132: Amidst the turmoil at the academy, stealing moments of leisure...

The morning mist had not yet fully dispersed.

A new day began.

Lu Chen planned to recuperate for a period of time.

Then he would continue his 'blood-sucking'—Kunlun Academy had so many resources.

Early in the morning, in the activity room of the Necromancy Research Society, Lu Chen was already active here.

He was absorbing magic stones, and it was also quiet.

Of course, that was before!

Until Ignis kicked open the door of the Necromancy Research Society!

"You with the surname Lu! You promised to help us debug the flame special effects!"

The lava patterns on her collarbone, which could go out of control at any moment, flickered intermittently.

Ignis threw out three crumpled design drawings; the last one clearly had scorched edges.

Lu Chen looked up from the Incomplete Manual of the 'Classic of Mo', looking at the books. His days of devouring magic power were about to stop!

Lu Chen toyed with the bronze marriage contract spinning between his fingers, which was now emitting a faint light.

He looked at Ignis and said:

"Student Ignis, your 'Hell Lava Pool' design will really turn the haunted house into a real fire scene."

Lu Chen flicked his finger to draw an ice Talismanic Incantation on the drawing, "How about this, let Shelley add a cooling array?"

"That's so boring!" The Flame Demon Girl slammed the table and stood up, sparks splashing onto the rice paper used for restoring ancient books.

Morning Dew, who was hiding to the side, weakly poked her head out from behind Lu Chen, hurriedly using Holy Light to extinguish the sparks. She advised softly, "Student Yi, Big Brother Lu stayed up all night repairing the ancient codex 'Essential Techniques for the Peasantry'. It was damaged in the previous battle, and he's been responsible for it..."

Ning Xiwei also poked her head out from a pile of skeletons, her dark circles particularly prominent, "Someone come help me look at this!"

The bone puppet she was controlling was dancing the 'Gokuraku Jodo', while an amplification Talismanic Incantation stuffed in its skull played the 'Rebirth Mantra' on loop.

Everyone fell silent!

Lu Chen felt awkward.

Wasn't it ancient?

Was this thing also ancient?

True, the 'modern' era of his world was considered 'ancient' to the current state of this world.

Shelley pushed the door open while holding an iced milk tea, twenty ice-carved lanterns she had just finished carving floating behind her.

Walking into the room, she looked at everyone and said calmly, "The haunted house's ice corridor is complete."

Shelley caught sight of Ignis's design drawing and casually condensed an ice crystal to freeze it. With a look of rejection, she said:

"Flame effects can be achieved using the principle of refraction. This design of yours is rejected!"

Morning Dew took out her notebook, which showed the menu for the tea house and cafe. She said weakly:

"The fresh milk sent from the church is very delicious. Everyone..."

Before she could finish, Sun Feifei jumped in through the window while riding her sword, with seven cups of what looked like fruit tea hanging from her peach wood sword!

Well, probably!

She said happily:

"Look at this, our Daoist sect's special Five Elements Pearl Milk Tea! Choose from Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, or Earth flavors! This will definitely be popular. I'll surely become a celebrity in our academy this year, hehe!"

Lu Chen stood up, rubbing his temples.

These girls were all eccentric in their own way!

It wasn't just that they had different personalities; they each had their own unique 'charms'.

Lu Chen looked out the window at the clock tower in the morning mist, vaguely seeing a blood-red color flowing through the clouds.

The Heavenly Dao had been quite quiet lately.

---

Three days later, at noon, the Academy Festival opened to the sound of the guqin playing 'White Snow in Sunny Spring'.

Lu Chen was pressed into service at the Ancient Book Restoration Club's stall, wearing a hanfu embroidered with the cover pattern of the 'Yongle Encyclopedia'.

Ignis squatted beside him, using her Flame Demon power to draw dynamic special effects for the illustrations in the 'classic of mountains and seas'.

"This Taotie's eyes need to glow red!" Just as the sparks from her fingertips touched the rice paper, they were suppressed by Lu Chen's bronze marriage contract. "Did you forget the lesson from yesterday's Ink Tide?"

When the marriage contract touched the paper, the Taotie portrait suddenly came to life and swallowed the takoyaki Ignis had just bought in one bite.

This bronze marriage contract was actually a Divine Artifact-level item.

It could also transform into various weapons.

Lu Chen also found it strange.

He still hadn't thoroughly researched it even now.

At that moment, an exclamation suddenly came from the Arctic Realm exhibition area.

An ice Phoenix controlled by Shelley was flying side by side with Sun Feifei's peach wood sword.

Morning Dew carried Holy Light coffee through the crowd, constantly soliciting passing students—especially female students!

"Hello, classmate, would you like to learn about the Arctic Holy Mother Church?"

"Classmate, would you like tea or coffee?"

"Teacher, this has a Holy Light Spell blessing; it can cure illnesses!"

"Junior sister, would you like to join our Holy Mother Church?"

Passing guests discovered that the blessing at the bottom of the latte cups actually provided a sense of warmth.

As dusk fell, a long line formed in front of the haunted house.

Ning Xiwei's bone puppet acted as a ticket seller, but the cold-faced school beauty really kept people at a distance.

At this moment, Nether Ghost Fire flickered in her eye sockets—though it was a magical disguise, it was actually a bit cute.

Ning Xiwei introduced coldly and mechanically, "The VR experience area is on the left. Purification spells are prohibited. Next."

Just as Lu Chen patrolled to the back door of the haunted house, the golden compass suddenly vibrated violently.

This surprised him slightly!

Was there danger?

He flashed into the staff passage and suddenly discovered blood-colored runes flowing deep within the mirror room.

Just as his tianwen sword was drawn half an inch, Ignis's voice sounded from behind him!

Then Lu Chen was pounced upon by a hot and soft fragrant body, "Little Skeleton, let's cuddle! —Are you here for the test of courage?"

The Flame Demon Girl's breath carried a scorching heat.

"Don't move!" Lu Chen protected her behind him with a backhand, his sword tip lifting a drop of blood from the mirror surface.

When the blood drop hit the ground, it actually grew bronze mycelium, blooming into flower buds covered in cuneiform script in an instant.

Just as Ignis's greatsword was about to strike, a scene from a hundred thousand years ago suddenly appeared:

—The Flame Demon ancestor was making a blood covenant with the Bone King.

"This is...?" The Flame Demon Girl's tattoo suddenly grew hot.

The marriage contract hidden in Lu Chen's Sea of Consciousness simultaneously lit up with a green light.

The image in the mirror changed abruptly, showing the ice sculpture exhibition area Shelley was setting up—inside the restored ice sculptures of 'Along the River During the Qingming Festival', the boatmen's eyes were moving.

Hasty footsteps approached, and Morning Dew ran over panting while holding her holy codex, saying urgently:

"The wishing well in the cafe... there's something at the bottom!"

The page of the holy codex Morning Dew was holding open was bleeding, and it actually revealed the pattern of a fragment of the bronze marriage contract.

At this moment, Lu Chen gave a cold smile!

He thought to himself:

—As expected, the Heavens won't let things stay peaceful!

---

At the hour of the Rat that night, the five of them gathered at the top of the clock tower.

Lu Chen pieced the marriage contract fragments onto the bronze floor, and under the moonlight, a panoramic map of Tianyong City emerged.

Sun Feifei's five elements flags were inserted at the formation's core, her voice trembling as she said:

"These star map coordinates... point to the lantern festival that is to be reenacted tomorrow!"

Ignis's Flame Demon patterns had spread to her heart, and she was ready for battle at any moment, "Yeah, the covenant I saw in the mirror room today, my family's ancestral hall has the same mural."

She pulled out a photo on her phone; the Bone King's sword in the painting was exactly the tianwen sword.

Shelley's ice staff condensed cold air as she also said, "In my ice sculptures earlier today, I found that Living Ice Crystals had been mixed in."

Living Ice Crystals referred to 'explosives' that could be controlled by someone!