The Holy Chalice's surrounding light became increasingly bright.

"Are you threatening 'the Door of Arcane Arts, the Observer of the Astral Realm and Spirit Realm, the Holy Spirit in pursuit of knowledge, the Holy Chalice that gazes upon fate'?"

"It's the Holy Chalice I'm thrashing!" Shiayar declared.

Shiayar slapped the Knowledge Holy Chalice once again.

The cup rolled off the table onto the floor, still in a daze and unable to recover, when Shiayar stomped on it with his boot.

"Listen up, cup, I'm going to teach you a principle," he said.

"The powerful should thoroughly humiliate the weak."

BOOM!

The Knowledge Holy Chalice burst with light, leaping up, while the surrounding mystery churned along with it.

Even the previously white walls of the cup now turned a searing red.

The radiance from the crimson walls of the cup was so intense that it almost warranted a couple of "Warning, warning!" announcements.

"You're playing with fire!"

The enraged Chalice's emerging text also turned a vivid red, as if dripping with blood.

"I will request an oracle from the Spirit Realm to broadcast the most hidden, most taboo secrets in your heart to the entire Astral Realm!"

Shiayar's expression remained unchanged.

He had already confirmed one thing: the Knowledge Holy Chalice knew nothing about his system or matters concerning transmigrators; otherwise, it wouldn't be clueless about how it was unearthed.

Given that, he had nothing to fear.

How does that saying go again? To the shameless, none are invincible.

The most socially mortifying, most taboo secret in his heart... It was probably just him, occasionally playing the role of a disobedient disciple in his dreams.

If it were to be broadcast, so be it.

After all, his Golden Elf Instructor had only him as her sole, personally-taught disciple. Could she really kill him to silence him?

"By the identity of the Sage's Chalice, I shall..."

Mystery churned, and the Knowledge Holy Chalice's surroundings projected an illusory ocean of Spirituality, ready to exert its Authority, reaching through the endless, ethereal Spirit Realm to directly observe Shiayar's spiritual essence.

But then, it suddenly froze.

This world embraced the notion of mystery.

For certain matters, or knowledge and technology, the more people who were aware, the thinner the mystery became.

And mystery bows to a greater mystery.

Thus, there was the saying that the older something is, the more powerful it becomes. This was because, often, the older an item was, the less information available for analysis, and thus the higher its mystery.

Both the Sacred Spear and the Sacred Sword abided by this principle.

And the Knowledge Holy Chalice's Authority, too, relied on its own high degree of mystery to peer into the spiritual essence of those with lesser mystery in the Spirit Realm.

For most people, the mystery around them appeared to the Knowledge Holy Chalice like a few strands of thin mist.

But for a Throne such as Silvia, or Enola who had the protection of the Sacred Spear, their mystery was like thick clouds.

However, the mystery surrounding Shiayar's spiritual essence was completely opposite to everyone else the Knowledge Holy Chalice had ever encountered.

It was an ultimate blackness, with not a trace of any other entity's presence.

It was like a black hole that devoured light.

"I will..."

The blood-red, ferocious font paused for a moment, immediately retracted, and turned back into obedient white text.

Without Shiayar applying any force, it thudded to the floor under Shiayar's boot, the contact making a crisp sound.

"Then, there is only one answer."

"I will pledge my loyalty to you!"

The small cup humbly pushed itself under Shiayar's boot, even rubbing against the sole.

The Knowledge Holy Chalice's behavior, akin to a dog trying to ingratiate itself, sent a shiver of disgust through Shiayar.

But even he hadn't expected that this cup would be so utterly spineless.

He had prepared himself to spend a few days training this arrogant cup, but the thing had caved so quickly.

"Why do you swear loyalty to me? Just because you glimpsed my spiritual essence?"

"Not only that... I also detected some inexplicably familiar scents from your spiritual essence, which made me unconsciously develop a heart of submission."

The Knowledge Holy Chalice prostrated itself at Shiayar's boots, apparently with no intention of moving away.

It was only when Shiayar could no longer endure having something under his foot that he kicked it away.

"The knowledge I can gather is dependent on my own mystery. As for anything before my creation, I am also clueless, Boss."

Shiayar tapped his fingers on the desktop. This suddenly sycophantic cup sparked some thought in him. "Then can you tell if there's anything special about me?"

"I can't tell, but getting kicked by you feels very nice, Boss."

Shiayar's expression darkened. "Change the way you address me."

After being kicked by Shiayar, the Knowledge Holy Chalice rolled on the floor until it hit the wall and stopped. "Alright, Master."

Shiayar really couldn't stand this cup rolling about on the floor, getting covered in dust without a care. "Can you change into something else?"

"Certainly, Master."

The light around the cup dimmed slightly, and even its form began to fade into ethereality.

Eventually, its form dissipated completely, leaving only a hazy mystery.

"Master, this is the source of my mystery."

"However, I can't sustain this state in the physical world for long. I must go to the Astral Realm or the Spirit Realm. But then, I couldn't listen to your teachings in real-time, or feel your warmth, or touch the dust under your shoes..."

TAP, TAP.

Shiayar tapped the wooden desk with his slender fingers, cutting off the cup's verbose display. "What about a Beastmaster's Soul Pact Space? Can it accommodate a Sacred Relic like you?"

"Me... me?"

The Knowledge Holy Chalice trembled violently on the floor, a blue aura emerging as if it were about to cry.

"I, of such a lowly existence, could also have the chance to touch the Master's Soul?"

"If you don't have anything sensible to say, then say less. It's just a temporary arrangement. I certainly don't want my 6th Soul Pact to be with a motor-mouthed cup."

"It... it doesn't matter!" The Knowledge Holy Chalice trembled with excitement. "Even if I'm just a temporary substitute, a stand-in as worthless as a blade of grass, it is still a tremendous honor for me."

"Should you need me for anything, just command me..."

Before it could finish, Shiayar, exasperation clear on his face, picked it up.

He first completely sealed his 6th Soul Pact Space, turning it into a separate prison, completely isolated from his sea of consciousness and other Soul Pact Spaces. Then, he tossed the ethereal cup inside.

On one hand, he remained wary and vigilant of this babbling Knowledge Holy Chalice. On the other hand, Shiayar was concerned this mouthy thing might corrupt his innocent pets.

After doing all this, Shiayar then realized.

For a while now, a cold gaze had been fixed on him from behind.

"Student Shiayar, so you had a way to deal with this thing all along?"

The cool voice echoed in the silent room.

Enola, having observed Shiayar's interaction with the Knowledge Holy Chalice for some time, finally understood the whole process.

"Yet you still watched me and Tower Master Silvia being questioned?"

How could he have forgotten about that?

Shiayar helplessly rubbed his forehead.

He had indeed been curious, with the usual nosiness people have, wanting to see what little secrets his own wives were hiding. But, of course, that wasn't something he could openly admit.

He cleared his throat and began, "Ennie, listen to my explanation. I wasn't sure about this blasted cup..."

However, Enola interrupted him.

She lowered her voice, whispering softly, "Never mind. Explain when we go to bed."