Inside the Chamber, Ciel looked at the suspended python-like, scale-covered vines and the poor rat on the ground that had just been petrified and shattered.

In his mind, he immediately associated this with a dangerous plant mentioned in ancient herbology texts—Petrifying Devil's Vine.

A plant whose danger level isn't much inferior to Blood Soul Thorns. Strong territorial instincts, terrifying strength, speed, and magical defense. Particularly possessing extremely rare, tricky petrification magic. There are even records of petrifying heroes rumored to carry Titan blood, hailed as demigods. Legend says that in valleys infested with Petrifying Devil's Vines, even dragons flying overhead couldn't escape being petrified, falling, and becoming food.

However, he then carefully examined these vines, slightly shaking his head. This can't be the notoriously fierce Petrifying Devil's Vine from ancient times. That thing could probably devour even a thousand-year basilisk. How could it allow the basilisk to lie on it and sleep? Comparatively, these seem more like descendants possessing some Petrifying Devil's Vine characteristics.

His eyes flickered with contemplative light. Variant Devil's Snare, under the basilisk's emitted magic, actually acquired some Petrifying Devil's Vine traits? Is it because the basilisk's magic relates to petrification, inducing this mutation? Or does Devil's Snare itself have some connection to Petrifying Devil's Vine, with basilisk magic causing partial atavistic reversion?

Various speculations emerged in his mind. But immediately after, he shook his head, temporarily setting aside these unverifiable academic conjectures.

In any case, the variant Devil's Snare's second mutation is good news for me. The previous variant, Devil's Snare, though also a dangerous plant, hadn't completely eliminated its fire-fearing trait—just enhanced strength and speed, still quite manageable. But now after the second mutation, not only have strength, speed, and defense become stronger, but crucially, it possesses petrification magic.

Even in the original story's final battle, this Devil's Snare could change part of the battlefield situation. At least those inferior Death Eaters are definitely no match for it.

He showed a satisfied expression, deciding to rename this variant Devil's Snare. Since it mutated from Devil's Snare yet displays traits similar to Petrifying Devil's Vine, I'll call you Petrifying Devil's Snare. Wonder if someday you could truly revert to Petrifying Devil's Vine?

But moments later, he suppressed the expectation in his mind about Petrifying Devil's Snare continuing to revert. Being able to achieve second mutation displaying current traits is already quite lucky. Further reverting to Petrifying Devil's Vine—that difficulty is no less than making a gorilla evolve into a human!

Rather than expecting such ethereal matters, his attention turned to the reward orb above Petrifying Devil's Snare. The heavy reward orb blazed with platinum and diamond intertwined brilliance—another plant approaching diamond-level tier! Compared to the previous variant, Devil's Snare, this reward tier was considerably higher.

Simultaneously, its reward information underwent major changes:

[Your cultivated variant Devil's Snare, influenced by thousand-year-old basilisk's magic, produced unknown mutation and atavistic phenomena]

[Your cultivated variant Devil's Snare underwent second mutation, which you named Petrifying Devil's Snare.]

[Cultivating Petrifying Devil's Snare to maturity grants rewards:]

[Magic-Resistant Scales (between Platinum and Diamond)]

[Snake Perception (Platinum-level)]

[Petrification Magic (Gold-level)]

Lines of text appeared before his eyes, bringing a joyful expression to them.

Magic-Resistant Scales probably refer to the scale-type coverings on Petrifying Devil's Snare? These scales should relate to Petrifying Devil's Vine—not only possessing extremely strong physical defense but also high magic resistance. With this, plus my own legendary vitality, safety becomes more assured.

As for Snake Perception, though specific effects are unknown, judging from the name, it probably resulted from basilisk magic? Reasonable speculation suggests it's some extremely special sensory effect, like snakes extracting certain special pheromones, even locking onto distant prey based on this—perhaps Snake Perception is similar. But regardless, perception-related abilities are never too many. One more perception method means slightly less possibility of being ambushed.

Finally, Petrification Magic—this special magic is extremely tricky in the wizarding world. Being able to master it would suffice as a trump card.

Taking a deep breath, his face showed irrepressible anticipation. Then he reached out—the reward orbs suspended midair were immediately drawn toward him, merging into his body.

The next moment, on the system panel, [Magic-Resistant Scales] text suddenly became clear, its radiance dazzling. But what he first felt was wave after wave of prickling sensation. Something is drilling out from my flesh and skin.

His gaze fell upon himself, discovering diamond-shaped black scales were covering every corner of his skin. This process was like donning a suit of custom-tailored scale armor!

Within moments, he was completely enveloped by this scale armor, with even his face no exception. He walked to a puddle edge in the Chamber, clearly seeing his current appearance. Contrary to imagining he'd resemble a snake-person or lizard-person, it truly looked merely like wearing an extremely well-fitting suit of armor. If he unsheathed the Gronnir Blade at his waist, he'd look even more like a well-equipped knight.

His gaze then fell on the system panel: [Magic-Resistant Scales (Diamond-level)]! Another diamond-level ability! His eyes revealed fervent intensity.

Then he tested the Magic-Resistant Scales' defensive power. A light finger snap—even just a finger flick, supported by his legendary strength—produced sharp cutting winds capable of easily shattering human skulls. But landing on Magic-Resistant Scales, it produced crisp metal-clashing sounds. He didn't even feel any impact.

This made him nod with satisfaction. Physical defense is quite good, much stronger than armor. But most important is magic resistance. Since it's named Magic-Resistant Scales, it shouldn't disappoint me, right?

Then his wand waved, directly casting Sectumsempra at his own arm. Having reached platinum-level Sectumsempra, plus his near-platinum magic intensity without boosts, its power could long since slice flesh like tofu, possessing traits of bypassing almost all protective magic and most magic resistance. Even Eight-Eyed Giant Spiders or trolls would have their flesh's magic resistance cut through, creating huge wounds.

But now, Sectumsempra landing on his arm scales felt extremely sluggish, with great difficulty only cutting a shallow wound—not even bleeding. The next moment, his legendary life continuously surged, healing the scales again.

Seeing this scene, his eyes showed even more delight. Magic-Resistant Scales truly deserve some connection to Petrifying Devil's Vine. This magical defense, within the same tier, should rarely find rivals. Stacking with my legendary life, probably even standing still letting most wizards bombard wildly would struggle to cause substantial harm.

Of course, the Killing Curse, basilisk gaze, and such instant-death magic still require dodging. But already excellent enough.

One could say just relying on legendary life, legendary strength, plus these Magic-Resistant Scales and White Eagle Swordsmanship, he dared claim wizards capable of rivaling him in the wizarding world were extremely rare! Even facing the Religious Inquisition Knight Gess he'd battled in illusions—he paused, recalling the sharp massive blade the opponent wielded. Well, that edge is truly too unreasonable—it feels like Magic-Resistant Scales at most let me endure a few more strikes.

As for Dumbledore, peak Voldemort, Grindelwald, and even Nicolas Flamel—he repeatedly shook his head. The wizarding world's waters are too deep. These top-tier wizards, compared to ordinary wizards, are completely cliff-like differences. Still must develop steadily.

Then, with his thought, these scales instantly retracted into his flesh like organs mentally connected to him. Flesh gaps closed in the blink of an eye. Unless he could still sense scales lurking beneath flesh, otherwise no trace was visible.

Moreover, even in this state, Magic-Resistant Scales still retained half of their defensive effectiveness.

In normal times this state doesn't affect daily life yet suffices to handle most attack magic. When truly facing powerful enemy fierce battles, then release complete Magic-Resistant Scales. Practical ability.

He grew increasingly satisfied. But the reward orbs' power obtained from Petrifying Devil's Snare hadn't dissipated, still emanating within him.

[Snake Perception] ability text had already appeared on the system panel, dazzling platinum radiance intertwined with clear diamond light. Though not fully advanced to diamond-level, it wasn't far off, strength far exceeding ordinary platinum-level abilities. Simultaneously, special magic flowed through his body.

[Petrification Magic] text also covered in platinum radiance. Though his diamond-level magic abilities had gradually increased, platinum-level still brought considerable benefits. Adding two platinum-level abilities already made him quite joyful.

But the next moment, something he never expected occurred. [Night Vision], an ability previously cultivated to platinum-level from Glowshroom growth, also lit up after the [Snake Perception] and [Petrification Magic] text appeared.

Before he could react, these three abilities' radiance almost simultaneously intertwined, accompanied by icy cold airflow assaulting his eyes. A darkness like complete blindness covered his field of vision—even Night Vision seemed unable to penetrate this darkness.

He instinctively touched, discovering his eyes transmitted a stone-like texture—petrified? No wonder vision is pitch black. Even pupils turned to stone, naturally unable to receive light. His heart sank slightly. Though he could rely on powerful mental senses to capture surrounding environmental information, truly losing eyes would still be very troublesome.

But at this time, those waves of icy airflow didn't stop surging within the eyes—instead, like drill bits, they drilled into every nerve around the eye sockets. When pain made his veins bulge, a cracking sound emerged. The petrified eyes, under icy airflow pressure, cracked open fissures. A pair of new eyes opened within his eye sockets!

At this moment, on the system panel, the original [Snake Perception], [Petrification Magic], and [Night Vision] three platinum-tier abilities completely vanished. Replacing them was a new ability blazing with clear diamond radiance—[Petrifying Eyes (Diamond-level)]!

He took a deep breath, never imagining such mutation would occur. These three abilities apparently had some reaction? But regardless, gaining one more diamond-level magic ability is naturally a huge profit. After all, from platinum-level to diamond-level is definitely a leap!

Simultaneously, he clearly felt changes in his vision. Before, his platinum-level Night Vision allowed him to see some magic particle light points in darkness. When magic perception hadn't reached platinum-level, this assistance helped considerably. But now he could clearly sense magic particles' movements himself; Night Vision assistance became redundant.

Yet now with Petrifying Eyes, the clarity of magic particles was on an entirely different level. Even what his current magic perception could sense paled in comparison to what Petrifying Eyes could see.

He could even vaguely see smaller particles breaking away from magic particles. Is that a more microscopic magical world? This probably requires at least diamond-level magic perception to see. Yet Petrifying Eyes let me see such magical phenomena ahead of time.

Not only that—when his gaze shifted, he discovered that, besides vision, Petrifying Eyes seemed to bring another sense not belonging to humans. Wondrous information intercepted by Petrifying Eyes constructed in his mind a world composed of pheromones and similar substances.

He could "see" the information the basilisk left on the ground—whether it had been excited or angry. He could also sense nearby on the ground, that petrified rat's terrified signals it had emitted before death. These pieces of information, whether transmitted by scent or hormone secretion, humans fundamentally couldn't receive. But now, relying on Petrifying Eyes, he could clearly distinguish them.

This should be the previous Snake Perception's effect, now concentrated into Petrifying Eyes, possibly even elevated to diamond-level.

He deeply inhaled, his heartbeat accelerating. And Petrification Magic? Originally platinum-level—now with Petrifying Eyes, also diamond-level tier?

The next moment, he concentrated his attention, his gaze locking onto a target. Then cold airflow churned within his eyeballs, following his intangible vision and surging out, landing on a stone pillar he gazed at. Instantly, that thick stone pillar was petrified even further, becoming paler and more lifeless—like it had been weathered for hundreds of thousands of years!

Sensing Petrification Magic's eerie power, his lips curved into an arc. This ability suffices as another trump card. In battle, enemies will only guard against my wand, at most additionally defending against Grønnir's Blade. But who would defend against intangible vision? Unless combat instincts or magic perception surpass ordinary people, the first sight of these eyes would petrify opponents!

At this time, he finally completely digested this harvest from collecting Petrifying Devil's Snare. Two incredibly practical diamond-level abilities—an excellent harvest.

Then his gaze fell on the still vastly spacious Chamber, passion flaring in his eyes. If I could plant this entire Chamber with Petrifying Devil's Snare, that would absolutely be a terrifyingly powerful force even in the final decisive battle. Moreover, during this period of harvesting their rewards—what tier would my Magic-Resistant Scales and Petrifying Eyes advance to?!

But planting so many Petrifying Devil's Snares wasn't easy. The second mutation could rely on basilisk magic to induce, but the first mutation required using Sectumsempra to patiently process each magic node himself. The Chamber also needed reorganizing—especially these hard rocks nourished by basilisk feces that required loosening to create soft, loose earth.

He estimated just these workloads would probably occupy most of his remaining summer vacation time. Adding Margaret and Goldfish Chlorophytum variety improvements and expanded planting, summer vacation wouldn't allow any leisure. Some work would even keep him busy until the second year's Christmas.

But for him, being a bit busy and a bit tired meant nothing. At least being busy and tired truly yielded harvests—unlike some professors in his previous life making ethereal empty promises!

However, before starting work, some matters required solving. Planting so many Petrifying Devil's Snares needed massive potions. Even if the ministry were willing to bear costs, they'd probably come see what was happening. He didn't want the Ministry knowing about the Chamber. As for Aunt Sprout—if she learned he was planting trees in a chamber with a thousand-year basilisk, that'd be terrible!

So these potions he must bear the costs of himself. Also Chamber soil—though basilisk feces were excellent fertilizer, adding certain specific potions could enhance effects further. Given the Chamber's area, this was also a huge expenditure. Not to mention large amounts of Horned Tree Toad mucus needed for Margaret and Goldfish Chlorophytum improvement plans.

Money, money—I need money! And this required those Alihotsy from Sprout Island. Fortunately, considerable days had passed since constructing the Alihotsy purification workshop. Except for the first batch being experimental with small quantities, subsequent batches invested numerous Alihotsy for purification.

After so long, this batch of harvested Alihotsy should all be fully purified.

He opened the Portkey to Sprout Island. The next moment, amidst spinning dizziness, he appeared on Sprout Island. Meeting his eyes were giant trolls blackened by Alihotsy smoke. Even Troll Priest Siris was no exception—constantly controlling flames, his entire body hung with thick layers of black carbon, eyes bloodshot.

Seeing him return, Siris hurriedly washed hands, carefully presenting a large bundle of cleaned, rolled Alihotsy before him, eyes showing a nervous, expectant expression, "My King, is our purified Alihotsy qualified? See, we didn't dirty it at all—we were very careful."

No wonder Siris was so cautious—purified Alihotsy prices were astronomical figures unimaginable to the Forbidden Forest troll settlement. One purified Alihotsy cigarette converted to Galleons sufficed for poachers to sneak into the Forbidden Forest, capturing juvenile trolls to sell to circuses. Previously, such a bundle of purified Alihotsy, excluding Troll Priest Siris, this special existence, was worth ten times more than the entire Forbidden Forest troll settlement's lives! This carried all their hopes for trolls' future.

He looked at Siris and the trolls' hopeful expressions, also deeply inhaling, his movements lifting this bundle of Alihotsy becoming increasingly gentle and careful, "Rest assured. You did very well with this batch of Alihotsy—I've already found sales channels. Money will return soon. Though Puffapod fruit can fill stomachs, its taste isn't good—after funds return, there'll be bread to eat and milk to drink daily. I'll also find someone to tailor new clothes for you. Afterward, we'll develop several new islands—much more spacious."

Hearing his words, though the trolls' faces were simple and clumsy, all showed waves of anticipation: "Bread..." "Milk..." "New clothes..." "Groonk! Groonk!"

Moments later, he brought this Alihotsy back to Hogwarts, delivering it to Snape's hands. Though mentally prepared, seeing such quantities of Alihotsy, even with Snape's usual coldness, his gaze showed slight fluctuation. But he didn't say much, nodding and accepting this batch of Alihotsy.

"For sales, I'm cooperating with the Malfoy family. They'll subsequently establish Alihotsy sales shops throughout the wizarding world—construction costs and promotional expenses they'll bear, and connections and such also they'll smooth over. But they'll take forty percent of income. I, as middleman, take half a percent. What remains for you is only five and a half percent."

He nodded, having no objections. Snape wouldn't cheat him—he still had this trust. The Malfoy family was professional in business—professional matters are best left to professionals. Five and a half percent of income was already a huge sum, moreover continuous income, enough to support his coming planting endeavors. Crucially, he needn't worry about those troublesome matters. Calculating this way is already quite good.

After he indicated agreement with this profit distribution, Snape's expression remained extremely grave. He rarely didn't use his customary sarcastic, mocking tone to avoid causing his misjudgment, instead saying solemnly, "You'd better tightly guard this secret, especially during coming times. Even in the Sprout family, on your own bed, when sleep-talking, don't mention anything related to you and purified Alihotsy. Afterward regarding this matter, we also shouldn't speak face-to-face, much less use owls and such. Know the Patronus Charm? I'll notify you that way."

Snape's performance truly surprised him greatly. This level of caution seems somewhat excessive? Does anyone dare scheme against Snape and the Malfoy family? Snape seemed to know what he was thinking, coldly smirking while warning, "The wizarding world's waters are much deeper than you imagine. Previously, Ministry Ministers disappeared over Alihotsy profit distribution disputes. Never underestimate those forces monopolizing Alihotsy purification processes—the interests and connections behind them are unimaginable. If they catch even the slightest wind, they'll definitely spare no effort tracing the true source of this purified Alihotsy."

His heart chilled, increasingly understanding how much risk Snape bore. Before he could say anything, Snape directly shut the office door. Glowing green text appeared on the door: "Remember what I told you. Now, immediately leave!"

He deeply inhaled, then turned to leave. Simultaneously, his mind pondered coming arrangements. Chamber soil and Petrifying Devil's Snare cultivation both must wait until Alihotsy revenues arrive to proceed. Margaret and Goldfish Chlorophytum variety improvement also likewise—they need that money to buy Horned Tree Toad mucus.

While he hadn't yet sorted complicated affairs clearly, he'd unknowingly arrived at the small greenhouse where he frequently stayed. The next moment, the scene appearing before him made him delighted.

The entire small greenhouse's ground was currently completely shrouded by dense shadows. Rich shadow magic filled the air. When he entered the small greenhouse's range, from within shadows, thorn-covered, python-like branches rapidly coiled toward his ankles. The next moment, these branches intimately wrapped around his ankles, gently rubbing as if trying to please him.

Simultaneously, a young, joyful voice sounded in his ear, "Father!"