Bam~

Bam, bam.

In front of Tang Qi, something that looked like an octopus tentacle wriggled about, looking very "fresh". Beside it was Professor Rick Kassel who was temporarily in a state of wailing in agony and completely unable to take anything else into account right now.

This was very understandable. Anyone who went through what he just did would fall into this state.

Isolating the knowledge one had into a small part of one's body and then forcefully cutting it off as part of a transaction — this sort of thing would only happen under very special circumstances: for example, this situation here which only came to be because of the Shadow Fungus's unique "active" state, as well as the fact that Kassel's soul was also being hosted in it.

To prevent Professor Kassel who was currently in extreme pain and agony from making any illogical moves, Tang Qi disregarded the strange feeling in his heart and reached out to grab that flailing "octopus tentacle".

Perhaps because of the knowledge pertaining to the mystical realm inside it or perhaps due to the influence of the power of the soul, this tentacle was different from all the other pitch-black octopus tentacles. This particular one was red throughout and looked very much as if it was completely cooked.

Although it was the smallest and shortest tentacle, its length went past half of Tang Qi's palm.

And at the bottom, it was actually really covered in tiny little suction cups too.

Grasping it in his hand, Tang Qi examined it seriously. The special interface that flashed past earlier slowly surfaced again.

[Mysterious Object: Essos Fragment]

[Status: Incomplete]

[Information Fragment: A fragment cut off from an Essos Ghost Herb in active state. It has been infused with some power of the soul and memory data related to secret pharmaceutical arts. The memory data may be retrieved. Method of Retrieval: Consumption or concoction of a complete set of complementary secret drugs.]

"I knew it!"

Tang Qi now knew what that strange premonition in his heart was. From the point where Professor Kassel separated the secret pharmaceutics knowledge from himself, he had already had a vague guess.

To retrieve that knowledge, Tang Qi had only two choices. He could either consume and swallow the Ghost Herb fragment containing the memory data or concoct the set of corresponding secret potions.

The latter was obviously the better method. It would allow Tang Qi to absorb the knowledge to the fullest extent without any wastage.

The unfortunate thing was that even Tang Qi himself needed to resort to snatching from another person in order to obtain knowledge in secret pharmaceutics. Before he was successful in getting his hands on it, he was naturally unable to concoct any kind of secret drug.

As for Professor Kassel, he was even more pitiful.

He had taken the initiative to strip that knowledge from himself. This was a one-time and irreversible process.

That "octopus tentacle" being cut off meant that Professor Kassel had forever lost all the knowledge in secret pharmaceutical arts that he had so painstakingly mastered.

After it awakened, this part of his memory would also disappear.

Thus, Tang Qi actually didn't have any other option.

He was aware of this too. Therefore, after reading the information fragment, he didn't hesitate at all.

He lifted his hand and crammed that red-all-over but still-smooth octopus tentacle into his mouth.

His pearly white teeth subconsciously wanted to chew on it, but in that instant, it was as if the octopus tentacle had come alive. It slipped past his teeth's line of defense and headed straight into Tang Qi's gut.

Boom!

An indescribable feeling erupted within him in this instant.

Tang Qi started retching violently. His eyes bulged and an incredibly frightening sight surfaced in his mind. It seemed like there was a world of incredible darkness in front of his eyes. By his feet, a small stream trickled slowly, just that its speed was very weird.

When he focused his eyes on it, he realized that what was flowing inside it wasn't water at all. They were smooth and pitch-black creatures that looked like snakes. They surged and fluctuated agitatedly as they scrambled to move faster than the others.

This was a feeling that was very hard to put into words yet was incredibly frightening, especially when Tang Qi took another look at it after spacing out for a moment. To his horror, he discovered that he was now standing at the end of the black little stream and that all those vile and disgusting creatures were surging into his mouth…

It was at this point that Tang Qi suddenly recalled some of the records in some books relating to mystical arts.

Secret pharmaceutics was an incredibly miraculous and fearsome power. When one consumed secret drugs created by the faction of amiable practitioners of secret pharmaceutical arts, they would experience pleasant illusions. On the other hand, the secret potions mixed by the hostile ones would only produce frightening illusions. Or perhaps, these weren't necessarily illusions. It was very likely that these were curses meant to take effect in souls.

The key factor was, secret pharmaceutics weren't defined as the liquids that sloshed about in test tubes, but rather, supernatural power that didn't adhere rigidly to form.

It was possible that the "octopus tentacle" that contained all of Professor Kassel's knowledge in secret pharmaceutical arts had transformed into a kind of secret drug at the point where it was sliced off.

In other words, Tang Qi was indeed receiving secret pharmaceutical arts knowledge right now.

Just that at the same time, he was also under some kind of unknown attack.

This might not necessarily be Professor Kassel's doing. A larger possibility was the source of this knowledge.

That unknown faction of secret-pharmaceutics practitioners was putting Tang Qi through a test? Or were they straight up trying to nip the risk of being exposed in the bud?

"Hmph! I knew it couldn't be that easy to obtain mystical knowledge that allows one passage to a Specialization Class."

Tang Qi retched as he resisted the illusions in his mind. Snot and tears covered his face, making him appear extremely pathetic.

While in this state, he forcefully took a step forward. With a whoosh, the dagger in his hand pinned Professor Kassel, who was still wailing in agony, to the table once more.

After that, he didn't waste any more time and plonked himself straight onto the floor.

Hum.

"Furnace!"

Without any hesitation, he launched the Golden Furnace Meditation Method.

An outline of a golden sun was pictured by Tang Qi instantaneously. When he opened his eyes again, the illusion in front of him was still there. That black little stream formed by innumerous disgusting creatures continued to surge into his mouth without pause, as if they didn't realize at all that Tang Qi's entire self was now a sun that was burning brightly and fiercely.

Just like the monstrosities that surged through the gaps of darkness during his cultivation, those disgusting creatures were soundlessly burned into nothingness too. Dust-like golden specks of light fused inside him…

No change?

They didn't retreat either?

So these might just be negative effects passively attached to the Essos Fragment or the secret pharmaceutical arts knowledge within it?

Whoosh!

Whoosh, whoosh!

Perhaps that slick and slippery disgusting illusion might cause terrible trauma to normal people. Even torturing them into raving lunatics was something very plausible. However, they clearly couldn't bring any further harm to Tang Qi who had already transformed into a golden furnace.

Very quickly, his meditation came to an end.

All the illusions had disappeared!

The strange feeling in his gut had also faded away! He wasn't retching anymore!

Tang Qi slowly opened his eyes. A very unique feeling welled up within him at this point. His head felt as if it was rather swollen. In his mind, there was a lot of strange and special knowledge that wasn't there before. Without waiting for him to go through them properly…

Hum.

Subconsciously, Tang Qi suddenly looked at himself.

His eyes focused, and a special interface about him slowly surfaced.

"Eh?"

This cry of astonishment came from the fact that he had noticed a pretty significant change.

"I've succeeded!"

A hint of joyful surprise immediately appeared in Tang Qi's eyes when he saw an additional small line of text that suddenly appeared at the Skill section.