Techniques and Dao

Chapter 109 What is Magic?
Upon seeing Hua Sheng, Mie Ying was overjoyed and exclaimed, "Where have you been! I haven't seen you in so long!"

Upon seeing Mieying, Hua Sheng was overwhelmed with mixed emotions, recalling the image of Sui Xingsha in her hospital bed during her hallucination.

Yes, the person before me is indeed Mie Ying. Not the one on the hospital bed, but the real Mie Ying from the Dao of Techniques Academy.

Mieying suddenly leaned in, stared at Huasheng's face, and said, "It really is you, not a fake!"

Hanamori was startled by the sudden closeness of the face. Upon seeing the golden-brown curly hair, she blurted out, "Is this really your hair?"

"Pah! How dare you speak to me like that, you rude bastard!" Mie Ying glared at him. "Do you think I'm bald?"

"No... are you... a man or a woman?"

"what?"

Mieying pointed at Huasheng, his nose practically crooked with anger: "I never thought you'd turn bad after getting the Golden Cudgel! You've become evil so quickly? Do you want to verify whether I'm a man or a woman? If you dare do that, whichever finger you touch, that finger can forget about!"

Hua Shengcai realized his rudeness and quickly corrected himself, "No, no, no... I'm not interested..."

"You mean I'm not pretty?"

"That's not..."

"Get lost!" Mieying stomped hard on Hua Sheng's foot.

"Ouch! Why are you turning against me now?"

"Get lost! Who said we're in cahoots with you!"

Although Mieying was angry, Hua Sheng was overjoyed when he saw her true appearance and believed that he had indeed returned to the Academy of Arts and Sciences.

"Hey, Shadowbreaker, where did these foreigners come from?" Hua Sheng asked, pointing at the man in black robes.

Mieying said, "I don't know why, but I came here because of all the noise. It sounds like they're here to steal something?"

"If you hadn't said it was robbery, I would have almost thought that St. Pingning had opened up independent tourism while I was away, and that these were all foreign tour groups."

"How could that be! I've never seen anyone like this before. There's no such strange person in Saint Pingning. High nose bridge, such pale skin, and they look so rough and thick-skinned. They look like barbarians."

"As far as I know, people who look like this shouldn't be considered barbarians... they might even be from developed countries like Europe and America."

Mieying cursed, "Whose side are you on? You're so rich, yet you come here to steal from us?"

Hua Sheng replied, "Isn't it because we've become developed that we come to rob? If our technology were too backward, coming to rob would be no different from suicide?"

"Hmph! Then we'll have to let them experience the power of the immortal techniques from the prestigious Daoist Academy!"

As he spoke, Mieying flicked his wrist, unleashing a burst of lightning that instantly felled one of them. But when it came to the second person, the branch in that person's hand also emitted a burst of lightning, crackling and sparking, which actually deflected Mieying's magic back.

Mieying angrily exclaimed, "What kind of lousy tree branch is this?! It's so powerful!"

Hua Sheng blocked a fireball with her hand and said to Mie Ying with her back against him, "It looks like what they're holding isn't called a tree branch."

"Isn't this just a piece of wood?"

"It looks like a tree branch, but as far as I know, this is called... a magic wand!"

Based on his intuition, Hua Sheng guessed what the other person was holding. Although he had never seen the actual object, it did look very much like a magic wand.

"What kind of magical artifact is a magic wand?" Mie Ying seemed not to understand. "The 'magic' of demons and monsters?"

"That's how it's written... but it doesn't mean the monsters or demons we think of. It means magic."

What is magic?

"It's magic."

"Immortal magic?"

"It's not exactly magic... I'd say it's more like European magic. I'm also wondering why they're here." Hanamori himself was puzzled.

Mieying said resentfully, "This is just a crooked and evil practice! Since it's called magic, it's probably the same as demonic magic! Demons and monsters are inseparable!"

"This... seems to be referring to a different type. But it's really hard to explain."

What was most unbelievable to Hua Sheng was that he saw a group of magicians, whom he understood, causing trouble and running rampant in the Magic Academy.

The scene before him completely overturned his previous understanding of Sheng Pingning. And looking at the expressions of the disciples of the surrounding Daoist Academy, it seemed that they were all seeing this for the first time.

Indeed, Hua Sheng thought that even if Saint Pingning was large, its area couldn't possibly be as vast as the European continent. Of course, that was impossible! Hua Sheng dismissed this ridiculous idea. But looking at this group of vicious foreigners, the most urgent task was to subdue them to prevent the situation from escalating further.

With his back against the blooming flowers, Mieying shielded himself from the incoming fireballs and lightning, and asked, "Have you ever seen this kind of magical artifact called a wand before?"

"I've seen them. But only in movies and plays. I've never seen a real magician and a magic wand."

Mie Ying asked, "A magician? I don't understand again. Is it a demon or a monster? Saint Pingning doesn't have such a thing now!"

"That magician is a translation from a foreign language. In English, it's called Magic, and a magician is called Enchanter or Wizard. Good heavens, I only have a middle school education, I hope I'm not mistaken. It doesn't refer to actual demons."

"I understand now, so those are foreign deities?"

"Magicians generally refer to humans."

"So that's what it means for foreigners to attain immortality?"

"Well... just understand it this way."

Seeing the urgency of the situation, Hua Sheng didn't explain further. In fact, he himself was also confused, saying, "But Mieying, you have to be careful. I've only heard about it; I'm not sure how powerful the actual magic really is..."

Before Hua Sheng could finish speaking, a huge explosion was heard, and then a massive fiery eagle soared into the air from the ground in front of him! Along with the explosion, dozens of disciples from the Daoist Academy were blown away in all directions.

The fire eagle let out a cry that echoed through the sky, circled in mid-air, and then plunged into the crowd. Dozens more disciples were instantly knocked to the ground where its fiery wings swept past.

Immediately afterwards, a disciple of the Spirit Clan from the Academy of Arts and Sciences transformed into a group of warhorses that soared into the air. The warhorses then grew larger and larger, eventually becoming comparable in size to the fire eagles.

As the fire eagle touched the ground, the warhorse spun around and kicked out at its belly. But the horse's foot missed its target, as if it had kicked thin air. It turned out that the fire eagle was merely a form of flame, without any physical substance.

"Could that warhorse be Xuanwen?" Hua Sheng immediately thought of this person when he saw the warhorse.

When the giant warhorse kicked the fire eagle, it not only failed to harm the eagle, but was instead half-burned by the flames on the eagle's body. In less than half a second, the flames rapidly spread across Xuanwen's body.

"Not good!" Upon seeing the warhorse on fire, Hua Sheng rushed forward, shouting, "Hurry, hurry, as the law commands! Cold Wind and Rain Spell!"

The warhorse immediately shrank and transformed into human form, just as Hua Sheng had guessed—it was Xuan Wen.

Xuanwen was engulfed in flames, writhing back and forth. Fortunately, Hua Sheng arrived in time and extinguished the flames with a spell of icy wind and torrential rain.

"What kind of huge Firebird roasted chicken is this?!" Xuanwen cursed. "It burned me!"

After extinguishing the remaining flames on his body, Xuanwen finally saw Huasheng clearly: "You ant? How dare you come back?"

Even with his burns, Xuanwen's tongue remained sharp. Huasheng couldn't retaliate.

Xuanwen then cursed at the black-robed magicians, "These people look like barbarians! What kind of sorcery are they using!"

"It's... magic."

"This is clearly not magic! Look at the magical artifact in his hand, it's strangely shaped, just a tree branch! How can it not be demonic magic!"

"That should be called a magic wand... well, call it whatever you want."

Hua Sheng had no time to continue the discussion with Xuan Wen on this topic. He saw a black-robed mage standing in the center of the explosion that had just released the giant fire eagle. The man wore a rounded mage's hat with a pointed ridge in the middle. It seemed that the fire eagle was the one he had released with magic.

The magician had pulled his black robe's hood down low, obscuring most of his face. He held a thick red book in his left hand, which looked like a magic tome, and a dark silver wand in his right hand. He was walking towards where Hua Sheng was standing.

Any disciple of the magic path who tried to approach this sorcerer was blasted away by the electric current emanating from his dark silver wand. Those touched by the current collapsed and could not rise again. It seemed that almost no one could withstand this man.

"Mieying, be careful. I'm going to meet this guy."

Hua Sheng gripped the golden cudgel in his hand and charged forward.

When the magician saw someone rushing towards him, he raised his wand and unleashed a burst of electricity.

Hua Sheng shouted and swung his staff. The moment the staff made contact with the electricity, Hua Sheng felt a sudden numbness in his arm. However, the Ruyi Jingu Bang was, after all, a superior magical artifact, and the electricity did not travel through the staff to Hua Sheng's body.

With a burst of light, the electricity spread out and connected to the ground on both sides of the flower bloom.

Hua Sheng resisted the electric current and surged upwards, shouting, "Who are you!"

Surrounded by flashes of electricity, Hua Sheng felt as if every strand of hair on her head stood up.

The other party didn't answer, but instead intensified its attack. The current grew thicker and thicker, and Hua Sheng seemed to sense that the voltage was rising rapidly. He intuitively felt that the current might be rapidly increasing from several thousand volts to tens of thousands of volts.

He had just taken two steps forward and was about to cast a spell to retaliate when two cold lights flashed in mid-air. It turned out that two sharp swords had shot out from somewhere and were aimed straight at the magician.

Upon seeing the sword light, Hua Sheng instantly perked up.

Those two swords are none other than the ancient divine weapons, Gan Jiang and Mo Xie!
The divine sword of the Supreme Lord Xiaojun has arrived!
The magician also noticed the divine sword aimed at him, but instead of raising his wand, he raised the red magic book to meet Gan Jiang and Mo Xie's attack.

It's unclear what the magician said, but an orange, glass-like defensive barrier instantly appeared outside.

Clang! Clang! Two metallic sounds of swords and shields clashing.

When Gan Jiang and Mo Xie pierced the magic barrier, the swords were instantly surrounded by orange electricity. The electricity was like a rope that firmly bound the divine sword, and the sword could no longer penetrate into the barrier.

However, Gan Jiang and Mo Xie were ancient divine weapons, and due to the excessive force of the impact, the magician's black hat was instantly blown away by the force.

The moment the hat flew off, her long brown hair came undone.

"Girl...girl!!!" Hanamori exclaimed.

This powerful magician is actually a teenage girl!
The girl had a high nose bridge, bright blue pupils, and a sharply defined face, clearly European. She was about the same height as Hanamori, but seemed to be two or three years younger.

Then, the voice of the Supreme Lord Xiaojun came from mid-air.

"Are all foreign girls this arrogant?! The upbringing of these barbarians is truly worrying!"

Tai Shang Xiao Jun, dressed in his academy robes, gracefully descended from mid-air. He sheathed his two swords, Gan Jiang and Mo Xie, which then hovered behind him.

Upon landing, Tai Shang Xiao Jun noticed a fallen magic wand at his feet and bent down to pick it up.

"What are you guys in black robes doing waving around with a tree branch... Ouch!"

A hissing sound came from the top of the wall, and Tai Shang Xiao Jun, who had just picked up the magic wand, felt a pain in his hand and immediately pulled it back.

The magic wand fell back to the ground with a thud.

"What kind of strange magical artifact is this!"

He looked at his hand and saw a red mark from the burn.

While they were still wondering, Hua Sheng walked up to them and said, "That doesn't make sense? How come those foreigners are fine with it?"

Hua Sheng crouched down and touched the wand with his finger, but nothing happened. He then picked it up and said, "This wand can only be used by mortals?"

Upon seeing Hua Sheng wielding the golden cudgel, Tai Shang Xiao Jun was also surprised and asked, "Hua Sheng, why are you back? Did you bring these barbarians?"

"No, no, no... It has nothing to do with me. I just happened to come back, and I'm completely confused too."

Hua Sheng quickly waved his hand.

Although Taishang Xiaojun was delighted to see Huasheng, she deliberately remained expressionless.

"You've finally returned to the Academy. The building you built after you took the Golden Cudgel is now teetering on the brink of collapse. I'll go down and help you repair it. You'll owe me a favor."

(End of this chapter)