Chapter Ten: The Nature of Magic

“I haven’t seen you in ages!” The moment Hua Sheng spotted Mie Ying, he immediately recalled her lying in the hospital bed. Without thinking, he blurted out, “Is that hair real?”

“Ugh! Impudent servant!” Mie Ying shot him a glare. “Do you think this young lady has no hair?”

“N-no… I mean… are you a man or a woman…?”

Mie Ying pointed at Hua Sheng’s nose, her voice nearly breaking with anger. “Now that you have the Golden Cudgel, Hua Sheng, you’ve become so bad! What, you want to verify whether I’m male or female? If you dare try that, the finger you use, you can forget about it!”

Hua Sheng suddenly realized his words were disrespectful and quickly corrected himself. “No, no, no… I have no such interest…”

“You mean this young lady isn’t pretty?”

“That’s not it…”

“Get lost!” Mie Ying stamped fiercely toward Hua Sheng.

“Ow! Why are you turning on me now?”

“Scram! I’m no ally of yours!”

Though angry, Hua Sheng, seeing her demeanor, finally believed he had truly returned to the Academy of Arcane Arts. He pointed at the black-robed figures and asked, “Where did these foreigners come from?”

Mie Ying replied, “I don’t know why, but they’re here to steal something.”

“So they came to rob! If you hadn’t said, I might have thought that while I was away, Saint Pingning had opened up for free tourism and these were just foreign tour groups.”

“I’ve never seen people like this. Saint Pingning doesn’t have such appearances. High noses, pale skin, and tough, coarse features. They clearly look like barbarians.”

“As far as I know, they don’t count as barbarians… Perhaps they come from developed countries in Europe or America…”

Mie Ying cursed, “Who are you siding with, Hua Sheng! Developed countries come here to steal?”

Hua Sheng answered, “Maybe they’re technologically advanced, which is why they come to steal? If they were too backward, coming to rob would be no different from courting death.”

“Then we must teach them the power of our Academy’s fairy arts!” Mie Ying said. She flicked her hand, releasing a burst of lightning that knocked one down. But when she targeted the second, the man wielded a branch that also discharged lightning, bouncing Mie Ying backward.

“What kind of lousy branch is this? So powerful!”

Hua Sheng raised his hand to block and turned his back to Mie Ying. “As far as I know, what they’re holding isn’t called a branch.”

“It looks like a branch!”

“It looks like one, but as far as I know, this is called… a magic wand!”

“What kind of magical tool?” Mie Ying seemed confused. “Demonic magic from monsters and ghosts?”

“The character for ‘magic’ is written that way… but it probably doesn’t mean devilish creatures. It means magic.”

“What’s magic?”

“Just a kind of spell.”

“Fairy arts?”

“Not exactly fairy arts… it’s more like the Europeans’ version of fairy arts. I’m puzzled why it’s here too.” Hua Sheng didn’t know how to explain, nor did he fully understand.

Mie Ying said with disdain, “This is clearly a crooked path! Since it’s called magic, it’s probably demonic sorcery! Magic and demons go hand in hand!”

“That… seems to be a different category. But it’s hard to explain.”

What Hua Sheng found most unbelievable was seeing a group of what he understood as magicians rampaging inside the Academy. The scene completely overturned his previous understanding of Saint Pingning. Judging by the expressions of the Academy disciples around, it seemed to be their first time encountering such people.

Indeed, no matter how large Saint Pingning was, it couldn’t possibly be as vast as the European continent. That was absurd! Hua Sheng dismissed the thought. But seeing these ruthless foreigners, the urgent task was to subdue them before matters escalated.

Mie Ying, leaning against Hua Sheng, deflected flying fireballs and lightning, asking, “Hua Sheng, have you ever seen a magical tool called a wand before?”

“I have. But only in movies. It’s more like theatrical stuff—I’ve never seen a real magician or a real magic wand.”

Mie Ying asked, “Magician? I still don’t get it. Are they demons or devils? Saint Pingning doesn’t have such things!”

“That word ‘magician’ is a foreign translation. In English, it’s called ‘Magic,’ and magicians are called Enchanters or Wizards. Oh heavens, I only have a middle school education; I hope I’m not wrong. It doesn’t mean real demons.”

“This young lady understands now—foreign immortals?”

“A magician generally means a human who changes themselves.”

“So, foreigners who have attained immortality?”

“Well… you can think of it that way.” Hua Sheng, seeing the battle intensify, didn’t elaborate much. He was as puzzled as anyone. “But be careful. I’ve only heard of it, and I’m not sure how powerful their magic really is…”

Before Hua Sheng finished, a huge explosion roared. A gigantic fiery eagle soared from the ground ahead! The blast sent dozens of Academy disciples flying in all directions.

The fire eagle let out a piercing cry, circled midair, then charged into the crowd. Scores more disciples were thrown or knocked down.

Then, an Academy spirit disciple transformed into a group of warhorses, roughly the same size as the fire eagle. As the fire eagle touched the ground, the warhorse turned and kicked fiercely at the eagle’s belly—but the blow missed, striking only empty air.

“That warhorse? Could it be Xuan Wen?” Hua Sheng instantly thought of Xuan Wen.

The giant warhorse’s kick not only failed to harm the fire eagle but caught fire on half its body. Flames spread rapidly in less than half a second.

“Not good!” Seeing the warhorse ablaze, Hua Sheng rushed over. “By the swift decree, Gale Spell!”

He unleashed a gust of cold wind that immediately shrank the burning warhorse back to human form. Hua Sheng’s guess was right—it was Xuan Wen.

Xuan Wen writhed, flames licking his body. Fortunately, Hua Sheng arrived just in time to extinguish the fire with the cold wind spell.

“Roast chicken!” Xuan Wen cursed. “You actually burned me!”

After putting out the remaining flames, Xuan Wen spotted Hua Sheng. “You little pest! How dare you come back?”

Even injured, Xuan Wen’s mouth was as sharp as ever. Hua Sheng chose not to get angry.

Xuan Wen spat at the black-robed magicians, “These folks look like barbarians! Using some kind of demonic sorcery!”

“It should be… magic,” Hua Sheng responded.

“This is clearly not fairy arts! Look at the strange tool in their hands, just a branch! How can that not be demonic sorcery!”

“I think it’s called a magic wand… fine, call it whatever you want.”

Hua Sheng had no time to argue further with Xuan Wen because he saw at the center of the explosion that had summoned the giant fire eagle stood a black-robed magician. Wearing a wizard’s hat with a rounded brim, a tall pointed peak in the middle, she had lowered the hat to shadow most of her face. In her left hand, she held a thick red book, like some kind of magical tome. In her right, she gripped a dark silver wand, advancing toward them.

Any disciple who approached this magician was struck by electric currents emanating from her dark silver wand, thrown back and unable to rise once touched. It seemed almost no one could resist.

Hua Sheng grasped his Golden Cudgel and stepped forward.

After only two steps, two sharp swords shot through the air, aiming straight at the magician. Seeing the gleaming swords, Hua Sheng instantly became alert.

They were Gan Jiang and Mo Xie!

The two divine swords of the Supreme Immortal Lord, Gan Jiang and Mo Xie!

The magician also saw the divine swords stabbing toward her but did not raise her wand. Instead, she held the red tome up, facing Gan Jiang and Mo Xie.

Whatever she muttered, suddenly an orange, glass-like protective barrier formed around her like a dome.

Bang! Bang! Gan Jiang and Mo Xie struck the barrier, producing metallic sounds like hitting a shield. The magical barrier was instantly surrounded by orange electric currents, blocking the divine swords from piercing through.

But these were ancient divine weapons; the impact was too great, and the magician’s black hat was instantly shaken off.

“A girl!” Hua Sheng exclaimed.

As the hat flew off, her chestnut hair fell loose. This formidable magician was actually a young maiden! She had a high nose bridge, clear blue eyes, and sharp features—clearly European. She was roughly Hua Sheng’s age, or perhaps a year or two younger.

At that moment, he heard the voice of the Supreme Immortal Lord: “So it’s a foreign beauty, yet so arrogant! The family education of these foreign barbarians is truly worrying!”

The Supreme Immortal Lord retracted the two swords, and Gan Jiang and Mo Xie floated behind him.

As he landed, he noticed a wand lying at his feet. Bending down to pick it up, he murmured, “What are you black-robed weirdos doing waving around a branch… ow, that hurts!”

With a hiss, as soon as he grasped the wand, his palm began to smoke. He felt a sharp pain and quickly withdrew his hand. The wand dropped at his feet with a snap.

“What kind of magical tool is this!” He looked at his hand, now blistered and bloody.

Still astonished, Hua Sheng walked over and said, “Doesn’t make sense. How come those foreigners can hold it without harm?”

Hua Sheng crouched and touched the wand with his finger—no reaction—then picked it up. “Could it be that only mortals can use this wand?”

Seeing Hua Sheng with the Golden Cudgel, the Supreme Immortal Lord was also surprised.

“Hua Sheng, why are you here? Are these barbarians your friends?”

Hua Sheng hurriedly waved his hand. “No, no… I have nothing to do with them. I just happened to come back, and honestly, I’m as confused as you.”

“I see.” Though pleased to see Hua Sheng, the Supreme Immortal Lord remained calm. “You just arrived, yet you made the Shanghai Center Tower wobble. I had to come down and repair it for you. You owe me a favor.”