Rising to Fame

The next morning, in an open space at the Ernst Institute frequently used for testing magic, over thirty magic instructors gathered. In reality, only four mages were needed for a graduation assessment, but since the instructors at the Ernst Institute usually had nothing to do, they came over to join in the excitement upon hearing that Lin Feng had applied for graduation.

After all, most students only applied for graduation after reaching the sixth rank and spending some time in the sixth grade; in such cases, there was no need for further testing at all. Thus, graduation assessments were quite rare.

There were over thirty magic instructors, as well as three students: Yale, George, and Reynolds.

Among these thirty-some mages was the vice-principal of the institute, Delante, who had come over out of boredom. According to Delante, "One of our institute's two great geniuses is applying for graduation, so of course I have to come and see."

"Lin Feng, use an earth-style spell, the Earth Spike Array. Based on the size of the earth spikes and the range of the array, we can determine your magic rank," one of the testing mages said.

If he reached the sixth rank, he would naturally be judged as eligible to graduate.

Lin Feng shook his head slightly.

The group of watching magic instructors couldn't help but feel puzzled, and Vice-Principal Delante even advised, "Lin Feng, aren't you applying for graduation? Why?"

"I would like to use a wind-style spell," Lin Feng said with a smile.

Vice-Principal Delante and the others all laughed. They all knew that Lin Feng was a dual-element mage of earth and wind, but the strength of a mage was primarily determined by their spiritual energy. Regardless of which element was tested, the intensity of the spiritual energy could be judged the same way.

"Then go ahead and use it," Vice-Principal Delante and the thirty-some other magic instructors watched Lin Feng with smiles.

Lin Feng immediately began to silently recite the incantation for the seventh-rank spell, Flight Technique. After reciting for a moment, air currents began to swirl around him. Lin Feng suddenly hovered upward, then flew gracefully and freely through the air, turning, diving, and flying at Extreme Speed from time to time.

"F-Flight Technique?"

The thirty-some magic instructors were all stunned. They understood very well what rank the Flight Technique was.

"A seventeen-year-old seventh-rank dual-element mage, this..." Vice-Principal Delante realized instantly that the Ernst Institute, which had been calm for so long, would likely be unable to find peace for quite some time.

A seventh-rank dual-element mage could be considered to have stepped into the ranks of the powerful throughout the entire Yulan continent.

However, if you added "seventeen-year-old" in front of "seventh-rank dual-element mage," the effect was completely different. A seventh-rank dual-element mage might not be of much concern to the Radiant Church, as there were plenty of powerful individuals on the Yulan continent.

But—

A seventeen-year-old seventh-rank dual-element mage would make any power on the continent envious, let alone the Radiant Church behind the Yulan continent.

"A genius, a genius!" the eighth-rank mage Vice-Principal Delante became somewhat excited.

The surrounding magic instructors were all shocked one by one. These instructors understood very well what a seventeen-year-old seventh-rank dual-element mage represented. This was a miracle—at the very least, a miracle for the Ernst Institute!

"Yeah!" Yale, Reynolds, and George all chuckled.

They had been looking forward to seeing the expressions on these magic instructors' faces, and it was indeed spectacular enough.

Vice-Principal Delante's strength was not in the top three at the Ernst Institute, but he had experienced many storms and waves, so he quickly suppressed the excitement in his heart and was the first to walk to Lin Feng's side: "Lin Feng, do you know what a seventeen-year-old seventh-rank mage means?"

"Seventeen years old," Delante sighed. "In the history of our Ernst Institute, ranked from youngest to oldest among all students who have reached the seventh rank, you are the youngest. You rank first in history! And the one who originally ranked first, that genius who reached the seventh rank at nineteen, later became a Saint-level Magus."

A silver-haired old man nearby also walked over: "Not just in the history of our Ernst Institute, but in the recorded history of the entire Yulan continent. Ranked by age from youngest to oldest for reaching the seventh rank, you also rank second in history."

The history of the entire Yulan continent was much longer and covered a much wider scope. The Ernst Institute simply could not compare to it.

"Second in history?" Lin Feng smiled indifferently in his heart. He didn't care about such empty titles at all. If he were to reveal the news that he had already reached the Saint-level, these thirty-some instructors in front of him would probably be so ashamed they would want to commit suicide.

"The one ranked first in Yulan history was a Saint-level Magus from over eight thousand years ago. He became a seventh-rank mage at the age of sixteen. The person who was originally second in Yulan history, and is now third, became a seventh-rank mage at eighteen. That person only reached the ninth rank in the end. This had to do with the setbacks he suffered later, which caused his temperament to change drastically. It can be said that if you aren't counted, six of the top ten geniuses in history were Saint-level Magi, and four were ninth-rank Grand Magi."

Generally, a seventh-rank mage was respectfully called a Grand Mage.

An eighth-rank mage was respectfully called a Magus.

A ninth-rank mage was respectfully called a Grand Magus.

A Saint-level mage was also called a Saint-level Magus or a Saint Magus.

"It can be said that with your talent, reaching at least the ninth-rank Grand Magus is absolutely no problem. All you need is time. And if you continue to cultivate diligently like this, the hope of becoming a Saint-level is also very high. After all, you are now the second-youngest seventh-rank mage in history," the silver-haired old man looked at Lin Feng and said solemnly.

"Lin Feng, you are the most successful student in the history of our institute. Please make sure to stay at the institute for these next two days. I will invite the best painters and the best stone sculptors to leave your portrait and your statue in our institute," Vice-Principal Delante said immediately.

This was the second-greatest genius in the history of the entire Yulan continent; naturally, it counted as a glory for the institute.

Lin Feng knew this was the "treatment" he deserved, or perhaps one could call it an "obligation."

The greatest genius in the history of the Ernst Institute, and the second-greatest genius in the history of the entire Yulan continent. At only seventeen years old, he had already reached the seventh-rank as a dual-element mage. This shocking news spread throughout the entire Ernst Institute at an astonishing speed.

"A seventh-rank dual-element mage? Only seventeen? How is that possible?"

"How could it be fake? So many magic instructors from the institute were present, and Vice-Principal Delante has already invited painters to prepare to paint Lin Feng, to keep his likeness in our institute forever."

"Heavens, a seventh-rank mage at seventeen. At this rate, he'll reach the eighth rank in ten years, and the ninth rank in twenty years. He'll be a ninth-rank Grand Magus by his forties. I estimate he could become a Saint-level Magus before he's a hundred."

"I just flipped through the library books. Besides Lin Feng, six of the top ten geniuses in past history were Saint-level Magi, and four were ninth-rank Grand Magi. Lin Feng is truly too powerful."

The entire Ernst Institute was filled with such discussions. If a student's achievements were slightly better than others, people might be jealous. But when a student's achievements reached a level that made them look up in awe—reaching the level of second in the history of the entire Yulan continent—all they felt was reverence and worship.

In their hearts, Lin Feng's future achievements were naturally limitless, and they were incomparable to him.

And while some had previously said that Dixie was the institute's number one genius, no one said that anymore.

Lin Feng was undoubtedly the institute's number one genius, and he was the absolute number one genius in the over five-thousand-year history of the Ernst Institute. Dixie was currently only a sixth-rank mage. Who knew when he would reach the seventh rank?