Barrow Bakery.

This is a very ordinary bakery, mainly selling several kinds of bread that are commonly consumed by ordinary people.

The owner, Tess, was a woman in her fifties, plump and with a round face that always had a smile on it.

"Ding-ling-ling..."

The shop door that was pushed open from the outside hit the hanging bell, making a clear and pleasant sound.

"Welcome!"

Tess stopped what she was doing and nodded to the guest:

"What can I do for you?"

The guest who came in had gray hair on his temples and wrinkles on his face, and was obviously old, but he did not have the old-fashioned air or the smell of old age that ordinary old people have.

But it’s very clean!

As clean as a teenager.

The clothes she wore were simple in style, without any frills or decorations, but the material was obviously high-end.

His manners and movements exude a sense of nobility.

Tess's eyes were filled with confusion, as her shop did business with ordinary people and she seldom encountered such people.

"I'm Jenny's friend."

Karl glanced at the bakery's layout and spoke slowly, with a barely detectable tremor in his voice: "Is she there?"

Small business.

The business is also average, and it is estimated that it can only support the basic living of the family.

"Aunt Jenny?" Tess was pleasantly surprised. "Do you know Aunt Jenny? She's not feeling well. She's resting in the backyard. I'll take you there."

As he spoke, he wiped the flour off his hands, pulled open the wooden board of the counter, and led Karl to the backyard.

It is called a backyard, but in fact it is just a cramped patio with faint light shining through from above.

On a wooden chair, an old woman with white hair was lying wrapped in a blanket, her eyes half open.

"Aunt Jenny!"

Tess came closer and called in a low voice: "Someone is here to see you."

"..." Jenny opened her eyes, her eyes were cloudy and dull, and she looked up following Tess's guidance.

The moment she saw Karl, her eyes seemed to change, as if she was puzzled.

It seems like hesitation.

“Uh…uh…”

“Jenny, it’s me.” Karl stepped closer, squatted beside the wooden chair, and carefully examined his former friend: “Your voice…”

"Aunt Jenny had an illness when she was young, and she has been unable to speak since then." Tess sighed: "Since two years ago, her memory has become worse and worse, and sometimes she can't even recognize me."

"But she recognized you!"

Although the change in Jenny's demeanor was subtle, it was obvious to Tess, who was used to it.

"I'm sick and can't speak." Carl's eyes were complicated: "How could this happen?"

Jenny's voice is extremely unique, which enabled her to join the National Opera even though she had no performing skills.

Ruined my voice,

It means ruining everything.

This should have happened when she first arrived in the royal city, but she never mentioned it to him in the letter, and only talked about happy things.

"My mother said it was someone who murdered me," Tess whispered.

"But I don't know who it was. After all, it happened decades ago, and Aunt Jenny never mentioned it."

"Your mother?"

“My mother, Patsy, and Aunt Jenny were both from the Barrow Opera Company.”

Carl nodded.

"Did Jenny pass down the bakery's craft?"

"yes."

No wonder! The taste is so familiar.

Carl's eyes were complicated. Fate had already given him instructions, and he should have guessed it long ago.

“Aunt Jenny hadn’t smiled since she couldn’t talk, and later she opened this bakery with the help of my parents.”

Tess introduced: "My parents passed away a few years ago, and something happened at home, so I came here to help run the business and take care of Aunt Jenny."

"Yeah." Carl stood up:

"I want to take Jenny to live with me."

"This..." Tess was stunned. She didn't think that Karl had bad intentions. After all, an old man with Alzheimer's disease is a burden to everyone, and she herself sometimes complains.

"Not so good, huh?"

"My place is big and can accommodate many people." Carl said, "It just so happens that there is a kitchen manager there. If you want, you can follow me."

"My name is Karl. I am a count and I own a manor on the outskirts of the city."

* * * Time passes by inadvertently.

Dazzling.

Three years passed.

Fragments of the divine domain.

"become!"

Carl let out a muffled roar, his eyes suddenly opened wide, the light in his pupils was blazing, and like a bottomless abyss.

In his inner sea of ​​​​spirituality, a complex and mysterious spell circuit suddenly took shape, and quickly devoured the free astral energy around him, transforming it into pure breath of life, rushing to his limbs and bones.

Three-ring witchcraft - the source of life! With the nourishment of this breath of life, the originally unimprovable Holy Demon Transformation regained vitality.

'The Holy Skill of Holy Demon Transformation requires too much support, no wonder the ancient gods could only train a few of them, and that's only a silver body. According to the current ratio, the resources required to perfect a gold body are simply astronomical.'

"However, as long as there are enough resources to replenish it, the realm of this holy skill can be improved at an astonishing speed, which is something that other holy skills cannot compare to."

“Hmm…”

Carl's eyes narrowed: "It's time to start!"

Over the past three years, in addition to practicing meditation and constructing a three-ring witchcraft life source, he has also been testing the reaction of the Soul Centipede.

The soul centipede attached to his body wanted to kill him all the time.

Because one person and one thing share life, their understanding of each other becomes deeper and deeper.

Carl is confident.

Even if someone from the Green family came, he would never be able to know more about the Soul Centipede than him.

Now is the time to solve the problem! Wanfo Temple - Diamond Seal!

He formed seals with his hands and blasted the soul centipede that had merged with his body from the outside to the inside, and a powerful force exploded at the subtlest detail.

"Bang!"

The soul centipede trembled violently.

Carl's face also turned pale, with a trace of blood appearing at the corner of his mouth, and the source of life immediately replenished the lost breath.

“Sizzle…”

The third-level Soul Centipede also understood that this was a critical moment and began to struggle frantically.

Even if I die, I will drag the person my master wants to kill with me!

"What a beast!"

Carl's eyes widened and he shouted angrily. Dozens of tentacles suddenly emerged from his back and turned into handprints and pounced forward.

Ten Thousand Buddha Hands - Twelve consecutive strikes! "Bang!"

"Pom Pom!"

“…”

"puff!"

Carl vomited blood, his spirit instantly weakened, and the soul centipede in his body suddenly stiffened and fell into rigor mortis.

“Come again!”

Ten Thousand Buddha Hands——Thirty-six consecutive hits!

A sea of ​​palm shadows descended from the sky, completely submerging Carl in an instant, and extremely powerful force surged into his body.

The blow landed on defenseless flesh.

If one fails to cultivate the source of life, even if one has a body of silver, he will be disabled.

Now……

Carl collapsed to the ground, his eyes were confused, his body twitched slightly, but he still retained some life force.

Under him, a red centipede the size of a finger was curled up and trembling violently.

"Oh……"

Carl struggled to get up, found an implement and put the Soul Centipede away:

"After more than three years, I finally got rid of you."

"I thought it would take ten to eight years, but it's unexpectedly so quick. It seems that pressure is motivation after all."

If the Soul Centipede hadn't been threatening his life all the time, Carl would never have been able to cultivate the third-ring witchcraft life source so quickly.

What's more, this time he not only mastered witchcraft, but with a little refining, he could also turn the Soul Centipede into his own killer weapon.

All we can say is that misfortunes often bring blessings.

"Next..."

"The seventh level of Holy Demon Transformation!"

(End of this chapter)