Techniques and Dao

Chapter 142 Klin's Magical School
Behind the entire city of Paris lies a magically created space known as "Upside Down".

The city map on the reverse side, after the city is rotated clockwise and counterclockwise, is used to hide four places. Those are the four campuses owned by Klin Magic Academy.

Their locations are the Palace of Versailles, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, and the Eiffel Tower, respectively, situated in the frontal space.

The back of Versailles Palace represents the "Command" campus, which primarily teaches summoning magic. Magic students can study how to summon various mythical creatures and mythical beasts.

The back of the Louvre represents the "Gifted" campus, which primarily teaches alchemy. Students can create various objects and weapons by disassembling and refining materials.

The back of the Arc de Triomphe represents the "Attack" campus, which primarily teaches dark magic. Students can generate attack spells based on the four elements of wind, earth, water, and fire, by learning various incantations.

The back of the Eiffel Tower represents the "Peace" campus, which primarily teaches white magic. Students can learn healing, regeneration, and defensive magic.

After Jane and her group of magic students returned to Paris, they spent half a day at the Peace Campus healing classmates who were injured during the attack on the Magic Academy.

At that moment, she received a notification that the administration of Klin Academy of Magic was summoning her to discuss the matter of Jupiter. She was to be summoned by Professor Brian, the vice-principal of Klin Academy, in the Sacred Heart office of the "Command Campus."

Having previously obtained information about entering the Hunyuan Dao from the professor, I didn't expect this sneak attack to go so smoothly. Upon returning, I reported the matter to the school authorities.

Perhaps due to afternoon fatigue or discomfort after a long flight, she is now somewhat dazed and feels tired.

But since the vice principal was in a hurry to find her, he didn't dare to delay. He went to the "Talent" campus, found a wall to put down his flying broom, and quickly walked through the corridor built of huge rocks.

Pushing open the door to the Sacred Heart office, the scene was still so familiar: a row of old bookshelves stood in front of the gray-black stone wall.

Beside the heavy wooden table, which is over a century old, are a globe, a nautical instrument, and nautical charts from different periods left by previous magicians. These are all important components of the development of magical history.

Behind the desk sat Vice Principal Professor Brian, and to Jane's surprise, Professor Madeline of the Department of Dark Arts and Professor Christine of the Department of Summoning were also standing nearby.

Ms. Madeline wore a black witch's hat, her eyes so deep they were almost unbearable to look directly at. The students of the magic school shuddered at the mere mention of her name. It was said that her mother was the most powerful dark wizard in Europe for nearly a century, so much so that her joining the Allies during World War II directly contributed to the downfall of the Third Reich. Moreover, her mother was, to this day, the only person who knew the true whereabouts of Hitler.

Jane never saw any expression on Lady Madeline's face. Even when she single-handedly annihilated the entire Titan rebel army, her face showed no trace of emotion other than the blood of the Titans.

Every year at the start of the school year, there are stories of new students being so terrified of her that they wet themselves. And they really do wet their pants; it happens every year, and more often than not. Ms. Madeleine only appears in the classroom unless it's a necessary meeting.

Beside her stood Professor Christine, with a long, white beard. Professor Christine wore his old, deep red wizard's robe, and preferred the hood that came with it to his pointed wizard's hat. He often wore the hood on his head, covering the upper half of his face.

When he put on his hat, no student dared to disturb him. Legend had it that students who did so would suffer long-term psychological trauma, yet would never remember why.

Professor Christine usually teaches summoning magic, and he can summon anything that appears in summoning tomes instantly. Jane's summoning course was thanks to Professor Christine's meticulous guidance; without him, Jane wouldn't have been able to achieve an S-rank in this subject, which was her weakest area.

In the past, the heads of the Black Magic Department and the Summoning Department could appear together, but they were always accompanied by full professors from the White Magic Department and the Alchemy Department. However, if only the two of them appeared at the meeting, it would inevitably be related to a serious dispute.

It's fair to say that every discussion revolves around one word: offense.

Jane stepped forward, carrying the red law code, and said, "Professors, I'm back."

Professor Christine asked, "Jane, we've already read the report you submitted regarding taking so many students to the Academy of Arts and Sciences. This isn't like your usual style."

Jane replied, "I heard that the Magic School's treasure, the Jupiter Silk, was stolen, so we definitely have to go and get it back."

Vice President Brian said, "The professors will handle this. While we are not afraid of those from the East, we must always be cautious."

"If they create a time-traveling magical device using Jupiter Threads earlier, Klin Magic Academy will be in danger."

Brian said, "That makes sense, but after all, a confrontation requires evidence."

“Isn’t that purple-gold thread evidence? I can’t wait any longer,” Jane said.

Professor Christine cautioned, “Jane, you’ve overstepped your bounds. Show some respect to the Vice-Principal. The Magic Academy took you in from a young age, taught you magic, and nurtured you into the youngest doctoral student in the school’s history, as well as the youngest custodian of the Star Rainbow Magic Tome. Don’t let your youthful impulsiveness tarnish this rare honor!”

Jane bit her lip and said, "I'm sorry, Professor Brian."

Brian said in a deep voice, "I understand the young man. And I don't fundamentally oppose Jane's approach. Our Magic Academy has never feared any enemy. And don't expect anyone to gain any advantage from Magic Academy."

He asked Jane, "I heard you gave the Magic Academy some time to hand over the Magic Jupiter Silk?"

Yes. Tomorrow.

What will you do if they don't reply to you?

"I'll just rush to their door and demand it back."

Brian said, "Jane, do you think you can still get into St. Ping'an?"

"Why not? I know the way in to their place."

Professor Christine said slowly, "The last time you were able to get in, it was because they weren't on high alert. Just like we didn't know you would incite so many students to come with you. If they were prepared, with your magical abilities, I'm afraid your chances of defeating their defenses alone wouldn't be high."

Jane thought for a moment and asked, "Then... Vice Principal, do you mean that the two professors and I should go together?"

Brian said, "No! We don't need to confront the San Pioneers authorities head-on with the power of a single school."

"What if the people from the Daoist Academy are hiding in Shengpingning and won't come out?"

"Lure them out."

Jane didn't quite understand and asked, "If they really stole the Jupiter Silk, they would be too busy hiding to leave Saint Pingning, this natural fortress."

Ms. Madeline, who had been silent until now, suddenly said, "Let's go and sever their dragon vein in the east."

"Dragon Veins?"

Jane had never heard of this term before, but the East has a cultural reverence for dragons, so this dragon vein must be something they need to protect.

Brian continued, "As long as we attack the Dragon Vein, the Academy of Arts and Sciences will be unable to sit still."

"Where is this dragon vein located?"

"The dragon vein in the east is very long, but attacking certain places won't yield the best results. Therefore, our target should be the most important city among them: Nanjing."

How do you cut it?

“We will build a huge six-pointed star magic circle and place Nanjing in the center of the six-pointed star. At that time, with Ms. Madeline’s dark magic, it will only take a few minutes to sever the dragon vein of the East.”

Jane asked, "What will happen after it's cut off?"

Vice Principal Brian said, "The entire dragon vein, from beginning to end, can trigger a strong earthquake of magnitude 10 or higher."

Jane was very surprised when she heard this and quickly asked, "Wouldn't that kill a lot of people?"

Ms. Madeline replied expressionlessly, "So what?"

"But those people are innocent!"

Professor Christine said, "That's why the Academy of Arts and Sciences came to the rescue."

"What if the Academy of Arts and Sciences doesn't come?"

"Then we should really sever the dragon vein in the east."

"My God!" Jane felt a cold sweat break out. "Professors, are you serious? I mean, if the Academy of Arts and Sciences doesn't come, but instead the regular army of Saint Pingning comes, wouldn't we have wasted our time?"

“Saint Pingning won’t come to the rescue,” Ms. Madeline said. “Do you remember the so-called Battle of Qiankun a while ago? Even though they knew the whole world was going to be destroyed, Saint Pingning didn’t send a single soldier. Instead, the Academy of Arts and Sciences sent out all its troops.”

"So you believe that the Magic Academy won't stand idly by if their world is destroyed?"

Vice Principal Brian said, "Yes. Saint Pingning has a very peculiar rule: they don't interfere with human disasters, but let them develop freely, letting everything go with the flow. Judging from the actions of the Qiankun Guard War, the only institution in Saint Pingning that would protect the dragon vein is the Academy of Arts and Crafts."

Jane said, "That's too risky. What if the Klin Magic Academy is held responsible because of the earthquake in the East?"

Brian said, "Have you ever seen a precedent where a country experiences a natural disaster and then blames an institution in another country? This would only trigger a war between the two countries, causing more deaths and injuries, and would also damage the world economy. Therefore, leaders in the East and West will consider their own interests and try to avoid conflict. There is no right or wrong in this world, only interests."

Jane was stunned. She never expected that Klin Magic Academy would use such a cruel method to try to get back the magical artifact, the Jupiter Silk.

The so-called technological and arms race does not only occur between nations, but also between two human groups.

Seeing Jane's expression, Vice Principal Brian continued, "Jane, you're a top student! You should know that Klin Academy of Magic wasn't founded for evil. But at some crucial historical junctures, bloodshed is necessary. Sacrificing a few may bring lasting peace."

Jane asked, "But is the Jupiter Silk worth so many deaths? The entire dragon vein you mentioned must be very long. If it's a magnitude 10 or higher earthquake, it will cause hundreds of millions of casualties! Isn't this something that a victim can ask a suspect for compensation, and at most, let the court decide?"

"You're so naive!"

Brian clearly disagreed with Jane's view, saying, "Based on the intelligence we have so far, the East has most likely already obtained the method to use the Jupiter Silk. And you know, once someone masters the ability to travel through time, it's like planting a time bomb next to everyone else, and the whole world will become their slave. Do you want the entire West to become the East's slave?"

Jane was stunned and didn't know how to answer for a moment.

She truly didn't know whether peace would be maintained once the East became extremely powerful. She wondered if she and her companions would face enslavement. Even if things were peaceful now, what about thirty or fifty years from now, once the East possessed the world's most advanced technology? Who knew that this technology wouldn't fall into the hands of some "devil" among them?
“Jane, we have no choice but to protect ourselves!” Ms. Madeline said coldly. “Besides, it wasn’t one of our people who died this time.”

Jane was utterly shocked by the professors' determination. She simply couldn't believe that what she thought was a minor altercation yesterday had crossed the line. Little did she know that the Magic School had already been planning something much bigger.

What I did may have been just a spark.

Cold sweat trickled down Jane's forehead. She asked, "Then... when do the professors plan to make their move?"

“Jane, you gave the Academy of Arts and Sciences a final deadline of 8 p.m. tomorrow! This has given us a good reason and time to sever the dragon vein.”

Brian answered coldly.

(End of this chapter)