A Night on Duty, Showing Off

As soon as class ended, Zhou Sining caught up with his homeroom teacher, Wang Yan.

"Sir, I wanted to ask about guard duty."

Wang Yan looked at the student before him. He showed none of the exhaustion or fear one would expect after a sudden disaster.

"What's your name?"

"Zhou Sining."

Surprise flickered across Wang Yan's face.

He had read the files of everyone in his class. Only one student had lost his entire family in the Bo City disaster, and his superiors had specifically told him to pay close attention to that student's well-being.

He had expected the boy to be consumed by grief. Instead, here he stood, looking positively radiant.

Wang Yan studied him for a moment before continuing. "Guard duty is usually assigned by class. We take you to the Outer City Wall together. Given your class's circumstances, the school has no plans for that yet."

"Can I apply to join early?" Zhou Sining thought for a moment, then gave Wang Yan an answer he couldn't refuse. "Both my parents died. I want to get stronger—the stronger, the better!"

The fierce resolve blazing in the boy's eyes made Wang Yan's heart tremble.

"How far along is your Magic cultivation? If it's too low, I can't allow it. You'll only be on guard duty, but there's still some danger to your lives. It's similar to your high school field training."

"I cultivate the Fire Element. I'm at Beginner Level 3, and I can cast Magic in three seconds."

Wang Yan nodded approvingly. "Very good. Class One is on duty tonight, and I happen to be one of the teachers leading them. You can come along."

"But remember: follow orders. Don't leave the group on your own."

"Understood. Thank you, sir."

The day passed quickly.

At seven that evening, Zhou Sining accompanied Wang Yan to the Ancient Capital's Outer City Wall.

Including him, forty-nine people were on duty this time. They were divided into groups of seven, each with a different task.

His group was an observation team stationed at the edge of the Outer City Wall.

In short, they would stand atop the wall and face the army of Undead below. If they spotted an unusually strange or powerful Undead in the distance, they had to report it immediately.

Since they were still students, their assigned area wasn't dangerous. As long as they didn't do anything reckless, their safety was largely assured.

Wang Yan led the seven members of the observation team up onto the Outer City Wall.

From below, the wall looked like a towering iron barrier, firmly protecting the bustling city behind it.

Standing on top of it was another matter entirely.

The dark sky seemed to press down on their heads, making it hard to breathe. The wind that struck their faces was cold and carried a foul stench of decay.

"Go to the positions we discussed earlier. Here are your Wisdom Counters and binoculars. If you see any unusual Undead, report them immediately."

"Yes, sir."

The seven collected their equipment, put it on, and dispersed.

The top of the wall was spacious, as wide as four cars side by side, with a railing along the edge that reached their waists.

Streetlights stood at regular intervals. Military Mages guarding the wall, Magic Association staff, and hunters who had come to kill Demon Beasts clustered along the edge, hurling Magic down without pause.

Zhou Sining's post was beneath a streetlight, beside a Military Mage who was slacking off. The man didn't look much older than him.

"Hey, which school are you from?" the Military Mage asked, eyeing his uniform.

"Ancient Capital No. 3 High School." Zhou Sining looked down as he answered.

On the pitch-black ground, bones, rotting corpses, and evil spirits crowded together, surging against the Ancient City wall like waves.

Chunks of putrid flesh dropped away from them, and black corpse oil stained the ground. Though they had no vocal cords, the dark tide still sent up wave after wave of bone-chilling death cries.

Their hideous faces and hate-filled eyes made countless mages' scalps prickle!

Even though he had braced himself, Zhou Sining shuddered at the sight of those pairs of vicious, ghostly eyes. Goosebumps broke out all over him!

It took him a while to recover. He hurried back several steps, gulping down air.

"First time as an observer?" the Military Mage beside him asked.

"Yeah."

"Then you're in for nightmares tonight!" The Military Mage grinned at his misfortune.

Zhou Sining ignored him and raised his binoculars to study the horde below.

After ten minutes without spotting any suspicious Undead, he put the binoculars away and switched on his Wisdom Counter.

The Wisdom Counter was somewhat like a body camera, except that it used footage to automatically tally the Undead he killed.

Below, Undead crowded together and battered the wall, only to be wiped out again and again.

Now they were slowly gathering once more.

Zhou Sining focused and linked his Star Track. Seven fiery-red motes of Stardust appeared in his palm and swiftly aligned.

Facing fear and killing what frightened him was the best way to find his courage.

"Gangsha Flame Burst: Explosion!"

A ball of white flame traced a graceful arc through the air and landed squarely in the densest knot of Undead. The instant it struck a skull, fierce flames burst outward!

Boom!!!

A powerful wave of white fire spread from where the Flame Burst had landed, dazzling as it swept outward. The flames covered a terrifying nine-meter span!

[Killed one (low) Servant Level Bone Undead. Gained 2 Life Points.]

[Killed one (low) Servant Level Rotting Undead. Gained 7 Life Points.]

[Killed one (low) Servant Level Rotting Undead. Gained 5 Life Points.]

[Killed one Servant Level Bone Undead. Gained 12 Life Points.]

[Killed one Servant Level Venomous Corpse. Gained 20 Life Points.]

Zhou Sining's mouth curled into a grin, and he couldn't help laughing inwardly.

Coming to the Ancient Capital was the right call!

The triply enhanced Explosion was more than enough to deal with these Primary Level Undead. And Gangsha's power went far beyond that.

As the fireball exploded, scattered flecks of white flame sprayed in every direction.

They should have gone out, but when they touched an Undead, they exploded again!

Bang!

Bang!

Bang, bang!

Bang!

For a time, explosions rang out without pause.

Each secondary explosion dealt less damage than Flame Burst: Scorching, but there were so many of them!

The first Flame Burst: Explosion had covered a full nine-meter radius. Sparks flew everywhere, as numerous as stars!

The shock waves alone shattered the bodies of plenty of Undead!

The effect was immediate. Zhou Sining followed up with another Explosion.

Then came a second,

a third,

and a fourth.

Only when his Magic Energy was nearly exhausted, and no Undead remained in an area roughly thirty meters across below him, did he stop.

The sound of Gangsha Flame's explosions still rang in his ears. Zhou Sining nodded, utterly satisfied with the Spirit Seed.

It really lived up to its golden-legendary status!

The Military Mage beside him looked ready to pop his eyes out. "You're really just a high school student?!"

He wasn't the only one. Those five Explosions had drawn plenty of attention.

Independent mages, Military Mages, Hunter Mages, university students... all stared in astonishment at the calm young man.

Some of them were powerful mages who had reached the Intermediate Level, yet even they had never seen flames this violent!

Come on, whose Explosion spreads nine meters wide?

Whose Explosion chases corpses down?

It'd be one thing if you were an Intermediate Mage or an Advanced Mage, but you don't even look old enough to be an adult!

They had a thousand ways to call him incredible and no idea where to start.

An officer appeared beside Zhou Sining at some point. "You have a Spirit Seed?"

"That's right." Zhou Sining glanced at him, then raised his binoculars and resumed observing.

Once he had decided to cast Magic, he had never planned to hide it.

Ordinary flames were scarlet, and even Spirit Seed flames were usually some shade of red.

His Gangsha alone burned white.

Anyone could tell something was different.

"Why not keep casting? You're still a student, right? The more Undead you kill, the more points you earn."

The middle-aged officer didn't seem offended by Zhou Sining's attitude. If anything, he looked curious.

"I'm out of Magic Energy. Besides, my shift's almost over." Zhou Sining smiled, unbothered.

He was pleased with the number of Undead he had killed, and guard duty was nearly over. Most importantly, he was out of Magic Energy.

Without a Stardust Magic Tool or a Mana-Recovery Magical Artifact, recovering Magic Energy through cultivation alone was slow.

The officer smiled and held out a QR code.

"All right, then. Let's add each other on WeChat. I'm Su Zhe, commander-in-chief of the East City Wall Second Line's Third War Zone."