CHAPTER 1738: CHAPTER 482: CEREMONIES AND RITES AS INSTRUMENTS

Unfasten the leather clasp.

Open the milky white cover.

The thick pages rustled between fingers, providing an unusually satisfying feeling. Strings of vividly red spells floated between the pages, possessing a slight haze in their three-dimensionality.

Zheng Qing looked at those unfamiliar and obscure spell formulas, feeling as if he knew each character of them, but when combined, every segment of spell seemed so alien.

What surprised him even more was that he found he didn’t need to chant the spells from the law book out loud like normal incantations.

Merely by skimming over them, corresponding reflections flashed in his mind, and the spells on the law book would light up one by one, with deep red light as striking and brilliant as a sunrise emerging from below the horizon.

Immediately, the forbidden spell aura within the warlock, which had almost reached a boiling point, became tamed like a fiery horse saddled and bridled. Of course, tame does not mean it vanished.

It’s like a herd of startled wild horses, previously running around like headless flies, many crashing into each other or scattering in their frenzy, appearing chaotic and disorderly. But now, a lead horse emerged, and under its guidance, the herd gathered their scattered ranks, formed a proper formation, marching with a steady rhythm, whistling over the hills.

Like a wild wind, a sudden rain, a thunderclap.

The warlock’s gaze swiftly scanned the spell formulas, absorbing numerous lines at once; pages flipped rapidly at his fingertips, turning into blank spaces. The scale of the galloping herd grew larger and faster, until later, Zheng Qing felt as if he wasn’t the one flipping through the law book, but rather that surging aura was flinging him through the book quickly.

He even closed his eyes, yet it did not affect his continuous ’reading’ of that incantation.

Pushed by this aura, he felt increasingly lucid and distant, his consciousness becoming a third entity inside him, floating above his body and soul, calmly overlooking all uncontrollable occurrences happening naturally.

And from a place even deeper than his awareness, vague questions and answers echoed:

"...Is this the urgency of propriety?"

"Propriety, the way of former kings, is the means of governing human feelings under Heaven. Therefore, to lose it is to die, to have it is to live."

"What is meant by death?"

"Without knowing life, how can one know death!"

"What is meant by life?"

"It is said to stand firm, to be unconfused, to know destiny, to find delight in listening, to follow one’s heart’s desire without exceeding bounds. Death is humanity’s great fear; life is humanity’s great desire."

"What is meant by humanity?"

"Humanity is the heart of Heaven and Earth, the essence of the Five Elements, experiencing flavors, distinguishing sounds, adorning itself with colors, and thus living. Hence, when the sage establishes principles, they must consider Heaven and Earth as the foundation, Yin and Yang as the basis, the four seasons as the levers, the sun and stars as the markers, the moon for measurements, ghosts and spirits as messengers, the Five Elements as substance, propriety and righteousness as instruments... as instruments... instruments..."

Righteousness and propriety as instruments!

The final response echoed repeatedly in Zheng Qing’s consciousness, like great resounding bells, deafening yet enlightening. Propriety, he had heard his teacher mention, was the embodiment of order; righteousness, he had practiced more than once, like the choice he made not long ago.

Using righteousness as the instrument, propriety as the core.

To follow one’s heart’s desire without overstepping bounds.

The boy’s tightly shut eyes suddenly opened wide, and the law book before him had turned to the last page, the deep red radiance gathered around it, like a slender pillar piercing the heavens and touching the abyss, though seemingly as thin as a hair within the vast universe. Yet the piercing and imposing aura felt like a sharp blade nearing one’s eyes, instinctively making everyone avert their gaze.

As if an extra glance would lead to misfortune.

Zheng Qing was not among them.

For he could clearly feel that the slender red pillar contained the forbidden spell aura emanating ceaselessly from within him, which, in a very short time, had drained the original cyan orb that almost threatened to burst his heart lake. Even the tree grown from the forbidden curse seed was withering under the pillar’s absorption, shrinking from a large tree to a small one, with branches retracting and leaves disappearing until it reverted to a single seed.

Yet compared to the beginning, this seed appeared more solid, densely covered with mysterious runes, the grain fuller and more lustrous.

With the last trace of forbidden spell aura extracted.

The last character on the law book slowly dissipated, turning into a streak of deep red light, merging into that pillar of light. The leather clasp, like a nimble finger, crawled and tugged in the void, pulling the underlying cover, forcefully closing the law book.

Click.

The clasp locked itself shut.

The law book finally exhausted its last bit of vitality, seemingly returning to being an ordinary law book. Zheng Qing hesitated for a few seconds, first stuffing the law book back into the grey cloth bag, then turned to face the red pillar before him, unsure of how to handle it.

When he was carried up by the black cat, he had mentally prepared for all kinds of scenarios—like the instant he opened the law book, he would transform into a great ball of light, blasting that bronze dragon to pieces; or before he could even open the book, the dragon would spray him with saliva, turning him to ashes; or perhaps during his motion to pull the ’trigger’, he would be interrupted by various unexpected events.

The only thing he hadn’t anticipated was that he safely opened the law book, faithfully ’read’ the incantations, and the entire process, though brief, was unexpectedly uninterrupted by any big wizards or great demons.

The big wizards’ lack of intervention, Zheng Qing could understand, as he was, after all, clad in the red robe of Jiuyou Academy, a true wizard of direct lineage.

The great demon and those members of the Dark Council’s inaction left the warlock somewhat confused.

Not only did they not act, but the bronze dragon circling before Zheng Qing had also ceased using its talent magic, refraining from resetting time, as if intrigued by what was about to unfold.

This all made the boy’s heart tremble.

Everyone was watching him with strange and unexpected eyes.

Including himself—he didn’t know why he was still alive after pulling the trigger, and the forbidden spell hadn’t taken effect. Nor did he know how to trigger the red light pillar in front of him, formed by the condensation of forbidden spell aura.

Feeling the increasingly heavy gazes surrounding him.

Zheng Qing finally hesitated and reached out a finger to touch the red light pillar. It felt light, like a genuine pillar of light with no weight.

The boy’s finger applied slight force.

Then, in his dazed gaze, the red pillar was effortlessly pushed over, brushing past the side of the bronze dragon and silently crashing toward the distant silent inner castle.

The blocking Captain Iceberg and Starry Sky Academy’s headmaster cursed and hastily fled.

Swoosh.

Like a hot knife cutting into a butter cake, the inner castle’s defensive magic array, previously stable as a mountain even under the frenzied assault of the demon army, offered no resistance before the tilting red pillar. The fully bloomed barrier struggled for a few seconds in mid-air before crashing into countless pieces, turning into a luminous rain across the sky.

From a distance, Zheng Qing barely saw what seemed to be a great tree having its crown partially lopped off.

"I... I didn’t mean to do that."

The young wizard hovered alone in mid-air, muttering.

A slight chilly wind blew past.

He felt cold to the core, from inside out.