High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2446: Chapter 667: Mo Lu Studies and Yin Fu Studies

”...Since we’re at school, we can take a serious, careful look this time.”

Professor Montreya casually picked up a small knife, twirling it around his fingers to create a few elegant knife patterns. His attitude was amiable, and his tone was friendly: ”In theory, an intruder with their own ’behavior logic’ won’t easily expose their traces, so don’t expect one or two checks will catch that Bean... But as I quoted before from Alfred White’s saying - inferior bloodlines will conflict with the body, excellent bloodlines will help cleanse impurities, and great bloodlines will ignite the fire of potential, melting all truths in the world - I still believe your body carries great powers unknown even to you, having truly merged that Bean into a part of you...”

Watching Professor Montreya’s glowing eyes and his endless dialogue, Zheng Qing finally remembered his purpose.

”Ah... Sorry, Professor, I’m not here for that!”

The young assistant stepped back in horror, waving his hands repeatedly and speaking quickly, fearing that if he slowed down, he might be dissected, so he even forgot to use formal language:

”I’m here because of the teaching plan! I’m the assistant for the Talisman class at Edge Academy! I don’t know how to write a teaching plan, and I don’t have teaching experience! So... Professor Yao told me to talk to you about this before Thursday’s class... it’s not about the Copper Bean... it has nothing to do with the Copper Bean!”

He tried his best to explain his purpose, making an effort to avoid looking at those glistening little knives.

The professor’s hand slightly paused in mid-air.

”Ah, that matter.”

He was obviously a bit disappointed, returning to his desk – those experimental tools seemed to feel their master’s mood too, weakly flying back into the cabinet – then waved his hand listlessly and said: ”Sit down, have a seat, since you’re here to discuss the teaching plan, we’re colleagues, don’t act so restrained like a student...”

Perhaps he also felt his previous behavior was a bit awkward, his usual stern expression squeezed out a few hints of a smile, but this hardly assured Zheng Qing, instead making him feel increasingly unsettled.

Realizing that this expression didn’t suit him, Professor Montreya quickly restrained his smile, slightly hastening his speech: ”...As for teaching, no one is born a professor. Originally, an assistant is the most junior teaching position, meant to assist professors in their work. You’re assigned as an assistant because your understanding and mastery of Basic Runes are outstanding, already meeting the initial teaching needs of Edge Academy.

Let me tell you in advance, this semester, Edge Academy won’t be recruiting any other real professors. I discussed this with Korma and the committee members at the joint meeting, and in the preliminary student stage, the school’s assistant team will be responsible for their teaching... Hmm, wasn’t your class’s volunteer service scheduled to help out at Edge Academy this Thursday?

In fact, I initially thought having students support a little would be enough, without even needing assistants. Be it Northern District Wizards, Gypsy witches, or other Fringe Wizards, their foundations are incredibly weak, and the basic knowledge that ordinary students have is sufficient for them to learn for a long time. But Korma felt that if an academy initially feels ’unofficial’, correcting this perception later would become very difficult, and I found her reasoning sensible...”

Professor Montreya briefly introduced some details before and after the preparation of Edge Academy, with Zheng Qing nodding vigorously like a pecking chick, earnestly analyzing it.

Though these details couldn’t directly tell him how to teach, they did provide a strategic overview, giving him a clear understanding of the educational plan for Edge Academy.

”...So, in principle, I suggest you start teaching from the most basic talisman formats. For instance, what is a symbol head, what is a symbol gall, what are symbol feet; such as cutting Talisman paper, preparing Dan sand; and even the most basic spirit sealing skills, etc.”

At this point, Montreya paused, then changed the subject: ”By the way, have you discussed this with Miss Kolmar? What is her opinion?”

”I just sent a Paper Crane this afternoon to arrange a meeting time,” Zheng Qing replied somewhat sheepishly, because he had only remembered this matter in the afternoon: ”Vice-President Korma asked me to go to the North District to find her after tonight’s class...”

Night class ends at nine o’clock.

Thinking about needing to trek far to the North District after a whole day of classes, Zheng Qing felt genuinely exhausted, and couldn’t help but sigh heavily.

Professor Montreya behind the desk touched his chin, pondering: ”After the night class? Hmm... here are a few standard lesson plans from the assistant team, you can take them for reference... I still say, teach however you want is your freedom, given the varied student levels, the academy currently lacks a clear teaching syllabus. Don’t have too much psychological pressure.”

The final words were perhaps the most comforting to Zheng Qing in this conversation.

Night class is a session of Mo Lu Studies.

Mo Lu is the type of talisman painted with black ink documents, opposite in nature to the Dan books. The ancients said, Dan books are red, the bright fire signifies Yang; Mo Lu is black, the bright water signifies Yin.

The general meaning is that red represents Yang, black represents Yin.

Ordinary talismans, when written, have ’Yin Yang’ variations according to differences in day and night, cold and heat, morning and evening, life and death, as well as the writer’s gender, with varied positions during talisman painting, etc., distinguishing them into Yang symbols, Yin symbols, and ordinary symbols. While ordinary symbols have moderate effects, using Yin Yang nature symbols appropriately according to environmental conditions yields highly efficient results.

The symbols learned in Mo Lu Studies class are almost identical to ordinary symbols, probably differing only by a few more twists in the symbol gall, a shorter Mo Lu at the symbol feet, or longer Dan book, etc., with differences only subtly.

Apart from this, the class focused more on instructing when to best use Mo Lu, what conditions permit its use, and the several blending methods of ink for painting Mo Lu, mixed with some Yin Yang variations and harmonization.

On Monday nights, Yin Fu Studies is another concept entirely.

It’s important to emphasize here, Yin symbols and Yin nature symbols are completely different concepts.

If Mo Lu and Dan books, these symbols painted on yellow paper, belong to ’Yang symbols,’ with structures of symbol head, symbol gall, symbol feet; then ’Yin symbols’ are ’mental symbols,’ a talisman art performed through certain rituals involving astral footsteps, hand signs, spells, secret scripts.

Much like how Law books replace hand gestures and magic wands.

With the development of modern magical theory, heart symbols, rooted in master-disciple and mysticism theories, are rarely used now. In the entire Wizard World, perhaps only the First University can fully preserve and pass down these traditional skills buried in historical documents.