Shadows of Corruption

With a single thought, Chen Xu arrived at the military academy campus he hadn't seen in a long time.

With his current unique-tier soul strength, let alone a single Blue Star, he could perceive the entire region of the Cosmic Sea where the planet was located.

Where his soul reached, so did the range of his teleportation. Chen Xu could go wherever he pleased.

Directly ahead of him was the source of the corruption he had sensed: the Daxia Military Academy library.

He felt a bit ashamed; as a student of the military academy, he had never stepped foot inside his own school's library.

Aside from the library, he had barely used any of the academy's other facilities—the gymnasium, the combat simulation hall, the skill training hall, or the formation training hall. He hadn't entered a single one of them.

The place he had visited the most was the academy cafeteria.

Chen Xu walked up the steps, ignoring the library's defensive arrays as he passed straight through the doors and into the interior.

Two students, a man and a woman, were walking toward him, laughing and chatting. Their attention was entirely on each other, and they didn't notice Chen Xu at all.

It wasn't until they were close that they realized someone was in front of them.

The male student looked up, his eyes instantly widening in shock.

"Chen... Chen Xu!"

"Haha, long time no see, Zhou Zitong."

Chen Xu smiled, his gaze shifting between Zhou Zitong and the female student beside him.

Both of them carried a faint aura of corruption, which was exactly what he had sensed earlier.

"Let me introduce you. This is Yang Yanyan, a mage. She's also a member of the Dragon Seed Program, though she's a year behind us—a junior.

Now she's studying with me at the Blooming School of the Akhan Dynasty."

Yang Yanyan nodded shyly, her gaze somewhat stiff as she looked at Chen Xu.

"Hello, Senior."

After all, she wasn't Zhou Zitong. She didn't share the bond of being Chen Xu's classmate, nor was she part of the same year's Dragon Seed Program or the same batch of international students sent to the Akhan Dynasty.

While Zhou Zitong could act like an old friend in front of Chen Xu, she certainly couldn't.

In all of Daxia, and even the entire Blue Star, who didn't know Chen Xu's name?

The world's strongest person was standing right in front of her. If she said she wasn't nervous, she would be lying.

"Hello," Chen Xu replied politely, then turned to Zhou Zitong.

"Do you have time? There's something I want to talk to you about."

"Huh?" Zhou Zitong looked shocked. He quickly looked around to make sure no one else was there before confirming Chen Xu was talking to him.

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

"I'm actually quite free. I was just about to go to the cafeteria with Yanyan for afternoon tea."

"That's perfect. Let's go together."

As he spoke, Chen Xu grabbed Zhou Zitong and led the way, leaving him no choice but to follow.

Seeing this, Yang Yanyan didn't know what to do. Report it to a teacher? Don't be ridiculous; even reporting it to the principal would be useless. She had no choice but to follow.

At the same time, Chen Xu mobilized his mental strength to send a message to the library's Fuxi sub-system, attaching his exclusive key.

Upon receiving the message, the Fuxi sub-system immediately forwarded it to Xia Qiming.

At that moment, Xia Qiming was hunched over his desk, drafting Daxia's future plans for transcendence.

Suddenly, Fuxi took over the office's electrical system and interrupted him with a Palm Lightning spell.

The lowest-tier lightning technique caused no harm to someone at the mythic-tier like Xia Qiming. He simply looked up and addressed the air.

"Fuxi, what urgent matter could possibly warrant using a special notification?"

"Respected General Commander Xia, you have an urgent message that requires immediate attention. Based on the sender's identity, the system has automatically categorized this message as top priority."

"Top priority? Whose message is it?"

Xia Qiming's expression immediately became serious, the previous relaxation vanishing from his face.

Since the Hell demons on the Outerworld battlefield had been cleared, Daxia had faced no lethal threats.

These last few years had been the most relaxed and comfortable since the start of the dungeon era.

Fuxi's sudden top-priority message forced Xia Qiming to be cautious for the first time in a long while.

"Lord Chen Xu, the Dragon of the Nation."

"Chen Xu! A message from him?!"

Xia Qiming became instantly excited.

"When did he send it?"

"Just now. Lord Chen left a message for my sub-system at the military academy library, accompanied by his exclusive key. I can confirm it is Lord Chen himself."

"The library? What is that kid doing there?"

Xia Qiming was slightly puzzled. The library didn't seem like Chen Xu's style. However, he didn't dwell on it; perhaps the mind of a genius was just that unconventional.

"What message did he leave?"

"Lord Chen has instructed me to notify you to gather everyone from Daxia who has recently visited the Akhan Dynasty."

"The Akhan Dynasty?" Xia Qiming immediately thought of something and rushed out of his office.

On the other side, Chen Xu, Zhou Zitong, and Yang Yanyan ordered afternoon tea at the academy cafeteria and found a secluded spot to sit down.

"Zitong, have you been studying in the Akhan Dynasty all these years? It looks like your job-holder level hasn't increased much. And the spirit qi in your body is quite low—haven't you been cultivating?"

Faced with Chen Xu's string of questions, Zhou Zitong grew nervous.

This was supposed to be a rare vacation, yet he suddenly felt like he was facing an interrogation from a mentor at the Blooming School.

Tension, pressure, and rapid breathing—he felt a slight sense of suffocation.

Zhou Zitong quickly picked up his iced cola and took a large gulp. After a moment to steady himself, he began to answer.

"I've been on an exchange program at the Blooming School for the past few years. I have some talent for the path of magic, and my 【Psychic】 class gives me an advantage in mental strength. I even have my own research project at the Blooming School."

At this point, a hint of joy and pride appeared on Zhou Zitong's face.

"Although I can't compare to Professor Zhang, I'm among the top students from Daxia."

"And your level?"

"Oh, once I got the research project, my time was entirely consumed by it. I've barely entered any dungeons since then. I'm basically either doing research at the Blooming School or back in Daxia teaching introductory magic classes.

As for the cultivation era Daxia is currently promoting, I've only experienced it briefly. I reached the first level of the Qi Refining stage and then stopped."

"Ah, I see."

Chen Xu suddenly understood. This kid had been led astray by Zhang Jingping and wanted to follow the scholar-style path.

The scholar-style path meant not relying on the job-holder system provided by the Blue Star consciousness, but instead relying purely on personal study to master and improve transcendent abilities.

"You little brat, you're trying to emulate Professor Zhang and achieve godhood through self-study, aren't you?"

Having his thoughts exposed, Zhou Zitong gave a sheepish grin.

"By the way, did you notice anything unusual while you were in the Akhan Dynasty?"

"Unusual?"

"Yes. For example, the aura of demons. Or the aura of corruption on you and the person next to you."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zitong and Yang Yanyan's expressions changed drastically.

"Corruption? Chen... Chen Xu, you're joking, right? Yanyan and I have corruption on us?"

Demon corruption was already public knowledge in Daxia.

Once it was confirmed that the demon threat on the Outerworld battlefield had been eliminated, Daxia had released all information regarding Hell and demons.

First, the threat was gone, so there was no fear of causing a panic.

Second, the dangers of Hell were too great; anyone who touched even a bit of it rarely met a good end. Making it public was a way to prevent people from foolishly trying to contact Hell.

As members of the Dragon Seed Program, Zhou Zitong and Yang Yanyan naturally knew about Hell and what corruption was.

The fall of many dungeon worlds had the shadows of Hell behind them.

To hear the strongest person on Blue Star say they carried the aura of corruption was enough to make anyone terrified.

"I'm not joking. The aura of corruption on you is very, very faint. If I didn't deal with demons regularly and hadn't personally subdued a Hell Archduke, I probably wouldn't have noticed it either.

The corruption on you is very special."

"Special?"

"Yes. Even more special than what I perceived from that Hell Archduke."

Above a Hell Archduke were the Seven Demon Kings of Hell and the Mother of Hell.

The Mother of Hell wouldn't personally intervene for a small place like the Akhan Dynasty.

Therefore, the one stirring up disaster and bringing destruction to the Akhan Dynasty was likely a Hell Demon King.

"Heh, Lothar... quite the impressive Calamity Dragon to attract even a Hell Demon King."

Chen Xu couldn't help but sigh. One really couldn't underestimate the heroes of the world.

However, he was the Lord of the Undead, a unique-tier existence.

Even if it were a Hell Demon King, when the prey was stronger than the hunter, the web of calamity woven for Chen Xu would instead become the source of the demon king's downfall.