Chapter 308: Departure, Return to School! (3.5k)
It was past nine o’clock, and the sunlight spread across the platform.
The train station was already packed with people. Su Jiu, dressed in Hanfu, turned back again, her gaze passing through the station signs to the vast city. She let out a light breath, then touched the wooden hairpin on her head, a slight smile involuntarily appearing. She murmured to herself, “Actually… I still took you with me.”
“The direct train to Magic City has arrived. All passengers, please board in an orderly manner.”
Soon, the announcement at the bus station rang out, stirring the crowd. This lively atmosphere felt somewhat gentle to her, and her face involuntarily softened.
Her appearance in Hanfu now was like a completely different person from her previous self in crow feather attire. One looked quite sunny, while the other exuded an aura of being unapproachable.
Su Jiu also got on the train with the crowd. Since it was a last-minute booking, there were no suitable private compartments. It seemed she would be sharing a compartment with a group of students, but Su Jiu was not one to be fussy.
Her first task upon returning to Magic City was to meet with Mr. Wenders again. He had sent her a message earlier, explaining that he hadn’t sought her out because he had been constantly summoned by the Temple for questioning.
After attending to Mr. Wenders’ wife, she needed to refine medicine for Bairnis. Now that the medicine was ready, it was time to fulfill her promise.
“What a beautiful girl, are you also a student?”
“You should be about our age too. Are you here to watch the internal competition between the five major universities in a week?”
Slowly opening the carriage door, several curious gazes fell upon Su Jiu. They were wearing school uniforms different from Chuan Yu University’s crimson ones. There were both boys and girls, and judging by their appearance, they seemed to have just started university with a lingering trace of youthful purity on their faces.
On their chests were striking azure medals, each engraved with a distinctive mask. It seemed that the masks on their medals were slightly different.
“About that, I’m also a freshman.”
However, Su Jiu didn’t look any closer. She smiled and greeted them, then made her way to her assigned seat. A while later, she watched the train begin to move slowly.
She took out the ancient relic potion for accelerating inscription from her black ring, holding it up slightly. It appeared exceptionally clear in the light, like the sea reflecting the blue sky.
Gently opening it, a strange fragrance wafted out, causing Su Jiu’s hairs to stand on end. She could feel a sense of craving from her dantian. Without hesitation, she picked up a small cap and took a small sip.
In an instant, she could feel the small blue elixir in her dantian spinning wildly. The white phantom flower above it was also gradually solidifying, but the double-winged elixir in the center remained as steadfast as an old dog, showing no change.
Sensing a slight increase in her mental power, Su Jiu pondered for a moment. She understood that the white flower engraving represented her secondary attribute mental power. However, it seemed strange that it only boosted mental power without direct inscription.
Assuming the dosage was insufficient, Su Jiu drank nearly half of the potion. A burning sensation instantly spread through her meridians, and her dantian was flooded with a large amount of peculiar energy. Strangely, however, that energy was absorbed by the small elixir, driving Su Jiu to distraction – her mental power had increased again!
But what she lacked now was not mental power, but rather reaching the watershed of High-Rank Battle General as soon as possible. Once she possessed a Bloodline Phantom, her human form and spirit would merge, and she would be able to unleash her full power, potentially not much weaker than Pamela, and at least possess the ability to protect herself.
“Is it too little? Or is there some other reason?”
Seeing that half a bottle had no effect, Su Jiu gritted her teeth and drank it down in large gulps like beer. After a period of adjustment, a white phantom flower similar to Bai Zhi’s gradually appeared on her body. She suddenly opened her eyes, and a blood-red small flower appeared in her left bloodshot pupil. From a distance, one might mistake her for a cosplaying anime character.
Staring blankly at the now empty bottle, Su Jiu’s mouth twitched uncontrollably. Her cultivation level remained stagnant, but her mental power was now soaring towards High-level War King, even slightly exceeding it.
Meanwhile, the blue elixir, the culprit, had the white flower depicted on it as if it were real, even faintly showing some of Bai Zhi’s arrogance.
“I should have known not to absorb this little girl’s blood. Now I don’t know if it’s self-inflicted or a blessing in disguise.”
Su Jiu smacked her lips and shifted her gaze to the main inner elixir, which showed no changes.
The main inner elixir remained completely still, as if waiting for Su Jiu to inscribe her bloodline inscription. Since the rapid progression path had failed, she could only resort to manual inscription, using her mental power to directly engrave the symbol representing her bloodline.
Although the white flower had absorbed all the relic liquid, it had also increased Su Jiu’s mental power, forcing her mental power to reach a terrifying level, which indirectly accelerated the inscription of the inner elixir.
Ordinary people had the core of a mid-tier Battle General and mid-tier mental power, possibly even lower. Therefore, inscribing inscriptions with mental power was excruciating.
Su Jiu, however, was different. Externally, she had the core of a mid-tier Battle General, but in terms of mental power, she was in a state of being above High-level War King but not yet a Demigod, which was truly terrifying.
However, the higher the level of bloodline imprint, the more difficult it was to engrave. This was not just the process of engraving but also a process of communicating with the depths of her bloodline using mental power.
Discovering that she couldn’t achieve rapid advancement, Su Jiu smiled helplessly and glanced at the darkening sky outside the window. She hadn’t expected her cultivation to take so much time.
Suddenly, her phone vibrated. She took it out and casually scanned the screen.
Her gaze was quickly drawn to the flickering little bat icon. Her heart trembled slightly. Doubi Xi hadn’t replied to her in months. Now…
Without hesitation, she slid open the message and was slightly stunned by the content.
【Silly Duke: Wanna play a couple of games? I have some things I want to talk to you about… (Blood Princess sighs)】
Su Jiu glanced around. There were no computers nearby, so she replied with a hint of helplessness.
【What’s up? I’m on a train right now and don’t have a computer with me, so I can’t play games.】
Su Jiu quickly sent the message. The other party seemed stunned upon seeing the message and remained silent for a moment. It showed that the other party was typing, seemingly typing away on a keyboard. However, after a long time, they sent only one message:
【It’s nothing.】
Immediately, the little bat icon dimmed. It felt like a bucket of cold water on Su Jiu, who still wanted to ask. She knew that given Doubi Xi’s personality, any trivial matter would be openly discussed, but now this was her attitude…
She pursed her lips, feeling as if she had punched cotton. She was still worried about the other party, so she sent a few more messages every few minutes:
17:06
【I know you’re not offline, what exactly happened? You can tell me!】
17:14
【Don’t keep everything to yourself, my strength isn’t what it used to be. I can help you now.】
17:23
【After I’m done with school matters, I’ll come find you. Please don’t do anything foolish!】
After waiting another ten minutes, she dejectedly put her phone away. Su Jiu realized that her connection with Silly Duke, besides QQ, was only one-sided. If the other party refused to communicate, she could only worry.
The image of her occasional serious and mischievous demeanor flashed in her mind. Su Jiu’s eyelids slightly drooped as she thought, “The next time we meet, I must make this girl reveal her home address and everything.”
“Here you go.”
Just as Su Jiu was lost in thought, a woman’s voice spoke. A girl who seemed to be chatting nearby placed a bottle of cola on her table with a smile. She then asked curiously, “Classmate, are you also here to watch the battles between some of our Dragon Country’s young lords?”
“Young lords? Battles? No… I’m just returning to school.” Opening the cola given by the girl, Su Jiu sniffed it and took a sip, replying with a gentle smile.
For students who had just entered university to call themselves lords was a bit too arrogant. However, she could confirm the title of Peerless Battle General at the Battle General level… She heard there were government subsidies. Even a small amount was still something.
“Ah? So you’re a talented student studying in Magic City, my apologies.”
The girl’s face still held a smile, clearly just being polite. She then continued curiously, “Logically speaking, you should be familiar with the Five Lords and One King, right?”
“Pfft! Five Lords and One King? What a ridiculous title!” Su Jiu was quite stunned by this appellation, almost spitting out her cola. She felt like her toes could dig a phantom fortress.
Seeing Su Jiu trying hard to suppress a laugh, the girl knew what she was thinking. She then smiled and explained, “It seems you rarely watch the news, classmate. The Five Lords refer to five strong individuals at the Peerless Battle General or Half-King level below the sophomore year. The One King refers to a student at the Monarch level below the sophomore year. They are all top contestants for our country in this year’s World Championship.”
“In two weeks, they will lead a group of students from their respective schools to represent our country in the Eagle Country. This year, we are determined to break into the top five worldwide with the sharpness of a blade!” The girl showed news photos on her phone, speaking with great passion, her eyes shining with starlight.
“That’s great, breaking into the top tier and giving those elite education, foreign academies that pour massive resources into individuals a good slap in the face.”
Su Jiu smiled lightly and scanned the photos. She could only recognize Hu Yang, but she didn’t feel anything, as if she had already passed the age of feeling passionate about fighting for her country.
She herself was an underground operative, and she didn’t feel much about such public appearances and earning honor. If there were no rewards, she wouldn’t have been interested in participating in the first place.
“Indeed… my favorite is Hu Yang with the short ponytail. His long sword has already received the true teachings of some big figures, and he’s only gotten stronger now. Although he’s a newcomer among the Five Lords, he’s already reached the second-ranked position.” The girl’s eyes sparkled like a little fan girl. But soon, she noticed Su Jiu’s indifference and blinked, asking, “Are there no individuals among these people that you support?”
“No… I don’t like those who are too packaged, and that Hu Yang is just so-so.” Su Jiu shook her head, her eyes carrying a hint of sincerity. Her usual opponents were all of War King level or above, and battles usually meant matters of life and death. In Su Jiu’s opinion, these arena battles were merely performances.
“Sliding neighbor…”
Hearing Su Jiu’s tone, which seemed to look down on Hu Yang, the girl felt a little uncomfortable. Just as she was about to say something, the train suddenly braked violently at high speed with a hissing sound, as if encountering some unexpected situation.
