After bleeding his way out of Wangyue Tower, Jiang Wang hadn’t had a proper sleep, so this one was particularly long.

He had many dreams. He dreamt of dominating the Sword Debate Arena, of his cultivation advancing by leaps and bounds, riding the wind and breaking through the clouds. He dreamt of a vast sky and five streams of light, fast and extraordinary, five streams…

He woke up.

He sat up silently, leaning against the headboard, unable to tell if the sudden feeling was palpitations or sadness.

He shook his head, collecting his thoughts.

It was already night outside the window, and he was still alone in the dormitory.

Jiang Wang frowned.

It was normal for Du Yehou to drink for days on end, but Ling He was always disciplined and would never stay out all night.

The outer sect dormitory of Maple Forest Dao Academy was a row of connected bungalows. He put on his clothes and went out. The doors of the opposite dormitory were tightly closed, and the surrounding area was quiet. The corridor was strangely cold.

Jiang Wang randomly stopped a passing figure, “This junior brother, have you seen Senior Brother Ling He?”

“Ling He? Never seen him.” The man replied in an extremely stiff voice.

As he spoke, he shook his head.

His head fell off just like that, hitting the ground and rolling a few times.

He shook his head off!

Looking at the headless body that had just been talking, Jiang Wang felt a chill rise from his tailbone, rushing straight to the top of his head.

But he was, after all, a veteran of many battles. He instinctively took a step back, preparing to retreat to the dormitory first, at least to retrieve his weapon.

But the dormitory door suddenly slammed shut, and he couldn’t open it! It was as if someone inside the room was holding the door shut, preventing him from entering.

At this moment, the headless body turned around, opened its arms, and ran towards him! The head that had fallen on the ground bounced up after rolling a few times, lunging at Jiang Wang even faster than the body! Its hair was disheveled, its face twisted and ferocious, its nose was collapsed, and its eyes were bulging high.

Midnight ghoul, soul of death.

“Playing tricks!” Jiang Wang shouted loudly, hoping to alarm the outer sect disciples in the other dormitories, while leaping back.

This was Maple Forest Dao Academy, guarded by Dong A, who had a fifth-grade cultivation. Once he noticed any abnormalities, he would surely suppress them! No matter what strange or evil thing it was, it would definitely not dare to make too much noise. If he could escape directly, that would naturally be the best option.

But the head bounced too fast, and Jiang Wang couldn’t escape in time.

So he took a few steps back, suddenly rose into the air, poured one of the only two Dao Yuan in his Dao Meridian into his right leg, and then twisted his body and kicked back in mid-air!

Driven by the Dao Yuan, this kick possessed far more power than before.

The image of gods, ghosts, demons, and monsters has never been just a legend. Although Jiang Wang had not completely transcended the ordinary, he had already seen the extraordinary world. He had killed people, seen blood, and had already honed his courage.

He told himself in his heart that it was a ball, it wasn’t a head, it was just a ball!

The surface of his boot collided resolutely with the head. The head shot back even faster than before, hitting the headless body that was running forward, staggering it.

Soccer kick!

At the same time, Jiang Wang also felt a sharp pain in the instep of his foot. It turned out that while kicking, the head had opened its bloody mouth and bitten through his shoe, tearing off a piece of flesh!

The wound was faintly cyan.

Jiang Wang knew something was wrong. It was probably the effect of corpse poison or something similar.

But he had achieved his goal of using offense to block the enemy. Without hesitation, he turned and ran.

After a few steps to the end of the corridor, he was blocked by a layer of transparent Yuan Qi barrier.

The power was not strong, but it was very tough, firmly blocking the way forward. This was an ambush!

Jiang Wang’s mind raced. The last Dao Yuan in his Dao Meridian exploded resolutely, converging on his right shoulder.

He exerted his strength madly, ramming his shoulder!

“Open for me!!!”

Jiang Wang felt his body lighten, and he had escaped from the corridor between the two rows of dormitories.

Then he heard the sound of wind, the chirping of insects, the voices of outer sect disciples returning… the sounds of the night.

The quiet environment was broken.

“Senior Brother Jiang Wang, what are you doing?”

“Senior brother, how did you get hurt?”

Outer sect disciples who saw Jiang Wang came over to greet him.

Jiang Wang heard the greetings from familiar fellow disciples and knew that he was out of danger. He turned back and rushed back into the corridor, which was indeed empty.

The headless body and the head had also disappeared.

Some people on both sides of the dormitory opened their doors and asked in confusion, “What’s going on? Why couldn’t the door be opened just now?”

Even more frightened voice shouted, “Dead… someone is dead!”

Jiang Wang took the lead in rushing into the dormitory where the cry came from, and only then did he discover the missing headless body. He and his head were now lying quietly on the ground, their faces still ferocious.

Trembling in the corner was probably his panicked roommate.

The opponent’s methods showed at least a left-leaning corpse control technique and an orthodox water-based Dao technique. Or rather, there was more than one opponent.

Jiang Wang’s mind raced. He resolutely spoke out, “A demonic cultivator broke into the outer sect at night and committed murder, practicing Dao techniques and has already transcended the ordinary! His strength should be in the range of the ninth grade. All junior brothers must take care of yourselves and act in groups of five, supporting each other! From now on, seal off the dormitory area and do not allow anyone to enter or leave. I will immediately report to the inner court senior brothers!”

The panicked outer sect disciples immediately had a backbone and did as they were told.

Jiang Wang immediately turned and ran towards the inner court.

The entire eastern part of the city was Maple Forest Dao Academy and its affiliated industries, but strictly speaking, only the circle of courtyards in the center of the East District, surrounded by high walls, could be considered the real Maple Forest Dao Academy. Outer sect disciples like Jiang Wang lived scattered around the Dao Academy.

Compared to the tall archway and wealthy jade lions in front of the outer court, the gate of the inner court was much smaller, barely able to accommodate four people walking side by side. However, the delicate thoughts could be seen from the plaque with carved dragons and phoenixes that faintly glowed in the night.

There was a small pavilion in front of the inner court gate, with only two flowing cloud lanterns in front of the pavilion, and only a single ice grass futon in the pavilion. A handsome linen-clad Daoist sat cross-legged on the futon, practicing with his eyes closed. This was Li Jianqiu, the inner court disciple on duty today.

Jiang Wang ran to this place, bowed hurriedly, “Senior Brother Li, a left-leaning demonic cultivator is committing murder in the outer court, and one junior brother has already been killed! Please come and take charge of the situation!”

For outer sect disciples, every inner court disciple who embarked on the path of cultivation was a star-like figure. Jiang Wang had been in the Dao Academy for so long, so he was naturally familiar with them. And for Li Jianqiu, Jiang Wang, who brazenly initiated a Dao proof duel and led to the academy head personally notarizing it, was naturally not an unknown person, and besides, as the one on duty, he was duty-bound.

Therefore, he only listened to one sentence before rising with his sword in hand.

“No need.” A dignified voice rang out, telling Li Jianqiu to immediately put away his sword and bow.

Academy Head Dong A appeared at the entrance of the inner court, his expression cold and even arguably ugly: “I will handle this matter personally.”

“Corpse Qi.” He looked at the wound on Jiang Wang’s instep where the flying head had bitten him, extended his index finger, and without any other movements, a turquoise spike had already formed.

Only then did Jiang Wang notice that the wound on his foot was already festering and starting to bleed black blood, and he couldn’t help but feel afraid.

“Middle-grade C-level Dao technique, Poison Swallowing Thorn. This Dao technique is very practical and can be used until the middle stage.”

Dong A casually explained as he lightly touched with his index finger.

Apart from super-grade Dao techniques, general Dao techniques are divided into four levels and twelve grades. The vast and boundless ocean of Dao techniques cannot be fully explored in a lifetime. Every Dao sect cultivator who embarks on the path of the extraordinary must be clear about what kind of Dao technique is most suitable for them, and in the constant exploration of battle, form their own combat system.

The spike was inserted into the wound on Jiang Wang’s foot, turning black at a visible speed. In a few breaths, the turquoise spike had become completely black, and the wound was no longer cyan-black, but was bleeding fresh red blood.

Jiang Wang quickly tore off a corner of his clothes to bandage the wound.

Li Jianqiu watched this scene silently, thoughtfully.

Only then did Dong A ask, “What happened?”

Jiang Wang retold the matter in the simplest language, and then stopped expressing his opinion. He believed, and could only believe, that the head of the Maple Forest City Dao Academy would give him justice for being assassinated in the Dao Academy.

The corners of Dong A’s mouth twitched slightly, and because of his serious expression, this smile was particularly grim.

“A heretical sect, daring to cause trouble in Maple Forest City Dao Academy, they don’t put the Dao Academy in their eyes, and they don’t put me, Dong A, in their eyes!”

He spread his Dao robe, opened his five fingers, and leaned down to press on the ground!

“Jade Cage!”

With his five fingers as the center, the formless power belonging to the Wood Dao extended in all directions.

All the gates of the entire Dao Academy slammed shut! And branches sprouted out, growing wildly.

The ivy on the courtyard walls shot up like long snakes, interweaving with each other in mid-air.

All the wooden products in the entire Dao Academy underwent strange changes.

Wooden chairs grew branches, wooden windows grew claws, giant trees broke through the ground, and thorns danced wildly!

The entire Maple Forest Dao Academy, in an instant, became a turquoise cage under the night!