"Mu Gui Wuxin is accompanying Fabredis... Isabella descended from the sky, looking at her student with heartache. The last time she saw him leave, he was a vigorous young man. Seeing him again now... everything had changed! Isabella could feel a current of sorrow emanating from Gan Jing, and an unbidden layer of mature atmosphere clung to him. Growth, for people, usually follows setbacks. However, sometimes the setbacks endured are too much for anyone to bear. The relationship between Fabredis and Gan Jing was almost as close as that between a father and son, and since Gan Jing was Fabredis's son-in-law, a son-in-law was practically half a son.

Having lost some of the carefree abandon expected of youth, replaced by a heavy maturity, Isabella stepped forward toward Gan Jing, only to suddenly feel a hand placed upon her shoulder.

'Principal, some things he needs to face himself. What a man needs at a time like this isn't comfort...'

'Hong Zhelíng Guān...!' Isabella’s expression of surprise was swiftly replaced by anger, and she reached out to grip the slumbering Lion King’s wrist: 'Kid, Gan Jing was taking leave at most. You’re skipping class!...'

'I did ask for leave...' Hong Zhelíng Guān yawned.

'When, and from whom?' Isabella pressed tightly.

'This... let me think,' Hong Zhelíng Guān pondered with a serious expression: 'I remember now. I asked you for leave in a dream while I was sleeping. When I woke up, I just assumed I had been excused.' 'You...' Isabella looked at Hong Zhelíng Guān with a slight headache. This slumbering Lion King’s lethargy was notorious, and he always refused to reveal his true hand.

'What? Leaving?' Ba Huang Wusheng, hands clasped behind his back, watched Gan Jing enter the Demon Clan territory. The slumbering Lion King had been glued to the bandit group ever since, constantly challenging him to spars.

'Just came over to check things out after hearing such a big commotion...' Hong Zhelíng Guān stretched languidly: 'Having you here sparring with me every day is much more interesting than the Academy. I plan to stay a while longer. I'll just head over when the Rookie King Tournament starts. Oh, Principal, remember to sign me up. I want to clash with the heirs of the Three Ultimate Bloodline Families too, just to see if they are truly as strong as the rumors suggest.'

Isabella’s almond eyes widened until they were round marbles. Where was this kid showing any sign of treating this as a mere absence?

Forget it! Isabella glanced at Ba Huang Wusheng and merely sighed. Hong Zhelíng Guān at the Academy did nothing but sleep; nothing else seemed to pique his interest. At least here, Ba Huang Wusheng could spark some reaction in him. Sparring frequently with such a powerhouse was a form of training in itself. After all, as Principal, Isabella couldn't act as Gan Jing’s sparring partner every day.

'Principal, I’m taking my leave this time...' Hong Zhelíng Guān stretched again and turned to walk out: 'Ah, people! If you just sit around being sad, you won't improve. Only trash only knows how to grieve and forgets what they should be doing...'

Gan Jing lifted his eyelids slightly, gazing at Hong Zhelíng Guān’s broad back, sending a silent word of thanks to the senior he rarely exchanged more than a few words with.

Isabella also watched Hong Zhelíng Guān's retreating figure and sighed: 'Tian Lian is far too inferior to Hong Zhe in this regard. He is studying Gan Zhan Xuan too closely. Perhaps Hong Zhe’s path isn’t such a bad direction for development...'

Tian Lian Líng Guān? Recalling his few interactions with the Thunder Lion King, Gan Jing nodded repeatedly. The Thunder Lion King at the masquerade ball, both in his methods and his manner of speech, truly resembled Gan Zhan Xuan’s domineering nature.

'Well, Gan Zhan Xuan is an object of worship for many Bloodline Warriors,' Pan Hongji chuckled: 'Many younger warriors in this generation emulate him.'

'I heard that Gan Wushuang’s idol is Lord Serpent Emperor, perhaps?' Isabella lightly covered her lips with her hand: 'That’s made Gan Zhan Xuan quite jealous, I hear.'

'Gan Wushuang? Worship me?' Pan Hongji lightly shook the hand that was no longer in pain: 'He worships no one. He only worships himself...'

'Tomorrow, I need to return to Eternal Flow...' Gan Jing spoke up suddenly.

Duan Feng Buer offered no reply. With Uncle Fabredis’s sudden death, a funeral must be held. Given Gan Jing's nature, how could he possibly miss it?

Gan Jing departed, and the atmosphere immediately grew subdued.

Pan Hongji let out another wry smile. In the past, in any setting, his presence guaranteed he would be the focal point. Today, in this place, the center of attention was not the Serpent Emperor Pan Hongji, but a young man who hadn't even attained the Saint realm yet.

Chek Fuleite, holding Yunnara, also quietly took his leave. Fen Tu Kuang Ge, equally silent, found a spot to digest the essence of the Lucifer Heart within his body.

Duan Feng Buer yawned, stretched, wrapped an arm around Boxley, and headed off in a chosen direction.

'Kid, slow down a bit...' Pan Hongji caught up to Duan Feng Buer, clapped him on the shoulder: 'Did you see my battle just now?'

'I did, it was spectacular...' Duan Feng Buer gave a thumbs-up: 'Those few Battle Skills are truly suited for Nine-Headed Serpent Bloodline Warriors. The destructive power is terrifying.'

A hint of pride surfaced on Pan Hongji’s face, his eyes holding a trace of temptation: 'Interested in learning them?'

'That sounds great!' Duan Feng Buer’s eyes immediately brightened: 'I was just worrying about having too few Battle Skills to utilize my Instantaneous Movement Soul Domain...'

Instantaneous Movement Soul Domain! Pan Hongji’s facial muscles twitched violently several times. Gan Jing had just displayed the rudimentary form of a Violent Soul Domain moments ago. Did this kid also possess the nascent form of a Soul Domain? Had he spent too much time near the freak and was becoming a freak himself?

'Oh, right! If the condition is joining the Nine-Headed Serpent Family...' Duan Feng Buer shrugged his shoulders: 'Then I’m not interested.'

Pan Hongji looked at Duan Feng Buer with a throbbing headache. This kid's temperament was truly harder than stone! All his usual methods of casually swaying people’s hearts had zero effect on him. Everyone had preferences, everyone had weaknesses! Duan Feng Buer's weakness was clearly centered on awakening and Battle Skills. For anyone else, the effect should have manifested already, yet...

'Oh! Right!' Duan Feng Buer suddenly stopped, released the hand around Boxley's waist, and returned before Pan Hongji. He scrutinized the Serpent Emperor for a long moment, repeatedly tapping his chin with his index finger, his expression intensely serious as he examined Pan Hongji.

'Is it true that every seven days, for about an hour, the bone in your right shoulder aches? And in recent years, even your spine hurts? Plus, a few minutes of headache?'

Pan Hongji’s serpentine eyes suddenly constricted inward. He stared blankly at Duan Feng Buer, fine beads of cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. This kid... how did this kid know? This was the ultimate secret held by the powerful members of the Nine-Headed Serpent Bloodline Family!

A look of sudden realization dawned on Duan Feng Buer’s face as he nodded repeatedly: 'It seems... that’s exactly how it is!'

Guesswork? Greater curiosity swelled in Pan Hongji’s heart. How could this kid have guessed with such accuracy! The headache! This symptom had only begun appearing in the last three months. According to ancestral records, the duration of the headache would increase later, even becoming more unbearable than the pain in other areas.

'Come with me!'

Pan Hongji grabbed Duan Feng Buer’s shoulder, and in a blur of wind, they vanished from sight.

'How did you know?'

Pan Hongji found a quiet spot and set down Duan Feng Buer, who was rubbing his shoulder.

'Gan Jing told me...' Duan Feng Buer plopped onto the ground, looking up at Pan Hongji: 'He said there was an issue with the inscription on the Second Altar. If it isn't corrected, anyone who enters the altar will eventually suffer the condition you are experiencing. And the more often they enter, the worse it gets.'

Pan Hongji felt his brain struggling to keep up. Gan Jing had only visited the Pan family's Second Altar once, staying for only a very short period. Yet, from such brief observation, he could deduce the aftereffects on the users! This matter had always been the highest secret of the Nine-Headed Serpent Bloodline Family! Although the onset of symptoms varied among the warriors, it was true that the stronger the Nine-Headed Serpent Bloodline Warrior, the more severe this underlying flaw became.

The flawed design of the Second Altar acted like a slow-acting poison. The warriors knew about this strange defect on the altar, yet they couldn't resist the unique advantages it offered. The boon granted by a good ability in combat could sometimes mean the difference between life and death. Pan Hongji’s multiple entries into the altar had channeled his abilities along the intended design path, naturally amplifying the hidden dangers far more than for others.

'Can he fix it?' Pan Hongji stared at Duan Feng Buer with fervent hope. He dared not hope for a cure for his own condition, but at least he hoped that his descendants, when using the Second Altar in the future, wouldn't have to endure what he was suffering.

'Yes...'

Pan Hongji drew a sharp breath. He knew Gan Jing possessed excellent inscription skills, but hearing that he could modify the incredibly complex and vast Second Altar made it impossible to suppress his shock. Pan family Inscription Masters had considered improving the Second Altar's problem before, but the altar was far too intricate. It was a question whether any Inscription Master could study it their entire life and even begin to understand how the altar worked.

Modify it? Pan Hongji had long given up hope on the Inscription Masters within his own clan. Even if he invited the Guild Master of the True Decree Imperial Dynasty's Chief Inscriptionist, the Serpent Emperor doubted there was much chance. The design of the Second Altar was monumentally vast. Every time Pan Hongji looked at it, he felt boundless admiration for his ancestors' wisdom, coupled with self-mockery for his own inadequacy.

'I think Gan Jing mentioned that with just a minor adjustment, Uncle could also repair all those past issues after just one more entry,' Duan Feng Buer walked toward the door again: 'That's what he seemed to say.'