Daily life of a teacher in the martial arts department

Chapter Fifty-One: Defeat

"They're all gone..."

The Red Emperor and Cain left one after another, shifting the battlefield. Only the remnants of the Black Dragon's party remained beside the huge pillar of light.

Himura Tan's mind started racing again. She subtly turned her body to look at the huge pillar of light.

Anyone can enter this pillar of light... and from a mystical perspective, as long as you enter and are alive, you are qualified to inherit the ancestral destiny. However, usually, the person who holds the ceremony is the first in line to inherit.

"If I go in now..."

The moment the thought crossed Hisumura Tan's mind, he felt a blinding gaze. He looked in the same direction and followed the source of that gaze... to the mysterious man in black robes.

He was watching Himura Tan's eyes, hidden beneath his black robe, which sent a chill down Himura's spine.

"...I'm afraid it's not an opportunity."

After careful consideration, Himura Tanzakura finally gave up.

The mysterious man's warning on the plane planted the first seed in his heart, and Ji Chaoge's godlike performance today, which controlled the entire scene, allowed that seed to sprout. Now that such an opportunity has come, but with this black-robed man standing here... Hiyoma Tan's wife can't see any hope. If she forces a move, she'll probably just lose her life in vain.

"But if this opportunity is lost, what other chance will I have..."

After making the decision to give up, Hiramura Danzai had this thought in his mind: he knew there would never be such an opportunity again. Therefore, he had no choice but to work for the Black Dragon Emperor and look forward to the ancestral destiny promised by him.

"Ji Chaoge, what's the story behind this name?"

"The Red Emperor, Ji Qiuming, could it be... the Night Sky..."

Leaving aside the decision already made by Himura Tanzaku, on the other hand, the Red Emperor has been driven to the brink of despair by Cain.

He cast several spells without chanting... Not to mention chanting, there wasn't even a hand gesture or a pre-cast animation. Even if the divine heart had written something on the blackboard beforehand, you still had to tap the blackboard as a hand gesture when you actually wanted to use it. Cain, on the other hand, just stood there, posing like he was on an ancient dragon movie set, and the spells just rained down on him, with terrifying power and a wide range of impact.

If it were just simple magic, with the Red Emperor's current strength, dodging or blocking it wouldn't be difficult. But the absence of chanting and hand gestures is a qualitative change. It not only means saving the time spent chanting, but also means that magicians can now break through the restriction that "two spells cannot be used at the same time".

When a magician uses multiple spells at the same time, the difficulty of dodging is more than doubled. The spells complement each other, and since they are all cast by the same person at the same time, their minds are in sync, leaving absolutely no chance to dodge. Not to mention that each of Cain's attacks covers an area of ​​hundreds of meters in radius.

If these attacks can be blocked with internal energy, then it's not a big problem. The Red Emperor's current state... well, let's take Ying Qin Guan as an example. If Ying Qin Guan's internal energy is 1000, and he recovers 10 points of internal energy each round, then the Red Emperor currently has 200 points of internal energy. But he can recover 50 points each round; with that amount of recovery, attacks that can be blocked with internal energy aren't a problem.

However, Cain's magic possessed a peculiar corrosiveness and penetrating power, like a staff of the void. Several attacks shattered the Red Emperor's inner energy barrier. Had the Red Emperor not been the progenitor, he would likely be dead by now.

"Things have actually come to this..."

The Red Emperor faced an unprecedented peril in his millennia-long ancestral life. However, he did not lose his composure too much; the ancestors possessed incredibly long lifespans. For them, losing their lives was not unacceptable; many ancestors had grown weary of it. While the Red Emperor was not weary, he did not value life too highly either.

For the progenitors, living according to their own desires was more important than simply living... However, most of the progenitors never even had the chance to experience the feeling of death.

That being said, we still have to put up a fight; who wants to die when they can live?

"Cain! Cooperating with him is like dealing with a tiger for its skin! Don't think that everything will be fine just because you've seen his memories!"

On the side of the invisibility, several spells exploded without being chanted.

"On this point, having seen his memories, I should have more authority to speak than you... The Red Emperor, he told you several times today that you misunderstood him. In fact, we have indeed misunderstood him several times and had incorrect perceptions of him. His tolerance for others is much higher than you imagine... Moreover, given the individual differences between us, it is he, not me, who should be worried about betrayal."

"It's the same! He's worried, or knows, that you're going to betray him, so he'll strike you beforehand. It's a nested problem, do you understand?!"

The Red Emperor sidestepped and sprinted forward, his inner energy covering his entire body. However, Cain's casting speed was too fast and his attack range too large.

A massive golden sphere condensed in mid-air 300 meters above the ground. Intense aurora suddenly shone down, slicing through everything the moment it hit the ground. Violent explosions rang out one after another, and the light transformed into thousands of sharp blades, roaring as they cut through everything.

“I completely understand.”

Amidst a series of deafening roars, Cain smiled and spoke, “I’m sure he understands that, but you’ve misunderstood me again. Although they say I’m going to destroy the world, I won’t do it unless absolutely necessary. So there’s no reason for us to be enemies, and I don’t believe he’s a mad dog that bites indiscriminately… Besides, even if he really did attack me, so what?”

Amidst a terrifying roar, the ground was vaporized, dust rose bit by bit, and was then crushed into nothingness. The deafening sound echoed, turning everything within a radius of several miles into ashes. The intense light seemed to pierce through people's eyes and skin, penetrating all the way to their internal organs.

Forbidden spell? Light.

Despite being supplemented and perfected by three generations of god-level magicians—the Ring of Truth, the Burning Demon, and the Autumn Water—this forbidden spell still couldn't truly take shape. Cain found the corresponding document for this spell in the basement of the Black Dragon Ruins and perfected it. This was its first appearance in the world, and its terrifying power made the remnants of the Black Dragon Party, seven kilometers away, tremble.

Cain said softly:

"If people know they will die someday, do they have any way to resist death?"

"Like, you right now... hmm?"

Without Cain making any move, the huge ball of light in mid-air suddenly dissipated, and the next moment, a gale blew up around Cain, sweeping away all the smoke and embers in the arena in an instant.

Cain looked up and saw that the area within a radius of several thousand meters was completely empty... nothing was left, trees, land, mountains, rivers, vegetation, everything had been overturned by him.

Cain showed a hint of curiosity. He closed his eyes, communicated with the "door," and then his spirit entered it, scanning the area... There was no sign of the Red Emperor... Not only the Red Emperor, but even the Earth Mother Goddess, who had been there not long ago, was gone.

"He escaped... but that's not the kind of tactic he'd use."

The prey that should have been caught escaped, but Cain was not discouraged. He had already guessed who was behind it and what price the other party would have to pay.

"History today is not a blank slate..."

Chapter Fifty-Two: The Reborn

(PS: If I update at midnight on the 25th, that will be two more chapters to make up for the 60-word debt. If I don't update, then this chapter will be the update from the 24th, and I will still owe 62 words.)

"Well.."

Ji Qiuming awoke from his deep sleep with a sudden, inexplicable splitting headache. He instinctively reached for his head, but any movement sent shivers of pain through his body.

If an ordinary person were in this situation, they would definitely be wincing in pain by now. But Ji Qiuming was not. After noticing the pain in his body, he immediately opened his eyes and looked around to assess his situation.

He has two things he is very good at: silence and patience. The former was something he was forced to develop, and the latter was also something he was forced to develop.

Ji Qiuming quickly looked around.

This was an ordinary living room. He was sitting on the sofa, facing a silent fireplace. The blue and white floral curtains were half-drawn, and a scorching ray of sunlight shone in, becoming the only light source in the room. It seemed that no one had lived there for some time, as there was a thin layer of dust on the coffee table.

"Are you awake?"

A muffled voice sounded from behind, and along with the voice came Ji Qiuming's already riddled body. He sprang up almost instantly, his inner energy covering his palms, forming claws, and reached behind him.

However, he only managed to complete half of his action when he encountered the same situation that Hisumura Danzai had faced before: the world turned gray and white, and time seemed to stand still... Of course, it didn't actually stop.

The translucent Ji Qiuming was swept away from his original body by the enormous inertia of the claw. He looked up in shock and could only see a blurry figure.

"Calm down... Ji Qiuming, there's a very important question I need to ask you again... What's the date now?"

"..?"

Faced with such a sudden turn of events, Ji Qiuming, who was already preparing to take action but had not yet figured out what was going on, was taken aback by this question.

"Your memory has become out of sync with the world. I had to rewind your memories to save your life. Now, answer me. This answer is very important and directly relates to your life."

".."

However, Ji Qiuming chose to remain silent.

Unlike his smooth encounter with Himura Tan's wife, who was very cooperative and worked seamlessly with the elusive figure, asking only what was appropriate and remaining silent on what wasn't, Ji Qiuming was different. He didn't know what he should or shouldn't ask, what he should or shouldn't say... Silence was his only option.

—Why not take action?

—I just woke up, my mind wasn't clear, and I was too wary, so I acted instinctively. If I act now, it's not just being wary, it's courting death.

Seeing Ji Qiuming's lack of cooperation, the hazy figure sighed softly.

He snapped his fingers lightly, and a massive amount of memories instantly flooded into Ji Qiuming's mind.

July, mythical creatures in full bloom, Ji Chaoge, rituals, the Red Emperor, Cain, forbidden spells...

Everything rushed into his mind, but he didn't experience the splitting headache that usually occurs after receiving memories in novels. He didn't know if it was because the blurry figure technique was good, or because the amount of memory was too small, or because these were supposed to be Ji Qiuming's memories, or even because there was no problem with the memories being stuffed into his mind. It didn't matter.

Ji Qiuming was somewhat dazed... Ji Chaoge, this name, Ji Fenming had told him before, it was their eldest brother's name. Ji Fenming had once thought that the other had perished in that sea of ​​fire, but why...?

What a mess!

too messy!

A whole month's worth of memories suddenly flooded in, mixed with such a massive amount of information. Although there was no headache, just sorting through the vast majority of the information would take a long time.

The hazy figure wasn't in a hurry; she waited quietly until Ji Qiuming figured everything out.

After several seconds, Ji Qiuming finally sorted out all the important memories from the extra month that had appeared out of nowhere, and at the same time gained a certain understanding of his current situation.

He spoke in a low voice, "June 28th...that's the date I remember 'today'."

"As you see in your memories," the hazy figure said, "Today is July 31st... You, or rather the Red Emperor, are about to be killed by Cain. I have no other way to save you from both Cain and the Red Emperor, so I can only rewind your 'entire' memories to an unknown time... A month? That's not good news. Because a month later, the Red Emperor will awaken from your body. Ji Qiuming, your life is almost over."

"..." Ji Qiuming was silent for a moment, then shook his head and said softly, "I am very happy because I have one month left, and in this month, I will have enough strength to accomplish what I want to do."

"..." Ji Qiuming's answer made the hazy figure momentarily saddened. She whispered, "Don't you want to settle things with your elder brother?"

"Why should I settle things with him?" Ji Qiuming asked rhetorically, clearly puzzled.

...There is a certain difference in intelligence among the three brothers. If Ji Chaoge were here, he could guess a lot from just this one sentence.

The hazy figure sighed and said, "I just hope so."

".."

After another moment of silence, Ji Qiuming spoke, asking the question he should have asked long ago, and one he knew was unlikely to get an answer to.

"Who are you, and why did you save me?"

"Knowing this will not benefit you. You have seen Cain's methods. If I tell you, it will only increase the risk of exposure for no reason, not to mention the Red Emperor inside you."

The hazy figure indeed chose to refuse... but it was slightly better than what happened with Himemura Tan's memories. Even if she had told Himemura Tan's memories back then that her own memories would be seen and she would be exposed, Himemura Tan's Tan's Tan would likely not have believed her, and being seen would have increased the risk of further exposure. Now, from Himemura Akemi's perspective, this statement was perfectly acceptable. So she spoke it aloud. Faced with a player like Cain who possessed X-ray vision, the Riddler had no choice but to act this way. If she had revealed everything to just anyone, she feared she would have been exposed very quickly. After all, Cain was a master of the ultimate technique, capable of flying across the entire map, coming and going as he pleased, and directly reading memories.

Ji Qiuming nodded silently and asked, "Is there anything you need me to do?"

The blurry figure shook its head.

"That..?"

"You have about a month left to live. The Red Emperor chose to recover prematurely, so his condition was not complete. This time, without Ji Chaoge's stimulation, he may choose to recover naturally, and his slumber will be a little longer. But in any case, your remaining lifespan will not exceed one and a half months... Do what you want to do and let nature take its course."

Ji Qiuming remained calm, showing no resentment or bitterness about having only a month and a half to live.

He was always good at enduring and remaining silent, but this matter required neither endurance nor silence, because he didn't care about his own life anyway.

The Rebellious Ghost is truly a failed creature, and Ji Qiuming is arguably the most successfully evolved and perfect Rebellious Ghost. However, this Rebellious Ghost defies the instincts of living beings, possessing an extremely weak will to survive, making it the complete opposite of the Undying Worm.

He said in a low voice, "...I understand."

In fact, even if Ji Qiuming... no, even if Ying Qin Guan were here, he should have guessed the identity of the hazy figure by now, but whether he guessed it or not, it would be the same.

The hazy figure nodded and whispered, "I won't come to save you again. Everything from now on is up to you. If you have some incredible stroke of luck and escape the Red Emperor's corruption, then perhaps we'll meet again. If we're both still alive then, let's have a good talk."