High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 1025: Chapter 87 Week 1

”There’s no way to predict such matters.”

Xiao Xiao expressed a decidedly pessimistic view regarding the relationship between the Sacred Will and the Blood Comrades, ”Ultimately, how long the conflict persists depends on the relationship between Alpha Academy and Jiuyou Academy.”

”When do you think the relationship between the two academies will truly stabilize?” Zheng Qing persisted in her questioning.

Xiao Xiao’s answer was watertight, ”Stability is a dynamic balance.”

With a sidelong glance at Xiao Xiao, Zheng Qing decided to change tack and asked from the perspective of her own academy, ”Do you think that, as in the past, external conflicts such as demons, the development of the New World, or breakthroughs in magical theory... In other words, do you believe that the squabbles between the two societies can really resolve the conflicts between the two academies?”

The sharpness of her rhetorical question lay in pointing out a flaw in Xiao Xiao’s previous analysis.

After all, the conflict between the two academies at the First University would profoundly influence the power dynamics and territorial distribution in the Wizard World for decades, if not centuries or even millennia to come. If such significant changes are solely determined by the outcomes between two societies in a school, it seems hardly justifiable.

Xiao Xiao snapped his fingers, appreciating Zheng Qing’s keenness.

”Of course not!” He crooked his right thumb, pointing to his nose in feigned surprise, ”Did I ever say such a thing?”

Zheng Qing frowned and pondered carefully, suddenly realizing that Xiao Xiao indeed had never spoken with certainty.

”You all should not jump to conclusions and arbitrarily extrapolate my predictions.” Xiao Xiao said, his gaze fixed on Xin Fat Man for a few seconds to emphasize, ”If there’s any deviation in the future, I will not take the responsibility. When the relationship between the two academies stabilizes is not up to Jiuyou Academy to decide, nor Alpha Academy.”

”In the end, a fight must be had to quiet both sides down,” Zhang Ji Xin suddenly spoke up, with a cold laugh, ”Such affairs are not uncommon throughout history. The world remains the same.”

Without agreeing or disagreeing, Xiao Xiao nodded his head, adding, ”As for the proxy wars... did I ever say that between the two academies, there’s only the ’Sacred Will and Blood Comrades’ as a point of proxy war? You all are underestimating First University, underestimating the depths and influence of Jiuyou Academy and Alpha Academy.”

”If I’m not mistaken, the various powers lurking in the shadows of both academies won’t stay put in the near future. That includes struggles in the hunting competitions, frictions in the New World, skirmishes in the Wizard Council, squabbles in the Professors’ Joint Meetings; even among the magical creature tribes in the Silent Forest, wars may erupt.”

”As long as everyone keeps their eyes peeled, in many of the conflicts that the Wizard World will face, one can discern the shadow of the two academies.”

”The conflict between Lei Zhe and Augustus, between Sacred Will and Blood Comrades, is just a prelude to all these conflicts. In the eyes of the true power players, these are just squabbles among the youth.”

”To borrow a few sentences said by a headmaster of the academy long ago when commenting on the wars between wizards and demons—’How long the war will last, I think, should not be our decision. In the past, it was the Sea Demon King; in the future, it may be the Witch Demon King, or some new Demon King the demons produce. It’s up to them to decide. That is to say, they will fight as long as they want, until complete victory.’

”’Demons are always arrogant; whenever they can be unreasonable, they certainly will be. The moment they start to make sense, they must be driven to a desperate situation.’

”Those two sentences, if you substitute demons with Alpha Academy, they still hold true.”

As they spoke, the four of them had arrived at the entrance to classroom 101 in the academic building.

With less than five minutes to the start of the Fu Lu Class, the classroom was already full of students. Thanks to an unspoken agreement formed over a term, everyone would sit in approximately the same spots, so the back left section of the room remained empty, reserved for Zheng Qing and his peers.

Teacher Zhang of the Fu Lu Class was already standing at the podium, flipping through the lecture slides on the desk.

Upon seeing Zheng Qing and the others, she smiled slightly, nodded, and gestured for them to quickly take their seats.

Unlike Teacher Zhang, the Simple Sketch stick figure at the door was visibly unhappy with the boys’ almost-late arrival.

”Rude brats, always cutting it close for class! Where are your manners? Your conscience?!”

Humiliated by the sharp screeches of the stick figure at the door, the young warlocks scurried to their seats with awkward smiles as a wave of soft laughter filled the classroom.

”Thank you for supervising,” Teacher Zhang replied with a chuckle, waving at the Simple Sketch figure before adding, ”I’ll remind them about their manners...Let’s get ready for class now.”

The stick figure nodded gravely, extending an arm as thin as a thread and made a zipping motion across its mouth, signaling that it would now stay quiet.

Below the podium, the students sat up straight, opening their textbooks for Talisman Studies.

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The first week of school typically involved reviewing the final exam papers and the content from the previous term, without exception. This helped students suffering from holiday syndrome to quickly adapt to the new term’s academic life.

The only regret for Zheng Qing was the cancellation of his personal tutoring sessions with Professor Yi on Tuesday evenings from seven to nine, as his transformation skills had become very proficient.

Another slight discomfort for Zheng Qing was the end of his Saturday night patrols around Lin Zhong Lake. Since he had received high praise from the School Works Committee last term, his patrolling duties were discontinued this semester.

Haven’t had a good sleep on a Saturday night for a long time, Zheng Qing found it difficult to adapt in the first week of school—the most direct consequence was that on Saturday night, perhaps because his biological clock hadn’t adjusted, he hardly closed his eyes.

As a result, he felt listless all day Sunday.

This listlessness persisted through the Sunday evening class meeting without any sign of improvement.

”Why not just cast a couple of ’Heart Purifying Talismans’ for yourself?” Xin Fat Man couldn’t fathom Zheng Qing’s stubbornness: ”If you worry about the cost of those two silver coins, I can give you a ’Clear-headed Potion’ for free, guaranteed to refresh your spirit.”

As he spoke, he took out an unlabeled potion from the storage card in his watch and handed it to Zheng Qing.

The potion, in a transparent glass bottle, was a light blue liquid that shimmered under the white light with varying shades. Within it, numerous tiny bubbles, like little stars, danced up and down—quite a beautiful sight to behold.