High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2937: Chapter 1155: Predestined Number

Zheng Qing knew the mentor would leave.

Yet he didn’t expect the day to come so suddenly.

At the beginning of May, on Zheng Qing’s birthday, he had dreamt of the mentor once— to be accurate, that day he only heard the mentor’s voice and saw the Yellow Flowered Cat.

The Yellow Flowered Cat said that day, the mentor was in a faraway place, and would be getting further away from them, possibly soon unable to even hear them speaking.

Zheng Qing originally thought this ’soon’ was judged by Big Wizards or even Legendary Wizards’ time perspectives. Because in the eyes of those high-level wizards, a year for ordinary wizards might just be akin to a day for them.

Therefore, although he felt a bit reluctant, a bit sad, and a bit anxious, he still held onto some thoughts— what if the ’true departure’ mentioned by the mentor was in a few years, or even ten, twenty years later?

But now this wishful thinking has been shattered.

At once, things like early graduation, crow, Montelio, Taiyi, sapling, the missing North District Grand-Wizard, and even the silver-white starlight crossing the red and black colors, slowly descending toward Buji Island, were all cast aside by the young wizard.

He now only wanted to know one thing.

”When?” the young wizard asked in a small voice, with a pleading tone.

The mentor raised a hand to rub his head.

”Anytime.”

He offered a very un-wizard-like vague answer, with a cheerful tone: ”But before leaving, I must have a good chat with you, talk about my situation, your situation, discuss how your future path should be walked. Well, the benefit of the high-dimensional world is that time has no meaning here, so you can ask slowly, and I can answer patiently.”

These words finally lifted the boy’s mood a bit.

To the extent that at a certain moment, he even wanted to make this conversation last forever.

”When you’re gone, what should I do?!”

Zheng Qing muttered, squeezing out the most pressing problem from his mind: ”—now many people know I have a forbidden curse. When you were here, they dared not act recklessly. When you’re gone, wouldn’t they strip my skin and draw my tendons, slowly chopping me into mincemeat?”

These words bore a remarkable resemblance to a conversation earlier between the mentor and Yellow Flowered Cat in San You Bookstore, making him unable to not chuckle.

”Though this is a world that devours people, they wouldn’t eat you so unabashedly,” the mentor looked at the boy meaningfully, then turned the conversation: ”—besides, you are not totally without backing. With First University behind you, a few evil spirits, don’t need to worry too much. Of course, the most effective solution lies within yourself. As the saying goes, ’To forge iron, one must be strong oneself,’ as long as you build yourself into a grain of copper pea that can’t be steamed soft, cooked raw, pounded flat, fried exploded, a loud tinkling copper pea, before others take a bite, they must weigh whether it will break their teeth.”

”That’s easy to say...” Zheng Qing lacked confidence in the mentor’s optimism.

The mentor had to reassure him further: ”Don’t you already have ’Taiyi’? Though a bit rushed, having Taiyi by your side grants you legendary level combat power. Generally speaking, managing to stay safe against common legends should require no problem. Moreover, the forbidden curse is nothing more than legendary-level power; those eyeing it wouldn’t take the risk to provoke First University or until death do not part with a legend, just to seize a forbidden curse that might only provide them a bit of inspiration.”

”Only legendary level?” Zheng Qing couldn’t help but show a bit of disappointment on his face.

He has seen much now, and even can handle ’Taiyi’ himself, unleashing earth-shattering abilities, hence upon hearing that the forbidden curse only possesses legendary-level power, he felt a pang of desolation.

The mentor raised a hand and knocked on his head.

”The spell that a group of Big Wizards exert their collective effort on, what higher level do you expect?”

He laughed, pointing at the sobbing boy clutching his head, reminding: ”Don’t just because you’ve learned to harness ’Taiyi’, regard legend not like a legend! Across the entire alliance, or the entire Wizard World, the number of Legendary Wizards is truly limited. A family with one legend can become the top giants in the alliance, and a force with three to five legends equates to the most powerful in the alliance. The five Upper House Members of the Moon Council combined use a secret technique, merely to cast a spell with a bit of legendary aura, thereby securing their positions as Upper House Members. First University with four or five forbidden curses at hand is equivalent to possessing the foundation of four or five legends, keeping many both inside and outside the alliance in check. Now you, wielding both a forbidden curse and a legendary-level Giant God Soldier alone, if this doesn’t assure you, can’t think of another way.”

Zheng Qing chuckled dryly.

Yet images flashed through his mind involuntarily, scenes glimpsed briefly before the leaf boat.

”But it feels like legends are becoming more nowadays...” he counted on his fingers: ”Just these two years of my schooling, those advancing to legend include Professor Yao, Rat Immortal, the monsters seen just now, and this hasn’t counted the two special cases of Montelio and Professor Emma... Hiss, calculating like this, those who advanced to legend exceed those who advanced to Big Wizard!”

Unaware before calculation, astounded after counting.

He couldn’t help but take a small breath.

The mentor nodded, yet also shook his head: ”Indeed these days, several legends arose, but isn’t this a special circumstance now. First, the magic tide wave brought by my breakthrough offering people the chance to advance; second, once I leave, the great void left behind provides opportunities for others to shift positions, rightly so. Some advance to ancient, some leveraging move to legends, their paths differed...”

”Are the legends or ancient beings in this world quantitatively determinable?” Zheng Qing keenly noticed the implication in the mentor’s words, instinctively questioning.

The mentor smiled in satisfaction.

”Do you still remember how many forbidden curses there are in total?” he countered.

Zheng Qing replied without hesitation: ”—theoretically there are forty-nine, but practically less than ten have been compiled.”

This was once covered in Philosophy of Magic class.

”Haven’t you been curious, how this precise number came about?” the mentor inquired further, but without waiting for the boy’s answer, directly providing the answer: ”This number is derived based on the quantity of legends. Just as Professor Yao illustrated, the world’s carrying capacity is limited. Overload leads to the world’s collapse. Believe the recent experience with Leviathan in Cloud Sea World helps you understand this expression. Simply put, this world can accommodate seven to nine ancient beings, as well as forty-nine legends. The former number is indeterminate because from ancient times to today, the maximum number of ancient beings hasn’t exceeded seven, but theoretically, everyone senses there’s room for one or two more; the latter, however, is proven through extensive time.”