Chapter 429: Enlightenment

The wand was yanked to the ground by Bai Lang, and thanks to the wand's flight, Bai Lang finally felt what "magical power" is. He hadn't sensed what magical power actually was before, and now his perception was just a breath—one breath of his will that pried the suddenly appearing thing between heaven and earth into various strange effects. "So those so‑called gestures and spells are just different ways of 'hypnotizing' oneself?"

The instant Bai Lang hit the ground, those thoughts flashed through his mind like lightning. Changing and interfering with the surrounding reality by sheer will—that's how sorcerers do it, and the martial‑arts masters who visualize the Way are much the same. As an Innate Grand Expert about to reach the level of inner scene outer projection, Bai Lang is of course well aware of this. In this world his martial skill is limited, but his cultivation level remains, so he is naturally considered to possess magical power, and once the insight opens, he inevitably learns what it truly is.

Once he knows, it's easy to handle; Bai Lang feels he can definitely become a great wizard, at least at Merlin's level. But the future Merlin now has to solve the problem of how to fly… He kept trying, confirming that he simply cannot make a broom lift, but he can make his wand fly—riding a wand is odd, yet his wand isn't any more ridiculous than a broom—just a broom without bristles.

Riding the wand he realized there's no chafing at all—there's an invisible cushion under his seat like a motorcycle pad. But for flying it's terribly unsuitable; Bai Lang can't make it move the way he wants, so he simply jumps off. Meanwhile Neville Longbottom goes berserk—his broom's magical control completely fails, the broom rockets him skyward, then dives, and when it stalls at twenty feet it tilts—so the kid slides down and crashes.

Huo Ji furen's face turned pale as she looked at Neville Longbottom, "Wrist broken. All right, child—don't worry, get up." She turned to the other classmates, "I'm taking this child to the infirmary; none of you may move! Put the flying broom back where it belongs, or before you can even say 'Quidditch' you'll be expelled through the Hogwarts gates. Let's go, dear." Neville Longbottom's face was streaked with tears; he clutched his wrist, limped, and left with Huo Qi furen, who wrapped an arm around him.

Draco Malfoy burst out laughing, and then Bai Lang saw the classic Malfoy‑Harry clash: Harry Potter displayed an extraordinary flying talent, completely leaving Bai Lang a hundred‑and‑eighty streets behind. Harry snatched Neville Longbottom's memory orb in a flash, and when Malfoy saw Bai Lang's grin on the ground his face turned deathly pale—he probably imagined what would happen if this little wizard called Bai Lang caught him. Malfoy's side is Slytherin, but Bai Lang is not just Gryffindor—he's more like a mad hooligan.

Such a lunatic resembles a senior Slytherin, or a "werewolf" Malfoy has never seen. So Malfoy backed off, ceasing his provocation—his goal already achieved, because Mai Ge jiaoshou stormed forward, "Mr. Potter! Come with me!" and whisked Harry Potter away—Bai Lang knows this kid is destined to become a Quidditch player, but the others don't.

Later, during dinner, Bai Lang saw Harry and Ron celebrating, and the Weasley brothers came over to say a few words. Of course, Malfoy showed up last, "Having your last supper, Potter? When are you taking the train back to the Muggle world?" In a few words the two decided to duel that night. Malfoy glanced at Bai Lang; he probably wouldn't dare utter the same words to him.

Bai Lang ate and drank heartily, his wand still set aside—strangely, the Pipi Ghost was unusually obedient today, especially when it saw Bai Lang, it always bowed to his wand.

That night, while Neville Longbottom still hadn't returned, Bai Lang had already slipped away—he left earlier than Harry and Ron, and before nine o'clock he silently reached the Forbidden Forest. "That ferocious beast is gone?" Bai Lang found it odd, but he discovered another creature—a centaur running through the woods as freely as on a prairie.

"I thought centaurs were taller," Bai Lang said, crouching on a branch, as the centaur almost nocked an arrow. "A magically‑enchanted bow and arrow? Otherwise it's useless." Bai Lang wasn't nervous at all; he looked at the brown‑red‑haired centaur and said, "This isn't a place for you, little foal!" The centaur's tone was harsh, very stiff. Bai Lang figured that if there weren't some pact, the centaur would already have fired an arrow—

"This area should belong to Hogwarts, right? Since we've met, why don't we each pretend we didn't see the other? I'm not interested in tiny centaurs like you." Bai Lang's words could probably kill the centaur's temper. Yet he moved on; accustomed to moving through the jungle, Bai Lang's speed was no slower than the centaur's and even more uncanny. He can leverage his surroundings everywhere, and his robust body grants multidirectional mobility.

In the blink of an eye he was beside the centaur; with a simple wand release he disarmed the bow and arrow from its hands. Then Bai Lang laughed, thrusting off the ground with a somersault, snatching the centaur's weapon and using a branch to spring away. The centaur made no further attack; in fact it seemed a bit stunned, having its weapon removed so effortlessly by a little wizard—had it truly fought, it might have died.

That's also the element of surprise; centaurs have their own magic, and when they fully engage, Bai Lang isn't fast enough to kill a centaur, nor is he likely to slay one in a protracted battle. After all, he's no longer at the combat level of an Innate Expert; until he can truly turn this world's magical power into a source of his martial strength, he's merely a relatively strong fellow.

"I recall centaurs stand at least three meters tall, certainly not smaller than an Asian elephant, and they wear heavy armor… huh? Where did that impression come from?" Bai Lang shook his head, brushed the thought away, and kept wandering the Forbidden Forest. He hadn't gone deep yet and decided to return soon.

Back at Hogwarts, Bai Lang found the corridors bustling; Fei Erqi ran everywhere catching little wizards—what he muttered seemed to be about Potter's group. Bai Lang leapt a few steps, grabbed a stone overhead and hung himself there, remaining unseen, while the Pipi Ghost swooped in from the side, also oblivious. Only when the noisy ghost looked up did it spot Bai Lang; Bai Lang gave it a quiet gesture, but the "evil" in the ghost's eyes grew ever brighter…