[Facing the seduction of the Hehuan Sect female cultivator, you step into the game yourself and use the path of temptation to temper your Dao-heart.]
[Even if mortal dust stretches for ten thousand miles, you remain certain it cannot stain your Dao-heart.]
[Duobao Daoren's incarnation, however, lets out a cold sneer and heads toward a sacred mountain and blessed land to gather miasma, intending to refine Peach-Blossom Miasma—something capable of reducing even immortals and gods into entanglement with desire and drowning them in the seven emotions and six passions.]
[The host is urged to take care!]
Reading the System's warning, Theodore's heart stirred. A dim and profound glow passed through his Microscopic Heavenly Eye.
In the next instant, he saw through heavenly calculation the current location of Quirrell and Voldemort.
Deep in the Forbidden Forest, dust and smoke were billowing. Loud rumbles shook the trees as though some astonishing battle were underway.
Then Quirrell stumbled out of the haze, filthy from head to toe, spitting repeatedly.
"Wrong again. There's no vein here."
"Master, are we still digging?"
"I still think Theodore never fell for it at all. He was just extorting us, plain and simple."
Voldemort frowned.
"Quirrell, you overbooked fool who's never known romance—do you really think you understand human nature better than I do?"
"I guarantee it. No one can resist my gift. Not just people—even ghosts cannot resist."
"Theodore is definitely wavering."
"He's simply an unusual little wizard, so naturally his conditions would be unusual too."
"I know what I saw. He will not deceive me. No one's heart can hide itself from my scrutiny."
At this point, Voldemort's face was brimming with confidence.
In truth, among the very few who knew his hidden past, many would have admitted that Voldemort's greatest strength was not merely his magical ability.
It was his talent for perceiving the weaknesses in the human heart.
He was almost a natural-born Legilimens. Even as a student he had been able to coax professors into revealing the secrets of Horcrux creation.
He had even managed to charm ghosts carrying a thousand years of memory until they were nearly glowing with delight.
Later, while working at Borgin and Burkes, he had used his looks and charisma to entice wealthy pure-blood women into buying luxury dark artifacts, and had ultimately acquired Hufflepuff's Cup from one of them.
Perhaps in magic he had once had a rival in Dumbledore.
But when it came to manipulating the hearts of others, Voldemort had always believed—without the slightest doubt—that no one in the magical world could compare to him.
Later, as he grew more powerful, he stopped using this gift except occasionally to dominate his followers.
But now Theodore truly stood like a mountain across the road between Voldemort and the Philosopher's Stone.
For the Stone, Voldemort no longer cared whether his methods looked shameful. He had dragged out his most deeply hidden skill at last.
"Just give me the chance to let that little witch share one cup of tea with him," Voldemort said.
"And I'll have him."
"Quirrell, stop complaining."
"Get back to digging for bronze!"
Theodore, meanwhile, withdrew the Eye and the calculation, his expression faintly odd.
Voldemort really was astonishingly confident in his ability to conquer another person's heart.
A thoughtful light moved through Theodore's eyes as he examined the strange sensation he had just perceived from Voldemort.
It was a very special kind of magic.
Somewhat like Legilimency—but more subtle, more pervasive, more capable of slipping through unseen cracks.
That, Theodore realized, was very likely the secret behind Voldemort's unnatural ability to win people over.
He lifted an eyebrow.
Then a thought appeared in his mind.
"I once had the Spirit Beast Affinity talent from the Beast-Taming Sect. Almost every magical creature that saw me instinctively felt favor toward me."
"And thanks to the Microscopic Heavenly Eye, I had already fully understood its underlying principle."
"Now I've also seen the secret behind Voldemort's ability to win affection."
A new possibility surfaced in Theodore's heart.
"Voldemort's so-called talent relies on unconsciously radiated magical power."
"But I could do the same thing consciously."
"And more than that, I could replace magic with spiritual force…"
"The result might be far stronger than Voldemort's own talent."
With that, Theodore adjusted his own power according to the magical fluctuation he had previously observed in Voldemort. A single strand of Origin Sea force began to radiate outward in a similar manner.
At once, a new line of text flashed across the System screen.
[In the process of using the Hehuan Sect female cultivator to temper your Dao-heart, the host gains a slight insight.]
[You have attained a minor comprehension of the Dao of Enchantment.]
Theodore froze.
What?
Just like that?
He'd comprehended the Dao of Enchantment?
True, the Dao of Enchantment counted as one of the lesser and rather disreputable side-paths in the primordial world. Practitioners of it rarely had any real hope of proving the Dao, and even becoming immortal or divine was extraordinarily difficult.
But once cultivated to a sufficiently deep level, it could still produce surprising effects.
The best-known example was naturally the Nine-Tailed Fox from the Investiture era. After seizing Su Daji's body, it had managed to enchant King Zhou himself, despite the imperial destiny of the Shang dynasty protecting him.
Later, when the Investiture era was ending and execution was imminent, that same Dao of Enchantment had made both executioners and overseers unable to lift their hands. Even many immortals and gods showed signs of being entranced.
From that alone, one could see that the Dao of Enchantment truly did have its own remarkable qualities.
A playful smile slowly formed on Theodore's lips.
He suddenly found himself wondering—
if one used the enemy's methods against the enemy, how would the Dao of Enchantment fare against Voldemort's inborn talent?
…
The following evening, Theodore once again led Hermione, Harry, and the others into the Room of Requirement.
Then he stepped back out, his gaze drifting toward the corner of the corridor.
As expected, the little witch Voldemort had been manipulating stepped out from the shadows with a bright smile.
"Theodore, how did you know I'd be here?"
"Have you been paying attention to me too?"
"Heehee…"
Theodore cut her off at once.
"I'm afraid your complimentary chat service was used up yesterday."
"If you want to talk tonight, that requires payment."
The little witch puffed out her lips in mock annoyance, then smiled slyly.
"Then does that mean what you said yesterday still stands?"
"If I really bring you a little mountain of bronze ore, then you'll have tea with me?"
"Come with me, then."
"Take a look at this."
She led Theodore to an open patch of ground near the castle and waved her wand.
A small mountain of bronze ore—more than ten meters high—instantly appeared where it had previously been hidden under concealment magic.
And from the look of it, the ore had even been partially refined. The quality was excellent, easily good enough to be used as practice material for alchemy.
The little witch beamed.
"I pleaded with my family for ages before they finally agreed to send this heap of top-quality bronze ore to Hogwarts."
"Well then, Theodore? You agreed to tea. You can't go back on your word now."
A flush rose on her cheeks as she spoke.
"And if you were willing to come home with me, then what would one little mountain like this matter?"
"Even a real mountain a hundred or a thousand times larger would still be nothing."
Hidden in the shadows, Quirrell's eyes bulged.
Damn it.
He had spent nearly an entire night swinging his wand nonstop to dig out this bronze ore!
If they now had to produce a mountain one hundred times larger, was Voldemort trying to work him to death?
It wasn't Voldemort digging, after all.
But Voldemort, like a hunter who believed victory was already in hand, hissed sharply in his mind:
"Quiet!"
"There won't be a next time. Theodore is about to take the hook. Don't distract me!"
Meanwhile Theodore looked at the pile of bronze ore, and an eager heat rose in his eyes.
Good.
Very good.
One of the materials needed to refine a Grand Celestial Constellation Formation flag was refined bronze essence. That required enormous quantities of bronze ore of both high quality and high volume.
While merit could drastically lower the difficulty, it could not eliminate the need for raw material entirely.
Of course Theodore could have obtained bronze through Muggle channels.
But that would have been troublesome.
Magical-world channels would have been even worse.
Where, then, was he likely to find service better than Voldemort personally delivering materials to his door?
Theodore's tone instantly became far more enthusiastic.
"Darling, really?"
"You'd do all this for me?"
"I'm truly touched."
The little witch's eyes glimmered like rippling water. A cup appeared in her hand, fragrant steam rising from it as the scent of tea drifted into the air.
"Then will you have tea with me now?"
As she spoke, she passed the cup to Theodore.
When Theodore took it, the girl's fingertip lightly brushed across his palm, sending a faint numbing sensation through the contact.
Then her voice softened further, growing even more enchanting.
"Theodore…"
"Look into my eyes."
"Tell me…"
"Am I beautiful?"
At that, Theodore's lips curled into a strange smile.
He lifted his gaze and met her eyes.
For a single instant, Voldemort felt as though Theodore's gaze had pierced through everything and was looking directly at him in the darkness.
Before he could react, Theodore released the fragment of the Dao of Enchantment he had only just comprehended.
Thread after thread of spiritual force wound itself around the little witch—and, through the invisible connection linking controller and controlled, spread directly onto Voldemort as well.
In an instant, Voldemort's mind went completely blank.
Theodore suddenly felt like the most intimate being in the whole world to him.
Only he and Theodore were truly the same kind of person.
They were both born extraordinary.
They both carried towering ambition…
And from those thoughts, a strange conviction was born in Voldemort's mind:
Helping Theodore was helping himself.
At the same time, the System screen flashed with fresh text.
[Duobao Daoren's incarnation unleashes Peach-Blossom Miasma at you. But your Dao-heart is hard as iron. Faced with miasma that could cause even immortals and gods to fall into desire, your expression does not change. With one sword, you cut through it.]
[Instead, the Peach-Blossom Miasma sweeps back. Duobao Daoren's incarnation, whose Dao-heart was already unstable, is caught off guard. His Dao-heart falls into chaos, and he suffers deviation!]
Theodore blinked.
That worked?
Then a trace of pity rose inside him for Voldemort.
If the Dark Lord had simply confronted him head-on in true battle, at worst he would only have been beaten to death.
But instead he had insisted on relying on some strange little talent and underhanded tricks.
What was the point of that?
Before primordial methods, such petty talents were no more than an ant staring up at heaven.
Naturally, Theodore had no intention of being gentle now.
He casually shoved the teacup back into the little witch's hands and said blandly,
"Alright. The time for one cup of tea has already passed."
"If you still want to meet me privately, do your best."
"A mountain of silver and I'll let you hold my hand."
"A mountain of gold and you can invite me out and have me do unspeakable things for you."
"Please."
"This really matters to me."
Then Theodore turned and left.
The little witch, meanwhile, suddenly regained full clarity and stood there looking utterly baffled.
"How did I get here?"
"Was I sleepwalking?"
"But that dream just now… it felt so real."
"I dreamed about Theodore? He looked so handsome…"
Quirrell, because he had never met Theodore's gaze directly, had not been touched by the Dao of Enchantment at all. At this point he was utterly lost.
"Master?"
"What's going on?"
"Didn't you say this time Theodore was as good as yours, and that we'd get the secret of the Philosopher's Stone out of him?"
In the very next instant, Voldemort barked back furiously.
"Silence, Quirrell!"
"How dare you speak of my dear Theodore in such a way?"
"Show him some respect!"
Quirrell stood there dumbfounded.
"???"
Then suddenly he felt Voldemort wrenching control of the body away from him and marching off toward the Forbidden Forest despite the aching weakness still lingering in the flesh.
A terrible premonition seized Quirrell.
"Master—you, what are you doing?"
"Why are we going back into the Forest again?"
Voldemort answered as though it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Theodore and I met once and recognized each other as kindred spirits."
"I'd gladly drink with him tonight and swear brotherhood on the spot."
"Didn't you hear him? My good brother needs mountains of gold, silver, and bronze."
"As his good elder brother, helping him shoulder that burden is my sacred duty."
"So naturally, I'm going mining."
Quirrell's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"What the actual hell?!"
Meanwhile Theodore looked at the pile of bronze ore, and the heat in his eyes only grew stronger.
He had already obtained Proving the Dao Through Artifacts. That meant he could increase his cultivation through the act of refining magical treasures.
Turning this bronze ore into bronze essence, then fusing merit into it and refining it into a treasure—
that whole process should grant him a considerable increase in cultivation.
The next moment, Theodore formed the seals from the Heavenly Demon Treasure-Refining Art, and Heavenly Demon Fire surged out at once, enveloping the heap of bronze.
He flicked a finger again, and golden lotus petals drifted down. A trace of the merit born from creating the Mythic Great Luo Method flowed into the process.
Then Theodore bit the tip of his tongue and sprayed out a mist of golden blood.
Very quickly, a point of everlasting bronze radiance—covered in tiny glimmers of gold—jumped into Theodore's hand.
It was precisely the bronze essence needed for refining a Grand Celestial Constellation Formation flag.
And the instant the bronze essence was complete, Theodore suddenly felt a flood of spiritual energy pour out of it and into his body.
At once, the Five-Element Reversal Origin Sea talent activated.
The grinding wheel that reversed the five elements thundered into motion.
Strand after strand of Origin Sea power flowed into being, and Theodore's cultivation began to rise rapidly—as though he had just swallowed a golden pill.
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