Chapter Eighty-One: Blades of Wind Amidst Gathering Clouds

“Go investigate!”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Any talented individuals from other families who could not be recruited for the Empire were regarded by Lei Jue as thorns in his side. Now, he stared coldly at Bai Shengye lying on the ground and said,
“To think that the younger generation of the Snowlands has such talent. He must not be allowed to grow stronger…”
Seeing the elves and dragons return to the battlefield, Lei Jue descended from the sky, unleashing bolts of heavenly thunder.
“I’ll help you finish up.”
He swept clean a vast swath of monsters outside the Great Wall at the border, then turned and left the battlefield with the others mounted on the griffin.
“Press the attack! Drive the monsters back!” Yi Sheng shouted, leading the magicians in a pursuit beyond the wall.
Shi Fangcheng and the earth magicians began repairing the Great Wall.
Hei Yu, Yi Xin, and Bai Shengye remained near the wall with Yun Lan, clearing out scattered monsters.
“My colleagues from the Academy and I will stay on the battlefield for a few more days, until every monster in the nearby forest is eradicated. Then we’ll return to the Academy. Will you go back first, or stay?”
Yun Lan asked the students.
“We’re willing to stay,” Yi Xin replied, and Hei Yu nodded.
“I’ll head to the rear camp and help treat the wounded. I can be of some use,” Bai Shengye said.
At that moment, Lin Aosoul walked over to Hei Yu and said,
“Brother Hei Yu, I’m going with the city lord to check the Corrupted Forest across the way, and I’ll help you gather materials for weapon forging. I’ll be back in a couple of days. Take care!”
“All right, stay safe. See you soon.”
After assigning everyone their tasks, Yun Lan looked at Hei Yu,
“Student Hei Yu, come with me.”

Hei Yu was puzzled, but a gentle breeze lifted him. Yun Lan’s robes billowed as he invoked wind mastery, riding the invisible wind, leaping over the Great Wall and bringing Hei Yu down before a vast horde of monsters.
Once he landed, Hei Yu saw on the desert an endless wave of monsters, their spines and heads pressed together, surging like a tide.
Each had a different shape, their bodies pitch-black, wreathed in dark mist, and their speed was astounding. The magicians fighting them were at least advanced level; even so, it took three or five working together to defeat a single monster.
Again, the hiss of “ss… ss…” echoed in his mind. He seemed to sense the monsters’ manic thoughts. “Pain…” The word entered Hei Yu’s mind, and he vaguely understood their language.
Suddenly, Hei Yu recalled the blade he’d seen beneath the volcano in his dream; he’d understood the “language of the blade” then, too. Turning, he gazed at the Doomsday Volcano on his left; it was now silent, the lava below dried up and being buried by earth magicians with sand and stone.
“Student Hei Yu, I apologize for missing the attribute magic tutoring before. I never had the chance to teach you anything,” said Yun Lan, pulling Hei Yu back from his thoughts.
“Oh, it’s all right, Dean Yun Lan.”
Yun Lan stood with one hand behind his back, wind magic swirling around him.
“Indeed, no one at the Academy can teach you dark magic. Still, every branch of magic shares common principles in its techniques and skills…”
“Ah?” Hei Yu was startled. “Teacher, you know I use dark magic?”
He broke into a sweat and took a step back, as if his secret had been exposed. The dark magic branch was absolutely forbidden across the continent.
“Did I fail to hide it well enough… Did Dean Yun Lan discover it?” he wondered, feeling uneasy.
Yun Lan’s gaze was gentle. “Don’t worry. And I also know about your training in the Twilight Forest. I’ve been watching your progress.”
Hei Yu was surprised again, not realizing every move was seen by the dean.
“However, I haven’t followed you. I merely check on your progress occasionally. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to disturb you. Rest assured, only I know about your dark powers in the Academy.”
A warmth rose in Hei Yu’s heart. Embarrassed, he said, “I didn’t expect Dean Yun Lan, despite being so busy, to pay attention to my training…”
“After all, for your special training, if I don’t see your true abilities, I can hardly tailor my teaching to you…” Yun Lan tapped his forehead. “Besides, I once taught another student from the dark magic branch, so I have some experience.”
“A student of the dark branch? Someone else?”
Hei Yu recalled Yi Xin’s elder brother, who had studied at the Holy City Magic Academy and possessed the same dark power. Hei Yu was always curious about this missing “brother.”
“Could it be… Yi Feng?”

“Oh, you guessed it?” Yun Lan crossed his hands behind his back, reminiscing. “Yi Feng was a student I greatly admired—exceptionally intelligent and gifted. Besides pure dark power, he could wield a purple flame, so he didn’t have to practice magic in secret.”
“Dean Yun Lan, did you bring me here to teach me magic?”
Hei Yu was excited, but hesitated: “But everyone on the continent rejects dark power. Don’t you mind…?”
Yun Lan smiled. “All power, in itself, has no inherent good or evil. It depends on how you use it.”
Hei Yu was enlightened, his doubts dispelled.
Yun Lan turned to face the monsters ahead, his expression serious. In his hand appeared a slender, pointed staff, its surface reflecting silver like a mirror, made of hard white crystal.
“Do you want to know what makes my wind blade so powerful?” he asked.
Of course Hei Yu did.
“Wind Blade Yun Lan”—that was a name known to all across the continent!
Though Yun Lan had stopped adventuring since becoming the Academy’s dean, the titles “Strongest Wind Blade” and “Strongest Wind Magic Grandmaster” remained legendary.
Yet Hei Yu had never seen the dean use his skills, so he could only say,
“Please teach me, Teacher!”
Yun Lan pointed his staff to the infinite distance on the left. A white light appeared on the horizon. He pointed to the right, and another white light shone in the endless distance.
“My wind blade compresses wind into a line within an infinite range, cutting instantly.”
“Infinite range?” Hei Yu was stunned. “So as long as you have enough mana, the attack can reach wherever you want?”
“Watch closely. I’ll demonstrate just once.”