The King's Mate - Part 2: Yaoshi

Chapter 11

Thank you for the birthday wishes 😊😊😊

Here's your friday chapter lol Enjoy!

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Hua Cheng spent the following weeks in the same fashion. He practised his shapeshifting abilities in the morning, he translated the philosophy book in the afternoon until he was done with that, and borrowed himself a new book to read and translate. In the evening he meditated for a few hours before he eventually went to bed. Sometimes, when he felt the walls closing in on him, he left the house to explore the city, though that wasn't part of his daily schedule.

In doing this, he was rather successful in improving his reading skills, as well as the understanding he gained of this new, magical part of him. In fact, after four weeks of doing nothing but practising and learning, he finally managed to fully shapeshift into a different appearance; not just his face, but his whole body. He had even managed to change his hair into a ponytail, albeit a slightly crooked one.

After inspecting himself in the mirror in search of something that hadn't quite worked out the way he wanted, Hua Cheng eventually had to admit that he'd done incredibly well. It was true that he hadn't dared to make any changes that could be called too drastic, but he had indeed managed to turn himself into a lanky youth of about 17 years old, bright-eyed and a bit flamboyant with bright crimson and white robes, instead of the dark red and black ones he'd worn previously.

Looking at his reflection, the unbidden thought popped up in his head that maybe he'd be better off pretending his old self had died, and starting a new life in this body. It was certainly more attractive than his original body was, so if he had to try and win his gege's favour once again, his looks shouldn't be a detriment this time. However, that also meant he'd have to lie to his gege. And while he didn't mind playing tricks on him every once in a while, he could never bring himself to properly deceit him with no intention to eventually come clear.

With a sigh, Hua Cheng pushed those stupid thoughts away, and promptly changed back into his original looks. He was about to go downstairs, and continue the translation of the book he was currently trying to read, when he noticed something else.

He was hungry.

It had taken him a moment to realise that's what this feeling was, since he hadn't felt it for... it must have been about 40 days since the last time he ate, Hua Cheng realised.

Well, he certainly wouldn't buy his food from any of the markets in this city, so he decided to hunt for food the old-fashioned way.

Fortunately, his newest book was called 'How to teach Undiluted Magic to your kids', and it was indeed quite useful. When Hua Cheng had browsed through the books that old raven demon had in his shop, and came across this title, he remembered that YanLi had told him that while huli jing used Enchantment Magic, the high-ranking demons used Undiluted Magic, as well as the fact that hybrids of those two creatures were able to use both types of magic.

And since Hua Cheng wasn't above placing himself on the same level as kids when it came to learning new magic, he'd simply grabbed the book with the intention to teach himself.

It was incredibly useful in the regard that it did indeed teach the basics in very simple terms, easy enough for any idiot to follow along. And while Hua Cheng understood the theory very well, and could follow the instructions easily, it wasn't quite as easy to make his magic respond to his orders. Granted, he was still more focused on mastering his shapeshifting abilities and didn't spend a serious amount of time on learning the Undiluted Magic in practice, but even he could already tell the difference between those two types within his meridians.