Lu Xien walked for a while before sensing something odd in the air, then began feeling the magus around him.
He closed his eyes and opened them again, seeing many fresh green lights.
Those lights twisted and swirled faintly around his fingertips.
“It’s not my imagination after all…”
His voice lowered.
“That guy should’ve been dead…”
Meanwhile, the Water Demon Lord beside him pressed down on his straw hat and probed the presence with his Magic Eye.
“Is that woman still alive…”
“Who knows.”
Lu Xien replied, then turned his head to look at him.
“Mind checking the surroundings for me, old timer?”
Water Demon Lord: “?”
He raised his fishing rod.
“You’re the old timer…”
Before he finished speaking, the fishing line shot out with a whoosh, wrapping around a branch above.
The next second, this former one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King’s Army used the rod’s recoil to climb onto the branch with ease, then crouched and scanned the surroundings.
Lu Xien watched him and fell silent for a moment.
‘Has this guy’s brain been over-incubated ever since he adopted that kid?’
‘Ah, whatever.’
‘It’s not like there were many normal people in the Demon King’s Army anyway.’
After that, Lu Xien quickened his pace, moving forward along the residual mana.
Before long, the forest opened up into a small clearing.
When he stepped inside, he saw the examinees lying scattered and haphazard on the ground—some leaning against tree roots, some half-buried in mud, some still frozen in poses of struggle.
Lu Xien wore a look of disgust as he stared at the corpses.
The flesh on these bodies was exposed to the air, reeking of decay, with flies crawling all over them.
He walked over to one corpse, shooed away the flies, crouched down, and ran his fingertip along the side of its neck to examine the wound.
‘Such clean blade work… she should’ve been a mage, there’s no way she could attack with a dagger.’
He frowned.
‘And this technique isn’t that of a novice. At the very least, it’s a veteran who’s been on many battlefields to place the cut so lethally…’
The Water Demon Lord dropped down from the tree, took one look, and his expression turned grim.
“Was this the Forest Prism’s doing?”
“Give it a rest. That woman could never do something like this. Don’t forget she used to be a druid.”
Lu Xien stood up, his tone unusually devoid of jokes.
“Heh, true enough… this mimicry bastard copying her mana signature is disgusting.”
The Water Demon Lord hoisted the rod onto his shoulder.
“So what do you say? Should we split up and search for clues?”
Lu Xien turned to look at him like he was staring at an idiot willingly climbing into a coffin.
“Huh? Split up?”
He sneered.
“Did I hear that right? You want to split up, or split your grave wide open?”
“Aren’t you a vampire? Why are you so afraid of death?”
“Oh, so you want to sit at the same table as the other two dead Heavenly Kings? Fine by me. I’ll take good care of your kids.”
Lu Xien’s tone carried a hint of mockery.
“I’ll tell them their dad had a moment of impulse, bashed his head into a magic book, and died because he was too stupid.”
The Water Demon Lord briefly wondered whether he should punch him.
“What were you in your past life, exactly? I’m starting to suspect you became a vampire because you disgusted the vampire nobles so much they deliberately drained you and let you turn, just so you’d suffer eternal life.”
“You’re the one with the smart mouth.”
Lu Xien fired back while continuing to inspect the ground.
He hadn’t taken more than a few steps before he stopped dead.
‘This is…?! A trap?!’
Lu Xien then noticed, not far from him, nearly transparent threads clinging to dead leaves and grass stems, with one end extending into the depths of the bushes. Looking further out, there were even more such threads.
If he hadn’t habitually widened his perception, he might have stepped right onto them.
“Don’t move…!”
The Water Demon Lord raised an eyebrow.
“What now?”
“There’s an ambush here!”
Lu Xien lowered his head to study the threads.
‘Who is this person… trying to kill…’
The more he looked, the quieter he got.
Then he began to seriously consider things.
‘Maybe I should just blow up this entire forest along with the traps… It’d be safer.’
“Hey hey, don’t tell me you’re planning another one of your crazy stunts?”
The Water Demon Lord seemed to see through him.
“This is the Human Race’s Academy trial grounds! If you flatten this place right now, the humans will think the Demon King’s Army is restarting the war.”
“Tch…”
Lu Xien raised his hand, a faint spark of flame glowing at his fingertip.
The fire traveled along the threads, burning them all the way through.
Then some copper bells fell to the ground without making a sound.
Lu Xien fell silent.
The Water Demon Lord fell silent too.
“…That’s it?”
Lu Xien couldn’t believe it.
“Th-This trap is really that simple? Pure trigger, no chain reaction at all??”
He rubbed his brow.
“Guess I was overthinking it.”
After that, the Water Demon Lord jumped down and began examining the copper bells.
“So you were looking like you were about to write a will, and it was just these bells that scared you?”
“Shut up and let’s move!”
Then the two continued deeper into the forest until they reached the end, where they found a pitch-black cave.
The entrance was half-covered by vines, with signs of artificial carving at the edges, but the deeper parts were impossible to make out.
Lu Xien then extended his hand, bit his fingertip, and watched the blood seep from the pad.
He drew patterns in the air before his eyes with the blood, weaving them into a magic array.
When he completed the array, it emitted a scarlet glow.
The blood magic formula expanded directly, granting both of them night vision. The cave that had been pitch-black moments ago suddenly became clear.
“It’s been a while since I used blood magic.”
Lu Xien blinked.
“Guess you’re a bit rusty. And you call me a fishing buff—you’re not much better.”
“Less talk!”
The moment the two stepped into the cave, hurried footsteps echoed from within.
The very next second, a figure appeared and hurled a dagger imbued with wind magic.
Thud.
The dagger pierced Lu Xien’s chest.
Lu Xien looked down at it.
“Tch!”
He casually pulled the dagger out and was about to take a half-step back to cast a spell when the figure drew a sword, its tip aiming straight for Lu Xien’s throat.
The Water Demon Lord saw the situation was wrong and extended his rod diagonally.
Clang!
He channeled ice magic into the rod and deflected the straight sword’s strike.
Standing before them was the Border Count.
Lu Xien’s eyes darkened.
“Border Count?”
He raised his hand, and two fireballs flew out.
“Didn’t you already die?”
The man stomped his foot on the ground, and a nature magic array appeared. Vines burst wildly from the rock cracks, weaving into a wall that blocked the fireball explosion.
Boom!
The firelight illuminated the Border Count’s face—pale, with no expression.
“And why do you carry her scent?!”
Lu Xien was about to chant a spell.
The Water Demon Lord shot him a glance.
“So much talking. You’re going to get yourself killed like that!”
Lu Xien burned away the vines with a backhanded motion.
But Tate had vanished.
The next instant, two hands burst from the ground beneath Lu Xien’s feet, grabbing for his ankles.
“Damn it!”
Lu Xien quickly slashed his wrist open. Blood gushed out, condensing into a thin blood spear that severed the hands.
Then he leaped and hurled the blood spear.
Boom!
The blood spear pierced the ground, blasting out a massive crater.
Shards of rock were flung away by the kinetic force, and a dull rumble echoed from underground.
He looked down and found the pit bottom pitch black. Even with the night vision boost, he couldn’t make out what was down there.
It was as if some formula was distorting the light.
Lu Xien frowned.
“Old timer, you figure something out. My close combat skills aren’t as good as yours.”
“Finally admitting it?”
The Water Demon Lord raised his hand.
Lake-blue mana swirled and gathered around him, transforming in an instant into a roaring water dragon that dove into the deep pit.
Rumble—!
Water exploded underground, shaking the entire cave and sending dust raining down.
A moment later, the pit was flooded.
Lu Xien found nothing down there.
The Water Demon Lord withdrew his hand, and mist-like water vapor fell from the cave ceiling.
“That should’ve killed him, right?”
Lu Xien stared at the water pit, his expression worsening.
“Not sure. Stay alert, I’m worried he might ambush us.”
The Water Demon Lord dropped the jokes and warily watched their surroundings.
The two continued deeper into the cave. Soon, they came upon a door.
It wasn’t an ordinary iron door, nor a magic-sealed one. It was a massive, heavy door made of unfamiliar materials with intricate construction.
Written on the door was a line of text.
Deus ex Machina
Lu Xien narrowed his eyes.
“What kind of madman names a door that?”
He reached out and touched the lock.
Similarly, the lock’s design was utterly foreign, unlike the craftsmanship of this world. On its surface was engraved a string of numbers.
“2004?”
Lu Xien muttered under his breath.
“What kind of serial number is that?”
He used deconstruction magic and found the door was secured by a rotating lock.
‘Whatever… it’s not like I can pick this lock anyway, so here goes!’
So he resorted to the simplest method: blasting the combination lock open with flame.
“Fishing buff! Watch the door for me.”
“Alright, alright.”
Then an ice wall appeared behind Lu Xien, sealing the cave entrance.
He released flame of extremely high temperature, but it still took a full twenty minutes to burn through.
“I wonder which noble funded the research for this place. When we get back, I’m definitely finding out and dragging them to judgment.”
Then Lu Xien pushed the heavy door open with force.
Beyond the door was a peculiar laboratory, with large numbers of labels written in unknown languages marking serial numbers.
Several soldiers in outdated military uniforms lay dead on the floor, their flesh long since dried and gone, leaving only skeletons and half-rotted equipment.
The emblem of the Seventh Experimental Division hung on the wall, and the floor was stained with patches of moldy blood.
Lu Xien crouched down and looked at the plate on one skeleton’s chest.
“Seventh Experimental Division…”
His voice was low.
This place had existed since at least before the Dark Decade.
Scattered across the table were large amounts of burnt documents.
Lu Xien casually picked one up and found the paper stamped with a royal authorization seal, but the contents were blacked out in messy patches.
Sealed Document · File Number: ██-VII-∞-7337
Classification Level: ██████ Top Secret
Research Location: Texas·████ Outskirts·Seventh ██ Experimental Station
Report Date: Year █0██, September █3
“Texas… What is this??”
Lu Xien frowned.
“There’s no place name like that in the history books.”
“But it still has ‘Seventh’…”
“7337—there’s that 37 again, appearing twice in reverse. What exactly is No. 37?”
He continued flipping through.
The pages were damaged, many words covered by ink, leaving only fragmented passages readable.
In July 20██, on the western plains of Deâ–ˆas State, phenomena that couldn’t be explained by â–ˆormal means â–ˆontinued to appear.
██ residents reported seeing an eye-██”â–ˆstar â–ˆalling██” on the plains at ██ o’clock—after these â–ˆalls██, surrounding â–ˆine in that area showed â–ˆbvious â–ˆurface-circling â–ˆigns, forming â–ˆn eâ–ˆtending yet ████’s â–ˆine.
The Fede█al █ir █orce initially █ttributed it to █tmospheric refraction██, however, Seventh ██ Division ██as█an outfield █bserver—Captain ███·A███a—attached to his █ield report a statement that █illed ███ alarm:
“██ area’s time â–ˆpeed appeared â–ˆelayed by ████. I stood at the â–ˆrea’s edge â–ˆor ten███ minutes, and my watch was slow by â–ˆhâ–ˆ whole â–ˆourâ–ˆsevenâ–ˆ minutes. What’s â–ˆore███, the â–ˆarker stone I’d â–ˆlaced at â–ˆhe â–ˆegion’s edge â–ˆefore entry ended â–ˆp â–ˆehindâ–ˆ me, â–ˆn the â–ˆpposite direction.”
“██…█ walked â–ˆbout ██rge â–ˆhree███ minutes, then reached â–ˆ ruinâ–ˆ, â–ˆhere a â–ˆingâ–ˆed â–ˆigure from â–ˆhe â–ˆoly Scripture wasâ–ˆ, she made a â–ˆrade with usâ–ˆ”
“She â–ˆaid â–ˆhese███…█re all██, sheâ–ˆ alsoâ–ˆ came from â–ˆarth███”
“But██…██, mana███, ████████, sheâ–ˆ wasâ–ˆn ██ ringâ–ˆ”
Lu Xien stored the report in his dimensional space.
“This is getting more and more troublesome.”
He rummaged through the laboratory and soon found several strangely shaped guns tucked in a corner.
These guns weren’t made with magic stones, but when he picked one up and pulled the trigger, bullets came out—and surprisingly, they weren’t magic bullets.
He examined the bullet’s structure and found it was made of copper, then a smile spread across his face.
“Now this is a real treasure.”
Lu Xien rubbed his hands together.
“I’m already here.”
He stored the guns in his spatial storage.
‘It’d be a waste not to keep searching~’
Then he walked to the central area of the laboratory and found a massive magical instrument.
Below the instrument was a holy spell formula, and above it floated several coordinate axes, their centers pointing to one region: SOL.
“SOL?”
Lu Xien stared at the three letters.
“What place is that?”
The incantations inside the instrument weren’t numerous, but they were complex—something like a formula meant to travel somewhere.
Even more absurd, at the instrument’s core was embedded a pendant.
Lu Xien recognized it.
The Hero’s Pendant.
That nineteen-year-old youth had once worn it, standing before the Demon King’s Castle, saying he had to defeat the Demon King because he needed to “go home.”
Back then, Lu Xien thought his hometown must be unreasonably far away.
But now—
It seemed things weren’t so simple.
“Hah?”
He reached out, trying to remove the core.
The instrument immediately activated its protective formula, a fierce holy light stinging his eyes.
“So concentrated even after all these years. Ugh.”
He fiddled for a good while before finally bypassing the seal and taking the pendant.
The pendant was cold in his hand, and within it wasn’t just holy energy.
There was also the power of the Celestial Wing Tribe, and an extremely pure celestial force.
Lu Xien’s eyes lit up.
“How does that kid have something like this?”
He tucked the pendant into his storage space and explained with a righteous tone:
“It’s not that I want to take it. My hand just can’t control itself.”
With that, he let out a gleeful, twisted laugh.
He also took a stack of damaged documents, several magic stones recording special coordinates, and a black box that could flip open.
“How bizarre. What an unexpected bonus… And what is this black box? I’ll take it back to study!”
Once Lu Xien stepped outside, he knocked on the ice wall, and the magic dispelled.
“While you were in there, it got too quiet out here.”
“The Border Count’s presence vanished without a trace after that.”
“Almost like…”
The Water Demon Lord frowned.
“He wanted us to come here.”
Lu Xien glanced at the documents in his hand, then thought of the abandoned instrument deep in the lab.
“Let’s not worry about him for now.”
He smiled.
“Let’s go find them and regroup. I found some documents that need decoding.”
“You’re this excited—what kind of treasure did you run into?”
The Water Demon Lord eyed him suspiciously.
Lu Xien waved the papers in his hand.
“A stack of documents, coordinates, and a black box~”
His smile twisted even further.
“Too bad some are burned. I’ll have to bring them back and take them apart slowly.”
“You really are…”
The Water Demon Lord sighed.
“Weren’t you just acting like you were going to blow up the whole cave? Now that you’ve got research materials, you’re perking up like you found a girlfriend. What’s that about??”
“What else? These things are all my girlfriends~~”
Lu Xien raised his hand, unfolding space magic.
“Now let’s hurry. Time waits for no one, because that scheming woman still wants our ‘date.’ I need to have a deep, intimate exchange with these documents~“
“Unhinged.”
A portal opened before them, and the two stepped through.