Chapter 420 - 137: Holy Light - Advent of the Silver Radiance Angel

Chapter 420: Chapter 137: Holy Light - Advent of the Silver Radiance Angel

Lynch thought of the vast, almost endless battlefield ruins. Far from being disgusted, he was filled with anticipation.

A miner would never complain about a vein being too rich. In any case, with his ability to turn waste into treasure, Lakefront Town would only grow stronger and stronger.

*****

「At the same time.」

「Saint Roland City, Hurst Royal Extraordinary Academy.」

Night had long since fallen, but a light still shone from the tallest spire.

The light came from the very top of the spire, right where the dean’s office was located.

Inside the office, a Magic Everlasting Lamp cast a soft glow.

The old dean sat behind a desk, dressed in a plain gray mage’s robe with a crystal monocle perched on his nose.

From his appearance and attire, anyone would have mistaken him for an ordinary, elderly Elemental System Mage, not a top-tier powerhouse at the pinnacle of the extraordinary path with one foot already in the Holy Sanctuary.

"The Tri-Academy Joint Graduation Exam... *Sigh*..."

The old dean removed his monocle and rubbed the bridge of his nose, which ached slightly. He let out a soft sigh. "Those fellows in the Imperial Capital have finally brought their scheming to our doorstep."

Across the desk, Instructor Annabella held a Magic Letter, her lake-blue eyes narrowed as she studied its contents. "I’m afraid this isn’t just the work of those old fossils from the Imperial Capital Academy. Their self-important dean, on his own, couldn’t possibly have secured His Majesty’s seal."

"Oh? Then you mean to say..." The old dean looked up.

"There’s definitely someone pulling the strings," Annabella said, a grave look in her eyes. "It might be the people from the Holy Light Church, or perhaps the Noble Committee. Or even..."

She paused. "It could even be His Majesty himself."

After a moment of silence, the old dean sighed. "For years, the Holy Light Church has been trying to completely eliminate Necromancers from the Empire’s extraordinary education system."

"Of the only three Extraordinary Academies in the entire nation, only Hurst still has a full-fledged Necromancer program. They probably want to use this joint exam to prove, in front of everyone, that Necromancers are inferior, thereby forcing us to cancel the program... or even..."

"Or even push for a merger of the three academies," Annabella finished for him. "Those people at the Imperial Capital Academy have wanted that for a long time. The so-called ’centralized resource allocation’ would just be an excuse to move Hurst’s centuries of accumulated heritage right into their own vaults."

However, at the mention of this, a smile touched Annabella’s lips. "It’s a pity. Not only are those people at the Imperial Capital Academy hidebound and corrupt, they’re also poorly informed... I imagine they haven’t yet realized that my student, the Lynch boy, also happens to be graduating this year."

"Heh heh," the dean chuckled. "They’re used to their arrogance. Even if they knew about Lynch, they likely wouldn’t care. They’ve lived at the heart of the Empire for so long, with their noses always in the air. Why would they ever look toward the border? By the way, how is the Lynch boy’s strength? Think he can take one of the top three spots in the joint exam? I recall you made a special trip to see him the last time you were at the border."

"Hmm..." Annabella tilted her head slightly. After a moment of careful consideration, she chuckled. "Dean, you’ll just have to wait and see at the graduation exam. I’m confident that boy will give you—and the Imperial Capital Academy—the surprise of a lifetime!"

"However, to help him perform at his best, you’ll still have to make a trip to the Imperial Capital to see His Majesty and lodge a strong protest against this joint exam."

The dean drew in a sharp breath. "Hiss... do we really have to go that far?"

"We have to go that far." A smile danced in Annabella’s lake-blue eyes. "The Imperial Capital Academy wants a ranking from this joint exam, don’t they? Then let’s give them one they will never forget."

After a moment, the dean said, "Fine. I’ll drag these old bones over to the Imperial Capital and stir up some trouble. You handle things on Lynch’s end."

"No problem." A slight smile played on Annabella’s lips as she began to look forward to it.

Her intuition told her this Tri-Academy Joint Exam was going to be very exciting, and very, very interesting.

******

「At the same time.」

「Lakefront Town, the Sleeping Tomb.」

Deep within the gloomy tomb, Lynch sat cross-legged before a white jade coffin. His hands were formed in a seal, and his body was wreathed in a dense, ghostly white light.

Inside the white jade coffin, Xuan Yi sat in the same cross-legged posture, a pair of enormous bat-like wings spread slightly behind him.

He had been continuously refining the Abyssal Demonic Qi crystals condensed by the Magic Array. After some time, the Profound Yin Qi within his body had already grown several times denser than when he started.

Now, under his control, this Profound Yin Qi was streaming continuously into Xuan Yi’s tattered, bat-like wings.

’Just a little more...’

Sweat beaded on Lynch’s forehead, but his eyes were startlingly bright.

The enormous bat-like wings on Xuan Yi’s back had originally been covered in cracks and holes, allowing for only clumsy flight. But under the long-term tempering and nourishment of Lynch’s Profound Yin Qi, the wings were gradually undergoing a transformation.

A fine membrane had regrown over their blackened bones, and the tears in the wings were slowly healing. Faint, dark-gold patterns gradually spread across the wing bones.

As the final wisp of Profound Yin Qi sank into the tips of the wings...

...Xuan Yi’s wings snapped open! A powerful gust of air erupted through the tomb, causing the surrounding corpse-raising coffins to tremble.