Li Ming had once used his third wish to grant the Genie his freedom, and later wished for the Genie to record magical knowledge in a Spellbook.
Now, Li Ming was making another wish, which meant the Genie was about to regain his freedom once more.
The Genie's gratitude toward Li Ming was immeasurable.
To ensure Li Ming obtained the most satisfactory magical artifact, the Genie, panting heavily as the metallic leg neared its final form, asked, "Austin, do you simply want to change the shape of the metal?"
Seeing Li Ming nod firmly, the Genie shook his head slightly and smiled. "Are you sure you want a magical artifact, not a weapon?"
Li Ming was puzzled. He was a mage—one whose close combat skills were abysmal. What else would he want if not a magical artifact? Did they expect him to fight enemies wielding two kitchen knives?
"What do you mean?"
The Genie pointed at the metal, now shaped like a scythe, and said, "As you can see, it took both me and Jafar working together to alter its form. As a sturdy weapon, it's perfectly adequate. But as a magical artifact, doesn't it seem like it's missing something?"
Li Ming narrowed his eyes in thought. "Are you worried that once the artifact's form is complete, I won't be able to inscribe a magic circle on it?"
Jafar watched as the Genie nodded at Li Ming, feeling an overwhelming sense of impending misfortune wash over him.
As a Genie who had once been a mage, Jafar had practically drooled when he learned Li Ming possessed a miraculous magical metal. If he weren't bound by his current form, he would have stolen it without hesitation.
Later, when he realized Li Ming had merely wished for the Genie to change the metal's shape, Jafar couldn't help but look at him with disdain. He was now the most powerful Genie, and even he needed another Genie's help just to reshape a lump of metal. How could Li Ming possibly inscribe a magic circle on the artifact afterward?
Given the animosity between them, Jafar couldn't be bothered to warn Li Ming. Why not just sit back and watch him fail?
In fact, while assisting the Genie in reshaping the metal, Jafar secretly prayed for it to shatter into pieces. After all, Li Ming's wish was made to the Genie—if something went wrong, it wasn't his problem.
Besides, the metallic leg breaking into fragments still counted as a change in shape, didn't it? That would technically fulfill Li Ming's wish—even if the result wasn't quite what he had in mind.But he never expected that another Genie would actually warn Li Ming.
This made Jafar extremely displeased. His eyes blazing with anger, he glared at the Genie: "We're both Genies, both trapped in these cramped Genie Lamps. What gives you the right to play the good guy? Mind your own damn business!"
The change in Jafar's expression naturally didn't escape Li Ming's magic eye. However, Li Ming indicated he had no time to deal with him now. After silently reminding himself to be cautious when making wishes to Jafar, he pushed thoughts of the troublesome Genie aside.
Li Ming scratched his brow as he asked the Genie: "What are your thoughts?"
"Genies aren't omniscient, but we can learn—and our learning ability is formidable," the Genie replied with a smile. "Since you want a magical artifact, why not have me inscribe the magic circle directly on it while altering the metal's shape?"
The Genie spread his hands. "A magical artifact without a magic circle can't function as a proper staff."
Previously, Li Ming had considered inscribing a magic circle. But after learning how difficult it was to even alter the Destroyer's thigh's shape, he'd instinctively thought of the positive sculpture technique used in seals.
Positive sculpture involves carving away the background to make characters stand out, creating raised lines on a flat surface.
Another benefit of positive sculpture is its anti-slip properties—after all, an overly smooth grip isn't ideal for weapons.
The only drawback was that Li Ming would need large amounts of additional magical materials to coat the scythe's surface.
Now that the Genie had volunteered to help, Li Ming pondered for a moment before asking: "Inscribing magic circles on artifacts is delicate work. One mistake could ruin the metal. Are you sure you can do it?"
The Genie patted his chest confidently, adopting a slightly proud tone: "Don't worry, my learning ability is exceptional. I won't disappoint you."
Li Ming glanced at the artifact, then took out his Spellbook from his satchel and handed it to the Genie. "Then I'll trouble you with this."
After speaking, Li Ming stepped back several paces, intending to brainstorm ideas for creating an impressive flying vehicle. But then he saw the Genie grow three heads with six eyes, all rapidly scanning the flipping pages.
Li Ming's mouth twitched. "Your page-turning speed reminds me of a certain Devil—his face-changing speed matches your book-flipping." Hesitating slightly, he awkwardly asked: "Are you sure you can learn both the magic circles and Rune script this way?"
The Genie, fully absorbed in studying the Spellbook's knowledge, didn't look up but simply grew an extra hand to flash Li Ming an "OK" sign—his whole demeanor screaming "studying in progress, do not disturb."
Half a day later, the Genie closed the Spellbook and split into hundreds of palm-sized Genie duplicates.
All the miniature Genies stroked their tiny beards while circling the nearly-completed scythe.
Soon, one of them asked: "Austin, had you considered which magic circle to inscribe before?""Of course," Li Ming nodded, casually pointing at the sand and controlling the grains to gather into the shape of a scythe resembling the Shadow Scythe from League of Legends—though only roughly, as Li Ming admitted the metal he had probably wouldn't be enough to perfectly replicate it.
As the sand scythe took form, the Genie reverted to his original appearance, stroking his tiny beard while carefully examining the positive sculptures on the scythe. "Aside from the magic circle, there are also talismanic symbols and 'Rune' script?" The Genie turned his head to glance at Li Ming. "Are you planning to turn this magical artifact into a hodgepodge?"
Li Ming shrugged and smirked. "This is just the beginning. Maybe as I grow stronger, I'll add even more new elements to it."
"You're something else," the Genie said, giving Li Ming a thumbs-up with a playful grin. "I've lived for a thousand years, and this is the first time I've seen metal this tough. When it comes time to engrave the magic circle, you'd better tell me what tool you're using."
Tell you? By then, I'll probably have already left this world—notifying you might be harder than engraving the magic circle itself.
Still, Li Ming knew better than to say such things out loud, especially in front of two Genies.
The Genie might look friendly now, but considering how Jafar became a Genie, and imagining what the Genie must have been like before being sealed inside the Genie Lamp...
He probably wasn't a good guy either.
While one shouldn't harbor ill intentions, it's always wise to stay guarded.
Li Ming smiled and nodded at the Genie, maintaining the sand scythe while motioning for him to continue his inspection.
It wasn't until Jafar, standing nearby, grew visibly impatient that the Genie finally returned to the metal scythe and said to Jafar, "Cooperate fully with me."
Worried that Jafar might cause trouble, the Genie added, "Whether Austin's wish has been fulfilled will be judged by me, so you'd better behave."
Jafar gritted his teeth, shooting Li Ming a resentful glare before silently nodding and floating beside the Genie.
As mentioned earlier, engraving a magic circle was delicate work. The Genie not only split off two finger-sized clones to inspect the scythe but also grew five heads on his main body, keeping ten pairs of eyes fixed on every change in the scythe.
Li Ming had to admit he was impressed. With so many eyes watching from every angle—near and far—and the Genie's innate abilities, if the scythe still ended up ruined, all he could do was lament his own terrible luck.
As time passed, no matter how special the metal was, it couldn't withstand the Genie's power forever.
Finally, after a full day, a gleaming silver scythe appeared before Li Ming.
Once the Genie transferred the cat's eye onto the blade, Li Ming couldn't resist stepping forward and gripping the scythe's handle, running his hands over it as if caressing a lover's face.
Soon after, Li Ming activated his magic eye to examine the cat's eye embedded in the blade while channeling his magical energy into the scythe's hilt.The cat's eye within the blade instantly ignited with Hellfire, transforming in the blink of an eye into a skeletal cat—its fur and skin gone, leaving only burning bones. At the same time, Hellfire flared up along the scythe's blade.
The exhausted Genie, who had been panting heavily, instinctively took a few steps back as the Hellfire ignited and smiled. "How's my handiwork?"
"Absolutely perfect, couldn't be happier," Li Ming gave the Genie a thumbs-up while extinguishing the Hellfire. "Congratulations, from now on, you're free."
As soon as Li Ming finished speaking, the bracelet on the Genie's wrist suddenly fell off onto the sandy ground, turning into golden dust before vanishing.
Afterward, the once towering Genie shrank to normal human size, and its skin was no longer a shimmering blue.
Although the Genie had long known that granting Li Ming's wish would bring him freedom, when the moment of liberation finally arrived, he still seemed somewhat incredulous. He kept touching his wrists and then his cheeks, as if to confirm it was real.
"Austin," the Genie grinned broadly, revealing his back teeth, and said cheerfully, "Say something to me."
"Say something?" Li Ming scratched his brow and patted the scythe in his hand. "How about ten more of these magical artifacts?"
"Get lost," the Genie rolled his eyes. "Changing its shape already wore me out. You think I'm going to mass-produce scythes for you?"
Li Ming casually placed the scythe into his shoulder bag, then stepped forward and hugged the Genie, patting his back as he joked, "I wouldn't mind. These things are expensive—selling a few might let me buy a whole planet."
"Thank you," the Genie hugged Li Ming tightly, his eyes moist. "Thank you."
As the embrace ended, Li Ming signaled Klee Che to prepare fine wine and delicacies to celebrate the Genie's freedom, while asking, "What are your plans now?"
"I've thought about it before," the newly freed Genie, still unable to contain his excitement, wiped away tears of joy and gestured with his hands. "As a Genie, the space I could occupy was only this big, and all I ever saw was brass." He took a deep breath of the free air and laughed heartily. "Now, I want to travel the world."
"In that case," Li Ming beckoned to the magic carpet, signaling it to float beside the Genie, "before we part, let me give you one more means of transportation."
The Genie glanced at the magic carpet and hugged Li Ming again. "Thank you, my friend."