The Return Of The Exiled Villain

Upon meeting with Gloria, she instantly teleported both of them back to the academy, where they said goodbye to each other.

Gray headed straight back to his dormitory.

Once inside, he sealed the room with his mana and pulled the green gourd out from his dimensional storage, setting it down on the table in front of him.

”Now, I just need to figure out how this thing works.”

He picked it up and turned it slowly in his hand.

To the naked eye, the gourd looked ordinary. It had a smooth surface, a faintly aged texture, nothing that actually said that it was an artifact.

However, even without actively sensing it, Gray could feel a thick demonic aura seeping from it.

If anything... it looked like the gourd was hungry for something.

”...Any suggestions, Jasmine?” he asked calmly.

[Mhm...]

Jasmine hummed thoughtfully.

[I can try absorbing the demonic energy first. If it’s suppressing the mechanism, clearing it might allow you to interact with it using mana.]

”Sure.”

Without hesitation, Gray tightened his grip around the gourd and allowed Jasmine to do her job.

Trickle...

The demonic energy slowly began to drain away in thin, fading wisps.

The oppressive presence receded gradually, like a shadow being peeled off layer by layer, until the gourd finally felt... empty.

So, Gray sent a small stream of his mana into the gourd. It slipped inside effortlessly, but even after waiting for a while...

...Nothing happened.

The mana simply remained there, circulating lazily within the container, flowing without resistance, just like water poured into a hollow shell.

Gray frowned slightly.

But then, Jasmine suggested after a short pause.

[...Maybe it only reacts to demonic energy?]

She hesitated, then added with a faint sigh.

[If only I still had my Yin Yang Divine Eyes... I’d be able to see its true structure.]

Her frustration was quite evident; after all, her divinity hadn’t reached enough power for her to be able to use that ability.

”No worries, I think I know how this works,” Gray muttered lightly, narrowing his eyes as he continued staring at the gourd.

[You do?]

Instead of replying, Gray simply decided to demonstrate. He inserted a little more mana into the gourd, and suddenly...

Fwip, fwip, fwip...

The mana inside the gourd suddenly began to rotate, spinning faster and faster until it became a dense, spiraling current.

Despite the speed, the flow remained stable, circling in the same direction as before, as if guided by an unseen structure carved deep inside the artifact.

Gray’s eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this.

Without hesitation, he reached into his dimensional storage, took out a mana crystal, and tossed it onto the ground beside the gourd.

Chomp!

The gourd tilted on its own.

The opening widened unnaturally, and the crystal was greedily devoured whole in an instant, crushed as if bitten by invisible fangs.

The crystal dissolved immediately, breaking down into shimmering wisps that were pulled inward along with the mana already circulating inside.

It remained like this for a few moments, until...

Trickle...

A thick and familiar malevolent aura bloomed inside the gourd.

Demonic energy replaced the mana entirely, perfectly condensed, its quantity matching the combined energy of the mana and the crystal that had been consumed.

”...Just as I thought,” Gray nodded lightly.

He had thought that this was some kind of artifact that turned regular mana into demonic energy; after all, only Demons can truly produce demonic energy.

And well, he remembered that the mana in the air was devoured by the gourd when the assassins were trying to kill the king.

However, unlike him, who had a pretty calm reaction...

Jasmine froze.

[This... This is a Demon Converging Gourd?!]

She exclaimed in complete disbelief.

Even Gray was confused by her surprise, but well, he actually didn’t know what a Demon Converging Gourd was.

[I thought those kinds of artifacts only existed during the battle between Gods and Demons!]

”A Demon Converging Gourd...” Gray murmured its name as he studied the gourd more closely.

Jasmine hesitated, then continued.

[Doesn’t this mean... that there’s some kind of seal hiding his true appearance?]

”Huh?” Gray raised an eyebrow.

”This isn’t the natural appearance?” asked Gray in surprise.

[No... not really.]

Jasmine answered seriously.

[Each Demon Converging Gourd has its own ”Demonic Symbol”, practically a kind of blessing that gives extra functions to the gourd.]

[Those functions are the reason the Demons almost won the battle against the Gods! There was even a gourd in particular that could create Divinity instead of Demonic Energy!]

She paused.

[...But well, that gourd was destroyed by the Demons themselves, because an unlimited amount of Divinity would be very beneficial for us gods if we took claim over, Besides, converting demonic energy into Divinity requires a ten-to-one ratio.]

”Mhm...” Gray nodded slowly.

”So what’s the exact purpose of this gourd?” he asked.

Jasmine answered without hesitation.

[...To forge more demons.]

[They would throw enormous amounts of mana or demonic energy into it, along with demonic cores, weapons, blood, materials... anything of value.]

[The gourd would fuse everything together and refine it into a stronger demonic core, allowing them to enhance themselves or create higher-grade demons.]

She paused thoughtfully.

[If I’m not mistaken, the outcome depends heavily on the owner’s intent and imagination.]

[Which means... You were subconsciously aiming to convert mana into demonic energy when you fed it the crystal.]

”...That’s indeed what I was thinking about...” he sighed deeply.

He calmly looked down at the gourd.

”Unfortunately, anything I create with this will be demonic in nature.” Gray shook his head slightly.

”That means I can’t generate Divinity for you directly.” For the first time, a faint trace of disappointment slipped into Gray’s voice.

”Nevertheless... this is already a beginning for you to regain your power.”

[...Um.]

Jasmine nodded lightly, watching as Gray continued to examine the gourd.

He turned it slowly in his hand, his fingers tracing its surface as if searching for an invisible seam, some hint of where the seal might be.

After a moment, he spoke again.

”By the way, how much divinity do you need to unseal the Yin Yang Divine Eyes?” Gray asked curiously.

[Well... probably thirty times the amount of the demonic energy present in the gourd after you stole it from the assassin leader.]

”Thirty-times... that means...” He looked at the gourd, seeing the amount of demonic energy contained inside.

He had spent just a little bit of mana and a whole crystal to generate that amount, and compared to the amount there was when he took it away.

The difference was extremely vast, which meant...

”...I would need the total mana of a peak King Realm cultivator... plus two hundred and ninety-two crystals.”

He paused, then added.

”Or, alternatively, the entire mana reserve of an Intermediate Emperor Realm expert.”

[Quite a lot, huh...]

Jasmine muttered softly.

”Indeed,” Gray replied.

”Especially considering that the crystals the other me mined are high-grade and extremely rare.”

”He only managed to gather a little over a hundred, and that’s not really close to the two-hundred and ninety-two needed. Not by a long shot.”

He sighed deeply.

”Well... let’s check the notifications I’ve received for now,” he waved his hand lightly through the air.

[Ding!]

[The Ring of Gluttonny has absorbed the mana of twenty-four people!]

[The Ring of Glutonny has successfully looted twenty-four people!]

[You have obtained one low-grade Saint Qi Orb, four Great Grandmaster Qi Orbs, seven bottles of Bloodvein Poison, six spirit-grade daggers, twenty-four poisoned needleboxes, and twenty-four packages of essence blood.]

[All items have been stored in Dimensional Storage.]

”...Oh? Those fifteen assassins actually managed to create a Saint Qi Orb?” Gray couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

That really had genuinely surprised him, as he hadn’t expected their combined mana to reach Saint-grade refinement.

An empty smile appeared on his lips.

”That’s a very good surprise.”

[What are you planning to do with those items?]

Jasmine asked lightly.

”Well...” Gray replied thoughtfully as he organized the loot in his mind. ”I’ll sell the daggers. No point keeping weapons I won’t use.”

He paused briefly before continuing.

”As for the rest, I’ll keep them. Maybe in the future, I can fuse the Saint Qi Orb with another one, gradually refine it until it reaches Emperor grade.”

His eyes sharpened slightly.

”With that, I could create a puppet.”

At his words, Jasmine’s face dropped slighly.

”But of course... I’m not doing that as I still have to grant you enough divinity for you to awaken entirely,” he continued casually.

[Ah...♡]

He didn’t think that he had said much, but what he didn’t know was that seemingly casual words actually made a warmth spread through Jasmine’s chest.

”...Alright,” Gray said, cracking his neck lightly as he finished sorting everything back into his dimensional storage.

He then lay down on the bed, his hands resting right behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling.

After a moment, he spoke to Jasmine.

”I’ll be going now.”

He closed his eyes halfway.

”I might come back if there’s anything interesting for me to do. Until then, help the other Gray reach the Great Grandmaster realm.”

His tone turned decisive.

”I’ll force the fusion once he does.”

He paused lightly before letting out a small sigh.

”...Have a good night, Jas.”

His eyelids closed completely.

Within seconds, his breathing evened out as he sank into deep slumber.

[.....]

And once again, Jasmine was left alone.

[Gray...]

She whispered his name.

And this time, as if fueled by her own feelings...

Her figure faintly condensed, becoming clearer as she drifted downward until she hovered above him.

She looked at his cold sleeping face and smiled warmly before pressing her cheek against his chest and closing her eyes.

[...I’ll miss you.]