"Ascetic" Lynn

Spring turned to autumn, and in the blink of an eye, Lynn had already spent over half a year at the Imperial Capital Magic Academy.

During these days, unlike those students born into nobility, a genius commoner like Lynn not only had to study magical knowledge but also had to set aside extra time to learn literacy and etiquette.

After all, as the largest concentration camp for genius mages in the Roland Empire, every student cultivated by the Imperial Capital Magic Academy would be at least a high-level mage in the future.

Once they graduated, they could even directly obtain the title of Viscount in some weaker kingdoms, and the most outstanding among them could even be granted imperial titles. Therefore, the curriculum at the Imperial Capital Magic Academy taught not only magical knowledge but also some aristocratic etiquette.

"Today is the last lesson." Inside the bright chapel, Lynn listened distractedly, his back held straight as a board.

"Lynn, old John's lectures are as torturous as ever. I really envy Leiluo and the others for not having to come to class and suffer through old John's torment." A boy with short brown hair sitting at the same desk whispered to Lynn, his tone laced with envy.

To this, Lynn kept his eyes fixed forward, though a hint of schadenfreude flashed in his eyes.

"Bang!" An exquisite magic wand flew from afar, striking the top of the brown-haired boy's head, followed immediately by the roar of the elderly lecturer.

"Taylor, it's you again! It's one thing that you don't listen properly, but you actually dare to disturb Lynn!"

"You don't have the slightest air of a noble mage; you're as boorish as a warrior!" The old man was very familiar with the boy; it was clear the latter was a repeat offender.

"You're acting more like a warrior than I am right now," Taylor muttered under his breath.

"Still daring to talk back? Go back and copy the mage etiquette manual 100 times for me!"

"No, please, beloved Archmage John, 100 times will take me a whole month to copy..."

"Ding~ Ding~" The bell for the end of class rang.

The miserable Taylor was dragged away by old John, and Lynn returned to his dormitory alone.

Just as he opened the courtyard gate, Lynn saw two youths in fine clothing sitting in the center of the yard.

One was Leiluo, the other was Gates; they were the other two members of dormitory 9527 besides Lynn and Taylor. Unlike Lynn and Taylor, Leiluo and Gates were both of noble birth, so they did not have to study etiquette with Lynn.

"The third one is back. Where's the fourth?" Leiluo, the oldest of the four, looked confused when he saw no one following Lynn.

"Don't tell me he got dragged away by old John again?" Gates, the second oldest, thought of something and said with a strange expression.

"Congratulations, you've learned to guess the answer," Lynn said, glancing at Gates in surprise.

"How many times has this been now?" Leiluo said, caught between laughter and tears.

"Seventeenth time," Gates suddenly spoke up.

Leiluo and Lynn looked at Gates with strange expressions.

"Your focus is still as weird as ever..." Leiluo's mouth twitched, and he quickly changed the subject.

"There's a freshman mixer this afternoon. I was planning to wait for you two to come back so we could go together, but it looks like Taylor won't have the chance. Lynn, are you going?"

"Not going," Lynn said crisply and decisively.

"Going to cultivate again?" Leiluo draped an arm over Lynn's shoulder. "Third brother, with your high aptitude, reaching a level six mage will be easy. There's no need to be this much of a grind."

"Come on, give yourself a day off. Let me tell you, the freshman mixer at the Imperial Capital Magic Academy is different from other academies. It's called a freshman mixer, but in reality, besides us freshmen, some second and third-year students participate too."

"You know, the second and third-years are a few years older than us, and there are some beautiful senior sisters..." Leiluo winked meaningfully at Lynn as he said this.

Gates's eyes widened. "Senior sisters?" His face was full of interest.

Facing his two roommates who had "gone astray" at such a young age.

Lynn smiled helplessly.

"You two lechers stop trying to drag me along. I'm going to my room to cultivate."

"Sigh... still so young." Facing Lynn, whose mind was made up, Leiluo and Gates, knowing his character, stopped trying to persuade him and left together.

Lynn walked quickly back to his room, got onto his bed, lay down, and closed his eyes.

At the same time, tens of thousands of miles away from the Roland Imperial Capital, in the capital of the Starfire Kingdom, inside a detached villa at the Dragon Knight Warrior Academy, Xiao Yan, who had been meditating, opened his eyes.

"I cannot control two bodies for long-term action; my soul is still too weak. I can only focus on one side for now."

"I will put the main body's cultivation aside for the moment and first raise the clone's cultivation to the Saint level. By then, relying on a Saint-level soul, I should be able to control both clones for normal cultivation for long periods."

Xiao Yan stood up straight and flashed to the side of the lake in the center of the courtyard.

"Swish!" With a flip of his palm, an exquisite small black knife appeared in Xiao Yan's hand. Xiao Yan took a step forward and quickly approached the giant boulder by the lake.

"Crack~" As Xiao Yan's palm moved rapidly, countless stone chips fell from the boulder, and a human silhouette gradually took shape.

What Xiao Yan was performing was precisely the Flat Blade Style mentioned by Doehring Cowart in the original text, which could train mental energy.

Of course, it was not the authentic version, but a pirated one that Xiao Yan had researched based on his talent. It could not compare to the original, but relying on the white talent [Fallen Genius], Xiao Yan's soul power was not increasing slowly; he had caught up from behind and widened the gap with the main body.

The soul fragment created by the Origin Bead originally only occupied a small portion of Lynn's soul. Converted into data, it was roughly reducing Lynn's original soul strength of thirty-seven times down to thirty-six, with only one unit split off.

Now, half a year later, relying on his talent, Xiao Yan had not only broken through to a level four warrior, but his magic level had also recently broken through to level three. According to the classification of the Coiling Dragon world, he was also called an intermediate mage.

As evening approached, Xiao Yan, whose soul felt slightly fatigued, looked at the giant boulder that now had a human silhouette. He expressionlessly put away the small knife in his hand and picked up a huge, heavy black ruler from the ground.

He began to practice alone by the lake.

Unlike Lynn, Xiao Yan had a very clear positioning for himself: interpersonal relationships were a matter for the main body to consider; the clone only needed to cultivate.

Since it was difficult to promote to a Saint-level mage due to mental energy, Xiao Yan deduced the pirated Flat Blade Style.

Since it was difficult to promote to a Saint-level warrior due to the need to draw upon the power of heaven and earth, Xiao Yan began to hone his techniques while sensing the world from the very beginning.

"Talent is merely talent; only sweat can bring it to fruition."

[Talent Clone: Xiao Yan

Strength: Level 4 Warrior, Level 3 Fire Mage]

Step~ step~ step~

"That must be Taylor back." Lynn opened his eyes, yawned as he rose from the bed, and then stood before the mirror, adjusting his micro-expressions.

A moment later, a "weary-looking" Lynn opened the door.

"Third Brother, another day of bitter cultivation?" Seeing the exhausted Lynn, Taylor was long used to this, but he still couldn't help but click his tongue.

"Don't just keep grinding away; you have to look after your health. Meditating for too long isn't good either."

"Haha... Heaven rewards the diligent, Heaven rewards the diligent..." Lynn waved his hand in refusal, his face full of righteousness, without a trace of guilt to be seen.