The Principal?
Sweat poured down Bai Zhou's forehead.
Only at close quarters could one truly grasp the sheer, crushing oppression radiating from this man!
The gravity in the air seemed to have shifted, leaving Bai Zhou feeling as if he were mired in a swamp.
This man was without question a Level 6 being—or perhaps even stronger!
Bai Zhou could not perceive a single one of his movements. Far from mustering any battle intent, his body instinctively wailed and shrank back before this Principal.
It was an absolute suppression born of a disparity in life stages, like a mouse on the ground looking up at a goshawk soaring through the sky.
Incomprehensible! Impossible to match!
On the surface, the man calling himself Principal wore a tailored suit, but up close, one could make out the deep, crisscrossing furrows of wrinkles carved across his face.
They were the marks left by time, yet they did not make him appear aged; instead, one caught fleeting glimpses of blade and sword light seared into his flesh.
A man like this had no business being in this ruined, moldy school building strewn with debris. He should have traded the white rose pinned to his lapel for a red one and attended some glittering ball in full regalia.
Yet there he stood with a white rose on his chest, as if bound for a solemn funeral—or preparing to bury someone himself.
There was no monstrous ferocity to be seen, nor any undisguised murderous malice—
Yet the sight of him made Bai Zhou feel like the mushroom-picking girl who stumbled upon the Big Bad Wolf lying in bed disguised in Little Red Riding Hood's cap.
Grandma was right there, lying with her back turned in her red cap, her voice kind and gentle—yet a creeping horror gripped him, as though something dreadful could strike at any moment.
The old man in the suit seemed to be in high spirits, but once the wolf shed its disguise, its bloody jaws would snap open to devour its prey—
Flamboyant as a butterfly flaunting its vivid wings, the man strode down the decrepit corridor in his splendid attire, yet his sweeping gaze was that of a beast patrolling its domain.
"Youth. I understand—rebellious and brash."
The Principal murmured beside Bai Zhou. As he passed, a breeze tinged with the aroma of cigars brushed against Bai Zhou's face, their profiles briefly pointing in opposite directions.
"Back in my day, I was quite the popular young man myself—academically brilliant, impeccably poised. The boys were proud to call me a friend, and the girls looked upon me with special favor.
"I even held a copy of *The Stranger* on a bridge, pretending to be a brooding literary intellectual, while stealing glances with my friends at the calves of passing girls.
"—Though that was in university, after graduating high school."
He paused for a moment.
The Principal narrowed his eyes and shook his head. "I have always believed that there is a time for everything, and at any given time, one must do what is appropriate—such as studying.
"You cannot squander your youth when you ought to be studying, only to regret your lack of diligence when it comes time to enjoy life—
"And you certainly must not thank Yuanmeng Middle School only when you test into a key high school!"
The Principal seemed deeply impassioned on this point, earnestly lecturing Bai Zhou like a wayward, rebellious student who had gone astray.
"After all, we may be beasts of burden, workhorses, and cattle, but we are certainly not cats; we cannot get by with free food and drink just for letting someone stroke our fur."
Bai Zhou: "..."
*A bit presumptuous. What if I really could turn into a cat?*
At that moment, the Principal's gaze swept over Bai Zhou, causing him to freeze up completely, feeling as naked and exposed as if he had plunged into ice water.
"Therefore, you really should not have challenged the rules I set down. It was all for your own good."
The Principal's voice paused here.
Then, he looked straight at Bai Zhou.
"When you challenge the rules, you ought to be prepared to be swallowed by them as well. Isn't that right?"
Here it was.
The dagger revealed at the end of the unrolled map!
The Principal had not moved a muscle, yet Bai Zhou felt something pressing hard against his throat. A colossal pressure steadily shoved him into the corner, trapping him there with no way out.
"Senior, you—"
Seeing that "Senior Zhou" was utterly helpless before this newcomer, the trio of Number 9 made to move. Two turned their heads, intending to flee, while Number 9 looked toward Bai Zhou, gathering the courage to say something.
But in the end, they could not carry out any action whatsoever—including speaking.
"Guh—ngh!"
Their throats constricted like drowning men. The words on Number 9's lips dissolved into meaningless groans, their faces warping under the immense compression.
The invisible pressure flowing through the air pervaded everywhere. Standing motionless was bearable, but the more one struggled, the more terrifying the compression crushing in from the air became!
What in the world was this Principal's ability?!
Drenched in sweat, the trio gradually gave up their struggling, their eyes growing dull as all hope vanished.
They could not rely on the cameras pinned to their chests either.
Ever since this man appeared, not a single directive had come through the walkie-talkies. Who knew whether the big shots in the command vehicle couldn't see the feed or were simply all dead?
Number 9 and the other two cursed inwardly, drowned once more in despair.
Countless perils lurked within this campus, but this time... it seemed they had run into the toughest final boss imaginable!
"However, I can offer you another chance."
Bluntly speaking, the Principal had never paid the slightest attention to Number 9's trio.
Stepping forward, he walked over to the corner and stood before Bai Zhou once more, his rich, resonant voice murmuring, "You really ought to consider whether you want to be my son.
"I see your potential, and I know your identity. But that does not matter. You are a diamond in the rough by nature.
"—You belong here."
With that, the Principal pointed at the floor beneath their feet.
*Knows... my identity?*
A chill ran down Bai Zhou's spine as he looked up, meeting the Principal's meaningful gaze.
The bad news: he had encountered an insurmountable enemy, and even with all his strength, he could not budge an inch. The enemy's methods and mechanisms were an enigma, and the man had effortlessly seen through his disguise.
The good news: this enemy wanted to adopt him as a son...
The sheer absurdity of the development left Bai Zhou momentarily speechless.
"Don't you want wicked desires? I have plenty more here.
"Once I finish what I set out to do, you can inherit everything I have built here."
"Inherit..." Bai Zhou blinked. "And live with you in this eerie school building?"
*Better politely decline that.*
Honestly, out of all the unfinished, abandoned buildings he had visited, not one had been as shabby as this place...
"Of course not. This place merely holds a special significance for me."
The Principal shook his head. "Once you become the Principal in the future, even if you hide the Principal's office inside the cafeteria, no one will dare raise an objection."
Having spoken, the Principal studied Bai Zhou in silence.
Sensing Bai Zhou's tension and concealed fear, the corners of the Principal's mouth curled upward as he opened his arms toward Bai Zhou.
He murmured in a low whisper, like the seductive coaxing of a devil.
"Do you truly have any other choice right now?
"Yuanmeng Middle School welcomes you to join us.
"All you need to do is call me—"
*BOOOOOOM!*
A tremendous roar suddenly erupted across the horizon, cutting the Principal short.
A meteor trailing plumes of flame tore through the sky, its sonic boom blasting out an ear-splitting shriek before crashing violently into the earth.
"What is that?"
Cut off mid-sentence, the Principal frowned and turned with Bai Zhou toward the window from which the noise had come.
"What... is... happening...?"
The light in the eyes of Number 9's trio flickered faintly back to life as they turned their heads with immense difficulty, looking over with stiff, agonizing effort.
*Boom—!*
Tremors rippled outwards. A massive crater was gouged into the earth, sending billowing plumes of dust and smoke surging into the sky.
When the haze dispersed slightly, the "meteor" revealed its true form.
A figure clad in silvery-white heavy plate armor—encased so tightly that only a pair of eyes remained visible—held a one-knee impact stance inside the massive crater outside the building.
The silver-white plate armor was mottled with rust, looking as if it had endured centuries of vicissitudes in a crypt or museum. Faint dents and scars from blades and swords covered its surface, badges of honor testifying to its master's countless battles.
*Clank, rattle...*
Armor clattering, the figure slowly rose from the bottom of the crater.
The ground cracked like a spiderweb around him. Standing two meters tall, the heavily armored silhouette loomed through the hazy dust like a terrifying engine of war.
"[Rusted Silver Knight]!"
Inside the command vehicle, where everyone had been silent for so long calculating the "Principal's" power level, the secretary suddenly gasped, blurting out the arrival's identity.
Then Commander Han sprang up from his seat.
"No wonder...
"So they arrived long ago, just waiting for the best opportunity when the Principal revealed himself!"
Commander Han held his breath, his eyes blazing. "If so, then the others—"
Even as the thought crossed his mind, the projected footage changed again!
*Hum—*
Ripples of translucent waves spread across the air, from which a dark green jade statue eerily plummeted, slamming heavily onto the ground.
Then the jade statue came alive and rose, gradually taking human form. Form-fitting dark green jade armor wrapped her body like exquisite emerald, inscribed with breathing, plant-like golden vein patterns.
*Whoosh!*
The sound of a flame igniting resonated.
The woman's long hair fluttered, every strand gleaming platinum and flickering with translucent platinum light-flames.
Within her eyes, two clusters of eerie emerald-green flames burned quietly.
The very instant Bai Zhou laid eyes on her, he felt she hardly resembled a human being at all. In a daze, he seemed to hear the hushed murmurs of an ancient forest whispering to him, alongside the roaring gusts of a wildfire.
"Sure enough, a 'quasi-King of Wicked Desires' on the verge of completing its ascension!"
Meeting the Principal's gaze through the school building window from afar, the mysterious emerald woman nodded in confirmation.
Hearing this, [Rusted Silver Knight] let out a long breath. "No problem. We can handle it, more than easily.
"Perhaps we won't even need to use that thing we brought along."
Ignoring the Rusted Silver Knight's low muttering, the emerald woman snapped her fingers with a crisp *snap!*
Immediately, centered on her, an emerald ring of fire expanded rapidly in all directions!
*Buzz!*
Wherever the fire ring passed, countless dense vines sprouted from thin air across the ground, each one pulsing with gentle green light.
In an instant, the eerie battlefield seemed transformed into a verdant wonderland brimming with beauty and life. In the blink of an eye, the vines turned the open ground outside the building into a miniature jungle, creeping frantically straight toward the school structure.
"We still need to use the Black Box; a quasi-King of Wicked Desires is not to be underestimated.
"Killing it isn't difficult for us, but our goal is..."
The mysterious woman said no more, but Rusted Silver Knight nodded in silent understanding.
On the surface, a quasi-King of Wicked Desires was certainly not something a few Level 6 Extraordinaries could hope to challenge.
But they were no ordinary Level 6 Extraordinaries, and what was more, each of them carried a specialized Black Box!
Thus, both were confident in their ability to slay this quasi-King of Wicked Desires. However, the reason they acted with such care this time was for another matter of which they were far less certain—
Making this quasi-King of Wicked Desires drop a fragmented pathway upon its death!
No matter how weak or fragmented, any pathway was priceless!
Yet the drop rate of a pathway from a King of Wicked Desires was extraordinarily low, requiring them to employ additional measures to tilt the odds in their favor.
*Whoosh—*
A sudden gust of chilly wind swept through.
Even as the vines on the ground continued to grow, the temperature plummeted.
By the time anyone realized it, bone-chilling cold and an eerie silence had already spread, the sub-zero chill silently creeping into the interior of the school building.
*Clatter!*
Rusted Silver Knight shivered, fine ice crystals crusting over the rust on his armor.
The mysterious woman in dark green jade armor cast a glance his way. "What, you're afraid of the cold?"
"...No."
Rusted Silver Knight shook his head, his armor clattering as he answered in a muffled grunt, "I just hate that fellow who always shows up with the freezing air."
Before his words had even settled, a beam of pale, flowing light plummeted from the sky.
Like an ice blade hurled down by a god, it pierced vertically into the open ground outside the school building.
Slender and straight, the sword seemed devoid of physical substance, formed purely of piercing gale winds entwined with the deep essence of glacial frost, enveloped in an eternal haze of chilling vapor.
Deep azure and translucent white coexisted within it, housing countless fine crystalline fractures and tiny air bubbles, as though an endless blizzard were trapped inside, continuously replaying its fury.
In stark contrast to Rusted Silver Knight, there was no deafening impact—only a crisp, resounding *crack*, like thousands of glass panes shattering in unison.
The instant the deep blue ice blade struck the earth, the blizzard trapped within broke free.
*Crackle! Boom, boom, boom!*
A breathtaking cascade of ice erupted in an instant, sweeping outward in every direction.
The school building's main entrance shattered to pieces. Crystals of ice sprouted across every door and window, and shaved ice spun and tumbled across the floor.
As collateral, nearly half of the wildly growing vines were frozen solid by the ice cascade, locked within shimmering sheets of ice and transformed into silent ice sculptures.
"...Indeed."
At that moment, the mysterious woman in dark green jade armor nodded wryly, agreeing with Rusted Silver Knight. "He really does deserve to be hated."
Snowflakes were already drifting into the school building, brushing against Bai Zhou's cheeks.
*Hum—*
A man clad in deep blue robes coalesced out of thin air amid the fluttering snow.
His steps were light, nearly silent, yet with every pace, a frozen ice blossom blossomed beneath his feet.
The blossoms crystallized in midair to support him like stairs, carrying him down gently to land right behind the Principal.
"And who are you—"
The Principal turned, frowning as he took in this uninvited guest.
The newcomer was expressionless and spoke not a word, merely standing in silence to block the Principal's path.
"Cold" was his defining hallmark, from his secret techniques to his temperament; his eyes seemed to harbor an entire arctic harbor locked in perpetual permafrost.
When Bai Zhou met his gaze, an involuntary shiver seized him, a wave of freezing cold surging straight from the base of his spine into his brain.
"[Rusted Silver Knight]! [Emerald Flame]! [Sword of Winter]!"
Three Level 6 Titled Extraordinaries!
Inside the command vehicle, Liu Yisheng from Zijing Group narrowed his pupils, unable to suppress a sharp intake of breath.
The arrivals of the three on screen grew more magnificent by the turn, a veritable display of immortals crossing the sea, each showing off their divine powers.
FZDC had actually been willing to call upon these three?
Even among Level 6 Titled Extraordinaries, their reputations were staggering, especially the last one, [Sword of Winter]!
He was the ace of aces within FZDC. Rumor had it he had been preparing for his subsequent ascension two years ago, and in terms of Extraordinary tier alone, he was already on par with a quasi-King of Wicked Desires!
With these three taking the field, handling a quasi-King of Wicked Desires that had not yet finished its final ascension was truly well within their grasp.
But to mobilize these three, even for FZDC, the price could not have been light...
"What an extravagant display..."
Turning his head, Liu Yisheng was about to say something to Commander Han beside him, only to find that Commander Han and his secretary had already vanished while he was dazed.
"Damn it!"
Cursing under his breath, Liu Yisheng's eyes flickered rapidly.
Then he hurried out of the command vehicle, barking orders at his subordinates outside.
"Get into Yuanmeng Middle School! Right now! Get me inside at any cost!
"We're double-timing it!"
"Big figures" were taking the stage one after another, dense as a legion of celestials.
Three Level 6 Titled Extraordinaries making a move together—this was the first time Bai Zhou had witnessed such a grand spectacle.
Falling from the heavens, coalescing out of nothingness... like gods descending to the mortal realm, their flashy entrances openly proclaimed their confidence and might.
Number 9 and the other two were ecstatic at the sight, convinced this sinister Principal was finished.
*Fine, fine, fine—you're alone; no matter how formidable you are, can you overturn the heavens? We have three!*
Three Level 6 Titled Extraordinaries surrounded the Principal from all sides, locking onto his silhouette.
Bai Zhou and the trio of Number 9 seemed to become completely insignificant in an instant, and the pressure restraining them vanished without a trace.
Watching these three formidable intruders, Bai Zhou, still wearing his school uniform, took a deep breath, furrowed his brow, shifted his feet, and instinctively positioned the Principal right in front of him like a shield.
Without a doubt, these three had no idea Bai Zhou was human.
If they did know, it would be even worse; after all, Bai Zhou's identity could not see the light of day.
What should he do?
"The school is quite lively today."
Looming like a moving mountain, the Principal's back shielded Bai Zhou, radiating an immense sense of security.
The Principal raised a hand to put away the cigar snuffed out by the chill, shaking his head with a sigh. "I always knew this day would come.
"Yet three Level 6 intruders..."
The Principal's brow furrowed. "Your pride and conceit are worthless before me!"
The moment his words fell, the aura about the Principal underwent an earth-shattering transformation!
From a dashing playboy into a blood-soaked mobster in a suit took only a single instant.
"Kid, stay right here and behave," the Principal said, glancing back at Bai Zhou. Amid everyone's strange, contemplative expressions, he bade Bai Zhou hide behind him. "Once I return from killing a couple of rats, we can pick up where we left off."
Bai Zhou: "..."
*You didn't need to tell me; I was already doing that. But what's the point of drawing everyone's attention to me right now?*
"And another thing. Your eyes... I don't like them."
The Principal narrowed his eyes slightly, taking in these three "mighty" intruders whose entrances had each been more dazzling than the last.
All three Extraordinaries were composed, confident, and brimming with murderous intent, looking at the Principal as though eyeing prey they were certain to bag.
After all, the "ice block" carrying a Black Box alone was enough to deal with a quasi-King of Wicked Desires halfway through its metamorphosis.
In the past, [Sword of Winter] was not without such a record; it was precisely that past harvest which had granted him a glimmer of enlightenment for his next ascension, prompting him into three years of secluded cultivation without taking a single mission.
Until today!
And besides him, [Emerald Flame] and [Rusted Silver Knight] were hardly easy foes to deal with either!
Yet not one intruder noticed that the Principal's calm gaze was more akin to sizing up three sides of pork at the market.
They still did not understand what they were up against...
Then the Principal slowly took a step forward.
Just as he had when he first met Bai Zhou.
"That again!" Bai Zhou's eyes sharpened as he concentrated on watching.
Yet he still couldn't decipher anything.
The Principal's silhouette vanished from the spot into thin air.
At the exact same instant, the Principal appeared behind the man in deep blue robes.
Fast! It seemed to be pure, unadulterated speed!
Ten times faster, a hundred times faster, so fast that everyone else's time seemed frozen solid!
Impossible to track, and thus impossible to block!
Before Bai Zhou's stunned eyes, the man in deep blue robes didn't even realize or react to the Principal standing right behind him. The man merely furrowed his brows with a solemn expression, scanning his surroundings. The last signal his vision had caught was that quasi-King of Wicked Desires "flickering" in place.
"What—?"
Before the thought of *Where did he go?* could even fire through his synapses, something had already quietly brushed against the man's neck!
It was a folding knife, blood-red from tip to hilt!
Chapter 126