Chapter 450: Ichythian King
Li Luo was, of course, itching with curiosity. He really wanted to know how Mentor Chi Chan had gotten corrupted. He immediately gave her his full attention.
“You should know that there is a terrifying Other King in the depths of the Umbra Cave that the Astral Sage College guards. Princ.i.p.al Pang has not emerged for many years because of that thing.
“We named it Ichythian King.” A shadow fell over her face as she spoke the name.
“Ichythian King?”
An Other King… a King-level Other… If that thing popped out into their world, it could level the whole Xia Kingdom in a moment. Years of prosperity, thousands of lives, all wiped out in a moment.
“Back in the day, the Ichythian King plotted to break out of the Umbra Cave and roam the Xia Kingdom. Of course, the school would not allow that to happen. There was an epic battle.
“The battle went back and forth. Finally, to break the stalemate, the school organized a huge ambush.
“It was not just comprised of Violet Vibrance mentors, but also other Dukes from the Xia Kingdom. Among them were your father and mother,” she added.
Li Luo inhaled sharply at the mention of his parents. They were everywhere, had been everywhere.
“But that ambush ended in failure, and afterwards, the school decreed that no more external experts would be invited to the Umbra Cave unless there was no other choice,” she said slowly.
“Why is that?” Li Luo was puzzled. The Astral Sage College was rich enough. Many hands would make light work, right?
“Because when dealing with the Others, numbers are not always an advantage. It might even lead to disaster,” she explained patiently.
“Part of the Others’ deadliness is their ability to play on human emotions, especially Other Kings… their corruption is terrible to behold. And for experts, they have traveled further along the path to power, and experienced much darkness in their lives. These people are susceptible to the manipulations of Other Kings.
“That is why the school instead sends young students. Your purer hearts and minds are a precious a.s.set in this struggle.
“In that ambush, the corrupted experts ended up becoming our biggest issue.
“The Ichythian King almost broke out of the Umbra Cave back then, but it was eventually beaten back by Princ.i.p.al Pang. Of course, your parents were a huge help as well. They are indeed very strong—even Princ.i.p.al Pang himself acknowledges it.”
Li Luo’s heart skipped a beat. To think that the very ground he walked was steeped in such rich history, and that it would be unraveled to him at such an unexpected time. And now he knew why the school would risk student lives rather than hire experts.
It was a result of their past failures.
“As for the Ichthyic curse on my face, that was left by the Other King as well.”
She sighed deeply. “When the Ichythian King was cornered by Princ.i.p.al Pang and your parents, it split itself into nine aspects and fled. I was paired with Shen Jinxiao to chase one of the aspects. The two of us activated a seal resonance art to capture it.
“But perhaps because the other aspects had all been captured and eliminated, this aspect became the real thing.
“Of course, the Ichythian King was badly injured at that time. Even though the real one appeared before us, we were able to hold it for quite some time with the seal. We would have bought enough time for Princ.i.p.al Pang and the others to reach us.
“But Shen Jinxiao was afraid. He fled, leaving me to face the Ichythian King alone… Of course, I could not. If not for Princ.i.p.al Pang’s arrival in the nick of time, I would’ve died in the Umbra Cave.
“Even so, I was left scarred by the Ichthyic curse. This is its signature move, and it is capable of corrupting even Dukes. If not for Princ.i.p.al Pang helping me seal the curse, I would have succ.u.mbed.
“From then on, I wore a veil to keep others from seeing the Ichthyic curse.”
Her voice was calm and quiet, but Li Luo could imagine the storm of emotions that she had to be feeling. The fear. The anger and frustration after being corrupted. The despair.
“Shen Jinxiao is a cowardly, castrated dog!” he swore. So that was the cause of the enmity between Mentor Chi Chan and Shen Jinxiao. No wonder she hated him with a pa.s.sion. She had been left hanging by him all those years ago.
If not for the school rules, she would probably have challenged him to a fight to the death already.
“Afterwards, he defended himself by saying that he had sent a signal to retreat, but I was the one who insisted on staying. That was why we had not been able to unite against the enemy.”
“Son of a b.i.t.c.h!” Li Luo was very worked up now. At first, he had been fully prepared to fake an appropriate level of sympathy, no matter her answer, but Shen Jinxiao was really dogs.h.i.t through and through. He had backstabbed Mentor Chi Chan, then gaslit her about it.
“The school should banish that failure of a human being,” he grumbled.
Chi Chan smiled thinly. “It’s a wasted cause. After all, only the two of us were there. Not even the school can do anything about a he-said-she-said. At the end of it, Shen Jinxiao was merely chastised.”
“That’s too d.a.m.n easy on him! Princ.i.p.al Pang must be blind!”
She shook her head. “The school has its own interests and priorities. But so do I. When the right moment comes, I will deal with him. I just hope the school does not intervene.”
Li Luo was silent for a moment. “Mentor, if the opportunity comes, call me along. After hearing your story, I hate Shen Jinxiao even more! I didn’t even think it was possible to detest him more than I already did!”
“What’s your story with him?” she asked, slightly interested.
Li Luo shook his head in a bothered manner. “The main problem,” he burst out, “is that now my mentor’s beautiful face has to be hidden behind a veil all day. Does he know how much eye candy he’s cost me?!”
“Li Luo, how are you bold enough to dare to tease your mentor?” she said in a dangerous tone.
Li Luo clutched his heart. “True words, spoken sincerely, Mentor. It’s such a shame for someone as beautiful as you.”
She could not help but laugh at his antics, knowing that he was trying to cheer her up.
“Alright, enough,” she said, tousling his hair fondly.
“If you really want to help me, bring back the strongest One Star Hall student t.i.tle at the Holy Grail Meet. Better results reflect well on me, and I’ll have more leverage over the school to use on Shen Jinxiao. Can you do that?”
She looked into Li Luo’s earnest eyes, and he nodded with a smile.
“Of course. But I hope you can promise me one thing as well.”
“Oh? What would that be?”
“Let me be the one to stick the last knife in him.”