"Yawn-"
Chu Xiaoyao looked at Zhou You with a strange gaze. Zhou You had been yawning since morning, and it was so contagious that it made her want to yawn too.
"What did you do last night, getting this sleepy?"
In her memory, Zhou You rarely got this sleepy, which reminded Chu Xiaoyao of her own experiences staying up late to read web novels.
"Browsing posts. They were fresh, so I couldn't help browsing a bit longer."
"What posts? Top student's notes?"
"The Cultivation Forum." Zhou You smiled smugly. Yesterday, when he said he was going to prepare for bed, he couldn't resist the temptation and browsed a bit longer, which was why he was yawning endlessly.
Chu Xiaoyao was surprised. "There's stuff like that? What's the URL?"
Zhou You waved a hand. "It's invitation-only. Those without cultivation aren't allowed in."
"Damn it, the cultivators of this realm discriminate against us transmigrators! The day my student persona takes the dominant role, I'm going to start cultivating."
Days had already passed; shouldn't she recover some memories of techniques or something? Chu Xiaoyao muttered inwardly.
"Sect Master, I'll help wake you up."
Nuomi flew behind Zhou You and blew fierce puffs of air against his neck, "Hoo, hoo-," chilling Zhou You so much he shivered all over.
"All right, all right, stop blowing, I'm awake." Zhou You covered his neck and hurriedly begged Nuomi to withdraw her divine power.
Nuomi blowing like that was just like putting ice cubes behind his neck; no one could withstand it.
Chang'an City Airport.
"Has the Red King arrived?" The Mind Master, with gauze wrapped around his head, and the Mighty Warrior stood at the exit, standing on tiptoe and peering inward.
They had received notification from the organization that the Red King was taking this flight directly to Chang'an City, and they were responsible for receiving him.
"Strange to say, since we're dealing with a Vengeful Ghost, shouldn't they have sent the Soul King? Why did they send the Red King?" The Mighty Warrior didn't quite understand, even though the Red King was also very powerful.
"Word from headquarters is that they were originally going to send the Soul King, but two Golden Core cultivators crossed the ocean and engaged in a life-or-death battle with the Soul King. The Soul King fought two opponents at once, unfortunately fell into a disadvantage, and had no choice but to recuperate at headquarters."
"Two against one? Cultivators really have no shame!"
"Look quick, is that the Red King?" The Mind Master spoke while keeping his eyes on the exit direction.
The Mighty Warrior was tall and saw more clearly. "It is."
"Then hurry up and go welcome him."
The Mind Master hurriedly stepped forward to welcome him. The Red King's esper ability was far too powerful, and his excessively exuberant Yang energy made him hot-tempered and very difficult to deal with. If they were slow or discourteous, there would be no more good days for the two brothers.
"Greetings, Lord Red King."
The Red King was a man in his thirties with a blank expression. His glasses didn't make him look scholarly; instead, they added a hint of ruthlessness.
In terms of age, he was even younger than the Mind Master and the Mighty Warrior. However, status within the organization was never determined by age, but by ability.
People of mediocre ability like the Mind Master and the Mighty Warrior would never be qualified to enter the upper echelons in their entire lives were it not for Humanity's Supreme Treasure.
In contrast, the Red King had displayed formidable abilities since childhood, had been valued by the professors, personally nurtured, and had successfully executed high-difficulty missions multiple times, causing his status to rise rapidly.
What made the Red King famous was a rank evaluation. Originally, one only needed to become one of the top ten to successfully pass the evaluation, but the Red King chose to crush everyone and cause everyone else to lose their qualifications.
His figure had even become the nightmare of countless evaluatees, and to this day, some people still required psychological counseling.
One had to know that those who could participate in that evaluation were without exception the pride of every branch, dragons and phoenixes among men cultivated by pouring in countless resources-yet none were the Red King's opponents.
When the professors asked the Red King afterward why he did that, the Red King only gave a cold reply.
"Those trash do not deserve to ascend alongside me."
Because of this, the professors valued the Red King even more. Living up to expectations, the Red King quickly became one of the Seven Kings.
Through his lenses, the Red King's sharp gaze swept over the Mind Master pair, threw his suitcase at them, and recalled the information he had read on the way.
The Mind Master: his ability was said to be mind control, but he could only control ordinary people for a mere few minutes.
The Mighty Warrior: not small in build, but average in strength; his enhancement ability was rock-bottom in the organization.
Externally billed as archaeological experts, they were actually tomb robbers.
In short, two pieces of trash who were only somewhat useful in translating Ancient Script.
His voice was close to an order. "Lead the way."
"Yes, yes."
The Mind Master hurried to acknowledge the command. Approaching the Red King, he felt a trace of heat, sensing that the air around the Red King was actually warping. This meant his esper ability was so powerful it had reached the degree of overflowing.
No wonder headquarters sent him; his effectiveness against a Ghost King wouldn't be any worse than the Soul King's.
The Mighty Warrior drove, and the Mind Master sat in the passenger seat. The two of them trembled with fear, not daring to draw a deep breath.
"What movements are there from the Ghost King Zhenyue's side?"
"According to observation, the Ghost King rarely leaves Senior Class 3. Even when she leaves, she briefly leaves alongside Zhou You and has never stepped outside the campus grounds."
"Zhou You is the unlucky bastard mentioned in the report who was possessed by the Ghost King?"
"Correct."
"Go on."
"Zhou You frequently goes out on leave together with female classmates from other classes. Since the two of us also need to monitor the Ghost King's situation, manpower is insufficient, making it impossible to track Zhou You and the female classmate. We are uncertain what the two of them go out to do; for instance, the two of them depart at dusk and return very late."
"According to our inquiries, the two have an ambiguous relationship, and the female classmate once knelt down to demand that Zhou You take responsibility."
"Such a scumbag? Sounds like being possessed by a Ghost King is only natural, then," said the Red King.
"Lord Red King speaks wisely, that is what we think as well."
"And Zhou You has established an Acrobatics Troupe called the Carefree Sect, purpose unknown. The members are his deskmate and someone named Nuomi. We haven't yet ascertained who Nuomi is."
The Red King frowned and reprimanded the two of them. "Does who Nuomi is matter? Don't waste effort on such useless things."
The Mind Master repeatedly murmured assent.
"And the clues to Humanity's Supreme Treasure?"
"We haven't found them yet."
"Trash."
"Lord Red King, we have arrived, please get out of the car." The Mind Master unbuckled his seatbelt, got out, hurried to the rear, opened the back door, and used his hand to shield the doorframe, inviting the Red King to step out.
"This is a school?" The Red King looked up, discovering this was an eighteen-story apartment building.
"From the roof of the apartment, No. 2 Middle School can be observed," the Mind Master explained.
These days, he and the Mighty Warrior had been living on the roof, observing the Ghost King's situation through a telescope.
They certainly didn't dare get close to the Ghost King again; that feeling of walking the line between life and death was something you only needed to go through once.
"Fine, whatever."
The Red King figured it was just as well to first observe the Ghost King's situation from a distance, andat the same time test out this pair of glasses given by the professor.
The three of them arrived on the roof. Under a parasol sat a telescope facing directly toward No. 2 Middle School, and beside it was a simple makeshift self-built room with daily living supplies fully stocked. It was a mystery how the two Mind Masters had managed to construct it.
The roof should have been extremely hot; the esper ability "Red Sun" mastered by the Red King was the extreme of Yang energy and flame, so this environment was actually comfortable for him.
The Mind Master adjusted the telescope's angle.
Looking through the telescope, the Red King indeed saw the situation in Senior Class 3 of No. 2 Middle School. Thanks to Zhou You occupying a window seat, everything could be seen clearly.
"That one by the window in the back row is Zhou You."
The Red King saw Zhou You—an ordinary Senior Year student with nothing particularly special about him.
"The Ghost King Zhenyue actually looks this cute?"
Depending on the glasses, the Red King saw the Ghost King Zhenyue's appearance clearly. Completely different from the pitch-black, terrifying ghost shadow described in the report, she wore a pristine white dress and floated barefoot in the air, continuously circling around Zhou You and looking completely devoid of deterrent presence.
"To actually rely on appearance to lower people's guard, the Ghost King's intelligence isn't low." The Red King muttered to himself, upwardly revising his evaluation of the Ghost King.
The Red King's gaze shifted slightly, straying onto Zhou You's deskmate, and his body abruptly stiffened.
In an instant, the Red King's blood nearly congealed, and a colossal terror surged into his heart, practically on the verge of drowning him.
"Lord Red King?"
"Lord Red King?"
Noticing the Red King frozen in place, the Mind Master called out his name in confusion several times without any reaction.
The Red King whipped his head around, his gaze filled with terror. He was like a fierce tiger encountering its natural enemy, roaring at the natural enemy to display its majesty, yet the dread of the natural enemy deep in his bones made his bluster entirely hollow.
The Red King stared death at the Mind Master and the Mighty Warrior, wishing he could flay them alive. "Why didn't you report such important intelligence!"
The Mind Master pair were startled by the Red King's reaction. All along this journey, the Red King had maintained the posture of a superior being, aloof, indifferent to everything, and not even holding the Ghost King in much regard. Why had he suddenly turned so uncomposed?
"That person... Zhou You's deskmate, you don't recognize her?!"
The Mind Master and the Mighty Warrior exchanged glances and shook their heads in unison.
The Red King had never imagined he could lose his composure like this, his voice hoarse like shattered glass.
"She is the strongest superpowered person in history-codenamed: Calamity!"
Before you continue