I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 462 The Coffin of Consciousness: The Desire for Life and Death

Zhang Xiaolin had a dream.

She dreamed that she had turned into a seed.

But it was a dried-up embryo that couldn't even be considered a dead seed.

They struggled painfully in a world without soil, rain, or warmth.

She seemed to see herself stretching out her tender bud, struggling and exerting all her strength, but it seemed as if there was a large hand in her mind, holding scissors, easily cutting off the tender bud that she had worked so hard to grow.

It seems to demand that she grow up to look the way the other party expects her to.

She naturally couldn't grant the other party's wish, so she sprouted new buds again and again.

Then it was cut off, it grew back, and then it was cut off again.

Year after year, time seemed to have passed for a long time, so long that she realized she seemed to have lost something precious.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Are you really that at ease?"

Inside the Epang Palace.

Inside a palace called Zichen Palace.

Two wizards dressed in elegant robes sat in armchairs, playing chess and talking.

"Didn't Albus also send his most prized disciple?" The Master picked up a cup of tea, took a sip, put it down, and then placed a black chess piece from the jar. "Since he's not worried, why should I be?"

"She's my best student. Do you really think Xiaolin is any worse than anyone else?"

"Everything within the Tower of Divine Gifts is unknown to us," Professor Zhang Qingqiu said, his face filled with worry. "Even Dumbledore couldn't know everything. Otherwise, the War of the Sea Gods wouldn't have happened."

"I believe her." The Master placed his chess piece again.

"."

Zhang Qingqiu raised his head, his brows furrowing slightly. "Your trust is truly overwhelming."

"The Camelot has been missing for several days, and the Federation's search team has not found any clues. We must prepare for the worst."

"Qingqiu—" The Master raised his head and said gently, "All things in the world, whether they are sipped or drunk, seem to be preordained in the dark."

But the most crucial factor is our choice!

Inside the hall, a bronze cauldron three zhang tall was emitting wisps of hot smoke, and a fragrant aroma wafted through the air.

It appears to be forged from blue steel, with many strange runes engraved on its surface, each rune exuding a vast aura.

The Master calmly continued, "Expressing our true selves is our own choice, and it is more important than the abilities we possess."

"Do you know something?" Professor Zhang Qingqiu asked urgently.

"No—I don't have that kind of talent." The Master's face was filled with a smile, "But there are plenty of old fellows in Chengtian Palace who are well-versed in the Book of Changes."

"I trust Xiaolin because of the destiny she carries. In that endless cycle of reincarnation, she chose to be herself. As long as she holds fast to this belief, she will have the power to defeat the gods."

"You're speaking in riddles, and—I hate speaking in riddles the most," Professor Zhang Qingqiu said with dissatisfaction.

"Haha—I know, but you don't, it's really amusing." The Master suddenly burst into carefree laughter.

Professor Zhang Qingqiu's forehead veins bulged as he watched.

"Alright—" Seeing that his old partner was about to explode and overturn his chessboard, the Master quickly stopped laughing. "That child will come back safely. I promise you."

Besides, I gave her some things before I left.

Those things will protect her.

"Really? What did you give me?" Professor Zhang Qingqiu forced a smile, suppressing the twitching at the corner of his mouth, and asked gently.

"I?"

"I gave her the entire Imperial Academy in Chang'an!"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Zhang Xiaolin's dreams came in fits and starts.

The scenes jump around very quickly.

Many familiar scenes appeared and disappeared repeatedly, like watching some kind of montage video.

A soft, ethereal voice, like that of a goddess, rang in my ears.

Then—she opened her eyes.

I saw a pale purple sea.

A fish swam past her.

A faint pattern of golden light draped across its ray-like shape.

The pale purple sea outlined by the light was filled with countless stars, like the last lights of a dying world.

Zhang Xiaolin stood up and looked at the sea in front of her.

The fish swayed against an ethereal tide, its purple flesh tearing through the water's surface.

It's like cutting open a mirror.

Countless fish leaped onto the surface of the water, like sparks flashing before our eyes.

With a "plop," it sank back into the water.

The light vanished instantly.

The girl was stunned by the beautiful scenery before her, when suddenly she felt something heavy pressing on her heart.

Countless thoughts raced through her mind, pushing her to the brink of madness.

Ms. Zhang had no choice but to close her eyes.

He glanced around out of the corner of his eye.

High above are illusory stars, and beneath one's feet lies an endless ocean.

There was no one else present except her, and even the remaining warmth that belonged to Mr. Basil on her left hand was gone.

She took a deep breath and steeled her resolve.

It was obvious that the other party was targeting her. She had isolated everyone else in order to fight her one-on-one.

The girl tightened her grip on the folding fan. Thankfully, the magic wand was still there, and Zhang Xiaolin couldn't help but feel a surge of joy.

Although with her spellcasting skills, most spells could be cast without a wand without any problem, casting spells with a wand is always smoother and easier.

Just then, ripples suddenly appeared on the pale purple sea.

The fish began to gather, shrink, and twist—aggregating and shrinking into something more recognizable.

They reassembled into a single ellipsoid—resembling a human head.

Next comes the body, and finally the limbs.

A moment later, two figures silently floated down and hovered in front of her.

Those were images of two young wizards.

A boy with short red hair, who looked quite young.

The other one had long black hair; she was a girl and was relatively older.

The two were dressed in exquisite and precious church robes. They wore crowns shaped like sacred trees, one in black and one in white, and each held a longsword.

"What is it?" Zhang Xiaolin frowned, holding her folding fan to her chest as she cautiously looked at the two people in front of her.

"Fugitive—" the two servants spoke simultaneously, "We will begin your trial."

"Huh?" Miss Zhang frowned, looking at the two servants with a puzzled expression.

"I control life—I am the blade of Ionia."

"I control death—I am Diana's blade."

The servants of the god of life launched the first attack.

His longsword gleamed, its platinum color resembling the sun, and when he slashed down, it was as if the sun was shining down.

Miss Zhang glanced at it once and knew she had no chance of escaping, so she simply gave up.

The folding fan slowly opened, and the seawater suddenly surged up, forming waves tens of feet thick in front of it.

Although light can illuminate everything, it cannot illuminate the seabed.

"The Thunder Emperor summons——"

The instant the water was blocked, a blinding bolt of lightning leaped across the surface and struck the servant of the god of life. The lightning, capable of tearing through the sky, struck the servant's chest with irresistible force.

Although the servant of the God of Life's longsword could cleave through the darkness, it seemed powerless under this lightning. He was knocked back several steps by the lightning strike, and the platinum longsword almost slipped from his hand.

The next second, the servant of death suddenly plunged the black sword into the pale purple sea.

In an instant, countless ferocious vines emerged from the seabed and wrapped around Zhang Xiaolin's legs.

"So fast!" Miss Zhang exclaimed in surprise, then immediately cast a spell, "Emperor Yan—"

A fire tornado rose from beneath his feet.

It filled her entire body.

The vines were burned clean.

Then, she suddenly waved her folding fan into the air.

Within the folding fan, two Kunpengs immediately spread their wings and soared into the sky.

Zhang Xiaolin stands atop the Kunpeng.

His eyes were coldly fixed on the two divine servants on the sea.

Those two people—she recognized them somewhat, as if she had seen them somewhere before.

It looks like a newspaper?

The red hair reminded her of Ron Weasley, who had previously appeared in the Chang'an Gazette.

Is the black-haired woman the American witch named Koyatl?

However, after thinking about it carefully for a moment, she realized that she was just daydreaming.

Those two people should be in England, thousands of kilometers away from me.

The man and the woman, one in red and one in black.

They must be the poor souls who fell into the hands of the gods before.

Just like them, they were all swallowed up by the whirlpool.

Now, the gods have taken over their bodies and are fighting against themselves.

"Since that's the case, then let me release the hero."

Zhang Xiaolin squatted on the forehead of one of the Kunpeng, controlling the other to bend down and harass the two divine servants.

She then began to accumulate magical power.

The silent, boundless magic flowed slowly across her folding fan.

Meanwhile, the Kunpeng that had bent down launched an attack on the divine servants.

Those wings, capable of traveling thousands of miles, can stir up hurricanes with just a gentle flap.

The hurricane was like a series of sword blades, slashing at the male and female servants one after another.

After a moment of distraction, the two servants of the gods were ripped apart by the hurricane. In the blink of an eye, as if they had been slashed by countless blades, their clothes and their flesh suffered enormous damage.

Miss Zhang on the other Kunpeng twitched her eyelids—it can't be that simple!

She thought to herself.

Sure enough, as if to verify her idea, after a few breaths, all the injuries on the two divine servants disappeared, as if they had never existed.

The servant of death plunged the black greatsword into the sea once more. Then, countless vines emerged from the seawater like a ladder to heaven. They intertwined, bound, and spread, instantly binding the Kunpeng that had bent down.

The servant of the god of life leaped up the long ladder of vines, his steps swift.

The longsword in his hand suddenly shone with the brilliance of the sun once more.

Under the blazing sun, a sword strikes down.

The sword light pierced straight into the Kunpeng's body, reaching several dozen feet deep.

"Waaah—waaah"

The colossal beast that blotted out the sky let out a mournful cry.

Then it shrinks rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The servant of the god swung his sword twice more, and the giant beast shrank even faster.

Finally, it grew back to the size of a koi fish.

The vine bridge continues to spread upwards, almost reaching the height of the Kunpeng where Miss Zhang is located.

Seeing this, Ms. Zhang's expression turned serious, but she remained unmoved.

Even though the Kunpeng beneath her was severely injured and had begun to shrink, she was still gathering her magic.

Finally, the servant of the gods arrived before her.

Ms. Zhang immediately jumped from the high place without hesitation.

The howling wind roared in her ears.

The instant she fell into the sea, her icy voice suddenly rang out, "Source of the Flow: The Flowing Ocean".

The folding fan unleashed a spell that struck the sea beneath it.

The next second, the sea roared, like a giant beast that had been enraged.

Countless streams of water, crisscrossing and crisscrossing, rushed toward the servant of the god of death.

Giant waves, several feet high, transformed into chains, repeatedly binding the servant of the gods.

This is not a water prison spell.

The creatures bound in the torrent are constantly subjected to the impact of water from all directions, faster and more ferocious than the Niagara Falls. The wizards trapped within it will have their bodies torn apart by the water in just a few seconds, like turning the pages of a thick book, peeling away the skin one by one until only flesh and blood remain.

The servant of death, the black-haired girl, was even more fragile than Zhang Xiaolin had imagined. Although she almost immediately wrapped herself in silent vines, trying to resist, how could vines withstand the erosion of the sea? In just ten seconds, the vines cracked and were instantly retracted, and her body was swept away into a pool of blood a few seconds later.

The remaining servants of the God of Life.

They jumped from a great height together.

"Pfft!"—Zhang Xiaolin fell into the torrent.

In an instant, the water flow became her protective shield, and the sword light that was heading towards her was dispersed by the water flow, while the servant of the God of Life also fell into the torrent.

His fate was not much better than that of his companions.

In the blink of an eye, it was torn apart into a pool of blood by the water flowing from all directions.

"Hmph—I refuse to believe that, after all this, I can still be resurrected."

Looking at the turbulent, seemingly boiling waters of the Purple Sea, Miss Zhang sneered.

Resurrection? What kind of resurrection are you talking about!

The bodies of the two divine servants had become one with the sea.

If she could be resurrected, she would simply drop her wand and collapse on this pale purple sea, without needing to fight anymore.

I surrendered immediately.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Origin Magic - Calamity - Raging Ocean - lasted for a full seven or eight minutes.

Zhang Xiaolin only stopped the spell after confirming that the other party would not be resurrected.

Fortunately, her magical power far exceeded that of others; otherwise, an ordinary person would have collapsed from exhaustion long ago after casting such an exaggerated spell.

The sea returned to calm.

Ms. Zhang stood on the sea surface, but for some reason the water was very shallow for her, only reaching her calves.

She stopped breathing heavily, straightened up, and looked around, fearing that something else might happen.

There were no other living creatures around.

Just as she relaxed a little, she suddenly felt a tightness under her feet.

Then a giant remora emerged from the water, and she was standing on its back.

"Where are you taking me?"

Zhang Xiaolin did not refuse.

No matter what lies ahead, the worst that can happen is death—eighteen years from now, I'll be a hero again!

The remora slowly swung its tail, carrying Zhang Xiaolin forward on the pale purple sea.

She wasn't the only one on the sea; she was accompanied by all sorts of hideous, twisted monsters, stretching to the horizon.

Schools of Void Remoras swam through the area.

Every now and then—dark-looking creatures would emerge from the water. They were bizarre and terrifying. Evil and sinister everywhere.

There's not a single complete image; it's as if the painting was halfway done when all inspiration vanished. It seems its desperate struggle is to achieve completeness!

After traveling for about seven minutes.

An island suddenly appeared on the distant sea.

It's more accurate to call it a shooting star that has fallen into the sea than an island.

The ground was littered with shattered meteorites.

Like sea reefs, they are densely packed.

If a human were to sail here, no matter how skilled the captain, the ship would surely run aground and sink.

Fortunately, the remora is not a sailboat; it twists and turns, skillfully dodging the pebbles.

Finally, the remoras stopped in front of the largest meteorite on the sea surface. Then they sank into the sea.

Zhang Xiaolin looked up and saw, in the distance, what appeared to be an obelisk on the hill-like meteorite.

The black tower was not very noticeable in the dim light, but she was certain it was an obelisk.

Its appearance resembles the one they are digging in Australia.

"Click—"

Suddenly, a blue-white lightning bolt struck from the bottom of the meteorite.

Ms. Zhang's pupils constricted, and she instinctively raised the folding fan.

"Iron Armor Protection"

After barely managing to withstand the attack, her attention finally fell on the person who had ambushed her.

"this--"

Zhang Xiaolin's eyes widened in surprise.

His face was filled with disbelief.

An elderly man, who looked to be around sixty or seventy years old, was standing in the distance.

His hair was gray and his face was full of wrinkles.

He was dressed in a black wizard's robe, the hem of which fluttered gently with his steps, a gray shirt, black trousers, and leather boots.

Looking into his own eyes, he revealed a kind of unruliness and wildness, with a cynical smile on his lips, which seemed to be mocking or contemptuous.

"Grindelwald!"

Zhang Xiaolin's voice trembled slightly; she simply couldn't believe that the real Grindelwald would appear here!

Then the person in front of you must be an imposter.

But why would a god impersonate Grindelwald?

Just to scare yourself?

That should be transformed into the image of a master, at least that way I would be somewhat swayed.

As for Grindelwald, although she had heard many stories about the legendary wizard from Winston, she had never met him in person, only seen his picture in the newspaper.

It would be a lie to say there was no fear, after all, he was a powerful wizard who swept across Europe, but it wasn't that he was terrified.

In short, this enemy's attack style is closer to that of a wizard, making him much more difficult to deal with than the previous two servants of the gods.

Wait—a servant of the gods?

So, does that mean the two servants of the gods were impersonating other people?

So, would you really go after those two little wizards like that?

Zhang Xiaolin shook her head, gathering her scattered thoughts.

"Don't you introduce yourself before you fight? You're just a six-eared macaque with someone else's face on your body," she said in a deep voice.

"Supreme Will - Ionia".

The wizard with Grindelwald's face said with a ferocious expression.

"Ionia?" Miss Zhang raised an eyebrow. "What kind of name is that? It sounds so strange, and shouldn't that be a woman's name?"

"Never mind," Miss Zhang waved her hand. "So, why did you pretend to be Mr. Grindelwald?"

"I—am willing!"

(End of this chapter)