“Quit messing around, kid. Off you go.” Youdie grabbed my collar and hauled me behind her like a cat lifting a kitten.

“Don’t yank it, it’ll tear like thin paper… Hold up, I’m not a kid!”

“Hey, don’t ignore me, you jerk! Don’t think being a teacher means I—” My voice popped like a firecracker.

“So you do remember I’m a teacher, Tangxue.” Youdie shot me a sidelong look, sharp as a knife. “Teacher Xuewei asked me to watch you. If you won’t behave…”

Her eerie tone made me flinch first; then my neck tucked in like a startled tortoise.

Xuewei… you’re setting me up again, like pushing me into a pit.

“I don’t care. I’m going with Qianya—Your Excellency—this time!” I stuck like a shadow to a lantern.

“Stop it. If anything happens to you, Xuewei won’t…” Her words trailed like mist.

“Let Tangxue go.” Qianya spoke, voice calm as still water. “This kid isn’t as useless as you think.”

“See? Told you… Pride puffed like steam.”

“Your Excellency Qianya, what are you planning?” Youdie stepped in front of me like a windbreak.

Outside the dean and Xuewei, Youdie’s name carried the most weight at Heavenly Melody Academy. As a teacher, she wouldn’t watch a student march to death, like a lamb into storm.

The Queen of the Blood’s intent… Youdie had probably guessed it, like a blade under silk.

“I said from the start what I intend.” Qianya met the gaze of the teacher who once praised her diligence, eyes level as a horizon. “As you are, you can’t stall Edgar Warren for even half a minute. We’re partners now, so I’ll lend a hand.”

Qianya raised her left hand. A warm breeze brushed everyone’s cheeks, like spring over willow buds.

“This is my purest mana origin. You know what mana origin is. This amount can boost you for a short time. No aftereffects afterward, but you must be able to bear it.”

“My mana isn’t something just anyone can take, like molten metal.”

At that, everyone drew quick breaths, like bellows. Mana origin is pure mana nurtured by the core, like lifeblood. Her origin could let them touch a realm they’d never reach in a lifetime, a peak above clouds. They might seize a path forward from this chance, with no side effects.

As for Qianya’s warning, they chose to ignore it, like snow on hot stone.

Truth be told, Qianya loathed those greedy stares. Under their gazes, she frowned and let weight settle in her tone like thunderheads.

“Most of you probably can’t withstand my mana, can you?” Her words fell like ice pellets.

Silence. Her chill tone made everyone suck in a breath, like a bucket of cold water on boiling blood.

“How would we know without trying, Your Majesty?” A handsome young adventurer stepped forward with a confident smile, like a polished blade. “I’m Foresd, a Ninth Rank adventurer certified by the Association. I once slew an adult dragon alone. I think I’m qualified.”

Qianya said nothing. She kept the cold queen’s poise and sent a pale red, translucent stream of mana into Foresd, like a ribbon of dawn.

Foresd’s face lit with manic joy. He sat cross-legged to draw in the mana, like a thirsty traveler at a spring.

Soon, his joy stiffened; then twisted into pain, like frost crawling over glass.

In moments, Foresd spat a mouthful of bright blood, like a poppy on snow.

“He’s not viable. His aptitude can’t support my mana origin, like a cracked cup.”

Recoiling from backlash, Foresd looked stifled. At first he basked in surging power and missed it. Then his mana jammed at a bottleneck; it wouldn’t climb, like a bird into glass. He pushed too hard and hurt himself.

“One more time. How much my origin raises you depends on aptitude. If you doubt you can reach a higher tier, don’t come suffer for nothing, like courting a winter fever.”

“So the Queen of the Blood values Qingsheng Tangxue because of this…” Youdie lowered her head and muttered, voice like rain under an eave.

“Some folks, weak talent yet always hogging the stage. Heh…” A man in white at the corner let out a cold laugh, like a rusted hinge.

“You!” The word snapped like a spark.

“Move. My turn.” The man in white ignored seated Foresd and strode to Qianya, like a blade drawn. “Your Majesty, I believe I can take this power.”

Qianya looked at him coldly and said nothing. A red, translucent stream of mana flowed into him like a thin river.

He mirrored Foresd: joy to defiance to a bloody collapse, like a firework to ash.

“Hahaha! Big talk, and you’re trash after all.” Foresd mocked the man sprawled on the floor, words like gravel.

“Say that again!” His voice cracked like thunder.

“Enough! Do you think I don’t exist?!” Qianya swept them with an irritated glare, like a whip crack. “One more time. If you lack aptitude, don’t line up one by one.”

Angry, Qianya let her formless pressure roll out without hesitation. It hit like a giant hammer on their backs. When she withdrew it, the timid didn’t dare meet that flawless face, like carved jade.

After that, no one dared act up. Only the confident stepped forward to test, like stones skipping a river.

I had to admit, Qianya handled this like an old hand. Age brings history, and history brings bite, like rings in a tree.

In the end, quite a few proved fit to bear Qianya’s mana origin. Most were students of Heavenly Melody Academy, some teachers. They sat cross-legged, feeling that fearsome flow, like a river in flood.

Many rejected felt bitter, like rain trapped in a gourd. Yet none dared vent at the Academy’s students. Each one had a background like hidden thorns.

But I didn’t take Qianya’s mana origin. My choice shut like a door.

She pulled me aside and claimed I’d already taken it, a cover like a silk veil. It also explained why I knew her identity yet stayed calm.

After that, Qianya spoke with me in secret about my strength more than once. Did I need her origin’s help? I felt firm, then shook my head, resolve like rock.

I know this thing well. It drains too much, like a furnace left open. Qianya is the Queen of the Blood, strong as storm, but even she can’t afford that burn.

Besides, boosting me might wring Qianya dry, like squeezing a grape to husk.

That’d backfire, an arrow turned on the archer.

Qianya is the key piece in this mission. She can’t break, like the keystone in an arch.

Time doesn’t wait. The Vampire outside hasn’t stopped the bombardment for a heartbeat, drumbeat like winter hail. While they adjusted, Qianya laid out the plan. Those strengthened will stall the Vampire King Edgar Warren and launch a mass assault to stir chaos. It’ll give her a chance to pierce the barrier’s weak point and send a message, like an arrow through silk.

Still… the final team with Qianya turned out odd, beads on a mismatched string.

Me, Qianya, Her Highness the Holy Maiden Ye Muhan, and the eager youth Yanfengle.

Yanfengle joining was a shock, like a fish leaping from grass.

Her Highness joined because she asked. Ye Muhan said her holy light has a kind of absoluteness; it hurts even Vampires. Qianya pulled her in without a blink, decision like a falling blade.

As for Yanfengle, slipping into the team took real skill, like a fox into a henhouse.