Chinese professors at the Wizarding Academy

"But according to the contract, I have no obligation to help you."

"It doesn't matter, you're free to help or not."

The warehouse was filled with the smell of old dust and rusted metal. Ken's words broke the brief silence like a cold stone thrown into stagnant water.

Ken's reply was certainly not what someone seeking help wanted to hear; it was a simple and straightforward rejection.

However, Gu Chen's plan was very simple. Of course, he really hoped that Ken could provide some help... but it didn't matter if he didn't help, Gu Chen would handle this matter himself.

But Ken will definitely help.

The simplest reason is that Antinoya has already jumped into this mess, and to get out of it, she needs to deal with the family members led by Joebeck.

Although Ken no longer has a forced contractual connection with the Antinoya family, a high-level first-ring mind wizard is not a rare thing in Gray Tower Academy. Ken's attitude indicates that Antinoya has very powerful wizards, who are definitely beyond the capabilities of Ken and Gu Chen at present.

Therefore, the two of them are now naturally a community of shared interests. Their common enemy brings them common pressure, so they must cooperate.

Faced with Ken's rejection, Gu Chen smiled slightly, his smile confident and elegant, as if he didn't care at all.

The reason is very simple: Ken's talent is "freedom and betrayal."

Talent is, in a sense, a reflection of personality; one could even say that personality shapes talent…

It's obvious that Ken, the bald guy, really wants freedom, so he probably won't accept the reason if you tell him directly.

Then just relax a bit and let Ken convince himself.

"Oh?"

Ken uttered a question, but as he spoke, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

Gu Chen slowly turned around, his back to the door. His deep eyes shone brightly in the dim light, accurately capturing every subtle change in Ken's face.

"The hunting party is this Sunday."

"If you help me, I can handle things as well as I can. Antinoya's conspiracy is looming over me and over you. Right now, it's all a complete mess."

"Jim and Clearly have huge secrets. You know more about Antinoya than I do, so if I can roughly guess what they are, you probably can too."

Gu Chen's voice was deep and steady, without much emotion.

"Help me this once. Of course, if you don't want to help, I won't force you, but if they take advantage of me, I'll definitely go and kill them."

"That Shell Bro's so-called 'meeting' was just a ploy to lure me, who knew nothing, into the Black Forest, into that meat grinder, so that he could legitimately chop me and Jim up and bury us all."

"I could have run away from the Black Forest, but once the hunting season starts, Gray Tower Academy will send people to surround this area, and I won't be able to escape."

He walked to a relatively clean area in the center of the warehouse, swept away the debris with his foot, revealing a dusty but fairly flat ground underneath.

"can not wait."

"To help or not to help? Just one word."

Ken remained silent, not uttering a single word, for his teacher, Gu Chen, had already laid out the choice before him.

A voice inside him said, "None of your business, let's go."

"Now that you've finally gained your freedom, your top priority should be to go home, enjoy a cup of hot tea, and then get some sleep under the covers."

"Anyway, you don't owe this person anything, do you? You've abided by the terms of the contract."

The voice grew louder and louder, almost completely engulfing Ken's mind.

But at the same time, Ken felt a vague restlessness in his heart, a feeling that told him that he needed to help Teacher Gu Chen in order to gain his future freedom.

The reason is now clear: as a former slave of Antinoya, if he simply sits and waits for Antinoya to complete their plan step by step, he will most likely still be unable to escape in the future.

What's even more commendable is that Gu Chen respects his own wishes, and even if he doesn't want to help, he won't force him.

This feeling of having the freedom to choose one's own life and future is a feeling that Ken has always dreamed of.

Finally, Ken nodded silently. His originally peaceful expression became increasingly solemn due to the struggle in his heart. Finally, he seemed to have made up his mind. His tall figure leaned against the door frame, and his bald head gleamed with a cold, hard color in the dim light coming through the broken window.

"Okay, I'll help you."

He glanced at Jim, who was meditating with his eyes closed in the corner, but whose body was still trembling slightly with fear.

"This is not a good task."

Ken's face was cold.

"As you know, Gray Tower Academy is basically a dog-eat-dog world. Apart from some core issues and maintaining a superficial peace, Gray Tower doesn't really care about anything else."

"Therefore, someone as gifted as Joebeck can truly thrive in the Gray Tower. He forms cliques, bullies the weak, and with his family connections... Antinoya's reach is deeper than you think. Although she can't enter the upper echelons of the Gray Tower Academy, to be honest, she can't even enter the middle echelons, but she has a lot of resources and networks within the academy, such as the outer academies of the first and second rings."

Ken let out a soft breath.

"For truly important people, this is nothing."

"But for you... well, that's really bold."

"In particular, the Antinonia family has intricate connections with the royal family of the Kingdom of Lorian."

As Ken spoke, his facial expressions began to twitch.

Should I not have gotten involved in this mess?

However, if you don't get involved, trouble will come knocking on your door in the future. There's still Elisa's body in Ken's storage ring. Given Antinoya's nature, anyone who was related to Elisa's death back then would definitely be coming after her.

"well……"

Ken sighed as he thought about this.

He really just wanted a peaceful life.

"You killed Alyssa, and then wiped out several groups of them, especially that clean and efficient move at the cafeteria entrance... Don't look at me like that. If you don't let me see into your heart, I won't look. My former colleague from the Antinoya family told me about this."

"If your initial feeling was that you were offended by the bugs, you could have just stomped on them, because you touched on some secrets you shouldn't have known."

"Of course, you must go all out when doing something in order to avoid leaving any trouble behind. This is also the way of doing things for the Jobeck and Antinoya families."

"However... your mindset will change when you kill the people sent to kill you."

At this moment, Gu Chen looked up and glanced at Ken.

"You mean he's furious right now?"

"Yes, most likely."

Ken's tone carried a deep understanding of Antinonia's ways of doing things, and also contained a subtle hint of sarcasm.

Ken was truly astonished that his teacher was such an interesting person, managing to kill the people who had ambushed him.

Given Joe Baker's style of attack, he always strikes in pairs, like in front of the cafeteria.

"After all, they are two mid-level first-ring cultivators, which is quite important."

"There are four."

"?"

Ken originally thought that the development of events was already quite unexpected, and that his teacher had done an outstanding job.

After all, a low-level first-ring cultivator killed two mid-level first-ring cultivators.

But what does the number four mean?

"There are two more in the Black Forest, but they were probably hired by Joebeck. I interrogated them for a long time."

Gu Chen answered Ken's question, saying,

"Ah, that's not surprising... No wonder I haven't received any news yet."

"Wait, you killed four people, why are you acting like you just killed a chicken?"

Ken was genuinely shocked. Although he had lost to Gu Chen last time, in his mind, it was because Gu Chen had fought so hard and used unexpected tactics that he hadn't anticipated the food would be cooked.

Gu Chen did not reply, but remained silent.

After learning this news, Ken somehow felt a little more confident.

The person in front of me was indeed the same as the one I had encountered before—fighting desperately!

"Fine, since I'm already involved, I'll just say everything I can."

"Jobeck himself is just like me, a high-level first-tier Blood Wizard."

"His own strength wasn't bad, but it wasn't particularly strong either. He used a lot of precious materials to improve his abilities."

As Gu Chen listened to Ken's words, he felt the sarcasm in Ken's words was getting stronger.

"But that's not the biggest problem. The most difficult thing to deal with is that Joebeck has a mid-level second-circle 'Dark Eroder' by his side, who specializes in death magic. It's very troublesome."

"Furthermore, as you know about our Gray Tower Academy, before you can advance to the second ring, you can only go to the Black Forest at most; you cannot go to the human world or other academies."

"Teacher Gu Chen, if you want to escape, you can only run to the Black Forest. Every year, many students from the academy escape to the Black Forest. Of course, the outer areas of the Black Forest are not very dangerous, so the pursuing wizards can enter, but the outer areas become dangerous."

"The wizards who were hunting us in the deep and middle layers of the Black Forest dared not go in anymore, but that's because the Black Forest is too dangerous."

Ken shrugged.

"If you stay at the college, you'll have to sleep with your eyes open every night."

"Therefore, we need an effective plan. What you said about striking first is not impossible, but I must fulfill my responsibility. Teacher, you are being a bit too optimistic."

"I suggest we go to the Black Forest first and see if we can improve our talents as our primary goal."

Ken's words were fair, but they also sounded a bit unambitious, like pouring a bucket of ice water onto a fire.

"escape?"

Although there was some truth to what he said, Gu Chen's lips curled into a cold, emotionless smile, clearly indicating that he hadn't taken it to heart.

The dark gold patterns on the Grip of Life and Death seemed to flow slightly in the shadows, as if they were alive. Gu Chen slowly spoke:

"I know the rules of Gray Tower, you don't need to repeat them."

"To flee is to die, and to die even faster and in a more humiliating way."

"I will take the initiative, but for now, Ken, please wait for me a moment."

He took a deep breath, and it seemed as if he was drawing into that cold resolve the stale air in the warehouse.

"Jim,"

Gu Chen turned to the students in the corner.

Jim, who had been meditating and trying to suppress his fear, suddenly opened his eyes upon hearing the sound and straightened his back.

"teacher!"

Gu Chen took out the Shadowmoon Grey Wolf hind leg meat, which was still slightly cool and contained in a silver packaging box, from his bag.

The meat has distinct textures and a unique, subtle fragrance.

"Eat this, Jim, it'll be good for your health."

Gu Chen is always very gentle with Jim, except when teaching.

But now his tone left no room for doubt, and Jim could hear the seriousness in Gu Chen's words. Without the slightest hesitation, he took the piece of meat and began to tear it into his mouth.

The aroma of grease mixed with the musty smell of the warehouse, creating a strange atmosphere. At first, he simply chewed and swallowed. Although the hind leg meat of the Shadowmoon Grey Wolf was very delicious, Jim was eating with the intention of getting it into his stomach as soon as possible.

Gu Chen wanted to stop him again. Although the situation was urgent, it didn't have to come down to this over a meal... but his outstretched hand stopped in mid-air.

Jim's movements suddenly froze! His eyes went unfocused, and the piece of meat in his hand was about to fall to the ground with a "thud".

Gu Chen reacted swiftly, stepping forward to catch Jim as he fell with his left hand, while using his right hand to scoop up the remaining meat from the Shadowmoon Grey Wolf's hind leg.

"Blood...so much blood...on...on the white stone steps...!!!"

The hind leg meat of the Shadowmoon Grey Wolf can immerse the user in past memories.

At that moment, Jim's body began to tremble violently, and he clutched his head tightly with both hands! His fingernails were almost digging into his scalp!

Jim's voice was filled with tearing pain and fear.

"They...they called me...a bastard!"

"...No! I'm not! Father...Father, he..."

These words made Gu Chen and Ken's expressions turn serious, but at that moment Jim's words came to an abrupt halt. He seemed unable to withstand the onslaught of memories, curling up into a ball and letting out a suppressed sob.

"The Lorian royal family..."

Ken's eyes instantly sharpened like knives. His mind wizard instincts allowed him to detect Jim's emotions—an emotion that was extremely sad, distressed, desperate, and resentful...

"It's not fake, Teacher Gu Chen. The emotions are so real. These memories are hidden deep in your heart."

He turned to look at Gu Chen, who also had a solemn expression on his face.

It was just a guess, but it turned out to be true...

The good news is that it's confirmed to be related to Lorian; the bad news is that it's related to Lorian...

Gu Chen's face darkened completely. Although he had suspected it before, the use of the term "father" in Jim's memory fragments completely confirmed Jim's identity and the other party's ultimate goal.

"Jim Lorian..."

Gu Chen muttered to himself that his first student was someone he had pulled out of the Soul Furnace, essentially someone who was discarded by others and thrown into the trash can, but he had picked them out.

The result was that a member of the royal family was found, and there is a high probability that he also has a right of succession.

Jim was curled up, the morning sun shining on him, his hair reflecting a golden light, making him look like a lion.