Chapter 55: Promotion (Part 2)
A rush of happiness surged from her heart, and Ji Ma’s ears quivered slightly.
Nothing makes one happier than leveling up.
Ji Ma suspected that this was related to her gaming addiction, and a sincere smile spread across her face.
At that moment, Lianxi praised her:
“Master, your beauty is unparalleled, your smile dims even the blazing sun in the sky; even if you spit into the bitter sea, men will rush to drink that seawater, claiming it to be the best wine in the world.”
Ji Ma felt a ticklish sensation at the nape of her neck.
She said, “Alright, Xiao Li, you can go out now.”
“Understood, Master.”
Lianxi felt uneasy, fearing that her praise might displease Ji Ma. When she reached the bathroom door, she turned back to look and saw Ji Ma admiring her body in the floating mirror, smiling.
Lianxi understood something and felt encouraged as she stepped out the door.
I will definitely work harder to praise my master with good words.
“Ding dong.”
The sound of the bathroom door closing rang out.
Ji Ma glanced reluctantly at the black-haired beauty in the mirror and, with a thought, made the mirror disappear. Next, she should familiarize herself with her new abilities.
She opened her personal attribute panel and noticed that her “Charisma” attribute had increased again, indicating that Ji Ma’s influence over others had strengthened.
Scrolling down, she saw the updated and newly added abilities.
“Dream Palace (Updated): All those invited into dreams can exchange extraordinary items with each other and use extraordinary abilities. Once per day, you can invite one palace guest into reality for one hour; after that, the person will return to their original dreaming location.”
So, I can summon people for fights from a distance now?
Ji Ma immediately thought of Saintess Jenna. I wonder if she has time; if she does, summoning her will solve the current crisis and also let her run into my little mistress.
“Wings (Updated): You can now fly freely. This is a supernatural ability. Your wings have a regeneration capability like that of a troll, and when you spread your wings and remain still, you gain the effect of ‘levitation.’”
With a powerful thrust, Ji Ma’s wings, which had been tucked against her back, unfurled to a wingspan of about four meters. With a light flap, she took off from the bath. She flew around the spacious bathroom several times, skimming the surface of the water and performing a somersault in mid-air, eventually descending slowly, arms outstretched, face down, wings fully extended.
Her nose stopped just one centimeter above the ground, while water droplets dripped continuously from her hair, creating the sensation of floating in a serene swimming pool.
Ji Ma clapped her hands towards the ground, rotating her body ninety degrees in mid-air before landing back into the warm bath.
“So refreshing, it feels like I’ve got a high-powered engine installed.”
“Pain Torture: Now, all the pain you inflict on others can also cause them psychological damage. You can collect the pain of all your enemies who die by your hand. The power of pain will enhance your own combat abilities. Enemies already hurt by your pain are easier to harm.”
Isn’t this a must-have skill for a headhunter? It’s said that the extraordinary abilities gained from each level up are somewhat related to one’s personality. It must be my valiant performance in harvesting low-health foes that earned me such powerful extraordinary abilities.
I love the strong overpowering the weak.
Ji Ma was also curious about what “manufacturing all kinds of pain” meant. Would hurtful words count, she wondered.
These still needed constant practice to understand.
“Curse (Updated): Your curse ability has grown stronger, allowing for multi-faceted curses.”
Ji Ma didn’t understand what this meant. She created a text titled “Curse Description Unclear, Needs More Practice.” She wondered how many lucky individuals in the future would become her test subjects.
“Doll Substitute (Updated): Even when you are unconscious, the doll substitute can help you withstand damage.”
Ji Ma didn’t have much feeling regarding this; she seldom used the doll substitute because she was cunning enough.
“Potion in a Can: You can contain some extraordinary abilities in potions for future use. The difficulty of canning and the strength of extraordinary abilities depend on the abilities you carry and the potions you have. The description of canned potions is————”
Ji Ma blinked, surprised that the following text descriptions were all marked with strikethroughs. Did the system, after accompanying her for so many years, develop a bug?
She focused on the strikethroughs, which revealed a line of red text: Please refer to the red-text section in the text area.
Ji Ma quickly opened the text area, mumbling, “It can’t be some kind of pay guide, right? Dear user, you’ve been freeloading for three centuries; it’s time to start paying.”
Indeed, there was a red-text section in the text area. Ji Ma distinctly remembered that it hadn’t been there before.
“This text might have been generated by the system.”
The red-text section was titled “Precautions.”
When Ji Ma tried to open it, she was met with a line of red text: “Insufficient permissions. You can only access this text after retrieving the extraordinary material from the previous life.”
“Insufficient permissions? How is that possible?” Ji Ma recalled that she had never encountered this before. “I have always been the highest authority user. Could it be… I am not myself?”
A chill crawled up her spine.
A terrifying thought emerged in her mind.
What if I am not a transmigrator but merely a pawn resurrected by the Demon King Ji Ma? The system, along with the memories from my previous life, were all lent to me so that I could level up quickly and serve as his vessel for resurrection.
She felt an increasing panic. If this idea was true, then once the Demon King Ji Ma revived, she would most likely become his meat slave.
After all, that was “herself.”
If it were herself, she would definitely not let go of a beautiful and powerful succubus.
There would be no need to rebuild the harem; the “Dream Palace” would suffice. She could access the “Dream Palace” anytime, anywhere, summoning maids from around the world, making it a better secret hideaway than any “palace” in reality.
Ji Ma was frightened by “herself” and hugged her knees, wrapping her wings around herself.
Though she liked her past succubus life, it didn’t mean she didn’t loathe her past self.
“Calm down, calm down.” Ji Ma took several deep breaths. “This is too absurd, unless the Demon King Ji Ma ate goblin poop and lost his mind, his IQ dropped. The system provides so much help to extraordinary beings, he knows that. How could he not know what extraordinary abilities I possess as a succubus and how confidently I can control them?”
“He could have chosen a more secure resurrection plan.”
A voice countered: But you were once him, you know how much he craved for beautiful pleasures.
Ji Ma contemplated; if she were the Demon King Ji Ma, wouldn’t she want a succubus maid by her side, ready to engage whenever she pleased? She could choose any girl she liked, lure her into a dream, and pull her into the Dream Palace.
Then nobody would know. Noble ladies, elven rangers, queens, princesses, or socialites, all forced to enter the “Dream Palace” at night for the Demon King Ji Ma’s amusement.
Ji Ma gasped: “Even I can’t resist this temptation right now. For such a wonderful future, sacrificing some success rate of resurrection might be very likely for him—or for me.”
If that’s the case, I must find help.
Ji Ma immediately thought of George and couldn’t help but feel relieved.
“If I’m not like the Demon King Ji Ma, then that would be good. In that case, I can be honest with George; he has no reason to threaten me with a sword.”
“But what if I’m not?” Ji Ma’s heart raced. “What if the red-text section says ‘Happy late April Fools’ Day!’? Wouldn’t that mean I’m asking for death?”
To eliminate all uncertainties, she must read the red-text section. To read the red-text section, she needed to retrieve the “Demon King Ji Ma’s extraordinary material,” but she also had to be prepared, in case the “extraordinary material” itself was a trap.
In this regard, Ji Ma felt very confident.
If the “Demon King Ji Ma” plan has flaws, then one of the biggest flaws is that he didn’t anticipate that his extraordinary abilities were related to alchemy.
Ji Ma opened the task section and deleted the task “Promotion to Platinum!” while mimicking the notification sound: “Ding ding ding! Ding ding! Congratulations, you have completed the main task.”
Life must have a sense of ritual.
She created a new main task titled “Retrieve My or His Extraordinary Material.”
The content was: “The extraordinary material of the Demon King Ji Ma can not only enhance my combat abilities but also confirm a terrifying suspicion. Am I really the Demon King Ji Ma or merely his vessel resurrected, a succubus born for his future happiness?”
After creating the new task.
A fleeing thought leaped into Ji Ma’s mind.
What if I just avoid this filthy water altogether, return the Demon King Ji Ma’s extraordinary material to the sanctuary, let them keep an eye on it, and walk away? I could go around flirting with girls, looking for George for food, living a happy life.
Ji Ma slapped her thigh, splashing water, and said, “Makes sense! Free of desire, one becomes strong. As long as I lie down, I will never step into a trap. That’s settled.”
The black-haired succubus stood up, happily backing away: “Time to change clothes; luckily, I had the foresight to prepare several outfits in advance.”
By lying down and becoming a lazy bum, she wouldn’t be used.
Ji Ma’s smile gradually froze, and she slammed the wall: “Nonsense!”
Just the thought of casually handing over the extraordinary materials that could make one stronger.
Ji Ma felt a pang in her heart, as if she were selling off all her hard-earned possessions and donating them to a charity, ending up living on the streets, nibbling on pickled vegetables and steamed buns, hungry one moment, full the next, as if she’d lost her next life.
“Whether I am or am not the Demon King Ji Ma.” Ji Ma muttered to herself, “Either way, good things belong to me, so I’m not running away!”
Ji Ma took a deep breath, donned her tight pants and tall boots, changed clothes, and grabbed a branch as she exited the palace.
The urgent matter was still to deal with the horde of beastmen outside.
Ji Ma flew to the highest tower of the Dream Palace, gazing at the dreams, her sight fixed on the dream seed belonging to Saintess Jenna.
As expected, she was not asleep, so she couldn’t be summoned for battle.
Ji Ma descended and flew toward the entrance of the Dream Palace, taking a deep breath to calm herself as she whispered to herself, “Those beastmen are just practice dummies for me to familiarize myself with my extraordinary abilities.”
