Full-Time Mage: Starting From Obtaining the White Tiger Pendant

He arrived at the designated training ground according to the notification. He had to admit, the Academy grounds were quite scenic on the way. It was June, summer, and the tree-lined paths were filled with the bare white thighs of female university students, dressed lightly, with fair skin, beautiful faces, outstanding temperament, and youthful energy.

When Lu Jun entered the examination hall, he was slightly surprised to see only an old professor wearing glasses.

Dean Xiao had personally come to the examination hall.

"You are Lu Jun, right?" Dean Xiao asked gently. "I've heard about the Disaster of Bo City. It's our honor that you're applying to Pearl Academy this time. Let's skip the assessment. Welcome to Pearl."

Hearing this, Lu Jun was stunned, incredibly surprised. How did he get into Pearl in the blink of an eye?

"What?" Dean Xiao smiled. "Do you want to go through the process again and take the assessment?"

Lu Jun quickly shook his head. "No need, no need. Thank you, old professor."

The other party added kindly, "My surname is Xiao. Just call me Dean Xiao."

He immediately changed his address. "Hello, Dean Xiao."

"You're welcome. You can come again in September. That's when Pearl Academy's new students will start their semester."

Afterward, the two chatted for a while before Lu Jun left. As he walked, he thought to himself that his experience was vastly different from the original Mo Fan's. But then again, Mo Fan had enrolled in Pearl Academy a year after the Disaster of Bo City, so the hype had long since died down.

He had also deliberately played the role of a weakling to surprise stronger opponents, so naturally, no one recognized him.

At the same time, he let out a sigh of relief, sealing his thoughts and emotions with his Mind Element, not revealing any hint of surprise. One must understand that the identity of a Forbidden Curse Mage must be kept absolutely secret. If Dean Xiao had sensed anything from his mental fluctuations, he would never be able to clear his name.

Unbeknownst to him, after Lu Jun left, Dean Xiao gazed at his retreating figure, lost in thought. "His Water Element aura is very strong. He must have obtained a Spirit Seed. Furthermore, there are several other hidden auras. He has quite a few secrets."

Finally, the old professor shook his head. He didn't intend to investigate. All students were treated equally. As long as they didn't commit any major mistakes, they were all good children.

With his business at the Academy concluded, Lu Jun casually went to the 'Lujiazui' area, which was basically the most prosperous district, home to the headquarters of many major powers, such as the Hunter's Alliance and the Magic Association.

It was a gathering place for most of the Mage experts in Magic City. Lu Jun had bought his Spirit Seed here last time.

The Magic Association in Magic City was built on the landmark Oriental Pearl Tower, hence it was also called the Oriental Magic Association. Its influence was second only to the Magic Association in the capital.

Lu Jun saw his sister's graceful and alluring figure from afar under the Pearl Tower. A middle-aged man stood beside her, smiling kindly on the surface, but his eyes were appraising his sister with a greedy glint.

Seeing this, Lu Jun frowned, displeased. He quickly walked to Lu Mei's side and stood between them, asking, "Sister, what's wrong?"

Before Lu Mei could speak, the middle-aged man chuckled, "Oh my, is this Lu Jun? I haven't seen you in many years, and you've grown so big. Have you awakened your Magic? How's your cultivation?"

Unexpectedly, Lu Jun showed no respect at all and spat out, "None of your damn business."

Having been reborn, he didn't understand the meaning of being tactful and compromising. Being tactful to others only disgusted himself. If he didn't like something, he should express it and learn to refuse.

The middle-aged man was instantly speechless and shouted, "How can you be so ill-mannered?"

Lu Jun ignored him and looked at Lu Mei.

His sister, enduring her disgust, whispered, "He's from the Lu Family, named Lu Dong. He's... your real uncle, and also my nominal uncle."

Hearing this, Lu Jun remembered. Their family was very complicated. His father and mother each brought a child into the marriage. Both parents were surnamed Lu and had some, albeit distant, connection to the Lu Family of Magic City.

In the end, the union between his parents seemed to have caused some gossip, so they simply moved to Bo City to live, out of sight and out of mind.

He hadn't expected that now that they had returned, these distant relatives would come knocking.

Lu Dong heard this and laughed heartily. "Yes, yes, yes, I even held you when you were little. It's a shame your mother died early, and your father took in a widow from the clan..."

His voice lowered. Seeing Lu Mei's frosty face, he didn't dare to continue.

Chapter 51: Undercurrents

After hearing the cause and effect, Lu Jun's expression remained unchanged. He asked Lu Mei, "Then why is he looking for us?"

Lu Mei didn't speak. Lu Dong then said hypocritically, "It's nothing. I just saw you came to Magic City. If you don't have a place to stay, you can return to the clan. We'll provide free housing."

Then he looked at Lu Mei, revealing his true intentions. "We haven't seen each other for over a decade, and you've grown into a young lady. You were like a delicate jade doll since childhood, and now you've become even more beautiful. How about Uncle introduce you to someone..."

As he spoke, he reached out as if to touch Lu Mei's shoulder.

Hearing this, Lu Jun couldn't stand it anymore. They barely knew each other, and he was already trying to introduce her to someone and harass her? Just because he was a distant relative they hadn't seen in years, he felt entitled to point fingers and harbor ill intentions?

Buzz buzz buzz!

His eyes flashed black and white, and he attacked directly. A surge of mental energy impacted Lu Dong's mind.

The Mind Element and Curse Element were unleashed in combination. First, Mind Impact broke through the barriers of his spiritual sea, and the Fearful Haze immediately took effect, its power magnified several times, truly dealing damage.

The principle was one of defense reduction and the other of damage.

As soon as Lu Jun's thoughts entered Lu Dong's Spiritual World, he detected the latter's cultivation level: an Intermediate Mage. He also found certain dark thoughts, which made his eyes grow colder.

So what if he was an Intermediate Mage? The Mind Element countered all human Mages. Combined with the damage from the Curse Element, these two Primary Magic elements were actually more effective against Mages than the Intermediate Magic elements of Gold and Water.

He couldn't even cast a spell, and was directly killed soul-wise.

At this moment, in Lu Dong's senses, his vision darkened. Lu Jun was the only one standing before him. Suddenly, the teenager extended two fingers and lunged towards his eyes.

He was instantly panicked. He wanted to move away but was horrified to find that not only could he not move, but he couldn't even sense his Star Nebula, as if he had become an ordinary person.

Pfft!

Lu Jun's fingers, like lightning, plunged into Lu Dong's eyes and clenched fiercely. The sound of flesh and blood splattering echoed.

The next moment, Lu Dong felt a real and undeniable pain. His most vulnerable organs had been struck, causing him to scream heart-wrenchingly. Everything turned black, and he couldn't see anything. He touched his face with his hands, feeling the sensation of hot liquid.

He was filled with terror, but he could imagine the two gaping holes on his face, with two streams of blood flowing down like tears.

"Ahhh!! Lu Dong has gone mad! He tried to move his body but found himself pinned as if by sleep paralysis, only his hands able to move. The continuous, searing pain kept him frozen in place.

Lu Dong flailed his arms, trying to grab the youth before him, but grasped only air. Cold words echoed from all directions: "Next time, control your eyes."

"Oh, there won't be a next time. If you dare show your face to me again, I'll make you disappear without a trace."

For some reason, though he should have been blind, a pair of crimson eyes appeared before him, like the gaze of a demon from the abyss, making his heart clench and filling him with primal fear.

In the darkness, time stretched on. Lu Dong was tormented for a long while, the pain numbing his senses.

That voice spoke again: "Remember this lesson. My sister and I have nothing to do with the Lu family anymore. We've never taken a single thing from the Lu family, and your Lu family members should stop looking for us."

When he blinked, the world slowly came back into focus. The siblings were long gone. The surrounding noise suddenly rushed in like the wind. He gasped for air, collapsing to the ground drenched in sweat.

He was back, back from that terrifying nightmare illusion.

Beneath the Oriental Pearl Tower, people bustled past. Hurried office workers glanced at the middle-aged man slumped on the ground with confusion but paid him no mind.

A moment later, Lu Dong finally recovered. His eyes still throbbed with phantom pain.

As soon as he closed his eyes, the image of Lu Jun and his sister appeared in his mind – those malevolent crimson eyes, haunting and inescapable, accompanied by a sharp pain in his chest.

Lu Dong clutched his chest, his face contorted in agony. Terrified onlookers thought he was having a heart attack and quickly backed away.

Seeing this, and not wanting to be gawked at like a circus animal, he stumbled to his feet and staggered into a dimly lit alley. Leaning against the wall, he gasped for breath, a true, profound fear of Lu Jun, his "cheap nephew," gripping him.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated in his pocket. It took him a long time to pick it up and answer.

A deep voice came from the other end: "How is it? Did you contact her?"

As the words fell, he thought of Lu Mei, a dark cloud swirling in his mind. Just as it was about to erupt, he shivered violently, fear flashing across his face, and roared, "Lu... Commander Lu Nian, I'm not doing it. She's still my niece; I can't bring myself to do it... You give up too. It's too terrifying."

"From now on... I won't contact you anymore."

The person on the other end paused, listening to his uncle's nonsensical ramblings, and rubbed his rugged chin.

He had been screening targets when he inadvertently stumbled upon the profile of a clan daughter. With no relatives and having reached the peak of Intermediate level cultivation, she was a genius with no connections – perfect for his plans. If she died, no one would know.

He had asked Lu Dong, who wanted to curry favor with him, to probe her.

Now, it seemed things weren't so simple. To scare an Intermediate Mage to the point of mental collapse, there must be a High-level Mage behind her.

Meanwhile, Lu Jun's mood was somewhat heavy. He had only intended to teach Lu Dong a lesson and show his teeth, but he had unintentionally caught Lu Dong's thoughts and discovered Lu Nian's scheme.

As expected, there were no baseless probes. Fortunately, his "Justice Cutter" had acted quickly. If he had been targeted, it would have been troublesome.

The four great noble families of Magic City: the Mu family, the Lu family, the Bai family, and the Dongfang family.

The other three families were manageable, but the Lu family was truly disgusting with its many members. First, there were the collateral relatives Lu Nian and Lu Zhenghe. The latter was morally corrupt, resorting to any means to obtain Mu Ningxue.

The former was simply a madman, lost in his own world, believing his "[New Element Experiment]" was the righteous path to save all living beings. For this, he wouldn't hesitate to harm others. In a year and a half, Mo Fan would tragically fall victim to it.

During this period, Lu Nian should have just begun experimenting with innocent Mages, actively hunting for talented civilian Mages.

Furthermore, the Lu family's main branch harbored a major boss who ran through the main storyline, the Red Demon Lu Kun, as well as minor bosses like councilmen Lu Xin and Lu Yilin, father and son, and others.

In short, Lu Jun didn't want to be associated with such noble families.

Regarding Lu Nian's Demon Element, he had to admit that once one survived the one-in-ten-thousand chance, they gained a self-detonation ability.

This was how Mo Fan obtained the third cheat in his life, the brand-new [Demon Element], which was even more important than his Innate Dual Elements and the Azure Dragon Mudfish. It was also the only successful survivor of the experiment and a necessary condition for eventually becoming the Evil Saint King.

The prerequisite for success was Innate Dual Elements, and even then, it wasn't absolutely foolproof.

"Should I try the Demon Element?"

Lu Jun pondered. Part of the reason he chose the Mind Element was this: hoping that if he were ever implanted with the Demon Element, he could control its murderous nature.

After a moment, he dismissed the idea. The Demon Element was, in essence, a trump card. Once activated, it fused several elements into one. It could upgrade an Intermediate Mage to Commander Rank, a High-level Mage to Monarch Rank, and a Super level Mage to Emperor Rank, boosting them by at most one major tier. Afterward, there would be a heavy price to pay.

His current development was smooth, and he didn't possess Mo Fan's defiant personality or his grand ambition to save the world, thus needing this power.

Lu Jun had no need to gamble with his life; he could develop stealthily.

Moreover, a mere Demon Element that only boosted one tier? How stingy. He had his own plans. If he obtained that particular item, he would have the power to overturn the board.

However, the future was unpredictable. Lu Jun would just take things one step at a time.

Beside him, his sister Lu Mei followed quietly. She didn't comment on Lu Jun's actions, as he had stood up for her. If she felt he had gone too far, she would consider him heartless.

A faint sweetness welled up in her heart.

Chapter 52: Azure Sky Demon Hunting Agency

Back home, Lu Jun finally spoke to his sister, disdainfully: "In the future, if relatives like that are bothering you, you don't need to consider my feelings. If you dislike them, just act."

"I'm not familiar with them anyway, and I don't care if they die."

He grumbled, "As expected, Magic City has all sorts of monsters and ghosts."

Actually, Bo City wasn't much better, but Lu Mei's Intermediate Mage cultivation had suppressed many covetous gazes.

His sister smiled gently, her heart softening: "Don't be so impulsive. Casting magic in the street... Thankfully, the Mind and Curse fluctuations were subtle. If there were no experts around, they wouldn't have noticed. Otherwise, you'd be looking at fifteen days in jail."

"Hmph, I had to act immediately against that old bastard to make him realize fear and never show his face again."

Lu Jun scoffed but didn't mention Lu Nian's Demon Element to Lu Mei. He only reminded her: "Be careful. I don't think Lu Dong's intentions were that simple."

"I know, I'm not stupid."

"Right," Lu Jun then asked, "Did you buy your Spirit Seed yet?"

"Of course!" Lu Mei took out a Magic Energy box from her embrace. As she opened it, a golden-yellow radiance shone out, and a heavy earth aura permeated the air, causing dust to fly around the entire Jinyuan Apartment.

She looked quite satisfied and said, "The Spirit Seed is named [Mountain], it provides a 2.5x boost and has a special effect called Gravity. When I cast Earth Wave, the Rock Barrier will be even harder for Demonic Beasts to break through."

"This Spirit Seed cost twenty-two million, which is acceptable."

"Oh? That's good," Lu Jun said in surprise. "But aren't you buying a Wind Element Spirit Seed?"

Lu Mei said helplessly, "I had my eye on one, a Spirit Seed born from the demonic winds of the Qinling Mountains. But the seller doesn't want cash; they want to trade it for another high-quality Spirit Seed, and we're a bit short on money."

That was true. Although the siblings had forty million, they had rented an apartment, paid for the Nebula Magic Tool, and bought a Spirit Seed, leaving them with only fifteen million. They also had to cover some daily expenses.

"But it's okay."

Her lips curved upwards. "I've found a way to make money. I'm going to be an 'Urban Management Officer' in Magic City, which is our old line of work, the City Demon Hunting Squad."

"Don't underestimate this job. I've inquired about it. It's different from Bo City's. Magic City's metropolitan area is vast, and it's accumulated who knows how many strange creatures. General-level Demonic Beasts appear frequently, making it extremely dangerous. Therefore, the bounties often start at a million."

"That's why Magic City's City Demon Hunting Squad has powerful combat capabilities, ranking among the best in the entire country. The entry requirements are very high, requiring at least a High-level Hunter certificate. Obtaining this certificate usually means you're at least Intermediate level."

Hearing this, Lu Jun fell into thought. Mo Fan had called him right after arriving in Magic City to complain about how outrageous the Magic City's City Demon Hunting Squad was.

But they were different. After two and a half years as a Demon Hunter in high school, obtaining a High-level certificate would be simple. Joining the Magic City Urban Management Officer brigade would not be a problem.

The Hunter system was a powerful force, no weaker than the Magic Association. Further up was the [Demon Hunting Master] level, a rank that enjoyed widespread fame in society. One needed at least High-level cultivation to achieve it.

Masters were divided into [Seven Stars], and those who achieved high-star Master status were often Super level cultivators. Finally, there was the supreme [Demon Hunter King], whose selection criteria were extremely strict. In the entire Greater China region, only one person was selected every ten years.

Of course, cultivation was one aspect, and the comprehensive qualities of a Demon Hunter were another.