The living room felt unusually stuffy, much like the gloomy, overcast sky of Junyao. Zhi Ying stood trembling in the center of the crowd.
"Why? What was wrong with our reasons? I fought hard and tried my best precisely because I had a reason to become stronger." Zhi Ying forced her trembling body to stay still, saying with unwillingness, "Defeating them, surpassing them, that's my dream. What's wrong with my dream?"
"Meng Qinghuan, do you have a dream?" Bai Cha suddenly asked.
"Huh? Ah?" Meng Qinghuan, suddenly put on the spot, was a bit bewildered. Interrupted from his enjoyment of watching the show, he felt a pang of regret but still answered honestly, "No."
"Then why do you fight?" Bai Cha asked again. "If your enemy were in the ruins, would you save them?"
"It's my family's mission. As the clan leader, I can't just slack off." Meng Qinghuan rubbed his face, a bit embarrassed. "Alright, alright, it's a responsibility. Everyone has to be saved, whether they're enemies or not, they're all citizens of Country Z, and they're within our protection range."
"What about you, Lang Mo?" Bai Cha looked up at Lang Mo and asked again.
"You ask why I fight? Because I want to fight monsters." Lang Mo scratched his hair, puzzled. "I slack off sometimes, hunt dragons occasionally. Of course, I'll save people if they need saving. One thing at a time, settle the score after saving them."
"Yun He, why do you fight?" Bai Cha continued to ask.
"Hmm? Me?" Yun He, also taken aback by the sudden question, quickly regained her composure and answered honestly, "Because the evil dragons harm people, so someone has to stand up."
Bai Cha nodded. She looked at Zhi Ying, who seemed lost, as if realizing something. Zhi Ying stared intently at Bai Cha, searching hard for her answer.
"I don't deny that you are excellent, and your desire is very strong. That is your warrior's heart urging you to constantly find ways to become stronger," Bai Cha sighed. "But this is your weakness."
"Weakness?" Zhi Ying's face turned pale, and she murmured.
"You plan to join the Shadow, but you are completely unprepared." Bai Cha shook her head. "People of the Shadow cannot have personal emotions, yet your personal emotions are your motivation. This is fatal."
Bai Cha's voice was very calm. In fact, she didn't need to say so much to Zhi Ying. They were not of the same path, and they likely wouldn't have much interaction in the future. However, encountering good talent, even if she couldn't recruit them, Bai Cha wanted to guide them as much as possible to prevent them from going astray.
"Meng Qinghuan was once hunted and almost killed. Lang Mo's family was betrayed and almost annihilated. Yun He's experience is also related to the Light faction. Even I have enemies among the Light faction." Bai Cha looked at Zhi Ying with a complex expression. She stood up and slowly walked towards the door. "But they are also a part of this world, within our protection."
Enemies? Zhi Ying and Mo Ziye were both stunned. Mo Ziye instinctively looked at Michael, only to find Michael looking away guiltily.
Bai Cha reached the door and flung it open. At that moment, the sky changed. Dark clouds gathered, and streaks of crimson lightning quickly dyed the mist into swirling masses of crimson.
On the rooftops, many Dragon Knights stood ready, all looking solemnly at the blood-red sky.
"Zhi Ying, we are very powerful, very rich, and having power brings status. This is one of the reasons you wanted to come here, isn't it?" Bai Cha stood at the door, and the others quickly followed, standing behind her. Then they heard Bai Cha say, "But in reality, we have nothing."
Nothing? What did that mean?
Zhi Ying didn't understand. She looked around blankly, only to find everyone else seeming to take it for granted. Mo Ziye's expression was also rather grim. He stood in front of Michael, his expression complex, as if he had something to say but hesitated.
"The Shadow is not a good place," Bai Cha's voice was soft, gentle like a breeze, yet it made Zhi Ying's heart inexplicably tremble with cold. "Sometimes, we know that among the people we protect, there are those we despise, and who also despise our existence, but we still have to step forward.
"Because this is our almost ridiculous duty."
"Screech—!"
A fiery red phoenix, carrying golden-red flames, soared straight into the sky, instantly reaching the clouds.
In the blood-red firmament, the great battle had already begun. Amidst the viscous swirls, accompanied by streaks of crimson lightning, came four A-class evil dragons. Their eyes were blood-red, and threads of eerie crimson light flickered faintly all over their bodies.
Dragons below B-class were more like strange and ugly crawling lizards, while S-class dragons were majestic and imposing, from their horns to their wings to their scales, flawless and domineering from head to tail.
A-class dragons, however, were mostly odd in appearance. Perhaps much better than those ugly crawling lizards, but vastly different from the true dragons of S-class.
Some had hydraulic heads, rode black wolves, and wielded sharp swords; some looked more like griffins; others had vague human faces, appearing to be in human form but with bodies of flame; and some had a single horn growing from their heads.
They were varied in form and peculiar in appearance, but without exception, they harbored an extreme will to destroy and a heavy killing intent towards everything on the ground.
"Master." Lucifer stepped forward, bent down, and gently clasped Bai Cha's wrist. Bai Cha immediately understood and nodded comfortingly.
Lucifer's intention was clear: she didn't want Bai Cha to use the power of her strange blood. Although her body had strong recovery abilities, using the power of her blood each time would inevitably drain her vitality.
However, this time, she didn't need to worry. There were plenty of strong individuals in this academy, and Bai Cha didn't need to take the lead now.
The battle in the sky was somewhat intense. Zhi Yue, as the eldest daughter of the Zhi family, possessed outstanding flame abilities. With the most fiery temper, she was enveloped in flames and crashed fiercely into the giant dragons like a shooting star.
With a sudden roar, the enormous dragon could not withstand the immense impact and was smashed directly into another dragon behind it. The surrounding clouds seemed to catch fire. The burning sky looked like a stage tailor-made for Zhi Yue, and Zhi Yue was the war goddess reigning over the battlefield.
Bai Cha looked at the flame-covered sky and stroked her chin, remaining silent. Lang Mo, however, couldn't help but look up at the sky, dumbfounded, and glanced at Bai Cha with some confusion.
"Hey, Old Bai, am I seeing this right?" Lang Mo scratched his head, somewhat bewildered. "Is that bird showing off to us?"
Calling Zhi Yue, this phoenix, a bird directly would likely cause Zhi Yue to throw another tantrum if she heard it.
"Probably, yes." Bai Cha was a little speechless.
Humans gained power from dragons, but their stamina was limited. To deal with dragons, which were tough-skinned and had great endurance, the key was to find their weaknesses and strike a fatal blow, while ensuring one's own survival.
Zhi Yue had turned the sky into a sea of fire. The widespread dispersion of flames looked brilliant, but the danger was greatly reduced. The defense and scales of A-class dragons were incredibly strong. What was the point of wasting power burning their scales? It was a futile effort.
More importantly, Bai Cha also noticed that Zhi Yue kept looking at her while fighting. Bai Cha really didn't know whether to praise her for having the leisure or to be speechless.
This intention of "showing off to the Shadow faction with the identity of the Light faction" was too obvious.
"Right, tell Xiang Nan not to interfere." Bai Cha suddenly seemed to remember something, and looked at Meng Qinghuan with a somewhat displeased expression. "If any of those weird bugs he keeps fly over to me, I'll beat him up."
People from the Shadow faction liked to take on missions with Bai Cha, primarily because it was hassle-free.
Bai Cha could always predict dangers and know what to do beforehand when taking on missions. You could just slack off and watch Bai Cha work, and you'd still get paid and earn credit for the mission. Almost everyone had been carried by Bai Cha like this, and it was incredibly satisfying.
One person was an exception: this person was called the Insect King, Xiang Nan.
The reason was simple: Bai Cha intensely disliked ugly and disgusting insects, and Xiang Nan happened to be fond of raising insect poisons. Ever since Bai Cha saw him keeping a house full of cockroaches, centipedes, and spiders, she had never gone to his place again.
"Of course, I told him a long time ago~" Meng Qinghuan nodded in agreement. It wasn't just Bai Cha; probably everyone found Xiang Nan's little darlings unlikable.
Only Yun He looked at the sky seriously, with a slight surprise. "I didn't expect such powerful attacks to fail to defeat them."
In the sky, flames and lightning exploded. Zhi Yue emerged from the blast, staggering slightly. On the other side, although the four dragons were also covered in wounds, those who knew the trade could tell at a glance that these superficial injuries were not serious. Zhi Yue was still at a disadvantage.
Bai Cha shook her head. "They're not strong, just loud."
Bai Cha estimated that Zhi Yue hadn't paid much attention to the intensity of her moves, being too focused on showing off to her. She probably hadn't expected these dragons to have relatively pure bloodlines, making them much stronger than ordinary dragons.
"Forget it, I'll go. If I let her continue fighting like this, she'll probably make the news tomorrow." Bai Cha rubbed her forehead helplessly.
Whether this outcome was predictable or not, Junyao, one of the world's top academies, having its top ten strongest individuals unable to handle four A-class dragons, would be a disgrace if this news spread.
Bai Cha had originally intended to casually strike a fatal blow. This was not a place for ordinary people, and she didn't need to tidy up these corpses. However, plans never kept up with changes.
Perhaps by coincidence, the moment Bai Cha leaped onto the rooftop, the dragon that looked the most human-like, the one with a single horn on its head, also moved. It rushed towards the crowd from the opposite direction.
Bai Cha's pupils contracted sharply. Logically, these controlled dragons, like puppets, were merely mechanically repeating commands of slaughter and destruction. But this unicorn actually possessed the intelligence to take hostages?
Intelligence presupposes consciousness. Could this dragon remain conscious while being controlled? This seemed to be the first time she had seen a dragon causing destruction with intelligence and strategy.
Bai Cha pressed her forehead.
If this continued, tomorrow's headline would surely be "Junyao's Second Strongest and Bai Family Patriarch's Joint Effort Fails to Kill Four Dragons, Resulting in Hostage-Taking."
Coincidentally, it was Andusia, the most bizarre of the four dragons, that moved.
And to make matters worse, it kidnapped Principal Gu's younger brother, Gu Mingze, who was the last in the entire school.
"Still the heavens, flowing light and shadow!"
A gentle, honest voice echoed ethereal in the air. Streams of light and shadow intertwined, forming a dense net of pale golden sword energy that accurately pierced the vital points of the three evil dragons in the sky.
Gu Zitan, after his brother was captured, finally couldn't hold back and made his move. His swords of light were used with unparalleled skill, and the streams of light and shadow were commanded as if they were extensions of his own limbs. After assassinating the three evil dragons, the dense sword energy flexibly curved and lunged towards Andusia again.
Bai Cha could barely watch. She truly couldn't understand the thought process of these Junyao powerhouses. Were these people inexperienced in real battle? In such a situation, instead of instantly killing the dragon holding hostages, they had time to help Zhi Yue eliminate the evil dragons in the sky first.