It was this person, long dead, who completely changed the Totsukami family's entire life and future.
"All of his belongings from that time are here, including his clothes, jewelry… We've kept everything."
Totsuka Matsuo gestured to the side, where a transparent glass cabinet held a neatly arranged pile of items.
"May I take a look?"
"Please do."
Fang Wuwei opened the glass cabinet, picked up a piece of clothing from inside, and held it up to examine it, unfolding it above his head.
It was a mage's robe, a very standard mage's robe, with a golden silk magic circle embroidered on its back.
It was very similar to the mage's ceremonial robe Ikenouchi Maki is wearing at present, but not exactly the same.
"...If you only obtained those crystals, how did you cast spells?"
"That's also quite a convoluted story…"
Fang Wuwei put the clothes back and continued to listen to Totsuka Matsuo tell his story.
Ever since they dug up this corpse, its uncorrupted body and the strange crystals greatly piqued Totsuka Matsuo's interest. Despite his wife's objections, he brought the corpse back.
Using most medical instruments, and even performing an autopsy, they conducted a comprehensive examination of the corpse and then came to an astonishing conclusion.
This person was indeed dead; all his organs had failed and could not function, yet the body was incredibly fresh… so fresh it looked as if he had only died less than a minute ago.
However, this corpse had been buried in the ground for over a year.
This was a miracle, but not the miracle Totsuka Matsuo wanted.
After sending the corpse to the excited medical experts, Totsuka Matsuo returned home with an emblem and a bracelet of unknown material found on the corpse.
This bracelet changed his fate.
Totsuka was very fond of this bracelet, cherishing it and even placing it with the amethyst crystals.
Her idea was quite simple—beautiful things look best when placed with other beautiful things.
However, the magic from the amethyst combined with the bracelet, seemingly causing an unknown reaction that released everything hidden deep within the bracelet.
Various books written in Japanese, along with several notebooks.
After Totsuka Matsuo, who had been terrified, recovered for a moment, he began to study those books. He didn't know until he looked, and when he did, he was shocked.
Magic books, very, very profound magic books, strange and mysterious magic books.
Who could refuse such a temptation?
Totsuka Matsuo, at least, could not refuse. An opportunity to come into contact with the legendary, mysterious magic was right before him; how could he just let it go?
From that time on, Totsuka Matsuo began to study magic, but unfortunately, those books were too profound and did not explain the principles or mechanisms of how magic worked. They were probably not books for beginners.
However, Totsuka Matsuo did not give up. On the contrary, he became even more determined with each setback, pouring all his energy into it, even abandoning his business.
This caused even his wife, who had initially supported him, to object… After studying for so long, he hadn't made any progress. What if it didn't even exist?
But Totsuka Matsuo didn't care. He locked himself in his study day after day, relying on those books and notes, researching magic day and night, and even retrieved the man's corpse from the medical experts.
According to the medical experts' descriptions, they had performed several dissections and studies on this corpse during that period but had found nothing… Yet, when it came into Totsuka Matsuo's hands, he found that there were no signs of dissection on this person at all? His skin was smooth and intact, without even a needle mark, looking as if he had never been injured.
So Totsuka Matsuo became even more fanatical. Career, work, life… he wanted nothing else.
His only wish was… magic.
With Totsuka Matsuo's crazy and abnormal behavior, and his disregard for his business, the Totsuka Family family's enterprise gradually declined, and in less than a year, it completely fell to its enemies.
But Totsuka Matsuo didn't care. Even at the very end, to study magic undisturbed, he sold all his properties, converting them into funds and freedom to continue his research.
That year was late 1990.
"Late 1990…"
Fang Wuwei stroked his chin; this number was quite familiar. Totsuka Matsuo sighed, his face full of relief.
"Yes… late 1990. To study those spells, I sold all my economic ventures, converting them into sufficient funds and valuable gold… This saved my life."
1990 was the end of the Japanese economic bubble period. In early 1991, Japan's economy completely collapsed… especially real estate, which plummeted.
Totsuka Matsuo's absurd act of abandoning all his industries to continue studying magic, by selling all his properties at the peak of housing prices, became the key move that kept the Totsuka Family family wealthy to this day.
This action allowed him to obtain a large amount of capital, and because he purchased a large amount of valuable gold, it prevented him from becoming impoverished during the initial period of the economic bubble's burst… He even made a comeback.
Magic saved the Totsuka Family family's life, which made Totsuka Matsuo even more fanatical, and even Totsuka Family was starting to waver.
Two years later, Totsuka Matsuo successfully made a breakthrough: he successfully cast magic.
He delved deeper into the numerous hidden knowledge points in the books, meticulously refining each one. He managed to engrave the Magic Circuit in his body using his own method, utilizing the violent magic from the amethyst, and successfully constructed and cast spells using the magic from the amethyst.
The magic within the amethyst changed his body and nourished his flesh, which is why he appears so young.
He also carved Magic Circuits for his wife, but it was clear that Totsuka was not interested in magic, only excited about eternal youth.
However, after witnessing the feasibility of magic, she began to unconditionally support Totsuka Matsuo's research into magic, while she led many of Totsuka Matsuo's former confidants to use those funds to develop their business.
Totsuka Matsuo also understood that the grim reality no longer allowed him to fully immerse himself in magic research, so he returned to the business world.
The long-dormant Totsukami family reappeared, almost like a dimensionality reduction strike, taking control of most economic essentials.
The Totsuka Family family made a comeback, becoming even stronger.
"These are the books that helped me successfully master the knowledge."
Totsuka Matsuo pointed to a nearby bookshelf, which was filled with many books. Their leather covers and yellowed parchment indicated at a glance that they were extraordinary.
Fang Wuwei quickly flipped through them and was pleasantly surprised to find that they contained more powerful spells and advanced magical knowledge, which were not present in the Ikenouchi Family's magic books.
He immediately used the system's knowledge recorder to record all these books, making a copy to take with him.
Totsuka Matsuo was initially worried about what Fang Wuwei might do to his precious books, but when he saw the books mysteriously splitting and duplicating in his hands, he wisely kept quiet.
Can't afford to provoke him, can't afford to provoke him…
Having finished all that, he turned back to Totsuka Matsuo. He still had some other questions he wanted to ask.
"All these years, have you been researching magic all by yourself?"
"Yes… I didn't feel comfortable bringing others along."
Fang Wuwei walked towards the corpse, placed his hand on it, and carefully sensed the residual magic… There wasn't much left. At this rate of dissipation, the magic would probably vanish in another half a year.
What would happen then… Fang Wuwei didn't know, so to be safe, he decided to resolve this unknown variable while he was already here.
So, he began to operate, gradually decomposing and erasing the magic on the corpse.
"Guest…"
Totsuka Matsuo wanted to go up and dissuade him, hoping he wouldn't do anything to this corpse—this was his guide to magic, after all. Although he was dead, his respect for magic prevented him from desecrating the corpse.
But the next second, he closed his mouth.
After Fang Wuwei deciphered and erased the residual magic on the corpse, the magic-deprived corpse began to rapidly decay, emitting a foul odor. Its flesh quickly turned purple and black, then festered, rotted, and even disappeared, revealing the stark white bones.
The intense stench and the corpse, which instantly became extremely disgusting, made Fang Wuwei and the Totsuka couple simultaneously gag, retreating repeatedly, their faces pale, and quickly moving away from the corpse.
"...Totsuka Family family head, this corpse… how about we dispose of it?"
"I agree."
Totsuka Matsuo immediately agreed to the proposal. What was respect when it was so disgusting? Get rid of it quickly!
Upon receiving the answer, Fang Wuwei cast Amaterasu. Under Fang Wuwei's control, it only burned the corpse, and once the corpse was completely incinerated, Amaterasu would cease.
"Totsuka Family family head… Regarding this matter, I am very sorry, but may I ask you to grant me one more request?"
"...Please speak."
"Regarding the emblem you mentioned, may I have it? Also, those amethyst crystals, I hope to obtain two pieces for research…"
"Of course, you can."
Looking at the incredibly bizarre and evil black flames burning inside, the Totsuka Family family head wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and agreed without hesitation.