Chapter 455 - 407: Treachery, Part 2

Chapter 455: Chapter 407: Treachery, Part 2

At his words, Shi Jingyi looked down. A thin Shadow Line was rising from the ground, settling into the palm of her left hand.

The Shadow Line then quickly coiled around her wrist a few times, looking like an inconspicuous, thin cord.

"What’s this?" Shi Jingyi chuckled. "Making a bracelet for me out of your shadow?"

"It’s just a precaution. If anything goes wrong, I’ll instantly swap places with it and appear by your side."

"Oh? What a convenient ability. But don’t you underestimate me, either."

"How would I dare underestimate a Martial Arts master like you," Guan Tong said. "But if the enemy decides to fight dirty and gang up on you, there’s no way I’m letting you fight alone."

"...Mm."

Shi Jingyi gave the shadow bracelet on her wrist a deep look, then let her arm fall to her side.

She walked into the gymnasium and stood waiting in the main hall.

At 9:58, the shadows Guan Tong had placed outside the gymnasium saw Lu City appear.

He wore a trench coat and a mask, looking somewhat furtive. His gaze was resolute, yet it held a trace of unease.

He walked into the gymnasium and immediately spotted Shi Jingyi in the main hall.

Quite some time had passed since he’d left the academy. Now, seeing the lecturer again, he noticed that while her clothes were the same, her aura seemed to have changed in some indescribable way.

The moment Lu City entered, Shi Jingyi saw him as well. "Lu City?" she called out.

Lu City took off his mask, his expression complex. "Lecturer Jingyi."

"Where have you been all this time?"

"I..." Lu City started to say something but fell silent.

Shi Jingyi’s brow furrowed slightly.

After a moment of silence, Lu City took a deep breath. "I’m sorry, Lecturer Jingyi. I just want you to know that I have no personal grudge against you... It’s just that I don’t want to lose myself and become a mindless puppet controlled by spores!"

As his words faded, a light began to glow around him.

Shi Jingyi had been about to speak, but her eyes sharpened at the sight of the light glowing around him. "Lu City, whatever you’re planning, it’s not too late to stop. Don’t make an irreversible mistake. I can help you contact the proper authorities and find a way to solve your spore addiction."

"No, it’s too late," Lu City said with a self-mocking laugh. "It’s been too late since the day I left the academy. And now, it’s far too late."

Figures were already flickering within the light around him—the effect of Teleportation Items.

"You..."

"No need to waste any more words on him."

Guan Tong’s voice rang out, not through the Mind Network, but from right beside Shi Jingyi.

Lu City’s eyes widened. Staring at the person who had suddenly appeared, he blurted out, "Lecturer Guan Tong?! Why are you here?!"

At that moment, the people who had arrived via the teleportation also materialized around Lu City—ten of them in total.

Guan Tong’s passive ability, Sensing Malice, allowed him to clearly feel the intense killing intent emanating from them.

"I wouldn’t dare be your lecturer," Guan Tong said sarcastically. "Being your lecturer is a life-threatening occupation."

"..."

Lu City didn’t know why Guan Tong had suddenly appeared, but it seemed he had come with Shi Jingyi and had simply remained hidden until now.

This made Lu City realize he’d been tricked. He turned to Shi Jingyi in anger. "So you never trusted me from the very beginning!"

Guan Tong said coldly, "And as it turns out, you didn’t deserve that trust."

"Attack!"

At that, the ten people who had teleported in beside Lu City attacked in unison, all of them targeting Shi Jingyi.

Their abilities and item effects were instantly laid bare before the eyes of Guan Tong, who possessed the Civilization Observer title.

Shi Jingyi stomped her foot, activating the Mind Martial Technique Repulsive Extreme Step to meet the charge. With a single punch, she sent the nearest enemy flying.

Guan Tong, meanwhile, instantly unfurled his Shadow Realm, plunging the entire gymnasium into darkness in a heartbeat.

Then, one by one, eyes opened from within the Shadow Realm, siphoning the Psychic Power from the enemies trapped inside.

"Dammit, is that Shadow?!"

"Why is Shadow here?!"

"Lu City! What have you done?!"

Trapped within the Shadow Realm, the teleported Parasites immediately realized their enemies weren’t just Shi Jingyi, but Shadow as well.

A combatant of his caliber, capable of single-handedly turning the tide of battle, hadn’t even been part of their calculations for this operation.

Lu City was also completely stunned.

’Lecturer Guan Tong is the infamous Legendary Ascender, Shadow?’

’Even with the backup from the Prophet Sect, he wasn’t completely confident they could take down Shi Jingyi alone. How could they possibly handle Shadow on top of that?’

"These are all Parasites," Guan Tong said to Shi Jingyi through the Mind Network.

Once the Shadow Realm was deployed, his Psychic Power made contact with every individual inside the Domain. When he attempted to connect via the Mind Network, he received a response from all of them.

"What about Lu City? Is he a Parasite, too?" Shi Jingyi asked.

"He’s not," Guan Tong said. "Which makes him even more despicable."

"..."

’To still be human, yet help Parasites try to kill his former lecturer... The term "traitor to humanity" doesn’t even cover it. He’s a backstabbing, perfidious traitor.’

Naturally, Guan Tong wouldn’t let someone like that off the hook.

But before finishing him off, one more step was necessary.

Shi Jingyi was no pushover, either. The moment Lu City chose to use Teleportation Items to bring in Parasites to kill her, any bond between student and teacher was severed.

She said decisively, "Kill these Parasites. Capture Lu City and interrogate him."

"My thoughts exactly."

Guan Tong watched the helpless Parasites trapped in his Shadow Realm with cold eyes. They might have been strong, but inside his greatly enhanced Domain, they were nothing more than lambs to the slaughter.

Reflected Shadow Killing Array!

Guan Tong unleashed the ability he had only recently mastered. The deployed Shadow Realm contracted rapidly, and as it did, countless Shadow Blades slashed at the Parasites from every angle like a combine harvester.

Several died instantly. A few others tried to protect themselves with defensive items, but their defenses were quickly pierced by the Shadow Blades, and they were cut down.

By the time the Shadow Realm had fully retracted, the ten teleported Parasites had been reduced to ten unrecognizable corpses scattered across the floor.

Only a dumbfounded Lu City remained standing, completely unscathed, because Guan Tong had intentionally directed the Shadow Blades to avoid him.

Seeing the Parasite corpses, Shi Jingyi shot Guan Tong a surprised glance. She hadn’t expected him to handle practically the entire battle on his own, leaving almost nothing for her to do.

Snapping back to his senses, Lu City lost all courage to fight. He whirled around and sprinted for the gymnasium exit.

He had only taken two steps before a white blur flashed in the corner of his eye. The next thing he knew, a heavy blow struck his head. His body slammed onto the ground with a THUD, and his consciousness instantly blurred.

’How is this possible... Why is my body so fragile...’

’I can’t believe this. My Psychic Power ceiling is high, and with the spore modifications, my physical constitution should have surpassed that of most Ascenders.’

’So why was I so easily defeated by Shi Jingyi? She nearly knocked me unconscious with a single kick.’

In a hazy blur, he heard Guan Tong’s voice.

"Why’d you pull your kick?"

"...I was afraid I might’ve accidentally killed him."

’And that was her holding back???’

Lu City couldn’t handle the sheer disparity. His consciousness faded completely, and he passed out.

Shi Jingyi stared at the unconscious Lu City, her brow furrowed.

"Why would Lu City bring Parasites here to kill me?"

"That’s what I’m wondering, too." Guan Tong crouched down, pulled a phone from Lu City’s pocket, unlocked it with the man’s own fingerprint, and began scrolling through his messages.

"Any clues in there?"

"Nothing. Looks like we’ll have to interrogate him properly." Guan Tong looked at Shi Jingyi. "Leave him to me. I’ll make him talk."

"..."

Shi Jingyi’s expression soured.

Even though she hadn’t been in any real danger, she still couldn’t make sense of the whole affair.

She believed Lu City had been telling the truth when he said he had no personal grudge against her, but...

"He said just now that he didn’t want to become a Parasite," Shi Jingyi said. "The implication seemed to be that killing me would somehow stop his transformation."

"I got that impression, too. But we’ll have to ask him what the actual connection is." Guan Tong finished speaking and hauled Lu City up. "I’ll find you when I have answers."