Chapter 8: Severed Head

Since his bloody escape from Wangyue Tower, Jiang Wang had not slept a full night, so this sleep of his was particularly long.

He dreamed many dreams. He dreamed of himself dominating the Sword-Discussing Platform, of his cultivation advancing by leaps and bounds, riding the wind and breaking through the clouds. He dreamed of the vast sky, with five streaks of light moving at incredible speed, five streaks...

He woke up.

He sat up silently, leaning against the headboard, unable to distinguish whether the sudden feeling was a heartache or sorrow.

He shook his head, gathering his wits.

By this time, the sky outside the window had already turned dark, and he was still alone in the dormitory.

Jiang Wang frowned.

It was normal for Du Yehu to drink for days and nights, but Ling He was always rule-abiding and would never spend a night away.

The outer court dormitories of the Fenglin Dao Academy were a few rows of connected bungalows. He put on his clothes and went out. The door of the dormitory opposite was tightly closed, and the surroundings were very quiet. The corridor felt inexplicably chilly.

Jiang Wang casually stopped a passing figure, "Excuse me, have you seen Senior Brother Ling He?"

"Ling He? Never seen him," the person replied in an extremely monotonous voice.

While answering, he shook his head.

Bang!

His head actually fell off, hit the ground, and rolled a few times.

He had shaken off his head!

Looking at the headless body that had just been speaking, Jiang Wang felt a chill rise from his coccyx and rush to the top of his head.

But after all, he had been through many battles and instinctively took a step back, preparing to retreat to the dormitory first and at least get his weapon.

However, the dormitory door suddenly closed tightly and could not be pushed open! It was as if someone inside the room was holding the door, preventing him from entering.

At this moment, the headless body turned around, spread its arms, and ran towards him! The severed head, after rolling a few times, suddenly shot up and collided with Jiang Wang before the body did! Its long hair was disheveled, its face twisted and hideous, its nose collapsed, and its eyes bulged out.

A midnight ghost, a deadly malevolent spirit.

"Playing tricks!" Jiang Wang shouted, hoping to alert other outer court disciples in the dormitories, and then leaped backward.

This was the Fenglin Dao Academy, with Dong A, a fifth-rank cultivator, in charge. Any sign of abnormality would be suppressed! No matter what kind of eerie or evil creatures, they would not dare to make too much noise. If he could escape directly, it would naturally be the best strategy.

But the head's speed was too fast, and Jiang Wang had no time to run away.

So he took a few steps back, suddenly leaped into the air, and channeled one of the two Dao essences in his Dao pulse into his right leg. Then he twisted his body and kicked backward in mid-air!

Driven by the Dao essence, his leg had a tremendous force far beyond his usual strength.

The images of gods, ghosts, demons, and monsters were never just legends. Jiang Wang, though not yet fully extraordinary, had already glimpsed the extraordinary world. He had killed people and seen blood, and had long tempered his courage.

He told himself in his heart, it's a ball, it's not a head, it's just a ball!

Bang!

The shoe collided with the head, which shot back at an even faster speed, hitting the headless body that was rushing forward and causing it to stumble.

A soccer shot!

At the same time, Jiang Wang felt a sharp pain on the top of his foot. It turned out that while kicking, the head had bitten through the shoe and torn off a piece of flesh with its bloodied mouth!

The wound faintly turned blue.

Jiang Wang knew something was wrong, probably the effect of some kind of corpse poison.

But his goal of using an attack to block the enemy had been achieved. He did not hesitate any longer and turned to run.

After a few steps, he reached the end of the corridor, only to be blocked by a layer of transparent energy membrane.

The force was not strong, but very resilient, firmly blocking the way forward. This was a trap for a killing encirclement!

Jiang Wang's mind raced. He decisively exploded the last Dao essence in his Dao pulse and gathered it on his right shoulder.

He exerted himself frantically and charged with his shoulder!

"Open up for me!!!"

Jiang Wang felt his body lighten and had already escaped from the corridor between the two rows of dormitories.

Then he heard the sound of the wind, the chirping of insects, the voices of returning outer court disciples... the sounds of the night.

The quiet environment had been shattered.

"Senior Brother Jiang Wang, what are you doing?"

"Brother, how did you get injured?"

Outer court disciples who saw Jiang Wang came over to greet him.

Hearing the familiar greetings of his fellow disciples, Jiang Wang knew he was out of danger. He turned and rushed back to the corridor, which was indeed empty.

The headless body and the head had also disappeared.

On both sides of the dormitory, someone pushed open the door and asked in confusion, "What's going on? Why couldn't we open the door just now?"

There was even a terrified voice shouting, "D... dead person!"

Jiang Wang rushed into the dormitory where the cry came from and found the missing headless body. He and his head were now lying quietly on the ground, still with a hideous expression.

Trembling in the corner should have been his panicked roommate.

The opponent's demonstrated techniques included at least the left-path corpse-controlling spell and orthodox water-element Daoist spells. Or rather, there was more than one opponent.

Jiang Wang's mind raced, and he decisively spoke: "A left-path demon has intruded into the outer court and committed murder. He is proficient in spells and has already transcended the ordinary! His strength should be within the ninth rank. All junior brothers must take care of yourselves, act in groups of five, and respond to each other! Starting now, seal off the dormitory area and do not allow anyone to enter or leave. I will immediately consult the inner court senior brothers!"

The anxious outer court disciples immediately had a mainstay and acted accordingly.

Jiang Wang immediately turned and ran towards the inner court.

The entire eastern part of the city was the Fenglin Dao Academy and its affiliated properties, but strictly speaking, only the courtyard in the center of the eastern city, surrounded by high walls, could be considered the true Fenglin Dao Academy. Outer court disciples like Jiang Wang lived scattered around the academy.

Compared to the grand archway and the noble jade lions in front of the outer court, the inner court's gate was much smaller, just enough for four people to walk side by side. But just from the delicately crafted plaque with dragons and phoenixes, which emitted a halo in the night, one could see the exquisite craftsmanship.

In front of the inner court gate was a small pavilion, with only two flowing cloud lanterns in front of the pavilion and a single ice grass mat inside. A handsome jute-clad Taoist was sitting cross-legged on the mat, meditating with his eyes closed. This was the inner court disciple on duty today, Li Jianqiu.

Jiang Wang ran here and hastily bowed, "Senior Brother Li, a left-path demon is committing murder in the outer court, and a junior brother has already been killed! Please go and take charge of the situation!"

For outer court disciples, each inner court disciple who had embarked on the path of cultivation was like a star. Having been in the academy for so long, Jiang Wang was naturally familiar with them. And for Li Jianqiu, Jiang Wang, who had initiated a Daoist Sage duel and had the dean personally witness it, was by no means an unknown figure. Moreover, as the duty holder, he had no choice but to act.

Therefore, after hearing just one sentence, he sheathed his sword and stood up.

"No need," a stern voice rang out, causing Li Jianqiu to immediately sheathe his sword and bow again.

Dean Dong A appeared at the inner court gate, his expression cold and hard, even to the point of being unpleasant: "I will handle this personally."

"Corpse Qi." He looked at the wound on Jiang Wang's foot, which had been bitten by the flying head, extended his index finger, and without any other movement, a green thorn had already formed.

It was only then that Jiang Wang noticed that the wound on his foot had already become purulent and was starting to bleed black blood, causing him to feel fear.

"Class C, middle-grade Daoist spell, Poison Swallowing Thorn. This spell is very practical and can be used up to the middle stage."

While casually explaining, Dong A lightly touched his index finger.

Apart from super-grade spells, general spells are divided into four classes and twelve grades. The vast ocean of spells is endless, and one cannot explore it completely in a lifetime. Every Daoist cultivator who embarks on the extraordinary path must clearly understand what kind of spells they are most suitable for and, through continuous combat and exploration, form their own combat system.

The thorn entered the wound on Jiang Wang's foot and turned black at a visible speed. In a few breaths, the green thorn had turned completely black, while the wound no longer showed any dark color and began to bleed bright red blood.

Jiang Wang quickly tore off a corner of his clothes and bandaged the wound.

Li Jianqiu silently watched this scene, lost in thought.

It was then that Dong A asked, "What happened?"

Jiang Wang recounted the events in the shortest possible language and then remained silent. He believed, and could only believe, that the dean of the Fenglin City Dao Academy would give him justice for his attempted assassination in the academy.

The corner of Dong A's mouth slightly curled up, and because of his stern expression, this smile was particularly chilling.

"Side-path leftists dare to make trouble in the Fenglin City Dao Academy. This is not taking the academy seriously, not taking me Dong A seriously!"

He spread his Daoist robe, extended his five fingers, and pressed down towards the earth!

"Jade Cage!"

With his five fingers as the center, the intangible power of the Wood Dao extended in all directions.

All the gates of the entire academy slammed shut! And branches sprouted and grew wildly.

The ivy on the walls shot up like snakes and intertwined in mid-air.

All wooden objects in the entire academy underwent strange changes.

Wooden chairs sprouted branches, wooden windows grew claws, giant trees broke through the soil, and thorns danced wildly!

In an instant, the entire Fenglin Dao Academy became a green cage under the night sky!