Mu Ningxue / Annual Assessment

The Shadow Element's Primary Magic, Shadow Escape, was the coolest and most convenient. Just as its name suggested, it was a displacement and evasion skill that allowed the user to leap between shadows. It was incredibly fast and difficult to counter.

It was somewhat like the Rogue Shadow Step from DND.

She had probably used Shadow Escape to hurry over, only pretending to walk once she reached the school.

Lu Jun sighed inwardly. Fortunately, his Water Shield was pretty good too. After a semester of bitter cultivation, both his Water and Metal Dual Elements had reached Primary Level Two, just a hair away from breaking through to Level Three. He estimated that a few more battles during practical training would be enough to advance.

Water Shield, Weapon Forging.

They provided comprehensive, all-around defense, while the power of the Tremor Gold Greatsword in his hand increased. With the two combined, his combat strength doubled.

Chapter 15: Mu Ningxue

Over the past six months, Lu Jun had acted with the City Demon Hunting Squad and hunted seven or eight small demon beasts. He had long since become familiar with the process and had made tremendous progress, while Lu Mei's Rock Element had also reached the peak of Primary Level Three.

If the two worked together seamlessly, their combat strength would be no weaker than a Demon Hunting Squad consisting of more than twenty Elementary Mages, meeting the standard for leaving the Safe Zone.

Although he wanted to hunt demon beasts immediately, Lu Jun had to wait until the Year-end Assessment ended.

There would be quite a show to watch in this assessment.

Lu Jun remembered something and walked over to Mo Fan with a meaningful look. He casually said, "The Annual Assessment is in a few days. I heard Mu Ningxue will be coming. What do you think about that?"

The group had already returned beneath the teaching building to shelter from the rain. Mo Fan had just been about to mock Lu Jun for being a show-off when he heard that. His expression turned dazed, and no one knew what he was thinking.

That incident back then had caused a huge uproar and dragged many people into it. The truth was that Mu Ningxue's little-princess temper had flared up, and she had naively wanted to run away from home. She had casually mentioned taking her away to Mo Fan.

The main fault lay with Mu Ningxue, but the master could never be wrong. Her father, Mu Zhuoyun, had made a mountain out of a molehill, and in his fury had implicated countless servants' families.

As time passed, the details of the incident had become muddled, making it difficult to sort out the grievances and tangled relationships.

Mo Fan came back to himself. Seeing Lu Jun's malicious grin, he cursed, "What do you expect me to think? I just want to kick that old dog Mu out of the picture."

"Good! Now that's the spirit."

Lu Jun smiled brightly and snapped his fingers. The Water Shield Cloak around his body dispersed into mist.

The students of Class 8, First Year arrived one after another. Every one of them was tense and excited, with a trace of melancholy as well. The Year-end Assessment and class reshuffling were about to begin, and the friends they had only just grown familiar with might soon be separated.

A few days passed in a flash. The typhoon had gone, and the sky had cleared.

All thirty classes, totaling fifteen hundred students, gathered on the main sports field. The school leaders, board members, and other staff had also arrived. The two brothers, Mu Zhuoyun and Mu He, were among them.

Lu Jun, Mo Fan, Zhang Xiaohou, and Mu Bai stood in the formation, quietly watching Mu He deliver his endless speech.

"Today is another very special day."

"That's because the school has invited the most outstanding female mage in our Bo City. She was directly admitted to the Imperial Capital Magic Academy at the age of fifteen. I imagine many of you have already heard her legend..."

"That's right, she is Mu Ningxue! Let us welcome this magical genius who should have been in the same year as you, but has already advanced to university!"

Mu He concluded by introducing an outstanding alumnus.

"Holy crap, is she the Mu Ningxue whose Innate Talent is the Innate Ice Spirit Seed, giving her Ice Magic three times the power of ordinary people?"

The entire school immediately burst into discussion. Judging from everyone's reaction, Mu Ningxue was no stranger to them.

They had never expected to see this legendary magical genius at the Annual Assessment!

Leaving aside all kinds of special effects, a Spirit Seed alone granted a mage [two to three times] the magic power of an ordinary mage. Someone else's Primary Level One Ice Element magic was equivalent to another person's Primary Level Three magic. The difference was obvious.

To be fair, aside from Innate Talent, an Elementary Mage could not possibly possess a Spirit Seed. If Lu Jun had not awakened his second Metal Element, he would have been nothing more than food delivered to Mu Ningxue.

Fortunately, the Metal Element he had cultivated with millions in resources—actually far more than that—was powerful enough. Combined with his other magic, it allowed him to kill Servant-level demon beasts alone.

Of course, Lu Jun also knew that Mu Ningxue's talent went far beyond an Innate Spirit Seed. Her true talent was an Innate Soul Seed, also known as the Ice Element's [Calamity Bringer].

A Soul Seed had [four to six times] the power. Her cultivation was currently holding it back, so it had not manifested yet. Once she reached the Advanced Level and its sixfold potential was fully realized, she would not only be destined to master Forbidden Magic, but her Innate Talent would also undergo another sublimation at the moment of advancement.

She already had an Innate Soul Seed, and it would undergo another sublimation? What did that amount to? There were two words for it: monster!

Honestly, an Innate Dual Elements talent was far inferior to a Calamity Bringer. So what if one had more Magic Systems? Without money and resources to develop them, they would remain ordinary or even below average, and one would still be crushed by others.

Furthermore, the farther one advanced through the five major levels, the harder it became to break through. Far too many mages were stuck before the Advanced Level for their entire lives. They had to rely on the vast, pure energy of nature to advance.

Innate Dual Elements were treated equally in this regard. Among all talents, only a Calamity Bringer was an exception.

To use an inappropriate analogy, a Calamity Bringer was like Little Doctor's Calamitous Poison Body in Battle Through the Heavens. Once she consumed poison, her cultivation would surge without end. She could improve while sitting still, until she destroyed herself.

And wasn't it a coincidence? Black Magic happened to include a Poison Element. If a Calamity Bringer awakened it, wouldn't she be a Little Doctor template, slaughtering gods and Buddhas alike?

The more Lu Jun thought about it, the more urgent he felt. No matter how he examined his cultivation, he was dissatisfied. He still had to work himself to the bone.

"Brother Fan, Brother Fan, it's the little princess! It really is her! She actually came to our school!"

At that moment, Zhang Xiaohou excitedly tugged on Mo Fan's sleeve.

Mo Fan and Lu Jun raised their heads toward the platform. They saw a beautiful figure standing there like a proud snow lotus. Her snow-white, high-waisted dress displayed her stunning figure to perfection.

What drew the most attention was not merely her body, which radiated the charm of a sexy young woman, but her breathtaking, snow-silver hair parted down the middle...

Despite the sweltering weather, the woman standing proudly on the platform seemed like a snow goddess who had walked down from the ice and snow of the Tianshan Mountains into the mortal world. She was so ethereally beautiful, yet so untouchable!

The entire school fell silent for a moment before erupting into excited discussion. This was Mu Ningxue, like the young version of the Ice and Snow Goddess, her arrogance rooted deep in her bones.

Lu Jun glanced at her unusual silver-white hair and fell into thought. It seemed that the talent of a Calamity Bringer had already begun to reveal itself.

In the end, he lost interest. He felt nothing toward Mu Ningxue, unlike the boys throughout the school, who regarded her as a goddess.

Knowing the future, he understood that this woman was a pure disaster star. Or rather, every Calamity Bringer had their name written in the Book of Life and Death of the Magic Association. Anyone who touched them later would die.

The reason was clear from Little Doctor's example. Once a talent exceeded a certain boundary, it became a calamity for the entire group.

In the early stages, Mu Ningxue's background and the support she received from the Imperial Capital's Mu Clan meant that she would always stand on the side of the Great Noble Families. In other words, they were never fellow travelers.

No matter how beautiful she was, Lu Jun still kept his distance. She was cold to the bone. He remembered that, more than a thousand chapters later, Mo Fan had clung desperately to her before finally winning over that ten-thousand-year-old iceberg, breaking all his teeth in the process.

Admittedly, Mo Fan's personal conduct was questionable, but how many times had he risked his life for Mu Ningxue? How much had he sacrificed? Even a kidney-selling simp looked insignificant beside him.

Besides, without the childhood-sweetheart bond and hazy intimacy between them, Mo Fan would probably have ended up nothing more than a foolish ATM by the finale.

Sometimes Lu Jun hated that he had not transmigrated as a woman. Otherwise, why bother struggling himself? He could simply cling to a devoted simp and be done with it.

Having lived another life, Lu Jun had matured long ago. Love had to go both ways. And if he really had to give in to lust, this girl was too young and inexperienced. How could she compare to a mature, charming older sister—someone pleasing to look at and touch?

His thoughts stirred as he glanced at Mo Fan beside him.

Chapter 16: Annual Assessment

As expected, Mo Fan was staring at her in a daze. This was probably the first time he had seen Mu Ningxue since that incident. Had it been three years?

Back then, all of the children had liked calling her the little princess, and she really had been the princess in everyone's hearts. She lived in a castle on the mountain, wore clothes and accessories many times more beautiful than those of ordinary girls, and had an alluring, adorable appearance...

Yet after these three years, Mo Fan felt that he could barely recognize her.

She had changed tremendously.

She had once been relatively cheerful and easygoing, but now that she had reached the flower of her youth, she somehow seemed even more difficult to approach...

Had her temperament changed, or had the enormous difference in status caused this feeling as they grew older?

Watching Mo Fan's expression, Lu Jun guessed that he was feeling a little inferior. That was perfectly normal. He sighed without mocking him. Mo Fan's desperate pursuit of Mu Ningxue in the future, and his retaliatory behavior rooted in his humble origins, probably had another reason as well.

At any rate, Lu Jun could never lower his self-respect for love.

Still, Mo Fan and Mu Ningxue really did end up together like a fairy tale. They were worthy of each other.

"Such a troubled pair. I hope Mo Fan and Mu Ningxue remain as tough as ever, standing firm against both the Black and White factions and giving me a chance to develop quietly."

Lu Jun sighed. Thinking of the Magic Association's countless idiotic actions, he felt his heart seize. From the moment he possessed the Metal Element and Innate Dual Elements, his hypothetical enemies had not been limited to the Black Vatican. They were the entire unreasonable and dark Magic World.

The only person standing beside him was his older sister, Lu Mei. At most, Mo Fan, Mu Ningxue, and those persecuted geniuses could barely count as allies.

Nearby, Zhang Xiaohou watched Mu Ningxue standing out from the crowd and sighed. "Brother Fan, you should've eloped with the little princess back then..."

Mo Fan came back to himself. His composure restored, he laughed and cursed, "Did you hit your head against the bathroom door until you went stupid?"

Seeing this, Lu Jun teased, "What do you think now, Old Mo?"

"Nothing much. I think that old dog Mu Zhuoyun did the only correct thing in his life."

He paused, then said arrogantly, "He gave birth to a daughter. If he obediently lets me become his son-in-law, I'll reluctantly forgive him for what he did back then."

"Hahaha." Lu Jun mocked him. "Is that your 'true fragrance' moment?"

Mo Fan gave a sly laugh. He would only say such things to his friends. The main reason was that he could clearly sense that neither Lu Jun nor Zhang Xiaohou treated the Great Noble Families as untouchable, unlike everyone else.

The people around them had servility rooted deep in their bones.

Sure enough, Zhao Kunsan jumped out and sneered, "You actually think you can eat swan meat? You'll never get into Imperial Capital University. Just wait to be expelled after the Year-end Assessment!"

The three of them ignored the clown.

Lu Jun did remember one thing. During this assessment, Mu Bai and Mu He wanted to kick Mo Fan out. They had secretly placed a Dark Light Stone on the assessment device, the Star Compass. It was a mineral that absorbed light, lowering his score.

Who could have known that Mo Fan's cultivation would exceed expectations? Even after being sabotaged, he still achieved an excellent result. Teacher Tang Yue then saw through the trick, changed to another Star Compass, and shocked the entire school with an S-rank score.

The format of this Annual Assessment was very simple. In Lu Jun's view, it was a rehash of the classic opening of Battle Through the Heavens, except that the family stele had been replaced with a Star Compass, and testing Dou Power had become testing magic energy.

The score was determined according to the brightness of the Star Compass.

It was obvious how vicious the principle behind placing a Dark Light Stone was.

Thus, Lu Jun said in a low voice, "Be careful. Mu Bai and the others might sabotage you during the assessment. When you go up, circle the Star Compass and inspect it first."

"Hm?" Mo Fan frowned. He had long known that Mu Bai disliked him, but with everyone watching during the Annual Assessment, would they really dare to play tricks?

"You'll know when you try."

Lu Jun sneered. "All the school's funding comes from the Mu Family, and the teachers are the group's dogs. What do you think?"

Mo Fan's expression grew solemn, but he did not panic. At least, no faction was allowed to openly harm a student. Principal Zhu had been appointed by the Magic Association and was highly independent, protecting countless commoners.

He patted Lu Jun on the shoulder without saying much, expressing his thanks.

Soon, the Annual Assessment began.

The first student was a little girl named He Yu. Like Lu Jun, she had the Water Element. Before taking the stage, she had been sobbing pitifully, tears streaming down her face as she feared being kicked out of magic high school.

She had fooled Teacher Xue Musheng, the homeroom teacher, and even caused all the boys in the class to comfort and encourage her.

Who could have expected that when she was tested, the entire class became clowns? According to the Star Compass's radiance, she reached A-Rank and would be directly selected for the Advanced Class when the classes were reshuffled the following year.

Everyone was dumbfounded. She was a pure magic school prodigy at pretending to be useless.

Lu Jun glanced at her and recognized the girl. Was she Zhang Xiaohou's girlfriend? Sadly, two years later, during the Bo City disaster, she would die while blocking a demon beast's attack alone to save Zhang Xiaohou.

She was a tragic figure as well.

He remembered the tunnel he had investigated throughout the year. This time, he would not allow history to repeat itself.

Next, Zhang Xiaohou took the stage. The Star Compass test produced dazzling radiance, reaching A+ Rank and drawing praise from everyone.

At that moment, Zhang Xiaohou looked shy, but his eyes were firm as he said, "Teacher, I want to take the second test: releasing magic."

The examiner looked somewhat surprised. "Are you sure?"

"I know that if my Annual Assessment ranking is high, I'll get to use the Stardust Magic Tool for longer, so I want to take the release test."

Besides the Star Compass test, the Annual Assessment also included a second test for magic release. Generally speaking, the latter was prepared for the very small number of outstanding students. Only a few students passed each year, since too few could master magic within a year.

Unfortunately, Zhang Xiaohou had originally been able to release the Wind Element's Primary Magic, Wind Track. But he became nervous in the examination hall and repeatedly failed to control the stars. His Star Track broke apart, and he could not release the spell.

He walked down, utterly dejected. Teacher Tang Yue comforted him like a gentle older sister. "It's all right. With your score, you're more than qualified for the Advanced Class."

Zhang Xiaohou asked, "Teacher, I thought I had already mastered it very well. I didn't expect a little nervousness to make the stars disperse for no reason every time I tried to control them, forcing me to start over. How do you manage to complete a spell release with a wave of your hand?"

"Practice, naturally." Tang Yue smiled faintly. "Besides that, your state of mind is also very important. A qualified mage needs not only a solid foundation, but also the composure to remain calm in any situation."

Lu Jun nodded beside them. More precisely, it was killing. Only by facing demon beasts could one temper a powerful state of mind. Just like him, after killing enough demon beasts, he never failed to control the stars at critical moments.

Time passed, and it was Xu Zhaoting's turn. The entire venue focused on him.

On the platform above, Principal Tianlan began to boast about his excellent conduct and academic performance and his Primary Lightning Element. Mu Zhuoyun smiled elegantly and said quietly to his daughter beside him, "Ning Xue, watch this junior's performance."

The silver-haired girl gave a slight nod and hummed in response.

Inside the examination area, Xu Zhaoting stood there in his school uniform. Under the pressure of the entire school's gaze, he remained completely unfazed and released his magic.

"Thunder Seal Mark!"