“Brother, what are you doing?! I thought we were talking about concubines and Demon Princess Ilnam!” Tian Lang quickly changed his attitude and approached the demon in quick steps while lowering his back.

If he could put on a fawning smile, he would look no different from a bootlicking lackey.

The sudden change of attitude threw the demon general off-guard. Only, that inexpressive face gave it a profound sense of danger. It chose not to attack while remaining vigilant. No matter what, it was safe inside the halo shield.

Seeing no action from the demon general, Tian Lang suddenly sprinted. Heh, he now had a humanoid form. He could go in and out of halo shields at will. He naturally didn’t bother to hold back.

BAM!!!

However, his forehead and nose, followed by his whole body, slammed on the shield in a disorganized manner.

Defeated even before the start of the fight, Tian Lang’s body slowly slid to the ground.

...

Even the demon glared at the human in perplexion. Can’t he see the halo shield of the grimoire? Or did he think he could bypass the protection of the halo shield? If the demon general knew that it hit the point spot on, it would’ve laughed its intestines out.

Tian Lang slowly got up. Blood flowed out of his sharp nose. This time he hit himself quite severely.

Shit-shit-shit, don’t let me get to you, you stinky-despicable shield! Once I can break you, I’ll break all the halo shields there is!

Since his human form didn’t let him bypass the halo shield, he failed to take the demon general as a hostage. Tian Lang deeply clawed at the shield.

“Brother Demon General, I’m truly interested in Princess Ilnam. I’ve heard many legends about it. Are you really so great to attract attention from that Demon Princess Ilnam?”

“Oh, you’ve heard about her?” The Demon General looked at the human in amusement. Even now, this human addressed Demon Princess Ilnam as ‘it.’ Akula pressed one hand on the grimoire, and it began to glow in response.

“Wait, brother, why are you summoning your beast? Why do we have to fight? Let us talk about demon sisters. Yes! I will join you, and we will eat varieties of demon sisters together! Variety of colors? I like them all, Blue, yellow, red–” Indeed, Tian Lang’s idea was simple. Join the demon, have its guard down, take it as a hostage, and have it teach him how to summon a grimoire.

Alas, Tian Lang only enraged the demon general further. Its demeanor took a sharp change, and it spoke in all righteousness, “You fiends! You, humans, are the vilest existence! Not only did you dare to look down on Princess Ilnam, you even want to eat my brethren! Let me, this Demon General Akula, to erase you from existence!”

The Silver Grimoire glowed brightly as two beasts were summoned. One of them hovered above Akula as they merged. Akula’s already burly physique became more buffed. A pair of bat wings grew out of its back as two sharp blades appeared on its arms.

The other one was a red fire elemental beast. The earth ruptured, and red lava spewed onto the ground. The blade on Akula’s hand gained a red tint.

Tian Lang backed away. Demons were tough to understand. It talked about colors and taste of the demon sisters not long ago; now that he wanted to join Akula, it got angry instead.

So, you can eat demon sisters, but I can’t? Huh, just say that you don’t want to share! Bah!

Anyway, it was all good since Akula would get out of its turtle shell.

As expected, the demon put away its grimoire and flew over. It zig-zagged around the battlefield and charged at Tian Lang with great momentum. Tian Lang grabbed the blade protruding out of Akula’s hand and slammed downward.

Rumble!

Tian Lang made a sharp claw motion and swiped at the demon’s heart. It was more of a fighting habit rather than an intentional action. Even so, the attack should only damage the demon general by a bit.

Fuush~

But Tian Lang did not expect sharp claws to extend from his nails, and as his hand slammed against Akula’s chest, its demon heart was torn apart.

“...” Tian Lang was dumbfounded. This, wasn’t this a bit too coincidental? Who would teach him how to summon a grimoire now?

Still, the fascination of regaining his claws outshined everything.

M-my claws are still there. Tian Lang almost felt he was dreaming. Tears welled up inside his eyes as he carefully tried his nails out. It became sharper than before and felt natural to use.

Once he relaxed his hand, the claws changed back to his nails.

Once Tian Lang knew he had claws, everything flowed naturally. It was so interesting that he forgot his surroundings. He tried different methods. Very soon, he mastered the summoning of his claws. They came out without any specific motion or extreme focus. He could even specifically use one of his fingers.

Now that he got rid of worries of not having claws, Tian Lang felt much more at ease.

His shadows danced on his shoulder as the leopard popped its head out.

Tian Lang smirked inwardly and brought his claws to the leopard head, but before his claws reached there, the leopard moved to the other side of his shoulder.

Tian Lang shrugged his shoulders as the leopard jumped down and took out some bloody items.

“Oh~ you brought them!” Tian Lang was honestly surprised. Because of the Luo Hua City Mistress, he could only knock the shadows and not leave any command for the leopard. To think it took those items exactly, that really surprised him. That also got him thinking whether this leopard watched his every move or what.

Tian Lang ignored the bloody items and only took the Grimoire.

The leopard stored everything else and purred while nudging against Tian Lang’s leg.

But Tian Lang wasn’t focusing on the leopard. After he got his humanoid form, this was the first time he gained a reaction from the half-transparent purple slab.

It lit up as new strings of words flashed above.

[A contractible Grimoire has been found.
Grimoire Rank: Divine.
Grimoire State: Sealed.]

[Analyzing Grimoire seal.
Conclusion: A regular Grimoire Contract Ritual from Chaotic Being, Tian Lang, or Superior-grade Dragon bloodline possessor will break the seal.]

[Chaotic Being, Tian Lang, has Primary Grimoire Contract Quota.
Would you like to contract it?]

Oo-oh? What? I can contract with a grimoire.

Tian Lang felt like he was floating. Also kind of disappointed, at the same time, cautious.

He was floating in happiness that he could finally own a grimoire for sure. Disappointed, because that meant whatever that purple glowy treasure was, it wasn’t a Grimoire. Also, that primary Grimoire contract quota, this basically said he didn’t have a grimoire. After all, even the least knowing Tian Lang knew that one could only have one Grimoire without exceptions.

Above all, that rank made him cautious.

It was okay that he didn’t have a Grimoire. He could get one now.

But once he chose a lousy Grimoire, wouldn’t that mean he would have to spend the rest of his life without it?

This was also weird though, Tian Lang only heard and read in books that Grimoires had five ranks similar to Beasts.

Starting from the lowest Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond Rank being the highest.

But even Platinum-grade Grimoires were rare and hardly seen, let alone Diamond-grade.

As for Divine Grimoire, this was Tian Lang’s first time hearing or seeing it.

That being said, Tian Lang also felt something amiss.

Could it be, humans don’t have things like the purple half-transparent thingy in my head?

Supposedly they had something that tells them about Grimoire Rank, etc. Then, wouldn’t their knowledge be more versatile and not so limited?

And like Holy Beasts after Diamond Rank beasts, there’s more rank for Grimoire? Hmm, then which level is the Divine rank? Is there something more after Divine rank?

Tian Lang hardly had any impression around the word ‘Divine.’

But it gave him an impression of elements. Similar to Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Dark, etc. etc. Among them, the dark element left a deep impression on him as a dominant and strong element. Contrary to that, he failed to put his finger around the word ‘Divine.’

A sudden image flashed before Tian Lang’s eyes. He remembered his strange dream. That human-like figure’s presence exuded a kind of unique aura. It gave one a feeling of peace and tranquility, at the same time, reverence. It was something Tian Lang would associate with the word ‘Divine.’

But that hardly said anything.

Tian Lang never tasted it. He never felt it vividly or nearby.

So far, he knew the dark element was the strongest. Maybe there’s a Dark-grade Grimoire?

Yup, Tian Lang decided not to rush and choose his grimoire with patience. Meanwhile, he would learn how to summon a Grimoire and be sure for the second and final time that that purple glowy treasure wasn’t a Grimoire.

He looked sadly at the demon general. If everything went according to the plan, his demon brother would’ve taught him ‘101 ways to summon a Grimoire.’

Alas, some things in life were not meant to be. Tian Lang patted his demon brother, whom he wanted to partake demon sisters with and let the leopard store its body as his trophy.

As the Demon General’s body disappeared, Tian Lang found another Silver Grimoire!

Crystals!

Tian Lang quickly took the Grimoire. Similar to before, another message flashed.

[A contractible Grimoire has been found.
Grimoire Rank: Normal.]

[Chaotic Being, Tian Lang, has Primary Grimoire Contract Quota.
Would you like to contract it?]

Hm, I can’t expect a Dark Grimoire from a demon general. It looks like I’ll have to go and get it from the Demon Kings, or the Greater Demon Kings. But first! I must get the secret of fleshy mounds!

The last message contained less information but apparent things. This silver Grimoire was definitely not as grand as the silver Grimoire from Shi Ming, the heretic.

While Tian Lang pondered, the leopard settled everything along with the lava elemental. In his passing, Tian Lang realized it had few burn marks. He hadn’t thought that lava elemental was so powerful. After all, not long ago, both the Shadow Leopard and Tian Lang had similar strengths.

As expected, he couldn’t ignore the strength of Abyssal Monsters.

Anyway, Tian Lang took Yue Bing and left the Ancient Battlefield.

Arriving at the Warrior Guild, Tian Lang found Luo Hua City Mistress waiting for him with its three-tailed snow fox. When it saw Tian Lang and Yue Bing return without a hitch, it smiled.

Tian Lang was surprised; this human had also returned?

Why did it seem like it was waiting for him?

He immediately thought of a plan to escape. Who knows which method this human might use to force out his identity. Yeah, maybe it saw him using claws on the battlefield?

Shit, I never thought of that.