Chapter 42: Human‑Faced Spider‑Body Statue

Seeing this scene, the crowd rose to their feet, startled as they looked at the blood‑red flame on Fulade's fingertip.

"It's magic."

Fulade, however, calmly extinguished the flame, then gave a light snap of his fingers at the sizzling roast wild boar above the campfire.

In an instant, a bluish, almost transparent gas sliced through the air, and as the oily, sizzling roast pork leg was cut, an invisible force materialized out of nowhere.

Under everyone's gaze, the fragrant roast pork leg slowly floated before Fulade; he took a small knife, dissected it piece by piece, and handed the portions to the crowd.

Seeing the roast meat fly into their bowls, the people finally came to their senses.

"Wind‑type magic, witchcraft: object control," Alide'anna muttered to herself, as if she had understood.

Fulade first glanced at the thoughtful Alide'anna and Mina, then slowly spoke to the crowd:

"Wizardry is not limited to women; the reason witches have always represented Wizards is simply that many witchcraft spells require a woman as a prerequisite."

"And some mysterious branches of witchcraft even demand that a witch remain a virgin forever to cast them, right!?"

Fulade, at this point, raised an eyebrow slightly and smiled at Alide'anna, replying with a question.

"Exactly," Alide'anna nodded in response.

"Then, aside from those witchcrafts that require women, why can't a Wizard be a man?" Fulade added.

Without waiting for anyone's reaction, Fulade gave the answer.

"It's because the value doesn't match."

"Spending the same massive resources, a male wizard cultivated with great effort ends up being merely a neutered version of a witch; under such unequal returns, only witch culture thrives."

"But for a nation or a Wizard Academy, excluding male wizards is tantamount to wiping out half of its potential—tsk tsk~ that's certainly not a good thing."

At that moment, the crowd finally realized that this was Fulade's true intention.

"Is this the mindset of those in power?"

Having never considered such remarks before, Alide'anna, when she looked at Fulade again, couldn't help but have a hint of reverence in her eyes.

She couldn't help but be impressed by Fulade's displayed wisdom.

And the others' gazes toward Fulade were also full of admiration.

Just a few short statements completely overturned the crowd's entrenched thinking and prejudice.

At this moment, Malisika and Mina's looks toward Fulade were filled with burning intensity.

Even Hansel and Ge Lei Te siblings were greatly affected; their gazes at Fulade bore a fervent admiration.

Undoubtedly, a pair of Fulade's fervent little fans were born right then.

"So that means I can become a Wizard too."

Realizing this, Hansel leapt up excitedly, his face alight with enthusiasm.

"Of course, I believe you'll become a great Wizard," Fulade encouraged Hansel.

After another round of conversation, the crowd now brimmed with anticipation for their future lives.

Watching everyone discuss the soon‑to‑be‑established Wizard Academy with eager expressions, Fulade's mouth twitched into a slight smile.

Only by stirring everyone's emotions can they be motivated for the future and work tirelessly for him.

Their passion and sense of belonging for their career, responsibility, and the nation will then be ignited.

Thus there is no worry that Alide'anna and the others will be indifferent to the upcoming construction of the Wizard Academy.

And the deeper their involvement, the greater their enthusiasm; naturally their loyalty will grow day by day, allowing them to continue influencing and radiating to more Wizards.

At this point, the now‑enthused crowd could not have imagined that a simple discussion about establishing a Wizard Academy already contained so many foreshadowings and schemes planted by Fulade.

That doesn't mean Fulade is overly cunning; it merely shows the crowd needs to be more naïve.

Night had fallen, and the crowd clearly seemed reluctant to leave.

Back in the carriage, Fulade did not rest; after midnight he summoned Malisika and headed toward Duanyashan.

He wanted to see whether the demon he had made a deal with had already left, or if it had left any valuable clues.

Tonight there was no wind, and the sky was very bright.

Below Duanyashan, in the primeval jungle, a strange howling rose, and two ghost‑like figures landed before a cave on Duanyashan.

"Master, why are we coming here?" Malisika asked curiously, looking at the cave ahead.

Fulade looked at the cave before him, did not answer Malisika's question, and walked straight inside.

Curious, Malisika followed closely; after a short walk, countless corpses appeared before her.

There were human ones and various animal ones.

Even on the ground, many corpses were already reduced to fragments, their presence here for countless years unknown.

Malisika stared in amazement at everything here, until Fulade finally said:

"This place was once the seal of a demon."

"Demon!"

Malisika looked at Fulade in shocked disbelief, her mouth agape.

Ignoring Malisika's shock, Fulade surveyed the surroundings and finally, deep inside the cave on a secluded stone wall, found something different.

"Master, who is carved on this wall? It's so strange," Malisika asked, walking up from behind and looking at the relief.

She didn't notice the flash of astonishment in Fulade's eyes.

After a moment, Malisika, finally noticing something odd, looked at Fulade.

"Hoo— let's go," Fulade said, and without lingering, turned and walked out.

However, from Fulade's departure, in the slightly hurried steps compared to before, Malisika could tell that Fulade's mind was not calm.

The puzzled Malisika looked again at the eerie relief.

It was a grotesque, oppressive, dark statue of a human‑faced spider body.

Dawn broke.

Ge Lei Te, who woke unusually early today, leapt down from the carriage with radiant spirit; one could see that the excitement about soon becoming an extraordinary Witch had not faded even after a night.

The prodigy was already awake at the faintest dawn.

Ge Lei Te, having leapt from the carriage, breathed the cool fresh morning air, and with a rather curious expression, surveyed the carriage parked on the other side in the distance.

"Eh~ Uncle Fulade and the others used to get up so early; why haven't they come out today?"

Ge Lei Te mumbled curiously, and without thinking further, headed toward Fulade's carriage.

When Ge Lei Te approached the carriage, she only then noticed a hint of something abnormal.

The carriage, which should have been still, was inexplicably trembling up and down, yet, oddly, not a single sound was produced.

Faced with such a strange sight, Ge Lei Te's intense curiosity made her unable to resist the desire to investigate.

Thus, instinctively she did not shout as usual, but slipped quietly through the carriage's gap to peek inside.

(End of chapter)