Annual Assessment

"Fan Ge, Brother Chen, let's go. Time for the annual assessment."

Zhang Xiaohou came from the school dormitory to the classroom, finding Dongfang Chen and Mofan.

Because Dongfang Chen had given him a hand, Mofan's father didn't have to sell the house to put Mofan through high school, so Mofan was a day student, not a boarder.

"You two go ahead. I'll practice my control a bit more," Mofan said.

Dongfang Chen glanced at Mofan. This guy should have both his Lightning and Fire elements at the entry level by now.

Sure, Mofan having Lightning Fire Dual Elements at entry level was impressive, but when I pull out All Elements Initial Level 2, how's he going to handle that?

"Let's go. We'll head over first."

Dongfang Chen called Ye Xin Xia and led Zhang Xiaohou toward the sports field.

Thanks to abundant cultivation resources, Ye Xin Xia's magic cultivation was no slouch either.

Her Healing Element had also reached Initial Level 2, more than enough to breeze through a mere annual assessment.

Soon, Mofan hurried over from the classroom.

Right on time, the three school leaders, the examiners, and the Board of Directors' Mu family members also arrived at the scene.

Before the assessment, there was the classic principal's speech.

"Today... we have invited the most outstanding Female Mage of Bocheng... At age fifteen, she was directly admitted to the Imperial Capital Magic Academy... She is Mu Ningxue!"

Mu Ningxue's appearance sparked waves of commotion from the crowd.

Her popularity was entirely thanks to the Bocheng Mu family's relentless promotion.

After all, the Mu family had finally produced such a Prodigy Daughter, and they wanted the whole city to know of Mu Ningxue's achievements.

Mu Ningxue stood on the podium, her icy aura like a Snow Lotus proudly blooming atop a snowy peak, her white fitted dress tightly binding her slender waist.

Mu Ningxue's waist was something even Dongfang Chen couldn't stop praising.

After a brief speech, her sapphire-blue eyes looked towards Dongfang Chen in the audience.

Suddenly, she smiled, like a Snow Lotus in full bloom—ethereal, untouchable.

"Holy crap! She smiled! Fan Ge, you think Mu Ningxue's smiling at me?"

Zhang Xiaohou excitedly slapped Mofan on the back.

Mofan choked from the hits, shot him a glare, and said irritably, "What kind of taste does she have? How could she be smiling at you? She's obviously looking at me."

Mofan and Zhang Xiaohou's banter made Ye Xin Xia burst into a "pfft" laugh.

Those two goofballs really put on a show.

Dongfang Chen glanced at them. "Ah, I'll just tell you straight up—Xuexue was smiling at me."

Mofan, Zhang Xiaohou: "..."

"Brother Chen, I never knew you could be this shameless. Your face must be as thick as Fan Ge's," Zhang Xiaohou couldn't help teasing.

Mofan stayed quiet, because he knew Dongfang Chen did have some connection to the Bocheng Mu family.

But that an ice beauty like Mu Ningxue would fall for Dongfang Chen? Mofan didn't buy it.

Faced with their skeptical looks, Dongfang Chen didn't bother explaining. The facts would speak for themselves.

After Mu Ningxue said a few brief words, she left the podium and walked toward the student lineup.

"Holy crap! She's coming over!" Zhang Xiaohou nearly jumped in excitement.

Mofan's heart sank. Could this kid Dongfang really have won the Beauty?

Damn it! This guy already has Xin Xia by his side, and he dares to mess with Mu Ningxue? Isn't he afraid the two girls will tear each other apart?

Mofan, consumed by jealousy, silently chanted in his mind: Fight, fight.

Too bad he was disappointed.

Under the gaze of the crowd, Mu Ningxue walked up to Dongfang Chen, a slight curve at the corner of her lips, then obediently stood beside Ye Xin Xia, one on each side of Dongfang Chen.

"Tsk..." Mofan sucked in a cold breath.

Neither girl was jealous enough to fight? What did this kid do to deserve this?

On the podium, Mu Zhuoyun, appearing as a board member, wore a gratified smile.

In recent years, his two greatest prides were having a genius daughter like Mu Ningxue and arranging her childhood engagement with Dongfang Chen.

The Dongfang Family's rise over the years had shocked the entire Huaxia aristocratic circle, and the Bocheng Mu family had latched onto this wealthy clan through the engagement.

Now, even the Imperial Capital Main Branch of the Mu Clan was keen to build ties with the Bocheng Mu Clan.

Mu Zhuoyun couldn't have been happier for Mu Ningxue to get close to Dongfang Chen, and he didn't even mind Ye Xin Xia being around.

Youngsters—having a few beauties by their side was nothing strange.

"What are you staring at? Our class's assessment is coming up."

Dongfang Chen's words snapped the surrounding students back to reality.

Though Mu Ningxue had drawn most eyes, the assessment was still the priority.

Soon, Zhang Xiaohou got an A+ score.

That was a pretty good result, solidly enough to get into the Advanced Class.

After Zhang Xiaohou came Mubai.

Mubai and his subordinate Zhao Kun San still had occasional conflicts with Mofan, just like in the Original Work.

But because he couldn't figure out whether Dongfang Chen would stand up for Mofan, Mubai didn't dare deepen his own feud with Mofan.

So this test, he and his uncle Mu He didn't pull any sneaky tricks to frame Mofan.

As expected, Mubai, like in the Original Work, got S scores from all three examiners on the Star Sensing Stone test, but only a B on the magic release.

Actually, a B in magic release was already an excellent result for an ordinary student.

But in Dongfang Chen's eyes, Mubai's magic release was sluggish. Even though he didn't lose control of the Star Seeds, it still took him nearly five or six seconds to cast the spell.

Too slow.

After Mubai got his final test score, he shot Mofan a proud glance.

Mofan ignored him, which made him a bit annoyed.

"Next, Mofan."

Because Mubai and Mu He hadn't stirred up trouble, Mofan's results matched the Original Work: an S on the Star Sensing Stone and an A on magic release, both a notch above Mubai.

That put a smug grin on Mofan's face.

Seeing Mofan's cocky smirk, Mubai itched with frustration but had no way to do anything, forced to just watch Mofan show off right in front of him.

"Next, Ye Xin Xia!"

Mofan's results were already shocking enough.

But when Ye Xin Xia's scores came out, everyone's jaws dropped even wider.

"Ye Xin Xia, Star Sensing Stone score..."

"S!"

"S!"

"S!"

"Magic release score..."

"S!"

"S!"

"S!"

Ye Xin Xia's magic release was so fast it was practically instant—one more step and she'd likely reach the level of One Thought Star Track.

The examiners had sharp eyes too; probably even some Intermediate Level Mages didn't have such quick release speed.

When Ye Xin Xia's results were announced, the principal of Tianlan Magic High School's smile practically bloomed into a flower.

A score like that was almost unheard of in their school's history.

This year's College Entrance Exam Target was locked in!

"Whoa... I didn't know Big Sister Xin Xia was this amazing!" Zhang Xiaohou exclaimed in surprise.

Because of Dongfang Chen, Zhang Xiaohou and the others all called Ye Xin Xia "Big Sister Xin Xia."

That made Ye Xin Xia a bit awkward, like she was the leader of some delinquent gang.

"Actually, Brother Chen is even more impressive than me," Ye Xin Xia said softly.

While cultivation resources were important for mages, guidance from a master was just as crucial.

Ye Xin Xia wasn't getting cocky about her results, because at home she had Grandpa Sai, an Archmage, and Brother Chen, who was even more of a genius than a genius.

She was still a little short of the instant magic release of One Thought Star Track, but Brother Chen had been at One Thought Star Track ever since he could first cast magic.

"Next, Dongfang Chen!"