Constellation, High-Tier Magic!

Standing on the back of his Celestial Eagle, Lu Nian spotted him immediately — the stubbly-faced man riding on Wings of Wind.

*Zhankong??*

Wasn't that man supposed to be overseeing the southern military division? What was he doing all the way out here on the Dongting Lake plains, sticking his nose into this?

This operation was supposed to be secret. How had the military gotten wind of it? Had someone tipped them off? Those students who managed to escape?

*Impossible.* Even if they had communication devices and got word out, the military couldn't have deployed someone this quickly. And Zhankong being in the vicinity by sheer coincidence — that made even less sense.

Lu Nian bared his teeth in a wide grin, every one of them yellow, and gave his pipe a lazy flick. There was naked contempt in his eyes as he spoke. "A worthless little Military Commander who couldn't even hold Bo City — you think you can match me, Lu Nian? You came alone, didn't you, Zhankong? You've known all along this kid was born with Dual Elements, and you've been sitting on it until now. Don't tell me you had your own little scheme in the works."

"Bullshit." Zhankong didn't care how crude he sounded. "You think everyone's as shameless as you? Blood Catalyst experiments — with the talent this kid has, he'll carve out his own legend without needing whatever unholy filth you're pumping into him. I'm ashamed on your behalf. Resorting to blackmail just to handle one student? If your father knew what a useless wretch you turned out to be, he should've shot you against a wall and left you to dry when he had the chance!"

He was beyond furious.

Zhankong had assumed Lu Nian was coming for Mo Fan — that he'd try to take the boy alive by force.

He never imagined the man would be so utterly depraved as to silence every student on the Field Expedition.

These were elite students from the Imperial Capital and Magic City — young people of limitless potential — and they were dying in this Desolate City because of one man's petty ambition.

The military hadn't produced a disgrace like this in decades.

"Zhankong, do you really think you can stop me?" Lu Nian was smiling, and as the smile stretched to its limits, his face twisted into something monstrous.

If this was exposed, so be it. Better, even.

No more need for restraint. A man with great ambitions couldn't afford so many shackles — losing his rank meant nothing. Among all Military Commanders, those who could truly match Lu Nian could be counted on one hand, and Zhankong was not among them.

It was time to start killing.

Anyone with even a thread of connection to this would die.

"Send them to feed that thing." Lu Nian gazed out toward the peak cave where the massive creature had stirred awake, a cruel smile hooking at the corner of his mouth.

"Sir," said the officer mounted on the white Celestial Eagle, a shudder creeping into his voice, "that… that appears to be a Giant Lizard Pseudo-Dragon."

Lu Nian was pointing to the very summit of the peak cave — the apex of the Desolate City's hierarchy, its undisputed ruler: the Giant Lizard Pseudo-Dragon.

Feed the four students to the Giant Lizard Pseudo-Dragon?

That was monstrous.

And besides — if he flew over there, the Giant Lizard Pseudo-Dragon might well devour him and his Celestial Eagle right along with them.

"Are you defying my orders?" Lu Nian's eyes blazed.

"No… I wouldn't dare." The officer snapped a salute and guided his Celestial Eagle toward the peak cave.

Inside the leather net, Bai Tingting's face had drained to the color of paper.

Zhao Manyan and Mu Nujiao might not have laid eyes on that creature before, but Bai Tingting had seen a Giant Lizard Pseudo-Dragon.

The Celestial Eagle was hauling them straight toward it. They were still a full city district away, yet cold sweat was already soaking through her clothes.

"What is that?!" Zhao Manyan gripped the netting, jaw dropping as he stared toward the summit of the peak cave.

"It's… it's the creature that swallowed the Dread Mimic whole," Bai Tingting managed, her voice barely holding.

Zhao Manyan and Mu Nujiao both went rigid.

*That thing?*

Swallowed the Dread Mimic whole...

The Dread Mimic had already been more than they could handle. Whatever had eaten it was death itself wearing a body.

They would rather fall from this height than end up as that creature's meal.

"Lu Nian, have you completely lost your mind?! You're just going to keep compounding mistake upon mistake?!" Zhankong roared.

"Zhankong, drop that righteous act — like the whole world was once in the palm of your hand." Lu Nian's laugh was wild and vicious. "Do you know there's still someone waiting for you beneath the crevice in Tianshan? You don't even have the courage to go collect her remains!"

Those words hit like a blade finding its mark. Zhankong's face plunged into shadow, as if something buried deep had been violently unearthed. His eyes held nothing but the intent to kill.

The devil of a Military Commander savored that expression and kept right on laughing:

"Little Bo City — a pack of dim-witted Demon Wolves — and you still couldn't hold it. Another glimpse of your uselessness. It's pathetic."

Zhankong's muscles were twitching. The scar beneath his collar pulled apart slightly with each spasm.

"And now you come to play the hero? The righteous judge? How laughable — how utterly laughable." Lu Nian's voice climbed to a shrill, grating pitch. "Look at those students — how innocent they are, how helpless. Young people who could've been pillars of the next generation. If you had any backbone at all, you'd walk over my corpse and save them — prove once and for all that you're not worthless. But the truth? You are worthless. Completely and thoroughly worthless!"

When fury reaches its peak, the face goes still.

Zhankong's expression was blank now. He raised a finger toward Lu Nian and spoke in a voice like striking iron: "I may have failed. But I have never once given up."

The one sealed in ice beneath the crevice in Tianshan — even if his hair went completely white before he broke through to the Transcendent Tier, he would set foot on Tianshan again. Whether she still lived or not — that was a vow he would carry for the rest of his life.

For the catastrophe of Bo City, the blame rested partly on him. He knew it. The Wing-Azure Wolves. The Black Church. He would not spare a single one. Their blood and their skulls would serve as offerings to the dead of Bo City.

And today he swore one more oath: he would kill Lu Nian, wash clean this stain on the military's honor — or die trying.

Wings of Wind beat against the air. The immediate priority was the four students being delivered to the Giant Lizard Pseudo-Dragon's maw. Zhankong drove himself at full speed, cutting across the sky — a streak of wind blazing in his wake, turbulent air spiraling in his wake.

"Stone Demon Eye!"

Lu Nian had no intention of letting him pass. Radiant Star Trails erupted all around him, layer upon layer, crisscrossing like brilliant threads of light woven across a night sky.

The Star Trails wove into patterns — dazzling, each one complementing the next — until a breathtaking Constellation had taken shape around Lu Nian, resplendent and magnificent in its complexity.

The brown Constellation was staggering in its intricacy, yet Lu Nian arranged, traced, and structured it with flawless mastery.

What this devil of a Military Commander was unleashing was high-tier Earth Element magic — and the radiant, awe-inspiring Constellation blazing around him was proof beyond all doubt.

"Petrify!"

He spat the word with cold precision. In an instant, the white-and-blue expanse of sky was swallowed by a shroud of ashen gray.

Petrification dust spread through the air. Within seconds, the white clouds had ceased to drift — instead they were crumbling, flaking apart, their soft shapes hardening and breaking away like shattered plaster.

Even the clouds were being petrified. What chance did living flesh stand?