High School of Demon Hunting

Chapter 2957: Chapter 1175: Five Treasures

”— Heaven and Earth Xuanhuang, the cosmos Wild! The sun and moon wax and wane, the constellations are arrayed in Zhang! Cold comes, heat departs, autumn reaps, winter stores! Intercalary days make up the year, the pitch and mode harmonize the yang! Clouds surge and bring rain, dew congeals into frost! Gold is born from beautiful waters, jade comes from Kunlun peaks! The sword is named Giant-Que, the pearl called Night-Luminescent...”

”— In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. God said, ’Let there be light,’ and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness...”

”— Within the void, desolation without aspect! No heaven, no earth, no yin, no yang; look and you see nothing, listen and you hear nothing. Call it being, and no form appears; call it non-being, and all things are born from it. Beyond the eight bounds, division slowly begins; below, the subtle takes shape and becomes the World, and there is the great Origin...”

”— When the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals, I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, ’Come!’ I looked, and behold, a white horse; its rider held a bow, and a crown was given to him. He rode out conquering, and to conquer...”

”— On an auspicious day, the time is Chen Liang, solemnly I shall delight the Supreme Sovereign; I fondle the Longsword with jade fittings, its tinkling chime rings like precious stones...”

Five streams of orderly, interwoven chant rose from low to high, slowly resounding across the whole of Buji Island.

At first the chant was like a child’s voice, clear and pleasant; then like a youth’s, full of vigor; then like a man in his prime, ringing and forceful; finally like an old man’s, leisurely and content, lingering in endless aftertaste.

Fine strands of chanting crisscrossed in all directions, giving rise to Tai Chi, birthing the Two Forms; from the Two Forms emerged the Three Enclosures, the Three Enclosures transformed into the Four Signs, the Four Signs derived the Five Elements, and thence the six directions and Seven stars, the Eight Trigrams and Nine Palaces, until at last out of the chaos were evolved the Ten Directions World and all things under Heaven and Earth, and from the myriad things erupted earth, water, wind, and fire; the World shattered and returned to chaos.

It was only an instant, yet between Heaven and Earth it was as if several cycles of reincarnation had passed.

And still the chanting continued.

With the chant, at every birth and destruction of a World, there at the end of the Ruins a treasure would be born.

First to be born was a small Xuanhuang Tower, nine stories high, with bracket sets and flying eaves; upon it seemed to be sun, moon, and stars, Heaven and Earth and all things. This small tower was set in the ’earth’ position, sending up streams of Primordial Qi that pierced the sky, blocking those spheres that radiated infinite brilliance outside Buji Island, not allowing them to fall.

Next appeared a Scepter, pure white throughout, holy and immaculate, lying across the ’heaven’ position, clustered about by countless clouds of Qingyun. Any sphere of boundless light that fell into it was instantly dissolved, transformed into a new cloud of Qingyun.

Then appeared a great Seal, neither quite stone nor quite jade, antique and heavy; on its face were carved only the two characters ’Heaven’ and ’Earth’. It hung between ’heaven’ and ’earth’, forming a domain of its own. Those spheres of infinite radiance that fell into that domain were immediately bounced back, returned above, while at the same time emitting a clear tone like pendants of jade calling phoenixes.

Besides these, there was also a single Jewel, and a great Imperial Bell.

These five treasures unfolded above Buji Island in the formation of Two Forms and Three Powers. Among them, the Scepter, the great Seal, and the small Xuanhuang Tower had already fully condensed, near-tangible; whereas the Jade Bead and Imperial Bell were drowned in the radiance of the other three treasures, hazy and indistinct, unable to be clearly seen.

Then a stretch of white, hazy Mist spread out from the First University. Within the Mist were four beams of light, red, white, blue, and gold respectively, their aura ramming the Dipper and Ox, connecting straight to the heavens, as though to divide all of Heaven and Earth into four quarters.

”— It truly is the First University.”

The President of the Dark Council stood somewhat disheveled at the shore of Buji Island, gazing at the endless spheres of brilliance over sea and sky, and at the rays of Spell Light that barred those spheres from the island. He could not help but murmur softly in wonder: ”Perhaps in this whole Alliance—no, in this whole Wizard World—only the First University can even slightly hinder the descent of the Ancient Ones’ shadows.”

”This is Forbidden Curse?”

The Multi-armed Giant Kotos had also reverted to the image of a big bald-headed man, likewise standing at the shore. Only, compared to the President, he looked far more miserable: one arm seemed to have been melted away by searing magma. Though he had already come ashore, viscous liquid still dripped from him without cease; yet he paid it no mind, absorbed in carefully studying this scene that came but once in many centuries, and humbly consulting his elder: ”— So that means, the First University has a total of five Forbidden Curses?”

”Perhaps. Until the final moment, no one knows how many trump cards this university still keeps hidden.”

The Elder Wizard’s wording was exceedingly cautious, yet his gaze was razor-sharp: ”...The only thing that can be confirmed is that the Forbidden Curses the school can unleash at once will not exceed three. Just like now: among these five Forbidden Curses that have been unfolded, two have flimsy, unstable auras. Their formations are uncompleted, mere hollow façades.”

”Why? Is there some other limiting condition on casting those two Forbidden Curses?”

”Not conditions that limit them, but conditions that are limited.”

Six Fingers slightly rearranged KOTOS’s phrasing: ”I’m guessing it’s simply a matter of insufficient manpower... After all, according to the initial information the school reported to the Alliance, when ’Genesis’ or ’Wild’ were cast, the power of over a hundred Big Wizards had to be pooled... How many Big Wizards does the entire Alliance possess? All these years, the school must have made many improvements, but to unleash five Forbidden Curses in a single breath is still...”

He shook his head ever so slightly, clearly not optimistic about that conclusion.

KOTOS fell silent for a moment.

He spoke again: ”— If memory serves, I recall the Alliance’s records indicating that Forbidden Curses should be merely Wizard-Level Spells of Legend, so why...”

”Why does their might now seem beyond imagining?”

The Elder Wizard considerately finished the thought, then shifted his tone, with a hint of emotion: ”If you replace ’Forbidden Curse’ with some other spell—say, Binding Spell—and think the question through again, it should no longer trouble you. A Binding Spell cast by a Registered wizard and a Binding Spell cast by a Legendary Wizard differ in effect by heaven and earth. That Forbidden Curses require Great Wizard Level to cast does not mean only Great Wizards can use Forbidden Curses. This point is something the Council gradually came to Comprehension of during the development of ’Nine Songs’...”

Perhaps he felt he had said a bit too much.

The Elder Wizard very stiffly shifted the topic.

”— Speaking of which, you lot lured this High Majesty down to descend, yet don’t seem to have gained any benefit from it. You like this, and that big crow seems to have fallen into the Silent Forest as well.” He looked at KOTOS with a half-smile, his gaze lingering on the arm that was still dissolving, his tone carrying a note of warning: ”— We walk a different path than the existences of the Starry Sky. Never harbor any expectations toward Them.”

KOTOS’s expression was indifferent; he shook his head slightly. ”We have not colluded with the Starry Sky. We merely created an opportunity—an opportunity to loot a burning house... Or rather, we sent an invitation to the whole Wizard World... But upon receiving the invitation, the first ones to arrive were only the Starry Sky. Mm, and you.”

The Elder Wizard’s face changed dramatically; his earlier air of watching a joke vanished at once, and he exploded in fury tinged with guilt: ”Bullshit! I only followed you to try and talk you into going back!”

The big bald-headed guy glanced sidelong at him, and only snorted a cold laugh, saying nothing.