Du Sixian got up very early. The sun has yet to rise, and she started to practise as soon as she woke up.
Unlike yesterday, she managed to cast her spell in a single try this time.
After confirming it a few more times, she couldn’t help but smile with the biggest grin plastered on her face. She was sweating, but she was happy.
“I have to tell An Qing about this—as for the other mantra and the mysterious girl in my dream… I need to investigate that on my own.”
The sky was a pale grey.
She changed into a lace denim skirt and put on a small jacket. Sitting in front of the table, she turned on the computer and briefly replied to her few loyal fans. She hinted to them that she has a big surprise coming up for her newest video.
Soon, she was out the door. At the gate of the Night Division, she ran into An Qing.
“Oh? You’re here early; are you here to practise your mantras?” An Qing asked as she smiled. “Casting spells doesn’t happen overnight, so don’t worry too much about it.”
According to the statistics from various Night Divisions across the country, it takes an average of eight to twelve days for new recruits to cast a spell.
“Actually, about that, I went back home and practised yesterday.”
An Qing was about to reprimand her since she practised without supervision, but she was taken aback upon hearing what she had to say.
“I think I’ve already mastered casting the spell,” she paused. “I can make a pillar of flame with my fingertips.”
She decided to hide the fact that she was training in a dreamscape.
“W-what?”
An Qing genuinely thought that Sixian was a great recruit, but now she was shocked.
Taking less than 24 hours to learn a mantra…
Although casting a tiny pillar of flame was nothing impressive, learning it as a new recruit was surely something else.
“You heard me the first time! I’m a fast learner!
An Qing nodded in a daze.
I’m just worried that you’ll be kidnapped by other people with your talent, she thought.
“Y-you’re doing fine,” she commended.
“You must continue practising,” An Qing continued. “But everything you do, you must report to me only. One-on-one.”
‘Sure enough, I am not enough for An Qing,’ Sixian pouted inwardly. ‘And yet, she’s investing her time in me.’
“Come on, let me see the results of your practice,” An Qing said.
Both of them entered the gaping darkness of the Night Division, but Sixian stopped midway as if she remembered something.
“By the way, just asking—what happens if I practise a spell not meant for me? Like a more powerful spell?”
Hearing this, An Qing froze and frowned.
Have you started thinking about learning high-level mantras now?
With such high talent, it’s no surprise that she wants to learn something more powerful. But she couldn’t dampen her spirits.
“It’s a gradual process,” An Qing explained. “Once you master a spell, you can start learning something more powerful. If you try to skip that process, something bad might happen to you.”
“What if you learn the spell from elsewhere?”
“What are you trying to tell me, Du Sixian? Did you obtain something strange?”
“No, no, I’m just making a hypothesis.”
“Let me tell you a story: a budding psychic user was disappointed in his own power, and he obtained many spells from unknown sources. Can you tell me what happened to him?”
“He went crazy?”
“That’s part of the truth,” An Qing sighed. “He refused to tell us where he obtained the spells before he went insane with power. Today, he still writhes around in his cell in the mental hospital. Besides, with your talent, there’s no need to rush. One step at a time to the top.”
Right. One step at a time.
As for that dream…
She planned to keep it a secret. Her own, personal hyperbolic time chamber.
Huacheng University. In the literature building.
Recently, Professor Ma was exhausted because of the bamboo scrolls. Most of his classes are just self-study sessions now.
Suddenly, there was a whisper in the classroom.
“Have you seen the class WeChat group? Something big happened.”
“What happened?”
“You don’t know yet?”
“Come on, just tell me.”
“He Ruo is dead. They found his body at the lab. They said it was an urban legend attack.”
“What? No way! I was with him yesterday! Why did he go to the lab alone?”
Professor Ma heard it all. At first, he could care less, and urban legend attacks were slowly becoming the norm in this world. However, when he heard that his student had died near the labs, he couldn’t help but be uneasy.
“The classroom is a place for learning, not gossip,” he said to the class. “And Lu Yibei, come with me.”
Lu Yibei had a giant question mark over his head.
‘Wait, I wasn’t the one gossiping! Why was I called out?’
Lu Yibei thought helplessly, but upon seeing the professor’s gaze, he sighed and got up.
‘He must be worried about his lab.’
“Lu Yibei. The scrolls I showed you yesterday were not the original bamboo scrolls.”
“O-oh,” Yibei replied. He didn’t expect Professor Ma to confess his sins to him so soon.
“Listen to me. I wanted to show you the original scrolls, but… something—an idea—was put in my head. I just couldn’t show you the original scrolls. That boy, He Ruo, is a good boy. It must be those bamboo scrolls. You need to look at them.”
“No problem.”
