"Respected teachers, dear students, good morning. Filled with excitement, we welcome the annual assessment at Tianlan High School..."
On the stage, Mu He delivered a speech as a school board member. His expression was solemn, and his words brimmed with earnest hopes for the young mages.
Who could have guessed that his true identity was Great Deacon Huzhen?
Below the stage.
"What a windbag." Mo Fan grumbled. "He's been talking for over ten minutes. Let's get on with the assessment already!"
"Heh, you're just itching to show off in front of Mu Ningxue, aren't you?" Xu Fang mercilessly called him out. Mo Fan wasn't embarrassed in the least. He said eagerly, "So what if I am? Xue Xue is my first wife. Showing off in front of your wife doesn't count as showing off, does it?"
As he spoke, Mo Fan couldn't stop sneaking glances toward the stage.
Onstage, Mu He raised his voice. "Today is also a very special occasion."
"Because we've invited Bocheng's most outstanding young mage, a genius among geniuses!
"She was admitted to the Imperial Capital Magic University at the age of fifteen, an exception to the usual rules. I imagine many of you entered high school after hearing the stories about her.
"Let's welcome the magic prodigy who should have been in your graduating class, but has already advanced to university—Mu Ningxue!"
The moment those words were spoken, the thousand-plus students gathered on the sports field erupted into a commotion.
"Holy crap, the school actually did it! They invited my goddess!"
"She's an Ice Element mage, just like me. I heard that when Mu Ningxue awakened, the power of her Ice Element froze the ground beneath her feet solid."
"That's way too exaggerated. I'll give you the real news: Mu Ningxue learned Ice Vine in just eight months. Eight months!"
"One year and I've only managed to form five Star Seeds. I'm sorry I was born."
"How shallow! When will you be able to see past the goddess's powerful inner qualities and appreciate her perfect looks, like I do?"
The sports field, which had been nearly asleep during Mu He's speech, was now buzzing with excitement.
They never would have imagined that they'd get to see someone like her at an ordinary high school.
This was just... so cool!
Accompanied by applause and cheers, a beautiful figure as pure white as a lotus stepped onto the stage. In an ordinary dress, she still managed to outshine every girl in the school.
More striking than her slender figure was that dazzling head of snow-white hair, parted down the middle.
Middle part, overalls—I'm a Kun fan, remember that...
"Pfft!"
Mo Fan looked at Xu Fang. "What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing. I just thought of something funny." Xu Fang gave a small cough and forcibly stopped himself from looking at that middle part.
Mo Fan eyed him suspiciously. "You... don't tell me you're shameless enough to have your eye on my wife?"
"Am I that kind of person? Don't forget, I was the one who covered for you when you ran away together." Xu Fang was unhappy with the way Mo Fan was treating him like a thief.
"Fair enough."
As they chatted, Zhao Kun San popped up beside them again, like a ghost that wouldn't go away. "You two really have some nerve, acting familiar with Mu Ningxue. Where do you get the courage?"
Mo Fan swore at him. "Zhao Kun San, what's your problem? I haven't done anything to you!"
A loser who couldn't even cast magic—where did he get the nerve to keep pushing his luck?
"Done anything to me?"
Zhao Kun San sounded as if he'd just heard the biggest joke in the world. His voice turned shrill. "How did our family's land get taken away? If you hadn't done something so delusional, would my family have ended up like this?"
Zhao Kun San was from the same part of the city, and his family were also considered servants of the Mu Clan.
"Servant" might sound out of place in modern times. But if everything your family depended on for a living was there because the lady of the Mu Clan liked growing flowers, then how was the Zhao family, who had always handled the manor's landscaping and flowers, any different from a gardener's servant?
The Mu family were the undisputed rulers of Bocheng. Their Mu Family Manor occupied the best land in the entire city. They looked down not only from a height, but from a position of power.
There might have been only a hundred or so nobles in the entire Mu Family Manor, but more than a thousand people relied on them to make a living!
Mo Fan's and Zhao Kun San's families were both among them. These people had no dignity; they survived by living off the Mu Clan's favor.
Take the elopement incident years ago. The truth was that Mu Ningxue, the young lady of the family, had grown sick of the walls and restrictions. Naively, she'd asked Mo Fan to take her away from home.
Whichever way you looked at it, Mu Ningxue was the one in the wrong.
Yet the Mu Clan were the masters, and this was a magic world where the hierarchy was clear.
Mu Ningxue was in the wrong, but she was still in the right.
Mo Fan was in the right, but he was still in the wrong.
If a servant had committed a mistake, then punishing all the servants to remind the rebellious young mistress of her place was perfectly reasonable—and cost-effective, too.
"I'm telling you, Mo Fan, use your brain for once. There are people we'll never be able to reach in this lifetime. Keeping your distance from them is better for you and your family. But you just had to court disaster. You just had to!
"You thought a toad could eat swan meat? What the hell, you think this is a novel or a TV drama?
"A rotten orange is still a rotten orange. You were one before, you were one yesterday, and you'll be one your whole life!
"And you, Xu Fang! So what if your dad's the Sky Eagle Mage? Why didn't you stop Mo Fan? Our whole family got punished by Old Master Mu because of him. Happy now?"
Zhao Kun San was so worked up that his round face turned red.
He'd wanted to say all this for a long time. Mu Ningxue's arrival had finally stirred up the resentment he'd kept buried inside.
In his eyes, all his misfortune came from the fallout of Mo Fan's foolish act back then.
Who the hell did you think you were, daring to go after the little princess!?
This wasn't a fairy tale. There was no kindhearted king of the Mind Element and no gentle queen of the Blessing System, and certainly no Healing System princess waiting for a poor boy to protect her!
Cross that line, and the king's wrathful thunder would make the whole country tremble!
Today, the middle-aged man standing near the back of the stage, with white at his temples and an imposing air, was the king!
His name was Mu Zhuoyun. He was the kind of man who could make all of Bocheng shake with a single stomp.
Xu Fang and Mo Fan exchanged a glance.
"What's he barking about?"
"Guess he's used to being a dog."
Zhao Kun San was furious. He felt he'd laid bare society's cold indifference, and his speech had moved him so much he was nearly in tears. These two bastards should have been touched.
But not only were they ungrateful, they even mocked him!
"What? Was I wrong? I just can't stand what you did back then..."
Xu Fang impatiently cut him off. "They're a perfect match, born for each other. Who are you, some kind of monster, to object?"
As someone who'd received the full nine years of compulsory education, Xu Fang despised people who claimed they'd "seen through society." They stayed in bed all morning, played games all afternoon, imagined themselves oppressed all evening, then awakened to reality in the middle of the night. After watching a few short videos, they'd declare that hard work was pointless and social mobility impossible, then lie back with a clear conscience and blame every failure on being broke.
Sweet, sweet, sweet—sweet my ass!
Those people were worse than Zhao Kun San. At least Fatty Zhao had really taken a beating from society.
Mo Fan wasn't convinced by Zhao Kun San's twisted logic, either. Damn it, Old Mu was the one at fault, yet this dead fatty pinned it all on your grandpa, Mo Fan. Did he really think my Thunder Seal was just for show?
In the crowd, Mu Bai watched the scene coldly.
Xu Fang, Mo Fan, after today, I'll show you just how big the gap is between the children of the great clans and the common folk!
That absurd, unmagical equality—let me, Mu Bai, freeze it to pieces with Ice Vine!
Before you continue