62: Deterrence and defection

Feng Qingyi, sensing the fluctuation of the contract, was extremely puzzled. They had just suffered a setback, so why did Su Ze still want her to undergo Weaponization?

Could it be that he wanted to choose Flight Specialization and escape?

Without doubting him, Feng Qingyi agreed to Su Ze's command.

The result, however, was still the Attack Specialization form—the phoenix feather departing fire fan.

After forcing back the remaining insignificant Dark Guards with a single fan swing, Su Ze took the initiative to attack Chen Ze and the Squad Leader of the Fusang Dark Guards.

As long as he could take out one person by surprise, he could slowly wear down the other, just as he had dealt with Jiang Tianlong earlier.

He had already hidden his last platinum egg in his chest. Once his full-power attack yielded results, he would immediately begin a war of attrition with the other.

But to his surprise, Chen Ze and the Squad Leader merely exchanged a glance.

That man, showing no fear of death, took the initiative to meet Su Ze's attack. He allowed the surging flames to consume him, took the blow head-on, and then firmly grabbed Su Ze's hand.

Chen Ze, seizing this opportunity, slashed his dagger toward Su Ze.

Su Ze felt the threat of death, but in his despair, he also found something very strange.

The opponent clearly could have taken this chance to cut off his head, so why did it feel like this blade wasn't aimed at his neck, but was instead slashing toward his chest?

Could it be that the opponent's eyes were blinded by his flames?

It wasn't impossible, but Su Ze still felt it was a bit too absurd.

Just as the blade was about to cut into his skin, several tentacles grew out of Su Ze's shadow.

In an instant, these tentacles extended outwards and touched all the Fusang Dark Guards, causing them to fall into a state of daze immediately.

Even the Squad Leader who had endured the flames stopped screaming, his movements stiffening.

Not just them—all the enemies stood frozen in place as if they had fallen asleep, motionless.

After completing everything, the tentacles retracted back into Su Ze's shadow.

Seeing this, Guo Linshan gave Su Ze an extra look.

At the same time, back at Azure Dragon Beast Taming University, Lin Xi was still rocking in his chair and basking in the sun.

Though his eyes were closed, he was monitoring everything through the Nightmare Lord clone he had implanted in Su Ze's shadow.

Despite knowing that Su Ze had narrowly escaped death several times, he hadn't moved a single step.

The rocking chair he never left was facing a feeding trough in the breeding shed; beneath that trough was a secret passage.

It was precisely for this reason that he could not leave the school for even a moment.

“It seems the Fusang Dark Guards haven't been disciplined in a long time. It's time to contact that brat Xiao Sheng to put some pressure on them. I can't let them jump around under my nose twice and still act like nothing happened...”

...Jiang Chen took this opportunity to heavily wound the Dark Guard Squad Leader he was entangled with, but the Mirage Beast's attack power was insufficient after all, and he failed to kill the opponent then and there.

Although Su Ze didn't know why, he took the chance to decisively break free from the man's grip and put some distance between them.

This movement also caused the opponent to wake up from his previous state.

He looked around in confusion, and then the stinging pain from the burns hit him again. Screaming, he remembered something and shouted in a terrified voice, “Wake up, everyone! It's the Dream Demon! The Dream Demon is here!”

The other two woke up with his help. Chen Ze looked at his dagger; there was no blood on it, leaving him looking completely bewildered.

In his perception, he should have already completed the mission and heavily wounded Su Ze just now.

The other person backed away in confusion, not knowing why a severe wound had suddenly appeared on his body.

However, the other lower-level Fusang Dark Guards still hadn't woken up—or rather, they would never wake up again.

“What's going on?” Chen Ze asked with a grim expression.

“It's... it's the Dream Demon! It's him, there's no mistake! To avenge the assassination attempt on his student Xiao Sheng, he once went to the Fusang Nation and plunged three cities into total silence overnight. Only a few people survived.”

“I am one of the survivors. This feeling is unmistakable—it's him, it's the power of the Dream Demon! We were just put into a dream!”

At this point, his expression suddenly became frenzied. “No... wait, maybe I'm still in a dream right now? I haven't woken up yet? Or maybe... I've been dreaming ever since that time? There were no so-called survivors at all?”

Seeing the man suddenly go mad, Chen Ze could only exchange a look with the other Squad Leader.

The meaning was clear: this man was insane, and now only the two of them were left.

They had indeed heard of the Dream Demon's fearsome reputation—the ability to make people enter a dream in an instant and die without any resistance.

However, they didn't feel like they were in a dream now. The pain from the wounds on their bodies was so real, which meant the pain had woken them up. The so-called Dream Demon was nothing more than this.

Although one Squad Leader had gone mad, leaving only two of them capable of continuing the fight, Su Ze's control of the phoenix feather departing fire fan had already mostly exhausted the Golden Feather Phoenix Bird's power.

Jiang Chen's beast also lacked offensive capabilities. They still had a chance to win!

The two launched an attack with such conviction. Facts were just as they expected; Su Ze and the others were exhausted. Even the Golden Feather Phoenix Bird's flames lacked heat and were no longer a concern.

The Dream Demon they had been worried about didn't launch a second attack. It seemed there were some restrictions, which was the best possible news for them.

Next, they just needed to heavily wound Su Ze and then withdraw.

These were the orders from above: cause injury but do not kill. Although they didn't know the reason, they just had to execute it.

It was a pity that Chen Ze, as an undercover agent, had worked so hard to reach his current position, only to be forced to expose himself now.

“Don't worry. When we return to Fusang, you will definitely be rewarded. Your status will be even higher than it was in the Great Xia Nation!” the Dark Guard Squad Leader beside him said.

Chen Ze nodded. Everything was moving in a positive direction... Meanwhile, Su Ze, Guo Linshan, and the others watched with strange expressions as Chen Ze and the other Fusang Dark Guards suddenly closed their eyes and collapsed.

Someone was even snoring, fast asleep.

Not a single one of them had woken up!

Everything just now had been a dream!

“What's going on?” Su Ze asked, looking at his shadow with some fear.

This power was truly too eerie and terrifying, and it was hidden right inside his own shadow.

Even though it had helped them for now, Su Ze still felt very uneasy.

Guo Linshan said, “As far as I know... only the former principal of Azure Dragon Beast Taming University could reach this level of dream-inducing power. He resigned after that accident six years ago and was succeeded by Xiao Xu. As for the old principal, no one has seen him outside since.”

For some reason, Su Ze suddenly thought of his highly unreliable, alcoholic teacher and asked, “No one has seen him outside the school, but what about inside?”

Guo Linshan still shook his head. “That old principal is very mysterious. It's said that every time the school teachers had a meeting, they would just wake up in the meeting room and everything would be over. No one has ever seen what he looks like in reality...”

He then added, “Perhaps Dragon Tamer Xiao Sheng has seen him, because he is Xiao Sheng's teacher and Dao Protector.”

Unable to get an answer, Su Ze couldn't be sure if it was that old geezer Lin Xi, nor did he know the other party's intentions. He could only shake his head.

But at least for now, thanks to his help, this battle had become exceptionally easy.

Just as they were preparing to kill the three together to prevent anyone from waking up...

Suddenly, Jiang Tianlong, who had been ignored after falling unconscious behind them, moved!

He mobilized all of his Spiritual Power and let out a screech that pierced the soul.

And because of this, the three Fusang Dark Guards' tightly closed eyes flickered!