Destination

Beyond the door lay a pitch-black, shadowy corridor.

Exquisite marble wall tiles and ancient, weighty wooden floors carried the scent of time as it rushed toward them, making one instinctively hold their breath and stare, afraid of disturbing the souls sleeping within the hallway—this was not an exaggerated turn of phrase, but true to some extent.

Both sides of the corridor were lined with portraits of famous wizards who had graduated from Alpha Academy. They included Jean Black O'Brien, head of the O'Brien Family three hundred years ago; William Talbot, the dragon-slaying hero of the Talbot Family two hundred years ago; Jiang Qianli, the Grand Alchemist who combined Eastern artifact-forging methods with Western Alchemy Doctrine one hundred and fifty years ago; Edward Jenner, the great healer who invented a treatment for Dragon Pox Syphilis a century ago; and Smer Not, the Archwizard who made important contributions to Dimensional Topology Theory fifty years ago, among others.

Out of respect for tradition and honor, Alphans had always liked hanging these elders who had made outstanding contributions on the walls, setting them in exquisitely carved walnut Picture Frames for people to admire. Yet as time passed, more and more portraits were hung on the walls, until blank walls had become a rare sight throughout Alpha Castle.

Zheng Qing had even heard Lin Guo mention that an argument had broken out in Alpha Castle some time ago over how to deal with the excessive number of "hanging portraits." Some suggested opening a dedicated room as an exhibition hall; others proposed hanging later portraits in the villa district outside the castle as appropriate; still others preferred moving away "certain wizards whose accomplishments were not so outstanding," leaving those spaces to wizards who were more "qualified"—Edward Jenner, inventor of the Dragon Pox Cultivation Technique, belonged to