High-level martial arts: Long spear with black flames to suppress demons.

The reason why young people like Shen Chang'an still need to study in high school is only one:

That is a fundamental rule of the Night Watchers – “Anchor Point in the Mortal World”.

The higher authorities have explicitly stipulated that all lamplighters must maintain a full period of ordinary human society life during their youth.

Whether you're going to school or working, you must never detach yourself from the masses.

This is to prevent these violent machines, which possess extraordinary powers, from losing their humanity due to prolonged contact with the abyss of demons and ultimately becoming madmen who proclaim themselves gods.

Of course, under normal circumstances, if a lamplighter can break through to the fourth realm before graduating from university, it is already considered an stroke of good luck, and he is an absolute genius worthy of special cultivation.

Someone like Shen Chang'an, who reached the fifth realm at the age of eighteen and even managed to stand up to Gao Sansheng, a district head... is a rare and abnormal figure in the entire Donghuang Kingdom.

Therefore, the price of genius is becoming a nuclear-powered ox or horse that goes to school during the day and catches monsters at night.

......

Shen Chang'an randomly found a budget hotel near the school and booked a room by the hour.

After washing away the fatigue of staying up all night and the smell of barbecue from the previous day, he changed into the clean school uniform he had kept in his backpack, and then strolled into the classroom of Class 7, Grade 12, just as the bell rang for the start of morning reading.

Same as always.

Ignoring the noisy sounds of reciting and chatting around him, Shen Chang'an went straight to the quiet area by the window in the last row, pulled out a chair, sat down, crossed his arms, and buried his face in it.

Read it in one go, and fall asleep in three seconds.

......

My consciousness plummeted, and the noise in the classroom vanished instantly.

When Shen Chang'an opened his eyes again, he was no longer surrounded by a desk piled with test papers, but by an endless space radiating soft white light.

"You're here again."

Shen Chang'an straightened up, stretched his limbs, and looked at the empty white space around him.

This pristine white dreamscape is Shen Chang'an's biggest secret in the world.

From the time he was seven or eight years old, he would be pulled into this space in his sleep from time to time. There was no set pattern to it; sometimes it happened once a month, sometimes only once every six months or more. Counting the time, it had been exactly one month since his last visit.

The moment Shen Chang'an finished speaking.

A ripple suddenly appeared in the pure white space not far in front of him. Immediately afterwards, a pitch-black figure engulfed in intense black flames emerged.

The figure had no discernible face or any details of clothing outline; it was simply a blurry human silhouette formed entirely of pure black flames.

Good morning.

Shen Chang'an naturally raised his hand and greeted the dark figure with a smile.

He and the shadowy figure were old acquaintances, having known each other for over ten years.

Although the dark figure never uttered a single word, Shen Chang'an had long regarded him as his second master.

His domineering and unparalleled black flames, as well as his fiery pupils that could see through the true nature of demons, were all learned in this dream through repeated "one-sided beatings" by this dark figure.

The shadowy figure remained silent, as always.

It casually raised its right hand, and the black flames in its palm surged violently. The next second, a heavy spear exuding overwhelming murderous aura instantly took shape in its hand.

The shadowy figure casually tossed the spear, which flew towards Shen Chang'an in a black parabola.

"Smack."

Shen Chang'an caught it steadily. It felt heavy in his hand, and the gun was covered with familiar, ancient black patterns.

"Hey, isn't this the tribulation cloud I just changed yesterday?"

Shen Chang'an twirled the gun handle, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

"You can even replicate my external equipment in real-time, one-to-one in your dreams? That's pretty advanced."

The shadowy figure ignored his banter. With a flick of its hand, the black flames gathered once more, coalescing into an identical spear of calamity clouds.

Then, the shadowy figure held the gun in one hand and flicked his wrist slightly.

"Clang!"

The dark red spear tip tore through the air, pointing steadily at Shen Chang'an's throat.

The meaning is simple and blunt: draw your gun, then get hit.

"Alright, I just got a new weapon. I only used one move to kill that fourth-tier monster in real life, so I haven't fully gotten used to the feel of this gun yet."

The languid look on Shen Chang'an's face vanished instantly. He bent his knees slightly, adopted a horse stance, and gripped the heavy gun barrel tightly with both hands, one in front of the other, his bones cracking like popping beans.

With a thought, the raging black flames of annihilation surged from his palm and engulfed the entire spear with a deafening boom. The terrifying heat distorted the surrounding white space.

The boy's eyes were sharp, and an excited smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"Then... take this!"

"boom!"

Before he finished speaking, a shockwave suddenly erupted from the pure white ground beneath Shen Chang'an's feet. He charged forward like a cannonball, carrying a cloud of tribulation burning with black flames.

"when--!"

The two heavy spears collided violently in mid-air, producing a piercing metallic clang and a shower of black sparks.

Shen Chang'an's attacks were extremely ferocious, with thrusts, stabs, chops, and sweeps, the hundred-pound spear dancing flawlessly in his hands.

The dark figure held the gun in one hand, moving with the lightness of a stroll, casually parrying and deflecting every fatal attack from Shen Chang'an.

Although he didn't gain any advantage, Shen Chang'an felt that he could still keep up with the pace and even find time to launch a few tricky flanking attacks.

However, this composure lasted for less than a few minutes.

When Shen Chang'an tried to force his opponent back with a powerful sweeping strike, the shadowy figure's movements suddenly changed.

Too fast! So fast that even Shen Chang'an's fifth-realm dynamic vision could only catch a fleeting afterimage.

The spear in the shadowy figure's hand instantly transformed into a venomous snake, smoothly bypassing Shen Chang'an's defensive perimeter at a bizarre angle that completely defied the laws of physics.

"Pfft!"

A remarkably realistic sound of flesh tearing apart echoed through the white space.

The spear tip, burning with black flames, pierced Shen Chang'an's abdomen with pinpoint accuracy, emerging directly from his lower back, while the black flames began to scorch his flesh.

"Well......"

Shen Chang'an's pupils suddenly contracted, his eyes almost popping out.

Before he could recover, the shadowy figure ruthlessly flipped his wrist and suddenly pulled the spear outward!

"Sizzle—!"

A large chunk of flesh mixed with internal organs was sent flying by the barbs!

Unimaginable pain overwhelmed Shen Chang'an's senses like a tsunami.

In this dream, he will not die, and all his wounds will turn into white light and heal quickly in the next second, but the pain that is 100% real is etched into his mind without any difference.

Shen Chang'an clutched his now-recovered abdomen, his face contorted in intense pain, cold sweat instantly soaking his back.

He gasped for breath, taking a good ten seconds to suppress the urge to roll on the ground.

"call......"

Shen Chang'an wiped away imaginary blood from the corner of his mouth with his thumb, gritted his teeth, straightened up, and forced a smug smile that looked more like a grimace: "Damn it... I haven't been beaten in a month, my pain receptors are still a bit off. Let's go again!"

Without uttering a single word, the shadowy figure flicked its spear, transforming it into a black storm of death.

What followed was a brutal and one-sided massacre.

Shen Chang'an's prized combat skills were like those of a toddler learning to walk in front of the shadowy figure.

The shadowy figure's marksmanship had no fixed pattern; every shot came from a blind spot that Shen Chang'an could never defend against.

"puff!"

The spear pierced his heart.

"Snap!"

The gun barrel shattered his kneecap.

"boom!"

The spear tip pierced directly into Shen Chang'an's forehead and exited through the back of his head!

I don't know how much time passed.

Shen Chang'an was riddled with wounds in the white space.

Even though the pain was so intense that his consciousness was almost fading, his pupils, burning with dark red flames, remained wide open, staring intently at every technique the shadowy figure used to exert force, every change in footwork, and every trajectory of his gunshot.

Like a dried-up sponge, he frantically absorbed his opponent's combat experience amidst extreme pain, even attempting to deliver a retaliatory shot in the last second before being headshot.

I don't know how many times I've been "killed," nor how much time has passed in this space where there's no concept of time.

When Shen Chang'an dragged the "Crimson Cloud" and struggled to his feet like a dead dog, his whole body was convulsing uncontrollably.

This time, the shadowy figure did not launch another attack.

It slowly lowered the spear in its hand and gave Shen Chang'an a deep look.

Then, the entire pure white space began to peel away and dissipate, like a shattered mirror.

......

"Bang!"

A sudden, loud bang came from the last row of the classroom of Class 7, Grade 12.

Shen Chang'an, who was sleeping on the desk, suddenly shuddered and his knee slammed hard into the iron pipe under the desk.

He abruptly raised his head, his eyes still lingering with the violent killing intent and pain from his dream, gasping for breath. Every cell in his body was sending phantom pain, as if he had been pierced by a spear, to his brain, causing his fingers to tremble slightly.

He turned and glanced out the window.

The glaring sunlight streamed through the glass and onto the tabletop; it was already noon.

The classroom was empty; most of the students had already rushed to the cafeteria for lunch, leaving only five or six students in the front row.

Startled by the loud commotion Shen Chang'an made, the classmates shuddered and secretly glanced back. When they saw Shen Chang'an's terrifyingly pale face, they immediately looked away as if electrocuted, wishing they could bury their heads in their drawers and not dare to utter a sound.

At that moment, a slender figure walked over somewhat awkwardly.

It was Li Xiwan. She was holding a lunchbox in her hand, clearly having just finished her homework and was about to eat.

"Shen, are you...are you alright?"

Standing a meter away, Li Xiwan looked at Shen Chang'an, who was covered in cold sweat, and asked him softly with some concern.

"You look terrible, are you sick? Should I call the school doctor for you?"

Hearing this gentle voice, the almost tangible murderous intent in Shen Chang'an's eyes gradually dissipated.

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the chaotic spiritual energy surging within his body and the intense phantom pain. Then, leaning back in his chair, he forced a casual smile and waved his hand:

"It's alright, don't worry."

Shen Chang'an stood up and casually patted his sweat-soaked school uniform.

"I just had a nightmare. I dreamt that I got zero on my college entrance exam math test, and it scared me awake. I'm off to the cafeteria for lunch. Bye-bye."

After saying that, he casually closed the book, which was covered in drool marks, put his hands in his school uniform pockets, and strolled out of the classroom with a throbbing head.

Shen Chang'an arrived at the cafeteria, casually ordered a rice bowl with two meat dishes and one vegetable dish, and found an inconspicuous corner to sit down.

As he shoveled rice into his mouth, he habitually took out his phone and opened the Town Night Division's internal app.

The screen showed that Bai Yin's schedule for today's day shift also included a stability maintenance task of "mediating disputes among the lower-level demon race".

"Are these little devils all so hot-tempered lately? They're always getting into conflicts."

Shen Chang'an muttered something to himself. However, he didn't take it too seriously, since such trivial disputes were all too common in the old town. Bai Yin was, after all, a third-realm spirit cat, more than capable of handling such minor situations.