Chapter 8: Shaking Off a Head

Ever since he had escaped Moonwatch Tower covered in blood, Jiang Wang had not slept properly once, so this sleep was especially long and deep.

He had many dreams. He dreamed that he was slaughtering everyone on the Sword Discussion Platform. He dreamed that his cultivation advanced a thousand miles in a single day, riding the wind and breaking through the clouds. He dreamed of a vast sky stretching ten thousand miles, with five streaks of light moving incomparably fast. Five streaks…

He woke up.

He silently sat up and leaned against the head of the bed, unable to tell whether that sudden feeling was palpitation or grief.

He shook his head and gathered his thoughts.

By now, the sky outside the window had already entered night, and he was still the only one in the dormitory.

Jiang Wang frowned.

It was normal for Du Yehu to drink for several days and nights once he started, but Ling He had always been disciplined and proper. It was impossible for him to stay out all night.

The outer dormitories of Maple Forest Dao Academy were several rows of connected single-story buildings. Jiang Wang threw on his clothes and went out. The dormitory opposite had its door tightly closed, and the rooms to the left and right were very quiet. For some reason, the corridor felt somewhat cold.

Jiang Wang casually stopped a passing figure.

“Junior Brother, have you seen Senior Brother Ling He?”

“Ling He? I haven’t seen him.”

That person replied in an extremely stiff voice.

As he answered, he shook his head.

Bang!

His head actually broke off just like that, falling to the ground and rolling several times.

He had shaken his own head off!

Looking at the headless body that had been speaking just moments ago, Jiang Wang felt a chill rise from his tailbone and rush straight to the crown of his head.

But he had experienced many battles after all. Almost instinctively, he took a step back, preparing to withdraw into the dormitory first and at least retrieve his weapon.

But the dormitory door suddenly slammed shut and would not open! It was as if someone inside the room was holding the door shut, refusing to let him in.

At that moment, the headless body turned toward him, spread its arms, and strode forward, running at him! The head that had fallen to the ground bounced up after rolling several times, rushing toward Jiang Wang even before the body did. Its long hair was disheveled, its face twisted and ferocious, its nose collapsed, and both eyeballs bulged high from their sockets.

A midnight evil ghost, a murderous vengeful soul.

“Stop pretending to be ghosts and gods!”

Jiang Wang shouted violently, hoping to alert the outer disciples in the other dormitories, while leaping backward.

This was Maple Forest Dao Academy, guarded by Dong A, a fifth-grade cultivator. If he noticed something unusual, he would surely suppress and kill it! No matter what strange evil thing this was, it would definitely not dare cause too much commotion. If Jiang Wang could escape directly, that would naturally be the best choice.

But the flying head was too fast. Jiang Wang had no time to get away.

So after retreating several steps, he suddenly leapt into the air, poured one of the only two dao essences in his dao meridian into his right leg, twisted his body, and lashed out with a kick in midair!

Driven by the explosive force of dao essence, this kick possessed power far greater than before.

Images of gods, ghosts, demons, and monsters had never been mere legends. Although Jiang Wang had not fully transcended mortality, he had long since seen the extraordinary world. He had killed people and seen blood, and his courage had already been tempered.

He told himself in his heart: That is a ball. That is not a head. That is only a ball!

Bang!

The surface of his boot slammed decisively into the head. The head shot back even faster than before, crashing into the headless body rushing forward and knocking it staggering.

A kick like scoring in cuju!

At the same time, Jiang Wang felt a sharp pain across the top of his foot. It turned out that at the moment he had kicked it, the head had opened its bloody mouth, bitten through his shoe, and torn off a strip of flesh!

The wound faintly turned blue.

Jiang Wang knew things were not good. It was likely the effect of corpse poison or something similar.

But his goal of blocking the enemy with an attack had already been achieved. Without the slightest hesitation, he turned and ran.

After rushing to the end of the corridor in a few steps, he was blocked by a transparent membrane of origin energy.

That force was not powerful, but it was extremely tough, firmly blocking the way forward.

This was an encirclement!

Jiang Wang’s thoughts spun rapidly. The last dao essence in his dao meridian burst apart decisively and gathered on his right shoulder.

He exerted all his strength and rammed forward with his shoulder!

“Open for me!!!”

Jiang Wang only felt his body lighten, and he had already broken out of the corridor between the two rows of dormitories.

Then he heard the sound of wind, the chirping of insects, the voices of returning outer disciples talking…

The sounds of night.

That silent environment had been broken.

“Senior Brother Jiang Wang, what are you doing?”

“Senior Brother, how did you get injured?”

Outer disciples who saw Jiang Wang came over and greeted him.

Hearing the familiar greetings of his fellow disciples, Jiang Wang understood that he had escaped danger. He turned and rushed back into that corridor, and sure enough, it was already empty.

The headless body and that head had already disappeared.

People from the dormitories on both sides pushed open their doors, puzzled.

“What happened? Why couldn’t the door be opened just now?”

Then a terrified voice shouted, “A dead… dead person!”

Jiang Wang was the first to rush into the dormitory where the cry came from. Only then did he discover the missing headless corpse. He and his head were now lying quietly on the ground, the face still twisted and ferocious.

The one trembling in the corner should be his frightened roommate.

The methods displayed by the opponent included at least corpse-controlling arts that leaned toward unorthodox practices, as well as orthodox water-element dao techniques. Or perhaps there was more than one opponent.

Jiang Wang’s thoughts raced. He spoke decisively.

“There are evil practitioners breaking into the outer academy at night and committing murder. They know dao techniques and have already stepped onto the extraordinary path! Their strength should be within the ninth-grade range. Junior brothers, you must take care of yourselves. Move in groups of five and respond to each other! From now on, seal off the dormitory area. No one is allowed in or out. I will immediately go request instructions from the inner academy senior brothers!”

The uneasy outer disciples instantly found someone to rely on and followed his instructions.

Jiang Wang immediately turned and ran straight toward the inner academy.

The entire eastern district of the city belonged to Maple Forest Dao Academy and its affiliated businesses, but strictly speaking, only the courtyard enclosed by high walls in the center of the east district counted as the true Maple Forest Dao Academy. Outer disciples like Jiang Wang lived scattered around the academy.

Compared to the tall archway and luxurious jade lions at the entrance of the outer academy, the gate of the inner academy was much smaller, barely wide enough for four people to walk side by side. Yet one could glimpse its exquisite design just from the plaque carved with dragons and phoenixes, faintly glowing in the night.

Before the inner academy gate stood a small pavilion. In front of the pavilion hung only two Flowing Cloud lanterns, and inside the pavilion was only a single icegrass cushion. A handsome Daoist in hemp clothes sat cross-legged on the cushion with his eyes closed in cultivation. This was the inner academy disciple on duty today, Li Jianqiu.

Jiang Wang rushed there and hurriedly bowed.

“Senior Brother Li, there is an unorthodox evil practitioner committing murder in the outer academy. One junior brother has already been killed! Please go and take charge of the situation!”

To outer disciples, every inner academy disciple who had stepped onto the cultivation path was like a star. Having been in the Dao Academy for so long, Jiang Wang was naturally familiar with all of them. As for Li Jianqiu, Jiang Wang, who had forcefully initiated a Dao-witnessed duel and drawn the academy master to personally preside over it, was naturally not some nobody. Besides, as the one on duty, this was his responsibility.

Therefore, after hearing only one sentence, he rose with his hand on his sword.

“No need.”

A dignified voice sounded, causing Li Jianqiu to immediately sheathe his sword again and bow in salute.

Academy Master Dong A appeared at the entrance of the inner academy. His expression was cold and hard, even ugly.

“I will handle this matter personally.”

“Corpse energy.”

He looked at the wound on Jiang Wang’s foot where the flying head had bitten him. Extending his index finger, without any other movement, a green spike had already condensed.

Only then did Jiang Wang notice that the wound on his foot had already festered and begun oozing black blood, making fear rise in his heart.

“Mid-grade Class C dao technique, Poison-Devouring Thorn. This dao technique is very practical and can be used even at the middle ranks.”

As Dong A casually explained, he lightly tapped his index finger.

Other than transcendent-rank dao techniques, ordinary dao techniques were divided into four classes and twelve grades. The boundless ocean of dao techniques could not be fully explored even in a lifetime. Every Daoist cultivator who stepped onto the extraordinary path had to clearly understand what kind of dao techniques suited them best and, through constant combat and exploration, form their own combat system.

The sharp thorn entered the wound on Jiang Wang’s foot and turned black at a speed visible to the naked eye. In just a few breaths, the green thorn had become completely pitch-black, while the wound no longer showed any blue-black color. Instead, fresh red blood flowed from it.

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

Li Jianqiu silently watched this scene, seemingly thoughtful.

Only then did Dong A ask, “What happened?”

Jiang Wang recounted the matter in the briefest language possible, then offered no further opinion. He believed, and could only believe, that the academy master of Maple Forest Dao Academy would give him justice for the assassination attempt against him within the academy.

The corner of Dong A’s mouth lifted slightly. Because of his stern expression, this smile seemed especially chilling.

“Heretical side-path filth dares come to Maple Forest Dao Academy to play tricks. It seems they do not put the Dao Academy in their eyes, nor do they put me, Dong A, in their eyes!”

His Daoist robe spread, and his five fingers opened as he bent down and pressed his hand to the earth!

“Jade Cage!”

With his five fingers as the center, the invisible power of the wood dao extended in all directions.

All the gates of the entire Dao Academy slammed shut!

Then branches began to grow from them, expanding wildly.

The ivy on the courtyard walls shot up like long snakes, intertwining with one another in midair.

Every wooden object in the entire Dao Academy underwent strange changes.

Wooden chairs grew branches. Wooden windows spread claws. Giant trees broke through the earth. Thorns danced wildly!

In an instant, beneath the night sky, the entire Maple Forest Dao Academy transformed into a jade-green cage!

[End of Chapter]