CHAPTER 31: INTENSE STARING CONTEST!

ORIGINAL Author: Chaos

SPINOFF Author: Vester

“The Annual Examination will now officially begin!”

All of the ten classes in the school began simultaneously.

The process of the test was actually very simple. You just had to place your hand on the Star Appraisal Stone while everyone, including the examiners, watched. Then, you concentrated to enter a meditative state, and at that time, the Star Appraisal Stone would emit the same radiance as the examinee’s stardust. They would then assess the level of the cultivation based on the radiance.

Every student had three attempts.

The final result was based on the attempt with the brightest radiance.

Naturally, the more the student concentrated on it, the more the Star Appraisal Stone would accurately display the radiance of the student’s stardust.

The order of the examinee’s was random. The first examinee naturally happened to be that weeping beauty, classmate He Yu, who was already standing at the front.

The girl was still that timid; she was still extremely shy as she walked to the front of the Star Appraisal Stone under everyone’s gaze. She looked as though she was scared of being expelled.

“You may begin,” the bald examiner said.

“Good luck He Yu! Your teacher and your fellow classmates believe in you,” Xue Musheng said.

“Don’t worry if you don’t do well; I will take care of you,” the nutjob of a dorm head, Jian Hua said.

He Yu was feeling shy as she closed her eyes; she then placed her small hands on the massive Star Appraisal Stone.

The entire class suddenly turned silent. Their eyes were attentively watching the girl who was taking the first test, and it seemed as though they were more nervous than the examinee.

For some reason, Mo Fan felt a change in He Yu’s temperament after she began her test. Her expression turned serious; although she was nervous, she wasn’t frantic.

The black Star Appraisal Stone gradually emitted some radiance from within. In the beginning, it looked like the early sunrise. Following He Yu’s intense focus, the radiance gradually spread around the Star Appraisal Stone, causing the radiance to fill the surroundings.

“A!”

“A!”

“A!”

In this moment, the three examinee’s practically announced the results simultaneously.

“Classmate, it’s done. Your final result is an A!” the bald examiner said without an expression on his face.

He Yu opened her eyes; she looked as though she was unable to believe it, before she excitedly said, “Re… really? I got an A?”

Although the scene of a girl happily yelling out she got an A was strange, they had no choice to admit that He Yu’s final results gave everyone a surprise.

“I… freaking hell. A?! That’s the standard for entering the Elite Class!”

“I’m speechless. Before the test, she was sitting there wailing endlessly. We really thought she was drifting on the borderline of being expelled, but as the final results came out, she freaking got an A!”

“Magic B*tch; what a typical magic studying b*tch. I’ll never believe her again.”

After the results came out, Mo Fan’s dorm head, classmate Jianhua, was completely flabbergasted.

_Raise her, my ass. It’d be really good if he would be able to get a B. He’s just blindly worrying about someone who got an A._

The homeroom teacher, Xue Musheng’s expression was stiff. He was deceived by the female teacher who acted all cute. However, having the first one to take the test and get an A made Xue Musheng feel happy overall.

All the grades will be summed up, and after that, the ten classes will compare the average grades. Xue Musheng felt like his own class had the potential to reach the top three.

The biggest competition was the class next door, class 7. With that Lightning Element kid, Xu Zhaoting, who knew how much of a difference there would be between the classes? However, what he wished for was the most outstanding student in his class, Mu Bai, to not be inferior to Xu Zhaoting in any respect.

“Next one, do you want to partake the test?” the bald examiner said, as he looked at He Yu.

He Yu shook her head in haste as she said, “I’ve only grasped six stars so far, so I’ll let it be.”

“Alright. We’ll use the evaluation from your other teachers to decide which class you’ll be placed in,” the bald examiner said.

“Thank you, teacher.”

He Yu walked out, happily. Originally, she wanted to share this joy with the friends next to her, however, she realized the friends were all a meter away from her. She was puzzled by this.

She didn’t do anything wrong; her grades were pretty good, right?

“Next, Zhang Xiaohou,” the examiner announced the name.

Zhang Xiaohou couldn’t help but be surprised. He didn’t think it would be his turn so soon.

“Brother Fan, I’m going,” Zhang Xiaohou said to Mo Fan.

“Mhm, do your best, and stay calm,” Mo Fan replied, he had removed his Precious headphones as he watched his Lil brother go.

Zhang Xiaohou glanced at Xu Musheng, and then took one glance at the Practical Teacher, Tang Yue.

“Do your best, teacher believes in you.” The one who said this was the Practical teacher, Tang Yue.

Zhang Xiaohou nodded as he walked to the side of the Star Appraisal Stone.

Closing his eyes, Zhang Xiaohou adjusted his breathing and slowly entered a meditative state.

The radiance emitted from the Star Appraisal Stone flickered; it followed Zhang Xiaohou’s breath as it brightened and dimmed. It was easy to tell that Zhang Xiaohou was slightly nervous, which explained why the Star Appraisal Stone was unable to grasp the energy from his stardust.

However, Zhang Xiaohou slowly entered the meditative state.

At last, the radiance stabilized. The Greyish green coloured radiance from the Wind Element covered the surroundings of the Star Appraisal Stone, and the radiance was superior to He Yu’s. Other than being a bit unstable, there was no other fuss about it.

“A!”

“A!”

“A+!”

The three examiners seemed to have different views regarding it.

“Teacher, let me try one more time.”

Zhang Xiaohou didn’t seem pleased with this result; thus, he once more entered a meditative state.

This time, he was considerably calmer.

The intense radiance covered the Star Appraisal Stone’s surroundings; it was apparent that it was much stronger than He Yu’s. Additionally, there didn’t appear to be any unstable flickering from it anymore.

The three examiners glanced at each other and nodded.

“A+!”

“A+!”

“A+!”

“Final results, A+!”

After they announced the results, the students of his class all showed shock and envy.

“Crap, A+! That’s a grade that secures your place in the Elite Class! This kid, Zhang Xiaohou’s lifestyle, is just mediocre, so who would’ve thought that his cultivation would be so amazing? We were mistaken; we really were mistaken.”

“That’s really amazing! If I could get A+, then my dad would immediately gift me a car!”

Xue Musheng and Tang Yue, the two teachers, gave a slight smile as they nodded their heads. Their eyes were filled with praise.

Zhang Xiaohou had always been an outstanding student to them, thus, having this kind of result was well within reason.

“Classmate, you’re done. We will assess accordingly…” the bald examiner was about to announce the final result.

“Teacher, I’d like to attempt the next test,” at this moment, Zhang Xiaohou’s expression was firm, but his face showed a shyness as he said this.

“Are you sure?” the examiner asked, a bit surprised.

“I know that the higher you place in the rankings during the Annual Examination, then the longer you will get to use the Stardust Magic Tool. Thus, I’d like to take the Activation test,” Zhang Xiaohou said with certainty.

Xue Musheng and Tang Yue maintained the smiles on their faces. They already knew that Zhang Xiaohou had reached the level of Activation.

The examination consisted of two parts.

The first part was the Stardust test.

The majority of the students only needed to complete this part to continue to study magic at Magic High.

While the second part was set up for the top students, out of over one thousand students, there were roughly only a hundred or so who had touched upon the level of Activation.

If one can activate the elemental skill during the examination, then naturally they would be awarded more points for the Annual Examination.

To obtain more of the limited resources from the school, the students would have to display all of their powers during the Annual Examination, without hiding anything.

……

Zhang Xiaohou’s Activation test didn’t go particularly smoothly. He was so nervous that he was unable to properly link the seven Wind Element stars with each other to form a Star Orbit.

However, the examiners were able to see that this student was capable of Activation, but due to being nervous on the testing grounds he was unable to activate successfully. However, they still gave him some points based on his performance.

Feeling somewhat disappointed, Zhang Xiaohou walked out of the testing ground with his head low.

Ms. Tang Yue was like a tender older sister when she patted Zhang Xiaohou’s shoulder, “Don’t feel discouraged. You will definitely be able to enter the Elite Class with your grades.”

“Teacher, I thought I was proficient in ‘Control,’ but who would’ve thought that a little nervousness would cause the time I spent practicing ‘Control’ to disappear mysteriously, making me start from the beginning. Teacher, how are you able to accomplish the magic activation so easily?” Zhang Xiaohou asked.

“Naturally it’s from practicing. Other than that, the state of your heart is also crucial. Not only does a qualified Magician need to have a solid foundation, but they also need to have a mentality that won’t waver if they encounter trouble.”

Zhang Xiaohou nodded as he seemed to understand this.

“Next, Huang Feifeng.”

“B!”

“Teacher, I should receive an A! I should be given an A!!!”

“If you make more noise, we’ll cancel your results.”

“Next, Luo Si.”

“C！”

The student called Luo Si jumped for joy.

For a failure of a student like him, receiving C was like New Years.

……

The students of eight class were receiving their examinations, one by one. The majority of the students were B and C; there didn’t seem to be many A’s.

“Look, the people of the school council are almost here.”

“They are at the seventh class’ exam grounds… The one taking the test is that Lightning Element guy.”

“Xu Zhaoting, that is firmly the number one guy in the entire school.”

“That’s not certain. I heard Mu Bai’s cultivation is also very high!”

As Mo Fan heard his classmates’ discussion, his gaze turned toward the seventh class exam grounds.

He was curious to see the Lightning strike of that student, Xu Zhaoting.

Mo Fan had already perfected his lightning strike to the utmost perfection, his Spell never leaked any energy outside while casting. His Python Scar was destructive enough to one shot the training dummy at least 10 times in a row before dissipating.

His spell was swift like an arrow! And as destructive as a grenade!

……

“Old brother Mu Zhuoyun, this is our school’s most outstanding Lightning Element student; his name is Xu Zhaoting. When he awakened his Lightning Element a year ago, I, as the Principal, began to pay close attention to him. He’s currently doing the Activation test; care to watch?” the Principal of Tian Lan Magic High said to Mu Zhuoyun.

The Principal was very polite toward Mu Zhuoyun; thus, it was obvious that Mu Zhuoyun’s status within Bo City was very high.

“Ningxue, why don’t you take a look at this student’s performance.”

“Mhm,” Mu Ningxue nodded.

Lightning element, the first of the elements. Its violent, destructive force was enough to make other Magicians take several steps back.

Within the examination grounds, Xu Zhaoting, who wore the school uniform, was already there. He adjusted his breathing, as well as trying to make peace with the pressuring gazes coming from the students and teachers of the entire school.

Ever since he had entered the school, he had become the focal point for them. These gazes were incessantly urging him to cultivate.

Mo Fan was watching intently at how strong will his lightning be, when he suddenly heard this.

“Heed my command!”

“The first of the Elements, Lightning!”

“Strike of Lightning!”

_Holy shit what’s with this cringy dude, why did he suddenly started spouting such embarrassing lines all of a sudden. What’s wrong with this Kid! He’s too old to be acting a chuuni now in high school._ Mo Fan thought as he got Goosebumps all over his hands. He made a weird face as he said it.

As the sounds faded, he raised a hand.

The purple Lightning Arc surged; it was as though the Serpent King called out to the violent python soldier. They slithered their shocking body, twirling through the atmosphere and burning everything they touched.

“Activate!”

_Ah so the chanting was not over yet, even though he connected the Star Orbit already..._ Mo Fan thought while watching the idiot.

The Electric Arc violently descended upon the human-shaped puppet.

The puppet violently trembled. It was charred from the drop of the violent Lightning Strike. The electricity crackled around; covering it with whip prints. The human-shaped puppet exploded with no remains in a single moment by the force of the Lightning.

On the floor of the Training grounds, there were strips of black marks. It looked extremely terrifying.

The puppet had already turned into a pile of black dust.

The heaven-defying Lightning element spell immediately stole the attention of the entire exam grounds, causing the Elite students who were also able to activate skills to take a deep breath.

_Holy cow, who cares about Wind Trail? Who cares about Water Barrier? What Fire Burst? They are all weak. The tyrannical power of the Lightning Strike was not something the other Elements could compare themselves to. It directly caused the puppet to explode into dregs. This destructive power_ The students over there were enchanted by his spell.

Whoever was standing there would die instantly!

_What the fuck is wrong with you people! Why are they getting admired by such failure of a spell!

The energy had leaked so much while he was casting the spell because of his stupid incantation, the spell became seriously weakened!

It wouldn’t even scratch a Colossal Eyed Ape Rat much less touch it. The agility of the spell was also reduced by so much.!_ Mo Fan cursed inside his heart so much as he looked quite perplexed about all this...

Wang Xiulin shook her head sideways in disappointment while sitting at her original position. Similarly Tang Yue also made a face of pity at the Lightning element student.

After Xu Zhaoting saw this result, his face revealed satisfaction.

_Oh lord.. someone save this idiotic kid.._

As he turned around, he, who was waiting for the examiners to deliver his results, suddenly noticed a pair of beautiful eyes that was like snow.

It was Mu Ningxue!

Xu Zhaoting’s face was filled with pleasant surprise.

He didn’t think his examination would catch Mu Ningxue’s attention.

She was definitely startled; after all, the power of Lightning element wasn’t something any other element could compare to.

……

“Ningxue, what do you think?” The school supervisor, Mu He, asked with a smile across his face.

“Average,” Mu Ningxue didn’t take another look and chose to continue advancing forward.

_Hey! If he’s considered average than I’m an Immortal!_ Mo Fan thought in his mind.

The Principal and the other few people in the school council became stiff.

No way, a Lightning element this strong and she still thought it was normal? Just how high were this girl’s standards?

_What is wrong with these people..._ Mo Fan gave up on them while feeling helpless.

“Hehe, that’s actually not bad. Ningxue is in Empire Institution; all of the geniuses in the country gather there. The activation of the Basic spell, Lightning Strike, is the most basic Spell there. The reason as to why she thinks its average is because she has a habit of using the standards of Empire Institution to assess,” Mu Zhuoyun smiled as he explained this, giving the Principal and the group of people in the school council a way out of this awkward situation.

“If you put it like that, does that mean Xu Zhaoting is a student with the potential to enter Empire Institute?” The Principal was also someone who understood how to deal with situations; he took advantage and asked this.

The other people immediately copied what he said.

“If things go well, then Xu Zhaoting’s grades will be the best in the entire school, right?” School director, Chen Guangliang said.

“That’s hard to say. From what I know, Mu Bai from the eighth class is also quite capable.” Vice-Principal replied.

Hearing them saying this, a smile emerged on Mu He’s face as he immediately spoke to Mu Zhuoyun and Mu Ningxue, “Older brother, Mu Bai is a disciple from our Mu Family; his grades have always been quite remarkable. From how I see it, it should be his turn soon; should we go and watch?”

“Mu Bai? Which family’s?”

“He’s Mu Yang’s son. When Mu Yang passed away, I saw Mu Bai and his mother being bullied by others somewhere; thus, I brought them to live in the manor. Mu Bai is a very intelligent and determined child; he’s no worse than the other kids of our family… Oh, there’s naturally a huge gap compared to Mu Ningxue, but he’s still a seedling worth raising,” Mu He cautiously said to Mu Zhuoyun.

The highest authority over the manor was completely within Mu Zhuoyun’s hands. Mu He counted as a Lord, as well; however, he was just a third or fourth degree Lord. That was simply not on par with Mu Zhuoyun.

“Oh, that slightly rings a bell. Then let’s go and have a look; how about it, school directors?” Mu Zhuoyun asked.

The school director with the split hair that was gradually losing its colour said “Since it is a disciple of your Mu Family, we are definitely interested.”

The group of people began to walk, slowly making their way to the exam grounds of the eight class.

The aura of this group of people was very strong. In the eyes of the students, the directors may be a faintly discernible existence; however, Mu Ningxue, a genius of the same age as them was something incredible.

On the grounds, the male students saw the girl observing from the side.

“Heavens, the group of directors is coming here.”

“They really came; my hands are trembling.”

“Good timing; just in time for me to show off.”

“Show off my ass; your test is already over. You’re just a dreg with a ‘C!’”

The students of the eight class were unable to calm themselves.

Every student’s fate depended on the Annual Examination. While at the same time, the group of school directors who could change their future with just a single, praising glance were coming over. This caused the examination to have an exceedingly heavy atmosphere.

Mu He was walking to the very front. The bald examiner immediately raised his head and glanced at Mu He.

As Mu He hinted to him, the bald examiner immediately understood what he meant. He first pretended to not see anything before he indifferently said, “Next, Mu Bai!”

Mu Bai’s eyes were still placed on Mu Ningxue’s body. Even though the two lived in the same castle, it was still so big that Mu Bai has only been this close to Mu Ningxue just a few times before.

“Mu Bai, it’s your turn.” Mu He coughed to remind Mu Bai.

Only then did Mu Bai come back to his senses.

What could he do? He liked her for far too many years. Even if it were rather impossible for him to walk with her, he still wouldn’t freaking let that trash, Mo Fan, take her away. He would be her bodyguard!

It was time to prove the efforts of the past years!

Mu Bai nodded before he began walking toward the exam grounds.

He had been waiting for this for a long time. Mu Bai took a deep breath.

To have the attention of the family and Mu Ningxue, these were things Mu Bai could only dream of, and today was the day where the both would come true.

As he placed his hand on the Star Appraisal Stone, Mu Bai repressed his excitement within his heart as much as possible.

In this aspect, Mu Bai had actually practiced for a long time. Even if he felt more excited and nervous than anyone, he relied on his past training to complete a proper and stable meditation.

A white and dense, icy wave quickly spread out from the Star Appraisal Stone and covered the surroundings.

This ice wave was so strong; it overflowed from the Star Appraisal Stone and made even Mu Bai feel its cold on his face.

All of the teachers and students watched this scene, entranced.

The radiance was overflowing. This was perhaps the first time they have seen something like this happen during an exam. Even Zhoumin, who received an A, was quite inferior to the overflowing radiance of Mu Bai!

“S！”

“S！”

“S！”

The three examiners immediately gave announced their grades, and all of them were ‘S’s!’

“I remember Xu Zhaoting from before had two ‘S’ and an ‘A,’ right?”

“In that case, Mu Bai’s stardust is more superior than Xu Zhaoting!” Mu He immediately said.

At this moment, Xue Musheng was astonished by this sight. This Mu Bai had hidden his true power?

“As expected of the disciple of a noble family. I thought Mu Bai would only get one ‘S’ at most, who would’ve thought that he would receive three ‘S’s!’ “

“Three ‘S’s,’ the final result is naturally ‘S’s!’”

These were without a doubt the best grades in the school!

“Shit, Mu Bai is too amazing. He unexpectedly received three ‘S’s.’ These grades directly shake Xu Zhaoting from class seven off; thus, Mu Bai will be worthy of the title ‘Number One.’”

“I never imagined…”

“Mu Bai, you’re far too amazing!”

A few girls, at this moment, had already become completely infatuated with him.

Mu Bai was handsome, and his grades were outstanding. He was simply the Knight on the white horse in their hearts.

“Big brother, what do you think?” Mu He laughed as he asked Mu Zhuoyun to his side.

“Not bad,” Mu Zhuoyun gave a brief comment.

Mu Ningxue, however, didn’t say anything.

Seeing Mu Ningxue not react, Mu Bai knew that getting three ‘S’s,’ in Mu Ningxue’s opinion, was nothing impressive. This was the Activation test; it was also the time for him to show off his true strength!

Mu Bai turned around and walked to the middle of the exam grounds.

“Mu Bai is taking the Activation test!”

“No shit, Mu Bai has definitely grasped the control of seven stars.”

“I can’t wait to see the skill of Ice element.”

As they were discussing this, Mu Bai had already fixated his gaze onto the human-shaped puppet.

That’s right; the Stardust test was only the basics. The people who had a brain were very clear on the fact that the Activation test was the true assessment test.

I will definitely have Family Head and Mu Ningxue take notice of me!

He closed his eyes and began his magic incantations.

Mu Bai skilfully made the seven Ice element stars connect with each other to form a Star Orbit.

“Ice Spread!”

Without stopping or hesitation, Mu Bai yelled this in a rush, demonstrating all of his hard work.

.......

While Mu Bai was performing his magic casting, Mo Fan was kinda interested in Mu Ningxue’s Cultivation.

After all she awakened her elements at a tender age of 12. He wanted to see how far she has progressed in these 4-5 years.

Awakening early is considered to be harmful to one’s body and soul. If you awaken your elements early, the body of a child won’t be able to bear the burden of it and the child will not be able to increases their Cultivation further than Intermediate level.

Mo Fan was worried for her. The changes she had displayed today after so many years was because of her awakening.

Cyan was the colour of Ice Element! But now her hairs were of that colour.

Mo Fan thought that it might be because of early awakening so he was constantly looking at her and observing her with pity and sadness.

He still haven’t forgotten her face when she met him on the back of the mountain.

She looked extremely sad and pitiful as she bawling her eyes out while saying,

“Please run away with me! You love me don’t you!? Then take me somewhere away from all this! I don’t want to stay here! Don’t abandon me! ”

Even Mo Fan felt like crying watching his girl of dream sobbing that way in front of him. Moreover he felt an extreme anger towards that old bastard, her own father, who pushed such a young girl to the point of desperation where she was willing to run away with a guy she didn’t even liked.

Mo Fan probed her with his will.

She was startled and glanced at his direction, when she saw him staring at her.

He was just staring at her like he was confirming she was ok. Her eyes which were dead and dry for almost 5 years, Glittered again! She was also staring at him.

Mu Ningxue was feeling a warm and bubbly sensation burst inside her heart as her cold glare slowly turned into a warm and yearning gaze. She just stared at Mo Fan and he did the same.

The other people besides them became insignificant in their eyes as they only noticed each other in their eyes.

If a third person were to look at their behaviour, he would feel like they were having an intense staring contest.

Zhang Xiaohou who was standing beside Mo Fan, noticed the two love birds longing for each other and chuckled.

_No Matter what Brother Fan says, his heart is still honest~_

.......

Mu Bai’s pupils changed. After he finished his Magic activation, those watching suddenly realized there was a layer of frost spreading on the body of the puppet.

The ice quickly covered its body, and the puppet now looked as though it was painted in a layer of ice lacquer. It was rather astonishing.

The stabbing cold air pervaded the entire exam grounds.

Creak~

The Ice Spread didn’t stop after it covered the entire puppet, it even began to spread onto the floor of the exam grounds.

The other classes also had Ice element students who had taken the activation exam. Clearly their Ice Spreads weren’t as imposing as Mu Bai’s!

The other students felt intimidated and took a step back, feeling like the ice was about to spread to where they stood.

The directors and examiners were calm. However, their eyes flashed with praise.

This was the equivalent of a proficient Ice element skill, it had reached the standard of a member of the Magic Association.

This was actually set up for older students by the Magic Association. A student who only awakened an year ago capable of utilizing the Ice element skill to a proficient level was something extremely rare to come across.

“Not bad.” Mu Zhuoyun still gave the same evaluation.

Mu Bai didn’t know whether he had entered Mu Zhuoyun’s eyes. With his heart feeling nervous, he shifted his gaze toward Mu Ningxue.

As he looked at her, Mu Bai felt as though an arrow had pierced through his heart. It was because his most beloved Mu Ningxue hadn’t taken a look at him from the start. Instead, her gaze had always been attentively watching a certain person in his class.

Mu Bai took this opportunity and looked for the person she was looking at, and he felt another arrow piercing his heart.

Mo Fan!!

She’s looking at Mo Fan!

Scoundrel, SCOUNDREL!

Why is she looking at him again!!

What is there to look at in a guy who is almost covered in trash? Why aren’t you looking at my remarkable display of skill?!

Mu Bai’s nervous face was almost completely distorted.

On the most important event of his life, all he wished for was to get Mu Ningxue’s attention. But in the end, she still ended up looking toward that little hooligan. That little hooligan was only a clown that existed to entertain the princess, what’s there to see in a clown? When you’re done laughing, move on, why are you still wasting your precious attention on him?

“I will make you suffer immensely!” Mu Bai’s face was exceedingly gloomy. He carried a heavy resentment as he left the exam grounds.

“Your marks are extremely outstanding. Your stardust is S, and your activation is of B grade!” the examiner gave him his final results

Even the top students would only receive a C grade or a D grade on the Activation test. The only other person who have received a B was that Lightning element user, Xu Zhaoting!

With a grade like this, he deserved the title of the number one in school.