Raphael then asked, "What is a Dao Integrator?"
"That's what the cultivators of that place call... well, a very high-level cultivator," the white-jade pearl said, "Alright, we'll have to stop here for today. If you have more questions, I'll answer them during your next advancement."
With that, the jade pearl vanished from his mind.
Raphael scratched his head, "Every time it appears, it behaves like a... challenged old man who always finishes too quickly, leaving their partner unsatisfied."
He pondered their conversation for a moment... The True Jade indeed held many secrets, and they seemed to be of a very high level. He wasn't particularly curious about them, though. High-level secrets often meant high-level risks.
For Raphael, there was a difference between 'madness' and 'courting death'.
After digestion the information, he began using his Spirituality to examine his own condition. He soon noticed that after drinking the Unwinged Angel potion, his condition had actually improved.
He could distinctly feel that ever since drinking the Werewolf potion, his urges for killing and bloodshed had been growing day by day.
According to the Mystic Source True Scripture, consuming the Unwinged Angel potion at this stage was the optimal remedy. Of course, the scripture didn't use the term 'Unwinged Angel', but that was the gist of it.
In the world of the Shadow Cottage, there was a distinction between 'Dual Heritage' and 'Single Heritage'.
For instance, the Shadow Cottage could bestow abilities from two Pathways. Some cultivators received abilities similar to the Criminal Pathway, others received abilities similar to the Prisoner Pathway, and some received most of the abilities from both Pathways.
The former two were called Single Heritage, and the latter was called a Dual Heritage. It was said that other sects also had Triple or Multiple Heritages.
The Mystic Source True Scripture contained not only methods for training the physical body and tempering the mind, but also instructions for how both Single and Dual Heritage cultivators should cultivate. In a way, it was like a complete cultivation manual for dummies...
Raphael had greatly benefited from reading these cultivation methods.
The text explained that a Single Heritage cultivator who had received abilities of the Prisoner Pathway could, at the late stage of the Mortal Realm (Sequence 7), take an Apathy Pill if their cultivation of the Mystic Source True Scripture couldn't suppress their growing urge to kill.
The effect of the Apathy Pill was to suppress emotions, making one cold and indifferent, which would neutralize the urge to kill.
A Dual Heritage cultivator, however, didn't have such worries, because the abilities bestowed upon them by the True Jade were roughly a blend of Werewolf and Unwinged Angel combined...
Having learned this in advance, Raphael was only surprised by the effect of blending the two potions, but not particularly shocked.
Now, examining his own condition gave him a pleasant surprise. He discovered that after taking the Unwinged Angel potion, even if he transformed during a full moon, he wouldn't lose his sanity.
Still, he couldn't be sure if his intuition was accurate. The full moon was in a few days, so he'd go to the outskirts of Backlund to test it out then, just to be safe.
Next, Raphael began to sense his newly acquired abilities. As an Unwinged Angel, he could cast weak Curses with Language of Foulness, such as Headache, Stomachache, and Slowness.
Additionally, he could summon a small, pale blue fireball. This fireball burned hotter than ordinary fire, but because its attack speed when thrown was too slow, targets could easily dodge it. So the most practical use for it Raphael could think of was... cremating corpses.
Furthermore, he gained knowledge for the preparation of several tasteless and odorless poisons that could cause gruesome deaths. He could also concoct drugs like sedatives or laxatives.
As for the physical enhancement granted by the Unwinged Angel Sequence, since Raphael had already advanced to Werewolf, this aspect was relatively insignificant to him.
Taking a deep breath, he gathered his Spirituality, then walked to the coffee table and poured himself a glass of wine.
Downing it in one gulp, Raphael sat on the sofa and began considering another problem: 'How do I digest the Werewolf and Unwinged Angel potions?'
The Mystic Source True Scripture didn't cover this point, probably because it was designed for Qi Sect cultivators. They didn't need to digest potions, they only needed to diligently cultivate their Body of Heart and Mind.
The Blood Sect also had no concept of potion digestion at all. So Raphael would have to figure out digestion on his own.
In his view, the Unwinged Angel potion was relatively easy to digest. First, he needed to be more evil and do more bad deeds. As a Mafia boss, everything he did was tied to violence, so he only needed to be a bit more evil, a bit more unhinged, and the potion should digest accordingly.
Moreover, 'Unwinged Angel' implied corruption, which is to associate with evil, and align with wicked desires. Raphael realized he might need to join circles even more evil than the Mafia.
He scratched his head: 'Should I enter politics in Loen?'
As for how to digest the Werewolf potion, Raphael had two different lines of thought. The first leaned toward bloodlust and slaughter. He could test this in future battles, fighting as cruelly as possible and observing the potion's digestion.
The second line of thought came from the keywords of the Prisoner Pathway: 'curse' and 'prisoner'...
Werewolves were cursed, they were outcasts.
This immediately made Raphael think of many movie tropes; for instance, a kind person cursed by an evil sorcerer into becoming a werewolf. They would have a savage appearance but a kind heart, yet the good deeds they did were always misunderstood by people.
Eventually, the werewolf would gradually turn dark, and after a massacre, they would lose all hope mingling with humanity, forever irreconcilable... Thus, the beast ends up becoming an outcast of the entire world...
Raphael pondered this: 'The second approach seems more precise. But I have no concrete ideas on how to act it out...'
After thinking for a while longer, Raphael decided he could write to Audrey, asking her to contact the Temperance Faction and seek their advice on how to act as a Werewolf. He was willing to pay some gold pounds or something else in return.
During his last conversation with Maric, although the other had said Raphael could find him anytime, he hadn't left any contact information.
'So I can only reach Maric through Audrey...'
As for contacting Audrey, they had already arranged it during their previous correspondence: he could simply write her a letter.
After smoking another cigarette, Raphael went back to bed to rest.
...
The next day, just as Raphael was about to have a subordinate send the letter to Audrey, an unexpected guest arrived...