Chapter Eleven: Threads of Jupiter (1)

Upon hearing the Supreme Junior Lord say the building was unharmed, Hua Sheng finally felt relieved.

"I’ve been worried about this for some time. That peak in the East Sea better not collapse. Others built it well, but if it did fall, I’d be responsible. What a sin, what a sin!"

The Supreme Junior Lord sighed, “You know, in a battle as vast as the stratosphere, there’s no wall that doesn’t leak. When I went down to help repair the building, some earthly bosses—you probably know them—big shots from agencies like ‘HOPE’ and ‘BRAVE’—surrounded me, saying they’d pay any price to immigrate to Saint Pingning… even offering a Saint Pingning green card.”

“Saint Pingning has green cards?”

“My foot! No green cards here. Want a green hat instead?”

“That makes sense. What happened to them afterward?”

“They got sent packing.”

“You could open an immigration agency…”

“Get lost! What nonsense!” The Supreme Junior Lord elbowed Hua Sheng. “Where have you been all this time?”

Hua Sheng hurriedly explained, “I fell into a Zen temple on the way back to Saint Pingning and was trapped there. Why were you missing then?”

“When I landed, I was near Panxian Cave. When I looked back, you were gone. It’s a long story, and now is not the time,” the Supreme Junior Lord said, glancing at the young sorceress opposite them.

Hua Sheng nodded and shouted at the young sorceress, “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

The young sorceress frowned, seeming not to understand.

Hua Sheng stammered, “Who… who are you? Where are you… from?”

“Oh?” The Supreme Junior Lord was surprised. “Your foreign language isn’t bad!”

“Just middle school level…”

The young sorceress seemed to understand. She opened a grimoire and drew a few symbols with her finger.

The Supreme Junior Lord raised his eyebrows. “Looks like her foreign language isn’t great either! She’s checking a dictionary on the spot…”

“Probably their country doesn’t speak English…” Hua Sheng sighed. If it’s not English, communication would be even harder.

The young sorceress traced symbols in the red grimoire, and golden magical incantations flew out, entering her mouth.

Unexpectedly, she then spoke in Chinese: “You!”

The Supreme Junior Lord gaped. “This dictionary has built-in voice translation? What kind of strange magical artifact is this?”

Hua Sheng replied, “More like a spell that can speak different languages.”

“These barbarian spells are quite practical!” The Supreme Junior Lord muttered, then shouted at the young sorceress, “Good men don’t quarrel with women! Especially when you carry a Kangxi dictionary on your back and a broken twig in your hand, without a proper magical tool! The disciples of the Academy of Arcane Arts won’t see eye to eye with you! There’s no place here for your kind!”

He thought a moment and added, “If you want to enroll in the Academy of Arcane Arts, please apply through the proper channels. But enrollment is full this year. Try earlier next year!”

“What nonsense are you spouting? People like them don’t look like applicants,” Hua Sheng nearly fainted. “And don’t you think their expertise clearly doesn’t match ours?”

“You thieves! Thieves!” the young sorceress shouted.

“We’re thieves? Then rushing into someone’s home makes you robbers! Bandits!” the Supreme Junior Lord retorted.

Hua Sheng felt this argument was pointless and asked, “You say we stole something. What did you lose?”

“Time Star Silk!” the young sorceress cried. “You stole our treasure! Time Star Silk!”

“Time Star Silk?” Hua Sheng suddenly had a strange sense of familiarity.

At the same time, the Supreme Junior Lord’s face mirrored his astonishment.

The Supreme Junior Lord murmured, “That name sounds related to the Underworld’s Time Star Yarn.”

Indeed, upon hearing “Time Star Silk,” both Hua Sheng and the Supreme Junior Lord immediately thought of the Time Star Yarn.

From the vision Hua Sheng saw when he struck the Time Star Yarn with his golden staff, the yarn would be obtained by the Underworld after a thousand years. The Underworld, wearing the yarn, could enter the present time.

When the golden staff broke the Time Star Yarn, the Underworld—Wei Yu—was defeated.

When the Underworld perished, the Time Star Yarn was destroyed as well.

Yet why would this foreign young sorceress, completely unrelated to Saint Pingning, speak of something resembling the Time Star Yarn—the Time Star Silk?

As Hua Sheng was at a loss, the Supreme Junior Lord asked the girl, “Excuse me, may I ask your name?”

The girl frowned, “Jane.”

“Jane…” the Supreme Junior Lord repeated. “Miss Jane, the thing you mentioned probably isn’t held here at the Academy…”

“Shut your foul mouth!” Jane interrupted. “Don’t try to hide it. We wouldn’t have come without solid proof!”

The Supreme Junior Lord calmly pulled out the Ruihua Precious Mirror from his bosom, thought for a moment, then put it away and pulled out a human mobile phone from another pocket.

Hua Sheng recognized it immediately — the very phone he had transformed in a Starbucks in the human world.

He didn’t expect the Supreme Junior Lord to carry such a thing.

“Luckily, it still has power…”

The Supreme Junior Lord lit up the screen. “Miss, regarding this Time Star Silk matter, we will report it to the Immortal Masters. If there is any feedback, I will notify you immediately. If convenient, could you leave a contact? Or we could add each other on WeChat…”

Suddenly, an electric current shot from Jane’s magic wand, striking the Supreme Junior Lord’s phone and sending it flying over ten feet away.

The Supreme Junior Lord was stunned and said softly, “Such kindness. She even thought to recharge my phone.”

Jane was clearly enraged. “You pest! Hand over the Time Star Silk! Or we will flatten your academy!”

The Supreme Junior Lord laughed, “Miss, the Academy of Arcane Arts hasn’t even been flattened in the War of the Universe. Don’t think you can just tear it down because your name’s ‘Jane.’ That might be a bit ‘difficult.’”

Jane shouted to her companions, who instantly gathered behind her.

At the same time, the Academy disciples surrounded Jane’s group tightly.

Both sides were on edge, ready to fight again.

Then a voice came from above.

“Little sister, why bring so many to disturb my academy? Guests should respect their hosts.”

Everyone looked up to see Immortal Master Yu Ran descending gracefully, still wearing his gold-rimmed glasses and stroking his beard.

As the clouds parted, Yu Ran spoke slowly, “If you have something to say, speak properly. This is not a dining hall. Put down your chopsticks. Pointing a chopstick at others is improper.”

Jane angrily waved her wand, sending an electric current at Yu Ran, who flicked his sleeve to deflect it. The electric blast shattered a large stone in the distance with a boom.

“Immortal Master Yu Ran! That chopstick should be called a magic wand…” The Supreme Junior Lord, learning on the spot from Hua Sheng, immediately corrected, “It’s a magical artifact used by foreigners.”

Yu Ran nodded, stroking his white beard.

“These foreigners are strange. They place weapons like knives and forks on the dining table, while we use chopsticks for eating, yet treat them as weapons or magical tools… Hey, Hua Sheng, when did you return to the Academy?”

Seeing the Yu Ran before him was not the doctor from his vision, Hua Sheng’s heart stirred and he bowed respectfully. “Immortal Master! This disciple returned late, just now back at the Academy. I will soon report my recent situation to you.”

Yu Ran nodded, then turned to Jane. “Little sister, I already know what you said. But to be honest, as far as I know, the Academy of Arcane Arts does not possess the so-called Time Star Silk you mentioned.”

Two male sorcerers nearby moved to charge forward, but Jane motioned them to stop. She waved her wand, and the magical cap that had fallen nearby flew back. She dusted it off and put it on leisurely.

“Since the elder here refuses to admit it, don’t blame me for producing evidence. You Easterners value face most, and it might soon be lost!” Jane said.

From her words, she seemed to have evidence that the Academy had stolen from them.

Yu Ran stroked his beard and said, “No matter. Little sister, you may explain what happened with the theft of this item.”

Jane opened the red grimoire and waved her wand. The fiery eagle that had been circling above dove rapidly and disappeared into the book. She snapped the tome shut with a crisp sound.

“We come from the Klein Magic School!”

Unbeknownst to them, Mie Ying had already stood behind Hua Sheng, whispering, “I told you, it’s not a good place. Look, their school’s name is full of demons, monsters, and goblins…”

“I heard that!” Jane shot a glare at Mie Ying. “Our school’s full name is Klein Magic School.”

“Magic School…” Yu Ran nodded. “I have never heard of such an institution.”

“It’s not in the East. It’s in Paris, France,” Jane said.

Hua Sheng whispered to Yu Ran, “Immortal Master, you need a visa to go to that country…”

“What’s a visa?” Yu Ran looked at Hua Sheng in surprise.

Hua Sheng thought for a moment. “Usually, you need a passport first… Ah, never mind. Don’t mind me. If you want to go, no one would stop you.”

“Oh… The mortal world is vast. It’s not surprising if there are places I haven’t heard of,” Yu Ran nodded.

Jane continued. Their Klein Magic School had once raised an extremely precious silkworm. For a few days each year, the silkworm would spin a strange silk. Each time it did, the time around it would enter a state of suspension.

Thus, the strange silk was named TSS, or Timestarsilk. Jane translated it into Chinese as “Time Star Silk.”

This Time Star Silk’s yield was extremely low. Ten years ago, when the silkworm’s life came to an end, no more Time Star Silk was produced. Over its lifetime, only a small coil the size of a thumb was obtained.

At first, people could not understand the effect of this strange silk. After research by the magic professors of Klein Magic School, they discovered that under certain external spells, Time Star Silk could possess the rare ability to penetrate time.

Professors had tried to weave things from the silk but found its properties highly unstable. During weaving, objects touched by the silk would be destroyed or disappear, as if swallowed by a time vortex.

Therefore, Klein Magic School never succeeded in making any useful product.

The magicians believed that to truly weave Time Star Silk into fabric and harness its temporal effects, a special formula needed to be incorporated during weaving.

Upon hearing this, Yu Ran asked, “If so, this seems a dangerous item. Your school should have safeguarded it well. Why was it lost?”

Jane continued, “A year ago, a time distortion appeared thousands of miles away in the Eastern seas. It triggered a resonance of some substance, meaning something resonated with the Time Star Silk. Luckily, some of our magic professors were near the East Sea and immediately rode flying dragons to the location.”

The Supreme Junior Lord asked, “Did you find out what it was?”

Jane said, “We discovered that the Time Star Silk’s time resonance caused an incredibly violent storm in the East Sea. At the storm’s center was a cruise ship called the Bedelan.”