Magic!

The second round of the Academy Stars Competition is half a month apart from the first round and will not start until mid-October.

A few days after passing the first round of the game, Russell, Subway and Clara were walking around the high school and received congratulations from time to time.

One student who has just entered the fourth grade and two students who have just entered the third grade. Such a team has successfully passed the first level of the Academy Star Competition. It is already a quite amazing achievement.

When receiving compliments and congratulations from others, Subway put his hands on his hips and nodded happily, thinking that he would be able to show off to the elders of his family in the future.

With Subway's current strength in the early third grade, even among the family elders, there are only a handful of people who can match him. Now he has participated in the college's 10-year super competition and passed the first round. It is definitely A big achievement worth showing off.

…

On the morning of October 4th.

Russell turned on the computer in his villa to check the detailed event information that had just been released.

"The second round of the competition will be held deep in the jungle where teachers and students usually dare not go. Each team needs to collect all the materials designated by the school within the specified time.

"In the first round of the competition, the team that clears the level earlier will enter the dense forest earlier, and the end time of the game is fixed. Therefore, the team that enters the dense forest early will have more time to find materials."

Outside the two colleges of the college, there are dense forests where countless supernatural creatures live. Many students with certain abilities have set foot in the dense forests, but only in the outer areas of the dense forests around the college.

The depths of the dense forest contain terrifying dangers. Even a strong third-year man may fall into it if he is not careful.

If the participating teams were not led by a fourth-year expert and two third-year experts, and the configuration was extremely luxurious, otherwise they would not dare to use the depths of the dense forest as the venue for the competition.

"Why does it feel like the academy is using the contestants as laborers to help collect extraordinary materials in the dense forest?"

Russell keenly discovered the special features of the second round and raised the corners of his mouth slightly.

While the deep jungle contains terrifying dangers, it also breeds many valuable or even priceless supernatural materials. All kinds of strange and mysterious magical herbs, deep caves where danger and opportunity coexist, and supernatural creatures worshiped as gods by many ethnic groups can only be found in the depths of the dense forest.

At this moment, Russell's supersensory perception was triggered, and he turned to look to his side, only to see Duncan's figure outlined in front of him.

"Duncan? What's wrong?"

Russell asked hurriedly.

"Russell Russell. You should already know the general content of the second round, and now we are facing a serious problem." Duncan looked quite serious today.

"Mr. Principal is worried that...the clown's team is ahead?" Russell guessed.

"That's right." Duncan seemed very excited. "We can never let someone from the Supreme Council become the champion of the competition, become the vice-principal of the college, and also be qualified to entrust me to do things!"

Russell can understand Duncan's mentality.

After the previous incident, the relationship between the academy and the Supreme Council has dropped to freezing point.

If the clown "004" really becomes the vice-principal of the college, there is no guarantee that the Supreme Council will not take the opportunity to do something.

"The identity of the clown is quite special. Is it possible that other teachers will cooperate with you to operate behind the scenes and use cheating, temporary changes to the rules, etc. to prevent the clown from winning the championship?" Russell asked a question that he had always wanted to ask.

In his opinion, since the Academy Star Competition is hosted by the academy, it shouldn't be too difficult to decide on a champion, or at least prevent a certain team from winning the championship.

Duncan looked regretful and shook his head:

"I thought so at first, but my supersensory perception told me that if the school cooperates with me in cheating on a large scale, it will cause backlash in some aspects and lead to bad consequences. I conducted several more divination, Confirmed the correctness of the intuition.”

Is there such a consequence? Duncan's answer surprised Russell.

Duncan then explained:

"You know, the extraordinary system controlled by the Supreme Council is related to the power of the rules of order. The clown's participation in the Academy Star Competition must have received the instruction and attention of the Supreme Council.

"If the school violates the rules it has set in advance in such an important event, I am afraid there will be some kind of loophole that the Supreme Council can take advantage of."

Russell nodded slightly, feeling more and more that the Joker's participation in the competition might not be simple, and might contain some conspiracy of the Supreme Council.

"I suspect that Joker participated in the competition to deliberately induce the school to operate behind the scenes and prevent him from winning the championship. If the college really does this, it will fall into the trap of the Supreme Council!"

Russell analyzed it sternly, and his spine felt a little chilly as he spoke.

What a hidden trap! If the principal hadn't been the world's number one prophet, he might have fallen into it.

Duncan nodded and agreed with Russell's guess:

"I think so too. But we can't just sit back and watch the clown win! This matter is related to the fate and future of the college."

Once a member of the Supreme Council becomes the vice-principal of the college, with the power of the Supreme Council, it is not far away from truly taking control of the college!

As he spoke, Duncan's eyes looked at Russell with a bit more encouragement, as if an elder looked at an outstanding junior:

"Russell, under the premise that I must hide my identity and dare not reveal all my power, I hope that you, Clara, and Subway will work hard to become the champion of this competition!"

Russell nodded:

"I will try my best. But Huiyao's team seems to have a stronger overall strength than us."

As far as he knew, Huiyao should be a powerful person in the middle or even the peak of the fourth grade. He was undoubtedly much stronger than Clara, who quickly jumped to the fourth grade and was still not proficient in extraordinary abilities in the third and fourth grades.

Although Xinyue on the same team is only in the early third grade, another teammate, Xinghuo, reached the late third grade two or three months ago, which can be regarded as a good boost.

Duncan's face immediately burst into a smile:

"I heard that your spiritual realm has reached its peak in the late third grade, right? You are only half a step away from the fourth grade."

"Mr. Principal, what do you mean..." Russell suddenly made a guess.

"I can personally preside over the 'Bright Starlight' ceremony for your spiritual ascension, allowing you to be directly promoted to half-step fourth grade. You can then apply for a student loan to jump to fourth grade and become a fourth grade expert!" Duncan announced excitedly.

Russell was overjoyed, knowing what a precious gift this was!

Before the final battle with the Red Order of Chaos last year, Subway had used family rituals to improve his spiritual level and reached the peak in the middle of his second year, which surprised Russell.

This kind of ritual that forcibly enhances spirituality is inherently dangerous. If you use this method to enhance spirituality many times in your life, it will cause huge irreversible damage to your spiritual body and spirit. The effect of the second acceptance ceremony will also be greatly reduced.

Fortunately, Russell has never undergone a similar ceremony before, so he can definitely do it once!

"According to regulations, you need to pay 50 college gold coins as the fee for the acceptance ceremony." Duncan continued.

Russell nodded with a smile:

"no problem!"

He still has about 150 college gold coins in reserve!

He knew that this cost was only the cost price of the materials consumed in the ceremony. Even if other students had money, they might not be able to buy a ceremony of this quality.

The Shining Star Ceremony, a major award from the college, is of far higher quality than the one Subway had previously received in the family, and is usually given only to faculty or students who have made important contributions to the college.

"If you have nothing else to do, you can go to the ceremony room of the College of Higher Education this afternoon. I and other teachers will personally host the ceremony for you!" Duncan explained again, with a flash of oil on his body, and his figure disappeared immediately.

…

That afternoon.

In the ceremony room of the High Court.

Russell sat in the center of the mysterious magic circle with a radius of more than ten meters and entered a deep state of meditation.

Hundreds of gems are dotted around, like stars surrounding the bright moon. Every gem exudes spiritual brilliance, whether blue or emerald green, bright red or snow white.

Duncan, who had turned into an old man and wore a classical mage's robe, stood at one end of the magic circle with a staff in his hand, facing Russell, and 13 teachers stood at the other end of the magic circle.

This includes three professors with fourth-year strength, Black Amber, Cangxingshi, and Opal, and 10 teachers with third-year strength.

In the entire extraordinary world, only the academy and the Supreme Council can put together such a luxurious lineup!

The 14 presiding officers began to chant mantras at the same time, and the gems shone brightly, illuminating the entire ceremony room.

Various lights hit the face of each ceremony host one after another.

Russell felt that his spirituality was gradually improving.

Finally, overflowing spirituality burst out, and Russell's eyes suddenly opened.

He broke through the bottleneck and reached half a step to the fourth grade level!

But the power of ritual has not yet ended.

His spirituality, which has reached the half-step fourth grade level, is still improving. It is as if Russell spent a month or two on spiritual practice and extraordinary practice, making his spirituality more stable at the half-step fourth grade level, and preparing for the fourth step. The foundation is laid for the door to the grade level.

An hour later, all the gems turned into worthless black and white powder.

Russell stood up in the center of the magic circle and looked inside to feel his state.

His current spiritual state is roughly equivalent to that of a stable fourth-year transcendent. He can absorb the fourth-year "blood magic" scroll at any time and become a true fourth-year power.

"Thank you teachers, thank you Mr. Principal."

Russell bowed and thanked everyone who presided over the ceremony.

"Son, when we first met two years ago, I really didn't expect you to grow up to where you are now."

The slightly tired Professor Black Amber smiled.

When they first met more than two years ago, Russell was still a child who had just completed his spiritual awakening before officially embarking on the transcendental path.

But in the foreseeable future, this student will rival him in the path of necromancy and life.

Russell walked over slowly, knelt down and stroked the shiny fur of black amber:

"Thank you for your guidance along the way, Professor."

…

The next morning, in the low building where the principal office of the college is located.

A blood-red light rose from the low building and shot straight into the sky, blowing away the clouds on the horizon and dyeing the entire daytime sky blood-red.

The entire high school was trembling slightly. In the dense forest, hundreds of birds were frightened and flapped their wings away from the college.

"What is this, Lord 004?"

In the clown's mansion, the brothers Greenbeard and Bluebeard, who saw this spectacle through the window, asked the clown beside them.

"Another fourth grade student is born." The clown took a sip of hot black tea.

When a transcendent absorbs a fourth-grade knowledge scroll and is promoted to a fourth-grade power, it will cause different visions depending on the major.

When Clara was promoted before, the abnormalities were only manifested in the spiritual world and dreams, and were not as exaggerated as they are now.

The clown's face, half wearing a black and white clown mask, turned towards the window, looking at the blood-red light beam, with a faint smile on his lips:

"Is that you, Russell?"

…

In the junior high school, which is not too far away from the high school.

Black Feather, Old Man, Wolf Spider, Emerald Cat, Osprey, Light Wave, Xing Tong and many other junior college students in different positions, as well as the three giant beasts walking by the lake: the dragon, the sphinx, and the hydra. They all turned their heads to look in the direction of the High Court.

I saw the blood-red light pillar rising into the sky, like a fountain of blood, dyeing the sky blood red.

In the cafeteria.

"Oh my god, is this how fourth-year students behave when they are promoted? Seeing the birth of a fourth-year student with your own eyes, you may not have such an opportunity before graduation. I just entered school and I saw it!"

The freshman girl who was shy when facing Kuroba on the playground, after learning what this vision represented, she pressed her whole body against the window of the cafeteria, her face was dyed red by the scarlet light, and her eyes were widened. envious.

Behind the girl, Black Feather stood up slowly. Having already received the news in advance, he looked out the window and said meaningfully:

"Russell was promoted."

…

The blood-red light beam lasted for nearly an hour before gradually weakening and slowly dissipating.

In the office of the president of the institution of higher learning.

Russell sat on the sofa with his eyes closed, feeling the increased knowledge and spirituality of "blood magic" in his brain.

Now he is already a powerful player in the early fourth grade.

While Russell was promoted, the contracted spirit gained a small amount of benefits through the connection of the contract.

The Dream Demon, who was already very close to the third grade level, finally broke through the last shackles and entered the early stage of the third grade. The wind chime, which continues to draw fear emotions from circulating ghost movies and the terror of enemies, has now completed its breakthrough and reached the middle of the third grade, floating beside Russell. The skull sculptor has also been slightly improved, but Russell has a hard time judging its status.

The increased occult knowledge in his mind told Russell that blood magic is a dark and primitive witchcraft.

Blood has always played a special role in occultism. It is the source and symbol of life force, as well as a symbol of holiness, sacrifice, pain and sacrifice.

The scroll of knowledge obviously cannot contain all the blood magic in the world, only the most special ones. Of course, after Russell masters this knowledge, he can also draw inferences from one example and learn other blood magic relatively easily.

Russell quickly took a look at the extraordinary abilities related to flesh and blood contained in the knowledge scroll.

The first extraordinary ability is "regeneration".

This ability does not require Russell to spend time practicing and mastering it. The scroll of knowledge has just completed the transformation of his body.

Now Russell can maintain his life even after suffering extreme fatal injuries. He also has strong regeneration ability. Ordinary wounds will heal in the blink of an eye. Even if his hands and feet are cut off, they can grow back within a few minutes. . If you attach the severed limb directly to the fracture, it can be reattached in a few seconds.

However, this regeneration ability is not as exaggerated as the troll. If it is cut into pieces, Russell will still die. Moreover, the regeneration capacity is limited and will be exhausted after multiple uses. Only through many days of rest can the regenerative capacity gradually return.

"Oops, I have the ability to regenerate." Russell shrugged his shoulders and chuckled twice, as if he had encountered a tragic fate in the future.

The second extraordinary ability is "rebirth", which allows Russell to be resurrected in another place immediately after being killed. This is also the reason why the Red Order of Chaos did not dare to kill Professor Black Amber directly after they captured her. one.

Contrary to Russell's imagination, returning from death requires complicated preparations - through complicated rituals, storing part of your soul, life force and flesh and blood in a specific object, such as storing your heart in a clay pot , or connect the soul to a certain gem.

This item that is connected to blood magic is called the "source of life". Once destroyed, the caster himself will suffer severe physical and spiritual injuries no matter where he is, and will temporarily lose the ability to regenerate.

Russell is no stranger to similar manifestations of supernatural power. In Aryan mythology, Germanic mythology, Indian mythology, Arabic mythology and even the novel "Harry Potter" and the game "Dungeons and Dragons", this is a typical ability of the villain wizard .

According to the story, no matter how deep the villain wizard hides, the protagonist can always find the object or place where he or she stores his or her life force, thwarting the villain's conspiracy in one fell swoop!

The third extraordinary ability is "blood control", which can control the blood in oneself or other living things, stimulate the life energy contained in it, and cast the blood into various forms for use in combat or attack.

In addition, there are also some miscellaneous flesh and blood magic.

As for whether these abilities will change due to Russell's talent, it is still unknown.

"Where should I hide the resurrection point?"

Russell was most interested in the rebirth ability. He lowered his head and thought for a while, then turned his eyes to Professor Black Amber who was on the principal's desk:

"Professor, where is the source of your life hidden?"

"A hidden location in the Institute of Higher Education." In front of Russell, Professor Black Amber replied simply without any reservation.

Russell leaned on the sofa, thinking and said in a deep voice:

"Theoretically speaking, it is best to place the resurrection point in a place where the enemy cannot find or touch it. If it can be placed on a space probe like Voyager 1, then the risk of being destroyed will be much smaller."