High School of Demon Hunting

The moment the words "forget it" left his mouth, Zheng Qing suddenly felt much lighter, and even the air in the dormitory seemed to become clearer.

The heavy rain outside the window subsided slightly, and a few golden rays of sunlight fell in the distance, gradually brightening the world.

Zheng Qing suddenly remembered something he heard during his freshman year.

It was a discussion among a few freshmen about the four academies. Back then, Tang Dun, who was not yet the class monitor, made a very subjective summary about the characteristics of Jiuyou Academy students—the fundamental reason that distinguishes Jiuyou from the other academies is ’pride,’ the pride flowing in the blood, the pride buried deep in the heart, the pride imprinted in the depths of the soul.

Unknowingly, he seemed to have become a true Jiuyou Person.

"—It’s just a second author, don’t feel any weird burdens." Doctor Xiao obviously did not expect Zheng Qing to refuse his suggestion again, showing a hint of helplessness on his face: "After all, you’re the owner of those sprites, being listed as an author on the paper is very reasonable..."

"Since they’ve successfully transformed, they’re free now. Don’t use terms like ’owner’ anymore." The young man corrected very seriously.

"Your statement is really contradictory."

The Fat Wizard scratched his chin with a tone of mild irritation: "On one hand, you talk about ’freedom,’ while on the other hand, you grant the sprites ’equality’... truly both Alpha and Jiuyou... never seen anyone like you."

Freedom is Alpha’s slogan, equality is Jiuyou’s principle. From this perspective, Zheng Qing’s decision was indeed as conflicted as his statement.

Xiao Xiao turned to look at the Fat Wizard who had just spoken.

"Second author for you?" He switched targets.

The Fat Wizard smacked his lips as if tasting a sour plum candy, finally shook his head with difficulty, sighed, and refused: "No need... my Alchemy grades are just so-so, even getting a second author in ’Alchemy’ is meaningless. If it were an article in major journals like ’The Crucible,’ ’Materia Medica,’ or ’Samadhi Fire,’ I might just shamelessly try to piggyback... My future path really has little to do with Alchemy. Besides, you know, I work in journalism on the side. If it ever gets out that someone of my dreadful Alchemy level managed to squeeze into a paper, it would look terrible, really terrible."

Xiao Xiao adjusted his glasses and couldn’t help but laugh.

"Ha, I can’t believe a second author in ’Alchemy’ doesn’t interest anyone?" He shifted his gaze to the last member in the dormitory.

Dylan’s head drooped at the edge of the coffin, his hair hanging down like a curtain hiding his dark red eyes.

He didn’t directly reject the doctor’s kindness.

Instead, he brought up something seemingly unrelated.

"Did you guys know that?"

Mister Blood Werewolf’s voice was tinged with some emotion: "When I was a child, I often heard those elder siblings mingling in the Mortal World say a phrase—everyone wants to be a vampire—for the effortless power, the physiological pleasure of feeding, and the first embrace."

He shook his head.

Zheng Qing blinked, an intricate expression on his face. Because two images of vampires simultaneously emerged in his mind, both somehow fitting this concept—one being a vampire in the biological sense, the other a vampire in the capitalist sense.

One must admit, nine years of compulsory education and three years of high school have had a profound impact on his worldview.

"So?" Xiao Xiao stroked the fine fuzz on the feather pen, waiting for Dylan’s final answer.

"So I can’t be that degenerate."

Mister Blood Werewolf brushed aside the long hair drooping in front of his eyes, his gaze somewhat complex: "Only those low-bred, or even bloodless guys would find effortless power so delicious... but for the true Blood Race, they’re just puppets, cannon fodder, and blood bags. I think these principles apply here as well."

"Damn it!"

The Diviner of the Yuzui Hunting Team exhaled long and shook his head, tidying up the papers on the table, but with a smile on his face: "First time hearing students of Jiuyou Academy not wanting top journals... quite eye-opening!"

Before the words were finished, a furry paw landed on his arm, halting Xiao Xiao from gathering the parchment papers.

The Warlock looked down and saw a furry, chubby face.

The paw stretching out was Tuan Tuan’s.

He silently looked at the paw, then at his parchment.

"You want a second author?" He was somewhat unsure of his own thoughts and tentatively asked.

The chubby face of the Fat Cat immediately showed a friendly smile, the paw quickly dipped into the ink tray beside it, then left a clear paw print on the parchment with a return swipe.

"—Even cats are more positive than you guys!" Xiao Xiao raised his head, staring meaningfully at his companions.

Zheng Qing smirked: "I just like turning into a cat, doesn’t mean I am one... being human is quite nice. As the saying goes, ’Man follows earth, earth follows heaven, heaven follows the Way, the Way follows nature.’ This matter, let it take its natural course... Umm, speaking of ’the Way follows nature,’ the journal ’Nature’—I suppose the name originates from these four characters? What about ’Magic’ then?"

"Magic Power and the Law." Such obscure knowledge was only known to Xiao Xiao.

"What about ’Alchemy’?"

"—It certainly isn’t about refining gold; it should be about Alchemy."

"By the way, second-year students daring to submit to ’Alchemy’ now, you couldn’t even imagine that decades ago!"

Dylan, who had already reclined back in the coffin, suddenly lamented, his voice sounding somewhat muffled under the pressure of the coffin lid: "And look at those who become Upper House Members right after graduation, or those who advance to Big Wizard before even graduating... this world just keeps getting more competitive, leaving us ordinary folks with nowhere to go!"

"If you’re an ordinary person, then all other wizards should become Tricksters." Zheng Qing retorted.

"But about this ’competition,’ the other day I saw an interesting theory in the library." Xiao Xiao’s hands slowed slightly as he rolled up the parchment, as if recalling the article: "—It was roughly saying ’involution is the law of heaven and earth,’ the most natural outcome, which is why Jiuyou Academy, which advocates ’competition,’ aligns most closely with truth."

Zheng Qing suddenly felt a Déjà vu, like the first time he heard ’time can measure everything.’

He suppressed the urge to retort, patiently continuing to listen.

"—From the birth of life to the birth of the world, everything between heaven and earth is born under involution." Doctor Xiao continued to elaborate on his radical theory: "In the distant, such as galaxies having a ’spiral’ shape; in the near, such as planets being formed by the involution of gases, rocks, and dust under the influence of gravity—colliding into small stones, then larger stones, until becoming planets; down to a more microscopic level, even from the moment life is born, genes record the shape of ’involution.’ Therefore, everywhere under heaven and earth, there is involution, always involution, everything is involution... involution is the truth of all things."

Zheng Qing felt a toothache.

He had reason to suspect this radical theory stemmed from some unknown department researcher, aiming to explore new methods for Curse Convergence.

In the coffin, Dylan suddenly peeked out again after only a few minutes, shouting at Zheng Qing: "Oh, and, Mr. Zha, when you return, Professor An from your academy’s academic office asked me to remind you that registration for the shape-shifting wizard exam starts today, so you should head to the office to pick up the registration form early..."

"Get lost!"

Zheng Qing wasn’t fond of his new nickname.