Chinese professors at the Wizarding Academy

Gu Chen burst in, the curtains falling haphazardly to both sides as he forcefully lifted them.

The scene inside the tent came into view.

The tent exuded an air of luxury from the outside, and the interior was even more so, complete with furnishings, genuine leather chairs, heavy wooden tables, and even a large rug that was clearly made of Shadowmoon Grey Wolf hide.

The carpet was very large. According to Gu Chen's idea, this Shadowmoon Gray Wolf must have had at least the strength of a mid-level first ring before becoming the carpet.

The entire interior of the tent gives the impression of wealth...

However, the interior of the tent at this moment did not give people a sense of elegance or luxury.

It was an utterly eerie feeling, so much so that Gu Chen's stomach began to churn the moment he saw it.

"How disgusting..."

This was Gu Chen's first reaction after he barged into the tent.

Because in the center of the dark red carpet was an open metal box.

At this moment, a dark green energy body was floating inside the box, constantly writhing, with dense runes flowing on its surface.

It appears that these are the "goods" that have been overheard from the very beginning until now.

Chobeck, dressed in a blood-red wizard's robe, stood in front of the box, his hands resting on either side of the energy body.

The robe was clearly made of a very expensive material, but in stark contrast to its luxurious appearance, the body beneath it was noticeably thin, and the face was frighteningly pale.

His eyes were sunken, and a sickly light burned within his pupils.

Moreover, Gu Chen noticed that it seemed that not only was Joe Beck's robe red, but his face also had a very obvious red tinge...

It's most likely blood...

"who……!"

Just as he had been scouted, Joe Baker was surrounded by three assistants.

The eldest among them reacted the fastest. The moment Gu Chen burst in, he turned around, raised his hand, let out a gasp, and began to mutter incantations.

This was a clear sign that he was about to cast a spell. Gu Chen immediately locked onto the older man. Such experienced people were the most difficult to deal with, and it was only right that he should be dealt with immediately!

If this elder's plan were true, the spell should have been cast quickly and eliminated this reckless intruder.

However, Gu Chen didn't give him the chance.

"Bang!"

With a sudden burst of strength in his left hand, he hurled the pitchfork he was gripping, the sound of it cutting through the air reaching the ears of everyone in the tent.

Apart from Joe Baker, the three assistants instinctively dodged, but Gu Chen didn't aim at people when he threw the ball; instead, he smashed it into a magic lamp hanging on the top of the tent.

The lampshade shattered, spilling the luminescent powder and flammable grease stored inside, followed by a violent, fiery yellow flower exploding inside the tent!

"boom!"

The flames exploded, and unsurprisingly, chaos erupted inside the tent.

The elder's incantation was interrupted, and the other two apprentices retreated in panic.

But Joebeck acted as if he hadn't seen it, still staring intently at the energy object in the box, muttering to himself.

"So close...so close..."

"You're really obsessed... I'll help you solve this obsession."

Gu Chen thought to himself, then passed through the flames and raised his right arm again.

This time, the Soul-Eating Death Qi condensed into a grayish-white sharp cone, piercing straight into Joebeck's back.

The reason for choosing to use Soul-Eating Death Qi is very simple: Joebeck already had Soul-Eating Death Qi in his body, and with this accumulation, he was definitely ready to go and report to the Grim Reaper.

However, things are never quite as perfect as they seem, but just as the sharp cone was about to strike!

Joe Baker turned around abruptly.

His eyes had turned completely dark purple, and the reflection of that dark green energy body was seen deep within his pupils.

"You've arrived?"

"Haha... You're here, you're here!"

"You've arrived."

He grinned, a distorted smile.

"Do you even know how much we've lost because of you... how much resources we've wasted, how much time we've wasted because of you!"

Joe Beck's blood-red eyes were fixed on another pair of blood-red eyes. However, compared to his eyes, which were filled with madness and perversion, the other pair of eyes, belonging to Gu Chen, were calm, composed, and speechless.

Gu Chen remained silent. He had nothing to say to the man in front of him who was clearly a madman, and he didn't even have the heart to complain.

Whether his assassination attempt would succeed hinged on this split second, in the blink of an eye, in the very next moment, which could determine everything that would happen next.

Of course, it's also possible that there will be no further developments. If the assassination fails and the victim doesn't escape, then it's simply "game over."

The Soul-Eating Death Qi was about to hit Joebeck, but he didn't seem to feel any fear at all. Instead, he looked like a madman!

"Haha...but it's a good thing!"

"Perfect... let's witness the rise of our family!"

Immediately, he clasped his hands together, and the mass of energy inside the box suddenly contracted, and then—

exploded.

Gu Chen's pupils contracted slightly, indicating that the situation before him had taken a new turn...

The explosion didn't blast outwards; instead, it caused a strange inward collapse.

All the magic within the tent, including the Soul-Eating Death Aura spikes shot out by Gu Chen, was forcibly dragged and distorted by the collapsing force...

Then, the magic tumbled and twisted on the box, finally entering the chest, and then... it all poured into Joebeck's body!

As this magic entered his body, Joebeck's body began to swell and grow larger, like a runaway balloon. In just a few seconds, he had grown several times larger than before!

Moreover, Gu Chen discovered that this was not just about muscle expansion; there was something even more terrifying...

He felt a chill creep up his spine...

"...No, I can't act yet. The Soul-Eating Death Energy has already been absorbed. If I attack now, I'm afraid it will only help Joebeck..."

Gu Chen activated the Grip of Life and Death to its fullest extent. The dark golden patterns shimmered in the firelight of the tent, and the four powers were beginning to stir...

As for the three assistants?

When Joebeck began absorbing the magic, the creatures scattered like birds and beasts, bursting out of the tent and running away.

It was as if they knew beforehand that doing such a thing would have terrible consequences.

Only the older man remained. Gu Chen glanced at him; the old man seemed completely stunned, at least for now…

Then, he quickly looked at Joe Baker, who was clearly changing.

It seems an inevitable battle is about to unfold...

Unlike Gu Chen, Qiao Beike didn't look so normal; he appeared more bizarre and disgusting.

The same lines appeared beneath his skin, but they were a dark green color. Those lines writhed like living things, crawling all over his cheeks, neck, and arms...

Finally, his eyes completely lost their whites, turning into two swirling dark purple vortexes.

"Ugh... Ahhh!!!"

Joebeck let out an inhuman roar!

The roar sounded extremely painful, but there was also a very obvious feeling, which we call ecstasy.

"Power...this is power..."

He looked down at his hands and saw that his fingers were starting to lengthen and his nails were turning black and sharp.

The carpets, furniture, and even the canvas inside the tent were rapidly decaying, drying out, and turning to ashes.

The only remaining assistant who hadn't fled, the older man, had been stunned at first. Then, seeing Joe Beck's change, he seemed to suddenly realize something, and with a start, he shouted:

"Young master! Stop it!" the elder cried out in terror. "That thing is wrong! It's devouring you—"

He hadn't finished speaking.

Joe Baker raised his hand and waved.

Without incantations or hand gestures, with just a casual wave, the elder's body seemed to be gripped by an invisible giant hand.

Then--

"puff."

It simply exploded into a cloud of blood mist.

However, the blood mist did not fall to the ground as Gu Chen had expected; instead, it was inhaled by Joe Beck who opened his mouth.

He then licked his lips with satisfaction, his dark purple eyes turning to Gu Chen.

"Look...how beautiful."

His voice had changed; it had become hoarse and overlapping, as if several people were speaking at the same time.

"The Seventh Observatory... didn't lie to me! Power! Power!"

"Their stuff...is power, so good, so good! What do I lack compared to that bitch!"

"Father is right... What is this price if it can break the seal? Once I obtain the power of the 'Silencer's Throat,' all of Lorian... will be mine!"

"At that time, even the Gray Tower won't be able to stop me!"

"Even the so-called Seventh Observatory was just a stepping stone on my path!"

Gu Chen stood still, without moving.

He sensed the power surging from Jobeck's body resonating with a distant presence outside the tent.

It was... on my way here, deeper in the Black Forest, that is, the place of the seal.

"goods……"

"I see, it seems that the gray-robed man was some kind of observation post or something."

Gu Chen quietly looked at the completely insane Joe Beck in front of him. Originally, all the clues seemed to be shrouded in a thick fog, but after Joe Beck's obviously mindless howling, Gu Chen saw things more clearly...

The gray-robed man he had just encountered on the outskirts of the camp was probably the "Seventh Observatory" he mentioned, and this mysterious item, judging from Jobeck's current situation, was probably a fuse used to detonate the remnants of the Soul-Eating Death Qi within Jobeck's body, forcibly opening a temporary passage between him and the "Silent Throat".

After all, he had witnessed it himself in that cave; the aura of death could indeed have some effect.

However, Jon Baker's current madman-like state is probably a consequence of the forced connection...

Fortunately, Jim was able to protect himself.

"I see……"

Gu Chen said in a low voice.

Joe Baker tilted his head, his expression one of appreciating the prey's final struggle.

"What did you say?"

"I'm telling you," Gu Chen slowly raised his right arm, the Soul-Eating Death Qi re-condensing in his palm, "you've all been tricked."

The moment he finished speaking, he rushed forward, not to attack Joe Baker, but to the empty metal box.

Joe Baker paused for a moment, then burst into laughter.

"Trying to steal the Chaos Stone? Too late! It's already become one with me!"

So it's called the Chaos Stone... Gu Chen thought to himself, without saying a word to Joe Beck, and rushed straight towards the box.

Then he grabbed the edge of the box with his left hand and slammed his right palm down on the bottom of the box.

There was a tiny rune mark there, so shallow that it was practically invisible, like a mark made randomly on metal with a fingertip.

But this is not the style of the Antinori family; it is clearly more ancient and simpler.

But Gu Chen had seen this mark before; it was on the tomb keeper's stone tablet. When the Spider Queen was attacked, this symbol lit up on the stone tablet.

"Buzz—"

As Gu Chen struck, the runes lit up, and the dark green energy remaining inside the box suddenly began to rotate in the opposite direction.

Joe Baker's smile froze.

"What...what did you do?"

Gu Chen didn't answer; he simply poured the last bit of Soul-Eating Death Qi in his body into the rune.

Not only this tent, but the ground within a radius of 100 meters in the center of the camp also shook at the same time.

It wasn't an earthquake. Something deeper... awakened.

Terrified screams erupted outside the tent, followed by chaotic running, shouts, and the clanging of metal, but those sounds were quickly drowned out by another—

"Thump."

"Thump."

"Thump."

Is that my own heart beating?

Joebeck looked down at his chest. His clothes were rotten, and his exposed skin had peeled off. The dark green veins beneath his skin bulged and pulsated like blood vessels, and each pulsation caused the entire tent to tremble.

But it doesn't feel like my own heart is beating?

The throbbing sound was as if the entire earth was trembling!

"No……"

He said in a hoarse voice.

Those eyes suddenly regained their clarity for a moment, but unfortunately, it came too late.

"No...this isn't power...this is..."

Joe Baker didn't finish his sentence; it was too late.

Because those dark green lines suddenly began to contract deeper into the skin, like countless needles piercing in!

"Ughh ...

Joebeck's body suddenly arched, his joints twisted, and his skin began to crack, but instead of bleeding, a dark green light shone through the cracks.

The light then transformed into tentacles that stretched out from his body, waving and scratching in the air.

"Help...me..."

He reached out his hand to Gu Chen, and fear finally appeared in his eyes.

But Gu Chen simply took a step back.

He knew what was going to happen next.

"Bang!"

Joe Baker's body exploded.

Unlike the older one, he did not turn into blood mist, but instead transformed into countless dark green streaks of light, shooting upwards like fireworks and directly piercing through the tent roof, shooting into the sky.

The streaks of light left long trails in the night sky before turning simultaneously and flying off to the southeast.

The camp was in complete chaos. The fires were still burning, but no one was putting them out.

Everyone looked up in horror at the streaks of light flying into the distance.

"What is that?!"

"Young Master Joebeck's tent!"

Did you hear that explosion?

"Could it be...?"

"Young Master Joebeck...the young master exploded?"