"If it weren't for you, I don't know how much longer it would've taken me to realize this."
Cesar sat down beside him, speaking in his usual boisterous manner.
He was in an excellent mood. Anyone who found a path to godhood would feel the same way. After all, that meant becoming a god-level expert, on par with the War God O'Brien and the High Priest.
By now, Fang Yun knew what was happening with Cesar, and he couldn't help feeling wistful. In the original story, Cesar seemed to become a god not many years later, but no one knew what he had gone through.
He hadn't expected that his arrival would end up giving Cesar the opportunity he needed.
Cesar really was lucky.
But on second thought, Cesar had always been lucky. Even after going to the Divine Plane, things had gone relatively smoothly for him.
And even on Miluo Island, he had eventually met Linley.
"All right, I'll be off."
Cesar hadn't felt this eager to cultivate in a long time. "You can consider me in your debt for today."
Even though he was about to become a god, Cesar treated Fang Yun as an equal. After all, Fang Yun was at the same level—and might even reach the god-level sooner than he would.
By the time Fang Yun returned to Ernst Institute at his own pace, the day's matches were over. The top three had been decided.
After the top three were determined, everyone had a better idea of just how talented the students from Ernst Institute and Wester Academy were.
Dixie drew the most attention, followed by Linley. People called them Ernst Institute's two newest prodigies.
Wester Academy had its share of geniuses too, but they fell short of Dixie and Linley.
Dormitory 1987.
The four brothers sat together, each of them beaming with excitement.
"Third Brother, you've brought glory to Dormitory 1987!"
Yale couldn't help asking, "Be honest—do you think you can take first place?"
George and Reynolds looked at Linley as well.
Linley smiled. "I'm ninety percent sure."
His opponents were also second-level mages, but their mental control was far too poor. He could beat them easily. Even among second-level mages, there were differences in the strength of their spiritual force.
"Haha, good! Once you take first place, we have to celebrate properly."
Yale laughed heartily.
George and Reynolds chimed in with smiles.
"It's a shame there are so many second-level mages in this Grade Tournament. Otherwise, I might've gotten a decent ranking too."
Reynolds sounded disappointed. He had been eliminated two days ago.
He was quite capable himself, but this Grade Tournament had too many experts. In the end, he hadn't even made the top ten. Ernst Institute had far too many geniuses.
Linley nodded but didn't reply. He was feeling weighed down instead. After his match, he had gone to watch the older students compete, especially Dixie.
A fourth-level mage!
And his control over spiritual force was even more precise than Linley's.
Dixie was a month younger than him, yet he was already a fourth-level mage. Once the Grade Tournament ended, he'd be able to advance to the fourth grade.
The gap...
Linley felt helpless.
That night, Linley lay in bed, unable to stop thinking about Dixie's match.
Doehring Cowart sensed Linley's mood and guessed what was on his mind. Ever since Linley had watched Dixie's match, he had been preoccupied.
"Linley, can't sleep? Are you still thinking about Dixie's match today?"
Doehring Cowart flew out of the Coiling Dragon Ring and spoke.
"Yeah."
Linley didn't hide what he was thinking. "Dixie's younger than me, but he's already a fourth-level mage. I'm still only a second-level mage."
Doehring Cowart smiled. "Linley, when Dixie enrolled, his spiritual force was sixty-eight times that of someone his age. He was already at the level of a third-level mage. All he had to do was accumulate enough magic power to reach the third level. He's been here for quite some time now, but really, all he's done is go from a third-level mage to a fourth-level mage."
Linley understood. Dixie's talent was extraordinary. His spiritual force was strong, and his elemental affinity was superlative. It was only natural that he'd reached his current level.
But even so, the gap between them was real. It was enormous. Linley couldn't even see how he might catch up.
The farther a mage progressed, the harder cultivation became. If he fell behind at the beginning, catching up later would be even less likely.
"With Dixie's talent, it'll still take him quite a while to go from a fourth-level mage to a fifth-level mage, or even a sixth-level mage."
Doehring Cowart spoke with certainty. "And during that time, I have a way to help you catch up with him."
"Catch up with Dixie?"
Linley wasn't convinced. During his time at Ernst Institute, he'd learned just how great the differences between mages could be.
Besides, Dixie was more talented than he was. Even if Linley worked hard, Dixie would work hard too. How could he ever catch up?
Seeing that Linley didn't believe him, Doehring Cowart stroked his beard and smiled. "Linley, have you ever heard of stone carving?"
"Stone carving?"
Linley was startled. He didn't know why Grandpa Doehring had suddenly brought it up, but he nodded seriously. "I know that excellent stone carvings can be worth tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of gold coins."
He wasn't unfamiliar with stone carving. In particular, his father's experience selling the family's stone carving, Fierce Lion, had even inspired Linley to consider learning the craft. But so far, he hadn't had any experience with it.
Learning to carve was difficult too.
"Haha, hundreds of thousands of gold coins?"
Doehring Cowart laughed. "That would indeed be an excellent carving. But it wouldn't be considered the very best. A true master's work could fetch a million gold coins."
"A million gold coins?!"
Linley's eyes widened, and he couldn't help drawing in a sharp breath.
A million gold coins—what did that even mean? Even if the Baruch Clan sold everything it owned, it wouldn't come up with that much.
If they had a master's carving, it could immediately ease the family's current predicament.
"Of course, there aren't many people who can be called masters,"
Doehring Cowart said.
Linley nodded. He knew that. Forget a million gold coins—even carving a piece worth a thousand gold coins was extremely difficult.
In his eyes, the family's stone carving, Fierce Lion, was already excellent, yet it had only sold for six hundred gold coins.
"Grandpa Doehring, what does stone carving have to do with catching up to Dixie?"
Linley didn't understand.
Doehring Cowart spoke with a hint of pride. "The way I'm going to help you catch up with Dixie is through stone carving!"
"Stone carving will help me catch up with Dixie?"
Linley was confused.
Doehring Cowart then explained his self-created Pingdao School in detail.
After learning from Doehring Cowart about carving with the Pingdao School, Linley prepared his carving tools the next day and got ready to practice.
He wouldn't give up on something that could both strengthen his spiritual force and potentially help his family escape its predicament.
Before long, the Grade Tournament officially ended.
As expected, Linley took first place in the first grade and became a well-known figure among the first-year students. Quite a few people throughout the academy had heard of him too. After all, a nine-year-old second-level mage with two elemental affinities was unquestionably a genius.
Of course, whether it was Linley or the students from Wester Academy,
everyone paled beside Dixie.
A nine-year-old fourth-level mage was the only one of his kind on the Yulan Continent.
"The teacher really does have a good eye."
Watching Dixie cultivate in the distance, Kawent couldn't help praising him.
Once the Grade Tournament ended, Dixie returned to his intense cultivation. At his current pace, he would probably reach the level of a sixth-level mage in six or seven years at most.
In six or seven years, Dixie would be only fifteen or sixteen. A fifteen- or sixteen-year-old sixth-level mage would be among the very top geniuses on the entire Yulan Continent.
No wonder the teacher had asked him to keep an eye on such a genius.
Kawent couldn't help wondering if Dixie's future achievements would be at least Saint-level.
It was a pity that Ernst Institute only taught magic up to the sixth level. Otherwise, with the academy's resources, a genius like Dixie might have progressed even faster.
Still, although the academy didn't teach magic beyond the sixth level, there were many powerful organizations out there. It was possible to learn seventh-level magic and even higher levels.
Especially since Dixie had caught the teacher's attention. His progress would only accelerate from here.
Sigh.
Kawent suddenly felt a little dejected.
Magic academies only accepted gifted youths like Dixie. People like him wouldn't be admitted, even if they had some talent.
Thinking about his own situation, a thought suddenly crossed Kawent's mind. Perhaps...
he could teach some adults to learn magic.
On the Yulan Continent, people with talent were generally tested for magical aptitude before they turned twelve. But many people missed the chance simply because they couldn't afford it.
After all, an aptitude test cost ten gold coins.
Among those who couldn't pay, there had to be some talented people suited to learning magic.
Besides, things were different on Blue Star than on the Yulan Continent. There were far fewer mages on Blue Star, and no complete system in place. Even if people wanted to learn magic, they wouldn't get tested before the age of twelve.
In other words, many people on Blue Star had missed the usual age to begin learning magic.
If he taught some adults to learn magic, he might be able to change their lives.
Even if they couldn't become powerful, they'd still be better off than ordinary people.
It was like adult education programs on Blue Star. Learning might not be as efficient as it was for young people, but such programs could still train a large number of talented people.
Perhaps magic worked the same way.
Even if they couldn't fully develop their talent, bringing out just some of it would be enough.
At the thought, Kawent's eyes began to shine.
He felt more and more certain that it could work.
Great and supreme God, was all of this your guidance?
Before you continue