C45 Black Shadow

Jie Ge burst into the office, his face alight with excitement, and he couldn't resist humming a cheerful tune. "The Holy Roland Academy of Magic and Martial Arts is on the brink of greatness. Now I'll have something to brag about. Hahaha!"

By the time Zhang Xing got back to his dormitory, night had fallen. He strolled onto the island and checked on the small fish in the pond. They were swimming merrily, playfully chasing each other. Some rested quietly, while others snacked on tiny shrimp. "Not bad at all," he thought, "this is purely natural breeding."

Hei Bao was deep in meditation. When he had advanced to the Fourth Rank, the gates of inheritance in his memory had swung open. He would only go out to play once he had fully assimilated the information from the First Rank.

After making his rounds, Zhang Xing left Divine Dragon Island. He still had a few wolves from his last catch, enough to feed Hei Bao for the coming days. It seemed there was no need for him to venture out tonight.

Suddenly, a faint breath whispered from the darkness beyond the door. If Zhang Xing's mental energy hadn't been so finely tuned, he would have missed the subtle disturbance.

The dormitory doors were secured with magic locks provided by the academy, accessible only to the administrators and those who lived there. But now, the door was quietly opening, a sliver of space appearing.

Zhang Xing's senses sharpened. Encountering such an event in the dead of night was unnerving.

He feigned deep sleep, complete with convincing snores, while his mind remained acutely vigilant.

The gap in the door widened a touch more after a few seconds.

Once the intruder heard the convincing sounds of slumber, a shadowy figure slipped inside.

The moon was absent outside, casting the room in shadows, but Zhang Xing could just make out the masked face of the intruder.

The shadow crept closer to the bed, and Zhang Xing surmised it was a middle-aged man.

This man had stealthily infiltrated Zhang Xing's dormitory at such a late hour; he was certainly up to no good.

Considering this was the Devil Martial Academy, where both dormitory doors required a special key to unlock—unless one managed to break the magic lock—this intruder must have had free rein to enter undetected, indicating he was likely an insider. Zhang Xing wondered, "Who could he be?"

The shadowy figure watched Little Zhang Xing sleeping soundly in bed and stealthily reached out to grab him.

"Kid, you think you're safe just because you hide out in the academy all day?"

"You struck Young Master Glen. How can you sleep so soundly without paying some kind of price?"

"I'll destroy your cultivation level, then let's see if the academy will still have a place for you!"

"When that time comes, both the Second Young Master and the young master can do with you as they please, and no one will bat an eye."

As he reached for Zhang Xing's head, the shadowy figure plotted.

"Just a light squeeze, and the genius everyone admires will turn into a fool!"

"No one will guess who left him crippled. They'll all assume he went mad from overexerting himself during training, leading to a mental collapse."

A glint of cold light flashed in the shadow's eyes as he was about to cast a spell that would wreak havoc on the mind.

But suddenly, his movements ground to a halt. The space between his palm and Zhang Xing's head seemed to stretch into infinity.

And the spell that was on the verge of completion appeared to be unraveling.

What was happening?

The shadow tried to pull his hand back to check, but what he saw left him utterly astonished.

It was as if time had slowed to a crawl; his hand was no longer obeying his brain's commands, continuing to retract at a glacial pace.

Fear took hold of him.

If he didn't realize he'd been hit with a Pace Slowing Arts spell by now, he didn't deserve the title of Intermediate Magic Scholar.

When he glanced back at the bed, it was empty.

Panic surged through the shadow as he rapidly summoned the magic within him, silently reciting the Exorcism Arts.

Zhang Xing paid him no mind. Unhurried, he strolled over to the window and flung it open.

Peering down, he mused, "This dormitory is like a towering castle of concrete. A fall from here would surely result in a severe concussion!"