Parting (4/5)

"Sit down, Dumbledore. I have come to say goodbye."

He Shenyan gestured for the old man, who had jumped to his feet the moment he appeared, to sit back down. He pulled out the purple velvet chair in front of Dumbledore's desk and sat.

"Goodbye?"

"Yes. I am afraid I must leave."

He Shenyan nodded at him. He continued, "It is not that I wish to leave, but I fear that if I do not, I may bring an unprecedented war upon you all."

"Is this about those things?"

Dumbledore's expression turned grave, his bright blue eyes peering at He Shenyan through his spectacles. His phoenix, Fawkes, watched the two humans from its perch nearby.

The man simply nodded.

The old man sighed. He stood up, shook hands with He Shenyan, and spoke with sincere tone, "It has been a pleasure working with you, He. I am also deeply honored to have been one of your students."

He Shenyan laughed, "There is no need for that, Dumbledore. Your abundant magic will grant you a very long life. Perhaps we shall meet again someday. Now, if you do not mind, I would like to give my students one final lesson."

He turned and left, the door closing with a soft click. Dumbledore sat in his chair, lost in thought.

He Shenyan walked unhurriedly through the corridor, and the students he passed greeted the professor they hadn't seen for a week.

He responded to each one with a smile. He walked until he reached the fourth floor and pushed open the familiar door. Severus Snape stood at the podium in his black robes; he paused upon seeing He Shenyan, then walked over and asked softly, "You have returned?"

"Yes, Mr. Snape. Let me take this class. This should be my final lesson as well."

Severus Snape looked at him deeply, nodded, and walked out of the classroom.

He Shenyan stepped onto the podium, and cheers erupted in the classroom. He Shenyan offered a rare, gentle smile, pressing his hands down to signal for the restless young wizards to quieten.

"Although it may be a mood-killer to say this now, I must tell you all: this will be my final lesson."

Gasps echoed around the room.

"In this lesson, I do not intend to lecture on magical theory or any specific knowledge. I only wish to tell you one thing."

"Have any of you here played RPG games?"

Quite a few young wizards in jackets raised their hands.

"Very good. But I must explain it, as not everyone knows the term."

"You can think of it as a special kind of game where you are free to set your character's name, gender, appearance, personality, and background. You can even decide what he or she likes or dislikes."

"Let us call it an avatar. On this strange journey, your avatar will experience various adventures, face difficulties, and find treasures. But every journey must come to an end. At the end of the journey, what will your avatar do?"

"And what will you do?"

He deliberately left a moment for them to think.

"This is the cruelty of parting. Whether you have pondered this question or rehearsed it in your heart, when that day truly arrives, all your prepared words will vanish into thin air."

"In an RPG, your avatar reaches a conclusion at the end of the journey. He or she might retire to the countryside or die on the battlefield. They might spend the rest of their lives with a lover, or bury themselves in the study of magic until death arrives."

"Parting is an inevitable part of our lives. I know some of you may feel very distressed by this, but..."

"Do you remember what I said in my first lesson? The amount of magic is not the standard for determining whether a mage is qualified."

He recited the words softly, and the children sitting before him recited them in unison.

"The second half of that sentence was told to me by my teacher. Now, I tell it to you."

"The amount of magic is not the standard for determining whether a mage is qualified; whether one remains calm is. Never lose that composure under any circumstances, everyone, even if you are facing a dragon. Please be full of courage, cast your spells calmly, and defeat it soundly in the way I have taught you."

"Do not treat parting as never seeing each other again, nor should you overly romanticize it. You may not care, or you may feel the pain for a long time. But the meaning of parting is precisely for the sake of meeting again."

"I am finished. Goodbye, students."

He turned away from the podium, walked through the classroom door, and stepped into his portal without a hint of hesitation. His departure was as silent as his arrival; only a few in the world knew of it.

He Shenyan appeared once more on the moon.

The stirrings in his heart had not yet subsided, but he could not stop his steps. From the memories of those angels, he had already obtained their method of breaking through the world.

After reviewing those dozens of methods, He Shenyan had to admit that his initial way of crossing worlds was crude and primitive. However, it could be improved now.

His method was full of uncertainty and risk, relying on the weak points of the World Barrier. He would tear out half his soul to assimilate with it, giving himself the same properties as the World Barrier, then pass through the weak point, wander the sea of stars, and be sucked into a planet that was unaware of his presence.

He didn't even know if he would be snatched up by some curious Outer God.

For the first time, He Shenyan felt his luck was absurdly good.

When angels moved in groups, they utilized the seemingly infinite energy of the Eternal Heaven; he had no idea how many worlds they had brainwashed to acquire so much.

That energy would be fed into something called a 'Crossing Engine', which, in the angels' memories, usually manifested as a massive, scorching sphere of light. As long as one input the coordinates of a world, one could reach it.

They relied on the 'drifting bottle' method, letting mortals use their spells to assimilate living beings through the backdoors left within, converting them into Heavenly beings to serve as a vanguard.

In the process, they could obtain the coordinates of the current world, thereby 'discovering' it.

Cold, precise, and efficient. But it was not what he needed, not to mention whether he could even use that thing.

He Shenyan did not think that after killing twenty-five angels, he could swagger into their lair and politely ask as if nothing had happened, "Hello, I know this might be a bit impolite, but may I borrow your Crossing Engine?"

Although those twenty-five angels had not arrived here by using world coordinates.

Still, this thing was indeed very interesting.