Chapter Fifty: Geomancy

“Teacher, let me go take a look first. Maybe I can lure it out,” said Heiyu.

“Wait.” He had just taken a couple of steps when Mr. Shi called him back. “If you go alone, you’ll end up in danger again. Tell me where the basement is.”

Mr. Shi walked behind them with an air of nonchalance and composure, the very image of a true Magister, unfazed by any situation.

Heiyu pointed to the rear wall of the research institute, where a gaping hole had caved in. “It’s right over there…”

“Stand back, all of you.”

Mr. Shi paused by the wall, surveying the terrain. The rest of the group retreated, fanning out behind him.

They watched as Mr. Shi loosened up his limbs, the powerful muscles on his arms swelling impressively. He struck his right fist into his left palm, his fingers cracking menacingly, preparing to unleash his strength.

Waves of magical energy pulsed from his body, swirling into a vortex that whipped the students’ faces with raw force. Suddenly, with a low growl, Mr. Shi spread his arms wide, leaned forward, and drove both arms into the earth like pillars of stone.

“Geomancy—Surging Earth!”

A thunderous rumbling erupted from beneath the ground; the earth in front of him trembled violently, rocks and debris rolling as a whirlpool formed, widening rapidly. From deep underground, a mighty force surged upward.

Heiyu and the others staggered, each finding solid ground to steady themselves. A deafening crash split the air as, within the vortex, the basement’s walls, stairs, and iron bars were all wrenched upward in a chaotic upheaval, flipping the very foundation of the research institute upside down.

“He’s really turning the place inside out…” Heiyu wiped sweat from his brow, thinking that whatever monster lurked below surely wouldn’t fare well after this.

Rubble and sand still flew skyward in a relentless storm. Amidst it all, a shadowy figure darted out.

“That’s it!” Heiyu’s eyes locked on the creature, and the others immediately shifted into battle readiness. Ling Xiao-lei unfurled her perception net, prepared at any moment to capture it with her binding chains.

No sooner had the shadow leapt free than Mr. Shi raised the surrounding rubble into stone walls, closing them above into a sealed chamber—a testament to his seasoned combat experience.

“Stone Bastion!”

“We’ve got it!” Ling Xiao-lei called out.

The monster, suspended in midair, screeched sharply. Seeing the stone walls rising to seal off the sky, it immediately concentrated the spines on its back at a single point and pierced through one side of the wall, slipping out with cunning agility.

“Hurry, it’s heading that way!” Heiyu shouted, chasing after the creature as it sped along the corner of the institute’s wall.

“What in the world is that thing? It’s so fast!” Mr. Shi exclaimed.

“My perception net and the tracking of my binding chains can’t keep up with its speed either,” Ling Xiao-lei said breathlessly, struggling to control the chains as she ran.

“Blazing Fire—Scorched Earth!”

Yi Xin leapt ahead of the group, swinging her staff down from midair. Blazing flames erupted, forming a wall of fire that chased after the monster’s path, burning ferociously. Where the fire passed, the ground was charred black, flickering with embers—the lingering effect of the spell, inflicting magical harm on anything passing through for a time.

A sea of fire stretched out, encircling the creature from the flank. Just as it seemed certain to be trapped, the monster darted with uncanny agility, twisting its path time and again. Suddenly, it burst from the flames, spun around, and leapt back into the ruins of the institute.

“It seems oddly attached to this place,” Heiyu observed.

Yi Xin landed and quickly pursued the creature toward the institute’s main entrance, the others following close behind.

Mr. Shi strode along at an unhurried pace in the rear. “Children, remember to coordinate! I’ll protect you from behind!”

“It’s too fast for our attacks to land. We need to rely on Ling Xiao-lei’s binding spells to create an opening,” Heiyu said.

“Agreed! Let’s do it!” Yi Xin replied.

“It’s in the first-floor hall!” Ling Xiao-lei announced, having sensed its position.

“Mr. Shi, seal off the first-floor hall!” Heiyu called.

“On it!” Mr. Shi, now outside the institute, plunged both arms into the earth once more, raising three stone walls that quickly soared above the building’s remaining walls, climbing higher and higher until they broke through the institute’s roof, reaching toward the sky like a pale moon.

It seemed as if, so long as Mr. Shi’s hands touched the earth, he could draw forth endless, inexhaustible power.

“Stone Bastion!”

The monster was trapped within, with no escape to the rear or sides. It grew visibly frantic.

“So this is the power of a Magister… truly formidable!” Heiyu marveled inwardly. “Clearly, I have much training ahead of me.”

Yi Xin and Heiyu charged in through the sole opening in the stone barricade, staves raised high. The monster bristled, raising the spines along its back in a show of menace.

“Ling Xiao-lei, support Yi Xin’s attack. I can’t use dark magic here,” Heiyu whispered to Ling Xiao-lei.

“I have control spells too—let me try!” Ling Meng stepped forward.

The tip of her staff shimmered with a gentle green light, the gemstone carved into the shape of a blossom—a West Sea Divine Realm spirit stone, both lightweight and immensely amplifying in magical power and casting speed.

“Binding Sigil!”

She swept her staff, sending forth streams of radiant, multicolored light. At their head, a golden hexagram sparkled, trailing long comet-like tails.

Despite her efforts, each sigil was deftly evaded by the monster, and Ling Meng grew anxious.

Ling Xiao-lei watched for a moment, thinking, “Ling Meng’s cultivation is already at the mid-tier. With her weapon’s boost, her casting speed is nearly twice mine. And still, she can’t land a hit?”

Resolute, she expertly produced her spellbook, flipping to the desired page. The book hovered above her left shoulder, glowing faintly.

“It seems I need to cast even faster, while also slowing the monster’s evasions.”

As she murmured the incantation, runic trajectories in the pages shimmered to life, flying out in rows to circle her, bolstering her spells.

“Slow… slower, slower…”

She chanted, waving her staff as hazy purple beams enveloped the monster’s head. Its movements faltered, its body stiffening as if frozen.

At that instant, Ling Meng and Ling Xiao-lei cast their spells in near unison—one released the “Binding Sigil,” the other, the “Chain of Binding.”

“Chain of Binding—Gravity Crush!”

Yet Ling Xiao-lei’s spell reached the monster’s feet a heartbeat before Ling Meng’s.

The creature, about to escape, was suddenly ensnared by the heavy chains, dragged firmly back to the earth.