A dull thudding sound rang out rhythmically on the open ground in front of the Starlight Academy dormitory area.
Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!
Yize crouched on the ground, his right hand firmly gripping No.1’s head, slamming it viciously into the cracked and sunken ground beneath him again and again.
Each impact was accompanied by the crisp sound of stone shattering further and the unconscious trembling of No.1’s body.
Yize’s face showed no intense expression; he even tilted his head slightly, his gaze calm to the point of indifference. But the faint, almost cocky curve at the corner of his mouth vividly demonstrated his absolute control and a hint of impatience.
As if what he held beneath his hand was not the infamous First Seat of the Blood Pillar, but merely a disobedient, noisy insect that needed to be ‘taught a lesson.’
No.1 was completely stunned.
The violent concussion inside his skull and the almost bone-shattering pain from his cranium merged into a chaotic, buzzing noise.
Even more unbearable was the psychological shock…
‘How is this possible?!’
‘He had already used the “Gift” bestowed by Lord Jeral, forcibly fusing the power of the Dragon Bone Essence with his own Blood Qi and the purified Blood Race origin power, reaching an unprecedented state of strength.’
‘This power was enough to make him look down on most S-rank existences, even daring to glimpse higher realms.’
‘Yet, before this suddenly appearing black-haired youth, his pride-worthy strength seemed utterly powerless.’
‘His opponent didn’t even use any magic or aura brilliance; with just pure physical strength, he couldn’t even lift a finger to struggle!’
‘Humiliation! Utmost humiliation!’
‘This feeling of powerlessness was even harder to bear than being defeated head-on.’
During the intervals between the violent impacts, No.1’s remaining thoughts howled madly.
‘Where did this monster… come from?’
“Senior Yize… you, what are you doing?”
A trembling, incredulous little voice broke the brief silence.
Swan was the first to snap out of the highly impactful scene, with tears still glistening in her eyes, a mix of joy, confusion, and deep bewilderment.
She couldn’t understand at all why Senior Yize, who had been missing for so long and whose fate was unknown, would walk out from the dormitory building behind her.
Her gaze then shifted to behind Yize.
There stood seven figures emitting powerful Blood Qi, quiet and still.
Among them, she had seen Bart, Chise, and No.3 from a distance on the Betty Battlefield, and she assumed the other four unfamiliar ones were also members of the Blood Race’s ‘Ten Pillars.’
At this moment, these bloodthirsty top-tier Blood Race elites, who had brought countless disasters to the Empire, stood obediently as if tamed, watching Yize’s violence with complex expressions. None dared to make a move, and some even showed faint awe and fear.
“It’s a long story, so I’ll make it short.”
Yize finally stopped his actions but kept pinning No.1 down. He turned his head and said to Swan, his tone as calm as if stating a trivial matter.
“That old schemer who likes to wear a robe and act mysterious—the one who captured me—used some space manipulation and tossed me to a city called Stana tens of thousands of kilometers away.”
He paused, as if recalling a not-so-pleasant journey:
“It made me go through a lot of trouble just to find my way back.”
The words were simple, but the implications of ‘tens of thousands of kilometers’ and ‘find my way back’ sent shockwaves through everyone who heard them.
“Wah… Senior Yize!!!”
Just then, a fiery red, square figure tightly hugged Yize’s calf.
Luke buried his face in Yize’s leg, crying with genuine emotion, snot and tears smearing all over his pants:
“I knew it! I knew you were blessed by fate and would definitely be fine!”
“You’re finally back! If you hadn’t come back, we would have been bullied to death by this damn No.1!”
While crying, he didn’t forget to complain, and ‘timely’ switched his address, pointing at No.1 pinned by Yize, his voice tearful but unusually clear:
“Especially Junior Sister Swan! This guy was so arrogant, brazenly barging into our Starlight Academy, demanding by name to take Junior Sister Swan away! His intentions are despicable, Senior!”
After venting, Luke lifted his comical face covered in tears and snot on top of his square head, and asked the question that everyone present was most curious about and most shocked by:
“But speaking of which… Senior Yize, when, when did you become so… so ridiculously strong?”
“You don’t even use magic, just physical strength to rub this No.1’s face into the ground?”
“This guy just now tanked a super powerful eighth-rank composite magic from Dean Kleia and was completely fine!”
This question voiced the thoughts of everyone.
Kleia’s gaze was fixed on Yize, and her facial expression management was nearly out of control; she was so stunned her jaw almost hit the floor.
“Really… this had completely exceeded the scope of her understanding!”
Just a few minutes ago, she used her ultimate eighth-rank composite magic, striking No.1, but aside from causing violent energy annihilation and shockwaves, it didn’t even budge him!
But this enemy that made her feel despair was as fragile as a doll before Yize, only getting beaten one-sidedly.
The contrast was too stark, almost like a dream.
“Knowing too much is bad for you.”
Yize glanced at Luke and ended the subject flatly. He casually tossed the limp and weakened No.1 in his hand like trash toward the formation of Blood Pillars behind him.
“You lot, keep an eye on him.” Yize’s voice was low but carried an unquestionable commanding tone.
Instantly, the seven Blood Pillars tensed up in unison, their seven pairs of eyes focusing on No.1 who had fallen disgracefully to the ground.
Their gazes held fear, complexity, schadenfreude, and a sense of grief for the same kind, but no one stepped forward to help or show sympathy.
No.1 coughed up a few mouthfuls of filthy blood mixed with organ fragments, struggling to sit up halfway.
His gaze swept over his former ‘comrades,’ and he curled his lips into a sarcastic smile:
“You lot… seem quite happy watching me get beaten?”
He especially fixed his gaze on No.3.
No.3 was the first to lose control, a long-suppressed, unrestrainedly cheerful smile spreading across his face, even laughing out loud:
“Haha! How dare I? How dare I?”
“I just suddenly recalled that not long ago, a certain ‘great one’ was looking down on us, calling us ‘trash,’ defective products. How in the blink of an eye, has this great one himself fallen to the point of being beaten without any power to fight back, even more miserable?”
He deliberately imitated No.1’s tone from before, full of vengeful satisfaction.
Although the process was slightly different from what he had imagined—he had originally hoped that ancient vampire would beat up No.1—the outcome was good enough.
Moreover, the terrifying strength displayed by the black-haired youth Yize seemed even more absurd than that ancient vampire!
Hearing this, No.1 laughed in extreme anger, his voice hoarse:
“So… to see me make a fool of myself, you went back to your old job of ‘leading the way’ for others?”
“Do you know that I was only one step away from completing the important task entrusted by that great one!”
No.3 shrugged indifferently, pointed at Yize’s back, and lowered his voice:
“That can’t be helped. This one is someone that even ‘that great one’ personally dealt with but couldn’t resolve, and instead… well, seemed rather hasty.”
He didn’t say the word ‘fled back,’ but the meaning was clear.
Combining the slight anomaly when Jellal had returned to the battlefield, he could be almost certain that Lord Jellal hadn’t won easily, but had executed a “strategic retreat” from Yize.
“And,” No.3 added, “this time, I wasn’t the one leading the way. He… brought us directly back here via teleportation.”
“Shut up all of you.”
Yize’s cold voice rang out. It wasn’t loud, but it pierced into the depths of every Blood Pillar’s soul like ice.
Instantly, all whispered conversations ceased. Even the severely wounded No.1 forcefully swallowed the retort that was on the tip of his tongue.
In the face of absolute power, any pride, schemes, or resentment seemed pale and powerless.
No.1’s eyes dimmed a few shades. He knew that he had completely fallen this time, fallen into the hands of a monster he couldn’t understand at all.
Swan finally snapped out of the series of shocks and truly realized: Senior Yize had really returned! Safe and sound, and unimaginably powerful!
However, at the same time, in the depths of her soul, Iguneel’s voice grew fainter and fainter:
“I told you… that Yize kid has a tough life, he’s definitely… alive and well…”
Iguneel’s voice was intermittent, carrying deep fatigue.
“That’s great, Swan. Now that he’s back, you won’t have to overdraw Dragon Power to fight anymore.”
“That way you won’t die from power backlash. I’m a little sleepy… going to… sleep… for a while…”
“Iguneel!!!”
Swan suddenly clutched her chest, tears streaming down her face.
“I don’t want you to die! Wake up! Take back your Soul Force quickly! I don’t want your power anymore! I just want you to live!!!”
In her panic, these two cries were shouted out loud, echoing clearly across the silent grounds.
Kleya’s pupils abruptly contracted. The guess in her heart was completely confirmed.
So! Swan’s power source was the Ancient Dragon Iguneel!
Could the mysterious disappearance of Iguneel’s remains be related to Swan?
Just as Swan was overcome with grief, a warm hand gently pressed down on her head.
“That look is pretty cool, but why are you crying like a little girl?”
Yize had somehow come to stand in front of Swan, slightly bending over, with a hint of helpless yet gentle smile on his face.
He naturally knew about Iguneel’s existence; that special Affection Level entry on the system interface wasn’t just for show.
From Swan’s cries and Iguneel’s weak murmurs, he quickly deduced the situation.
It must be that Swan had overused the power Iguneel bestowed in order to protect everyone or deal with the crisis, causing Iguneel’s Soul Origin to be excessively consumed, leading to a state of sleep or even the brink of dissipation.
Without asking further, Yize directly took out a bottle of Magic Potion that shimmered with a strange faint golden light from his Storage Ring and handed it to Swan’s trembling hand.
“I still have things to take care of. This potion should be able to help you.”
Yize’s tone was calm.
Swan looked at the potion in her hand, which exuded a comforting and soothing aura. Without any hesitation, she pulled out the cork, tilted her head back, and drank it all.
The liquid, cool yet with a warm current, slid down her throat. Instantly, it transformed into countless tiny specks of light, merging into her limbs and bones, and a part of it surged directly toward the depths of her soul.
“Hmm…?”
Almost the instant the potion took effect, in Swan’s mind, Iguneel’s consciousness, which had been so weak it was nearly dissipated, trembled violently as if injected with a vast and pure source of life, and quickly became substantial again.
“I… I seem… not so sleepy anymore? Soul Force… is recovering?!”
Iguneel’s voice was filled with disbelief and shock, then it dawned on him, and he shouted excitedly in Swan’s consciousness,
“Swan! I know! The miraculous potion that red-haired brat brought back last time to save you must have been given by Yize too! He even has a forbidden-grade Magic Potion that can repair a Soul Origin?! This… this is simply…”
Iguneel was so excited he was incoherent. At the same time, a thought surfaced: ‘And, from what he just said… it seems he’s known of my existence for a long time?’
After calming Swan down, Yize turned around, his gaze falling on Kleya, who was still in a state of great shock and cognitive restructuring.
He walked up to this nominal mentor, his tone returning to calm, even carrying a hint of student-like polite inquiry, but the content of his question shocked Kleya again:
“Teacher Kleya, how do I get to the Empire’s ‘Ten Holy Temples’?”
Yize had left the Betty Territory, followed Riya’s trail, heard about Riya’s heroic exploits, and traveled all the way to the Central Region of the Aolai Empire.
As a result, he heard that Riya’s identity as a Blood Race member was exposed, that she was accused of treason, willingly degenerating into a Blood Race, and even leading Blood Race members deep into the Empire.
In the end, she was captured by that so-called Ten Holy Temples he had never heard of, and was about to be put on trial.
When Yize heard this news, he was so angry he laughed.
He didn’t know if the Imperial Royal Family’s brains had been kicked by a donkey.
Riya was the only combat force on the human side that could suppress the Blood Race.
They should have been worshipping her like an ancestor, but instead they locked her up and prepared to put her on trial?
If Riya had truly betrayed the country, this Aolai Empire would have been gone long ago.
And so, not even half an hour after arriving in the Central Region, he captured all the Blood Pillars and teleported them back to the Starlight Academy Dormitory along the way.
He planned to take them to the Ten Holy Temples to prove Riya’s innocence, and let the Imperial Royal Family see clearly who the enemy really was.
Kleya was silent for a long time.
Previously, from Imperial intelligence, she had learned that the “Silver-haired Strong One” who had swept through the Blood Race was Riya.
Just before Yize’s return, Riya, the heir of the Arsède Family, had been confirmed to have fallen to the Blood Race, and led a large number of high-level Blood Race members to infiltrate the Imperial Heartland with ill intent.
She was now imprisoned by the “Ten Holy Temples” and about to face the highest trial!
Kleya, though she didn’t know what had happened to Riya, thought: If Riya truly intended to harm the Empire, why would she go to such trouble?
Her performance on the Betty Battlefield was clear proof.
Behind this, it was probably a foolish conspiracy instigated by certain forces’ fear of Riya’s terrifying power and their rejection of her “non-human” identity.
Now Yize had returned, followed by a group of “tamed” Blood Pillars, and he was talking about going to the “Ten Holy Temples” immediately.
His purpose was self-evident.
“Are you planning to rescue Riya?”
Kleya took a deep breath, steadied her mind, and asked in a low voice.
Yize nodded frankly, turned sideways, and pointed at the silent Blood Pillars behind him:
“These are the real culprits who invaded the Empire and caused countless killings.”
“Riya becoming a Blood Race was just an accident, and she is not on the same side as them or their master behind them.”
“I need to go and prove her innocence.”
His words were concise and powerful.
Kleya looked into Yize’s calm, rippleless eyes and asked another question that had lingered in her heart for a long time:
“Riya… is actually a woman. You’ve known this all along, haven’t you?”
“I know.”
Yize’s reply had no hesitation.
Hearing this, the last trace of doubt in Kleya’s heart dissipated, replaced by a complex emotion of admiration.
She looked at this student who was both familiar and extremely unfamiliar, and suddenly felt that her titles of “Headmaster” and “Teacher” seemed pale and powerless before the current Yize.
He had long since grown, in the time she had failed to notice, into a massive existence capable of deciding the Empire’s fate and judging racial grievances.
After a few seconds of silence, Kleya seemed to have made a certain decision.
“Let’s go.”
Before leaving, Yize looked at Swan and said,
“I’ll take No.1 away first. I can tell you seem to really hate that guy. Matters of deep grudges like that still need to be avenged by yourself.”
Swan’s heart stirred.
“Thank you, Senior Yize!”