CHAPTER 1764: CHAPTER 508 INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE CITY WALLS

Professor Yao’s condition is clearly not right.

Zheng Qing is unsure whether it is magic backlash or a real injury, but he can see that the professor’s spirit is in a very delicate state, seemingly unconcerned with everything around him at the moment.

A few hunting teams hurried over from beneath the parapet, seemingly wanting to consult the professor. But immediately, the figure of Sun Qi, the headmaster of Starry Sky Academy, stood in front of them and said in a solemn voice:

"Report any issues to us."

"Professor Yao needs to adjust his breath, do not disturb him for now."

As they spoke, Tilda Strange, the acting headmistress of Alpha Academy, stood on one side of Professor Yao, guarding him; even Atlas’s headmaster, Urelban, who had previously forcibly used ’type sacrificial magic’, sat at the foot of Professor Yao, enduring the aftereffects of magic backlash, his face pale, head down, holding his hands as if silently praying.

In the depths of Zheng Qing’s mind, that seed of forbidden curse opened five leaves, one of which headed towards Professor Yao’s direction, moving step by step, as if dancing, while the energy flowed and the leaf kept growing.

The young scholar vaguely guessed something, a hint of joy appearing on his face.

Just then, the roar of the Mist Captain from outside the wall rang out like thunder, shaking the entire world:

"You actually used a forbidden curse!"

"This violates the contract!! Do you want to provoke a full-scale war between wizards and demons? Do you want to destroy the whole world?!"

This voice immediately drew the young wizard’s attention back outside the city.

Then came a series of dazzling developments—from Mr. Zhuge of the Divination Group at the Octagonal Tower explaining ’this is not a forbidden curse’, to the Bone Relic on Giant Zero Three’s forehead bursting into endless light, then to the leaders of the Heaven and Earth Xuanhuang Array asking ’Who is below Xuan?’, and a bone giant clad in splendid wardrobe, holding a sword proudly answering ’My name is Tai Yi’ ’I am the heaven’.

It all happened in a very short time.

These young wizards witnessed quasi-legendary confrontations, quasi-forbidden curse bombardments, such powerful magic that dazzled the eyes, and such mysterious spells that stirred one’s heart—sights that many ordinary wizards had never seen in their entire lives.

Then there was the sudden arrival of an eye in the center of the battlefield.

The eye was quite small, about the size of a bucket, with a diameter of less than a meter, in the vast Black Prison battlefield, it was like a grain of sand falling into the sea, completely unobtrusive.

But the eye was also very large, merely by being there, everyone—whether demon or wizard, whether registered level or higher order—felt as if the eye was right in front of them, seemingly within reach.

Including Zheng Qing.

He felt that the blood-red pupil, with its long and narrow, deep-seated gaze was fixed firmly on him, giving him an intense feeling of losing balance, as if plummeting into an abyss.

"Silence and think!"

In his ear, came the clear incantation of the female headmistress of Alpha, like thunder exploding next to Zheng Qing’s ear, as if someone reached out, grabbed his collar, and pulled him back from the feeling of drowning forward.

The young man composed himself, gasping for breath, cold sweat streaming down, no longer daring to look at that bizarre eye outside the city. Around him, the other hunters of the Atonement Hunting Team, including the black-robed wizard guarding the city, were not doing any better than he was, which offered him a bit of comfort.

Next to him, Jiang Yu also reached out in time, clutching the corner of the young wizard’s robe.

A touch of clear light spread along the witch’s arm and hand, quickly enveloping Zheng Qing entirely, as if coating him with a film of clear light. The distortion felt from the eye grew weaker, almost to nothing.

Zheng Qing turned his head, the witch barely smiled at him, her lips somewhat pale, her face equally ashen, in her other hand gripped a jade pendant carved with images of many magical creatures, which was emitting a faint clear light.

A little farther away, Xiao Xiao had already raised his old turtle shell, with a faint golden light struggling to envelop the other hunters of the Atonement Hunting Team.

On the walls, the wizards defending the ancient castle, grouped in threes or fives, raised their law books, and between the book pages, weak but steadfast clear light bloomed, one after another, painting a precarious hue.

"Silence and think!"

"Silence and think!"

Outside the city, the incantations of the calming spell echoed from all directions, starting with the voices of a few top master wizards, and swiftly the chanting spread, with every wizard who regained composure joining in, jointly resisting the corrosion of that eye. Even many witch demons quietly murmured the true word.

For a moment, the might of the calming spell seemed to eclipse the entangling energy of ’Xuanhuang’ and ’Tai Yi’, only the eye in its flight, laughing recklessly, still faintly plotting.

"We must stop it!"

"That’s the Sea Demon King! A top legendary being! How do we stop it?!"

"It only has an eye left!"

"Why not wait a bit longer, Professor Shi will be out soon."

"By the time she comes out, it will be too late... who knows what that legendary monster wants to do?"

A few headmasters were arguing in low, intense whispers not far away, seemingly wanting to take action but were filled with apprehensions. Zheng Qing instinctively glanced outside the city, the corner of his eye catching a splash of five-colored brilliance emerging from the black sphere atop the iceberg, suggesting something new was coming out.

Zheng Qing’s hand involuntarily rested on the gray cloth bag at his waist.

He wasn’t really intending to launch an attack on the eye or the Sea Demon King, he just wanted to hold onto something, to protect those around him, to make himself feel safer.

His fingertip first touched the cold handle of the charm gun, Zheng Qing hesitated for a few seconds before continuing further down. His thoughts were clear, even with a few blood talismans left, even with their great power, they were unlikely to be effective against that terrifying eye. Rather than firing recklessly in fear and causing new injuries, it was better not to fire at all from the start.

He certainly did not want the story of the Red Sky Pillar to replay before his eyes.

Beneath the charm gun was the warm cover of a law book. The law book borrowed from the library only transcribed some ordinary spells, and that specially customized law book had already turned blank after the fall of the long red sky pillar, of no use anymore.

Below the law book was a jumble of talismans, talisman pens, blank yellow paper, inkstones, peach wood talismans, and other miscellaneous items, which usually seemed useful, but at this moment felt unusually cumbersome.

In the chaos, his fingertip touched something icy and hard, Zheng Qing paused and took it out.

It was a pocket watch.

The casing was cool to the touch, with the silver-white coating faintly glimmering, Zheng Qing’s fingertip could clearly feel the uneven carvings on the casing, along with the immense magic confined within.

Every strand and wisp of that magic was shouting through his fingertips, seemingly yearning to be released.