Preparing to Graduate

At Ernst Institute, on a quiet path, Lin Feng and Delia walked hand in hand beneath the moonlight.

"Delia, you're already a Level 7 Archmage. You can apply to graduate anytime," Lin Feng said abruptly.

"Hm?" Delia turned her head and looked at Lin Feng in confusion, wondering why he had brought it up so suddenly.

"Apply to graduate in a little while, and go back to the Yulan Empire with your brother, Dixie." Lin Feng sighed. He didn't want to part from Delia again so soon after they'd reunited, but he had no choice.

Although he had already entered the Saint Realm, he still couldn't guarantee Delia's absolute safety on the Day of Destruction. Besides, he planned to set his revenge in motion during this time.

With his current strength, wiping out the Radiant Church wasn't realistic, but killing Golden Lion Clayde and his younger brother, Duke Paterson, wouldn't be a problem.

"No. I want to stay by your side. Unless you come with me to the Yulan Empire." Delia was rarely so stubborn, but this time she truly didn't want to be separated from Lin Feng again.

"Be good and listen. Once I've taken care of things here, I'll come see you in the Yulan Empire. That'll be when I ask your Ryan Clan for your hand." Lin Feng gently stroked Delia's golden hair. "When the sculpture Love finishes its exhibition, take it with you. You could say it's my betrothal gift."

"Is there something important you still have to do here? Can't you finish it and leave with me?" Delia pressed on.

Lin Feng raised his head to gaze at the bright moon and said softly, "Revenge!"

"Revenge?" Delia shuddered, then asked in surprise, "Whose revenge? Against whom?"

After spending so much time with Lin Feng, Delia had learned a fair amount about his family. She had even used her clan's influence to investigate the history of the Baruch Clan in detail. She knew Lin Feng was a member of the Dragonblood Warrior Clan, that his mother, Lina, had died in childbirth, and that his father still lived in Wushan Town. His only other close relative was Wharton Baruch, who was currently studying in the O'Brien Empire.

Lin Feng shook his head and smiled. "Don't ask about it. When we meet again, I'll tell you everything. All right?"

"Mm!" Delia really wanted to know everything about Lin Feng, but she also knew that he must have his reasons for saying that. Ever since she'd seen the sculpture Love, she no longer doubted that Lin Feng loved her.

After saying goodbye to Delia, Lin Feng made some arrangements for Sadius and then returned to the dormitory.

"Hey, third bro, back from your romantic rendezvous?" George spotted Lin Feng and teased him with a grin.

"They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. Ah, I'm so jealous—I'm still a bachelor." Reynolds put on a mournful sigh. "I, Reynolds, am a Level 4 Mage, and I don't think I look bad. So why can't I find a girl? What a failure!"

"All right, second bro, fourth bro, give Lin Feng a break," Yale said as he went over to him. "Third bro, I had someone contact Curator Maia earlier. When he heard you were willing to exhibit Love at the Proulx Gallery, he immediately said they wouldn't take a single coin from the exhibition proceeds. It would all go to you. They're also going to set aside a special exhibition hall just for your sculpture."

"Heh, big bro Yale, you can handle that." Lin Feng smiled indifferently. After thinking it over for a moment, he continued, "There's something I have to tell you."

Seeing how serious Lin Feng was, Yale, George, and Reynolds all focused their attention on him.

"I'm planning to apply for graduation in the next few days." Lin Feng forced himself to say it.

Graduating meant leaving Ernst Institute and leaving his three good brothers behind. Lin Feng had entered Ernst Institute at the age of nine, and now he was seventeen. He'd spent a full eight years there. The brothers he'd made during the simplest eight years of his life had no ulterior motives. They were true friends.

Lin Feng couldn't bear to leave them.

But a person had to make a life of his own. He couldn't stay tucked away in an ivory tower, living an easy life forever. And he still had a great debt to repay. He would have to apply for graduation sooner or later.

"Graduate?"

Yale, George, and Reynolds were all stunned. Yale was the first to recover. "Third bro, why are you in such a hurry to graduate? What's so great about graduating from Ernst Institute? Isn't it nice with the four of us together? Besides, Ernst Institute is much more peaceful than the outside world."

George and Reynolds hurried to join in, trying to dissuade him.

Lin Feng shook his head. "No. We can't hide inside Ernst Institute and cut ourselves off from the outside world forever."

"By the way, third bro, did you enter the Saint Realm during your training in the Magical Beast Mountain Range?" Yale suddenly recalled that Lin Feng's second trip there had been to break through to the Saint Realm. Now that Lin Feng had returned, perhaps he'd succeeded. Entering the Saint Realm was incredibly difficult, but Yale had even more faith in his brother's talent.

Lin Feng had no reason to hide anything from his brothers, so he admitted it outright. "That's right. I entered the Saint Realm in magic half a year ago and became a Saint Magus."

"A Saint Magus?"

Yale and the other two were as stunned as if they'd been struck by lightning. Even a genius like Dixie had only reached the level of a Level 6 Mage at sixteen. Becoming a Saint Magus was so difficult that even with relentless effort, it might take hundreds of years.

And Lin Feng was

only seventeen!

"Third bro, you said you became a Saint Magus?" Yale could hardly believe it. He'd had some vague suspicions and had plenty of faith in Lin Feng's talent, but imagining it and seeing it become reality were two different things. Faced with the truth, he still struggled to accept it.

"Third bro, you're not trying to fool us, are you?" George couldn't believe it either.

Reynolds simply stared at Lin Feng, saying nothing.

"Chirp!" Beibei, perched on Lin Feng's shoulder, piped up indignantly. He bared his teeth at Yale and the others, and Lin Feng could hear his aggrieved voice: "Boss, those three guys don't believe you! Boss, hit them with a Meteor Fall and teach them a lesson."

Lin Feng glanced at Beibei. "Beibei, don't make trouble."

Beibei looked at Lin Feng with an exaggeratedly "wronged" expression, then fell silent.

"Beibei's getting better and better at acting," Lin Feng thought with amusement. Then he looked at his three good brothers. "Big bro Yale, I only broke through by chance. Otherwise, even if you gave me another ten years, I might not have succeeded."

That was putting himself down a little too much. A breakthrough was a breakthrough; there was no such thing as luck. He'd simply reached the right opportunity.

The truth was, Lin Feng had cultivated so quickly and left Dixie, the celebrated number-one magic genius of Ernst Institute, far behind for several reasons. He'd learned flat-blade sculpting from Doehring Cowart, and he'd worked hard at his cultivation. His identity as a transmigrator was another factor that couldn't be ignored.

He'd lived on Earth for twenty years, and he'd spent another nine years in the world of Coiling Dragon. His mind was nearly thirty years old. Dixie, who was only seventeen, couldn't compare to his experience. Even some centuries-old eccentrics who spent most of their lives in seclusion might not have his breadth of experience. After all, during his twenty years on Earth, he'd received more than a decade of intensive education, from kindergarten through university. What he'd learned far surpassed anything available in this world, where information traveled so slowly.

All those factors combined to make Lin Feng a freak of nature, the kind of person who might not appear even across countless planes.

Yale, George, and Reynolds all knew what Lin Feng was like. They knew he wasn't the sort to lie.

"Third bro, you really made it?" George asked quietly.

Lin Feng gave a slight nod and swept his hand through the air. Pale blue ripples instantly engulfed Yale and the others. At the same time, all three felt as though they'd sunk into a swamp, unable to move.

Lin Feng waved his hand again, and the pale blue ripples vanished. Yale and the others could move once more.

"Well? Believe me now?" Lin Feng smiled faintly and explained, "Once you enter the Saint Realm, you gain some degree of control over the space around you. I entered the Saint Realm through the wind element, so I've gained a little insight into the Laws of Wind within the Laws of the World. That lets me influence the wind-related laws. I just used the power of the Laws of Wind to bind the space around you."

"Third bro, you really became a Saint Magus? How is that possible? But just now, I..." George was the first to exclaim in a hushed voice.

"A seventeen-year-old Saint Magus? Heavens, have we ever had a genius like that in the history of the Yulan Empire?" Reynolds was getting excited too.

Yale looked at Lin Feng, eyes shining. "I'm already looking forward to seeing the faces of the people in charge when the academy tests you at graduation."

Lin Feng had always kept a low profile. Back when he'd taken the magic aptitude test, he'd only displayed his talent for cultivating in the earth and wind elements.

Although he planned to make a name for himself this time to smooth the way for his future revenge, he wasn't going to reveal all his trump cards.

"At tomorrow's graduation assessment, I'll only show that I can use Level 7 Magic," Lin Feng said at once.

"Why?" Reynolds was the first to voice his confusion.

Yale and George, who were a little more mature, seemed to understand. They nodded after hearing Lin Feng's words.