Amidst the Nine Peaks

After experiencing the music festival, Bai Mo did not go discuss any projects with anyone.

After turning down several more pretty older girls, he returned home at nine in the evening.

Fortunately, he had used four relatively unimportant classes at school today to meditate. Half of his daily meditation quota remained, so another four hours that night would be enough.

When he entered the living room, Patriarch Bai was sitting on the sofa looking at a tablet, its screen casting a jade-green glow over his face.

The door to the mahjong room upstairs stood open, and the clattering sounds streamed down from above without end.

"Back already? There are still some leftovers in the kitchen."

Hearing the movement, Patriarch Bai spoke blandly without even shifting his eyes.

"I already ate."

Bai Mo replied, offering no comment on Patriarch Bai's devotion to being a philanthropist, then strolled into his room.

He could not forget his daily meditation.

It rained today. Cool, damp vapor mingled with the wind, adding even more autumnal feeling to Modu in November.

Yet the second-year classrooms of Zhi Lan Magic High School were even more restless than they had been in summer.

"Why isn't the homeroom teacher here yet? Didn't they say we were going into the wild for training today?"

One impatient classmate asked aimlessly.

"The class group said two in the afternoon. It's only ten fifty now, so there's still plenty of time."

Bai Mo watched the rain outside the window, the pen in his hand unconsciously twirling between his fingers. A closer look would reveal that the pen was not touching his fingers at all.

But his thoughts were not on what his classmates were discussing.

Two months had brought no substantial breakthrough in his magical cultivation.

He had only learned two little tricks for cultivating Mental Power.

Still, he had grown much more familiar with the two girls, Aitutu and Mu Nujiao. Bai Mo would occasionally open a room with them to play cards.

On Lele Landlord.

Unfortunately, those two girls were still focused on competing over magical cultivation. Even handsome guys could not draw much of their interest, and they were not free every time he invited them.

Other than that, he had also gained the ability to face Demon Beasts without getting nervous. He could ensure that his heart remained absolutely calm.

Zhou Tianyuan, on the other hand, truly had remarkable talent. Perhaps actual combat against Demon Beasts had put pressure on him, because after asking his family for some higher-grade resources, his Water Element had also reached Elementary Level Two.

After all, combining combat with meditation was the best partner for improving one's cultivation.

"Classmates, our destination this time is Middle Town in Nine Peaks Mountain. Once we arrive, the content of this assessment will be arranged by the local military officers, and it will last for half a month. A vehicle will arrive in ten minutes. Everyone, come downstairs with me now."

At one forty in the afternoon, homeroom teacher Su Ning stood at the classroom podium and once again explained to the entire class the contents of the document she had sent in the class group yesterday.

On the bus, Bai Mo casually picked a seat and sat down. When Zhou Tianyuan took the seat beside him, several girls became dissatisfied, while several others grew excited.

It could not be helped. Even though they were heading into the wild, Zhou Tianyuan had no intention of cutting his hair. His shoulder-length hair was gathered neatly behind his back, paired with his somewhat soft and delicate features.

At first glance, he simply did not look like a man.

Two people stood at the very front of the bus, a man and a woman. Their skin was dark, their bearing capable and solemn, and both wore Military Mage uniforms.

From their introductions, Bai Mo learned that the man was called Yan Fei, while the woman was He Yun.

Nine Peaks Mountain lay west of Modu. It was a relatively prominent area on the Modu Plain, though its average elevation was still less than a hundred meters.

For Modu, with waterways and land routes both easily accessible, this could not be considered dangerous terrain.

The reason a military town had been established here was because Nine Peaks Mountain was rich in Wind Element and Earth Element resources.

This had attracted a large number of Demon Beasts, the strongest among them being the Nine Peaks Raccoon clans that had originally inhabited the area.

That was how Middle Town came to be.

Bai Mo learned this information from conversations between his classmates and the Military Mage named Yan Fei. As they talked, the students gradually lost some of their initial restraint around the Military Mages.

A crew-cut boy, naturally familiar with others, asked, "Brother Yan, why is it called Middle Town?"

"There is a gap in the very center of the Nine Peaks, an important passage connecting the eastern and western sides of the mountain range. The military town is located there, so it's called Middle Town."

"How much longer until we arrive?"

"Soon."

Yan Fei was an honest man. Sure enough, not long afterward, the bus drove into a town and stopped before an enormous city gate.

Everyone got off the bus.

It was clear that it had just rained here as well. The ground was wet, and the air still held a fresh, watery dampness.

The city gate before them towered high, joining the mountain walls on either side. The sky after the rain was crystal clear, smeared with a patch of hazy yellow. The distant mountains stood crisp and bright, with pale mist curling around them.

It was Bai Mo's first time traveling outside, and he found the feeling quite good. Looking at the mountain scenery after the rain, though he knew it concealed countless dangers, he still could not help but recite, "After fresh rain in empty hills, the evening brings the autumn chill."

This made Zhou Tianyuan, who had been looking around curiously beside him, turn his head in astonishment before falling into thought.

They passed through the city gate and entered the town.

The town was not completely militarized. Professional shops lined the streets, selling everything from daily necessities and leisure entertainment to mage department stores.

There were also amateur vendors. They seemed to be mages who had come here to hunt Demon Beasts, and the things they sold were rather miscellaneous, most of them obtained from Nine Peaks Mountain.

At the very center of the town was a plaza. Even with all the second-year students who had come for training gathered there, it still seemed spacious.

They waited there for the commander of this military town to come and make arrangements for them.

"So this is Middle Town? It doesn't look all that special."

"Hey, Qingqing, let me tell you, there's this young Military Mage over there. He's super handsome!"

"Damn, why do those stall owners look so shady? I just glanced at him once, and he asked me, 'What are you looking at?' It scared me so much I didn't dare say anything."

The classmate beside him looked at him speechlessly. "He saw you staring at his stall for ages and was asking what you wanted to buy."

"Really?"

Bai Mo only half-listened to his classmates' chatter. He noticed that the homeroom teachers had all gathered in one place.

Meanwhile, a squad of Military Mages marched over from one of the streets. At their head was a woman. Her face was stern and her bearing imposing, making people unconsciously overlook her petite frame.

The woman led her squad to a stop in the center of the plaza. Looking at the noisy crowd, she frowned and softly uttered a single word:

"Silence!"

Bai Mo felt a wave of intent sweep across the area along with a peculiar fluctuation, and the entire plaza fell silent.

Some of the students around him were still talking, but they quickly realized that they could not hear what the others were saying, nor could they hear their own voices.

"Sound System Magic? At least Advanced Level, right?" Bai Mo took in their reactions as Zhou Tianyuan beside him patted his shoulder, his face full of alarm.

Bai Mo glanced at him, then turned his attention to the female officer responsible for all this.

The ground beneath her feet slowly rose, lifting her onto a three-meter-high platform.

Seeing that every student in the plaza had stopped stirring and turned their attention toward her, a satisfied smile appeared on her stern face.

"You may speak now."

The female officer's voice reached everyone's ears clearly, yet no one intended to open their mouths. They merely listened as she continued:

"My name is Gu Changying. I am the highest commander of this military town and the Chief Instructor for your training this time. You may call me Instructor Gu."

After a pause, Gu Changying continued:

"I know you are all students. But the University Alliance has temporarily placed you here, so from this moment onward, you have only one identity: Military Mage!"

Gu Changying's calm gaze swept over the young, immature faces below, yet it carried an invisible pressure. She spoke each word distinctly:

"Being a Military Mage has never been easy. If your abilities are insufficient, then you cannot become a Military Mage and can only be probationers! Your task this time is to join the patrol mage squads of Middle Town, complete the daily patrol missions, and remove the probationer title."

Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the task sounded fairly easy, Gu Changying's voice rang out again:

"I will judge you according to the standards of an ordinary patrol Military Mage. Patrolling the mountains, eliminating Demon Beasts, and obeying orders will be your primary duties. You will have three days to adapt. During the twelve days after that, meeting the standard each day earns you an S. Otherwise, you get an F!"

"Eliminating Demon Beasts?!" A young teacher frowned. The teacher beside him shook his head and reassured him, "Don't worry. It was the same when I brought students here five years ago. There won't be any danger to their lives."

"But they can still get injured, right? Instructor Gu seems very serious, and this evaluation method is far too harsh."

"Hey, Teacher Xu, those words are just for the students' benefit. Instructor Gu is busy with official duties. How could she have the energy to manage this? We teachers will still need to observe and take part in evaluating their results."

"Teacher Tian, you mean..."

In the plaza.

Upon hearing Gu Changying's practically brutal evaluation standards, the students in the plaza began to stir. Some hot-tempered ones even voiced protests. The Hunter Mages watching from outside the plaza whistled and made sarcastic remarks.

Gu Changying glanced at those protesting students, and her cold voice exploded through the plaza. "Here, I make the rules! Cowards do not deserve to remain here. Anyone who wants to leave may get an F-grade evaluation form from your homeroom teacher right now and get the hell back to school tomorrow!"

At once, everyone fell silent.

They were at an age filled with youthful passion, and no one wanted to be looked down upon. Even those who wished to retreat would not make that choice in public at a time like this.

The first lesson of becoming a mage was to stand in front of ordinary people!

When facing Demon Beasts, anyone could leave—but mages could not. Wilderness training was meant to make them face Demon Beasts directly. If they left at a time like this...

They would certainly receive their evaluation. An F-grade evaluation still gave them a chance to enter a magic university. But in truth, their magical careers would end right then and there.

Neither the authorities nor the public would allow a mage who only enjoyed benefits without fulfilling their responsibilities to continue down the path of magic.

Of course, if you ran away in private, no one would pursue the matter. After all, who would know?

Bai Mo rubbed his ears and silently resolved never to argue with a Sound Mage in the future.

At the same time, he recalled how his homeroom teacher, Su Ning, could effortlessly suppress the entire class's voices every time, and understood what her second magic system was.

Gu Changying had made her stance clear. Seeing that no one had any further objections, she said leisurely, "Your homeroom teachers will inform you later of which squad you will be assigned to. That is all I have to say. I hope you can pass the evaluation."

After saying that, the earthen platform beneath her feet slowly sank back into the ground, and she turned to leave.

The ground returned to its original smoothness, as though the change had never happened.

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