magic.
And with that, he narrowed his eyes slightly and continued to build more magic nodes. Eight, nine… until sweat started to form on his forehead. When abilities that enhanced his own magical perception, such as water enhancement and shadow enhancement, also took effect, eleven magic nodes suddenly took shape. Although it had not reached the complete thirteen nodes, compared to the basic configuration which only included seven, the magic runes that he outlined at this moment were still much more effective. The black iron luster on the ancient shadow magic words also turned into a dull bronze light. But from beginning to end, there was a large area that was not covered by such gloss. He had anticipated this.
"This is the biggest difficulty of ancient magic besides mastering the rune structure. To activate it, one must possess the will of nature in order to unleash its true power. Without the will of nature, ancient magic is nothing but a facade. The reason why it was lost is precisely because obtaining the will of nature is extremely dangerous." His tolerance for danger was far beyond that of an ordinary wizard. He had even acquired the natural will that drove lightning. Just for now, what gave him a headache was not how dangerous it was to obtain the will that drove the shadows, but that he had no idea where to get this thing. There was no such thing in the shadows around him. He thought hard for a while. The theory that Nicolas Flamel had mentioned to him about the origin of magic emerged in his mind. Shadow magic... this kind of magic almost did not exist in reality. Or perhaps the number of them that existed was simply too small, almost negligible. So, could it be that the natural will that drove the shadows was difficult to find in the real world? But should he go to the world where the shadow magic came from?
But he remembered the last time he and Shadow had gone to explore the shadow world. If the shadow will was there, he had also stayed in there for a long time. Logically speaking, just like the lightning will had been obtained through electric shock before, there should have been some shadow will left in his body, right? This could be seen from the performance of the current system panel. All he could say was that even if there were any, the number was negligible. It was simply not enough to properly drive the ancient shadow magic. So where should he get the Shadow Will? After a while, he slowly determined a possibility that made him frown. "You can't find it in the real world. Then it must be in the shadow world. But I didn't gain any shadow will after staying in there. Perhaps it exists in a special form." He immediately thought of the time when he was about to enter the deep shadow world, seeing that extremely dark, almost material shadow magic. Something like a living creature had flitted past. "Could it be that those things are able to come alive in the shadow world precisely because they possess the will of shadows? To obtain it, we must start with these shadow creatures?"
He thought about it. This seemed to be a more likely possibility. But even now, his control over shadow magic was no longer what it used to be. He thought of that world of deep shadows and still felt very wary, especially of the shadow that had flashed by. Before he was absolutely sure, he wasn't about to risk entering. "It seems we can only postpone it for now. Never mind. Even without the Shadow Will, the true power of ancient shadow magic cannot be revealed. But just based on its current performance, it can be considered a strange, hidden magic, and it is still useful. I'll find another opportunity later—" Just as he was weighing the pros and cons, when he intended to temporarily put on hold the process of acquiring the Shadow Will, his brows suddenly furrowed tightly. With a quick glance, he fell into the gap at the door of the room. There, a shadow was quietly crawling in.
"Hm?!" He was stunned for a moment. "This... is it also ancient shadow magic?" He had never expected that with such a rare ancient magic, he would actually encounter the same one himself. And the next moment, the shadow seemed to have no idea that he would discover it. He walked around behind Char with great dignity. His expression was one of confusion. What is going on? Before he could figure it out, from the shadows, a gargoyle as black as obsidian slowly emerged. Its blood-red eyes looked at him, like a hunter looking at prey destined to die— But what the gargoyle didn't expect was that Char, who should have been completely unaware of its arrival, stared at it straight as if he had been prepared. Even the look that should have been horrified, from confusion and surprise, gradually turned into ecstasy. This time, instead, the Obsidian Gargoyle, who had killed countless dark wizards, was confused. "This little wizard... why isn't he afraid of me?"
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