Child Of Light Volume 4

Volume 04

Chapter 1 – Returning Home

After we bid farewell to the friendly Nature Elves, we started to head home. We had finally reached the Xiuda border. Apart from me, everyone had feelings of intimacy as they returned to their homeland.

After three days, at a forked road, we stopped as one of the roads led to Xiuda and the other led to the Aixia kingdom. It was finally time to split.

Big Brother Zhan Hu said, “Zhang Gong, you have to take care of yourself, I will go with the rest to Xiuda to visit my father and family and then head back to my bandit’s nest to practice.”

I replied, “Big Brother, you also have to take care of yourself. Once I return to Aixia, I will also practice hard. In about three years, when I feel that I can seek the Holy God’s inheritance, I will come and find you.”

Xiu Si said, “Everyone must be diligent. Zhang Gong, after three years, we will meet up at Xiuda.”

I nodded my head. The rims of my eyes started to get moist. “Yes! When you head back, please give my regards to Teacher Wen. Dong Ri, you should stop feeling inferior. Except for us, how many people in the world had obtained the God’s inheritance? We are all great, and Hong Xue is a good girl. You have to cherish her.”

Dong Ri embraced my wide shoulders and cried, saying, “Zhang Gong, thank you. I will miss you. Please take care of yourself on your way home.”

We had a group hug. I deeply breathed in a mouthful of fresh air and wiped my tears off my face, saying, “Everyone take care, our Radiant Battle Squad is the best. I shall head off.”

After I said that, I spun around and stepped onto the road home. The tears I had suppressed flowed once more.

There were three months left till the end of the two-year appointment I made with Teacher Di. The first thing on my mind was to head home to see my parents. It had been more a year since I last saw them. I missed them greatly.

Since I was alone, I moved as quickly as possible to an isolated place to use teleportation. I would just need about ten days to reach the city of Sen Ke. I can see them soon. First, I decided to buy them presents. When I reached Sen Ke, I bought mother’s favorite cake and father’s favorite fruits. I started to carry all of them home.

My familiar village, I have returned. Many of the village children looked at me curiously. It was obvious that I had become an outsider.

Who is that in front of me? A familiar figure appeared in the area about fifty metres in front of me. He had a tall, strong and sturdy body. There was a girl beside him who was dainty and petite. The two appeared white intimate.

I hurriedly walked forward and patted the sturdy guy’s shoulder. He turned around. Pleasantly surprised, I said, “Ao De! It really is you.”

He looked at me suspiciously, but his expression turned from a bewildered look to a surprised one. “Zhang Gong, is it you? It really is you.” We excitedly hugged each other.

Ao De said, “You have finally returned. Your mother missed you deeply. You are taller and more robust than before. I am so envious that you can go to the city to learn magic.”

The girl beside Ao De pulled him to her and asked, “Ao De, who is he?” At that moment, I started to size her up. She was a pretty girl. She had a pair of large eyes that showed wittiness. A water green colored skirt showed her dainty and delicate body. She also had thick and long braided hair.

Ao De awkwardly smiled at me and said, “Come, let me introduce you. This is my girlfriend, Luo Yu Hong, and this is Zhang Gong Wei. He is my childhood best friend. He is also an extremely powerful magician.”

I smiled at Ao De and extended my hand. “Hi, you can call me Zhang Gong. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

Lou Yu naturally gripped my hand and said, “Hi! I am glad to

meet you too.”

I softly punched at Ao De and said, “You rascal, you are capable of finding such a pretty girlfriend. I am so jealous!”

He laughed and said, “That’s correct, Luo Yu is our school’s flower. Only after I persistently wooed her did I finally get her. Your conditions are better than mine. There will definitely be lots of girls that will love you.” After hearing what Ao De had said, Luo Yu, who was beside him, started to pinch him till he screamed out in pain.

I scratched my head and said, “I have never thought about that problem before. Next time, after I get into the advanced magic academy, I shall find one. Ha ha.”

Ao De said, “I heard from your mother that your teacher had sent you out to gain experience. How was it? This experience will not delay your studies, will it?”

“That does not matter, going out was very beneficial to my training. Alright, I see that you are busy and I’m also in a rush to head home. Come over for dinner tonight.”

“Alright, I’ll go and find you tonight. We brothers should go and have a good drink tonight.”

Luo Yu, who was beside Ao De, pulled his ears and unhappily said, “You are not allowed to drink! You are quickly becoming a drunkard!” At that sight, I started to laugh. “Have fun arguing! I shall head off first.” After saying that, I ran off.

At the entrance of the house, I shouted, “Mother, Father, I’m back, I’m back!”

The door creaked open, then mother came walking out from inside. It had been nearly two years since the two had met. She looked like she had aged a little. “Zhang Gong, my child, you have finally returned home. I missed you to death.” Mother opened the door fully and started to hug me. I hugged her back. “Mother, I also missed you so much.” Tears uncontrollably started to flow.

At the same time, father walked out from the house and smiled, saying, “Zhang Gong, you are finally back. Ever since you left, I did not know how many times your mother had cried. She thought about you every day.”

“Father!” After I let Mother go, I moved to father and gave him a passionate hug. Father said, “Ok, it’s good that you are home. Come, let’s go inside! By coincidence, we were resting today. Otherwise, you would not have been able to find us. Today, let’s allow your mother to cook a few dishes. We, father and son, should really have a good drink.”

“Great! I love to eat mother’s cooking. Eating outside is never comparable to eating at home!” The feeling of being home is great!

After entering the house, father asked me, “How was trip?

What did you experience?”

I answered, “It was alright. I did not encounter any major setbacks. It can be considered a success.” Continuing, I told them that years’ experience. Of course, I did not mention any dangerous moments as I didn’t want them to worry.

After listening to me, mother said, “It is enough to just return safely!”

I said, “Father, mother, why don’t you come with me? Currently, I am sure that I will be capable of taking care of you.”

Father looked at mother once, before saying, “No! You just need to train properly. Your mother and I got used to the life here many years ago. Here, the people are simple and honest. The environment is also good and suitable for our retirement.”

I tried to convince them to come with me again, but mother said, “You just need to visit us frequently, but we won’t be able to join you either.”

“Alright, I will prepare to head there when the time comes. After training at the advanced magic academy for two to three years, I will have to head out again to gain more experience.”

Chapter 2 – The Warmth Of Home

After mother heard that I still had to gain experience, she got anxious. “You still need to gain more experience? I nearly died from worrying all this time, I was so scared that you would run into danger. Do you have to go again?”

I embraced her and said, “Mom, even if I have to go, it’s still a matter for two or three years into the future. We  still  don’t know what will happen, and we can’t plan for  what  will change.” Mother started to calm down. “Alright, you father and son continue to chat. I’ll go and make some delicious food.”

“Mom, please make more. I invited Ao De to come to our house for dinner.”

“Ok, I know.”

After mother went into the kitchen, I said to my father, “Father, once I enter and train at the Advanced Magic Academy, I’m afraid that I will have to head out again to gain more experience for a long period of time.” I started to tell him about the task that the God King had given us that I had left out earlier.

Father sighed a lot, before saying, “Child, for the peace and harmony of the world, go. You don’t need to worry about me or your mother. If you can get the God’s inheritance, I will  be proud of you.”

I started to choke with sobs. “Fa-Father. Thank you.”

I took a sack out of my pouch and gave it to Father. “This is what Teacher Di gave me for my expenditures during training. I have not used much of it so I could leave some for you.”

Father smiled and took it. “That’s wonderful, my son is being so filial to us. Ha ha.” When he opened the sack, he was shocked by the shine of the treasures inside. The sack was filled with sparkling diamond coins.

“Wow! So much! You should just keep it for yourself.”

“I still have five hundred diamond coins so Mom and you don’t need to be too thrifty.”

At this moment, Ao De’s voice came from outside the door. “Zhang Gong, I am here! Hurry and open the door!”

“Coming!” I hurriedly ran out to invite Ao De and Luo Yu in.

Ao De said, “Hello, uncle.”

“Good! Quickly take a seat! This should be Luo Yu, right?” Father asked, smiling.

Luo Yu’s face reddened as she said, “Hello, uncle.”

Father laughed and said, “Hello, little Luo Yu is becoming more and more pretty.”

I asked curiously, “Father, you’ve met Luo Yu before?”

Father said, “Of course I have! And I frequently see her. Every day she is always paired with Ao De. Almost everyone in the village has seen her. Ha ha.”

At this moment, Mother carried a dish in and said, “Yes! Look how skilled Ao De is, finding such a pretty girlfriend. When will you be bringing one home for Mom to see?”

“I also want to, but I have not found a match. I am not as capable as Ao De. Who would want to be with me anyway?”

Mother said, “I’m not asking for you to get an extremely beautiful girl. As long as she treats you well and is pretty, I will be satisfied.”

I smiled and said, “I do think the same way as you mom, but I also want to find an average girl. I find that beautiful girls are hard to deal with and have bad tempers.”

Ao De said, “Who says that! You just have to look at Luo Yu. She is extremely well tempered and is also very easy to deal with.” Luo Yu’s face reddened, but did not say anything.

I mock scolded, “Seeing how lucky you are, quickly go and bring the dishes out together with me!”

With everyone’s help, the table was soon filled  with sumptuous dishes. Everyone ate their meals joyously and harmoniously. I brought out a crystal bottle that contained the fragrant fruit wine, which everyone looked at with curiosity.

I mysteriously said, “This is the Nature Elves’ fragrant fruit wine. It is very rare. I helped them a lot so they gifted it to me. Everyone have a taste!” I poured a small cup of wine for everyone. The scent of the fragrant wine filled the whole house.

Everyone looked at their cups curiously. Father, who drank frequently, said, “This is a really good wine! It’s so fragrant!”

“It tastes even better! Everyone quickly have a try!” As expected, the fragrant wine subdued everyone. In only a short

moment, the bottle of wine was finished and they wanted more! Of course, I told them that I only had one bottle.

Mother brought up the previous topic and said, “Zhang Gong, this time when you return to the academy, you must bring a girlfriend back home no matter what. If not, I will not forgive you. You are already about twenty years old! Usually everyone starts to get married at eighteen or nineteen, but you still have not found one yet!”

With a look I appealed to my father for help, who in turn said, “In this case, I cannot help you this time as I also wish for you to get married soon. At that time, you can give me a grandchild. Ha ha.” After listening to what Father said, my entire face reddened.

I replied, “Ok! At that time, I will find an ugly daughter in law and come home!”

Mother smiled. “That does not matter, as long as she does not look worse than me!”

Father whispered, “Please don’t find someone like your mother. You have to find someone with less attitude. If not, you will suffer for your whole life.”

Mother’s hearing was still very good and she had heard everything he had said. Immediately, she angrily said, “My temper’s very bad? When have you suffered? After today,  I won’t cook you food or wash your clothes anymore. I serve you every day, yet you say I’m no good!”

Father immediately begged for mercy. “No! No! My wife is the best, prettiest, gentlest, wisest and kindest of them all! You are definitely a role model to any future mother that wants to be a good wife and a loving mother!” Father’s comical expression made all of us laugh.

Mother smiled and said, “You pathetic old man!”

Father asked me, “When are you returning to the academy?” Mother wordlessly looked at me.

I smiled and said, “This time I will be staying a few days to keep you company. In about a month’s time, I will start to head back. Does that sound fine? Mother, are you satisfied?”

Mother smiled and nodded, then said, “That is good enough! Out of the three hundred days in a year, you were never at home. Your father and I could only stare at each other every day. You don’t even know how lonely I was.”

This time, it was Father that shot back. “You were lonely when you were with me?”

Mother smiled. “Ha ha, who told you to say that I had a bad temper earlier?”

I hurriedly said, “That’s right! Father, Mom, do you want to learn some advanced magic? I can teach it to you! This is so that when I leave, you can practice the magic in your free time and will no longer feel lonely.”

Mother excitedly said, “That’s wonderful! It is a great idea, but the magic you learn is light magic. Your father and I are water and wind magicians. Can we still learn it?”

I said, “That does not matter as your bodies’ magic abilities are not very high, so even if you totally give up on learning, it will not be a big problem. You just need to relearn light magic. Light magic’s healing techniques are better than water magic’s anyway. Moreover, light magic’s offensive power are also very powerful!”

Father said, “That’s fine then! In any case, staying idle is still boring. Starting from tomorrow, your mother and I will learn light magic from you!”

Ao De said, “Add us in as well! We also want to learn!”

I said, “Alright! I’ll start teaching you all  tomorrow.  The lesson will begin in the morning!” I am a light magic Magister. In the entire world, aside from Teacher Di, I should be the best at understanding light magic. Even so, teaching them will still prove to be a very difficult task.

Chapter 3 – Return To The Academy

Early morning the next day, Ao De came running over. I smiled, saying, “You are quite impatient! Where is Luo Yu?”

Ao De panted and said, “I rushed here to tell you not to start the lesson yet. Luo Yu stays at Senke. I will meet up with her first and return afterwards. Can you start the training after we arrive?”

“Alright, hurry up! I’ll be waiting for you.”

As I saw the figure of Ao De’s back leaving, I could not help but shake my head. Having a girlfriend really looked tiring. I decided I shouldn’t find a pretty girl in the future, as they are

troublesome.

“Zhang Gong, breakfast! Who was that?” Mother called out to me.

“Coming! It was Ao De. He said that he will first meet up with Luo Yu, before coming here to learn magic.” While I said that, I hurriedly ran back into the house. Breakfast was sumptuous. It included milk, eggs deep fried steamed bun, and lots of other stuff.

“First come, first serve!” I grabbed a fried steam bun and stuffed it into my mouth. Wah! It was scalding hot!

“Eat slowly, nobody is going to steal from you.”

After we finished eating breakfast, they arrived. I said, “Have you eaten your breakfast? Do you want to eat something first?”

Luo Yu said, “We have already eaten. Ao De always said that you’re good at magic. Please quickly start the class to enlighten me.”

“You’re even more impatient than Ao De. Alright!”

Father, Mother, Ao De, Luo Yu and I went to the courtyard. I said, “Ok, we will now learn some light magic. Firstly, if we want to start using light magic, we must learn how to gather the light elements. The light elements are peace loving elements. They symbolize radiance and righteousness. When  gathering the light elements, you must not command their thoughts. The light elements are our friends…”

Just like that, I started their light magic cultivation. Actually, Ao De originally didn’t want to learn with me because the previous incident had left an extremely deep  impression  on him. However, due to Luo Yu’s insistence, he had no choice but to summon his courage to learn magic. After a few days of practice, since there were no incidence of the numbing sensations that he had felt previously, he started to calm down.

I used a month to successfully help them to gather light elements and taught them some basic light magic. I wrote down the incantations for intermediate light magic and left it  for them.

It was time to go again; I had to leave once more.

“Father, Mom, please take care of yourselves! During the holiday in half a year’s time, I will return. You will also need to train hard in light magic. I will check on your light magic when I return. Father, I’m giving you this bottle of fragrant wine. You will have to drink it slowly as once you finish drinking it, there will be none left.” Originally, they were very reluctant to let me leave, but once Father saw the fragrant wine, his eyes immediately brightened. Mother also asked, “Son, do you still have some more wine? Give your mother one bottle as well.” I brought back a total of five bottles. I drank one, and gave one bottle to Father, so I was left with three bottles remaining. I dealt with the pain and took another bottle out. “This is really the last bottle, you must drink it carefully.”

Mother took it in high spirits and gave a warning expression to Father. “We will drink separately. You are not allowed to steal from me!” Looks like Mother had also fallen in love with the taste of the fragrant wine. Maybe it had something to do with the cultivation effects that the wine gave.

I looked at them, unsure of whether if I wanted to cry or laugh. I shouted, “I really should start to head out!”

Father waved his hands. “Go!” I smiled  bitterly,  before turning around and walking on the road back to school.

As he watched my fading back, Father smiled. “Silly child.” Mother hooked an arm through Father’s arm. “Seeing him go like this is also not bad. If not, I will get upset again.” The thought of not seeing her son for half a year made her eyes start to go red again.

Father sneakily said, “How about this? You give the fragrant wine to me, and I will bring you to see your son. How about that?”

Mother hurriedly hid the fragrant wine in her bosom. “No! I don’t want to disturb my child. I want him to practice properly.”

Leaving home, I wandered within nature. It had been nearly

two years. I wondered how Teacher Di was. I walked into the forest and found an isolated area, before taking the magic array out of the book. I remembered that when I left Teacher Di initially, he told me that I just had to use this array to return to the school. I decided to try it out!

I carefully drew out the magic array. I drew every single line seriously. If I didn’t, one mistake could change my destination unimaginably.

After using two days to draw, I finally completed the magic array. I set a concealing pattern within the magic array so only I could use it. If I were to reverse the magic array, I would return here. I left the same magic array at the Nature Elves’ place. I even placed a mental connection on it. Using a special method, they could tell me their situation, if they needed to. The main purpose was so I could get there in time if they were ambushed by the dark elves.

After I checked every detail of the magic array again  and found that everything was in order, I stood in the center of the array and chanted, “Using my magic power as the medium, shift space and time!” Instantly, my body was sucked into the magic array. The magic array emitted a strong light and disappeared from the land.

I used my magic power to control the stability of the spell. With my current magic power, controlling the magic array was very easy.

A white light glowed, and I appeared in the backyard of the Royal Intermediate Magic Academy. Wasn’t this just outside Teacher Di’s sleeping area? So he had placed the other end of the magic array here. This was really convenient and helped to cut down a lot of trouble.

Just as I started to head towards Teacher Di’s bedroom, the door creaked open. Teacher Di’s familiar body figure appeared. I hurriedly stepped forward a few steps and kneeled in front of him. “Teacher, I have returned!”

Teacher Di pulled me up. “I predicted that you should be coming back already. Just now when the magic power fluctuated, I hurriedly come out to have a look. It really is you! Come, enter the house.”

I recounted all of the events of my trip in one go. It took a total of three hours. After Teacher Di heard the part where the God King explained that to become a true Grand Magister one must reach a state where there is no place in the whole body without Gold Dan, he shook in excitement.

“Looks like this experience had been very beneficial to you. Not only did you complete the task, but your magic power also reached the Magister level. It seems that I don’t have anything left to teach you. What are your future plans?”

I replied, “This is what I am planning. I plan to go to the the Advanced Magic Academy to train for a few years. Even though I won’t learn much from that place, I really want to train there. The ambiance at that place is better. This way, I can  also prepare myself to defeat the Monster King in the future!”

Teacher Di said, “Okay, then we’ll do that! I’ll make some arrangements for you. After you rest up for two days,  you should start to head over there.”

Chapter 4 – Reunion Of Brothers

The Kingdom of Aixia’s Royal Advanced Magic Academy Year 3 Class 3.

The homeroom teacher, Water Magister Si Lan Yu, stood on the lecturer’s platform. “Please quiet down! I have to introduce a new transfer student, Zhang Gong Wei.”

Following what Teacher Yu said, I entered the classroom. I stood in front of the platform and smiled faintly toward the class. “Hello everyone, I hope that you will take care of me. My magic Major is Light and Minor is Spatial.”

“Where did he come from?! How did he skip to our year 3

class? He should be starting from year 1, right?”

“Exactly! He looks quite handsome, but we still don’t know how powerful he is.” Two female students whispered to each other.

“You guys shouldn’t have known this; he is already very famous. He is a talented student who came from the Royal Intermediate Magic Academy. He has been one of the top students for five years consecutively. Powerful, right? I heard he even reached the Magister level!” A female student beside them exclaimed.

“Ah? Really!? So powerful? He and the teacher’s skills aren’t that different. It wouldn’t be too bad to be his girlfriend!”

“Stop dreaming! With your figure, you want to be his girlfriend? If he’s looking for one, then he will come for me!”

“You should also stop dreaming!”

….

Teacher Yu said, “Zhang Gong, take a seat in the back row.

There is a vacant seat there.”

I nodded and replied, “I will. Thank you, teacher!”

Afterwards, I walked to the back row and sat down.

Teacher Di had arranged everything really quickly; in only two days he had managed to get me admitted into the academy. I heard that Ma Ke was in another class and since I had yet to see him, I decided to go and find him during the break between classes.

“Ok! I shall begin teaching! Today, the class will be about how

to control Advanced Magic. Firstly, you will need to have very strong magic power to support the magic spell. You can only start to talk about control after you have excess strength for the spell. Otherwise, you won’t be able to hit your target accurately. The spell might backfire and harm your own team members.” Teacher Yu paused with a terrified expression after what  he said.

The students started to laugh. This teacher’s way of teaching was interesting. I leaned my head on my right hand  and watched the approximately forty years old teacher.

“Previously, I wanted everyone to focus on cultivation to improve their magic power. This is really important! Magic power is the source of all magic. Now! We shall return to the original topic. Once you have strong magic power to support you, you will have to rely on your spiritual power to control the spell. Ma Ke, a student from class 1, has very strong spiritual power. He can easily control the spells he casts to reach his intended outcome. For example, if you throw a simple fire ball

straight at an enemy, the enemy will dodge it. But if you control your spell to travel along an arc to hit your target, the chances of successfully hitting your target increase. If you can control it to chase after your target you will be close to mastering the technique.”

I thought in my heart, ‘Ma Ke is quite famous! He’s even close to a teacher that is not from his class. Looks like he didn’t remain idle for the last two years and has definitely improved greatly, but I don’t know if he’s reached the Magister level yet!’

In a short moment the class that Teacher Si Lan taught ended and I left to find Ma Ke. I had always carried around the dagger that he had previously given me and I would frequently take it out to have a look whenever I have a free moment. It was as though I was seeing him in person! After all, Ma Ke is one of my best brothers and I start to get excited in anticipation of meeting him soon.

I turned my head to ask the female student who was sitting beside me, “Excuse me, how do I get to Year 3’s Class 1? I’m trying to find someone.”

The female student beside me looks ordinary, but her body figure is amazing. She is around 1.7m. She seems to be a daydreamer, lacking in understanding of what is said to her. Her hands are also very beautiful and fair. A faint brilliance seems to circulate under her skin, so it seems that her skills aren’t bad.

When I look into her eyes, I am stunned. Her large eyes give off a very familiar feeling and are also very alluring. If there is a ranking for eyes, hers will definitely be one of the  most beautiful. I do not understand why I feel as if her eyes have a peculiar radiance emitting from them. I slowly become more

confused as she continues to stare blankly at me.

I returned to my senses first and waved my hands in front of her eyes. “Sorry to trouble you, can you please tell me how to get to Year 3 Class 1?”

“Ah!” She also came back to her senses and lowered her head. “It is the second room on the left after this classroom.”

“Thank you!” I did not think further. I had to make use of the break between classes to find Ma Ke. I followed her directions and found Year 3 Class 1’s classroom. The students were also taking a break. The class was in disarray, especially the corner that was full of female students. It seemed that they were chatting about something.

I shouted, “Excuse me! Is Ma Ke Sai here?” Due to my loud voice, the entire class looked in my direction.

Ma Ke’s slightly matured, but familiar voice rang out, “I’m here. Who are you?” His familiar face appeared from the corner full of female students.

I smiled at him. He was at a loss for a moment before realizing it was me standing at the entrance.

He pushed past the female student beside him and hurried

over. He opened his arms to give me a tight embrace. “Brother, is that really you? You are finally back!”

I hugged him back. “Of course it is me! Who else would it be? I have finally returned!” Our brotherly reunion made me so excited that tears started to flow.

I surveyed the class and noticed that almost all of  the students’ mouths were frozen in ‘O’ shapes. Could it be that they thought that we were in that kind of a relationship? I whispered to Ma Ke, “Let’s change the location to have a chat. I don’t want to stay in the limelight.”

Ma Ke also surveyed the classroom and understood the situation. “Come! Let’s go to the field!” He pulled me out of his

classroom.

Behind us, there were chattering voices. “Who was that who made Ma Ke so emotional?”

“Right? He looks quite handsome, but I have not seen him before! Is he from our academy?”

“Ma Ke couldn’t be homosexual, right?”

“You! You dare to badmouth Ma Ke! I will use my Fire Magic to burn you!”

“That’s right! We will never forgive anyone who dares badmouth him!” A group of girls exclaimed.

I nudged Ma Ke, “I didn’t know that you had changed so much after only two years in Advanced Magic Academy. You are no longer unwanted and have gotten popular enough to have so many female fans!”

Ma Ke hit me once, before jokingly scolding me, “Stop making fun of me! I am already extremely irritated by them. If you want them, you can have them!”

Chapter 5 – Situation In The Academy

“I didn’t expect for you to be this happy at this academy! Looking back to that year where you kept on chasing Hai Yue, you don’t have to worry anymore.” It was clear that Ma Ke’s mood dampened after I mentioned Hai Yue. “How is Hai Yue?”

Ma Ke just raised his head to look at the blue sky without answering and started to sigh.

“What is the matter? Hai Yue should still be studying in the academy.”

Ma Ke nodded. “She is currently still in the academy, She and Hai Shui are in the same year as us, in Class 2, and Hai Ri is in

year five Class 1. In my whole life, it seems like there’s never been hope for me to be with Hai Yue.”

I looked at Ma Ke seriously. “Now I know that you are truly serious when you say you have feelings for her. I had always thought that you were just playing around when we were in the Intermediate Magic Academy. I did not think that you were so smitten. Are you still chasing after her? Did Hai Ri forbid you from doing so? By now, you should have gotten together with her already.”

Ma Ke shook his head. “Hai Ri did not forbid me from doing so. He even allows it. The main problem is that Hai Yue has not developed any feelings for me. She just treats me as though I am an insect. I don’t stand a chance at getting her at all.”

I patted his shoulder. “I will not be able to help you in this case. I am in a worse case than where you are now. You at least know who you like, while I don’t have any targets yet. Ha ha, in my opinion, I think that you should be more proactive in trying to get her. With your conditions, how could she not fall for you? Just take it easy and relax!”

“There really is no hope already. She has a boyfriend, the eldest son of the Ri family. I heard that he is the successor of the family and is very powerful. He is called Feng Liang  Ri. Although we haven’t dueled, he should not be any better than me. He is the same age as Hai Yue. When our looks are compared, I also should not lose to him, but Hai Yue just continues to choose him over me.”

“It might be that she had a very deep, bad first impression of you. Do you need me to deal with the guy? Even if he is extremely powerful, I will still help you deal with him!”

Ma Ke hurriedly shook his head after hearing what I said. “No! You must not do that! Hai Yue will only hate me more in that case. I have not been interacting with her at all lately. I want to pass my feelings for her onto someone else to get over her, but my heart just can’t let her go! Boss! Let’s stop talking about this. From your tone earlier, you seem to have greatly improved your strength.”

I smilingly extended my left arm and made a slicing motion in the air. A white, radiant light flashed across, containing a large amount of light elements within it.

Ma Ke was shocked. “Wow, you are so powerful! You definitely have the strength of the advanced class. How did you do that without an incarnation and still get such large effects? This is too unbelievable. Do–Don’t tell me that…”

I nodded my head. “I have already reached the  Magister level.”

Ma Ke was elated. “That’s great! After today, the world will have another Magister. I still require a few more years as currently it is just impossible for me to breakthrough to reach that level!”

“You also should not be too impatient! Luck also plays an important role. I can only tell you that you will need to deeply understand the thoughts of the magic elements.” I smilingly said.

“The thoughts of the magic elements?” Ma  Ke  curiously asked.

I shook my head. “You must understand them by yourself for it to be useful so you should not ask me how I understood them. Let’s get back to the topic about Hai Yue. You should do something that will make her look at you in a completely new light! You will have a chance that way!”

Ma Ke doubtfully scratched his head. “To be looked at in a new light? I will give it a try! How was your trip this time? Did you obtain the Holy Sword?”

I felt like crying when I heard ‘Holy Sword’. That Holy Sword had completely disappeared after entering my body. I had

searched my whole body with mental energy for it, but to no avail. I had promised Teacher Di to never tell anyone about meeting the God King so I couldn’t tell him.

“Don’t even mention it! What a joke! I can’t find it anywhere (this is near the truth), even after making lots of friends!” I told him all about how I met Zhan Hu and the rest of the team. Ma Ke listened with great interest.

“I really wish that I had been there with you!” He showed a longing expression.

I patted his shoulder. “It’s ok! This time you couldn’t come, but there will always be another chance. During the next opportunity, we will definitely be able to become famous in the

world.”

“Yes! We will definitely succeed!” Ma Ke’s eyes brightened with excitement.

“Right, Ma Ke! I have just returned to the academy. Can you give me an overview of what is happening?”

“The Royal Advanced Magic Academy is really complicated. It is not as simple as the Intermediate Magic Academy, where it is enough to just practice. The current emperor is aging and has no successor. Therefore, anyone who enters the  Advanced Magic Academy will have their status increase greatly as people in power will fight to recruit them. The whole Kingdom of Aixia is currently enveloped by darkness. Aixia is a kingdom that is

famous for its magicians so of course the big powers are targeting Advanced Class Magicians.”

I frowned. “It’s so complicated! How many powers are there?” If Aixia had a civil war in the near future over the succession, it would greatly affect the fight against the Monster King.

Ma Ke continued to say, “Currently, there are three main powers. The first is Duke Te Yi. Have you heard of him before?”

I thought for a while. “I think I do remember hearing about him, but I’m not very familiar.”

“He is now extremely powerful as he currently controls the Royal Mage Union and he has a great influence on  the kingdom’s economy, so he is a very strong royal competitor. The Royal Mage Union all graduated from this academy. Although there are only five hundred of them, their power is equivalent to that of the whole kingdom. Their power is definitely at least stronger than that of a Magister as the leader of the Royal Mage Union is one of the ten Magisters in the world. He is an earth Magister: Dun Yu Xi. Oh, right! It should be eleven Magisters instead! Ha ha!”

“Stop joking already! Dun Yu Xi is the leader of the Royal Mage Union. Why would he listen to a duke? Shouldn’t he only follow the direct orders of the emperor?”

“That is  the  most  incredible  point  about  the  duke.  I  don’t

know if it’s due to bribery or blackmail, but currently, Dun Yu Xi is standing on his side.”

“Who are the other two powers?”

“The two powers are….” Ma Ke suddenly stopped explaining in the middle of the conversation and stared in a fixed direction.

“Hey! Hey! What are you looking at?” I followed to look in the direction that he was looking in.

Chapter 6 – Situation In The Academy II

It was Hai Yue! It had been a few years since I had last seen her, and she had become a young woman. Her elegant look hadn’t changed at all! If anything, she had become even more graceful. I had wondered why Ma Ke had suddenly stopped talking – so it was because he had seen the girl of his dreams.

I lamented, “Hai Yue became even more beautiful. No wonder you can’t get over her.”

Ma Ke sighed, “The guy at her side is her current boyfriend, Feng Liang Ri!”

Only then did I notice the twenty years old man by her side.

He was almost the same height as me, approximately 1.9m. His lean body contained strong powers. Although his looks were average, his large and lively eyes suited his face. It was likely that girls often grew fond of his looks.

I whispered to Ma Ke, “Let’s go and greet them!”

Startled, Ma Ke said, “No! She will definitely treat me badly.”

I pretended to be angry and scolded, “You are such a coward! No wonder she hasn’t developed any feelings for you. Quickly follow me!” After saying so, I took the initiative and walked up to them. Ma Ke had no choice but to follow behind me.

When I neared them, I laughed and said, “Why aren’t you greeting your old playmate?”

Hai Yue looked up and down at me and showed a sudden expression of understanding. “Ah! You’re Zhang Gong, it has been a few years since I last saw you!”

I pointed at Feng Liang at her side. “Aren’t you going to introduce him to me?” Feng Liang’s eyes flashed with caution.

Hai Yue’s face reddened. “He is my boyfriend, Feng Liang Ri.”

I felt Ma Ke’s body tense up behind me. Hai Yue pointed at me before saying, “He is Zhang Gong Wei. He was my classmate when I was at the Royal Intermediate Academy. He even fought against my brother!”

I extended my hand and Feng Liang shook it asking, “Hello, are you also studying in this academy?”

“Yes! I just transferred to the Year 3 Class 3. Today is my first day. Please look after me.”

I pushed Ma Ke to the front. “Since we are all friends here, quickly give them your greetings!” Since I was much taller than Ma Ke, Hai Yue did not notice him standing behind me. Once she saw Ma Ke, her expression darkened.

Ma Ke awkwardly smiled. “I hope you’re doing well.”

Hai Yue did not give him any face and interrupted. “Well? How am I well? I don’t feel well at all when I see you. Zhang Gong, if you are here to be a middleman to convince me to go out with him, you’re just wasting your time!”

I curiously asked, “What middleman? Oh~ you are talking about that year when Ma Ke pursued you. You don’t need to worry about that. You still hate him after so many years? He didn’t do anything to you. We’ve already known each other for so many years. You don’t have to always treat him as though he is an enemy, even if you don’t get along.”

It was Hai Yue’s turn to become awkward. Feng Liang, who was at her side, stood in front of her. “What Zhang Gong said is right. Hai Yue, you don’t need to continue bickering over past things. Class is starting soon, let’s head back.”

Hai Yue snorted and walked away without another word.

Ma Ke’s energy level deflated like a balloon and he lethargically said, “Boss, now you have seen it. I obviously don’t stand a chance.”

I gave him a violent slap on his head and angrily said, “You’re truly worthless! I’ve never seen anyone more  cowardly  than you. You’ve yet to be defeated but you’re already cowering. How could she fall for you? She doesn’t like a guy who’s only heroic

on the outside. I really don’t understand what you’re thinking. When you see Hai Yue, you are just like a mouse meeting a cat. Let’s go! Class is starting.”

Ma Ke followed me in frustration back to the classroom, but did not go back to his. He sat in the same back row as me in my classroom. I did not listen much to the lesson. I started to ask Ma Ke, “Please continue to tell me about the academy’s situation? Let’s leave the talk about Hai Yue for next time.”

Ma Ke regained some of his mood. “The three main powers are the Ri, Yue and Xing families who formed an alliance to form an elder group. As all of the families held powers over the kingdom for several generations, they all are already deeply rooted to the country. They could also influence all of the territories in the country, making it impossible to ignore them.”

I curiously said, “If they are allies then why did Hai Ri still encourage you to chase after his sister? If Hai Yue marries the eldest son of the Ri family, won’t it lead to a more beneficial marriage?”

Ma Ke bitterly smiled. “You think Feng Liang is such a good guy? I heard that he has already gone out with many girls and that they’ve ended up the same way. He plays with them and then dumps them. Brother Hai Ri knows I’ve been chasing after his sister for many years, so he knows that I’m seriously in love with Hai Yue. He doesn’t care about Feng Liang at all so he encouraged me to chase after her.”

“Oh. So it’s like this! Ok now tell me who the last big power is.”

“The last big power is the Emperor’s blood related younger brother, Prince Ke Zha. He was also a great general in the Wang Kingdom so he holds lots of influence in the military. When comparing the Emperor’s strength to his, he is definitely stronger. Brother, I have been hiding something from you. Please forgive me after hearing me out.”

I seriously looked at him. “Just say it. Is it  about  your family?”

Ma Ke was surprised and said, “How did you know?”

I smiled. “When you previously refused to head out with me to gain experience, I’d already guessed that your family was not that simple. You can just tell me directly that you are from one

of the three families.”

Ma Ke looked at me in shock and was flabbergasted.

At that moment, I sensed some danger and hurriedly cast a Light Shield. “Pu~” After that sound, I could tell from the fire sparks that it was just a small fireball.

I looked in the direction where the attack had come from. At the lecturer’s platform, there was an elderly magician. He seemed to be the teacher for the current lesson. Judging by his angry expression, we may have provoked him. In his angry expression, there was also a sign of surprise, as he did not think that I would be able to thwart his sneak attack so easily.

The old magician scolded, “Did you come here for a lesson or just to chat?”

Ma Ke whispered to me secretly. “He’s known to have an extremely bad temper. We shouldn’t continue to provoke him.”

At that moment, the entire class of students was looking in our direction, including the ordinary female student sitting beside me. She seemed to have heard what Ma Ke was talking to me about before. I did not care about it at all as the facts should have been known to everyone already. She was not hearing anything new so it shouldn’t have mattered much.

I awkwardly smiled. “Ah~ Sorry, teacher. I will stop chatting and start to seriously focus in class.”

The old magician’s expression softened a little. “You should be the new student. After class, please come to my office. Ma Ke, why are you here in Class 3? You should head back to your class. If you two continue chatting, I will have you scrub the toilet as punishment!”

Ma Ke surveyed the class and saw that the students were sniggering. He had no choice except to stand up and head to his class, but only after whispering to me, “I’ll tell you my identity later.”

Chapter 7 – Vengeful Love Letter

The girl beside me whispered, “Serves you right.”

Did I irritate her? I didn’t. I took a baffled glance at her direction, but she pretended not to notice, and just continued to stare at the blackboard. I suddenly wanted to play a trick on her. I secretly condensed light elements into a small light beam the size of a finger. It passed through from under my armpit and poked at her ******.

She quivered for a moment before standing up and unexpectedly shouted in front of the whole class, “What are you doing?! Teacher, he molested me!”

I fell. I violently fell. Why did she have such an intense reaction? You don’t have to be like this!

The old mage, whose anger had just calmed down only moments ago, exploded once more. He angrily howled, “New guy! Get out and stand in the corridor!”

The other students in the class threw me despicable gazes as if I wasn’t worthy of my good looks. To think  that  I  would actually molest that girl, with her looks only being average, was simply not up to my standards! I bitterly smiled and stood up, then started to walk out. Before leaving, I furiously glared at that girl. A look of ridicule flashed in her eyes, and she glared back unyieldingly.

I leaned against the corridor wall. Damn! I had just been played by a little girl. I had to have my revenge. I simply must! That action just now was too hateful, but how could I get my revenge? Throw a worm into her schoolbag? Use magic to humiliate her? No good, none of those ideas were good. They were just too ordinary. I had to think of an even better way to punish her. Humph!

After class, the old mage brought me to his office. “Are you coming here to attend class or are you just here to play around?”

The old man was truly fierce. I lowered my head, “I’m sorry, Teacher. I know I’ve done wrong.”

“Humph! Save your act! From now on, I will be watching you

closely. Did you not enter the academy through your connections? Even if you only came here to mingle with those of background, you cannot disturb the study of others. Tell me, just what is the name of the government official who gave you the recommendation to let you join this academy?” His tone was full of ridicule. It seemed that he had taken me for a noble.

I honestly told him, “It was Teacher Lao Lun Di who recently recommended me.”

The old man frowned and said, “Lao Lun Di, Lao Lun Di, don’t tell me he is the esteemed principal of the Intermediate Magic Academy?”

I nodded, saying, “That’s right, that old man. I’m his

successor.”

“You’re Principal Di’s successor? Even if you are, you still shouldn’t disturb the class. Please take note of this from now on. You may leave.” His tone became much softer. I snickered to myself; Teacher Di’s name was quite useful.

After I left the office, I directly returned to the classroom. The students in class were surprised to see me return unscathed. I just continued to sit beside that girl.

I whispered to her, “You’re pretty fierce and daring to get me into trouble.”

With a cold “humph”, she said, “I got you into trouble? It’s just that lechers such as yourself should just die.” She humphed again.

Who would have imagined that a magnificent Magister such as myself would be played by a little girl? Very well, I must take my revenge. I will definitely let her know that I am not someone to be trifled with.

I suddenly thought of an excellent idea. I immediately took out a piece of paper and began to furiously write in that paper. I actually did not even know which lesson we were currently on. It didn’t matter. In any case, what the teacher was lecturing about was unsuitable for my cultivation. Every night, I just had to meditate and that was enough.

When the girl beside me saw that I was studiously writing things down, she could not help but look at me, baffled. I used my body to obstruct her view, making her unable to see what I was writing.

Writing through no less than half the class, I finally finished. I let out a long sigh and held the white paper up and read it once through from start to finish. I nodded my head in satisfaction.

I lightly tapped the shoulder of the classmate sitting in front of me. He turned around and frowned, before impatiently saying, “What do you want?” I suddenly made a diamond coin appear out of thin air. His brows unfolded and he gently asked, “What is the matter?”

I chuckled and whispered, “You just have to tell me the name of that violent girl who is sitting beside me, and this coin will be yours.”

He sneakily took a glance at the girl beside me and said into my ear, “Her name is Mu Zi Mo.” I snickered to myself. It seemed like the charm of money was still quite large. After that, I quickly wrote a few more words at the very top of the paper.

Mu Zi saw me acting very secretively and was curious. She wanted to steal a peek at the paper in my hand. I coldly looked at her, “You want to have a look?”

She was shocked and immediately moved backwards, saying, “What do you want?”

I handed the white paper over and said, “Here. Didn’t you want to have a look at it?” Her curiosity urged her to take the white paper that was in my hand. Just from reading it, her face grew red. Although she wasn’t very beautiful, her brightly reddened face was similar to that of a red apple. After looking at it, you just felt like wanting to take a bite.

This was what I had written on the white paper: Hello, Miss Mu Zi. Ever since I first looked at you, I felt like we were destined to be together. Your large eyes attracted me in a way that made me unconsciously fall in love with you. Although you always acted coldly toward me, so much so that you even set me up, I am not one bit angry at all. Truly. Not angry at all. (….Omission of 2000 words…) I continuously teased you, simply wishing to attract your attention, to make you aware of my existence. I am too embarrassed to say to this in front of you as I am afraid of your refusal. I could only use this love letter to

convey my feelings to you. Will you agree to date me?

Inscribed with sincere love for you, Zhang Gong.

This was the best plan that I had. Didn’t she say I molested her? First, I would make her fall in love with me, before  I started to get my revenge. Hehe. This idea was pretty good.

After Mu Zi finished reading the love letter I gave her, she surprisingly did not dare to turn her head towards me. After a moment of peace, her blush faded away. She then turned her head towards me and said, “Boring. Stop using such cheap tricks to play with me.” She crumpled the letter I gave her and threw it back to me. This was the result I had expected earlier on. With her bad impression of me, would she be fooled? Don’t

worry, take your time. Sooner or later I would have you in my trap.

I lowered my head, feigning a heartbroken appearance and tried to straighten the love letter. I carefully folded it and put it into my pocket. Afterwards I didn’t say a thing and gazed at the blackboard, but my mind was planning how to arouse Mu Zi’s affection and bring about my revenge.

Mu Zi looked at me, her eyes full of complicated emotions.

The bell ending class rung, but I did not move my head. I did not know whether or not my cool behavior moved her. Forget about it. I had to find Ma Ke first. That fellow still hadn’t told me his identity.

Chapter 8 – Ma Ke’s Background

After taking only two steps, I saw Ma Ke walking in my direction. He seemed to be looking for me as well.

I pulled him along. “I was just about to come find you. Let’s go and eat! After we eat, we’ll take a break at the dormitory; before we continue to go for the afternoon lessons.”

At the dinner table, Ma Ke was stunned when he saw me savagely sweeping up my meal. He said in shock, “Boss, you’re still eating your meal in this manner. I’m impressed.” I glared at him, indicating for him to shut up and quickly eat his meal.

A feminine voice sounded. “If he wasn’t eating like this, he

wouldn’t be called White Rice Bucket. Don’t you think that I’m right, Zhang Gong?”

With my mouth still full of food, I turned my head to have a look. It was a pretty girl that looked similar to Hai Yue. Ah~ I suddenly realized that she was the girl who used the spells Absolute Disruption and Water Dragon’s Chant. I hurriedly swallowed my food and awkwardly smiled before saying, “Long time no see, Hai Shui! You’ve become even more beautiful.”

Hai Shui’s fair face reddened and said, “Really? I just heard from my sister that you’d returned. I figured that you’d be the same as before and rush to have your meal as quickly as possible. It really was as I expected! You haven’t changed at all, you only grew taller and sturdier.”

I started laughing. “You’re also not the same as before. You grew up to be so beautiful! You’re definitely the flower of our academy. Right, Ma Ke?”

In front of Hai Shui, Ma Ke could still be himself. “That’s right! Currently, her potential suitors could form a whole squadron.” (Five hundred people in a squadron)

Hai Shui pouted playfully. “You’re really hateful! Ma  Ke, you’re exaggerating too much! Since when did I have that many suitors?”

I pretended to panic and glanced around before looking at Ma Ke. “Let’s quickly finish our meals and retreat! If not, we’ll be assaulted by a mass of students.” After saying so, I laughed

loudly with Ma Ke, causing the students near our table to look in our direction.

Hai Shui ran to my side and hammered me with her fist. “You’re so hateful! How can you tease people like this?” She really is an amusing girl.

I winked at her. “How did I tease you?”

Hai Shui interrupted. “Enough of you already! I’m going to eat.” She turned around and walked away.

I smiled at Ma Ke. “Her attitude is completely different from her sister’s. She’s so lively and adorable. Why don’t you court her instead?”

Ma Ke suddenly became secretive and whispered in my ears, “Boss, you don’t know about this, but she already likes someone.”

“Really? Who?”

“The person who she likes is~… you.”

I frowned. “That’s enough! You’re only joking with me. How could she possibly like me?”

“This’s something you couldn’t possibly know. Ever since that time when you defeated her, she couldn’t forget about you. While you were out exploring the world, we were in the Advanced Magic Academy. She came to me a number of times asking for you. I told her that you had gone out to gain experience. She just didn’t believe me and said that you had definitely gone to another school. She looked really depressed back then.”

Ah~ that couldn’t be true! How could she like me? Even though she was younger than Ma Ke and I by a year, her age was still similar to ours. I had always thought of her as a sister. I rumbled, “She can’t really like me.” At the same  time  I imagined dating her, and her casting Absolute Disruption on me whenever we argued. I wouldn’t be able to stand that. I shook my head rapidly. She also had such fierce siblings. I couldn’t consider her being mine, and I didn’t feel anything for her

anyway.

I warned Ma Ke. “You’re never allowed to bring this topic up again. Understood? Let’s just eat and go!”

Before leaving, I took a sneak peek at Hai Shui. She was looking at me. After seeing my face, her face flushed red and she lowered her head. I quickly stopped looking. It seemed as though Ma Ke hadn’t lied to me. I had to run away!

I dragged Ma Ke along with me as I ran to my dormitory. I sat on the bed and panted for a moment, before calming down.

Ma Ke was annoyed and said, “Boss, what are you doing? What’s wrong with Hai Shui? You’re acting like you had seen a ghost!”

I replied, “Just stop trying to help pair us up! You like Hai Yue, but I don’t like Hai Shui. Please stop trying to get us together. Do you understand?”

Ma Ke curiously said, “What is wrong with Hai Shui? She’s quite adorable and one of the top beauties of this academy.”

I impatiently said, “Enough is enough! Can you just stop talking about this and quickly tell me your  identity?  You haven’t settled your outstanding debts.”

Ma Ke quickly apologized and smiled. “Haha, Boss, I was in the wrong. I shouldn’t have purposely hidden my identity from you. It’s just that my identity was only known by Teacher Long, even Teacher Di didn’t know.”

I teasingly said, “Enough! Stop rambling in circles and say that you are the young master of a famous family.”

Ma Ke opened the dormitory door to check that nobody was listening in our conversation and locked the door before returning. (Usually students wouldn’t be at the dormitory at

noon)

He came near my ears and whispered, “My father is Prince Ke Zha, also known as Ke Zha Ao Er. My real name is Ma Ke Ao Er, the second son of Prince Ke Zha.”

“In other words, you’re royalty. Does anyone else know your identity?”

“Of course not! I have hidden my identity for two reasons: first so I could study and gain knowledge, and second, so I could observe talents and analyses the situation in the academy.”

I continued his words. “This is also for your father to recruit talented students, right? Please don’t try to recruit me! I don’t want to be an official, or worse still, a soldier.”

Ma Ke awkwardly smiled and said, “Why would I do that? How could we brothers talk about recruitment? You just need to support me in the future! Haha.” Ma Ke’s really was counting his chickens before they hatched. My teacher and I were both Light Magisters, where my teacher was ranked third among the ten current magisters, and was the principal of the Royal Intermediate Academy. We would definitely be able to influence the Aixia kingdom, as it specialized in magic powers. Although he had different plans when he first met, I knew his friendship wasn’t fake as, when we first met each other, we still weren’t that strong.

I patted his shoulder and said, “That’s enough! Say no more.

As brothers, I will definitely help you.”

Ma Ke excitedly grabbed my hands, “You won’t blame me, will you, brother?”

I shook my head. “No problem! Now stop doing this, if someone sees us like this, they’ll think we’re homos. Let’s go! Afternoon lessons are starting!”

Chapter 9 – A Duel Of Words With The Teacher

I lazily walked into the classroom and sat in my seat. I had no idea what was happening during the lesson. Forget it! I decided to sleep for a while.

While lying on the table in a subconscious state, I felt a burning gaze on my back. Even if my senses were not very sensitive, I still would have easily noticed it. I thought that it was Mu Zi who was looking at me. I sniggered in my heart. Did she really believe that I had fallen in love with her? I decided to just ignore her and make her wait in suspense.

Without realizing it, I started to doze off.

In my semi-conscious state, I felt someone pushed me strongly. I instinctively pushed the person’s hand away from me. However, that person kept on pushing me as I continued to push him away. I got annoyed and sat up, shouting, “What on earth do you want? Why are you so annoying? Stop disturbing my sleep!”

I was surrounded by gasps. Only then did I remembered that I was still in class. At that moment, I woke up from my sleepy state. I looked in the direction of the person who had been pushing me and saw Mu Zi angrily glaring at me. I blankly asked her, “Why did you push me?”

Mu Zi’s face reddened instantly and she pouted and her lips pointed in a direction. The students near my desk heard our conversation and started to laugh loudly. I followed  the direction her lips were pointing to. Wah! There was a middle aged male teacher with an ashen expression on his face on the lecturer’s platform. Hmm. Why were his lips shaking?

The male teacher said in a low and shaking voice, “You, stand up!”

I used my finger to point at my nose and questionly asked, “Are you talking to me?”

“Yes, you! Quickly, stand up now!”

I lazily stood up from my seat. It seemed like my brain had not fully woken yet. I totally did not understand what the teacher meant. I asked, “Teacher, you don’t look well. Are you unwell? I

think that you should go to the hospital to have a checkup. If your illness is serious, it’ll be terrible.”

My surroundings suddenly became quiet. The students were all thinking, this student really dares to challenge the teacher’s authority? In the morning he irritated one, and now, in the afternoon, he’s irritating another one. It was  just  too impressive. They looked as if they were filled with anticipation as to how the teacher would deal with me.

The lecturer inhaled deeply as though trying to calm  his strong emotions. He glared at me and said, “You come up and answer this question. I want to hear your explanation.” As he said that, he pointed to the whiteboard, which had the main question for the lesson. Likely the teacher thought, if Zhang Gong answers wrongly or doesn’t know how to answer, I’ll immediately send him out of class and punish him by making him stand in the corridor.

I looked at the whiteboard and saw that it was about the relationships between the magic elements.

I frowned and thought for a moment. The teacher thought that I didn’t know how to answer and was about to scold me, I started to speak.

“I believe that asking about the relationships of all magic is too general. Everyone should know about the different elements of magic. The six main elements are light, dark, water,  fire, earth and wind. I said I found the current question too general because the relationships between the magic are just too complicated. In simpler terms, I believe that all magic can simultaneously support and counter when they interact.”

The lecturer coldly smiled and said, “Able to support and counter each other at the same time? Everyone knows about magic countering each other, but support I’ve never heard of. In that case, water magic and fire magic can fuse together to become a flame?”

My brain had finally fully woken up. I thought, aren’t you just trying to put me on the spot? I’m afraid that you can’t. Your knowledge level can’t be compared to mine as even Teacher Di found my theory new. There is no way that you  can  fight against my theory.

I smiled and said, “Of course, water magic can become fire magic, and wind magic can also become earth magic. These examples are the simple ones. Light and dark magic have many similar properties. Let me ask everyone, if there is no light,

where does darkness comes from, and vice versa? Even though they are countering magic, did that occurred naturally? If we dare to make a daring assumption, maybe before light and dark magic separate into two different magic, they were actually one kind of magic.”

“Are you just frightening the class? If not, how are you going to prove that what you just said was true?”

I shook my head and said, “I haven’t found any actual proof for it, that’s why I said it was a daring assumption. Even though I haven’t determined the exact relationship between light and dark magic, I can show an example of magic simultaneously supporting and interacting with each other.”

The lecturer was stunned, and seemed to forget that he was just making things difficult for me, said, “Continue speaking.”

I smiled and said, “It’s hard to believe if I just say it, so take a look.” I lifted both of my hands and casted two equally sized balls of water and fire magic. (I could use any elementary magic, except for dark magic.)

I continued to explain, “Everyone should know that water and fire magic counter each other. It should be like this.” I fused the two magic together. “Pu Su~” The two magic balls completely vanished.

“This is what happens when the amount of elements are the same. But if they had different amounts, what would happen?

Everyone take a look at water and fire magic fusing together.”

Like last time, I summoned a ball of fire and water in each hand, but this time the fireball was much larger than the waterball. I slowly placed the waterball on top of the fireball. The waterball started to steam. This was because the fire magic was stronger than the water magic. Under my control, the waterball caught on fire. (To those who know physics, they should know that water can be separated into hydrogen and oxygen gasses. One of the gasses was used as the catalyst in combustion.) Slowly, the two balls started to fuse and become one.

All of the students, including the lecturer, gasped in amazement.

The lecturer asked curiously, “How on earth did you do that?”

“Actually, it is very easy. At a certain point, the water can be lit on fire but won’t be extinguished.”  This  new  information was hard for everyone to digest and accept fully.

“I will now continue to demonstrate fire becoming water.”

This time, I used my left hand to cast a light magic ball of about fifty cm in diameter and casted a small fireball in my right hand, before placing the fireball in the center of the lightball.

I easily controlled the two magic and said at the same time. “Everyone! Please focus on the inside of the lightball.” As expected, in a short moment, droplets of water began forming inside the lightball

I stopped the magic and made a conclusion. “That will be all. Those were two examples of magic interacting with each other. The countering aspect of magic is only part of the truth. There is nothing that is absolutely right as under different situations, it can be changed. This is something that I am still researching on. Teacher, I’m done answering the question.”

The lecturer looked as if his spirit had left his body. It was not only him; the other students were in similar states. Any student who could attend the Academy was undoubtedly a genius, but they were being restricted to traditional magic. After my demonstration and explanations, everyone felt as though they had gained new knowledge about magic, but couldn’t exactly tell what the new knowledge was. Thus, they were caught up in their own worlds and thoughts.

I looked at Mu Zi who was beside me. She was also in the same state as the rest. Haha, looked like my explanation wasn’t bad. I decided to let them continue to think about it, and play chess with their ‘God of Dreams’.

Chapter 10 – The 10 Great Masters

When the bell signalling the end of school rang,  I  slowly began to wake. While Mu Zi was still packing up her desk, I happily smiled at her and said, “Can I treat you to a meal? How was the lesson today? What I said made the teacher speechless!”

Mu Zi coldly replied, “Who would want to eat with you? You would only ruin my appetite. Besides, everything you said was false. The teacher just didn’t want to fuss about you.”

I showed a wronged expression. “How was it false?  Those were my results from a long period of research. What’s so scary about me treating you to a meal? Let’s go together!”

Mu Zi coldly snorted and walked away without looking back at me.

I thought, why are you playing so hard to get, even though your looks are just average? I will definitely make you fall for me, just wait for it.

There was still time before dinner so I went to chat with Ma Ke in the dormitory and taught him some magic. After dinner, I did my everyday routine of cultivation: I slept.

Once I awoke, I felt very refreshed and full of magic power ready to be used at any time.

Just as I was about to go and look for him, Ma Ke arrived. “Ma Ke! Are you interested in a spar with me? My body is itching for one!”

Ma Ke instantly shook his head. “That’s not necessary! My level of magic can’t be compared to yours so how would that even be a competition? And I don’t want to be bullied by you. If you really want to fight, it’s not that difficult. You just need to challenge the top ten ranked students of the school.”

“The top ten ranked students of the academy? What’s that?”

“This academy has a ranking system. Those who can get themselves ranked are the top experts of the academy.”

“How do you get ranked?”

“That’s really easy! You just need to challenge a student who has a higher rank than yours. If you win the match, you will get that person’s rank and the ranking below that position will shift.”

“Do you have a rank?”

Ma ke proudly exclaimed, “Of course I do! I am currently fifth ranked.”

Ma Ke was only fifth ranked despite his level. It was clear that the academy had numerous talented students. This sparked my interest. “Who else is in the top ten rankers?”

Ma Ke said, “The top ranker is a year 5 student who specialises in earth magic. He is extremely powerful. You should know that earth magic is generally good at defense, but bad at offense. However, not only does that person have an impregnable defence, but his offensive power is also even  more unpredictable. He is extremely hard to deal with. I’ve  also fought against him before, but even I couldn’t break his defense. He should at least be at the magic scholar level. You should go and directly challenge him. If you win, you will be  the  top ranker in this academy. He is known as Si Wa Ming.”

I curiously asked, “What about the rest of them?”

Ma Ke explained, “The second ranker is someone you know. He is big brother Hai Ri. He is extraordinarily gifted. In the past few years in the Advanced Magic Academy, he rapidly improved himself; even his fire magic is slightly stronger than mine. Basically, there isn’t much of a power difference between the top ten students. Who do you think is the third ranker?” Ma Ke gave me a secretive look.

Who was it? Did I know that person? It was probably Hai Shui. Her skills slightly exceeded those of her older sister, Hai Yue, so I decided that she would be my answer.

“Is it Hai Shui? Her Absolute Disruption and Water Dragon’s Chant should be more powerful than before.”

Ma Ke shook his head. “Hai Shui’s is a rank lower than me at sixth.”

“If it’s not Hai Shui, then who else could it be? It couldn’t be that scion of the Ri family right?”

When I mentioned him, Ma Ke’s expression darkened, but he still continued to shake his head. “Although he is powerful, he is only one rank higher than me at fourth.”

“Ah~ I definitely won’t be able to guess it. Those were all the students I know so just quickly tell me, who is  the  third ranker?”

Ma Ke grinned and said, “You know the third ranked person; she is none other than the girl who sits beside you, Mu Zi Mo.”

I said in shock, “I wouldn’t have thought that it would be her.

She didn’t seem that powerful. This is too unbelievable!”

Ma Ke smiled and replied, “Why is it unbelievable? Mu Zi is a

very low profile person, but her wind magic is the best I’ve ever seen. Her magic control is greater than mine. She is definitely at the magic scholar level. If it wasn’t for Tu Ke Feng, it’s possible that the first rank would be hers. When I first attended this academy, I lost when I fought against her during the newcomer students’ battle event. I was not satisfied with the outcome of the battle, so I challenged her many times afterward, but lost every time. Now I don’t dare to duel with her. If you challenge her, I’ll treat it as you helping me take my revenge.”

I sighed. “You didn’t know about this, but today I wrote her a love letter.”

Ma Ke jumped in surprise and shouted, “What?! You actually wrote her a love letter! Although Mu Zi’s magic power is strong, her looks are just ordinary. She is also the academy’s  well known ice princess. The last person who tried to court her faced a terrible outcome. Why did you choose her? You should have chosen Hai Shui. I don’t think that Mu Zi deserves to be your girlfriend!”

I laughed before telling Ma Ke the motive behind the love letter. Ma Ke suddenly understood what was going on. He lifted his thumb. “Boss, the stunt that you just pulled is exceptional. I am impressed. It also serves as a way for me to settle my grudge. Ha ha, don’t worry! I definitely won’t tell anyone about this.”

“Let’s head back to class! I will decide who I want to challenge after school.”

During the lesson, I did the same thing as the day before. I took out a paper and frantically wrote on it. It read: Mu Zi, I was extremely surprised to find that you are the academy’s third ranker. To prove that my power matches your strength, I have decided to challenge one of the other top ten experts of the academy. Can you cheer me on? Right now I’m just falling more and more in love with you… (The rest of the letter’s contents

were typical of what one would write to his girlfriend. I shall not waste my time by writing all of that down.)

Just like the day before, after I wrote the letter, I gave it to Mu Zi. She coldly looked at me and did not take the letter. “You are just too bored.”

I tried to give the love letter to her again. “Just take a look, this is important! If you don’t read it, you will regret it.”

Mu Zi glared at me before skimming through the letter. Her face started to turn red, perhaps because what I wrote was too corny. It seemed that I still stood a chance, so I need to be even more serious.

It was just too bad that my letter was treated extremely terribly. She crumpled it into a ball, but this time she did not throw it back to me.She just directly threw it out the window.

I instantly became mad at her. I stood up and shouted, “It’s fine if you don’t accept me, but you can’t just toss my love letter away?! I have sincerely written that letter!” After my outburst, the classroom dissolved in uproar.

Shoot! I realized I was still in class. Mu Zi’s face paled and her lips seemed to start to shake.

Teacher Si Lan Yu, who was standing at the lecturer’s platform, said, “Zhang Gong, what are you doing? This classroom is not a romantic place for you to confess your love.”

I apologetically said, “Sorry Teacher Yu, I will pay more attention next time, but just now, Mu Zi tossed out a paper out the window. For the cleanliness of the academy, can you please give me permission to retrieve it?”

Teacher Si Lan Yu stared at me before erupting in laughter. “Go ahead, you mischievous kid!”

Chapter 11 – A Proper Challenge

If Mu Zi hadn’t been so powerful, the  students  probably would have teased her.

I ran downstairs as quickly as I could to retrieve the second love letter. Before I sat back in my seat, I glared furiously at Mu Zi. After that, I stashed the second love letter, just as I had with the first one.

I seethingly ignored her. ‘She really didn’t know how  to cherish my hard work. Did she know that I was just playing with her? It couldn’t be. I’ll continue to think about that the next day. Today, I really wanted to play with one of the top rankers. I wondered who I should pick?’

‘If my first challenge was with the  top  ranking  earth magician, it would seem like I am a show-off; that would be a terrible decision. The second ranker is big brother Hai Ri, but I don’t feel like fighting him. The third ranker is Mu Zi. If I challenge her, would there still be any chance of chasing her

after? No. For my grand plan, I can’t challenge her. The fourth ranker is the Ri family’s scion. That’s right! It shall be him. I can also help Ma Ke have his revenge. Haha, if Hai Yue sees me defeating her boyfriend, I wonder what would happen. I might even create a chance for Ma Ke. Great! That will be my choice!’

Thinking about that, I couldn’t stop myself from giggling. Mu Zi looked at me from the side and thought aloud, “What is he plotting now…”

My hearing was very sensitive. I looked at her and whispered, “You will find that out after school.”

A day of lessons quickly ended. Once the school bell rang to signal the end of school, I dashed out of the classroom and immediately ran to the main school building. I took a deep breath and shouted, “Feng Liang Ri! I am Zhang Gong Wei. I am here to challenge you to a duel. If you hear this, please come to the school’s field. I will be waiting for you there!”

A clear and bright voice sounded from the building. “Alright! I accept!”

Success! Ha ha, I quickly ran to the field and waited at the center of the field for my opponent to come.

I checked my body’s status. ‘My magic power and mental energy were in top conditions. I was extremely confident as I

definitely didn’t believe that Feng Liang Ri could stand against my Magister level power.’

‘It looked like my previous shouting had had an effect; in a short period of time, I was surrounded by students.’

“Who is that? I’ve never seen him before and he actually dares to challenge Feng Liang!”

“It’s been a long time since someone last challenged the top ten rankers. This match will be exciting to watch.”

“Will he even be able to win? He looks quite handsome, but I’m not sure about his magic power.”

The surrounding students discussed amongst themselves.

Ma Ke pushed his way through the crowd and ran to my side.

He whispered. “Boss, why are you challenging Feng Liang RI?”

I was stunned and said, “Why can’t I challenge him? I am challenging him for you. I want to help you get your revenge. Is that bad?”

Ma Ke hurriedly circled around me. “Boss, you’ve caused me severe trouble this time. Hai Yue will definitely think that I asked you to challenge Feng Liang. She’ll hate me even more now!”

I laughed while bending my body forward. “What  do  you think I should do now? Do you really think I’ll withdraw from the match now? You also see the crowd that’s formed. If I withdraw from the challenge, I won’t be able to continue attending this academy. It’s already happened. You have to look at the situation calmly. Hai Yue doesn’t like you. If she hates you more, it’ll be better, because it can help deepen her impression of you.”

“Boss, what are you talking about…?”

At that moment, Feng Liang Ri arrived. His girlfriend, Hai Yue, was by his side.

Hai Yue ran over in anger and shouted at me, “Are  you insane? Why are you challenging Feng Liang? He has never offended you. If you really have the ability, why don’t you just challenge the top ranker Si Wa Ming!”

I gave her a helpless expression and smiled. “Why? Are you afraid that your lover will lose to me? You don’t trust him?”

Just when Hai Yue was about to retort, Ma Ke quickly explained. “Hai Yue, Zhang Gong doesn’t have any bad intentions. He just wants to get a rank.”

Hai Yue was still furious so she turned to face Ma Ke. “It’s you! You must’ve been the one who encouraged him! You are so despicable. Just give up! I, Hai Yue, will definitely not fall for a despicable person like you! Hmph!”

Ma Ke’s face immediately paled. I patted his shoulder. “Stop causing more trouble and go stand at the side.” Hai Yue’s disrespectful attitude towards Ma Ke was making me furious.

Hai Shui also ran over and pulled Hai Yue away. “Sister, we should just let them battle. It’s impossible to stop the match from happening.” After saying that, she stared at me  for  a while.

Feng Liang’s clear and bright voice voiced out, “I’ve heard from Hai Yue that your magic spells are very strong. Do enlighten me! Everyone, please back up! Hai Yue, it’s alright. Please step out of the ring.”

Feng Liang Ri and I finally stood face to face at the center of the field. I shouted, “All students, please back up and allow us to have a 500m circumference of space to prevent any accidental injuries that may happen during the duel.” A colourful rainbow- coloured magic spell suddenly covered 500m of the field with Feng Liang and I at its center.

I would definitely show my prowess to Feng Liang so he would know that we brothers were not that easy to bully.

I made a hand signal as a sign for him to have the first move. “Let’s begin and let me experience your Ri family’s exceptional magic spells!”

Feng Liang smiled. “I won’t be modest and will begin the battle. Free wind, listen to my command, form a violent Wind Tornado!” A small Wind Tornado gathered in front of him. ‘What was he up to? Why was he not directly attacking me? I

didn’t need to chant my spells anyway so I wasn’t impatient. I decided to continue to see what would happen.’

“Free wind, listen to my command, form a violent Wind Tornado!”

“Free wind,  listen  to  my  command,  form  a  violent  Wind

Tornado!”

……

‘So that’s what he was doing! In a short period of time, Feng Liang had actually cast nine small Wind Tornados.’ I told him, “The Wind Tornado will always be powerless against me; no matter how many times you cast it. Please stop wasting your magic power!”

Feng Liang grinned at me. “Really? Violent Wind Tornado! Release your power to destroy and tear apart everything in front of you!”

Following his chant, the intermediate class Wind Tornados actually moved and collided with each other. They swirled up sand and stones. Finally, all nine Wind Tornados fused into one Wind Tornado. The surrounding air seemed to become a vacuum. When the Wind Tornado reached a critical point, it exploded!

‘This is bad! It was a wind fusion magic spell. It was very powerful and it could unexpectedly reach the level of an advanced level spell. It looked like Feng Liang wasn’t  that simple after all!’

I hurriedly cast three light shields to gain some time.

“Great Light elements! Please lend me your great powers! Let the unlimited light shine on  the  whole  land.  Illuminate  – Brilliant Empire!” I chose to fight back relentlessly.

Chapter 12 – Heavenly Sun Devouring Hound

I slowly rose from the ground, my body glowing with light. I raised my head. The Gold Dan from my upper dantian surged with magic power that filled my entire body. I  gathered  the light elements to make an approximately five meter in diameter pillar and made it fly toward Feng Liang.

“Light magician!” The surrounding students gasped.

With my magic power at the time, Brilliant Empire was very different from before. When the violent Wind Tornado and Brilliant Empire spells collided, Feng Liang’s magic power was unexpectedly very powerful. This was probably related to the way his spell was cast.

Atop the field, a hurricane began swirling into existence. I was pushed back three steps by his Wind Tornado as I wasn’t prepared for it. The air that was lost came back again.

Feng Liang was fine, but he looked shocked. “You could actually easily counter my violent storm wind!”

I dusted the dirt off my body. “It’s been some time since someone placed me in a disadvantageous position. The magic spell you just used was great! Is that your original spell?”

Feng Liang nodded. “I made Wind Tornados spinning in opposite directions to collide. The final, fused Wind Tornado has a very strong offensive power.”

I was surprised. “Your magic control is really strong. Let’s continue! I want to see if you have any other exceptional spells. Any spells weaker than the one you used just now will be useless against me.”

Feng Liang couldn’t help but smile. “You’re interesting for warning your opponent. A good opponent such as yourself is really hard to find. I shall let you experience my Ri family’s traditional magic spell.”

After hearing that he was going to use a traditional spell, my heart trembled in fear as I remembered how disastrous it had been when I previously fought with Hai Shui. I instantly raised my guard and secretly started to gather my magic power in my right hand.

Feng Liang  quickly  chanted  and  six  walls  of  wind  swiftly

gathered in front of him to protext him. ‘It was obvious that it is to gain some times to cast the more powerful spell. Seeing how cautious he was, I knew that the long spell he was chanting wouldn’t be easy to counter.’

I waved my right hand and a huge light blade struck his defensive wall of wind. Feng Liang’s facial expression suddenly changed. “The day lights up in the sky, the heavenly hound

shall descend. It is impossible to resist and will engulf everything and bring endless darkness to the land—Heavenly Sun Devouring Hound!”

Once my light blade succeeded in breaking his walls of wind, he finished chanting the spell. Feng Liang’s face paled and his blond hair turned black and straightened. His eyes seemed to emit a light. He started to chant something I didn’t understand.

A dark aura surrounded his body.

When the light blade struck at his head, the dark aura vigorously scraped against the blade. The light elements unexpectedly started to diffuse and no longer released their powers.

‘I was scared! What was that magic? Why did it seem so similar to that magic clan’s bamboo pole’s magic? Wasn’t Feng Liang from the Ri family? How could he know dark magic?’

Mu Zi, who was in the crowd watching the match, showed a strange expression and was very interested in the spell Feng Liang cast.

The black aura surrounding Feng Liang thickened. He started to speak in a foreign language. “This is our Ri family’s Heavenly Sun Devouring Hound spell! You are lucky that I only recently inherited the spell. The main special effect of the spell is that it can engulf everything, including magic elements. I hope that you will not be the first sacrifice to this spell! Hehehehe…”

Hai Yue who was behind him was also frightened by his evil appearance. She had never imagined that her prince on a white horse could become so cold. He was like a totally different person.

I was totally frightened from his sudden change and hurriedly

chanted, “Righteous, gentle, warm, serious, strict lights and lights of destruction! Please gather at my side and become endless light rays to exterminate all evil and bring salvation to the world!—- Infinite Radiant Lights!” This was my last trump

card, the advanced spell I had only learned recently.

Feng Liang’s spell finished. He suddenly let out a long, mourning cry. The black aura surrounding his body surged out and formed a huge hound shape before pouncing towards me.

A strong pressure suddenly covered the area. My body began to radiate golden lights. They were from my upper Dantian’s Gold Dan, a clear, spherical, transparent golden ball the size of a ping pong ball that could increase my magic power. All I could do was release it to increase my magic power gathering speed. The light elements from my surroundings started to gather. Under my control, my Gold Dan released a ray of gentle, one meter in diameter golden light, and shot it towards the ‘Heavenly Hound’.

The ‘Heavenly Hound’ in the air opened its mouth to try and devour the golden light. I could feel my magic power quickly decreasing. Feng Liang’s situation was also not that good. Once the ‘Heavenly Hound’ started to absorb the golden light, his entire body shivered and he coughed out a mouthful of blood. He continued to bitterly hold on as supporting the spell used a lot of his energy. He continued to chant foreign words and his body kept supplying dark energy to the ‘Heavenly Hound’.

‘This couldn’t carry on. If I allowed him to  continue supporting the spell, my power would eventually weaken and the spell would totally engulf me along with with my  magic spell! I could only fight using all of my abilities.’

‘I thought of my total failure in defeating him as I made the Gold Dan emit golden light and simultaneously made it go towards the mouth of the ‘Heavenly Hound’. As the Gold Dan and the golden light vanished in the huge mouth of the ‘Heavenly Hound’, I got nervous. If I couldn’t defeat it with that

move, my chances of succeeding would decrease, even if I was to recover all of my lost magic power.’

The ‘Heavenly Hound’ that was in the air tumbled and slowly lost its Hound shape. “Peng!” The ‘Heavenly Hound’ exploded, leaving the dim Gold Dan in the air. I immediately used my remaining power to retrieve it. I had used a lot of magic power, but luckily the Gold Dan hadn’t been completely used up.

Feng Liang showed a strange expression and I started to shout. Not good! Feng Liang spat out a mist of blood. Blood came gushing out from all seven of his apertures and he fell to the ground.

I used short distance teleportation to move to his side. ‘Previously I really couldn’t have held back! If not, I really would’ve been engulfed by that magic spell.’

When I appeared in front of him, his hair had gone back to normal. He was in a severe condition. I immediately used my remaining power to cast a recovery spell to stabilize his condition.

Chapter 13 – A Student Facing Death

The first person to run up after the barrier dispersed was Hai Yue. She glared at me viciously and shouted, “You are ruthless! If Feng Liang dies, I will make sure you are buried along with him! Gentle water, form a cone of ice and charge towards my foe!”

I had just used all of my remaining power to help Feng Liang. I heaved a sigh of relief; it should be enough to secure his life. The ice cone flew over. With my whole body devoid of strength, I could only watch as it hurtled towards me. When the cone was about to pierce through my chest, an  unfamiliar  power suddenly surged out from my body and stopped the ice cone after it pierced half an inch into my body.

The impact of the ice cone still made me fly backwards and sent violent shock through my body; which made me spat out a mouthful of blood.

“What are you doing? Can’t you see that Zhang Gong was saving Feng Liang?” Ma Ke shouted as he ran in front of me and shielded me. Hai Yue directed the same vicious gaze to him. “You’re all terrible!” After this outburst, she lifted Feng Liang, turned around and walked away.

Ma Ke sighed and hurriedly came to help me. “Boss, are you ok?”

I held onto my pain throbbing chest and said, “I will survive, but Hai Yue was really fierce.”

Ma Ke said, “We will be her enemies from now on! There is nothing we can do to salvage the situation! That said, you really are capable, Boss. Even after such a tough match, you still had enough power to cast a defensive spell at the end. I’m truly impressed by your strength.”

Hai Shui walked over and Ma Ke instinctively shielded my body.

There was a complicated glimmer in Hai Shui’s eyes as she spoke. “I don’t have any bad intentions. Just let me have a look at Zhang Gong’s wound, will you?”

Ma Ke turned his head and looked at me questioningly. After seeing me nodding my head, Ma Ke stepped aside.

Hai Shui chanted, “Gentle water, use your kind heart to form a recovery potion and completely heal the wound before you.” The water elements gathered in her hand and formed a light blue colored ball that flew towards my chest. An icy feeling flowed through my entire body as the wound on  my  chest slowly healed and my internal injuries recovered and my internal pain I was feeling felt much better. Only the massive amount of magic power I had used had not fully recover.

I smiled, “Hai Shui, thank you.”

Hai Shui shook her head, “Why did your relationship with sister become so terrible? Please don’t blame sister, alright? She was just too angry to think about what she was saying.”

“Why would I blame her? If I had been in her shoes,  I probably would’ve reacted even more fiercely than she did. I’m alright already, you should head back to check on your sister.”

Hai Shui was elated and said sweetly, “Thank you, Zhang Gong! I’ll head back. See you later!”

“See you later!”

Watching Hai Shui’s back fade, Ma Ke said, “Boss, it looks like Hai Shui really does have feelings for you. If she didn’t, she

never would’ve treated you.”

I frowned and said, “Stop talking nonsense and help me go back.”

Ma Ke supported me all the way back to the dormitory.

A pair of clear eyes were focused on our backs, and its owner muttered to herself, “Did you challenge Feng Liang for  me? Your magic power is stronger than before. Could it be that you really fell in love with me? I should hate you, but I just can’t. Why did you have to disturb my heart? It is impossible for us to be together, you should have chosen Hai Shui instead.” After muttering these words, she turned around and walked in the opposite direction. I didn’t hear the mutters at all.

After we reached the dormitory, Ma Ke asked, “Boss, how are you feeling?”

I lay on the bed. “Ma Ke, please don’t blame me, okay?”

Ma Ke quietly sighed, “Boss, why did you do that? Why didn’t you inform me before you challenged Feng Liang Ri? After this, I have no hope of getting her.”

I slowly shook my head. “Stop thinking like this, there is still hope. As long as you continue to love Hai Yue, nothing is

impossible. When I fought against Feng Liang, did you see the last spell he cast, ‘Heavenly Sun Devouring Hound?”

Ma Ke nodded. “I saw, why?”

I replied, “Don’t you feel that he looked really sinister at that time? If he really does have an evil personality, there is a big chance that Hai Yue will dump him. There are three reasons as to why I challenged him. First, I wanted to help you to get your revenge. Second, I wanted to have a look at his power,  and lastly, I also wanted to figure out his personality flaws through his magic power. If I know his weak points, then you will stand a chance in getting Hai Yue. Do you understand?”

Ma Ke looked thoughtful. “I believe that even if they really

break up, she still won’t fall for me. There’s nobody she hates more than me.”

I smiled. “Actually, there is a positive side to her hating you to the core. If she didn’t care about you, you would really have no hope at all. She hates you, which means you still have a place in her heart. Whether you can turn this hatred into love depends entirely on you. The best way is to do something that will move her to the point where she’ll forgive every single one of your shortcomings.”

This got Ma Ke interested. “What should I do to move her to that extent then?”

I frowned. “You really are incorrigible! How could I teach you

this? You have to create chances on your own. If you can’t change Hai Yue’s heart before graduation, you’ll really lose her. You have to head back and think carefully about what you want to do. I need to start cultivating now, I’ve used up a lot of my magic power.”

Ma Ke said, “Thanks a lot Boss! I’ll head back now, you should rest up.”

When seeing Ma Ke out, I quietly laid back down. I thought

back to the spell that Feng Liang had used. ‘It was very similar to the spell that the magic clan’s Zhu Gan used, but it was slightly different. It felt more sinister. Feng Liang Ri was from the Ri family, so he couldn’t be from the magic clan. He seemed to have unusual secret, one I would have to investigate later on.’

I closed my eyes and focused on the dim Gold Dan to gather magic power. Light element slowly filled the Gold Dan as I went into my meditative state.

When I woke up, it was already daytime. It should be the next day’s morning. I got out of bed and moved my body, feeling much better. ‘At least eighty percent of my magic power has

recovered. The gathering speed of my magic power also seemed to be much quicker than before; this was probably related to when the God King shed my mortal body and exchanged my bones.’

My stomach kept on growling. I hadn’t eaten anything since last night, so I figured I’d head to the canteen. I wondered why Ma Ke hadn’t come to find me.

Chapter 14 – Stirring The Heart

When I walked out of the room, it was quiet. Where had everyone gone? When I reached the lower floor of  the dormitory, I met the dormitory’s receptionist, an old man. He grinned at me. “You’re already late for class! Why aren’t you rushing?”

I was in shock. “What time is it? Why am I late?”

He replied, “If you don’t hurry up, the third period of the morning classes will soon end.”

Ah! It was already that late. After thanking him, I rushed out of the dormitory. When I reached the entrance of the classroom,

Teacher Si Lan Yu was teaching the class. Let’s just face the music! It’s just being late anyways.

I shouted, “Permission to enter!”

Teacher Yu replied, “Enter!”

I pushed open the classroom door. When I walked into the classroom, I lowered my head. “Teacher, I’m sorry for being late.” I could feel that all of the students are looking in my direction.

Teacher Yu said, “Please remember to be on time next time

and quickly take your seat.” ‘Teacher Yu is really so easy going! Haha, it seems that I’ve been let off the hook! I calm down and sit back in my seat. Something feels different today. The gazes in the students’ eyes aren’t as complicated. All of their eyes seems  to  all  be  filled  with  respect  and  even  have  signs  of

longings instead. It looks like the victory over Feng Liang had a huge effect in the class!’

I peeked at Mu Zi, who was at my side. She was the only one who hadn’t looked at me since I entered the classroom. I whispered to her, “Hey, were you there when I fought against Feng Liang yesterday?

Mu Zi didn’t look at me and coldly replied, “I wasn’t  and please stop talking to me during class.”

I pouted and took a piece of paper out from my bag to resume the love letter battle. I frantically wrote on the paper and didn’t even bother to head out during the break. Finally, after the fourth period, I finished writing my 2000 word masterpiece.

What I wrote wasn’t corny at all. It was the feelings I had felt when I sparred with Feng Liang. I used the remaining few sentences to express my feelings for Mu Zi. I flipped through the pages. ‘I hope this time Mu Zi won’t tear it up. If she really tears

it up, it will mean failure. I won’t have any more chances to make her fall for me. Currently, I don’t know why, but my feelings of revenge are lessening. I even like her cold attitude instead of hating it.’

I placed the papers on her table and waited to see if she would take them. She turned her head and glared at me while I smiled back at her. She took a look at the papers and, found that they weren’t some corny love letter, but a battle  analysis.  She became serious and looked really interested in what she was reading. ‘There’s hope! Haha! Wonderful!’

Mu Zi flipped through the pages and wrote a few words on the last page before handing them back to me. I almost screamed out in joy because she didn’t tear up my letter and even replied. A soothing feeling passed through my entire body.

I took back the letter and saw a line of unkempt words. ‘I was shocked not because of what she wrote, but rather because her handwriting was just too awful! It looked just like tadpole writing.’ I turned my head to look at her before looking back at

her writing. While suppressing my laughter, I seriously tried to decipher the words from her tadpole handwriting.

‘Luckily, my deciphering skills were strong and I somewhat understood what she had written: ‘You are indeed very strong as you were able to defeat Feng Liang Ri, but it is just impossible for us to be together. From now on, please stop disturbing me.’

‘As I read her words, I didn’t feel any sadness, but instead became extremely happy! I’ve finally moved her! This isn’t the same uncaring attitude as before; she replied me. There’s hope! Great hope!’

I carefully stashed the letter. My passion hadn’t seem to reach

her yet. ‘I will continue trying to chase her tomorrow. I believe that if I continue to chase her without giving up, I’ll get some results.’

After school, I found Ma Ke. “Why didn’t you come to get me this morning?”

Ma Ke replied, “I was afraid that the after effects of yesterday were too severe, and that you hadn’t fully recovered. Judging from your appearance, it seems that you are fine already.”

I happily said, “Of course I am fine! My current magic power recovery speed is very fast. Let’s go and quickly grab some food! I’m starving!”

After we walked into the canteen with our arms around each other’s shoulders, I showed my White Rice Bucket characteristic and crazily gobbled up my food. Suddenly, an attractive scent floated over as Hai Shui sat at the same table as us.

She asked, “Zhang Gong, how are you? How are your injuries recovering?”

I smiled as I replied. “I really have to thank you for this. If you hadn’t helped me treat my wounds yesterday, I might not have been able to get out of bed today.”

Hai Shui said, “As long as you’re fine, it’s enough!” After saying that, she seemed to have felt something, and her small, fair and delicate face reddened.

Ma Ke teased her. “Why is your face so red?”

Hai Shui glared at him and pouted playfully, “It wouldn’t do if

he was injured.”

I hurriedly intercepted. “Hai Shui, how is Feng Liang? He shouldn’t still be in a dangerous condition, right?

Hai Shui frowned. “He is alright. He’ll survive and has already woken up. However, it’ll take a long time for him to fully recover. Your moves were truly ferocious.”

I sighed, “I didn’t have any other choices at that moment. You should’ve seen the match. The magic spell he used was too unusual. It seemed to be dark magic. If I hadn’t fought with all my might, you probably wouldn’t be able to see me today.”

Hai Shui giggled and replied, “Feng Liang not only didn’t blame you, but wanted to thank you for what you did yesterday. If you hadn’t treated him immediately, he would have died already. Although it is an impartial competition, the results will be undesirable if someone really loses his life in the academy. Furthermore, he has the powerful Ri family supporting him! That’s right! About the Ri family, you should keep an eye out for them. You never know when they will get their revenge. Yesterday, after Feng Liang’s grandfather, an esteemed elder of the Ri family, Si Feng Ri, found out that you severely injured Feng Liang, he was raged in anger. If you hadn’t been in the academy, he would’ve already come to get his revenge. That stubborn old man will do anything to maintain the prestige of his family. For now, you should try and keep a low profile. He should calm down after Feng Liang recovers.”

I smilingly said, “Thank you for telling me this; but so what if the Ri family wants to take their revenge? Are they just going to justify it with their nobility? Feng Liang and I were fighting in an impartial competition. I really want to see what they’ll do to me!”

Hai Shui hastily said after hearing my words, “Lower your voice! It’ll be terrible if someone else heard what you said. It can’t be that you don’t know that the whole kingdom will be in a civil war soon? Currently, the Emperor is on his last breaths. Once he stops breathing, the civil war will begin. Furthermore, the three main families holds lots of powers in the kingdom.”

Chapter 15 – Returning Home To Report

I was startled and asked, “It can’t be grave to the point of starting a civil war?” I looked at Ma Ke. He was also in shock. He clearly didn’t know the current state of affairs.

Hai Shui replied, “Why isn’t it possible? The three main powers are currently all preparing their militaries!  Anytime now, they’ll start a civil war.”

I sighed. “War is the cruelest! If war really happens, the commoners will be ones that suffers the most. Furthermore, the kingdom’s power will weaken drastically during a civil war. It’ll disturb the balance between the three kingdoms.”

Hai Shui stared at me for a while, eyes wide. “Wow~ I didn’t expect that you’d analyze the situation like that. It would be great if you joined our Xing family. With your magic power, it should be able to bring the family to it’s peak!”

I laughed and anxiously looked at Ma Ke. “I think that we should forget about that suggestion as even the problem we currently have with your sister can’t be solved.”

Ma Ke supported me, saying, “Right, right! You should stop putting Zhang Gong on the spot!”

Hai Shui pouted her cute and small lips, “Humph! Sister isn’t the problem! I don’t care! Are you going to tell me if you’re going to agree or not? I’ll just ask my grandfather, okay?” ‘Hai

Shui was one of the candidates to inherit the Xing Family so her position in the family was very high. If she really suggested for me to enter her family, the chance of success would definitely be very high.’

I immediately shook my head. “No! Just forget it! I don’t want to be restrained and love my freedom. Moreover, I just offended the Ri family. If I join your family, won’t it lead to conflict between the two families?”

Hai Shui lowered her head and thought. “What you said is right! However, my offer still stands. If you ever change your mind, you must tell me! You carry on having your meals; I’ll head back first.”

As Ma Ke focused on Hai Shui’s back as she left, he said to me, “Boss, thank you! I know that you refused Hai Shui because of me. I really don’t know what…”

I patted his shoulder. “Stop saying such things! We are brothers! Anyway, I won’t join your family as well. Honestly, I hope that this will not result in war! Is peace so bad? We can only continue flourishing ourselves if we stay united. During my previous adventures, I met the Magic race. They didn’t look at our human race with good intentions and rather wanted us gone. If we have an internal war, won’t it be the perfect chance for them to invade us?

“Magic race? Boss, you met the Magic race?”

“Yup! Why?”

“This is a big issue! I will immediately inform my father. The information that the Magic race might invade us is super important!”

I curiously asked, “You don’t need to be this nervous, right?”

Ma Ke rebuked, “How could I not be nervous? The Magic race must have used an unknown method to enter the our Eastern continent. This proves that they have  terrible  intentions towards our human race. This information is extremely important!”

I scratched my head and thought back to the exquisite, beautiful face of the Magic race’s princess. “The Magic race isn’t that terrifying. They are just like us, living in the world. Why do you look like you’ve met a ghost?”

“The Magic race and our human kind are not the same! They are enemies to all of the human race.”

“Alright! I don’t want to continue arguing with you. Just do whatever you like! Let’s quickly finish our meal! I want to head back to the dormitory for a break.”

Ma Ke left the academy and headed home to report the important information to his father that night.

During the next day’s class, I wrote another letter to Mu Zi. I wrote just a few sentences: “Yesterday when I received your reply, I was extremely elated. I just want to ask you, why do you think it’s impossible for us to be together and want me to not to disturb you anymore? I really can’t stop myself from  really liking you. Even though you are very cold to me, I know that you’re actually very kind hearted. Can you please give me a chance? I promise I will forever protect you!” While writing, I

no longer thought of revenge. ‘Mu Zi’s plain appearance had become so adorable. It couldn’t be that I’d really fallen in love with her? No, it couldn’t be.‘ I silently reminded myself not to forget to execute my revenge on her.

After I gave her the letter, she replied on the paper, “Stop asking me! We definitely can’t be together. I will never fall for you! Just give up! Hai Shui is the one who loves you. She should be the one that you choose!”

After I finished reading her unkempt words, I focused on her face. She felt my hot gaze and looked at me. I whispered to her, “Please give me a reason?” When I asked that, my heart actually felt a dull ache.

Mu Zi’s eyes showed a complicated expression and she whispered back, “Just don’t ask, okay?”

She didn’t not look as cold, but was actually really delicate. My heart began trembling. I suddenly reached out to hold her cold, yet tender hand. Once I touched her hand, She screamed out in shock and almost toppled out of her chair.

It was the current lesson is with the annoying old mage. “Zhang Gong, what are you doing? It is class time!”

I awkwardly laughed, “Teacher, Mu Zi got scared by a cockroach just now so I just went to support her.” Mu Zi’s face flushed, but didn’t say anything. She just looked down at her lapels.

The old man, finding he did not have any evidence to use against me, angrily shouted, “Please take note of that next time! Students, I will teach up to here as it is nearing the end of the class. We will have a test to test your knowledge on magic spells tomorrow. I hope that every student will come to class prepared for the test to achieve good grades for it. There’s a chance for those who fail to be unable to advance to year four!”  After saying that, he glared at me.

‘No! This can’t be happening.There’s a test tomorrow? I haven’t been listening much in class, and the classes are short. How am I supposed to take the test on the knowledge of spells? It isn’t the same as a test on usage of magic spells! Damn him! I’ll need to rely on Ma Ke this time.’

I whispered to Mu Zi, “You didn’t hurt yourself, did you? How about we have lunch together today?” Mu Zi did not reply, but took out a paper and wrote on it before throwing it to me.

I looked down at the paper. She wrote: “Please stop disturbing me! I am begging you! Now, I am the laughingstock of the class. In the future, please also stop writing letters to me.” When I read her words, my heart coldly shuddered. However, I remembered her reddened face. I knew that she had some feelings for me. Since she refused to join me for lunch, then I would just forget about it. I’ll take it easy for now, but one day I would definitely get her to willingly come into my arms.

Chapter 16 – Audience With The Prince

After the first lesson of the day ended, Ma Ke came to find me. Looking at his serious expression, I knew that something happened.

He pulled me to a secluded area. “Boss, something bad happened. When I went back to tell my father about  you meeting the Magic race, my father was astonished and told me to bring you to see him. What do you think?”

I frowned. “Is it really that serious? How is the Emperor’s condition? Is it as bad as what Hai Shui told us?”

Ma Ke seriously nodded his head. “My father said that the

Emperor only has three to five months left to live. The Emperor also does not have a son to inherit the throne. Once he passes away, the internal affairs of the kingdom will change greatly. The competition for the throne will be really intense.”

I thought for a while. “Alright! I will meet your father. When shall we head over?”

Ma Ke replied, “Tonight. After classes today, I will come and find you.”

I noded. “Alright!”

After returning to class, my mood became serious. ‘If the Emperor dies, there is a high chance that the kingdom of Aixia will become segregated. It’ll be worst case scenario that I don’t want to see. Now there are three groups of main powers. If one falls, it will badly influence Aixia. To be truthful, Ma Ke’s

father, Ke Zha Ao Er, should be the top candidate for the throne as he is the Emperor’s blood related brother. His strength is also stronger than that of the Emperor. However, in the current situation, the other two main powers obviously have the intention of teaming up. It’ll be hard for Prince Ke Zha Ao Er to fight against them, especially since Duke Te Yi has the Royal Magic Mage Union as his main trump card. This is so frustrating!’

I shook my head. ‘What does this really have to do with me? It isn’t as if I am also fighting for the throne. But no, if the war really happens, doesn’t it mean that it’ll be a terrible situation? Is there a way to avoid this? As an individual, what can I do? Even if I am a Magister, there is still no hope of stopping this

war. During the meeting with Ma ke’s father tonight, I’ll try to understand what kind of person he is.’

Suddenly, there was a piece of paper in front of me. I sat, stunned for a while, before picking up the paper and reading it. This was what was written on the paper, “What  are  you thinking about so deeply?” ‘It was from Mu Zi. It really was her!

I looked at her in high spirits, but she just continued to look at the whiteboard as if she didn’t know that I was staring at her.’

I quickly wrote, “Some important, worrying issues regarding the kingdom. This is the first time that you’ve written me a letter. It made me really happy. It can’t be that you have fallen in love with me?”

After I wrote it, I passed it to Mu Zi. She read it and looked at me, before whispering, “You are just driveling! What important issues regarding the Kingdom? All you do everyday is just play. I have never seen you pay attention in class and you are now worrying about the big issues happening in the Kingdom? I was just afraid that the teacher would call for you so I wrote a note for you to remind you to listen properly. Don’t misunderstand, I don’t like you.” After she said that, her face reddened for a

moment.

‘Her expression serves to be a proof that success is nearing.’

Ma Ke and I left the academy and went directly to the prince’s mansion that night.

“Your house is really huge!” As I look at the imposing prince’s mansion, I gasped in awe.

Ma Ke smiled wryly. “Well, my father is a prince so his household is held to a higher standard. Let’s quickly head inside!” At the entrance, when the guards on duty saw Ma Ke they immediately bowed. “Welcome back, Second Young Master!”

I curiously asked Ma Ke, “Why aren’t they calling you young prince?”

Ma Ke’s face reddened. “Boss, stop making fun of me! How can I be a young prince? I will always be your brother. Quickly go and inform my father and say that I brought the magic scholar Zhang Gong.” The second sentence was meant for the guard. Ma Ke said I was only a magic scholar so that he wouldn’t expose my actual abilities.

The guard respectfully looked at me.‘The youngsters this days are incredible. He’s able to become a magic scholar at such a young age.’ He then turned around and ran into the mansion to relay the message.

Ma Ke led the way in front of me. While we walked, he said, “I will first bring you to my father’s study as he usually meets his guest there.”

I smiled and replied. “At your house, I will definitely listen to you. Let’s go!”

The height of the interior of the mansion was very tall. It was both interesting and appealing. There was a rock garden and a forest in the mansion that quivered under the moonlight. Every

20m stood a guard. After walking for a while, we finally reached

the study that Ma Ke had previously mentioned. ‘How was it a study? It looked like a small scale library instead. It was 500 m in diameter and tall bookshelves surrounded the place. Many books were dazzlingly lined up on the bookshelves.’

Ma Ke told me, “Boss, you can take a seat first. I’ll check whether my father has arrived.” As he said that, he led me to the center of the couch meant for guests.

After Ma Ke went out I got bored as I didn’t have anything to do. I stood up randomly took a book off one of the bookshelves.

<< Three Hundred Poems>>. It looked really old as it was even bounded by strings. The pages had also turned yellow.

‘I opened the book and realized it was just ancient poems that I hadn’t seen before. I skimmed through the book and found that it was rather interesting.’ Just as I was about to read more

of it, a guard announced from outside the room. “His Highness has arrived!”

I hurriedly returned the book and went back to the couch. When the door opened, Ma Ke entered the room first, but stepped aside. Behind him, a middle aged man with a belt of embroidered jade stepped firmly into the study. ‘He seemed to

have an imposing appearance and manners. He looks similar to Ma Ke, but has a royal aura.’

When he entered the room and looked at me, his eyes dazzling with radiance, I unyieldingly returned his gaze. It was obvious that the magic level of this prince was not low. He laughed. “You must be Zhang Gong! You’re so young! Please have a seat. Don’t be modest!”

I bowed and said, “Your Highness, it is a pleasure to meet you.”

The prince said, “You can treat my place as your own home. There is no need for etiquette. Please have a seat. Ma Ke, come and join us.” As he said that, he just sat down first.

While Ma Ke and I sat facing the prince, servants served us some tea. “You can all retire for the night. Without my order, no one is to be within thirty meter circumference from the study.”

“Understood!” The servants and guards withdrew.

The prince took a sip of his tea before raising his head and said, “I heard from my son, Ma Ke, that you’ve already reached the Magisters level. This is really worthy  for  a  celebration!” ‘The prince’s wording instantly gave me a good feeling. Ever

since he entered the room, he was very polite, and he didn’t directly ask about the Magic race, but instead congratulated me on becoming a Magister. It could be seen that he highly valued talented people.’

Chapter 17 – Secret Talk In The Dark Of Night

I respectfully replied, “I was just lucky. Ma Ke’s not far from reaching the Magister level either.”

The prince laughed. “You’re a really humble child. You have accomplished so much, but you aren’t arrogant at all. It’s really rare for this to happen. I’ll need you to help me discipline Ma Ke in the future as I have high expectations for him. Since his elder brother doesn’t have much abilities, I plan to pass all of my duties to him.” The prince seemed to be a very good natured elder.

I smiled and replied, “Ma Ke has been really hard working.

I’m sure he will meet your expectations.”

The prince replied, “Let’s hope so. Since you are a friend of Ma Ke’s and the same age as my son, I’m not being formal to you, so please stop calling me prince. It makes me feel like we are far from each other. From now on, you can just call me uncle Ao Er.” Even though I knew he’s trying to pull me to his side, my good impression of him kept on increasing.

The prince continued to say, “Yesterday, I was in shock when I hear from Ma Ke that you’ve met the Magic race. The Magic race is our human race’s enemy. If we allow them to invade the northern side of the world, then our human race will go extinct. Can you tell the whole incident to uncle in detail?”

I replied, “Alright!” I told him the story of meeting the demon race at Serene Dream lake. After the prince heard what I said, he sighed. “I really don’t know how they managed to do that. They actually crossed Si Te Lun to reach our land. It’s just too unbelievable!”

I asked, “Could they have climbed over the Heavenly Falling Mountain?

Ma Ke replied for his father, “It’s impossible. The Heavenly Falling Mountain reaches high above the clouds and the midpoint of the mountain is completely covered in snow and ice. It’s impossible for any life forms to pass  through  that point.”

The prince said, “It’s been two years since that happened. If they wanted to invade us, why is there no movement at all? Is it because they are unprepared? No. Currently, the Kingdom of Aixia has enemies in and outside of it. Zhang Gong! You should know that the three main powers, including mine, are waiting for the time where the Emperor cease to live. His Majesty had come to find me and said that he wanted to pass the throne

down to me, but the current situation won’t follow the Emperor’s decision. The three main powers and Duke Te  Yi have already prepared to team up to deal with me. If it’s just military force, I am not afraid of them, but they also have many advanced magicians. My force’s magical abilities can’t be compared to theirs. Moreover, I can’t assemble the whole kingdom’s army. With my current power, it’s  impossible  to fight against them.”

I asked, “If they aren’t royal, how are they going to fight for the throne?”

The prince replied, “From what I know, they want to form a democratic government and use policies to decide  future matters so there’ll no longer be any election of  another Emperor. If that happens, the kingdom that our Ao Er clan that has always painfully governed will be taken over by them.”

I asked, “Is it impossible to use the issue of the Magic Race to negotiate with them? Fighting against the enemy should be the first priority!”

After hearing my words, the prince eyes brightened. It was obvious that he had been moved. “That idea is not bad, but it’ll not be able to solve the competition to get the throne. Even if we come to a truce for a moment, it’s still impossible to solve the contradictions with their natural instincts. If….”

The prince didn’t continue speaking and only shook his head. Ma Ke anxiously asked, “Father, if what? Please quickly carry on saying the rest of that sentence.”

The prince helplessly said, “Saying it out is useless anyways as it won’t be able to happen.”

I said, “Since you have thought of a solution, you should just say it so that we can try to help think with you and maybe even think it through.”

The prince replied, “If we can manage to suppress them with the highest level of magic, I definitely will have the confidence to successfully win the power battle. After all, this is a magic Kingdom. As long as our magic power is really strong, it will be the most useful negotiating tool.”

I thought before asking, “Does the highest level magic competition refers to the competition of how many Magisters

there are in both of the opposing forces?

The prince nodded.

I continued to ask, “How many Magisters do the opposing forces have?”

The prince replied saying, “In the northern part of this world, there are ten Grand Magister. This kingdom has  eight Magisters. The opposing three main powers, including  the Royal Magic Union Mage Union’s leader earth Magister Dun Yu Xi, has four Magisters in total. Dun Yu Xi has also always been the second rank of the Magisters.”

I wondered, “Who are the other four Magisters?”

The prince explained, “One of the other four Magisters is the Royal Advanced Magic Academy’s principal, Chuan Song Zhen, a Spatial Magister. (He is worthy of learning spatial magic as even his name is related to time as his name means to be able to change time?) The third ranked Magister is the Royal Intermediate Magic Academy’s principal, light Magister  Lao Lun Di. He is also your teacher. The seventh ranked is the Intermediate Magic Academy’s vice principal, fire Magister Xin De Long, Ma Ke’s mentor. The ninth ranked is the Royal Advanced Magic Academy’s vice principal, fire Magister Si Di Lie.”

I continued to ask him, “Don’t you and the opposing force currently have an equal number of Magisters?”

The prince smiled, “How can it be that easy? Currently, only Ma Ke’s Teacher Xin is helping me. The other three Magisters hold neutral positions. If they decide to help me, with their reputations and many years of teaching experiences, when it is revealed to the public, the power I holds will rise drastically. I will then stand a chance against the opposing force. The overall situation now is that the opposing force’s Magisters are ranked second, fourth, fifth and sixth, but our rankings in Magisters will be the first, third, seventh and ninth rank. We’ll still be in a disadvantaged position. Moreover, there is also  no  certainty that the other three Magisters will be on my side.”

‘I finally understand why the prince called me here. First, he wanted to ask about the Magic Race, and second, he wanted to ask me to convince Teacher Di. Teacher Di and the Royal Advanced Magic Academy’s principal Chuan Song Zhen have deep relationships. This way, the prince can gain the support of four Magisters, including me. He will then gain an advantage. He’s really crafty!’

The prince, seeing me deep in thought, did not say anything or even pressure me for my answer, and just waited for me to speak.

I silently sighed. ‘For the commoners of the kingdom, how can I not help him? Moreover, this concerns Ma Ke as well.’ I raised my head and said, “Uncle Ao Er, I hope you’ll treat the citizens of the Kingdom of Aixia kindly. I’ll do my best to convince Teacher Di.”

Chapter 18 – I’m The Mediator

The prince smiled honestly and cordially said, “Zhang Gong, don’t worry! Right now, fighting the Magic race is most important. Duke Te Yi is an extremely selfish person and the three big families are also not united; if they really governed the kingdom, they’d lead the kingdom’s downfall. We mustn’t conduct a coup d’etat right now, but instead find a peaceful method to solve the inheritance of the throne. The commoners are innocent. I definitely won’t let them be harmed  by  the power battle.” ‘He really is an old fox; he definitely noticed that

I care greatly about the commoners and said that to appease me.’

I nodded. “Alright, uncle. Let’s leave it as it is. I’ll head back first. You just have to wait for my good news!”

After bidding farewell to the prince, Ma Ke and I returned to the academy. On the way, Ma Ke asked, “Boss, what do you think?”

While still walking I said, “Actually, I know that your father is just using me.” As I said that, I looked meaningfully at Ma Ke. Ma Ke just lowered his head and didn’t say anything.

I patted his shoulder. “You don’t need to overthink! I didn’t mean anything much; I just feel a little  uncomfortable. However, it’s better to that your father inherit his  rightful throne than the opposing powers. Just stop worrying! I’ll definitely help your father.”

Ma Ke grabbed my hand and excitedly said, “Boss, I really don’t know what to say!”

I raised my head to look at the time. “You don’t need to say anything! Let’s walk faster! You return to the academy first. It isn’t too late right now so I’ll visit the Royal Intermediate Magic Academy and find Teacher Di to see if I can get his support.”

At a forked road, Ma Ke and I split up. I quickly arrived at the Royal Intermediate Magic Academy. At the familiar academy I had previously attended, the guard recognised me. I said that I had come to find Teacher Di and he quickly let me in.

After reaching the entrance of Teacher’s Di living area, I couldn’t help but remember the past. He cared for me so dearly and was also a lonely elderly man. My heart filled with gratitude for him.

I shouted from outside, “Teacher Di, I am here to visit you!”

When the door opened, Teacher Di walked out of the room and said with a smile, “Why are you back already,  after attending the Advanced Magic Academy for only a few days? Can’t bear to leave here?”

I walked over and clung to his arm, acting like a spoiled child. “Of course, I miss you! Haven’t I come to visit you?”

Teacher Di laughed. “You really are a good child. Let’s go inside the room!”

I awkwardly smiled and said, “I didn’t buy you anything and just came over. Are you busy with the Academy’s work?”

Teacher Di reclined in his seat and smiled. “It’s alright. It isn’t that busy as a lot of things doesn’t need me to personally deal with them. To be honest, I am thinking of retiring soon. How about you inherit my position after you finish settling the Monster King problem?”

I immediately waved my hands at him. “No! No! I am too young! How can I become the representative of the school? Isn’t Teacher Long a better candidate to succeed your position? I also think that you should slow down in your work.”

Teacher Di said, “Teacher Long is indeed one of the best candidates, but now he has already gone to join the  power battle. He can’t remain calm during such a time. How do you think I can give the academy to him without worrying?”

It seemed that Teacher Di hated the current power battle. ‘How am I going to ask him?’

Teacher Di saw me not saying anything. “Did you come back to ask me for something? Just say it, you want me to help Prince Ke Zha.”

I dumbfoundedly replied, “Yes.”, and then  snapped back to my senses and looked at Teacher Di with my mouth gaping open. I was in shock. “How did you know? Have you learned a

spell that lets you foresee the future?”

Teacher Di smiled, “How could I not understand you? With your relationship with Ma Ke, how could Ke Zha not make use of you to convince me?”

I scratched my head and said, “Teacher, you really are amazing. Prince Ke Zha is indeed trying to make use of me to convince you.”

Teacher Di sighed. “The situation in the kingdom of Aixia is really tense. If you make one wrong move, you will be caught up in the chaos of the war. Since you know that Ke Zha is using you, why did you still come?”

I smiled and said, “I really missed you, so can’t I visit you?”

Teacher Di laughed at my reply. “Stop driveling and tell me the truth!”

I became serious and earnestly said, “Actually, I did come to try and convince you, but it’s not for Prince Ke Zha. It is for the numerous commoners in the Kingdom of Aixia instead.”

Teacher Di got interested. “Hmm! continue speaking.”

I explained, “If you continue to remain neutral and don’t help any side, the civil war will definitely occur. Our homeland will be filled with blood and the commoners won’t be able to continue to live in peace as they’ll inevitably be caught up in the battle. If, at that time, the Magic race was to invade, we would have too many problems on our hands and wouldn’t be able to unite with the other two kingdoms to fight back. Furthermore, in a few years, the Monster King will also appear. Who knows what method he’ll be use to do so? If the human race isn’t united, there’s a possibility that the human race will become extinct. For the future of the human race, I’m begging you to help the Prince Ke Zha. Teacher Di, do you think I am overthinking the situation?”

Teacher Di shook his head, “You aren’t overthinking. That situation might really occur. I’m curious about why you aren’t asking me to support Duke Te Yi and the three big families. Even though I’ll just be a redundant addition to their forces, their chance of victory will be much higher, even though their strength already exceeded that of the Prince. The reason you’re supporting Prince Ke Zha can’t be Ma Ke, is it?”

I replied, “Even though Ma Ke can influence my decision to an extent, he’s not the main reason. More importantly, if  the throne is succeeded by Prince Ke Zha, it’ll be logical as he’s current Emperor’s only brother. The commoners and nobles should be able to accept that. If we have the strength  to suppress Duke Te Yi and the three big families and let them know that their plans are impossible, I believe they won’t continue to rebel too intensely. After all, they aren’t suited to inherit the throne. At that time, they’ll just try to secure their nobility and life. We just need to make some moves to appease them at that moment. If they rebel again in the future, it will no longer be a problem for us to worry about anymore. I feel that the Prince is really skillful and strategic so he should be able to deal with them. On the other hand, if we were to support Duke Te Yi, it would be hard to say what would happen as Prince Ke Zha is the rightful successor to the throne . Prince Ke Zhadefinitely won’t compromise with them. He also currently holds the entire kingdom’s military power. If we can’t pull out the grass by it’s roots and let him escape, he’ll definitely return to get his throne back. The civil war will then definitely happen. This is why I chose to support Prince Ke Zha.”

Chapter 19 – For The Sake Of The People

Teacher Di stroked his beard and nodded his head with an approving expression. After hearing what I said, he started to laugh for a long time.

I was shocked and hurriedly asked, “Teacher, how are you feeling? Are you feeling ill?”

Teacher Di slowly calmed down and said, “Good! Good! Good! You deserve to be my student. Zhang Gong, your analysis is extremely detailed. I’ll do what you requested. I’ll go and meet Prince Ke Zha and a few old friends tomorrow. These old friends are none other than the Advanced Magic Academy’s principal, spatial Magister, Chuan Song Zhen, and the Royal Magic Academy’s vice principal, fire Magister, Si Di Lie!”

I stood and bowed deeply to Teacher Di. “Teacher, I thank you on the behalf of every commoners who lives in Aixia. With the other teachers and you joining, the two opposing sides have four Magisters each. This’ll serve as a bargaining chip during negotiations.”

Teacher Di smiled. “Silly child! It isn’t four against four Magisters, but instead five against four Magisters. Don’t forget that you yourself are a Magister. However, you must keep this secret and not tell anyone about it. You understand? That’s right! I heard that you seriously injured the grandson of the Ri family. How did that happen?”

I sheepishly smiled and replied, “Yeah.” I told Teacher Di the story. Teacher Di frowned. “You’re really foolish! Even if he has a special spell, you shouldn’t need to win so strenuously! You are a Magister. There should be a difference in the quality of the strength!”

I stunned. “What was I supposed to do then?”

Teacher Di explained. “It’s actually really simple. Have you forgotten your self-created magic fusion technique? You can use it to increase the strength of your magic spell! Also, you didn’t use the fusion spell, but instead used a large area spell in a one on one battle? Do you still remember the fireball Ma Ke used on you? It was a good method, but you didn’t use it! You’re really foolish! You won’t be able to defeat any of the ten Magisters in your current state. That battle with Feng Liang shall be a learning experience for you. Next time, please think a little bit more before you act. You’re not just my hope, but  also  the entire human race’s hope! Do you understand?” It was clear to me that he wanted me to become a Grand Magister from what he said!

‘That’s right! Why didn’t I think of that?’ I lowered my head and said, “Thank you for your guidance. I’ll definitely work harder training in that area!”

Teacher Di replied, “You don’t have to head back today, just stay for the night.”

I smiled. “That’s great! I also want to accompany you.”

A silent night passed and the morning of the next day came. I set off to the Advanced Magic Academy. Before classes started, I went to find Ma Ke and told him the good news. Ma Ke became so jubilant, he completely skipped classes to head home and tell his father the news, which also allowed his father to prepare to receive Teacher Di.

After solving this matter, I was ecstatic. My face was filled with overflowing happiness!

Mu Zi curiously looked at me. “What happened to make you this happy?”

I leaned towards her and stopped only when I was really close to her face. “Because you don’t seem to despise me as much already. I’m definitely happy about that and even dreamt about you.”

Mu Zi pushed me away. “You’re so hateful. Keep your distance! Didn’t I tell you that it’s impossible for us to be together? Just give up on me already!”

I moved closer to her again. “Why is it impossible?  This matter depends only on the individual. As long as you like me, it’ll be enough. So? Have you been captivated by my handsomeness, talent and great strength?”

Mu Zi’s face reddened. “Who is captivated by you? Keep your distance! We are in a classroom. It’s bad to be seen like this by others!”

I laughed. “In that case, if it isn’t in a classroom, I can be intimate with you?”

Mu Zi’s face further reddened. “You’re despicable! Using my own words against me! I didn’t mean it that way. You should sit down already- class is starting. Don’t tell me that you’ve forgotten that the teacher is going to test us today?” This was the first time Mu Zi showed me her childish side.

‘Ah! I really did forget about it. What do I do?’ I grabbed her arm and shook it. “You must save me! I don’t want to be scolded by that stubborn old man again!” I felt the tenderness of her skin and got excited, even though it was through her shirt.

Mu Zi shook off my hand and turned away from me. “Hmph! You reap what you sow! It’s your fault for not listening in class. I won’t help you!”

“Mu Zi, you are a good person! Please help me! If it wasn’t for you, that old man would have never pick on me.”

Mu Zi just glanced at me with her beautiful eyes, which said: How dare you say that? She took a piece of paper from her bag and gave it to me. “The rest will be up to you. The main points are in here!”

I elatedly took it and looked at the densely packed, unkempt words. ‘I have a way to cheat!’ I gestured to Mu Zi, wanting to hug her, but she immediately dodged away. “What are you doing? If you continue to be this unreasonable, I’ll ignore you forever!”

I felt wronged. “I just wanted to express my gratitude to you. I won’t do it again so please stop being angry.”

Mu Zi  sighed.  “I  really  don’t  know  what  to  do  about  you!

Teacher is coming! Quickly take your seat!”

The old man took a stack of paper and entered the classroom. He surveyed the class once before saying, “There is a test on your magic knowledge today. I hope that everyone is prepared for the test!” After speaking, he intentionally looked at me.

The test was handed out, and all of the questions were on advanced spells. Actually, it wasn’t too difficult for  me. However, it had been two years since I had last properly listened to class. I only vaguely remembered those advanced spells. I

would’ve been much better off with a test on the usage of spells. Luckily, I still had the small paper note that Mu Zi gave to me.

I sticked the slip of paper onto the chair of the student in front of me. Mu Zi immediately whispered, “You’re being too obvious!”

I replied, “We mustn’t whisper during the test! Your two ears and your nose shouldn’t be concerned with any external affairs, just focus on the exam with your heart and soul!” Mu Zi was stunned by my literary talent. ‘Seeing her stunned expression, I

was secretly happy. This was something I read in the Three Hundred Poems from the prince’s mansion and was the only phrase I remembered. I managed to make use of it today! Haha!’

I copied down as much as I could. After a while, I was unsatisfied and just placed the cheat sheet directly next to the test paper and copied it.

Chapter 20 – An Invitation To Dinner

‘This is bad! The old man noticed me.’ He grinned and walked directly towards me. Mu Zi was so frightened she didn’t dare look up.

‘If I get caught by him, I’ll be in great trouble! What should I do? It’s too late to hide the notes. Since I’m dead already, I’ll use my ultimate move!’

I calmly sat upright and looked at the teacher. I placed the slip of paper in front of my nose and blew my nose really hard, which resulted to the paper to land into a corner of the classroom. The teacher glared at me, but didn’t dare to pick up the evidence that I was cheating.

He just turned around and walked away. I let out a long breath and thought. ‘That was extremely close !’ Mu Zi who was sitting beside me giggled uncontrollably as she laid her upper body on the table.

I whispered, “Make sure you don’t get saliva on your paper.” Mu Zi then forced herself to stop laughing. She raised her head to continue answering the test questions.

I looked at my paper. Since I’d copied quickly, I’d answered seventy percent of the questions. I would at least pass. I absent- mindedly answered the rest of the questions, then leaned back in my chair and waited for the papers to be collected.

The lesson finally ended. After the test papers were collected,

I happily said to Mu Zi, “There should be no problem this time. Haha. Thank you so much for your help. How about I treat you to lunch today?”

Mu Zi replied, “Your reaction earlier was really fast. The teacher should be terribly angry with you this time.  He obviously knows that you were cheating, but can’t get the evidence.”

I complacently smiled and said, “Of course! I am a counter expert! Are you or are you not going to have lunch with me?”

Mu Zi thought for a moment. A hint of cunningness flashed through her eyes. “Alright! However, I don’t want to eat at the academy’s canteen. I want to leave the academy to eat.”

I generously said, “No problem! You can pick where to eat.

After classes today, let’s go and eat.”

Mu Zi said, “You’re the one who said that! You’ll need to bring lots of money as I can consume lots of food.”

‘Can your ability to eat even compare to mine? I am the famous White Rice Bucket. Heh heh. I want to see who will win.’ I couldn’t possibly tell her that, instead I said, “Relax! I promise I’ll let you eat until you’re satisfied.”

Mu Zi smiled. “Great! It’s been some time since I last had a

good meal. I want to eat a lot of delicious food.”

‘This was the first time the morning lessons have ended without her being furious with me.’ After school, I followed her out of the academy. I followed for a long time, but  we  still hadn’t reached the destination.

I curiously asked, “Hey little missy, where are you bringing me?”

Mu Zi mysteriously smiled at me. “What? Are you scared that I’ll kill you for your money? You were the one who said you wanted to treat me to a meal so stop asking so many questions.”

I hurriedly said, “Alright! I’ll just follow you.” I’m a Magister!

I fear no one.

We reached the destination, but it couldn’t be a restaurant! Mu Zi had brought me to a place filled with gold and jade splendor. It really looked as if it could even be compared to a palace, although I had never entered a palace before. The title of the place was, in huge golden words, Ascending Jade Tide. The maître d’hôtel at the entrance came and greeted us. “Mister and young lady, are you here for a meal?”

Mu Zi nodded her head. “We want a quiet table for two.”

The maître d’hôtel smiled and replied, “Understood. Welcome to the restaurant!” The service was excellent . That, however, made it a costly establishment . We followed the maître d’hôtel and entered the Ascending Jade Tide.

Wow~ The inside was even more luxurious. On the floor was a famous and valuable carpet, and gold and jade ornaments were everywhere. The maître d’hôtel brought us to a window seat on the second floor and even helped pull the chairs back for us to sit. “Please wait a moment. A waitress will come to take your orders.”

As expected, in a moment, a young and beautiful waitress came and gave me a menu. To show the elegant demeanor of a gentlemen, I didn’t even look at the menu and gave it to Mu Zi, gesturing for her to go for it.

Mu Zi wasn’t modest and took the menu from me. She turned to the first page and skimmed through it, and then looked at the second page. After looking, she returned the menu to the waitress. “I want a set of all of the dishes on the first two pages of the menu and a liter of Ascending Jade Tide.”

The waitress looked shocked as she stared at Mu Zi.  “So much? Can you two even finish all of them? We do not allow withdrawal of any orders in this restaurant.”

Mu Zi frowned. “You just need to serve us the dishes. How could you know that we can’t finish them?” The waitress agreed and withdrew with the menu.

I asked, “What is Ascending Jade Tide? Isn’t that the

restaurant’s name?”

Mu Zi replied,”You don’t know? Ascending Jade Tide is an extremely famous beverage. The restaurant became famous due to that beverage so the boss of the restaurant also changed the name of the restaurant to be Ascending Jade Tide.

So it was like that. “You seem to be familiar with this place.

Do you come here often?”

Mu Zi replied, “That’s right. I often came here to eat, but I used up all of the money that I had brought from home. I had no choice but to eat at the academy’s canteen.”

I asked, astonished, “You love the food here so much that you spent all of your money  on it?” Even though  I love to eat, it’s not to her extent.

Mu Zi bashfully smiled. “That’s right. I take great pleasure in eating, especially your human race’s food. It’s amazing!”

“Our human race? You aren’t human!?”

Mu Zi looked as if she had divulged something and mockingly scolded, “You’re the one that isn’t human! Since we’re already

here for the meal, why are you asking so many questions? You don’t feel like paying?”

I immediately surrendered. “Ok! Ok! I’ll just stop asking.”

The dishes came. I then knew why the waitress was afraid that we wouldn’t be able to finish the meal previously. Mu Zi had ordered so much it couldn’t fit on one table. Another server pulled over another table and filled half of the other table with dishes.

I asked in shock, “So many dishes? It’s bad to waste food!”

Mu Zi pouted. “Who said we’ll waste food? Quickly eat! If the food becomes cold, it won’t taste good.” As she said that, she started to eat some prawns with her chopsticks. She ate it with relish. “Yummy! It’s been a long time since I last ate here. This’s just too wonderful.”

‘Since I was the one paying, it wouldn’t be worth it if I didn’t eat any.’ I picked up the jade green colored Ascending Jade Tide and had a sip. It gave me a really fresh and cooling feeling. The cold juice instantly permeated my entire body. It felt a little cold and sweet. It was pretty good!

I said, “I’ll eat as well.” I started to bury myself in my food. The dishes looked, smelled and tasted almost perfect. When I was eating, I even almost swallowed my tongue together with the food. It was just too delicious. Mu Zi really knew how to

pick a place. The dishes in front of us were rapidly being wiped out.

Chapter 21 – Exchanging Titles

After half an hour passed, over ten empty plates lay in front of me. The food was really good. It was the best meal I’d had since birth. I patted my stomach in satisfaction, then exhaled deeply and looked at Mu Zi.

Wow! ‘This can’t be happening- she’s still eating. She really knows how to eat!’ There were many empty plates in front of her too, and I remembered her taking some food from my dishes.

I dumbfoundedly passed her a serviette and said, “Take your time to eat! Don’t choke on it!”

Mu Zi took the serviette and wiped her mouth.  She indistinctly said, “You should also eat, I won’t be so polite anymore.” After she finished saying that, she continued to eat.

I stared at her, stupefied, until she completely finished all of the dishes she’d ordered.

Mu Zi let out a long breath in satisfaction and wiped her mouth. “That’s great! It’s been some time since I had such a good meal.”

I curiously asked, “You’re too formidable! I concede. Doesn’t your stomach feel bloated after eating so much?”

Mu Zi simple-mindedly said, “I don’t feel bloated at all. My metabolism is really good. Moreover, I haven’t actually eaten a lot. Waitress! Please bring me two more portions of deep fried dragon meat, a set of blue whale wings, 2 portions of dessert and 2 portions of ice cream.”

After she ordered more dishes, I hurriedly said, “I’m already filled to the point where I couldn’t possibly eat any more! ”

Mu Zi looked at me. “You may not be able to eat anymore, but I’m still hungry. Those dishes were for me!”

On the sidelines, I watched in awe as she wiped out yet another pile of food. Mu Zi patted her stomach. “That’s really satisfying and wonderful! Alright! You can settle the  bill already. I’m not eating anymore.”

I secretly wiped off my cold sweat. She had finally stopped eating.

I called the waitress over and asked for the check, which she promptly brought. “Mister, the total will be one hundred and three diamond coins, four gold coins and eight silver coins.”

I cried out, “What! Isn’t this robbery? So much?” I looked at the waitress in disgust. She patiently explained, “Mister, the ingredients here are rather rare. For example, the dragon meat

costs two diamond coins per portion…”

‘No wonder Mu Zi told me to bring more money! I’ve been thoroughly cheated for wanting to treat her.’

Mu Zi said from the side, “Ah! It costs so much now. I used to spend only seventy diamond coins for a meal previously. I’m sorry you have to pay so much money.”

What else could I say? I took my amethyst card from my spatial dimension and passed it to the waitress. The waitress respectfully took it from me and said, “We’ll give you an eight percent discount for using an amethyst card. Please wait for a moment.” After hearing her words, my heart felt slightly better.

Mu Zi anxiously asked, “What was that useful card you used to get discounts? I want to get one of those as well!”

‘I won’t offer to treat Mu Zi to more meals in the future. My White Rice Bucket title should go to her.’

Mu Zi suddenly looked pitifully at me.

I asked, “What’s the matter?”

Mu Zi bashfully said, “Can I get another liter of Ascending Jade Tide to drink in the afternoon? It’s really nice and is only five diamond coins.”

I instantly felt as if the sky was spinning and the earth going round. “Alright! Whatever you say!”

I don’t know how I returned to school as when I snapped back to reality I was already in class for the afternoon lessons.

Mu Zi nudged me. “What are you thinking about so deeply?

Do you also want to drink some Ascending Jade Tide?”

I replied, “Oh! I’m not thinking of anything. You can drink that by yourself.”

The female student in front of Mu Zi asked, “What are you drinking? It has a sweet scent.”

Mu Zi replied, “It’s Ascending Jade Tide. Here, have a taste!”

The female student gasped, “Wah! It’s actually  Ascending Jade Tide. I heard it’s really expensive. You’re  really  loaded with money.”

Mu Zi pointed at me. “It wasn’t my money. Zhang Gong bought it. I can share some with you.”

The female student enviously looked at Mu Zi. “He treats you so well. He’s handsome and his magic spells are very powerful. You’re so lucky!”

Mu Zi pouted. “If you like him, you can have him.”

I quietly listened to their conversation until that  part.  I angrily said, “Mu Zi! What did you say?”

Mu Zi turned to me and said, “I haven’t even agreed to be your girlfriend! Why are you being so fierce?”

I instantly became speechless. ‘She indeed hasn’t agreed to be my girlfriend. It looks like I wasted my diamond coins.’ I just collapsed on the table. For some reason, my heart felt really painful.

Maybe it was the Ascending Jade Tide that I drank.  The female student wasn’t bad as she supported me by saying, “Mu Zi! How could you say that to him? Your words are really hurtful.” Mu Zi remained silent.

Finally, class ended and I immediately rushed out of the classroom. I was unusually moody.

I met Ma Ke after walking for a short while. Ma Ke, who had a face overflowing with happiness, stopped me and said, “Boss, it’s great! We succeeded!”

I gloomily asked, “Succeeded? In what?”

Ma Ke curiously replied, “Boss, what happened to you? Are you in a bad mood? Obviously the success I was talking about is the successful formation of the alliance. Today, Teacher Di went to the prince’s mansion to visit my father. After talking for the whole morning, they finally reached an agreement. In the afternoon, they went to find the other three Magisters. Teacher Long can’t be counted on, but the other two Magisters, the academy’s principal and vice principal, both agreed to support father.”

‘This is really a good news!’ I replied, “That’s great! When shall we make our move?”

Ma Ke replied, “My father said that in order to avoid unnecessary clashes, it would be better to start settling the problem as soon as possible. They decided to find Duke Te Yi

and the three big families to negotiate terms tomorrow.”

I replied in shock, “So soon?”

Ma Ke continued to explain, “Initially, father wanted to ask you to come join them, but Teacher Di said that you’re  our secret weapon and that we shouldn’t let the opposing forces know about you.”

I replied, “How am I supposed to be a secret weapon? Anyway, I’ll just wait for the good news tomorrow and just head back to the dormitory.”

Ma Ke asked, “Boss, what happened today? What made you so irritated? Let’s go out for a good meal!”

I hurriedly waved my hands at Ma Ke, fearful of the thought of eating again. “No! Wait until everything is settled, then we’ll celebrate. I don’t know why, but I feel extremely tired today so I’ll head back first.”

Ma Ke replied, “Alright! I won’t disturb you anymore. You should feel better after a night’s rest.”

After bidding farewell to Ma Ke, I returned to the dormitory

and lay on the bed. My heart was roaring like the sea. ‘Why did Mu Zi make my heart hurt so much? Could it be that I have really fallen in love with her? No, that’s impossible! What’s so good about her? She’s neither beautiful nor gentle! Yet, Mu Zi’s silhouette continues to appear in front of me.’

Chapter 22 – Two Tender Encounters

I woke up early in the morning and started moving my body to warm up before circulating the Ascending Dragon’s Battle Spirit that Zhan Hu had taught me. My battle spirit had improved a lot without me noticing. After putting in lots of effort, I managed to hover above the ground. The battle spirit rapidly rushed out from under my feet. I was really surprised that I could levitate, even though I could only maintain it for five minutes. It was just too awesome!

My mood was slightly better. When I entered the classroom, it was that old mage’s lesson. I sat in my seat without even glancing at Mu Zi.

The old mage said, “I’ll start class now. The results for yesterday’s test are out. Overall, everyone did well and passed, but some students passed using dishonest methods. I hope you know that laziness won’t lead to any good fortune. Alright! Today I will be teaching…”

‘It’s obvious he’s talking about me but I’ll just ignore him now that the test is over.’

Mu Zi nudged my side and whispered, “Are you still angry?”

I replied flatly, “I‘m not angry. Why should I be? You were right that I’m nothing to you so how could I be mad at you?”

Mu Zi replied, “You’re so petty!”

I replied angrily, “I‘m petty? You spent eighty of my diamonds coins just yesterday.”

Mu Zi’s face reddened and said sheepishly, “Then you’re not petty, so can we eat at that place for lunch again?” ‘Eat there again? I’ll be bankrupt in less than a month at this rate.’

I replied angrily, “I don’t feel like eating so I’m not going.”

Mu Zi pouted and said, “I knew you wouldn’t go there again. You’re just like the other guys who tried to court me.” After she said that, she lowered her head dejectedly.

I relented and said, “Fine, then we’ll go eat at noon.”

Mu Zi’s eyes brightened after hearing that, but then she became depressed again. “I think we shouldn’t go since you’ll have to spend so much. I don’t know why I have this bad habit of loving to eat so much.”

I was moved by her pitiful look, and said, “This can’t be a bad habit if you’re not stealing or robbing. It’s just eating food so stop being so dejected. We’ll go there at noon.”

Mu Zi started to tear up. “Zhang Gong, you’re so good. Thank you so much! What shall we have for lunch?” After she asked that, her eyes brightened.

I laughed bitterly in my heart as I couldn’t be stingy. “It’ll be up to you. We’ll eat whatever you want.”

Mu Zi exclaimed, “Yay!” ‘Even though I am about to spend some huge sum of diamond coins, my mood is surprisingly better.’

I whispered to her. “If you agree to be my girlfriend, I’ll bring you out to eat everyday!”

Mu Zi looked at me and said, “Are you really going to bring me out to eat everyday?”

I replied, “Yes!”

Mu Zi said, “Alright! I’ll temporarily be your girlfriend, but you have to keep your word!”

I pounded my chest. “Of course! As a gentlemen, how could I go back on my word?” ‘It seems that bringing her out for food was more effective than giving her love letters.’ Just as I

thought that, Mu Zi said, “I have a condition, though, before I agree to be your girlfriend. You still have to write love letters to me every day.”

‘Ah! it seems she is just as vain as other girls.’ “No  problem! I’ll start to write one for you now.” I took a piece of paper out and hurriedly wrote on it. My heart was filled with feelings for her and I finished writing her love letter extremely quickly. As for the contents, they were as corny as they could be.

Mu Zi contentedly read the love letter. She repeatedly showed a bashful expression on her blushing small face.

After reading the letter, she stretched a hand out to me. I was stunned and replied, “What do you want?”

Mu Zi replied, “Please give me the love letters you already wrote for me. I know you kept them.”

I consented, saying, “They’re in the dormitory. I’ll give them to you at noon.”

After morning classes, we went to Ascending Jade Tide again. It was so painful! Even though Mu Zi was more reserved in her orders, it was still fifty diamond coins after the discount. ‘If this

continues on, one day I will definitely be coming here to wash the dishes!’

After Mu Zi agreed to be my girlfriend, her attitude toward me changed. She occasionally showed shy expressions, and didn’t rebuke me as she had before. I was elated.

When we returned for the afternoon lessons, Mu Zi was, for the first time, not focusing in class; because she was reading the letters that I had written for her before. ‘It looks like my

relationship has finally gotten off to a good start and she is starting to accept me.’

When it was close to the end of class, Mu Zi asked, “Let’s  eat at the canteen tonight?”

I replied, “Great! I haven’t eaten with you at the canteen before.”

When class ended, we went to the canteen. There weren’t many students as the ones not in the dormitory usually headed home to eat. We found a quiet spot and ordered some dishes and ate them in great pleasure.

As I ate, I asked Mu Zi, “Mu Zi, how can you not get fat after eating so much everyday?”

Mu Zi glanced at me and said, “How have I not gained weight?

I’m much fatter than before.”

I replied, “Really? I can’t see it. I think it would be better if you were slightly fatter.”

At this moment, a gentle voice said. “So you’re eating here, Zhang Gong.” I turned around and saw Hai Shui.

I curiously asked, “Aren’t you supposed to eat your dinner at home? Why are you at the canteen?”

Hai Shui walked to my side, but didn’t reply to my question. She frowned at Mu Zi. “Zhang Gong, why are you with Mu Zi? Mu Zi, how are you?”

Mu Zi smiled politely and replied, “So it’s Hai Shui! Let’s eat together!” ‘I wonder why she isn’t curious about how Hai Shui knows me.’

Hai Shui placed her hands on my shoulders and smiled towards Mu Zi. “Are you and Zhang Gong familiar enough with each other to be eating together?”

Mu Zi replied shyly, “How can I be familiar with him? We’re just classmates.”

I frowned and said angrily, “Mu Zi, how can you still be like

that? Didn’t you agreed to be my girlfriend this morning?”

Mu Zi smiled. “Why are you angry again? I’m only your temporary girlfriend! I still need to test you.”

Chapter 23 – Battle For Kingship

While listening to our conversation Hai Shui’s face paled drastically. Her body swayed and she looked as if she was going to faint. I hurriedly went to support her. “Hai Shui, are you unwell?” I helped her sit in the chair beside me.

After she sat down she forced a smile and said, “I’m fine.

Zhang Gong, congratulations on getting Mu Zi.”

I proudly said, “Thank you, this is the result of  my persistence. You have no idea how cold she was before.”

Hai Shui’s expression became even paler. I worriedly asked, “Hai Shui, your complexion doesn’t seem to be good. Do you

want me to bring you back to the dormitory?”

Hai Shui stood up and said, “You don’t need to. I’ll head back on my own. It might just be because today was hot. You guys just continue to eat. I’ll head back first.”

I asked curiously, “You’re sure you’ll be alright?”

Hai Shui smiled, distressed. “I’ll be alright. See you.”

As I watched Hai Shui leave, I asked Mu Zi, “What’s going on with Hai Shui? Strong magicians rarely fall ill.”

Mu Zi giggled and said, “Are you really that dumb or just pretending? Even the blind can see that she’s like that because of you. Her previous affectionate actions didn’t seem like those of a normal friend.”

I apprehensively asked, “How could it be because of me? Why didn’t it seem like normal friends?”

Mu Zi pouted. “She likes you, so when she saw us together and heard that I’m your girlfriend, she got upset!”

I hurriedly explained myself. “Mu Zi, please don’t misunderstand! Hai Shui and I are just schoolmates from the Intermediate Magic Academy. We’re just friends. I’ve always treated her as my sister.”

Mu Zi replied. “I didn’t misunderstand! Ask anyone  and they’ll tell you that she likes you. Actually, Hai Shui is not bad. She’s pretty and from an illustrious family so she suits  you better than I do.”

My expression darkened. “What are you saying? If I liked her, I would have courted her already, but the one I like is you!” After I said that, I was startled. ‘It’s as though what I said was

really what I felt for Mu Zi. Could it be that I’ve actually fallen in love with her?’

After Mu Zi heard what I’d said she looked down, blushing bashfully. “Can you lower your voice? Alright, let’s not  talk about that and just eat.”

After dinner, Mu Zi and I wandered around school for a long time. We didn’t talk much. Just having her by my  side  was really soothing and made me very content. I  subconsciously held her hand. She tried to remove her hand from mine, but

didn’t put in much effort. ‘The feeling of holding her hand is amazing. It’s very slender, fair and tender, as if it doesn’t have any bones.’ We just spent our time together until the sky turned dark and I escorted her back her dormitory. I realised that I had already fallen deeply in love with her and my initial hatred had disappeared completely. After sending Mu Zi back, I returned to my dormitory. Ma Ke was waiting in my room. Once he saw me,

he exclaimed, “Boss! Where have you been? I’ve been waiting for a long time!”

“Oh! I was just wandering around the academy. How did the negotiations go?”

Ma Ke replied, “It’s hard to say. Right now, both sides have chances of winning.”

I curiously asked, “We still can’t make them surrender with our current power?”

“Surrender? Why would they do that? They have four Magisters as do we; it isn’t easy to make them surrender. After negotiating for half a day, we finally decided to compete against each other. The winner will have the right to control the kingdom of Aixia.”

I frowned. “A competition? Isn’t that just child’s play? The succession of the kingdom is a very important matter. How could they just use a competition to decide?”

Ma Ke sighed. “Actually, this is already the best possible outcome. Aixia is a magic based country. If you have a lot of magic power, you’ll be respected and your status will rise along with your power. If the two opposing sides really fought against each other, the one with more magic power will win. Anyway, it’s still a magicians’ battle so it is better to make it  a competition and avoid unnecessary injuries and casualties.”

I considered it and thought ‘It is true that a good way to avoid unnecessary casualties is to downscale the battle into a competition.’ “It makes sense that way!”

Ma Ke smiled. “Of course it makes sense. This is Teacher Di’s suggestion, and Principal Zhen supports him. After a lot of negotiations, the competition is finally set. The winner will get control over the kingdom and the party that loses must concede defeat. However, during the competition it’s forbidden to harm the opponent seriously.”

‘So it is Teacher Di’s idea. I can stop worrying, as Teacher Di is an extremely earnest person.’ I asked Ma Ke, “How are we going to compete?”

Ma Ke explained. “Initially, our side suggested  that  the winner of three matches wins. However, they said it was unfair as we have Teacher Di and Teacher Zhen, whose ranks are higher than their magisters’, so they suggested best of five matches instead. Since we brought up the competition, we

could only agree to their request. After three days, we’ll secretly compete at the palace. Teacher Di told me to tell you that after asking for a leave of absence from the academy tomorrow, you need to go find him so you can train for a while and increase our chances of winning.”

I asked, “I’m also participating? Their magic experience and ability is so high! How am I going to compete against them?”

Ma Ke chuckled. “Boss, you’re wrong! You’re our secret weapon. Other than a handful of people, who knows that you’re a Magister? You’ve been chosen to fight the last match, so you’ll have a slight advantage over whoever is sent out to fight you. Haha. This is also why we agreed to the five matches request.”

‘This is really a good plan. However, I still have an inkling feeling that there is something amiss. Since it is already decided though, I’ll just take a leave of absence from the academy tomorrow.’

I patted Ma Ke’s shoulder. “Don’t worry! I’ll do my best to help your father succeed the throne.”

Ma Ke gratefully grabbed my hand. “Boss, I promise you that my father will definitely be a good king!”

I smiled. “You have to remember your promise! I’ll keep you to it!”

Ma Ke exclaimed, “I will!”

‘The final battle to decide the fate of the kingdom of Aixia is starting. I really hope that it will be possible to determine who will win or lose by the fourth round so I won’t need to compete.’

Chapter 24 – Training Before The Competition

I went to the academy to ask for a couple days leave of absence from the class teacher-in-charge. Teacher Yu immediately agreed, probably because Principal Zhen told him about it.

When I went to the classroom, not many students had arrived yet, as it was still early. However, Mu Zi was there already. I sat in my seat and said, “Morning! I have something to tell you.”

Mu Zi smiled, “Why are you so early today? Usually, you come to class at the very last minute before the bell rings. What do you want to tell me?”

I awkwardly scratched my head. “Am I usually that late? Anyway, for the next three days, I won’t be coming to class as I have an important matter to settle.”

Mu Zi frowned, “What is so important that you can’t attend class?”

I giggled. “You can’t bear to be apart from me, right?”

Mu Zi blushed and said, “Who can’t bear to be apart from you? You’re so annoying. What is the matter?”

I looked appreciatively at her flushed face. “It’s an extremely important matter. I can’t tell you now, you just have to wait for my return. I won’t be in any danger so you don’t have to worry about me.”

Mu Zi replied, “If you can’t say it, then forget it. Are you leaving now?”

I said, “That’s right! I have to leave now. I’ve applied for three days of leave. I’ll be back in three days, but you’re not allowed to cheat on me. Hehe.”

Mu Zi knocked on my head. “You’re so  annoying!  I’ll definitely go on dates with other guys. What are you going to do about it? If you’re scared, then stay to check on me.” Her

expression showed a sign of reluctance over me leaving her.

I seriously replied, “Mu Zi, I also can’t bear to part from you, but this matter is very important. Please just wait for me. I can’t continue to chat with you as I need to leave already. See you later.” After saying that, I stood up.

Mu Zi remained silent for a while. “Please be careful and come back safely!” From her words, it seemed like she knew that I was going to do something dangerous.

I wordlessly nodded as I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to leave if I continued to chat with her. I turned around  and walked out of the classroom then went back to the dormitory to find Ma Ke first so we could head to the Royal Intermediate

Magic Academy together.

After arriving outside of Teacher Di’s office, I shouted, “Teacher Di, I’m back!”

Teacher Di’s benevolent voice came out from the  room, “Zhang Gong, You’re back, quickly come inside!”

When we walked into the office, there were already  four people inside. Other than Teacher Di and Teacher Long, there were two other old magicians I didn’t know. ‘They are probably

the principal and vice principal of the Advanced Magic Academy.’

Ma Ke and I bowed towards them and jointly said, “Greetings to the teachers.”

Teacher Di hadn’t said anything, but the old mage wearing a black robe said, “You don’t need to be this polite! You must be Zhang Gong. Ah, Lao Lun found such an exceptional successor.”

As I looked at Teacher Di, he smilingly said, “Zhang Gong, this is the Royal Advanced Magic Academy’s Principal, Spatial Magister Teacher Chuan Song Zhen. The magic array book I gave you last time was written by him. The other mage is the Royal Advanced Magic Academy’s Vice Principal, Fire Magister Si Di Lie.”

I greeted them again. “It is my pleasure meeting  you teachers.”

Teacher Zhen said, “Zhang Gong, are you in Teacher Si Yu’s class?”

I replied, “Yes!”

Teacher Zhen said, “Zhang Gong, for the next two days we will give you special training for the competition that will be held in three days. You should know that this competition determines the fate of the Kingdom of Aixia so we hope that you will work hard in these two days to improve your abilities. Ma Ke will also be training with you. He’ll serve as a reserve for the competition. You will be the kingdom’s new pillars as we are

already getting old. You will have to depend on yourselves in

the future.” ‘Teacher Zhen is obviously the representative  for the teachers as he’s held the position of top magister for the past fifty years.’

Ma Ke and I replied him. “Yes, we will. Thank you for your tutelage, teachers.”

Teacher Di said, “Let’s go to the courtyard.”

After arriving at the courtyard, Teacher Zhen said, “Lao Lun and I will be in charge of Zhang Gong’s training. Since Xing De and Si Di are both fire Magisters, they’ll be in charge of Ma Ke’s training. Let’s begin! Ma Ke and Zhang Gong, what are your magical beasts? This competition allows the use of magical

beasts.”

I replied, “My magical beast is called Xiao Jin, he’s a dragon.”

Ma Ke replied, “My magical beast is a rank 8 Fire Lion.”

Teacher Zhen was surprised and said, “Zhang Gong, what did you say? You say your magical beast is a dragon? Quickly summon him for me to have a look. Lao Lun, you actually kept me in the dark that your successor has a dragon.”

Teacher Di and I glanced at each other. “Xiao Jin, come out!” A golden light flashed. Xiao Jin’s over thirty metre long body appeared in the training ground. It had been a long time since I’d last called him out. Once he saw so many people, he elatedly let out a long roar. At that moment when he roared, Ma Ke had also summoned his fire lion, but he was so frightened by Xiao Jin’s roar that he cowered and trembled in fear.

The golden dragon’s horns had already fully grown, and each had branched into three points. Golden scales covered his body like a strong armour. He had five large claws, and made some claw marks on the ground. The enormous wings on his back were the most beautiful part of the body. Golden light also glowed from its’ enormous body. He sent me a mental message asking me who he should attack. I hurriedly told him that he just needed to remain still.

Except for me, everyone, including Teacher Di, was stunned. Teacher Di said, flabbergasted, “It’s only been two years and Xiao Jin has grown so much!”

Ma Ke admiringly said, “Wah! Boss, Xiao Jin is so beautiful!”

Teacher Zhen said, “This is a dragon? It’s life force is so strong. He doesn’t seem to be an ordinary dragon.”

Teacher Lie, who hadn’t said anything, said, “He definitely isn’t an ordinary dragon! Only a Dragon King will have golden scales. This dragon should be a mature dragon that’s at least two thousand years old already.”

I smiled bitterly and said, “No, that can’t be. It’s only seven

years old.”

Teacher Lie was astonished and said, “That’s impossible! At seven years old, it should only be at the infancy stage, but it’s obviously not…”

Teacher Di had already snapped out of his stupor and explained, “The dragon actually almost died once, but Zhang Gong sacrificed half of his life to save it. He life span is only about 60 human years now, which is equivalent to nearly 20,000 years for a dragon. According to that proportion, it’s only natural that it’s seven years of age are nearly comparable to a 2000 year old adult dragon.”

Chapter 25 – Bombardment

Teacher Zhen exclaimed, “Zhang Gong sacrificed half his life for the dragon?”

I nodded and emotionally said, “Xiao Jin is my most important partner. How could I turn a blind eye and let him die?” Feeling the surge of my emotions, Xiao Jin lowered his head and nuzzled against me, prompting me to affectionately pat him.

Teacher Zhen shook his head. “Unbelievable! It looks like it’s unnecessary to train the dragon as I doubt I’ll be able to defeat Zhang Gong with Xiao Jin’s assistance. Our chances of victory are much higher now.” He had already gauged Xiao Jin’s strength from his life force.

Teacher Di replied, “Even if that’s the case, we  still  don’t know who they’ll send out in the fifth match. Zhang Gong and Ma Ke, you two must make some breakthroughs in the next two days. Since magic power can’t be improved in such a short period of time, we’ll focus on training your defensive spells and spell techniques. Alright! Ma Ke, Xin De and Si Di will go to that side of the courtyard to train. Zhang Gong, you just stay here. We’ll immediately start!”

Just as Ma Ke and his teachers walked towards their designated area, Teacher Zhen suddenly shot a small dimensional slash at me. As expected of the first ranked Magister; a very strong attraction force surged from the small dimensional slash, one much stronger than mine. A  small spatial crack appeared beside me and a strong attraction force instantaneously surged out from inside it.

Because I was unprepared, my body was momentarily pulled towards the spatial crack. Just as I was about to counter the spell, an enormous body moved in front of me. It was Xiao Jin!

He waved his almost twenty-metres-long left wing at the spatial crack. Hong! His attack actually managed to make the spatial crack disappear. Xiao Jin glared at Teacher Zhen and got ready to attack him.

Teacher Zhen looked like he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Zhang Gong, before we continue training, please withdraw your magical beast.”

I hastily explained to Xiao Jin that Teacher Zhen didn’t have bad intentions before withdrawing him back into my body. Teacher Zhen said, “Lao Lun and I will be attacking you. You’ll have to carefully defend against and counter our attacks. We won’t hold back because you can only improve under harsh conditions.” ‘So that’s what this training is about; no wonder he suddenly attacked me.’

I immediately cast two advanced defensive light spells. My body was enclosed by a dim gold light. Teacher Di shouted, “Be careful!” A light blade shot towards me. I hastily created a light blade to counter his. Hong! When the two light blades collided, the sky lit up. The impact forced me to move three steps back, but Teacher Di didn’t move at all. Teacher Di frowned and said, “Your light elements’ power wasn’t sufficiently focused!”

‘So that’s why I was forced backwards,’ A small dimensional slash from Teacher Zhen and a light blade from Teacher Di struck at me simultaneously, barely giving me enough time to think.

Since the dispersed light elements weren’t powerful enough, I focused the elements’ powers. I withdrew half of my Gold Dan’s power to form a small ball in my left hand. I then used short distance teleportation to avoid Teacher’s Di attack and tossed the light ball towards Teacher Zhen’s small dimensional slash.

Teacher Zhen was startled and immediately cancelled his spell as it wasn’t strong enough to counter the powerful, highly compacted light ball. Teacher Di laughed. “That’s right! That’s the way to counter spells!”

Hearing Teacher Di’s praise, I was elated. I dissipated the light ball in my left hand and cast a light blade at Teacher Zhen with my right hand. The light blade actually hit him. I was in shock! However, after I took a second look, I realized that what I had hit was just an afterimage. Teacher Zhen had already teleported behind me and shouted, “Chaotic Space!” I felt my surroundings warp. It felt as though my body was out of my control, and I was in so much pain, as if I was being shred to pieces. ‘Is this an advanced spatial magic spell?’ I cried out in pain and returned the power of the light ball into my body. I immediately used a defensive magic spell to form a strong defensive array. The distorted feeling disappeared, but an extremely strong pressure coming from all directions made it difficult to breathe.

‘Am I going be defeated so quickly? I still have power remaining. I won’t lose! I’m also a Magister.’ I tried my best to resist the pressure and supplied endless amounts of magic power into the defensive array, and chanted, “Light elements!

My great friends! I beseech of you to use your powers to become endless brilliant rays, transform into specks of stars and eliminate the enemies in front of you, Bright Star’s Shine!” This

was one of my most powerful spells. Even though my surroundings are distorted, the light elements could still gather around me. As they quickly gathered, the defensive array became more stable.

Teacher Zhen said to Teacher Di, “It looks like Zhang Gong has many ways to counter our attacks; when he resisted my Chaotic Space, he still had enough magic power to cast a powerful magic spell. Let’s prepare ourselves as well so as to make sure Zhang Gong doesn’t turn the tables around. Haha!” After he said that, the two top ranking Magisters chanted defensive spells.

After I completed my spell, the light element stars all around me surrounded the defensive array. I shouted, “Charge!” Even though I couldn’t break the spell, the light stars still managed to fly out of the warped space. As the light element stars left, the surrounding pressure decreased drastically. I hastily placed my magic power into the defensive array while controlling the light stars that charged out.

Teacher Di smiled towards Teacher Zhen. “It’s coming! It’s an advanced light spell. It won’t be easy to counter.” A massive number of light stars charged towards them. The two experienced Magisters had already arranged their defensive barriers to their maximum strengths to withstand the incoming magic spell. However, the incoming light  stars  suddenly stopped in mid-air.

The two Magisters, stunned, unintentionally slightly lowered their barriers, weakening their defenses. At that moment, the stilled light stars moved again, rapidly forming two golden chains and charging towards the two defensive arrays. Teacher

Di shouted, “Nice one! Smart move!” When the light stars landed on the barriers they made a muffled thump. I had used my spiritual power to concentrate the light element stars at single points on their defensive barriers instead of using a large area spell. The penetration strength was really strong so they wouldn’t be able to stop the spell with their defensive barriers.

After the two teachers’ barriers broke, they  used  their ultimate moves to stop the light stars attack. Teacher Di used the same Bright Star’s Shine spell. Once my light stars landed on his defensive barrier, he realized that something wasn’t right and immediately chanted the spell. Although he was in  a difficult position, he completely blocked my attack.

Chapter 26 – Avoiding The Sharp Edge

Teacher Zhen was not as fortunate. He also felt something was wrong when his barrier came in contact with the light stars, but since he was actively controlling the Chaotic Space spell, his reaction speed was a bit delayed. He had to first withdraw his offensive spell on me before he could cast a large dimensional slash. It was obvious that the light stars were difficult for him to bear, he paled from the exertion even though he blocked the attack.

My entire body lightened as the surrounding pressure disappeared. Even though it had been only a few minutes since the training began, my magic power was already mostly used. I hastily gathered light elements while I regained my breath to recover the strength of the magic spell as soon as possible.

Teacher Zhen bitterly smiled, “That was great! Brat, your control on that magic spell was terrific! It actually made us suffer a little.” As he spoke, he didn’t cease casting his spells,

but he didn’t use any strong magic spells. He just continuously cast small Dimensional Slash. Teacher Di cooperated and cast continuous amount of light blades at me. The magic spells formed a large net that came toward me.

Ah! I did my best to resist the spells. This kind of attack continued until I was drained of power. As I lay on the ground, I saw that Ma Ke was in the same situation. ‘These four old mages are ruthless.’ As I thought that, I fainted.

When I woke up, my whole body was in pain, but my magic power had mostly recovered. It had already recovered about eighty percent.

When I sat up, I found that Ma Ke was lying beside me, but he

showed no signs of awakening. The teachers were chatting in a corner of the room.

Teacher Di saw that I had woken up and said, “Zhang Gong, you’re awake, Come and have some food.” I got up from the bed and stretched to loosen up my muscles. When I  felt  much better, I ran to the table and silently began to gobble up the food. I patted my stomach in satisfaction and sighed contentedly.

Teacher Zhen laughed. “You really can eat! How are you feeling after today’s training?”

I bitterly chuckled. “I’m tired to the bone. What other feelings would I feel?”

Teacher Zhen replied, “Actually, you should have been able to hold out a little longer with your current power.  However, you’re not good at controlling the usage of your magic power. You’re wasting too much magic power every time you counter our attacks. Since you know we aren’t your opponent,  you should avoid our attacks and only attack when you see an opportunity. You’ll be able to save lots of magic power that way. Your control in the star magic spell you used in the morning was not bad as it made Lao Lun and I suffer to counter it. However, the magic power required for the spell is too much. It’s the reason you had difficulty countering spells at the end.”

‘Avoid their attacks and attack only when  opportunity strikes?’ I thought about that statement and analysed it. My eyes brightened before I said, “In other words, do you mean to move as I fight and so avoid your attacks rather than fight head on with your spells?”

Teacher Zhen nodded. “There is hope in teaching him!”

I felt something different in me, but couldn’t tell how. I said, “Teachers, can we battle again?” They had aroused my interest in fighting them. They won’t really hurt me and this is a really rare chance to increase my experience in using magic power in this manner.

Teacher Zhen was startled. “Your magic power has fully recovered?”

I replied, “It’s not fully recovered yet, but it shouldn’t take long. I probably just need an hour.” As I said that, I went to a corner of the room and sat down. I relaxed my body before greedily absorbing the light elements from my surroundings. I

realised that every time I had a tough battle, my magic power recovery speed increased slightly. I wasn’t sure how much time passed, but my entire body felt soothed. I already felt as though I could freely employ my magic power. The Gold Dan in my upper dantian was more stable than before.

I opened my eyes and stretched. The teachers weren’t in the room. The sounds of magic colliding came from outside the room. I walked out to investigate and found Ma Ke and the other two Fire Magisters fighting.

When Teacher Di saw me, he said, “What was that about an hour? It is already night! Quickly go to the battle ground!”

Alright! Let’s just fight! I obediently stood in front of them.

The two teachers started to cast their offensive spells. ‘It is just intermediate magic spells like yesterday, but their magic control and power is really strong which gave me a hard  time countering their spells.’

Teacher Di cast a Light Severing Sword at me. I quickly avoided the spell, but the small Dimensional Slash from Teacher Zhen was anticipating my dodge. I thought about the statement ‘Avoid fighting head on and strike when there is opportunity’ and didn’t use a magic spell to counter. I just used a protection spell on myself before using Dou Qi to push back toward the ground. My body started to levitate, which allowed me to avoid the attack.

‘That’s right! I still have Dou Qi! How can I forget about that?’ I fused the Dou Qi and light elements on my arm. Even though this fused magic spell is really strong, the gathering speed is a little slow.

I used Dou Qi and short distance teleport consecutively. I seemed like a fish that avoided the two teachers’ attacks by shifting here and there into the gaps between their spells. As Teacher Zhen cast his spell, he said, “Your usage of the short distance teleport is good. Be careful, we’ll be using advanced magic next!”

Teacher Zhen and Teacher Di looked at each other before they started to chant an advanced magic spell. I chuckled, ‘Do you think I’ll wait for you to cast the spell?’

I waved my arm and a golden white light ray shot toward Teacher Zhen. Hehe! ‘Teacher Di is my teacher so I’ll be a little more polite against him.’

Teacher Zhen thought that I was unable to cast magic spells at that moment. When he saw the light ray, he didn’t look at it carefully and just cast a small Dimensional Slash at it. I was elated! Haha! ‘You’ll be in deep trouble this time.’

As expected, the fusion of magic spell and Dou Qi increased the original magic power several times. It couldn’t be countered with just a small Dimensional Slash. When the small Dimensional Slash was almost in contact with my fusion spell, Teacher Zhen felt something was wrong. He is the world’s number one Magister after all.He immediately cast three layers of barriers in front of him and used short distance teleport to move away from the spell.

“Hong!” Teacher Zhen appeared a hundred meters away. He was covered in dirt and a faint stream of blood flowed from the

corner of his lip.

Chapter 27 – The Competition Begins

I didn’t have the time to check on Teacher Zhen as Teacher Di had already completed chanting his offensive spell. Since I was only battling him, it was easier to counter his spells. Even if I can’t take his spells head on, I could still defend against it.

Teacher Di used the rank 7 spell, Lightning Array Burst. I rarely used that spell as it was difficult to control. Teacher Di cast nine bolts of lightning to surround me; forming a simple array. This would result in me being unable to dodge his spell by using the short distance teleportation spell so every lightning held strong offensive powers.

I won’t be able to avoid facing the multi-directional spell. I just had to resist it as I didn’t have the time to cast a strong spell to counter it. I merely cast a few low-grade protective spells on myself and fused Dou Qi in them as much as possible before it got in contact with the spells.

Hong! I was tossed high up by Teacher Di’s magic spell. My protective barriers was completely broken as a  result  of resisting his attack. I was lucky that I had fused some Dou Qi into the barriers as it had decreased the severity of the attack to its lowest. It was still inevitable that I coughed out a mouthful of blood. I hurriedly cast a light element recovery spell to heal my body as a preparation to face Teacher’s Di next move.

Teacher Zhen shouted, “I have enough of fighting already! If we continue, it’ll probably cost my life!” Teacher Zhen was seriously hurt this time due to underestimating me.

Teacher Di and I withdrew the offensive spells that we had prepared to cast. I awkwardly ran forward to support Teacher Zhen. “Are you alright? You’re too strong for me to hold back and had to fight with all of my might.”

Teacher Zhen shook his head and said, “You’re not the one to be blamed. It should be me. Let’s stop training for the day as I need to tend to my wounds as soon as possible since the competition will be starting tomorrow. The training of Ma Ke by the Si Di and XIn De should also be stopping soon.” Injuries weren’t hard to treat for Teacher Zhen with his current skills. After Teacher Zhen walked away, Teacher Di whispered to me, “Was that the fusion of light elements and Dou Qi that you had told me before?”

I nodded. “That’s right! Although the power of  the  fusion spell is strong, the speed to fuse them takes some times.”

Teacher Di replied, “That spell is not bad. You’ve to improve that spell as it’ll be really useful in the future.” I nodded in agreement.

Teacher Di said, “Alright! That should be enough training for the day. Let’s head back to have some food and get some rest before the competition tomorrow.”

Ma Ke and I accompanied with the four Magisters went to the prince’s mansion the next day. The Prince himself personally came to invite us  in. He said in gratitude, “Thank you all for your support! I’ll have to depend on you today.”

Teacher Di smiled and replied, “Your Highness, you  don’t have to be this polite to us as we aren’t doing this solely for you. We hope that you’ll be a good Emperor if we succeed in winning the competition.”

The Prince nodded affirmatively. “You don’t have to worry as I promise that I won’t let you down.”

The venue for the competition was in the Royal training ground. It was very spacious and had an ancient protection spell so that the training ground wouldn’t be destroyed easily.

The Prince lead one hundred guards to escort us to the Royal training ground. The competition was carried out in secret so only those involved in setting up the competition knew about it.

The Prince said, “I have invited the kingdom’s High Priest to be the judge. If the competition didn’t involve so many magic experts, I won’t have been able to ask for his help.”

I curiously asked Teacher Di, “ who is that High Priest ?” Teacher Di explained to me that he held a neutral position in the kingdom so he won’t be biased in the judging the matches. Anyone who are religious were his disciples. The kingdom had numerous believers. If he wanted the kingdom to be his,  it would be extremely easy for him. Luckily, the power he held weren’t impossible to resist against. The High  Priest  himself was a very kindhearted person. No one knew how old he really was and nor did anyone saw him got angry before. Everyone would be able to relax with him judging the battles. I stared at the High Priest only to see that he had calmly closed his eyes and ignored the commotions happening around him. He wore a strange attire. He had worn a black robe and a wooden staff in his hand. There was a glittering red jewel at the top of his staff. It seemed as though he had felt me staring at him as he slowly opened his eyes and a light ray entered my eyes. My entire body shook in response, but it was a power that wasn’t filled with animosity. I wasn’t in any discomfort in the entire process. When I was at a loss of what to do, the High Priest closed his eyes again and regained his previous posture.

‘I didn’t know that there are so many experts in the Kingdom of Aixia.’ The opposing team arrived at that moment. They also had roughly one hundred people. It was obvious that they were mostly from the Royal Mage Union.

There were five people leading the group. The person walking right in front of the group wore a brocaded garment. He looked to be approximately fifty in age. He had a cold expression as if nothing was related to him. If I haven’t guessed wrongly, he should be the opposing power Duke Te Yi as four people moving by his side had magical staffs in their hands. They should definitely be the leader of the three main families and the leader of the Royal Mage Union, Dun Yu Xi.

Since Du Yu Xi was an Earth Magister so he should be one on

the left; wearing a yellow magician robe. ‘I wonder why he did the same as the High Priest to close his eyes. Was that suppose to be cool? However, the magic staff in his hands looked like an advanced one. It should be an Earth based magic staff.’

The Ri, Yue and Xin family leaders were easy to be recognised as the clothings they wore had sun, moon and  stars embroidered on them respectively. That’s interesting! The one wearing the sun embroidered robe should be Feng Liang Ri’s grandfather, Si Feng Ri. He looked very gloomy.

We went with the prince as his representatives by going to greet the five of them with five of us as well.

Duke Te Yi said, “Your Highness, I’m sorry we were late.”

The Prince said smilingly, “You don’t have to be this courteous. It’s my group that came early. Since all forces has arrived, shall we start the competition?”

Duke Te Yi said solemnly, “Alright! Let’s start the battle that will decide the fate of the Kingdom.”

A hoarse voice said, “Are all of you prepared?”

The Prince and Duke Te Yi bowed simultaneously and said. “Yes we are! Honourable High Priest, please give us the permission to start the competition.”

The High Priest sighed a little and glanced at everyone before replying, “This competition happened inevitably, but  I  hope that you all won’t seriously harm your opponents. You’re the supporters and talents of the Kingdom. The Kingdom still needs your support. I foretold from gazing the stars a few days ago that there’ll be a serious calamity that will bound to happen on the human race in the near future. You’ve to conserve as much powers as possible so as to be able to deal with the unknown dangers. Do you understand? Thus, I’ll judge the team to be disqualified if someone from that team killed their opponent.”

Chapter 28 – Winning The First Battle

The Prince and Duke Te Yi represented their teams and said, “We understood!”

The High Priest nodded. “Very well! The  competition  will start now. You can freely decide the order of who to send out.” It was important to decide on who to send out. The worst match up would be Dun Yu Xi against Teacher Di. Our advantage against Dun Yu Xi was negligible. Teacher Di was probably the only one that have the chance of winning against him. I would have no hope in participating the competition if I were to be matched up with Dun Yu Xi.

Duke Te Yi said, “Your Highness, let’s draw straws to decide the order. Which five members from your side will be participating in the competition?”

The Prince looked at me to signal me to step forward. When I stepped out, the opposing forces mostly showed startled expressions as they didn’t thought that the Prince would send out such a young magician. There was signs of hatred in the eyes of the Ri family’s leader.

Duke Te Yi asked, “Your Highness, are you really going to sent out such a young magician? It can’t be that you’re forfeiting a match?”

The Prince smiled. “How could I forfeit a match? Zhang Gong is a very powerful magician so I won’t underestimate him if I were you. Your team of five should also step out, no?”

Duke Te Yi exposed an expression of disdain. It was obvious that he was looking down on me. The four Magisters standing behind him and a person draped in a black magician robe stepped forward. The last mysterious person that stepped forward had his mantle really low so it was impossible to see his appearance.

Duke Te Yi and the Prince drew the first competitor. It was Teacher Chuan Song Zhen against the Xin family’s leader, Hai Tian Xin. He was the grandfather of the three Hai Ri siblings.

The Prince expression stiffened a little. Even though he knew that this match would be his to win, but he would no longer have anyone from his side that could win against Dun Yu Xi. However, he had already drew the lot so it was too late for regrets. Hai Ri Xin was the weakest in the opposing team member so it would be easy for Teacher Zhen to win against him. This would also mean that the other matches after this would be harder. This draw had greatly influence the future matches of the competition.

The High Priest announced loudly, “The first match will be the Royal Advance Magic Academy’s Principal Chuan Song Zhen against the Xin family’s leader, Hai Tian Xin. Everyone, except for those two, please leave the arena!”

Teacher Zhen and Hai Tian Xin were the only ones left in the five hundred meter square battle arena.

Hai Tian Xin smiled and said, “Chuan Song! Let’s have a fun match!”

Teacher Zhen asked, “Hai Tian, aren’t you a guy that dislikes to battle for power? Why did you enter this power battle?”

Hai Tian Xin replied, “Aren’t you the same? If it weren’t for you old fools, we would have won the battle already and could avoid the civil war. I have my responsibilities to  my  family. Let’s stop chatting and fight to see if I can move you from your first rank position!”

Teacher Zhen replied, “If that’s the case, let’s do it!”

The fighting power of two Magisters were really terrifying as the whole training ground was permeated with magic power. Hai Tian Xin quickly chanted his spell. Teacher Zhen didn’t stay idle either. He had cast a few spatial defensive spells.

A green light shot out from Hai Tian Xin’s hand. I knew that it was the Xin family’s special spell, Absolute Disruption spell. When I had previously fought with Hai Shui, I almost lost that match due to this spell.

Teacher Di whispered to me, “Look carefully at how Teacher Zhen counters the Absolute Disruption spell. You’ll  have  to fight the spell with another spell. However, only spatial magic can counter the Absolute Disruption spell.”

Teacher Zhen undoubtedly saw through the standard of his opponent’s ability and smiled. He unceasingly cast small Dimensional Slash at the green light ray from both of his hands.

When the green ray came in contact with the small Dimensional Slash, the green ray unexpectedly couldn’t restrict the dimensional slash’s power. The spell was slowly being diminished by the continuous slashes of the small Dimensional Slash instead. Now that I knew that the small  Dimensional Slash had such an effect, I wouldn’t need to fear this Absolute Disruption spell again.

After Hai Tian Xin saw that he had no effect on the small Dimensional Slash, his expression changed and quickly chanted in a foreign language. Weng! Teacher Zhen’s movements slowed down a little. I whispered, “That’s one of the Xin family’s secret spells, Water Dragon’s Chant.”

Although Teacher Zhen movement slowed down, he was still able to resist the unceasingly attacking Absolute Disruption spell. As he continued to cast small Dimensional Slash, he also chant a spell. I knew that at that moment, Teacher Zhen was really using his powers.

He chant, “Infinite space and the ever transforming stars! Please seal the unceasing storm and tear apart everything that stands in your path, Spatial Rupture Seal!”

Teacher Di exclaimed, “Ah! Chuan Song wants to  finish  off the match already! This is one of his advanced spatial spell and also one of his most powerful spells.”

As Teacher Zhen chanted, I felt that the atmosphere stilled. Hai Tian Xin’s Absolute Disruption spell was unable to move towards Teacher Zhen. The green ray of light  gradually vanished. The stilled atmosphere seemed to become distorted. Hai Tian Xin knew that he would be defeated by that spell. He

chanted, “Oh water! The source of lives! Please lend me your endless life force and let my life force be fused with yours— Water Ripple!” This was the last spell of the secret spells the Xin family held.

A circle of blue light surged out with hai Tian Xin as its center to resist against the distorted space.

“Attack, Water python!” At this crucial point, Hai Tian Xin finally summoned his magical beast as it was impossible for him to counter Teacher Zhen’s attack. He had to rely on the assistance of his magical beast.

An enormous blue python appeared in front of Hai Tian Xin and hissed. It immediately snapped open its enormous mouth and shot a water arrow at Teacher Zhen, which had unexpectedly pierced through the distorted space.

Teacher Long exclaimed, “A ninth grade water magical beast! This Hai Tian really have lots of magic treasures. However, Teacher Zhen still had lots of ultimate moves.”

When Teacher Zhen saw the blue python, he was a little startled and hurriedly cast a short distance teleportation spell to avoid its attack. He smiled and said, “Since you use your magical beast, why don’t I let my magical beast out so as to let them come together. Come forth, Lightning Eagle!” With a long cry of an eagle, a huge blue eagle similarly appeared in the arena. It flew towards the huge python. Lightning strikes and water arrows unceasingly interweaved. As they were both ninth grade magical beast, it was too hard for them to kill each other when they are in mid air.

The Water Ripple and Space sealing power were completely used up at that moment. Teacher Zhen stood at his position as per usual, but Hai Tian Xin paled and sat on the ground before hurriedly trying to regain his breath as he panted heavily. A stream of blood flowed from the corner of his lip.

Chapter 29 – Pursuing A Retreating Enemy

Ignoring the heated battle between the two beasts, Teacher Di’s lips curved up a little as he asked Hai Tian, “Hai Tian, do you still want to continue battling?”

Hai Tian Xin let out a long sigh. “What is the point in continuing? Would I be able beat you if we continued the fight? Many years have passed, but you’re still stronger than me. Honourable High Priest, I concede.” This Xin family’s leader had such grace! When he saw that he didn’t have any hope of winning, he simply took the initiative to forfeit the match.

They withdrew their frantically battling magical beasts at that moment. Not much time had passed since the start of the competition.

“The winner is Chuan Song Zhen from the prince’s faction!” The High Priest announced. Prince Ke Zha showed a jubilant expression and personally went to welcome Teacher Zhen back. Our faction cheered wildly.

“Teacher Zhen, thanks for your efforts!” The prince said with a smile.

Teacher Zhen smiled, “This match meant nothing, it was a given that I would be able to win it. I’ll just watch the remaining battles. Everyone, please don’t be too complacent because of this result! If my predictions are correct, the remaining matches will be extremely tough.”

I peeked at the opposing team. Their loss didn’t seem to have demoralized them at all, they looked calm and collected, as though victory was still in their grasp.

“Prince Ke Zha and Duke Te Yi, please come forward to draw the lots for the next match.” The High Priest said.

‘I wonder who will be sent out this time.’ Everyone anxiously awaited the outcome of the drawing.

After a short pause, the High Priest announced, “The contestants for the second match will be Wa Tian Shi and Lao Lun Di.”

Wa Tian Shi was actually the name of the masked black- clothed man. Once his name was announced, the few teachers instantly froze for a moment. “Teacher Zhen, what is  the matter? Why are you so shocked? Is it because that Wa Tian Shi is very powerful?” I asked curiously.

Teacher Zhen nodded. “He’s definitely powerful. He is a Fire Magister and ranks eighth amongst the Magisters.  However, he’s from Dalu. Why would he be here?”

“High Priest, I protest against this match! Wa Tian Shi isn’t from Aixia, so how could he participate in this competition?” Prince Ke Zha shouted.

The High Priest closed his eyes and replied, “Duke Te Yi, what is your explanation for this?”

Duke Te Yi unhurriedly explained, “High Priest, the reason is very simple. Magister Wa Tian Shi’s name has been part of the records of the Kingdom of Axia for a very long time, and he is the current Vice-president of the Royal Mage Union as well.”

“What!? Why didn’t I know about such an important appointment!?” Prince Ke Zha exclaimed.

Duke Te Yi withdrew an appointment letter with the Kingdom’s seal and replied, “This is a letter of appointment, written by the Emperor. High Priest, please review it and judge its credibility!”

After looking at the letter of appointment, the High Priest said, “Since Magister Wa Tian Shi has been formally entered in the records of the Kingdom, I condone his participation and will not accept any further objections.”

The prince resentfully went back to our team and sighed. “What to do? Wa Tian Shi has messed up our plans.”

Teacher Zhen explained, “Please don’t get anxious, Your Highness. If the draw had lead to a battle between Dun Yu Xi and Lao Lun instead, it would have been a much tougher match, so this isn’t completely in the opponent’s favour. We just have to depend on Lao Lun to win his match and struggle with all of our might to win the last one.”

The prince nodded. “In that case, I’ll have to trouble you, Teacher Di.”

Teacher Di smiled and replied, “Relax! Wa Tian Shi isn’t a threat to me.” After he said that, he briskly walked toward the arena.

Wa Tian Shi had removed his black mantle and revealed a light magician’s robe. He seemed to be about seventy years of age. He walked towards the arena with a bright red magic staff in hand.

Wa Tian Shi said, “Are you Lao Lun Di? This should be the first time we face off. I hope you won’t disappoint me, I really want to see the difference between the eighth and  third positions in the rankings of Magisters.”

Teacher Di calmly replied, “Let’s have a good match then.”

Even though Wa Tian Shi’s speech made him seem very relaxed, he was actually extremely nervous. As soon as  the match started, he waved the magic staff in his right hand and yelled, “Fire Bear! Come forth!” His magical beast, a huge red bear that was over three meters tall, appeared in front of him.

Teacher Di was momentarily shocked, but then he waved his hand to shoot a light blade at the bear. The fire bear roared

loudly and just used its huge palm to counter Teacher Di’s attack. It wasn’t a ninth grade magical beast for nothing!

Teacher Zhen said in shock, “This is bad! Lao Lun will be in trouble this time since he doesn’t have a magical beast!” The fire bear’s strength lies in its ability to defend its owner. Its defensive power seems to be nearing the level of a Magister. As Lao Lun doesn’t have a magical beast, this battle will be an extremely difficult battle.“ ‘That’s right! I just realised that I

have never seen Teacher Di’s magical beast before. I asked him about that once, but he just smiled and replied that relying on a magical beast too much will have a detrimental influence on one in improving their magic.’

Wa Tian Shi said, “Why don’t you summon  your  magical beast so that we can fight this battle with all of our might?”

Teacher Di just shrugged. “I don’t have a magical beast. Let’s just continue fighting!”

Wa Tian Shi stood still for a moment, dazed, before saying, “You don’t have a magical beast? Then how could I battle with my magical beast? Fire Bear, return!” Duke Te Yi started to shout complaints from a distance when Wa Tian Shi recalled his fire bear, “Teacher Wa Tian, how could you give up your advantage against him?”

Wa Tian Shi frowned and said, “This is a Magister’s battle. What meaning would an unfair battle hold? Magisters should have their dignity!” Duke Te Yi had been rebuked. The surrounding three main families’ leader looked at Duke Te Yi with displeased expressions, it was obvious that they didn’t agree with what the duke had said either.

Wa Tian Shi actions had won him the goodwill of Teacher Di and the others. Teacher Di smiled and said, “Good! I will fight

this match fair and square to show you my respect. Great Light elements! Please lend me your great powers! Let the  unlimited light shine on the whole land. Illuminate – Brilliant Empire!” A white ray of light  shone  out  from  Teacher  Di’s  body.  I  often used this spell, so I was very familiar with it. Wa Tian Shi, meanwhile, had given up on testing the waters and  started  to chant a strong spell, “Violent Flames! Please turn into an azure flame and use your conviction to incinerate the enemy standing before you—- Azure Flames!” A red flame surged out  from  Wa Tian Shi’s red magic staff, but it gradually turned from red  to white, and then from white to  azure.  It  looked  very  strange. When he waved his  staff,  a  green  flame  shot  out,  toward Teacher Di.

When the Brilliant Empire spell came in contact with the hot azure flames, the impact created a resounding Pu~ sound. The two Magisters seemed to be standing on equal ground at the beginning, but as time passed, the green flame was gradually being pushed backwards. Wa Tian Shi was  panting  and sweating heavily, but continued to chant before waving his staff once again and roaring, “Azure Flames, transform into a dragon!”

Chapter 30 – An Outlook Far From Good

As he roared out, the azure flame retreated a little before transforming into a huge azure flame dragon. It had increased in temperature and countered the Brilliant Empire spell by clawing at it and managed to push the Brilliant Empire spell backwards.

Teacher Di saw the change in situation but didn’t panic. He just smiled a little and continued the Brilliant Empire  spell while rapidly gathering light elements from all directions to his right hand. A white light ball formed in Teacher’s Di hand. ‘I

know that was an light element power ball, but can it really counter that azure dragon? It seems that the Brilliant Empire also can’t hold on much longer.’

Teacher Di’s face flushed red. It was a sign of gathering large amount of light elements. Teacher Zhen said, “Lao Lun is going to use one of his ultimate spells, even I’m not sure if I could withstand that spell. Zhang Gong! You have to watch closely!”

The white light ball in Teacher Di’s hand suddenly radiated light, as expected. It slowly formed into an egg sized golden light ball. Ah! Teacher Di designed it to be similar to the Gold Dan’s shape. This was probably why he kept on telling me to gather my magic powers as much as possible. The golden light ball floated out from Teacher Di’s hand and went towards the azure dragon, which already broke through the Brilliant Empire spell.

The huge azure dragon shot out an azure flame, whose temperature could melt gold and rocks. Under Teacher Di’s control, the golden light floated upward to evade the  azure flame and collided with the azure dragon. At that point, it was impossible to stop the collision.

When the golden light ball collided with the azure dragon, a

large impact resounded throughout the whole arena. A huge crater formed from the impact with sand and dust covering the whole area. The protective barrier of the arena shook a little.

After a long time had passed, the sand cloud settled down. I was elated to see Teacher Di standing at his position, even though his complexion was a little pale. Wa Tian Shi, on the other hand, collapsed to the ground. His entire magic robe was stained with his blood. Teacher Di walked over to him and

chanted, “Oh heavenly light! Please use  your  limitlessly merciful heart to become a savior god light—– Recovery Light!” It was an advanced light recovery spell. As long as Wa Tian Shi had a breath, that spell would be able to secure his life.

Wa Tian Shi slowly awakened from his unconscious state and coughed a little. He bitterly smiled. “It’s as expected of a third ranked Magister. I concede defeat.”

Teacher Di supported him and sincerely said, “If you had used your magical beast, the outcome might have been different.”

Wa Tian Shi shook his head. “I doubt that. Even if I used the magical beast, I wouldn’t be able to withstand that attack. You don’t have to console me. If I win, I win. If I lose, I lose.” He pushed Teacher Di’s hand aside and went back to his team.

After losing this match, Duke Te Yi’s expression darkened. It was obvious that he wasn’t satisfied with Wa Tian Shi’s performance.

The High Priest announced at that moment, “Lao Lun Di from the prince faction wins the second match!”

Our side cheered wildly again. When Teacher Di returned to the team, I jubilantly clung onto his arm and said, “Teacher, you were awesome out there! You have increased our chances of winning drastically.”

Teacher Di didn’t show any sign of happiness, but instead he frowned. “Don’t be so happy just yet! The situation is still against us.”

Teacher Zhen walked over and nodded. “What Lao Lun said is right! Although we won two matches, we are still in a disadvantageous position. The opponent is still left with the Ri

and Yue families’s leaders and Dun Yu Yi experts. Our side has only Xin De, Si Die and Zhang Gong. Their abilities are all slightly weaker than the opposing side, so we must do our best in order to win the last match.”

The two teachers and I nodded our heads simultaneously.

The battle arena had already been repaired by a few earth magicians at that moment, in preparation to commence the third match.

The outcome of the third draw was Teacher Si Di Lie against the Yue family’s leader, Huan Ying Yue. The outcome of the battle was just correctly predicted by Teacher Di and Teacher Zhen. Since Si Di Lie was slightly weaker than his opponent,

even if he had already used all of his might to fight against his opponent, he still lost the tough battle against Huan Ying Yue’s Yue family’s special technique, Shadow Moon’s Trace, in just an hour time.

Ma Ke supported Teacher Lie, who had overused his magic powers, back to the camp site. Teacher Lie sat on the floor and said, “Sorry, I have lost.”

The prince hastily replied, “Losing and winning is a commonplace in the military operation so please don’t criticise yourself. If I were in your place, I doubt that I would be able to hold on for even a moment.”

The prince and Duke Te Yi had drawn the drawing lots for the

fourth match. It was me against the Ri family’s leader, Si Feng Ri.

After the result of the draw was out, I enshrouded in gloominess. I was looked down on by everyone. Even if I’m a Magister, there was still a definite gap in ability from Si Feng Ri, who had been a Magister for quite some time already. Even if it was Teacher Di against him, he wouldn’t have a definite chance of winning. If I lost this match, Teacher Long would be matched up against Dun Yu Xi and would definitely lose that match.

Teacher Zhen patted my shoulder. “Zhang Gong,  you  just have to do your best! Even if you lose, no one will blame you.”

The only person that held complete confidence in me was my

mentor, Lao Lun Di. Teacher Di walked over and straightened the light robe that he gave to me previously. He whispered, “Zhang Gong, you must believe in yourself! You still stand a chance. It’s already impossible to hide Xiao Jin’s identity already. With Xiao Jin’s assistance, you’ll be a strong force to be reckoned with.”

I nodded and seriously replied, “Teacher Di, don’t worry! I definitely won’t let you down.”

As I walked to the battle arena, my heart was surging in anxiousness. I would be lying to myself if I said that I wasn’t scared. My opponent was a fire Magister, who was ranked four in the Magisters, after all. I gripped tightly onto my magic staff and walked to the centre of the arena and prepared to face the worst opponent I have ever faced in my life at the moment.

When the opposing side saw that the prince had really sent me out to compete, they booed disdainfully. Duke Te Yi arrogantly raised his head; he didn’t even look at me, since he thought that I would definitely lose against the Ri family’s leader.

Si Feng Ri came onto the battle arena. He looked relaxed compared to my nervousness. He wore a bright red magician robe. Paired with his red robe, red hair and red magic staff, he looked just like just like a scorching hot fire.

Si Feng Ri questioned, “Are you Zhang Gong Wei, who had seriously injured my grandson?”

I nodded. “Yes, I am.”

Chapter 31 – Dauntless Attack

Si Feng Ri suddenly raged and said flatly, “From Feng Liang’s injury, I estimated that you had already reached the border of becoming a Magister. Being able to reach this stage so young probably wasn’t easy. However, your ability is still too far from being a Magister. I shall let you experience what fighting a real Magister is like and you’ll pay the price for hurting  my grandson.

I tightly held my magic staff and unyieldingly stared at him. “Alright! Enlighten me with your skills! I am only a junior, so I won’t be courteous.” After saying that, I waved my magic staff and a magic and battle spirit imbued blade I had previously prepared appeared.

I had already thought of how to fight him. Let’s see if this fusion spell could gain any advantage against Si Feng Ri. It wasn’t the same as the practice two days ago when I held back my attack when sparring with Teacher Zhen and Teacher Di.

Even if Si Feng Ri wouldn’t kill me, he would put me into a near death state. I must fight with all my might!

A white battle spirit shot towards Si Feng Ri’s head.

A fiery red colored ray was emitted from Si Feng Ri’s body while he simultaneously shot another ray from his staff with a wave. When the white and red rays of light came into contact, a subtle impact sounded in the air. Contrary to the expectations of everyone, I wasn’t pushed back by Si Feng Ri’s attack, but Si Feng Ri was pushed three steps back. My team cheered wildly, but Duke Te Yi leaned on the banister and kept on staring at me.

His expression flashed signs of shock first, then anger. He was so angry his face burned red.

Judging from this attack, it would seem that I was at an advantage, but this was due to the enemy underestimating me. I planned to make Si Feng Ri pay for looking down on me. However, he moved just three steps back; proving that he was extremely powerful.

I didn’t have enough time to use the fusion spell again, so I cast four light blades at Si Feng Ri (I won’t be knocked back from the spell that way). I managed to block Si Feng Ri’s violent attack using the light blades.

Si Feng Ri said, “Good, child, you have some moves. Omnipotent flames, become a violent flame to incinerate the enemy before me, Buddha’s Fury!”

With Si Feng Ri as the center, fire elements gathered around him to form a vortex, making it difficult for me to breathe.

‘That spell won’t be easy to counter.’ I hurriedly chanted my spell. My power wasn’t comparable to his, so I must not fight

his spell head on. “Light elements! My great friends! I plead for you to use your powers to become endless light rays of stars and eliminate the enemies in front of you—-Bright Star’s Shine!” I was familiar with this spell and had such great control over it that even Teacher Zhen suffered a little from this spell.

Si Feng Ri had completed chanting his spell. The huge number of reddish gold flames formed an enormous humanoid shape and shot towards me. His flames were reddish gold in colour. Although it couldn’t be compared to the power of the green flames previously, it was a large area spell.

Light elements unceasingly gathered around me and formed limitless golden light rays around me. I condensed them to form nine golden light stars and shot one star after another at the Buddha’s Fury spell.

Teacher Di, who was spectating the match, exclaimed, “That’s a good move! Zhang Gong is really smart.”

Teacher Zhen praised him. “That youngster really  is  a talented child. He has done well in countering the strong spell indirectly by focusing at one spot of the spell.”

As the nine golden stars met with the violent flames in midair, the first star was rapidly swallowed. When it had  nearly engulfed the first golden star, the second gold star had arrived and supported the first star. It managed to stop the violent flames from advancing. The nine golden stars fused to become one giant star in front of the violent flames. When the  two strong forces collided, it exploded. The whole battle arena was filled with light ray showers and fire sparks.

Si Feng Ri and I were forced to move backwards. In that previous attack, we tied, neither one of us gaining  any advantage against the other.

Si Feng Ri was unable to accept the fact that he was forced to a tie with a junior and shouted in anger, “Come forth, phoenix!” ‘What sort of spell is this with such a short chant? What is a phoenix?’ A few question marks appeared in my mind.

Something weird happened and the whole arena heated up drastically. Even the spectators outside the arena felt the heat. A piercing screech sounded in the air and a huge  phoenix appeared above Si Feng Ri.

Teacher Zhen, Teacher Di and Teacher Long exclaimed, “The legendary magical beast — Fire Phoenix!”

The High Priest also opened his long closed eyes and mumbled, “It’s really a fire phoenix! How did Si Feng Ri subdue it? It is not an ordinary beast.”

I was stunned by the sudden appearance of that large beast. ‘What is that? It could actually change the atmosphere! It’s too terrifying!’

The Fire Phoenix had a black halo on its head and was impatiently flapping its wings. Si Feng Ri’s originally red hair turned a dull yellow and his red face paled. It was obviously difficult for him to control that phoenix. He coldly laughed and said, “I shall end you now. Even if it means disqualification in the competition, I don’t mind it!” My strong powers  had aroused killing intent within Si Feng Ri. He knew that in a few years, my ability would only increase and wanted to eliminate any future threat.

Teacher Di saw that I was in a daze and shouted, “Zhang Gong! Summon Xiao Jin!” Teacher Di didn’t know whether the Five Clawed Golden Dragon would be able to fight against that legendary beast, but it was the best counter solution at that moment.

I heard Teacher Di’s reminder. ‘That’s right! He has  a phoenix, and I have a dragon. I still have Xiao Jin!’ I shouted, “Come forth! My lifelong partner, Xiao Jin!”

A strong golden light shone and Xiao Jin’s enormous body appeared at the center of the arena.

When Xiao Jin appeared, it shocked everyone as no one had seen a dragon before, as they were considered a myth. Who could have seen it?

When Xiao Jin felt my fear, he let out a roar and shielded my body by standing in front of me. Si Feng Ri exclaimed, “You also have a powerful magical beast, but it is incomparable to mine so just kick the bucket already. Attack, Fire Phoenix!”

The Fire Phoenix made a cold sounding screech and charged at me. I shouted, “Xiao Jin, go forth!”

Xiao Jin didn’t listen to my order but just voiced a few chants briefly. I didn’t have the time to ask him what was he doing and shot a light blade at Si Feng Ri.

Chapter 32 – Battle Cry Of The Dragon And Phoenix

The Fire Phoenix charged in front of Xiao Jin, but Xiao Jin didn’t fight back and just dodged its attacks.

I was also in a tough battle as Si Feng Ri had covered the entire area with multiple fire spells. I was pitifully holding on.

Even though Xiao Jin’s body was enormous, he was really agile. His agility was greater than the much larger Fire Phoenix, so he would only counter multi-directional flame attacks.

I got anxious. ‘Why isn’t Xiao Jin fighting back?’ With great difficulty I mentally asked Xiao Jin, who was in the air. He

replied that he was unable to attack the Fire Phoenix as he felt that he was related to the Fire Phoenix. Damn! I used all my might to cast Bright Star’s Shine consecutively to stop Si Feng Ri from advancing.

Si Feng Ri was also in a bad condition as summoning the phoenix had overexerted his magic powers. When he saw that the Fire Phoenix was unable to defeat Xiao Jin after such a long time had passed and I was still tenaciously fighting back, he stopped his attacks. He heavily inhaled to recover his breath.

I also used that opportunity to gather my magic power.

Xiao Jin’s condition was worsening as the Fire Phoenix was too strong. A few of his golden scales were broken and a green

smoke leaked out of his burns.

Si Feng Ri sinisterly smiled. “Good boy, you can withstand for so long! Heng! Oh Great Master, please give me your impeccable power to your servant!”

As he chanted, I realised with astonishment that the originally bright red rays from Si Feng Ri’s body had turned grey. His yellow hair also turned a weird grey colour.

The High Priest stood up and shouted, “Such a sinister power!

Si Feng Ri is already controlled by evil forces!”

Si Feng Ri smiled viciously. “Those who try to stop me shall be killed!” A grey vortex surged from his body and charged at me.

When I saw it coming towards me, I began chanting, “Oh, great light elements! Please change your endless heavenly power to form a divine halo to block the evil powers before me, Divine Halo!”

A gold light tightly enwrapped me and blocked the grey light ray. I could hear cold screams as though numerous vengeful ghosts were coming after my life. The Divine Halo was slowly being suppressed by the evil power, and soon, it wouldn’t be able to block the attack.

Si Feng Ri coldly said, “It’s useless! There’s no defensive spells that can stop this advance. Brat! You’re gonna die!” What he said was true as it would mean the end of my life once the Divine Halo spell was broken. As I stood at the border of life and death, I thought about Teacher Di, Mu Zi, and my loving parents, . When facing death, I understood that I had really fallen in love with Mu Zi.

The Divine Halo left only an inch around my body. Teacher Di, Teacher Zhen and Teacher Long anxiously looked at me. They wanted to charge forward to help me and end the competition, but the opposing Magisters held them back.

When Xiao Jin felt that I was in mortal danger, he raged. He no longer cared about the familial feelings with the Fire Phoenix and wildly attacked it. Seeing that the Phoenix was going to be

defeated, I was suddenly enlightened and thought about its struggles and that binding black energy. ‘Is it being sealed against its will?’

I bit my tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood at the Divine Halo to widen it and hoarsely shouted, “Xiao Jin! Break the magic seal!”

Xiao Jin unhesitantly shot a golden light at the Fire Phoenix. The Fire Phoenix’s fire magic couldn’t do anything to that light ray which landed directly on the Fire Phoenix’s head. The Fire Phoenix screeched in pain in mid air. Its entire body then shook and doubled in size while it screeched out happily.

My Divine Halo also broke at that moment, but I strangely

didn’t feel as if I was dying. I opened my previously closed eyes and looked at Si Feng Ri.

His expression was terribly ghastly and blood flowed from all of his seven apertures. He hoarsely said, “Good! Good! Good! You actually managed to break the Fire Phoenix’s seal. I won’t forgive you!” It seemed when the seal on the Fire Phoenix broke, it rebounded onto Si Feng Ri, who was controlling the seal. It ended his chance of killing me and seriously injured him.

Si Feng Ri glanced at everyone before he coldly laughed. “When my master regains his power, it will be the end of you stupid fools!”

Everyone was stunned for a moment. Duke Te Yi had already

stopped holding back my team’s forces. A black six edged star magic spell suddenly formed beneath Si Feng Ri’s feet. “Just you wait! I’ll be back!……”

Teacher Zhen shouted, “Stop him! He’s getting away!” It was too late as Si Feng Ri and that black magic array vanished from the arena.

Prince Ke Zha shouted at Duke Te Yi. “Te Yi! What on earth happened? Why did the Ri family’s leader become like this?”

Duke Te Yi’s previously arrogant attitude had disappeared. He muttered, “How did this happen? Why is this happening?” Dun Yu Xi supported him. “Your Highness, we also don’t know why this would happen. For this match, we concede defeat.”

From what he said, we should have been cheering for the victory, but now, no one could bring themselves to be in a cheerful mood.

The Fire Phoenix benevolently rang out, “Human race! Do you know that the leader of the evil forces are planning to invade the whole world? You must stay united and team up to fight against him!” Xiao Jin seemed to cry out in agreement.

The Fire Phoenix actually spoke. Teacher Di walked into the arena and used light recovery magic to treat me as I was completely drained of energy.

The High Priest asked, “Great magical beast, what are you implying?”

The Fire Phoenix that was in mid air shrank back to its previous size and said, “I was sealed by an ancient evil power. I couldn’t do anything other than listen to their commands. I was lucky to have the seal broken by the Dragon King and win back my freedom. I hope that you will help free the previously defeated servant of evil too. Please also remember that the dark forces will arise in the West. Finally, thank you, Dragon King. I’ll definitely return this favour to you someday!” After saying that, the Fire Phoenix vanished and the air cooled down drastically.

Chapter 33 – The Future Is A Foregone Conclusion

I had already regained some of my strength. I knew who the leader of the dark forces that the Fire Phoenix was referring to; it was the Monster King. I withdrew Xiao Jin with difficulty as I was still very feeble, but I didn’t want him to  be  in  the limelight. I was actually over cautious as everyone was mumbling, “Coming from the west?”

Prince Ke Zha said, “Doesn’t the Beast race and Magic race reside in the West? Could it be that the Magic race is planning to invade the Human race?”

The High Priest said, “This competition has officially come to an end. His Royal Highness has won the rights to govern the Kingdom. There are no objections, correct?”

The Yue and Xin families’ heads, including Duke Te Yi, shook their heads. Duke Te Yi knew that they had lost this power battle. Moreover, they lost so terribly that it  was  impossible they didn’t have the slightest bit of strength to change their fortunes. His complexion just paled and he collapsed in Dun Yu Xi’s arms.

The High Priest saw that no one was objecting and continued to say, “Your Highness, I hope that you’ll remember that legendary beast’s words. You have to strengthen the Kingdom and increase its military power in preparation to fight against the dark forces in the future.”

Prince Ke Zha bowed deeply towards the High Priest and said, “To the High Priest and every magician present, please don’t worry. I’ll definitely strengthen the Kingdom and increase its

military power. I’ll lead every citizen from the Kingdom of Aixia to help stop the invasion and increase the strength of the Kingdom’s power.”

The High Priest smiled and nodded. “Good! I hope that you’ll always remember what you have said here.”

My body’s strength and vitality slowly recovered under the help of Teacher Di. I stood up, wanting to leave with the others, but the High Priest stopped me.

“Zhang Gong, you stay here for a while.”

Ah! I looked with astonishment at the High Priest before turning to look at Teacher Di. Teacher Di nodded his head and left with everyone else.

I curiously looked at the High Priest as he walked over. The High Priest only reached to my shoulders with his small stature of 170 centimeters. He looked kindly at me. “Child, your magical beast should be a dragon. Could you tell me how you got it?”

I was unable to bring myself to lie to this kind old man as I stared at him, though it was most likely unnecessary.. I told him in great detail on how I got the magical beast egg and how Xiao Jin was born. I even included the fact that I gave half of my lifespan to Xiao Jin, which enabled him to reach adulthood in such a short time.

The High Priest nodded continuously as he listened to what I said. “You’re a really kind hearted child. It’s no wonder why the dragon treats you as a friend. However, that solution was detrimental to both you and the dragon. Of course, I am aware of this sharing of life spell. Lao Lun was muddled. How could he have so easily allowed you to use that spell?”

I scratched my head and said, “Teacher Di had no other choices at that moment. If I didn’t use that life sharing spell, Xiao Jin would had died already.”

The High Priest sighed and said, “Since you used the life sharing spell, the long lifespan that your dragon should have had has disappeared as he is now using your life force. A normal human should live until they’re around 120 years of age generally, but now, you can only live to 60 years old, and the

same thing applies to your dragon.”

I made an apathetic expression. “It doesn’t matter. If it is only sixty years, then so be it! I don’t have any regrets!” A warm emotion flowed out from my heart. I knew that it was Xiao Jin who had shown his gratitude towards me upon hearing my words.

The High Priest nodded and said, “Child! I saw in a prophecy that it’ll be your generation’s era soon. You  must  remember that at all times, you must retain your kind hearted nature. It’ll be your most important weapon in attaining victory. I  hope there will still be many life forms that continue to exist after the calamity occurs.”

The High Priest’s expression that showed him bemoaning the state of the universe and pitying the fate of mankind moved me greatly. I held his hand and said, “Don’t  worry!  I’ll definitely…..” As I said that, a strong power surged out from the High Priest’s hand and moved into my body. It seemed to have fused with the unfamiliar power. (I think that it was the Holy Sword’s power). My body emitted a strong radiance of light that was similar to the High Priest’s eyes.

My whole body felt like it was in a furnace. It was scorching hot, but I couldn’t use any powers to resist it.

The High Priest mumbled, “Th-This is an inheritance power.” He gradually withdrew his power. The radiant light that shone from my body turned into a gold light and entered my body. A soothing feeling came forth. My body felt like it was filled to the brim. The large amounts of magic power that I depleted during the competition seemed to have fully recovered.

I asked in astonishment, “High Priest, what did you do to me?”

I didn’t expect him to be even more astonished than I was. No… it should be excited instead. He tightly grabbed onto my arm and exclaimed, “Zhang Gong, have you met a God before?”

I nodded and told him of the whole experience, excluding the parts about meeting the God Of Creation as it would be too shocking. I had only said that a golden light shone on me while I was in the cave.

Just like that, the High Priest was emotionally excited for a long time. He previously had passed me some God power. It was his God power that he had practiced for many years, which was capable of changing the mortal body. He wanted to help me a little to allow me to get half the work done and twice the effect from the future training, but he didn’t know that my body had been changed by the God already so his power only had a restoration effect.

The High Priest said, “Zhang Gong, you have received the approval of God.” I felt extremely dizzy at that moment as the High Priest held onto me and prayed a thousand times. However, it was hard to blame him as he had sacrificed his whole life believing in God.

I left the High Priest exhausted. I felt that the Ri family’s leader battle weren’t nearly as tiring.

After leaving the training ground, I was tugged at by Ma Ke.

“Boss, what did the High Priest have to tell you that it took so much time?”

I grabbed onto Ma Ke’s shoulder and made a fainting expression. “I almost got annoyed to death by that old man. As we talked, he kept repeating the same statement. Don’t ask me what statement it is as the High Priest didn’t allow me to tell anyone else. It’s also nothing important. That’s right! Why are you waiting here for me?”

Ma Ke smiled and said, “Of course, it’s to go and celebrate! I have never seen my father this happy before. He looked like a child. The teachers have already accompanied him back to the prince’s mansion. Let’s quickly head back as well!”

‘That’s right! He has earned the rights to govern the country! As he had battled for the powers, how could he not be floating on cloud nine?’

I replied, “Alright! Let’s go! Will there be lots of food?”

Ma Ke chuckled and said, “Of course! There will definitely be enough food to eat until you’re satisfied. Boss, you’re still the same. Once it’s about food, your eyes light up!”

Chapter 34 – Joining The Banquet

I said, “My eyes light up? You’ve probably not seen how eyes light up due to food. Can I invite another person along?”

Ma Ke curiously asked, “There is someone that is more excited about eating than you? Who are you asking to come along? A person with a bigger appetite than yours? Is he going to wipe out all the food from my house? Haha!”

I nudged him and said, “That won’t happen! Ah! It’s Mu Zi.

I’m currently courting her!”

Ma Ke suddenly had an enlightenment and said, “Are you referring to the same Mu Zi that you planned on getting your

revenge on?”

I nodded and thought back to the feelings I had for Mu Zi when I was in a crisis. I had a strange feeling in my heart.

Ma Ke replied, “Go and invite her then! I’m really curious about how much she can eat! Haha! She is a woman, but can eat more than you. Incredible!”

I looked at the sky and realized it was noon already. I told Ma Ke, “You head back to the mansion first. I’ll go find her and bring her there.”

Ma Ke nodded. “Boss, how is your condition? Are  you alright?”

I replied, “I’m fine so stop worrying! I’ll head off already.” I did a short distance teleport and teleported five hundred meters away.

I succeeded in solving the riddle of the Kingdom of Aixia’s fate and felt exceptionally light hearted. I arrived at the academy quickly, where it looked like the last class for the morning. I walked to the class entrance and shouted, “Permission to enter!”

Teacher Si replied from inside the classroom, “Come in!”

I pushed open the door and said, “Teacher, I’m back!”

Teacher Si Lan said, “Ah! Zhang Gong, don’t you still have a day of leave? Why are you back today?”

‘I definitely can’t say that I came back to invite Mu Zi for lunch.’ I replied, “I already settled the matter so I’m back already.”

“Alright! Take your seat!”

After I took my seat, Mu Zi stared at me with widened eyes.

I whispered, “I came back to invite you for lunch.”

Mu Zi’s large eyes instantly brightened and said, “Really? Are we going to Ascending Jade Tide?”

I made a wry face and said, “Do you only know that one place?

We aren’t going there, but the quality shouldn’t be too far off from the Ascending Jade Tide Restaurant. It’s a banquet  and I’ve intentionally come to get you.”

Mu Zi frowned and said, “I’m not going as there will definitely be lots of people going there and I hate noisy places.”

I pleaded and said, “Mu Zi, let’s go together! There’ll be a lot of delicious food to eat and you don’t need to socialize. You can just eat the food. Isn’t that great? Are you really going to reject this offer?”

Mu Zi looked at me curiously and said, “Really? If the food isn’t good, I won’t forgive you!”

I said elatedly, “It won’t be a problem because if you find the food unsatisfying, I’ll just bring you to the Ascending Jade Tide. Are you satisfied this way?”

Mu Zi nodded and said, “Alright. But I’ve made it clear that I’ll just be going to eat and I won’t be socializing.”

‘She really is just like a little piglet that only knows how to eat. Ever since I entered the classroom, my heart has only felt an indescribable warmth after seeing Mu Zi. Even though I was only apart from Mu Zi for two days, my impression of her is still very strong. In my eyes, there’s nothing that can replace her, even though she isn’t beautiful.’

After class, we went directly to the prince’s mansion. When we arrived at the prince’s mansion quickly, Mu Zi looked at the vast building. She gasped, “It can’t be that this is the place you plan to bring me?”

I smiled and replied, “That’s right! It’s here.” I pulled her tender and delicate hand and walked towards the entrance. The guards standing at the entrance smiled at me cordially and said, “Young Master Zhang Gong, you’ve finally arrived. You should quickly head inside as everyone is waiting for you!”

“Alright! Thank you and where are they?”

“His Royal Highness and the few Principals are at the ballroom, which is located beside the study.”

“Oh! I know where it is already. Mu Zi, let’s quickly go before they wipe out all of the food.”

I headed towards the study as I pulled the curious Mu  Zi along. I knew where the study was, so naturally, I would be able to find the ballroom.

Wah! When I opened the door, it was so lively. The room was sufficient to contain about 500 people and was filled with people who were obviously brimming with joy. The prince was so fast. He was able to gather his subordinates in such a short period of time. It was easy to see how cheerful he was.

“Boss, you’ve finally arrived. I was waiting for you.” Ma Ke called out.

Mu Zi exclaimed in astonishment, “Ma Ke, you’re also here?”

I replied with a smile, “Of course he’s here. This is his house after all.”

Mu Zi replied, “Ma Ke is the prince’s son? I didn’t know that!”

I said, “This is a secret so don’t expose it after going back to the academy.”

Mu Zi pouted and whispered into my ears, “Why are you participating in this banquet? It seems to be for high ranking officers.”

I whispered back, “You don’t need to worry about that. I just helped the prince a little so he’s treating me.”

The prince called out voiced out, “Has Zhang Gong finally come?”

I hurriedly replied, “Yes, Your Highness. I’ve just arrived.”

The prince came over and looked curiously at Mu Zi before talking to me. “Zhang Gong, why are you still calling me Your Highness? You should just call me uncle Ke Zha!”

I pointed at Mu Zi and said, “Alright! Uncle Ke Zha, this is my classmate whom I have invited over.”

The prince smiled and said, “If she is your friend, she’s also my junior. Quickly come inside, we’re waiting for you before

starting the banquet.”

I said in surprise, “Waiting for me? How can I let you elders wait for me? You could’ve just started without me.”

The prince said, “You’re the main contributor in my victory! If it weren’t for you, how could today’s competition go so smoothly? Let’s go in.”

I pulled Mu Zi, who was now even more curious, into the ballroom and sat at the main table. I introduced Mu Zi to the teachers, “This person is our academy Principal Teacher Zhen, this is the Intermediate Magic Academy’s Principal Teacher Di, who is also my mentor. This is….”

Mu Zi proceeded to bow toward each of the teachers as I introduced her to them. I noticed only then that she knew the proper court etiquette. Teacher Di looked at me thoughtfully, but didn’t say anything.

Teacher Zhen replied, “Zhang Gong! You’re incredible. You just entered the academy, but you’ve already managed to get Mu Zi. I know Mu Zi as she is my academy’s top third expert. You’re really capable!”

Mu Zi’s face reddened and she replied, “Principal, you must just be joking. How am I an expert before you teachers?” Mu Zi’s gentle expression stunned me a little. ‘Is she the same shrewish ice-cold Mu Zi that I know?’

Chapter 35 – Excellent Fruit Wine

Teacher Zhen laughed and said, “Mu Zi, you don’t have to be this courteous as it’ll be you youngsters’ era in the future. However, you shouldn’t let it affect your studies. You also have to supervise Zhang Gong as I heard from Lao Lun that he’s very lazy.” After he said that, he broke into laughter once again.

Teacher Long, who was at his side, said, “You old brat, you don’t have respect for your seniors.”

The prince smilingly said, “Stop teasing them!” After he said that, he shouted for everyone to quiet down.

The messy ballroom quickly became silent. The prince said in

a clear voice, “The main reason for this banquet is to express my gratitude to a few Magisters.” The prince didn’t directly say that he had won the power battle, but most of people attending the banquet more or less knew what happened.

The prince  continued  to  say,  “Everyone,  take  your  seats!

Servants! Bring up the dishes!”

I whispered to Mu Zi, “We’re going to have our meal already.

Control your movements a little!”

Mu Zi’s face reddened and she pinched me under the table.

The prince really knew how to treat his guests. In a short moment, the table was filled with delicious dishes. The prince stood up and raised his wine glass before saying, “I want to give a toast to everyone, as without any of you, the Kingdom of Aixia would have no future.” As the lead, he bottomed up. Everyone stood up and bottomed up their wine glass as well.

I said, “Prince Ke Zha, I have a good bottle of wine. Since today is a joyous day, how about tasting this wine of mine?”

The prince got interested and said, “Oh! That’s great! What is the good wine that you want us to try?”

Teacher Di frowned. “You brat! What good wine could you have? Do you think it would be comparable to the prince’s wine?” Teacher Di originally didn’t want me to sit at this table, as Ma Ke was on the table next to the main table with his similar looking brother. It was under the persistence of the prince that allowed me to sit at this table. I could tell that Teacher Di wasn’t happy I brought Mu Zi to attend the banquet.

I stuck out my tongue at him. “Then forget it! I better not offer something that might be disgraceful.”

Teacher Zhen replied, “What about offering something disgraceful? Just ignore Lao Lun! If they don’t want to drink, then give it to me.”

I looked at Teacher Di, who showed a helpless expression. “You stupid Chuan Song! It was already hard for me to lecture my student and you messed it up! What if he continues to be undisciplined in the future?”

Teacher Zhen replied, “Such a good student still needs to be lectured? Why don’t you give him to me? I want him!  How about it, Zhang Gong? I know you also train in Spatial magic. Why don’t you make me your mentor? I promise that I won’t lecture you.”

I was caught in the middle so I was at a loss of what to say. Teacher Di angrily said, “You have guts to actually try to steal my student. Don’t you know how much effort I  put  into teaching him? If you really have the capability, why don’t you teach one yourself!”

Teacher Zhen sighed and said, “It’s hard to find someone as talented as Zhang Gong. I’m also getting quite old already. Who can I teach? I also don’t want to fight with you. In the matter of teaching disciples, I can’t be compared to you. Are you satisfied now?”

After seeing Teacher Zhen’s dejected look, Teacher  Di  felt bad. He and Teacher Zhen had always been great friends. Teacher Di said, “Alright! I was wrong. Isn’t my student your student? Why do you need to be so calculative?”

Teacher Zhen elatedly said, “That’s what you said! You can’t regret saying that now. Zhang Gong is now counted as my disciple.”

Teacher Di, who fell into a trap, stuttered, “Yo–you actually lied to me. You old fart!” This made everyone erupt into laughter.

Teacher Zhen said to me, “Zhang Gong, quickly take out your good wine and let me see how good it is.” Teacher Zhen was a well known alcoholic.

‘To be honest, when I said I would bring out the wine, I had regretted making that decision as I’m left with only two bottles. Teacher Di’s thoughts on not wanting me to bring out the wine had actually suited my thoughts, but now Teacher Zhen wanted it. I can’t go back on my words in front of so many people.’

I replied, “I’ll only let you drink some, and I can only give you half the bottle.”

Teacher Zhen curiously asked, “What wine is so precious that you can only give me half the bottle?”

I replied, “It’s because I’m only left with this bottle.” I took out a bottle of the fruit’s wine from my spatial space and gave it to Teacher Zhen.

The sparkling and translucent bottle held a green fluid in it. This instantly attracted the attention of everyone. The prince asked in curiosity, “Zhang Gong, what type of wine is this?”

I replied, “This was given to me by a nature elf when I was out travelling. The wine is not bad.”

Teacher Long said, “Old Zhen, you can’t solitarily enjoy that wine. Let us all have a try!”

Even Mu Zi, who knew nothing about wine, found it extraordinary. How could the old foxes not feel the same?

Teacher Zhen hid the bottle to the side. “Not giving! Teacher Di said that you’re not allowed to drink it.”

Teacher Di rebuked, “Have I said anything about not being allowed to drink the wine? Who heard that?”

The prince shook his head and said, “I didn’t hear that!” Everyone, including Mu Zi, broke into laughter.

Teacher Zhen had no other choice but to bring out the wine. The prince ordered his servants to serve a glass of the fruit wine to everyone. Once the bottle was opened, a strong fruity scent permeated the room. The heads of the Kingdom of Aixia all said, “What a good wine!”

Mu Zi whispered to me, “Do you still have more of this wine?

It has such a nice scent.”

I replied, “I don’t have anymore. How about you  try comparing it to the Ascending Jade Tide? However, don’t drink too much of it, as the after effects are very strong.”

Mu Zi nodded.

After the servant poured a glass for everyone to try, the not so big bottle of the fruit’s wine was emptied.

The prince said, “Let’s all have a taste of the good wine that Zhang Gong  got from  the nature  elves.” He  took a  sip  after

saying that.

Teacher Zhen couldn’t wait any longer and drank the wine. Everyone also tasted the wine. Teacher Di said, “Zhang Gong, you brat! Why didn’t you secretly give me some of this wine?”

I muttered, “I didn’t know you drink wine.”

Teacher Di was momentarily speechless as he seldom drank wine. He made an excuse and said, “I don’t drink much wine… But such a good wine, I must have some of it.”

Teacher Zhen grabbed onto my shoulders and said, “You brat! Hurry! Give me some more of the wine! Do you still  have some?”

I bitterly said, “Didn’t I say that this was the last bottle?” Teacher Zhen dejectedly let me go. “After drinking this wine, it will be hard for me to drink other wines.”

The prince also said, “This wine is really very good! I’ve never been able to drink such a good wine before. Zhang Gong, is there any way for you to get a few more bottles of the wine?”

I replied, “I heard that the Nature Elves only produce a few bottles a year. So, it won’t be easy to acquire more.”

Chapter 36 – Rolling Like A Bottle Gourd

Teacher Zhen smiled at Mu Zi and said, “Mu Zi, why don’t you give your wine to your teacher? You’re a girl, so drinking too much wine is bad for your health.”

Mu Zi carried out an action that rendered Teacher Zhen unable to cry or laugh. She drank the remaining fruit wine in one go and said, “I’m not drinking wine. I’m only drinking fruit juice. Hehe!”

Teacher Zhen was so angry that he silently glared at her and huffed into his beard.

The prince  said,  “Please  drink  my  wine.  There  are  still  so

many dishes. Let’s dig in!”

We were all waiting for him to say that. Mu Zi and I started to wipe out the dishes savagely. However, as there were many elders around, we must eat elegantly, but we didn’t say a word and busied ourselves in eating. The leaders chatted and also ate food, so in a short period of time, the table was mostly cleared of food.

Teacher Zhen said, “Wah! Zhang Gong, you’re not only good at magic, you’re also good at eating!”

Teacher Di mockingly said, “You don’t know about this, but my precious disciple has a White Rice Bucket title.”

I awkwardly smiled and said, “I’m not good at magic, but eating. If it wasn’t for the fact that I was lucky, I would have died at the hands of the Ri family’s leader.” Thinking back to that situation, I’m still traumatized.

After saying that, I felt like I had divulged something to Mu Zi and peeked at her. She just seemed to be hurriedly eating and didn’t pay any attention to what I said. I asked the  prince, “Uncle Ke Zha, how is the situation for the Ri family?”

The prince sighed and said, “I sent people to arrest them after the competition, but the entire Ri family seems to have disappeared into thin air. There wasn’t anybody there, except for a few servants. It looks like Si Feng Ri had already prepared for this to happen. I’ve ordered people to search for them, but the chances of finding them are very slim.”

I nodded and said, “I wouldn’t have thought that the honorable Ri family would support the evil forces.” In order to prevent unnecessary panic, I didn’t tell them about the Monster King. How would I know that everyone had misunderstood that the Ri family is supporting the invasion of the Magic race, and brought unnecessary trouble to themselves.

Teacher Zhen said, “Let’s not talk about that now. Your Highness, can you serve more dishes? I’m still not full yet. Haha.”

The prince apologized for the unsatisfactory treatment of his guests and immediately told his servants to serve  another course of dishes. Mu Zi and I dug in. The food that didn’t lose out to the meal from Ascending Jade Tide unceasingly entered our mouths that were wide open like a bloody sacrificial bowl.

After the joyous meal ended, I secretly asked the prince for the

<<Three Hundred Poems>> book. The prince told me that he found the book in some ruins. That book was one of a kind and was painstakingly preserved. If it wasn’t me, I doubt that he would be able to give it away.

I accompanied Mu Zi and walked out of the prince mansion. I smiled and asked, “How was it? Were you satisfied today?”

Mu Zi coldly looked at me all of a sudden. “Hmph! What about being satisfied? It’s all your fault! With so many people around, I’m not full yet.”

‘Ah! She wasn’t full? She ate a lot just now, but many of the movements were secretive.’ I replied, “What to do? It can’t be that you want to find another place to eat now, is it?”

Mu Zi raised her head and looked at me with a playful look. “That’s unnecessary! However, you must remember that you owe me a meal at the Ascending Jade Tide.” After she said that, she turned around and ran towards the direction of the academy as she let out peals of laughter.

I then understood and shouted, “Wah! You tricked me!” After I shouted, I chased after her.

As we were on the main road of the city, we didn’t use any magic and just chased each other; Mu Zi could really run… Even

though I had spent some time training, it was still quite difficult to catch her.

Once I saw that the entrance to the academy before me, I surveyed my surroundings and determined there weren’t any people around. I used a short distance teleport to appear in front of Mu Zi. Mu Zi didn’t have enough time to stop and fell into my arms. As her momentum was great, we immediately fell and rolled along the ground like a bottle gourd.

Mu Zi’s head directly hit the left side of my face, which made me tear up in pain. Mu Zi held her head and exclaimed, “So painful!”

After a while, I snapped back to reality from being in pain. Mu

Zi was currently on top of me and continuously rubbed  her head. Her body was so soft. I subconsciously placed my hands on her waist. Even though it was through her shirt, I could still feel the smoothness of her skin.

As I zoned out, Mu Zi noticed that something wasn’t right and struggled to get out of my grasp. “What are you doing? You pervert!”

I completely snapped back to reality at that moment and helped her up, but the feeling of hugging her had not disappeared.

Mu Zi’s face reddened and she glared at me before pouting playfully, “So it turns out that you’re this bad!”

I screamed out injustice. “How am I bad? You were the one that bumped into me.”

Mu Zi unreasonably said, “I don’t care! It’s your fault! If not, why did you suddenly appear in front of me? I’m in so much pain right now from crashing into you. You see, I have such a big lump on my head. How am I going to see other people now?”

I gently caressed Mu Zi’s head. There really was a small lump. It looked like the collision was not gentle. I teased her saying, “Wah! Mu Zi, you have grown a horn! Haha.”

Mu Zi pulled my ear, “You’re good! You do something wrong, but still laugh at my misfortune. I won’t forgive you!”

I hurriedly said, “I wouldn’t dare! I’ll help you treat it. I promise the lump will disappear.”

Mu Zi curiously let go of my ear. “Really? If you’re lying to me, you’re dead!”

It hurt my heart knowing that Mu Zi got hurt during the fall, so I gathered light elements in my hand and cast a light recovery spell on Mu Zi.

Mu Zi, who saw the white light in my hand, quickly retreated away from the light. “What are you doing?”

I was stunned for a moment. “I’m helping you to treat your lump. Why? I’m using the light recovery spell. The effect is not bad.”

Mu Zi immediately shook her head. “No! I don’t need your treatment! I’ve been sensitive to light elements ever since I was young.”

‘Ah! There’s such a thing of being sensitive to light elements? I hadn’t heard about that.’ I chuckled and said, “You’re really special. You’re even sensitive to light elements. You’re incredible! Since you can’t be treated by me, let’s go back to the academy to find a water mage to treat you. You definitely

shouldn’t be sensitive to water elements, right? Haha.”

Mu Zi looked at me and said, “It’s inherited in my family. I also can’t do anything about that. Let’s hurry and head back to the academy.”

She unexpectedly took the initiative to hold my hand as we walked towards the academy.

Chapter 37 – Wounding Hai Shui’s Heart

When I thought back to the time when I hugged Mu Zi, my heart would beat frantically. It’s so comfortable hugging her.

After returning to the classroom, there was still some time before class began. I looked at Mu Zi, who was occasionally touching the lump on her head and showing a painful expression. My heart felt indescribable pain.

‘I need to find a water magician for her, but who to find? My time at the academy hasn’t been too long so I don’t know a lot of people. If I go find Hai Yue, it definitely wouldn’t work since she hates me to the core. Hmm, Hai Shui? Our relationship is a little awkward right now.’ I scratched my head. What to do? I

turned my head and saw that Mu Zi’s hair was dripping in perspiration. Her face was a little pale as she just lay on the table, continuously massaging the lump on her head.

Seeing her like that, my heart hurt. I didn’t care anymore. I’ll go and find Hai Shui. I stood up and turned to leave the classroom. Mu Zi asked, “Where are you going?’

I said lovingly, “Seeing you in so much pain, I’ll go and find someone to treat it. I’ll be back soon. You just have to wait for me here.”

Mu Zi smiled and was a little happy. “Alright!”

I walked to Hai Shui’s classroom. I was lucky that she was in

class. I shouted from the entrance of the classroom. “Hai Shui!”

Hai Shui raised her head and met my eyes. Her eyes showed signs of happiness and she hurriedly came to me. “Ah! Zhang Gong, you’re here? I thought you took a few days of leave. Why are you back already?”

I nodded. “That’s right, but I can’t delay my studies  any longer. I’m here to ask you for some help.”

Hai Shui giggled. “Wow! So there are also times where you’ll ask me for help.”

I awkwardly smiled. “Of course, you’re so capable. If I don’t ask you, who else would I ask?”

Hai Shui looked overjoyed after hearing what I said. She excitedly said, “Alright! What do you want?”

I replied, “I want you to help me treat a person.”

Hai Shui frowned after hearing what I said. “Who should I treat? Your light magic healing effect is much better than mine. Why did you come to find me?”

I replied, “It’s Mu Zi. She hurt her head and is sensitive to light elements, so I thought….”

When Hai Shui heard it was for Mu Zi, her expression darkened. She just wordlessly stared at me.

I felt so awkward at that time and at a loss of what to say. We just stared at each other. After a while, I mumbled, “Hmm! Can we just forget about what I said? I’ll just find someone else.”

Hai Shui sighed heavily and said, “Alright. I’ll help you. Let’s

go and treat her now since the next class hasn’t started yet.” She took the lead and walked towards my classroom.

Hai Shui’s decision astonished me as she actually agreed to help me.

While walking in the corridor, she didn’t say anything. ‘It looks like Ma Ke was right. Hai Shui really does love me. However, I have always treated her only like a sister. There weren’t any special feelings like the ones I had for Mu Zi.’ I

realized that finding her for help had hurt her.

I followed behind her until we reached the classroom. Hai Shui stopped and said dully, “You go and call Mu Zi out.”

I replied foolishly, “Alright! You just wait for me here.”

As I ran into the classroom, I pulled Mu Zi out of the classroom. The students in class looked at us. Mu Zi’s face reddened and she tried to break free of my hold, but to no avail.

I brought Mu Zi in front of Hai Shui. When the two of them saw each other, they were stunned. Mu Zi looked back and forth at me and Hai Shui until Hai Shui spoke. She forced a smile and said, “Mu Zi, how are you? I heard that you got hurt. Zhang Gong had come to ask me to treat your injury.”

Mu Zi looked at me before nodding her head. “Hai Shui, I’ll have to trouble you then.”

Hai Shui raised her left hand. “Gentle water! Please use your gentle form to cure the wound in front of you.” After she chanted, Hai Shui’s hand started to glow a light blue light. After a while, it formed a blue light ball. She waved her hand towards Mu Zi and the blue light ball shot out. It accurately landed on Mu Zi’s lump. The blue light suddenly expanded. After a short while, it disappeared.

Mu Zi smiled and said, “Hai Shui, your water magic is so good!

I’m no longer in pain. Thank you so much for that.”

Hai Shui shook her head. “There’s no need to thank me. Class

is starting soon so I’ll head back to my class. Mu Zi, see you later.” After she said that, she turned her head and looked at me seriously before whispering, “I’ll wait for you at the third training ground after school.”

I was stunned, but when I wanted to reply to her, Hai Shui ran away just like an injured bunny, disappearing from my sight.

Mu Zi stared at the leaving Hai Shui’s back and  sighed. “Zhang Gong! You’re so stupid! How could you ask her to treat my wound? You really don’t understand a girl’s heart.”

I bitterly said, “When I saw you in pain, my heart hurt so badly. I didn’t have many choices at the moment, so I went to find her. She wants me to meet her at the third training ground

tonight after school. What do you think? Should I go or not?”

Mu Zi’s heart was a little contradicting at that moment. Her large eyes exposed her complicated feelings. After a long time, she said, “You should go.”

As I saw through her internal battle, I held her hand and said, “Mu Zi, there’s only you in my heart. I won’t fall for anyone else. I think I won’t go then.”

Mu Zi face reddened a little, but she didn’t shake off my hand. She lowered her head and spoke really softly, “These words are already enough. You should still go to settle the matter.”

At this moment, a familiar voice voiced out, “You kids’ nerves are currently getting too thick as you actually dared to be so intimate in the hallway. Hurry, go and take your seat. It’s time for class.”

Mu Zi and I raised our heads at the same time. It was Teacher Si. Our faces instantly flushed red. Mu Zi whispered, “This is all your fault!” She turned and ran into the classroom.

I awkwardly smiled and said, “Teacher, I…..”

Teacher Si interrupted me and looked as though she was rebuking me. “That’s enough! You don’t need to  explain yourself. I know it’s impossible to  control  your  feelings. Teacher has also experienced that before. But you shouldn’t be doing this at school. If you really want to be intimate with Mu Zi, you should have found a secluded area instead. You’re such a worrisome child. You should also stop letting your grades drop any further. Mu Zi and you are this class’s most exceptional students. I have high expectations for you two.”

I looked at the teacher, whose magic power was incomparable to mine. I was actually moved by her. She didn’t scold me, but had encouraged me. What else could I say? I nodded at her with my slightly red face and ran into the classroom.

Chapter 38 – Displaying Heartfelt Love

When I took my seat, Mu Zi seemed to be thinking deeply about something. I sneakily reached out and held her small delicate cold hand. I was addicted to the feeling of her tenderness and bonelessness as I held her hand. This was heaven**.

Mu Zi raised her head and looked at me before sighing. She

took back her hand. I was curious. ‘What’s happening to her? She seems to be unhappy. Didn’t I clarify with  her  already? Why is she like this? Can it still be because of Hai Shui?’

I whispered, “Mu Zi, what’s wrong?”

She gently shook her head. “Nothing. It’s just that you didn’t write me a love letter. In fact, it’s been a few days since you wrote me one.”

I blankly replied, “Oh! I’ll write one now.” As I said that, I took out a piece of paper and wrote the love letter.

“Mu Zi, we have been apart for a few days. I thought about you constantly. I don’t know why, but I felt  empty  when  I didn’t see you those days. You’ve been asking me what I was doing during these few days. I’ll tell you now, as I know we shouldn’t have secrets between us. I took the two days leave to participate in the secret battle between Prince Ke Zha and Duke Te Yi. You should know the outcome already. Prince Ke Zha won the final victory in the competition.

It doesn’t matter if you believe this or not, but I didn’t participate in the battle for riches and honour. It was for the future fate of the Kingdom of Aixia and the numerous commoners. I feel that the worst situation for this matter would be a civil war. A war is only beneficial to those that want power, but the ones that will suffer are the commoners. I detest wars.

The fighting was settled using a best out of five matches competition. I participated in the fourth round.

You might be curious about why I was able to represent the prince in battle, so I’ll tell you another secret. I’m the eleventh Magister in the world. Do you think I am compatible for you now?

My opponent was the Ri family’s leader, Si Feng Ri. He’s Feng Liang’s grandfather. It was the most tenacious battle that I had experienced. His power can no longer be gauged by using the standard level of a magician. While I was forced to face death by him, the one that appeared in my heart was you. At that time I thought that, if I survived this ordeal and saw you again, I’d definitely treat you well and never let you go. I want to tell you how I honestly feel for you in my heart. I love you. I really love you. There is only you in my heart.” (Writing until this point, I got emotional. My love for Mu Zi roared out like the sea. A drop of my tears landed on the paper.)

I stopped and controlled my emotions before continuing to write.

“I don’t know why, but it’s like there’s a barrier between us. It’s some sort of wall. I’m unable to break through that solid wall. It makes it impossible to know how you really feel for me. Can you just tell me? I really want to hear your thoughts. I won’t force you to tell me, as everyone should have their

secrets. You have your own space. It’s because I love you, so I don’t want to force you to express your feelings for me.

When you agreed to be my temporary girlfriend, I was jubilant. However, after that I realized that it wasn’t because you love me, but were instead just interested in me. I didn’t feel anything about that at that moment, but now my heart feels uneasy thinking about it.

If you are worrying about the matter regarding Hai Shui, you don’t need to, as I have always treated her like she is my own sister. There’s no one that can enter my heart, except for you. I don’t know when you will open up your heart to me. I also don’t know if you like me at all, but my heart is yours. This is an indisputable fact.

Mu Zi, could you please accept me?”

Inscribed with forever loving you, Zhang Gong.

My emotions undulated, just like in the letter. I held the letter and stared at it; not knowing if Mu Zi would accept it.

When I looked at Mu Zi, she was looking at me. I didn’t know that the tear on the letter had greatly moved the girl beside me.

Mu Zi took the letter from my hand and read it.

I didn’t dare to see her. I was afraid that she would reject me. It wasn’t the same as the previous love letters. This time, I had put my heart into writing it. If I couldn’t replace my heart, I didn’t know if I could accept her rejection. I lowered my head and waited, as though I was a prisoner that was facing life or death judgement. I was really nervous while I waited.

After an extremely long time, an ice-cold, tender hand held my sweaty hand due to being nervous. I raised my head and saw that Mu Zi was looking at me. This was the first time that I had seen so much emotion coming from her eyes.

I anxiously whispered, “Do you accept me?”

Mu Zi lip curved up, showing happiness and lightly nodded her head. “Silly guy!”

I felt that my world had completely changed instantly. My surroundings were filled with colours. I tightly held onto her hand and mumbled, “Is this for real? Is it?”

Mu Zi face reddened and whispered. “We’re still in the classroom, so restrain yourself a little.”

I nodded strongly and placed a kiss onto Mu Zi’s hand that I

was holding. Mu Zi’s face reddened and looked like a red apple. She exclaimed, “What are you doing? I just told you to restrain yourself, but you….”

I replied, “I’m sorry, but I…I was just too excited.”

Mu Zi’s mood dampened a little, “I don’t know if I made the right choice. Are we really going to be able to stay together forever?”

I firmly nodded and tightly held onto the little sweaty delicate hand of Mu Zi. “Yes, we can! I don’t know what the future holds and I’ll probably experience difficulties and troubles, but I’ll always hold you tightly and protect you forever.”

Mu Zi smiled with abnormal brilliance. She held back my hand and said. “You’ve got to remember what you said today!”

I dazily said, “Mu Zi, your smile is so beautiful.”

Mu Zi replied, “How is it beautiful? You’re hateful. I don’t really know which part of me that made you love me.”

I blurted out, “I love every part of you!”

Mu Zi glanced at me, but her expression was filled with happiness. “I have a lot of things that I still can’t tell you. You’ll find out about it in the future. I really hope that we can conquer all of our problems.” She sighed and said, “Actually, Hai Shui is more suited to you than me. She’s more beautiful  and  her family background is also exceptional. I can clearly see that she really likes you. Why don’t you try and accept her instead?”

Chapter 39 – Hard To Refuse

I said in shock, “It looks like my instinct was right. I always felt as though you were hiding something. How about sharing it with me so that I can share your burden? You don’t have to say anything else about Hai Shui. I, Zhang Gong, swear that I won’t marry anyone except Mu Zi. Why do you keep on pushing me to someone else?” I got a little angry after asking that.

Mu Zi shook her head dejectedly, “You will know  in  the future, but now isn’t the time for you to know. Don’t force me to talk about it, alright?”

I gently said, “How could I force you? I believe that I’ll be able to solve any difficulties in the future, even if they might be extremely difficult. You’re mine forever in this lifetime as I will always hold onto you, so don’t you even think about escaping from me!”

Mu Zi looked at my eyes as I stared into hers. It seemed as though time stilled at that moment. Romantic feelings permeated our hearts.

When the bell rang signaling the end of class, Mu Zi and I snapped back to reality. I had finally developed a relationship with Mu Zi. I was currently exceptionally satisfied.

I took out the amethyst card from my spatial space and held it out for Mu Zi to take. “You can take this card. Whenever you feel like eating delicious food, you can use it to treat yourself. You shouldn’t neglect yourself.”

Mu Zi didn’t take the card, but shook her head instead. “I think you should keep that card to yourself, as I’m bad at controlling my spending.”

I smiled and said, “It doesn’t matter. Wasn’t money meant to be spent? Just take it! I don’t need much money anyways. If you eat conservatively, you’ll be able to eat delicious meals for a long time!”

After she heard me said that, she took the card. “You can’t blame me, if I really use up all of your savings in the future. Let’s not go to the Ascending Jade Tide anymore as even though that place is good, it’s too expensive. Let’s go to a cheaper restaurant in the future. I find cheap food is also not bad. I have always wanted to try some out.”

I said, “Alright! Let’s go out to eat tomorrow. You shouldn’t leave school tonight as I don’t feel that it is safe for you to be out alone. I’ll come and find you after meeting Hai Shui, alright?”

Mu Zi shyly nodded her head and said, “I’ll go and eat at the canteen first.”

I replied, “That’s great! You can just wait there for me. After meeting Hai Shui, I’ll come and find you.”

After arriving at the third training ground, it was still early in the evening, even though the sky had darkened already. After a while, the students had their dinner and some of them came to the training ground to train their magic. However, it was completely silent in the training ground at the moment. It was a

little chilly as the breeze blew past me, . Hai Shui still had not come. I stood at the center of the training ground; thinking about how to express the fact that I didn’t have any feelings for Hai Shui so that it wouldn’t hurt her feelings badly.

“Zhang Gong, you’re here already. I’m sorry that I came late.” Hai Shui’s dull voice sounded from behind me.

When I turned around, I saw that Hai Shui’s face was a little pale and signs of loneliness could be seen on her pretty face. I said smilingly, “It doesn’t matter as I had just arrived.”

She pointed at a corner of the field and asked, “Can we chat over there?”

I nodded and followed Hai Shui to walk over there.

“Zhang Gong, am I pretty?”

I was stunned as I hadn’t thought that Hai Shui would ask me that. I vacantly nodded my head. “Of course, you’re beautiful. There aren’t a lot of females that can compare to you in the academy.”

Hai Shui dull expressions became excited. The tone of her speech was also higher. “Why don’t you like me then?”

My heart skipped a beat. “Why do you think like that? I definitely like you. Hai Shui is an adorable little girl. How could anyone dislike you?”

Hai Shui emotionally said, “I’m not little! In your eyes, I’m only an adorable little girl? You should know what I  meant when I said I like you. Please tell me just which part of me is incomparable to Mu Zi. Tell me!”

Seeing Hai Shui in such an emotional state, my heart felt a sharp pain. I really couldn’t bear to hurt such an innocent and adorable girl, but I couldn’t not tell her the reason. I clenched my teeth. It was better to just get the pain over with, rather than prolonging her agony. “I’m really sorry, Hai Shui. I understand your feelings, but I have already given my heart to someone else, so I’m unable to accept you. Sorry.”

After listening to what I said, Hai Shui was no longer as emotional. She gradually calmed down, but her face became much paler. Sparkling and translucent teardrops rolled down her cheek. She nodded before saying, “Alright, I understand. Zhan Gong, do you still remember the first time we met each other at the arena? You took advantage of the time when I was not paying attention and pushed me off the stage. I really did hate you a little bit at that time, but your image just won’t disappear from my mind. Even after so many years, except for you, nobody has been able to enter my heart. I don’t blame you for choosing Mu Zi, but rather myself for not having the determination to confess my love to you.”

I gently wiped her tears off her face. “Hai Shui, can you stop being like this? My heart hurts, seeing you like this.”

Hai Shui grabbed onto my hand and pressed her cold delicate face against it. “When I first saw Mu Zi and you together, I felt that something wasn’t right, but I consoled myself. However after today when you asked me to treat Mu Zi’s wound, I had already understood that I no longer stood a chance. I saw through your heart. There is only Mu Zi in your eyes. When you look at her, your expression was so gentle. You were that distressed when Mu Zi got injured. You forever won’t be able to love me. Even after knowing that, my heart  had  already followed you. Zhang Gong, I really love you….”

Hai Shui sobbed soundlessly in my embrace after she tightly hugged my waist.

If I said, I wasn’t moved. I would be lying to myself. I never thought that Hai Shui would have such a deep feeling for me. As I vacantly hugged her, I was unable to console her, as I didn’t know what to say.

A voice suddenly shouted at us. “What are you two doing?” Hai Shui and I abruptly let go of each other. It was Hai Ri, I hadn’t seen him for two years already. He furiously ran over with a fireball in his raised hand. I cast a light shield to block his attack.

He said angrily, “You’re good, brat! You actually dared to hug my sister. I want to see what you’re capable of.” Although Hai Ri was mad at me, I strangely felt warmth. His expression made me remember the time when I helped Ma Ke treat his wounds.

I smiled and replied, “Brother Hai Ri, your temper hasn’t changed at all.”

Hai Ri felt that my voice was familiar. He stopped preparing his offensive spell before curiously asking,  “You…Who  are you?”

I replied, “I’m Zhang Gong.”

Chapter 40 – Hai Ri’s Anger

Hai Ri suddenly had a realization and said, “So, it was you brat! I heard from Hai Shui that you came back. I had planned to look for you tomorrow. You don’t know just how hell bent my sister has fallen for you. She keeps talking to me about you. You’re so capable! You just got back, but you already have your hands on her.”

I laughed bitterly in my heart as I knew he  had misunderstood. I hastily explained, ‘It’s not…”

Hai Ri interrupted saying, “Why isn’t that the case? I have already seen it. You still want to make excuses? Haha, don’t worry! I would mind if it was other people courting her, but I don’t mind if it’s you. You’re suitable for my sister.” He showed an elder brother’s look.

When I tried to explain to him again, Hai Shui stepped forward from behind me. She dully said, “Brother, please don’t meddle in our matter. There really is nothing happening between us.”

Hai Ri smiled and said, “You’re still saying nothing is going on? I have already seen you two hugging each other. Haha. Hmm, sister, why did you cry? Did he bully you?” Hai Ri’s expression changed instantly after seeing tears on Hai Shui’s face.

Hai Shui quickly replied, “Brother, he didn’t bully me. I already told you not to interfere with our matters. There’s really nothing going on between Zhang Gong and I. He already has a girlfriend.”

“What? Zhang Gong, you’re really good. You actually dare to bully my sister. I won’t forgive you!” Hai Ri’s temper erupted again.

Hai Shui stood in front of me and cried out, “Brother, please stop meddling in our matter! You also can’t blame Zhang Gong in this matter.”

Hai Ri said in rage, “If I don’t blame him, don’t tell me that I should be the one to be blamed! Hai Shui, get out of my way! Zhang Gong, you stinking brat, if you’re a man, stop hiding behind my sister and fight with me. Since we were young, I’ve only fought you once. We haven’t fought since then. I really want to see just what you have that gives you the guts to bully my sister.”

I used short distance teleportation to move in front of Hai Shui from behind her. I could only let Hai Ri let off some steam. At worst, I just won’t retaliate.

Once Hai Ri saw me step out, he didn’t say anything, but

chanted. “Boundless flames, please burn like my fighting spirit to turn into a violent flame to incinerate the enemy standing before you!” An enormous violent flame shot towards me.

When Hai Shui wanted to stop the attack, I mentally told her, “Your brother can’t hurt me. Let him let out some steam! If not, he won’t be able to calm down.” After hearing what I said, she moved to the side and worriedly watched our battle.

I cast a Holy light on myself; mellow and rich light elements protected me. Hai Ri’s magic power was so overbearing as I was forced to fly backwards after coming in contact with the violent flames.

I was like a magic sandbag after that, as I was continuously hit by all kinds of fire magic from Hai Ri. I stayed in the area of my defensive spell and unceasingly chanting defensive spells. The sky was dyed red by Hai Ri’s fire magic.

I cried out in my heart. Hai Ri is really strong. After fighting me for a long time, he was just as violent as he was initially; without any intention of stopping.

Hai Shui wanted to help me a couple of times, but I kept on

stopping her. I told her that I could still hold on.

The people watching our battle from the surroundings gradually increased. They were really fellows that had nothing to do after eating one’s fill. They pointed and discussed among themselves.

“Wah! Who made Boss Hai Ri so mad? The one getting beaten doesn’t have any strength to fight back.” As I was bombarded by countless magic spells, I couldn’t see who it was.

“That fella is in deep trouble. He might become a roasted pig after the battle.”

“He really can hold on. Who is that? His defense is quite good. Hai Shui is also here. He’s probably someone that was reckless enough to try and court her, which made Hai Ri furious.”

As I stayed in my defensive spell, I withstood his attack. Even though Hai Ri was strong, he was still a rank lower than me. His attack wouldn’t be able to break my defense. The problem was that there was no end to his attacks and I also couldn’t fight back. This was really troublesome.

Just as I was dreading, a violent gale suddenly blew past me. A few small Wind Tornados appeared in front of me. My body suddenly lightened. The pressure on my body caused by Hai Ri instantaneously disappeared.

Mu Zi landed in front of me accompanied with a cool breeze. “Mu Zi, why did you come?”

Mu Zi snorted and said, “You didn’t come to the canteen even after a long time had passed. I’m worried for you.”

I moved my head in front of her ear and said as I laughed, “Were you afraid that I would be attracted to Hai Shui?”

Mu Zi laughed and said, “Stop being so shameless! Hai Ri, why are you fighting Zhang Gong?”

Hai Ri saw Mu Zi appear and block his attack. He stopped attacking and said, “Mu Zi, why are you here? This matter only involves Zhang Gong and I, so stop meddling in our affair and get out of the way!” Hai Ri looked a little scared after seeing Mu Zi.

Mu Zi replied, “You’re shameless. Zhang Gong didn’t fight back and let you attack him, but you kept on attacking him.”

Hai Ri coldly said, “He’s guilty since he bullied my sister, so I want to beat him up.”

Mu Zi said, “How did he bully your sister? Did you see it happening?”

Hai Ri was instantly speechless and yelled at the surrounding students who were whispering, “You all aren’t involved in this, so stop staying here to watch the show.” After he chased away the crowd, he turned to Hai Shui and asked, “Sister, did he bully you just now?”

Once Hai Shui saw Mu Zi came, her expressions darkened. When she heard Hai Ri questioning her, she replied, “Brother, I already told you not to interfere with our matters. Zhang Gong really didn’t bully me. Let’s just go!”

After Hai Ri heard what she said, he was stunned. “If he didn’t

bully you, then why were you crying just now?”

Hai Shui’s tears flowed again. She said as she  cried,  “You don’t need to care!” She turned and ran away.

After Hai Ri saw Hai Shui running away, he said to Mu Zi, “Are you still going to say he didn’t bully her? You already saw how upset she was.”

I walked out from behind Mu Zi and patted Hai Ri’s shoulder. Hai Ri shoved my hand away from him. “Don’t touch me! If you don’t give me a reasonable explanation, I won’t ever let this matter go!”

I bitterly smiled and said, “Brother Hai Ri, please calm down a little and let me explain.”

Hai Ri coldly looked at me and said, “Carry on.”

I looked at Mu Zi and she nodded at me. I sighed before telling him everything from the start to the end of what happened.

After Hai Ri heard what I said, he stunningly said, “So, it was a love triangle.” He pulled me to the side and whispered to me, “Brother, it was my bad previously, but it was your fault! Why

did you choose Mu Zi? She’s so fierce and violent. It would have been better if you had fallen for my sister as she is prettier and gentler. You should have chosen her instead.”

I helplessly replied, “You can’t make such comparisons in love relationships. I can only apologize to Hai Shui. Mu Zi and I mutually love each other. Brother Hai Ri, can you stop making things difficult for me?”

Chapter 41 – Embracing Mu Zi

Hai Ri shook his head. “I won’t be able to interfere in this kind of matter so just do as you like, but my sister is just so pitiful.” After saying that, he intentionally glanced at Mu Zi, who was not far away from them.

I asked Hai Ri, “Brother Hai Ri, has Mu Zi made you suffer before? It looked as though you’re fearful of her?”

Hai Ri puffed out his chest and said, “Who’s scared of her?” Suddenly, he deflated like a balloon that was losing air. “However, I did suffer at her hands before. We fought in one of the academy’s competitions. Even though I was able to win against her, she beat me to the point that I couldn’t get out of bed for a couple of days. Mu Zi is really powerful, especially when she fights as if her life depends on it. I’m currently having trouble settling the matter about Hai Shui. I also can’t force you to like her. First it was Hai Yue and now it’s Hai Shui. My two sisters… Just what do you want me to do as your brother?” Mu

Zi could actually make Hai Ri unable to stand her. I had never thought about this point before.

I asked in surprise, “Hai Yue? What about her?”

Hai Ri lethargically replied, “It’s the wretched Ri family. It is unknown why they suddenly disappeared. Feng Liang also disappeared. Hai Yue was terribly worried and kept on looking for him, but to no avail. Even if he wanted to go, he should’ve told us first.”

So it was like that. I replied, “You should go back and tell Hai Yue to stop looking for him. I’ll tell you a secret, the Ri family has betrayed the Kingdom and the entire family is on the run now. Feng Liang isn’t any good either. They’re worshipers of

sinister forces. You should make Hai Yue forget about him as soon as possible.” Ma Ke finally had a chance! I’ll make him go and console Hai Yue tomorrow.

Hai Ri astonishingly asked, “There was such a matter? Why didn’t I know about it?”

I replied, “You mustn’t tell anyone else about this. If you still don’t believe in what I have said, you can go home and ask your grandfather about it. He knows the truth about this. Actually, Ma Ke is not bad, you should help him out.”

Hai Ri frowned and said, “Why are so many  things happening? My head feels compacted. Alright, I’m leaving. I don’t want to think about anything anymore.” After he said

that, he turned and walked away.”

I hastily told him, “Brother Hai Ri, when you get home, you should tell Hai Shue that it’s impossible to force feelings. I hope that time will be able to heal her heart’s pain.”

Hai Ri replied, “That’s enough! You should stop saying such cynical remarks. How would I be able to repair her broken heart? Isn’t her pain caused by you?” As he complained, he walked out of the training ground.

I could only smile bitterly as I saw him walking away.

Mu Zi walked over and clung onto my arm. “It’s been hard on you.”

I turned around and gently embraced her. I buried my head in her long hair and deeply inhaled, bewitched by her sweet- smelling scent.. I didn’t want to think of anything and just wanted to quietly hold her.

Mu Zi returned my embrace and rested her head on my chest.

After a long time, I raised my head and gently said, “I wish

that time would stop at this moment. The feeling of hugging you is just so amazing. It’s really enriching.”

Mu Zi pushed me away and angrily said, “You’re horrible! All you know is to say such frivolous words.”

It was my greatest enjoyment to see her protest coquettishly. My previous troubles seemed to have disappeared. I opened my arms widely to throw myself at her.

Mu Zi cried out in shock and dodged away. Her movement using wind magic made her really nimble. It was hard for me to catch her easily, even when I used short distance teleports.

I finally found an opportunity to block her path and embraced her while giving her layer upon layers of kisses upon her seemingly fragile, delicate face.

Mu Zi hit me using her hand and said, “You’re hateful and a pervert!” She struggled to get out of my hold.

I tightly embraced her so she couldn’t break out of my hold. “Is my embrace not warm enough? Can you stop running away from me?” After saying that, I gazed lovingly at Mu Zi with all of my attention.

Mu Zi stopped struggling and remained in my embrace. I gently caressed her silky hair. I whispered into her ear, “Mu Zi, I love you.”

Mu Zi replied by saying, “Mmhmm!” Even though she didn’t respond to what I had said, I was already really satisfied with just this. I lowered my head to kiss her lips. Mu Zi jumped in fright. What I kissed in the end was only her delicate hand.

Mu Zi complained, “You were so well behaved previously, but now you’re being naughty again. Are you unsatisfied with hugging me? If you continue to be like this, I’ll ignore you.”

I was afraid she really got mad at me, so I didn’t dare to be imprudent. I only stood there, embracing her in the dim light of

the night. We just quietly felt the beat of each other’s pounding heart.

After going back to the dormitory, I was still bewildered as I had ended up in a relationship with Mu Zi, but had hurt another girl’s heart in the process. I realized then that feelings could be so sweet, and yet so very bitter in the next moment. Hai Shui, I’m really sorry, but just forget about me.

I thought through many things that night. I thought about the competition, about Mu Zi, the Monster King, Hai Shui, and the Ri family’s matters all of which continuously appeared in my mind, making it hard for me to sleep. I dozed off that night, but with great difficulty.

Who is pushing me? I gradually woke up. I heard Ma Ke saying, “Boss! Boss! Quickly get up! You’re late already, so quickly wake up!”

I hazily opened my eyes as Ma Ke kept on shaking me.

I pushed his hands away and said, “Stop being so noisy. I’m getting really annoyed. Just let me sleep! I’m late, so what? It’s not like this is the first time.”

Ma Ke replied, “This is what you said. I’ll tell this to Teacher Di tonight. After you left yesterday, that old man kept on telling me to watch you attentively so that your magic  won’t deteriorate, and especially for you to study seriously in class.”

After hearing about Teacher Di, I awoke and helplessly climbed out of bed. “Really! Just what’s the problem of skipping a few classes? It isn’t like the lessons had any meaning to us.”

Ma Ke chuckled and said. “Enough, Boss! Stop complaining and let’s go! Teacher Di said that even though your magic power is strong, your basics haven’t been solidified so learning more theories won’t be bad.”

When Ma Ke and I were on the way to the academy, he told me, “I heard you fought with Brother Hai Ri about Hai Shui’s matter yesterday.”

I replied, “You got the news so quickly.”

Ma Ke replied in astonishment, “So you mean it really happened? I thought they were just rumours. How did this happen? It can’t be that you’ve fallen for Mu Zi?”

I bitterly smiled and said, “I’m a hundred and ten percent sure that I have fallen for Mu Zi and can’t stop myself from loving her already.”

Ma Ke’s mouth gaped open for a long time before saying, “I didn’t know you had reached such an extent. You’re amazing, boss! But is Mu Zi really better than Hai Shui? Did she accept you?”

I nodded. “Who is good or bad? I don’t know. But all I know is that I seriously love Mu Zi, and she has also accepted me. I explained everything to Hai Shui yesterday night.  She  was really upset. At that moment, Hai Ri came and saw that she was upset. With his bad temper, how could he forgive me? So we ended up fighting against each other.”

Chapter 42 – A Compassionate Breakfast

Ma Ke chuckled and said, “Now, you’ve also experienced Brother Hai Ri’s magic baptism. You don’t know how much I suffered back then. Haha!”

I punched him once before saying, “You brat! You dare to make fun of me? If you still have the energy to tease me, why don’t you go and chase after Hai Yue before you lose the opportunity to do so?”

Ma Ke was stunned for a moment before he foolishly asked, “Hai Yue? Why should I chase her?”

When I saw that Ma Ke was speaking foolishly, I said

smilingly, “Aren’t you usually intelligent? Why is it that whenever it involves Hai Yue, you become so dumb? You need to carefully think it through.”

Ma Ke frowned as he looked at me. After thinking for a while, his eyes gradually brightened up. He exclaimed, “Boss, are you saying….”

I nodded. “That’s right! What you thought is correct. Feng Liang has already run away with his grandfather. This is a great opportunity. You must seize this opportunity. Don’t let it slip away.”

Ma Ke cheered a little before he turned and ran.

I hastily yelled at him, “Ma Ke, where are you going? You should attend your classes first.”

Ma Ke shouted as he ran, “I’m not going to class. I’ll be going to Hai Yue’s classroom to wait for her class to end.”

He really prioritized love over friends. I hope he will succeed. When I reached the entrance of the classroom, it was a lesson on magic tactics. The teacher was one of the academy’s famous instructors.

I shouted from outside, “Permission to enter!”

“Come in!”

“I’m sorry that I’m late, teacher.”

“Quickly take your seat and remember to be on time next time.”

I let out a long breath before I quickly took my seat. Mu Zi

smiled at me and whispered, “Why are you late again?”

I replied, “I spent all night thinking about about you last night and overslept this morning.”

Mu Zi’s face flushed and she replied, “You’re too talkative. I knew you would be late today. Just take this!” After she said that, she passed me a lunch box.

“What is this?” I curiously asked.

Mu Zi replied, “See it for yourself.”

I opened the container and saw it was filled with delicious food. That’s great! Mu Zi took a mug of fruit juice from under her table before saying, “Eat carefully! Don’t let the  teacher catch you eating. Ever since I met you, I’ve become such a delinquent.”

I grabbed her hand and kissed it. “The feeling of having a wife is so great. Thank you so much, my wife.”

Mu Zi hit me before withdrawing her hand.  “Who’s  your wife? You’re hateful. Just quickly eat your food!”

As I ate, I said, “This love filled breakfast that my wife made me is so delicious. It’s too delicious. Hmm, why are you staring at me? Are you hungry? Here, have some!” I grabbed a piece of chicken and gave it to her.

Mu Zi angrily said, “You just have to eat! Why do you have so much to say? I won’t make it for you anymore.” Even though she said that, she took the chicken from my hand and secretly ate it.

I suppressed my laughter and said, “Little piggy!”

Mu Zi snorted. “You’re the piggy, not me, you monkey!” After she said that, she giggled uncontrollably.

I felt wronged and said, “Am I that ugly?”

The teacher on the lecture platform said, “Zhang Gong and Mu Zi! Stand up!” Wah! This was bad. We were noticed by the teacher.

I quickly placed the breakfast on my seat, before standing up.

Mu Zi stood up as well.

The forty year old teacher glared at us. “What’s going on with the two of you? You’re not listening in class and keep on whispering in class.”

Mu Zi and I looked at each other but didn’t reply to the teacher. The teacher continued saying, “That’s enough! Take your seat. Please pay more attention in class, especially you, Zhang Gong! Don’t think you can just slack off with only a little accomplishment in your magic. There are already a few teachers who have commented on your behaviour in class. If you carry on being like this, you might face expulsion from the academy.”

Ah! It couldn’t be that bad. Hehe! It shouldn’t matter as I have a good relationship with Teacher Zhen. He wouldn’t expel me.

“The Principal said that if you continue to break the class rules, we should instantly write up a note  for  disciplinary action. You were late today and now you aren’t paying attention in class.”

How could Teacher Zhen do this to me? It hurt my  heart badly.

“There’s also Mu Zi. You’re an exceptional student. Why have you not been studying properly after Zhang Gong transferred to the academy? I’ll be going to discuss this with the teacher in charge of this class to make you two sit separately.”

Ah! He was going to separate Mu Zi from me. It mustn’t happen! I straightened my body and glared at the teacher.

“Teacher, it was my fault for talking in class, but Mu Zi doesn’t have anything to do with this. She keeps on ignoring me. I’ll take notice of this in the future. It shouldn’t be serious enough to change our seats over, right?”

This teacher probably hadn’t seen such a bold student. He was stunned for a while before saying, “Zhang Gong, is this the tone you should be using while addressing a teacher? Get out of the class and stand in the corridor as your punishment!”

He wanted me to stand outside as punishment? How could I? I still hadn’t eaten my breakfast! I coldly replied, “I don’t want to!” I just sat in my seat and ate my breakfast.

Mu Zi, who was beside me, kept pulling on me, gesturing me

to stop quarreling with the teacher.

The teacher’s expression on the lecture platform ashened. “Zhang Gong, this is your last chance. Are you going to get out or not?”

My stubborness rose, and I angrily rebuked, “I’m not going to. As a teacher, why aren’t you teaching the class properly instead of letting such a small matter affect your teaching process?”

The teacher said ‘good’ thrice before walking out of the class. ‘It couldn’t be that he was indicating I was such a good student to praise me thrice?’

The class was in an uproar instantly, but no one dared to question me.

Mu Zi sat down and said, “Zhang Gong, why did you quarrel with the teacher? This is going to be bad for you.”

I felt I was wronged and looked at her. “I wanted to eat the breakfast you had given me. How could I eat it in the corridor?”

Mu Zi helplessly said, “You! You’re in deep trouble. That teacher must have gone to find the Principal. He might even

expel you.”

I smiled and said, “That wouldn’t happen as I have a good relationship with Teacher Zhen. How could he expel me?”

After a short while, the teacher returned with signs of ridicule in his expression as he entered the classroom with Teacher Zhen. Teacher Zhen frowned and said, “Zhang Gong, get out of the class!”

After hearing Teacher Zhen’s words, I obediently went out of class. He turned to the teacher to tell him to carry on teaching the class. After that, he took me to the corridor.

Teacher Zhen said, “Why is this happening? Are  you purposely making trouble for me? You’re not listening in class and even made the teacher of the class complain to me about you. After all that is said and done, what’s going on with you? Do you really want me to go and complain to Teacher Di?”

Chapter 43 – A Brutal Plan

I scratched my head and awkwardly said, “I’m sorry, Teacher Zhen. I’ll pay more attention in class next time.”

Teacher Zhen replied, “Pay more attention next time? How am I going to solve it this time, then? I can’t tell the teacher to let it go. Won’t that be too obvious that I’m covering for you?’

I awkwardly said, “What should we do? It’s all my fault for bringing you so much trouble. I’ll study properly in class in the future, so as to not give you any more troubles, so can we smoothen this issue this time?”

Teacher Zhen frowned and said, “Let me think about this.

How about I place you in confinement for a while. They won’t be able to say anything after that.”

I was stunned for a moment and said, “Place me in confinement?” If I was placed in confinement, wouldn’t it mean that I would be unable to stay with Mu Zi. I became anxious and said, “Teacher Zhen, you have to help me! I don’t want to be placed in confinement!”

A cunning light flashed in Teacher Zhen’s eyes. “It will be difficult for you this way, but it’s hard to appease the teachers if I don’t do anything to you. In that case, how about  you represent the school to participate in the Triennial National Advanced Magic Academies’ competition. I will just announce that you are in confinement. This plan should be acceptable?”

Ah! Participate in a competition? I started to have the suspicion of being set up by Teacher Zhen.

Teacher Zhen continued to say, “Every academy will be sending five members to participate in the  competition.  You will be the leader of the team, and I’ll let Mu Zi participate as well. You should be satisfied with this?”

Being able to be together with Mu Zi, this was acceptable. . “What is the purpose of the competition?”

Teacher Zhen said. “This competition should actually be a breeze as all of you are so strong. Who will be your match? You can just treat it as a holiday.”

Would it be that easy? Forget it! Who asked me to offend Teacher Zhen. Even after knowing that Teacher Zhen had set me up, I couldn’t reject his arrangement.

I said, “Alright! I’ll participate in this competition. Can I pick the members?” If I could choose who to pick, it would be good. Otherwise, with Hai Shui’s abilities, she would definitely be chosen. If I’m caught in the middle, it would be a question of whether I could come back alive!

Teacher Zhen thought for a while before replying, “I could let you do that, but you must promise me that your team will definitely bring the championship back. We’re  the  famous Royal Advanced Magic Academy. If we were to lose to others, my face would be completely lost.”

Teacher Zhen had forced me into the trap, step by step. I said, “Alright! I’ll definitely bring the championship back to you.”

Teacher Zhen laughed heartily, causing goosebumps to rise above my skin. Teacher Zhen replied, “Who are you going to choose to participate in the competition? Let me hear it.”

I thought for a while before replying, “It will be Ma Ke, Mu Zi,

Hai Yue and I. You can decide the last member of the team.” ‘I will forget about choosing Hai Ri. With his temper, nobody will dare to pick him.’

Teacher Zhen was visibly satisfied with my decision. “Why didn’t you choose Hai Shui? She should be stronger than Hai Yue.”

I chuckled and said, “You don’t know this, but Ma Ke has been chasing after Hai Yue all these years. Let’s create this chance for him. I have already promised that I will definitely be able to bring back the championship anyway. Hai Yue’s capability isn’t bad either.”

Teacher Zhen replied, “Alright! Let’s add Si Wa Ming to the team. Hai Yue will be the only one from the Xin family who will participate in the competition.

I curiously asked, “Si Wa Ming? Isn’t that the expert in earth

magic, the fifth year student who is the top ranker of the academy?”

Teacher Zhen nodded. “That is correct. It’s him. His magic talent doesn’t lose out to you, but his luck is slightly worse from you. He is the the second person other than you in the new generation with the potential to become a Magister. Let me tell you a secret. He’s actually Dun Yu Xi’s successor. I wanted him to join the team so as to develop a good relationship with you and ease the conflict between Duke Te Yi and our side.

‘So it was like that. I also really want to get to know this person. Teacher Zhen is so full of praise for him, so the real thing shouldn’t be that far off.’

Teacher Zhen said, “Then it’s decided. There’ll be a total of eight academies participating in the competition. It’ll take place in the Sen Long’s magic academy in the Martial Return City. You should depart tomorrow. It will be a ten day journey. The competition will be held twenty days from now. You have to get there earlier to familiarize yourself with the place and situation. Even though the other academies’ powers are weaker than ours, there will still be some techniques worth learning.”

I wanted to scream that I had been scammed by Teacher Zhen.

‘So Teacher Zhen has already planned out everything! I swear that I will study properly in the future and not get into conflict with the other teachers. I will never give Teacher Zhen another chance to exploit me.’

I lowered my head as I followed Teacher Zhen back to class. Teacher Zhen looked really serious as he stood on the lecturer’s platform. “What happened today is a very serious offence. As a student, not only did Zhang Gong not study properly, he even rebuked his teacher. Furthermore, within this short period of

time, he was frequently late for class. I announce that I will place Zhang Gong in confinement for two months in accordance with all of his mistakes. He is to sincerely reflect on his behaviour. Mu Zi will also be placed in confinement for  a month. Other students should take this as a warning. If there’s such thing that happens again, it won’t be settled so easily. Alright! Carry on listening to your lessons. Mu Zi and Zhang Gong, follow me.”

The class teacher looked at me smugly. “Principal, can Mu Zi be exempt from her punishment? She had always been attentive in class.” Hearing him plead for my beloved, I had a slightly better impression of him.

Teacher Zhen’s expression was unphased. “I won’t allow that to happen. To do such a thing in the academy, they must be severely punished! Mu Zi and Zhang Gong, pack up your belongings and meet me in the Principal’s office.” With that, he turned and walked away.

As I was packing up my belongings, I whispered to Mu Zi, “It’s alright. Don’t worry.”

She glanced at me before whispering back. “It’s all your fault that my reputation has been completely ruined!”

After we packed our stuff, just before walking out of class, I looked at the class teacher with some regrets. It seemed that he wasn’t a bad teacher.

I told him, “Teacher, I was wrong today. I hope that you can

forgive me. “ My words were completely sincere.

He was stunned for a moment before saying, “Forget it, just tell me why the Principal gave you such a harsh punishment.” Being confined for two months was a really serious punishment. The students that attended the Royal Advanced Magic Academy were the talents of the Kingdom, so the management of the students had always been very slack.