Chapter 328 Sending you another flower, Teacher Ya
"The Five Elders' Academy—"
Bai Zhou gazed in that direction, his gaze seemingly penetrating the walls and complex passageways to reveal the magnificent and mysterious complex where the Five Elders' Academy was located.
"Upon reaching a level higher than the Fate Forger, that is, the level called 'Decadent Ones,' the Chosen Ones touch upon an incredible forbidden realm, further contacting the power of the soul, and thus possess the ability of 'Corpse Dissolution and Body Seizure'—"
"And 'Corpse Dissolution and Body Seizure,' to a certain extent, can achieve the form of possession and reincarnation of the living dead—"
Bai Zhou's gaze was intense, recalling what Ya had once told him, "The Five Elders of the Blood Worship Cult are all old things dug out of their coffins by their descendants—"
Corpse Dissolution! Living Dead! Coffin!
Immortal and indestructible, in other words, it can also be understood as—
already "dead."
—This perfectly matches the [Thought] character within him!
The tomb keeper who gifted him the character "念" (Nian) had spent his entire life dealing with the dead and collecting corpses—so even the secret character he bestowed was related to this.
Bai Zhou had long known that the Five Elders were essentially living dead, existing in a unique way, but he hadn't considered using the character "念" to deal with them.
After all, in his view, just like when he was a Level 1 professional, having just begun refining his "body," no matter what methods he possessed, he couldn't possibly contend with a Level 6 or higher Life Forging Master—
the so-called "decayers," just from their names alone, were extremely ominous, and certainly not something Bai Zhou could easily provoke at his current level.
However, now it seemed—
dealing with them personally might not be enough.
But dealing with something emanating from them might have a surprising effect!
At this moment, Bai Zhou knew that something must have happened at the Five Elders' Academy. It was
very likely that the Five-Colored Eyes family had done something, plotted something, that would cause the character "念" to react remotely from the Blood Worship Cult's headquarters.
But what could it be?
The biggest event for the Blood Worship Cult recently has probably been the upcoming Demon Assembly—
Bai Zhou cannot help but be extremely vigilant about it.
"6"
"—This visitor is hostile!"
Bai Zhou muttered, narrowing his eyes.
Although he didn't understand what was going on, seeing Bai Zhou's wariness, Ya still spoke up to remind him, "Actually—you're the one who's here." "
The Five Elders of the Five-Colored Eyes are true natives of the Blood Worship Cult, with a lineage passed down for many years. Even their eye color is different from others."
"Oh, oh." Bai Zhou nodded.
The conspiracy in the shadows surged, as if a net was quietly spreading from all directions, hunting down Bai Zhou.
Bai Zhou had a premonition of this. From the moment he was pushed into the forefront of the Blood Worship Cult by the Holy Son, he was destined not to act discreetly and to be targeted by many ill-intentioned eyes.
This was also why Bai Zhou was determined to seize every second and risk his life to advance his Life Forging in the Zhuluo Era.
The sword in his hand was the courage in his heart; only by clenching his fist could he grasp the rights that his life should have.
Although the storm here was fierce, there were also many fish and shrimp.
Wealth and honor are sought amidst danger. "Sloth" was exploited by the Holy Son, little did he know—this very sloth would exploit the Holy Son even more. "Buzz—
"
The yearning emanating from the character "念" within him, though numbing Bai Zhou's lower abdomen, also brought him a sense of peace.
He was already aware of all others' schemes and plots; he would simply open the character "念" and wait for the conspiracies to come to him, like setting up a stake and waiting for a rabbit to run into it.
"Behave yourself, behave yourself for now."
Bai Zhou tried his best to soothe the character "念," preventing it from causing trouble in the sea of ignorance.
"Then, you'll have your moment of feast—"
His thoughts drifted, and Bai Zhou's gaze returned to the flame characters before him, more than ten thousand words long. The flames danced in his eyes, the flying sparks visible only to him.
Although protected by the character "念," this interlude only intensified the sense of urgency in Bai Zhou's heart.
He must master this second-tier ritual as soon as possible; the more protective measures he has, the more secure his life will be.
The [Ice Pact - Hidden Dragon] is stirring restlessly on his arm. Transforming all his potential into power as quickly as possible is the primary task of a Chosen One after each advancement to a new stage.
"Awooo!"
Though not a desolate wilderness, the howling of wolves filled the air. The night at the Blood Worship Cult's headquarters was far from peaceful. The deep chants of the believers' late-night prayers echoed throughout the passageways, while the distant footsteps of night watchmen carrying lanterns approached and then receded again. From
nearby rooms, occasional bursts of rough laughter and curses erupted, only to be immediately drowned out by an even rougher shout.
A thousand noises, ten thousand echoes—the chosen ones, confined to their rooms, had their own methods of isolating themselves—but Bai Zhou, in this wolf's den, while feeling a sense of familiarity, dared not let his guard down. His keen hearing was fully alert, constantly listening to the sounds outside.
A faint, sweet, pungent odor permeated the air. This strange odor seemed to emanate from some peculiar spice, or perhaps the blood of a living being. Bai Zhou clearly remembered smelling a similar scent on the Holy Son and the Five-Colored Eyes—a
faint, lingering aroma that often clung to the Blood Worship Cult members who had spent considerable time at the headquarters.
In this environment, the white boat, vigilant and attentive to any external disturbance, glanced at the fiery characters before it, sometimes intently memorizing them, sometimes slowly closing its eyes, its expression thoughtful.
Behind its closed eyelids, the [Celestial Pivot] spun rapidly, its universal formula unfolding and transforming, striving to deduce the various changes of the second-tier ritual, [Winter's Aria].
This second-tier ritual was completely different from any first-tier ritual it had ever learned, and the difficulty of learning it was worlds apart.
If the first-tier ritual was like building a structure according to blueprints, with even the path each spirit should take clearly written out, the steps precise and distinct—as long as you understood the blueprints, found the materials, and followed the steps, you could build a skyscraper from scratch.
In this process, the "Celestial Pivot," capable of clearly capturing the movement of spirits, was undoubtedly a cheat code.
Therefore, upon reaching the second tier, the learning of the ritual presented an even higher barrier to entry.
In short, this stage is like providing guidance, but the actual creation will vary greatly depending on the understanding, the specific runes used, and the person performing it.
The [Ice Pact: Hibernating Dragon] is extraordinary, and the second-tier ritual [Winter's Aria] is no ordinary thing either. To comprehend this second-tier ritual to the point of being able to use it in conjunction with [Ice Pact: Hibernating Dragon] is far more difficult than learning the ritual itself!
Back when he was a first-tier ritual master, Bai Zhou could instantly cast and arrange non-tier miniature rituals using the Heavenly Pivot.
After reaching second tier, Bai Zhou could learn and understand even the top-tier first-tier ritual, [Achilles' Wrath], in less than an hour, and mastering ordinary first-tier rituals was instantaneous.
However—facing [Winter's Aria], Bai Zhou felt like a mathematician who had just become a university professor, given a world-class mathematical conjecture. While not entirely without ideas, he felt a sense of helplessness and uncertainty.
"It's normal for it to be difficult to learn; if it weren't difficult, it wouldn't be a second-tier ritual."
Raven's assessment was, "However, it's precisely because of these difficult problems that the
sense of accomplishment after solving them is greater, and the power after mastering them is truly extraordinary." "Actually, the secret techniques and life contracts of the Chosen Ones are somewhat like solving problems—but compared to the difficulty of the ritual, they are insignificant."
"Generally speaking, ritual masters often hold a self-important and condescending attitude towards Chosen Ones of the same level—this is because it's a form of intellectual contempt."
"They admire the wise, believing that ritual masters are exploring and understanding the truth of the world, while regarding the Chosen Ones as merely 'barbarians using tools to create slaughter.'"
This was also what surprised Raven
about White Boat. Because White Boat usually didn't seem particularly intelligent, much less like a highly intelligent talent capable of making rapid progress at the ritual master level.
"Buzz—Buzz—Buzz—"
The celestial pivot swirled, the complex runes transforming into rapidly changing mathematical formulas, sometimes expanding, sometimes contracting.
Expanding, expanding.
Contracting, contracting.
With his eyes closed, Bai Zhou's mind raced with a thousand thoughts.
The fiery characters that Crow had written in mid-air were now circulating in his mind, word by word. Tian Shu, with its superhuman analytical speed, disassembled, reassembled, and translated them into a language that destiny could directly understand. Bai Zhou didn't consider himself exceptionally intelligent; even though the minds of those destined for greatness develop after evolution, his rapid progress as a ritual master was entirely due to Tian Shu's universal formula. And it
was still the same now.
Although it was difficult to begin, he used the universal formula to simulate and test the ritual in various ways. Even if he made hundreds or thousands of mistakes, it didn't matter. As long as he got it right just once, "Tian Shu" would be like a key unlocking a lock, naturally deducing and developing the subsequent content.
According to Crow, many professors and scholars at Tinghai University, the most famous university in Tinghai, were secretly accomplished extraordinary individuals or ritual masters.
Conversely, every powerful ritual master was certainly a good mathematician, painter, or even more.
The ritual of drawing requires highly precise skills, and understanding and learning the ritual requires extensive mathematical knowledge, because mathematics is essentially a code representing the truth of the universe's operation, indispensable for navigating the mystical world.
So-called science—is inherently an obscure and difficult-to-understand mysticism, presented in a more accessible way for the general public.
Fortunately, when Bai Zhou first awakened his understanding of destiny, he built a solid mathematical foundation thanks to a complete set of calculus textbooks found in the gray fog, and he also possessed the cheat-level mathematical formulas of Tian Shu. Otherwise, he would probably have had to first study various contemporary disciplines before he could return to learning these profound and obscure rituals.
Now, if Bai Zhou wanted to retire from the mystical world, he could easily become a mathematics professor at Tinghai University—
in that case, Senior Zhou would become Professor Zhou.
"Buzz—Buzz—"
Tian Shu continued to expand, then contracted again.
This process of change not only did not slow down with the passage of time, but accelerated instead.
The middle of the night passed in the blink of an eye.
Bai Zhou, who had returned from the "Zhu Luo Ji" at dawn, didn't catch his breath for a moment. He continued practicing the ritual while remaining vigilant against the outside world, and dawn was about to break.
It was five in the morning. Bai Zhou sat cross-legged on the living room floor, his eyes closed and his expression quiet. Suddenly,
a "ding-dong"
sound rang out, like a piece of ice melting. On his left arm, the markings that resembled a dormant ice dragon emitted a faint, cold blue light, standing out on Bai Zhou's body. It was as if he had emerged from the depths of an ancient glacier, writhing and surfacing like a ferocious, azure dragon! A
chilling aura emanated from Bai Zhou, causing Fang Xiaoxia, who was standing some distance away, to shiver. Unbeknownst to her, frost had already covered her eyelashes.
But this chill was fleeting, almost an illusion. Bai Zhou precisely controlled every wisp of cold energy on his body, gathering it around himself to prevent any leakage. Even in the wolf's den of the Blood Worship Cult's headquarters, where he had set up a ritual to isolate himself from the outside world, Bai Zhou dared not allow any unusual cold energy to leak out. After all, its level of protection far exceeded the isolation ritual, and it could easily break the hidden ritual.
But—
Bai Zhou opened his eyes and saw Crow standing not far in front of him.
"Roar!!!"
The moment their eyes met, Crow seemed to see, deep within Bai Zhou's eyes, an ice dragon roaring to the sky, baring its fangs and claws, writhing endlessly, only to shatter in an instant into countless dazzling, dreamlike ice crystals.
Ferocious! Deadly! Cold and desolate!
Faintly, the ice crystals coalesced into towering figures, like gods standing atop perpetually snow-capped peaks, summoning howling winds that transformed into harps, playing a winter's lament, a song of cold flowers blooming, a song of slaughtering countless lives! The
chilling cold was sensed by Raven; that desolate and terrifying killing intent had never appeared on Bai Zhou before. Seeing it now, Raven was surprised, yet also seemed to feel a sense of nostalgia.
Perhaps she saw the shadow of an old friend in Bai Zhou, the jewel of a school from the far north, a renowned ritual master from her hometown.
"You—you succeeded?" Raven's eyes flickered, her expression slightly trembling, yet also carrying a sense of "Bai Zhou is just like that," an unexpected surprise.
Five hours, one night, and she had mastered the second-tier ritual.
If word got out, other ritual masters would be ashamed to the point of wanting to disappear.
Perhaps only the most gifted ritual masters possess such speed, but Crow knew that Bai Zhou wasn't actually a genius with exceptional intelligence, a brain so precious it would require post-mortem analysis.
Yet, this happening to Bai Zhou felt strangely unsurprising to Crow, almost as if it were inevitable.
Because this person was Bai Zhou.
"I'm actually starting to get used to this—I'm being influenced by Bai Zhou," Crow sighed softly.
Everything eventually becomes commonplace, even something as bizarre as balloons with human heads floating outside the window; if you see it every day, you'll find it unremarkable—or so it seems!
Bai Zhou is truly a mysterious monster.
He constantly intrigues Crow.
"Yes, it's successful. "
As Crow expected, Bai Zhou gave a positive answer.
"Second-tier ritual, [Winter's Aria]—I can activate this killing array at any time, and then wreak havoc anywhere!"
Having successfully mastered it and fully understanding its power, Bai Zhou was deeply shaken and couldn't help but describe it as a "killing array."
This was also the first time he had used this word to describe a ritual.
Although— he
could kill indiscriminately anytime, anywhere, as Bai Zhou described it, as if he were relieving himself wherever he pleased.
"Hoo—"
Then, under Miss Crow's gaze, Bai Zhou suddenly raised his left hand.
The cyan patterns, like those of an ice dragon, flickered faintly, and a cold and terrifying power surged deep within his left arm. Then, he slightly opened his five fingers and lightly clenched his fist in mid-air.
He held the clenched fist in front of Crow.
He opened it again—
Crow looked down and saw a cyan hexagonal ice flower blooming brilliantly in Bai Zhou's palm, crystal clear, cold and murderous yet beautiful.
For some reason, Crow inexplicably recalled a scene from a long time ago—
when the two of them were in the dormitory at the Special Administration Headquarters, just like now, sharing a room late at night.
At that time, Bai Zhou, who had just learned the Three Thousand Three Hundred Vortexes, opened his hand to him like this, giving him a small, spiritual firework blooming in the darkness.
What did that child say back then?
Miss Crow was thinking to herself—
"Teacher Crow, thank you for your gift, I really like it."
Opposite her, Bai Zhou blinked twice, and as if by coincidence, said something similar to what she had said that night: "So, I'll give you another flower, Teacher Crow."
Last time, it was fireworks that had undergone spiritual transformation.
This time, it was ice flowers that had solidified through a ritual.
Both were flowers.
Crow was speechless, as if unaware that the corners of her mouth were unconsciously curving upwards, and she turned her head slightly away.
"Only teachers give students red flowers, how can students give teachers flowers?"
She said this, but Crow still accepted the ice flower, used her means to preserve it, and casually put it away without any expression.
"Woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo"
At the same time, unlike the quietness here, the prayers of the believers echoed louder in the passageway outside the house. The believers who had gotten up wandered back and forth, and the howls of the demons rose and fell, seemingly near and far.
In the perilous and daily atmosphere of the Blood Worship Cult's headquarters, no one knew that Bai Zhou, in his bedroom, had spent a sleepless night secretly mastering a second-tier ritual renowned for its lethality, adding another layer of protection to his body.
A second-tier ritual master was no longer just a figurehead, but a genuine ritual master.
"Phew—"
Bai Zhou breathed a long sigh of relief.
Outside, it was broad daylight.
The "newly minted wanted criminal, the Swift Blade Demon," and the "Seven Deadly Sins of Sloth," had safely passed their first night with the Blood Worship Cult.
It was a peaceful night.
By now, Bai Zhou had quietly completed everything he needed to do.
What remained was to study the life contract called "Turning Blade and Overturning Sword: Heaven and Earth Style." Whether he mastered it or not didn't matter; the important thing was to relax for a couple of days—
to await the arrival of the Demon Assembly.
He held a certain anticipation for it because now, he lacked nothing
.