Chapter 54: Mochi, Ancient Battlefield Ruins

Wind-type attack spells were the most effective against the metal array, and the once-foggy sky suddenly brightened.

Everyone present was stunned by the abrupt turn of events. The owl’s speed was simply too fast—some were injured before they even realized what had happened.

The captain’s expression shifted slightly. He led the others in a retreat while speculating about the origins of this magical beast.

The owl was clearly on Xuzhi’s side. Was it one of his companion’s beasts?

From what he’d seen earlier, the captain could tell the owl was incredibly powerful—likely already at the top tier.

Yet in all of Central City, no top-tier wind-type beast tamer seemed to have an owl as their magical beast.

In the brief moment the captain was lost in thought, the owl launched another assault.

It had been ages since it last saw Tomato, but their coordination was still seamless. One deployed an earth array while the other unleashed wind blades, and together the two flying magical beasts pinned down half the beast tamers.

The rest were left for Xuzhi to deal with.

Xuzhi had already figured out the owl’s identity. He withdrew the purple glow from his palm and switched to fire magic, which was easier to pass off as a storage magic array, directing it at the remaining foes.

With the owl’s help, the tide turned in no time.

The Miasma-Clearing Team’s beast tamers were overwhelmed, and the tier 4 earth rat in the back still hadn’t been subdued.

Xuzhi glanced over his shoulder. A tier 4 magical beast, held at bay for so long—it must have absorbed a good deal of black miasma by now.

Unfortunately, there were too many people around. His best bet was to get out of there fast.

After a moment’s hesitation, Xuzhi summoned an earth array to reach Tomato’s side.

Tomato got the hint right away, crouching low to let him climb aboard as it fled.

The owl took one look and whipped out a barrage of wind blades with its wings before slipping away after them.

The captain fended off the wind blades and ordered a few others to reinforce the earth rat, watching powerless as Xuzhi’s figure vanished into the distance.

He pulled out his communication device and reported to the city that the miasma fog signal had been contained successfully. They could proceed with sealing the area—but the suspicious beast tamer had gotten away.

The Miasma-Clearing Team’s priority was the miasma fog. No matter how frustrated he felt, the captain held back from giving chase.

Once the report was sent, he gazed toward the horizon, his brows knitting tightly.

~~~

To shake any potential pursuers, Tomato took a long detour before turning toward the academy.

It was thrilled, chattering away with the owl flying alongside to catch up on old times.

“Tweet tweet! Tweet tweet!”

Long time no see, Mochi! Where’ve you been? Little Dragon and I were just talking about coming to find you! Oh yeah, how’d you know we were here?

The owl’s timing had been perfect. Even if Xuzhi had cut loose with his full strength, those people couldn’t have held him.

Tomato rattled on, but the owl stayed quiet.

When it heard that Little Dragon had wanted to look for it, a flicker crossed its eyes, though it said nothing.

Tomato slowly picked up on the odd vibe. Recalling the owl’s old personality and abilities, suspicion crept into its gaze. “Tweet?”

You knew we were at the academy all along but never came looking for us, didn’t you?

The owl kept silent, its gray eyes darting this way and that.

Xuzhi was messaging Ming Shuang to let him know he was safe. Once he stowed the communication device, he took a fresh look at the beast.

The owl was small—no bigger than an adult’s forearm—with wings of black outer feathers shading to gray within. Two long plumes on its head danced in the breeze.

So this was the fourth of the old “card beasts.”

Xuzhi’s memories had partially returned, leaving him with a vague impression of the owl. It was clever, the strongest of the four magical beasts. Its temper was quirky, but it got along well enough with Ming Shuang.

Xuzhi mulled this over before saying evenly, “Thank you.”

The owl shot him a look that defied description, then glanced at Tomato as if to say, This guy knows how to say thanks?

Tomato let out a couple of tweetish chuckles and explained to the owl that Xuzhi had amnesia now.

It didn’t realize yet that Xuzhi’s memories were coming back—he’d only confided that in Ming Shuang so far.

The owl arched a brow feather. Amnesia, huh?

But then it reconsidered. With Xuzhi amnesiac, did he think it’d shown up just to bail him out?

Pfft! It had only come because it worried Little Dragon would be heartbroken if Xuzhi actually got nabbed!

The owl shot Xuzhi a glare and veered off in another direction.

Tomato freaked and gave chase. “Tweet!”

Where do you think you’re going? That’s not the way!

The owl didn’t so much as glance back. Seeing it was serious about leaving, Xuzhi unleashed lightning and a metal array right there in midair to cut it off.

No outsiders around now—Xuzhi didn’t need to hold back. The owl, taken by surprise, found itself boxed in.

It dodged the lightning nimbly and whipped its head around with a fierce glare. “Hoot!”

What the heck!

It fired back wind blades of its own, but Xuzhi evaded them easily.

“Come back with me,” Xuzhi said.

Ming Shuang fretted over the owl out in the wild. He’d be overjoyed to have it home.

The owl grumbled under its breath and loosed even more wind blades.

Like hell it’d go anywhere with Xuzhi. Think he could catch it like old times? Dream on!

Xuzhi’s face darkened. “You don’t want to see Ming Shuang?”

Tomato was siding with Xuzhi, so the owl pulled its punches to avoid friendly fire. It shattered the metal array in a flash and bolted like lightning into the distance.

Tomato couldn’t keep up and had no choice but to turn back toward the academy.

~~~

Half an hour later, Xuzhi made it back to the academy without incident.

Ming Shuang had been waiting anxiously at the courtyard entrance. He rushed forward at once.

“Awoo!” The Little Dragon hatchling was beside himself with worry, scrambling up onto Xuzhi’s shoulder for a close inspection to make sure he wasn’t hurt.

Xiang Lun had gotten wind of Xuzhi’s run-in and knew there was no hiding it from Ming Shuang, so he’d filled him in.

Xuzhi scooped up the little dragon hatchling. “I’m okay. How’d you turn back into this form?”

Ming Shuang had no answer for that. He just buried his head against Xuzhi’s hand.

The miasma fog crisis had only grown more pressing. The Dragon Clan business tied into the dragon egg’s hatching too—it wasn’t the moment to get into it.

Wu Shao had left the courtyard without telling anyone the exact reason why.

“Glad you’re back safe,” Xiang Lun said from a few steps back. “Though that spot’s probably getting sealed off now too…”

His face was etched with concern. He wanted to fetch Herl so they could hash out next steps.

Xuzhi pitching in to clear the miasma was great, but convincing outsiders he meant no harm? That was the trick.

Should he go demonstrate purging miasma fog right in front of them?

Not to mention his unique heritage. To plenty of folks, the God Clan was ground zero for the miasma fog.

Xiang Lun paused, then told Xuzhi, “If we can’t keep it under wraps, claim the ice magic as yours.”

Going public with his identity meant Xuzhi’s innate talent would be out there too.

Miasma fog outbreaks were ramping up—who knew what else was coming.

Xiang Lun figured they had to safeguard Ming Shuang at minimum.

Xuzhi didn’t hesitate. “Sure.”

Ming Shuang wouldn’t hear of it. His blue-gold heterochromia eyes went wide. “Woo woo!”

Xing Huai translated from the side. “Little Shuang says no—you can’t shoulder it all, Xuzhi.”

The bigger a deal ice magic was, the riskier exposing the talent became.

Countless ice-type magical beasts had been wiped out. Not everyone wanted the heavenly disaster gone.

Ming Shuang saw through Xiang Lun’s scheme: tuck him away out of sight for safety’s sake.

But the ice magic was his, not Xuzhi’s. He wouldn’t stand for it.

Xiang Lun started to argue, then thought better of it. “Relax. I’m just planning for the worst. We’re not there yet… The academy’s got your backs.”

He clapped Xuzhi on the shoulder. “Get some rest. You’ve earned it these past few days.”

Two miasma fog sites still needed handling. Any Miasma-Clearing Team squad sniffing around the academy would have to deal with him and Herl first.

Still, heavenly disaster activity was spiking. The academy needed to gear up.

Xiang Lun mulled it over and pulled out his communication device again.

Reassured by Xiang Lun’s words, Ming Shuang nestled in Xuzhi’s arms, tension easing a touch. Then he overheard Tomato—they’d run into Mochi on the way back, but it’d ditched halfway. No clue where it was now.

Ming Shuang let out a glum “Mm” and peered out past the courtyard walls.

Xuzhi had messaged him about it en route.

Mochi was safe and sound—that much cheered him up. But why bolt instead of coming home?

Too much time apart? Or something more?

Today had thrown everything at him. His mind was a whirlwind.

The Little Dragon hatchling shook its head and kept scanning outward, like it was hunting for something.

Xuzhi paused too, lingering at the corridor’s edge as he gently scratched under the little dragon hatchling’s chin.

Just then, the owl perched in a tree, spying the scene through Thousand-Mile Vision.

Was Little Dragon looking for it?

Everyone knew about its Thousand-Mile Vision. The stretch from the academy walls to the courtyard was child’s play.

Escaping Xuzhi earlier had felt great at the time. But spotting Ming Shuang now? It left a bitter taste.

Should’ve tagged along back with Xuzhi. Tomato said he had amnesia—prime bullying opportunity.

The owl watched a little longer, until Xuzhi carried the little dragon hatchling inside.

~~~

Meanwhile, at the Miasma-Clearing Team Headquarters in Central City.

Reports trickled in from all over—not good news. Today had even seen miasma fog pop up at two spots simultaneously.

Central City had beast tamers to spare, at least, so things hadn’t spiraled into chaos.

Before long, more intel arrived.

Several elders reviewed it together, exchanging baffled glances. “Lobe Academy?”

One Miasma-Clearing Team had dug up something odd—apparently tied to Lobe Academy’s Vice Dean Xiang Lun.

But… Xiang Lun was now three hundred and fifty years old. He had spent most of his life in the academy, and as the Vice Dean of Lobe Academy, his moral character was beyond reproach.

How could he possibly have any connection to the Miasma Fog?

From the looks of things now, it seemed more likely that Xiang Lun had some method to make the Miasma Fog vanish.

And Xuzhi, who had been spotted by the Miasma-Clearing Team, was very likely one of Xiang Lun’s subordinates—or even someone closer to him.

But if Xiang Lun had a way to deal with the Miasma Fog, why hadn’t he informed the Miasma-Clearing Team?

Along with the report came a portrait of Xuzhi.

The portrait had been created using alchemy, making it incredibly lifelike, with almost no difference from the real thing.

After seeing Xuzhi’s face, one of the white-haired elders frowned at first, then carefully picked up the Magic Stone to examine it more closely.

An elder beside him asked, “Do you recognize him?”

“It’s a little familiar, but…”

The white-haired elder pondered intently, and suddenly something occurred to him.

His hand trembled, and the Magic Stone clattered to the floor.

The other elders shot him puzzled looks, only to see him steady himself against the table as he stood and called for an attendant. “Quick! Come with me to the Scripture Pavilion!”

The attendant hurried over and supported the white-haired elder as they left the front hall and headed straight for the Scripture Pavilion.

Once they arrived, he made his way to the bottom level, searching along the labels on the cabinets.

Finally, the white-haired elder stopped in front of the last row of wooden cabinets.

The attendant opened the cabinet at his direction and retrieved a Magic Stone.

The Magic Stone was inscribed with an Alchemy Array that preserved a segment of footage.

The white-haired elder activated the Magic Stone, and an image projected into the air above them.

~~~

Blood winds howled across a battlefield strewn with corpses. Massive half-beastmen with savage faces swung enormous swords and roared in fury.

The footage was ancient, lacking any sound, and the visuals were patchy and incomplete in places. Even so, it was clear this was some kind of battlefield.

Two hundred years ago, the half-beastmen race had gathered their forces in an attempt to seize two cities in the south of Cangyuan Continent.

The half-beastmen were not particularly intelligent, but their martial prowess was extraordinary. They fully exploited their half-human, half-beast physiology, with thick hides, robust builds, and immense strength that human race spellcasters struggled to counter.

Unfortunately for them… they ran into another race along the way.

In the footage, a vast horde of half-beastmen advanced across the plains like a dark, oppressive cloud.

Suddenly, a massive crimson array erupted beneath their feet, and towering flames engulfed the entire force.

Agonized screams rose one after another. Even through the damaged visuals, the chilling sense of total domination was palpable.

At the far end of the plains, several figures appeared.

The man at the forefront wore a black robe, his cold profile illuminated by the firelight.

And there the footage abruptly cut off—unclear even if the person who had preserved it had survived the encounter.

The white-haired elder gripped the Magic Stone tightly and took a deep breath. He instructed the attendant, “Call them… and tell them to send a team to Lobe Academy immediately.”

~~~