Hate Me, Witch!

“And you—aren’t you going to ask something too?”

It seemed the Knowledge Grail was immensely delighted by Sylvia and Ailora’s social demise.

Its exaggerated tactical lean-back grew even more dramatic, wobbling for quite a while before it finally steadied, displaying words on the surface once more for Xia Ya to see.

“Although I don’t know how you found Me, or even how you learned My Benediction,”

“Still—”

The handle of the Holy Grail shimmered faintly, as though a pair of eyes were scrutinizing Xia Ya.

“Just turned eighteen, Six-Ring, with decent Beastmaster and Mental Talents.”

“In your era, I suppose that counts as a once-in-a-century genius... But back when I was born, when Mythical Creatures roamed the world, someone like you would’ve been utterly unremarkable.”

“Just another mortal born in an age without Me!”

The old-style font on the grail’s surface started to look listless.

As if the two prior social deaths had over-stimulated it, and now normal embarrassment couldn’t interest it at all.

“If you’ve got questions, ask. Then I’m clocking out.”

But Xia Ya didn’t seem the least bit annoyed by the Knowledge Grail’s lazy, half-hearted attitude. He simply smiled and gave the upper half of the little grail a gentle pat.

“I do have a question, sure. But first, I need to confirm if the forbidden knowledge I possess is tradeable.”

“You?”

The Knowledge Grail gave a little bounce, and words floated up on its surface again: “With your age and tier, what kind of secret knowledge could you even have? Didn’t you see that even the Throne-tier one failed? My advice: don’t embarrass yourself.”

“Well, you never know. Anything’s possible in this world, right?”

Xia Ya continued to calmly stroke the surface of the grail.

His face was gentle, wearing a light, spring-breeze kind of smile that put people at ease.

To someone unfamiliar, he’d probably seem like a warm, refined young gentleman.

But to Ailora, it made her instinctively raise a hand to cover her eyes.

The golden-haired girl had rarely seen Xia Ya wear such a mild, pleasant smile—but whenever it showed up, she knew something was about to get wrecked.

“How about this—I tell you the laws that govern the movement of the Sun, along with its life cycle?”

“The laws of the Sun’s movement?”

The Knowledge Grail was momentarily stunned, and even the floating text lagged for a beat.

“Even the Star Titans and Starforging Dragonkin can only devour ordinary celestial bodies. When it comes to the Sun, they barely scratch the surface.”

“Even that god named after the Sun itself can only draw upon a millionth of its original name’s power.”

“And you think you—”

The words on the cup’s surface abruptly cut off.

Because right at that moment, a faint thread of spiritual energy, wrapped in a complex stream of information, had been channeled through Xia Ya’s fingers and directly injected into the Knowledge Grail.

The grail stopped shaking in an instant, freezing in place.

BOOM—

Inside the core consciousness of the Knowledge Grail,

In that void of darkness,

Thousands of suns burst into light at the same time.

It saw elemental particles converging under immense gravity, then breaking apart.

With the dispersal of mass came boundless waves of light and heat.

Radiant suns flared in cycles, each surge triggering massive coronal tides.

After who-knows-how-long, a blinding white star suddenly expanded—

Becoming an enormous crimson star that radiated even more heat and light.

Then that massive red giant began to slowly contract,

Fading, cooling bit by bit.

Until, at last, it turned into a cold, dead star—lifeless, like a tomb.

...

The Knowledge Grail fell into a long silence, like it had crashed.

It couldn’t understand. Couldn’t process.

What had just occurred was a secret never before explained anywhere on the Western Continent.

Even just reading this knowledge had stalled its entire process.

“What’s the matter, little grail?”

Xia Ya, not holding back in the slightest, picked the Knowledge Grail right up.

He was a petty guy.

Sure, watching Sylvia and Ailora suffer social death had been hilarious and totally his thing. He wouldn’t have let the grail dish out those soul-wrenching questions otherwise.

But the fact remained—it had pulled a fast one on his main wife and side wife.

And this was a tool he’d spent Sands of Time to exchange for. If he just let it run wild, then what the h*ll did he even pay for?

He brought this thing home to be a walking encyclopedia, not a diva grandpa needing incense and offerings.

There was no place in Xia Ya’s Treasury of the King for a relic that acted this cocky.

“You pull this smug cr*p again and I’ll crash you a second time.”

Xia Ya lifted the grail by one of its handles.

“If I had the means to dig you out of the lost annals of history, I sure as h*ll have the means to put you right back.”

The Knowledge Grail finally seemed to reboot from its frozen state. As soon as it heard Xia Ya’s threat, it started shaking all over.

“Young man, are you threatening Me?”

“Do you even know what you’ve just offended?”

The glow around the grail brightened intensely.

“You’re threatening the ‘Gate of Arcana, the Watcher of the Starrealm and Spirit Realm, the Holy Spirit of Pursued Knowledge, the Oracle of Fate’!?”

“I’m threatening your a**.”

Xia Ya smacked the grail again.

The cup tumbled off the table, hit the floor, and before it could even snap out of its daze—

WHAM—it got stomped on by Xia Ya’s boot.

“Listen up, little grail.”

“The strong have every right to humiliate the weak.”

BOOM—

Light erupted from the grail again as it leapt into the air, bringing waves of arcane energy with it.

Even its once-white surface was now glowing red.

The whole thing screamed “WARNING, WARNING,” in all but voice.

“You’re playing with fire!”

The now-overheated grail even had bright red words bleeding onto its surface, like they were dripping blood.

“I’m going to invoke the Spirit Realm’s Revelation and broadcast the darkest, most forbidden secrets in your heart to the entire Starrealm!”

Xia Ya’s expression didn’t change.

He had already confirmed one thing earlier:

The Knowledge Grail had no idea about his system or the fact that he was a Transmigrator. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been so clueless about how he’d been dug up in the first place.

Since that was the case, he had nothing to fear.

There’s a saying, isn’t there? When a man’s shameless enough, he becomes invincible.

The most socially damning, most forbidden secret in his heart…

Was probably just the fact that in his dreams, he occasionally played the role of a rebellious apprentice.

If it got broadcast, then so be it.

After all, his Golden Elf teacher only had him as her final disciple. What was she going to do—actually kill him to shut him up?

“As the Holy Grail of Knowledge, I swear—”

Mystery surged as the Knowledge Grail’s surface reflected an illusory sea of spiritual energy. It was about to activate its Authority and, through the endless, ethereal Spirit Realm, observe Xia Ya’s spiritual origin directly.

But then it suddenly froze.

In this world, “Mystery” is a real concept.

When a certain matter—be it knowledge or technique—becomes known to more people, its “mystery” weakens.

And all Mysteries are subject to higher Mysteries.

That’s why the older something is, the more powerful it often is—because the older it is, the less data there is to parse it, and the greater its mystery.

Whether it’s a Holy Spear or a Holy Sword, this rule applies.

And the Knowledge Grail’s Authority also depended on its own immense Mystery to observe the spiritual essence of those who carried lesser Mysteries.

Ordinary people, in its eyes, were just wisps of faint fog.

Someone like Sylvia—a Throne-tier, or Ailora—blessed by the Holy Spear, were like thick, oppressive stormclouds.

But Xia Ya’s spiritual origin… was unlike anyone the Knowledge Grail had ever seen.

It was utter darkness. A void without the slightest trace of anything else.

Like a black hole that devoured light itself.

“I shall…”

The blood-red menacing text halted, then instantly shrank back into obedient white letters.

Without Xia Ya needing to do anything, it thump-ed and collapsed beneath his boot, the cup clinking crisply as it hit the ground.

“Then, there’s only one answer left.”

“I shall… pledge my allegiance to you!”

The tiny cup humbly shoved itself under Xia Ya’s boot, even nuzzling against the sole like a little dog.

Its dog-like obedience sent a chill down Xia Ya’s spine.

Even he hadn’t expected the thing to fold this fast.

He was planning to spend a few days properly disciplining this arrogant little goblet. Who knew it’d give in so fast?

“Why are you pledging allegiance to me? Just ‘cause you got one peek at my spiritual origin?”

“Not just that… I also sensed something inexplicably familiar from your spiritual source. It made me instinctively want to submit.”

The Knowledge Grail stayed groveling beneath Xia Ya’s boot, seemingly with no intention of getting up.

It wasn’t until Xia Ya got fed up with something pressed under his foot that he gave it a kick and sent it flying.

“All the knowledge I can gather depends on my own Mystery. I know nothing of anything that came before I was born, Boss.”

Xia Ya tapped the table with his fingers.

This grail suddenly acting like a simping lapdog made him draw some connections. “Then can you tell if there’s anything special about me?”

“Nope. I just know that getting kicked by you feels really good, Boss.”

Xia Ya’s face went dark. “Pick another name.”

The Knowledge Grail rolled across the floor from his kick and didn’t stop until it hit the wall: “Alright, Master.”

Xia Ya really couldn’t take this thing rolling around on the floor, getting covered in dust like it didn’t even care. “Can you change how you look?”

“Of course, Master.”

The glow around the cup dimmed, and even its form gradually turned illusory.

Eventually, its body faded entirely, leaving behind only a hazy, mysterious aura.

“Master, this is my source of Mystery.”

“Though I can’t stay like this long in the Material Plane—I’d have to return to the Starrealm or Spirit Realm. But then… I wouldn’t be able to hear your teachings in real time, feel your warmth, touch the dust on your soles…”

Tap tap—

Xia Ya drummed his slender fingers on the wooden table, cutting off the font display. “What about a Beastmaster’s Soul Pact Space? Can it contain a relic like you?”

“M–me?”

The Knowledge Grail started trembling violently on the floor, a blue glow radiating from it like it was about to burst into tears.

“Someone as lowly as me… can I really be given the chance to come into soul contact with Master?”

“If you can’t talk properly, say less. It’s just temporary lodging—I don’t want my sixth Soul Pact to be a damn talkative goblet.”

“N–no matter,” the Knowledge Grail shivered in excitement. “Even if it’s just a temporary replacement, just a worthless, humble substitute… it is still my greatest honor.”

“If you ever need me for anything, please don’t hesitate to command me…”

Before it could finish, Xia Ya—looking extremely done—grabbed it and picked it up.

First, he sealed off his sixth Soul Pact Space completely, isolating it from both his Mental Sea and the rest of his Soul Pact Spaces. Then he tossed the illusory cup into this independently locked cell.

Partly, he was still wary of the Knowledge Grail’s mysterious nature.

But more importantly—he didn’t want this foul-mouthed thing corrupting his pure, innocent summoned beasts.

Only after doing all that did Xia Ya finally notice—

Someone had been staring at him with a cold, piercing gaze for a while now.

“Xia Ya… so you actually had a way to deal with that thing from the beginning?”

A chilly voice echoed through the quiet room.

Even Ailora, who’d been watching Xia Ya interact with the Knowledge Grail this whole time, had finally pieced everything together.

“And even so… you just stood there and watched me and Tower Master Sylvia get interrogated?”

How could she have forgotten that part?

Xia Ya rubbed his forehead helplessly.

Okay, sure, he really had been curious—and maybe had a bit of gossip-loving nosiness too—and that’s why he wanted to know what little secrets his main and side wives were hiding.

But of course he couldn’t say that out loud. He cleared his throat and started explaining, “Little Ai, listen—actually, I wasn’t sure what that damn cup would…”

But before he could finish, Ailora cut him off.

She lowered her voice and spoke in a very quiet tone.

“Forget it. You can explain… when we’re in bed.”