A New Look Every Day for the Poet of Great Love

The card-crafting workshop inside Lanqi's dormitory was alive with the vibrant hum of magical fluctuations. The worktables and wall-side counters were crowded with magical instruments of all shapes and sizes—tools and protective barrier link devices Lanqi had acquired over the past few days. Lanqi sat before the specially carved wooden workbench in the center of the workshop. Arranged in the compartments of a three-tiered rolling cart beside the desk were crafting materials such as demon blood, fire dragon scales, and moonlight bramble berries. From a small mahogany box, he withdrew a stack of blank magic cards with exceptionally smooth surfaces yet tough textures, ready to carry magical structures. Of course, they could also serve as explosive raw materials for Lan Heavy Industries. Lanqi raised his left hand, and the very next second, a bottle of deep crimson magical ink was placed into his palm. When it came to blending ink and similar preparatory tasks, the Poet of Great Love had already handled them with uncanny, telepathic precision. Even without him uttering a word, what he received was blended in the ideal ratio he had envisioned. With practiced ease, Lanqi outlined the basic design of the card's base art: majestic dragon horns and a dragon tail, raging flames, and distinct demonic traits. Every detail—from the texture of the scales to the flow of the fire—was rendered with meticulous care. After finishing the foundational artwork, he consulted the base design blueprints he had worked out with the Poet of Great Love. From the inner core outward, he began inscribing the magical script excerpted, translated, and modified from [Polymorph: Demon] across the card's central area, ensuring that the card's polymorph effect would function according to the refined principles. Step by step, the process moved forward. The Poet of Great Love needed no verbal instruction; standing at his side, she retrieved small magical phials according to her own judgment, coordinating with Lanqi to add material infusions and fill in the finer details of the spell formation. The clock in the living room ticked steadily away. At the workshop doorway, Boss Cat swallowed nervously. This was the first time it had ever seen Lanqi craft cards so peacefully and smoothly; usually, by this stage, things would have exploded multiple times already. This time, it seemed it wouldn't end up developed into heavy artillery after all. Lanqi was actually going to produce an honest-to-goodness magic card. *This kid actually knows how to craft cards!* Boss Cat was thoroughly shocked. Finally, the target runes were successfully inscribed across the semi-finished magic card in Lanqi's hand, bringing him to the reinforcement and sealing phase. Lanqi dipped a brush into pigment blended from rose petals and dragon blood, lightly coating the card's surface to complete the final harmony and containment. He then reconnected the rune spell circuits to envelop the card in a magical barrier, ensuring its mana would neither leak nor cease its cyclical flow. After a long stretch of selfless effort... The spell card finally set into a relatively stable state, without the slightest sign of an impending explosion. The illustration upon the card looked so lifelike it seemed ready to leap off the surface at any moment! "Phew. I didn't expect to succeed on the very first try this time." The intense focus in Lanqi's eyes instantly relaxed. Leaning back against his chair, he turned his head toward the Poet of Great Love. Just completing this single finished card had left him feeling somewhat worn out. "Naturally, you had to rely on me." The Poet of Great Love patted Lanqi's shoulder with satisfaction, having been exceptionally earnest during the process herself. As if blessed with inexhaustible energy, she immediately picked up the magic card radiating a purple glow from the table— [Poet of Great Love Polymorph: Dragon Demon] [Type: Spell Card] [Rarity: Purple Rare] [Tier: 4] [Effect: Usable only by the Poet of Great Love. Upon use, transforms her race into Dragon Demon and alters her attire without changing her facial features. After polymorphing, drastically increases her intimidating aura. Cooldown: 24 hours.] [Note: Everything that causes you harm—no need for such things. Everything that hinders you—no need for that, either.] The next instant, bursts of translucent crimson light erupted from the magic dragon totem on the card. As though the shadow of a colossal dragon had swept across the sky accompanied by a roar, a vast, scorching firestorm engulfed the Poet of Great Love's figure. Lanqi was startled by the flames, jolting wide awake. Fortunately, the fire tornados bursting from the Poet of Great Love carried no real heat or damage. Once the dragon breath dispersed, Lanqi's gaze fell upon her once more, instantly captivated by the fiery red-haired figure. A few crimson dragon scales now dotted the Poet of Great Love's neck. Her golden beastly pupils were deep and haughty, while the metallic dragon horns atop her head bore lava-like deep red veins. Her attire was no longer the deep red dress from before. Instead, it had transformed into a graceful suit of dress-armor dominated by deep black, complementing her long red hair perfectly. The armor was sparsely accented with layered dark red patterns. At the center of the breastplate sat a circular motif glowing with blood-red luminescence, like the heart of a demonic dragon, pulsing with ceaseless heat. The skirt armor of her lower body was crafted from black fabric and leather joined with metal, and a thorn-chain belt swayed alluringly with her movements, appearing both light and resilient. Whenever she shifted in the light, the stamped rose insignia on the skirt armor gave off a faint crimson sheen. A domineering, oppressive aura radiated from her. Even though one could clearly sense that she was only Tier 1, it made one uncertain just how terrifyingly powerful she would be if she actually struck. "Lanqi... having laid eyes upon Great Love, why do you not bow?" Imitating Lanqi, the Poet of Great Love looked down at him from above as he sat in his chair. "...If I didn't know your stats hadn't changed, I'd really think you were some peerless master," Lanqi remarked, looking the entirely transformed Poet of Great Love up and down. With this new skin, unless someone was intimately familiar with Talia's appearance, they would never realize she was the Poet of Great Love. Over in a corner of the workshop doorway, Boss Cat had initially assumed that the card Lanqi crafted was unstable and had blown up the moment it was used, scaring it into hiding. But once the workshop quieted down and it poked its head out to look, it discovered that the Poet of Great Love had taken on an entirely new appearance! "You two... you sure know how to play wild, meow?!" Boss Cat was stunned. So these two had holed up here studying magic card crafting just to make costume-change cards! And that wasn't even the point. The point was, if Lanqi and the Poet of Great Love could craft top-tier magic cards of this sort— owning the Poet of Great Love was equivalent to owning an entire harem! Looking at it from this angle alone, Tata didn't seem quite as appealing as the Poet of Great Love. No, the Poet of Great Love's temperament was also friendlier toward Lanqi, and their relationship was inherently one where they shared glory and shared ruin. The more Boss Cat thought about it, the more it felt that the Poet of Great Love was the perfect woman! "What on earth are you thinking about, Boss Cat?" Lanqi crossed his arms helplessly, eyeing the cat. It seemed this feline was concocting all sorts of bizarre notions in its head. "Y-You... your heart isn't stirred by her in the least, meow?" Boss Cat darted into the workshop and leaped onto Lanqi, inspecting his expression from inches away. It pressed a cat ear against his chest to listen to his heartbeat, asking in utter bewilderment. This kid's calm composure wasn't an act. "Nope," Lanqi replied placidly. Boss Cat found it thoroughly baffling. If even the Poet of Great Love couldn't stir his heart, then was this youth... perhaps the unromanceable type of male? No! The little romantic drama it watched over didn't need a male lead whose heart was like clear crystal, serenely watching the sun and moon pass by! "All right, let's start crafting the human card. I'm already feeling a bit sleepy," Lanqi said, scooping Boss Cat up and setting it gently on the floor. Hearing that, the little black cat trotted back out of the workshop and sat on the floor by the doorway. And so, Lanqi and the Poet of Great Love continued crafting the second magic card. The Poet of Great Love seemed to quite like her new red-haired magic dragon skin, choosing to remain in this form as she worked. ... Inside the workshop, time seemed stolen away by their concentration, concealed within every drop of ink and every brushstroke. Lanqi and the Poet of Great Love were entirely immersed in the craft, their movements precise and seamlessly synchronized. In the corner of the workshop, the hands of an antique bronze clock moved noiselessly. Before they knew it, two o'clock in the afternoon had arrived. Amid their deep focus, the daylight filtering through the crack of the door gradually softened. Trees outside the balcony swayed gently in the breeze, and the golden dapples of light reflected from their leaves speckled the workshop floor like golden dust scattered by an angel. After several mid-process explosions, Lanqi and the Poet of Great Love finally succeeded that afternoon in producing the other transformation card. The one neither of them was particularly skilled at making— [Poet of Great Love Polymorph: Human] [Type: Spell Card] [Rarity: Purple Rare] [Tier: 4] [Effect: Usable only by the Poet of Great Love. Upon use, transforms her race into Human and alters her attire without changing her facial features. After polymorphing, drastically increases her approachable aura. Cooldown: 24 hours.] [Note: In a world devoid of pain, silence the endless noise. Within a gentle cage, let me bring you contentment.]