Magic Aptitude Test

A month later.

On a late autumn morning, just as the sky was beginning to brighten, several people were already standing before the gates of Baruch Manor.

Hogg wore a nobleman's robe that had been washed until it turned white. He stood on the steps, looking at his two sons with a complex expression. His lips trembled slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he only sighed.

"Father, we are leaving." Linley carried a small bundle on his back, though his eyes drifted toward the backyard from time to time.

"Go on." Hogg nodded. "When you reach Fenlai City, listen to Hillman. Don't cause trouble. Come back once the test is over; I will be waiting for you at home."

"Understood, Father." Lin Yun also shouldered his bundle and stood beside Linley.

Hillman led the two out of Wushan Town. It was at this moment, just as the two were about to depart, that Bebe—one of the only two God-Eater Rats in the Coiling Dragon World—finally signed an equal contract with Linley, becoming his magical beast!

Over the past few months, whenever the two weren't cultivating, they had been catching various small animals to feed this Shadow Mouse. Finally, their hard work paid off; just before they left, the little Shadow Mouse took the initiative to sign a contract with Linley, adding a new member to their trip to Fenlai City!

The three of them and the mouse walked north along the rugged dirt road. On both sides were endless fields and sparse woods. The late autumn fields had already been harvested, leaving only bare wheat stubble and the occasional crow flying overhead.

Bebe lay on Linley's shoulder, curiously examining the surrounding scenery and letting out "chi-chi" sounds from time to time.

"Linley," Doering's voice echoed in Linley's mind, audible only to him. "When you reach Fenlai City and take the test, make sure you tell Lin Yun to be careful. He must not expose his seven-element talent."

"Your brother's talent is too shocking. If it is exposed, it will cause unnecessary trouble." Doering's voice was very serious. "Mastery of all seven elements has never appeared in the history of the Yulan Continent. Your Baruch Clan has long since fallen and lacks the strength to protect such a genius. You should be able to imagine the consequences if someone with ill intentions finds out."

Linley's expression turned solemn.

Although he was young, he understood the principle that "an innocent man is guilty of a crime because of his treasure." If a child from a fallen clan possessed seven-element magic talent—if this news spread, what would those major powers do? Recruit him? Or... destroy him?

"I understand." Linley said in a low voice. "Then Lin Yun, he..."

"I have already told him through you earlier." Doering said. "He understands the stakes better than you do. During this test, as long as he controls the magic elements as I taught him, he shouldn't expose his seven-element talent. With his talent, revealing just a little bit will be enough to attract the attention of the Magic Academy."

Linley nodded and relayed what Doering had said to Lin Yun.

By evening, the silhouette of Fenlai City finally appeared in their field of vision.

Fenlai City was the capital of the Fenlai Kingdom and one of the most prosperous cities in the entire Yulan Continent. The towering city walls were built from blue-gray boulders and stood ten zhang high. Every hundred meters along the wall stood an arrow tower, and fully armed soldiers patrolled the city gates for inspections.

The three walked slowly into the city gate, and both Linley and Lin Yun couldn't help but look up in wonder.

The scene inside the city was even more prosperous than they had imagined—on both sides of the wide stone-paved streets stood rows of shops with wine flags fluttering in the wind. The streets were crowded with people: nobles in gorgeous robes, mercenaries carrying weapons, merchants leading camels, and mages in various colored robes.

"So many mages!" Linley exclaimed in amazement.

Bebe also poked its head out from his shoulder, looking around curiously, its little claws gripping Linley's collar tightly.

The three stopped in front of a small inn called the "Golden Oak Leaf." It was a mid-range inn; the price wasn't too expensive, and the environment was quite clean. Hillman had someone book the rooms in advance—a double room for the brothers and a single room for himself.

"Get a good rest tonight," Hillman said. "We will go to the Radiant Church for the test first thing tomorrow morning."

"Alright, Uncle Hillman," Linley replied.

After dinner, the brothers returned to their room. Linley leaned against the window, watching the brightly lit streets outside, his eyes full of novelty. Bebe squatted on his shoulder, also looking around.

"Lin Yun," Linley asked suddenly, "are you nervous?"

"A little." Lin Yun said. This wasn't a lie; although he knew his talent was very strong, deliberately hiding his strength was actually harder than going all out.

After all, they were at the headquarters of the Radiant Church. He had to remember that he possessed not only light-element talent but also dark-element talent. If he accidentally exposed his dark-element talent during the test, he would be in big trouble—the Dark Church and the Radiant Church were mortal enemies!

"I'm nervous too." Linley said honestly. "What if my talent isn't good enough and I can't get into the Magic Academy?"

"That won't happen." Lin Yun said firmly. "Your talent is very good. Even Grandpa Doering says you are a genius."

Linley smiled and reached out to stroke Bebe on his shoulder. "That's good."

The night grew deep, and the bustle of Fenlai City gradually subsided. Lin Yun lay on the bed but did not fall asleep. His consciousness swayed gently between the two worlds—in the Swallowed Star World, his other body was sleeping in a low-rent housing unit in Yangzhou City, and he still had to go to school tomorrow.

He closed his eyes and quickly entered a state of meditation.

On Green Leaf Road in the East City of Fenlai, which was one of the main thoroughfares of the city, most of the buildings on both sides were luxurious mansions, along with some buildings belonging to the kingdom. Among them was the tallest building—the cathedral of the Radiant Church.

The Radiant Church controlled the entire Holy Union, which consisted of six kingdoms and fifteen duchies.

The Radiant Pope held the highest status; the Pope had the power to depose the king of a kingdom! Therefore, even in the East City of Fenlai, the tallest building was the cathedral of the Radiant Church.

This morning, many people gathered at the entrance of the cathedral. The vast majority of people here were nobles dressed in high-class attire. Carriages nearly filled the empty square in front of the cathedral, and the nobles exchanged pleasantries with one another.

Hillman brought the brothers there early.

Hundreds of people had already gathered in the square, most of them children like Linley and Lin Yun who were brought by parents or teachers to test their talent. Their ages ranged from seven or eight to over a dozen. Some were full of nervousness, while others were eager to try.

Soon, the test began. The testing location was in the center of the cathedral's main hall. Except for those participating in the test, others could only wait on the periphery of the hall. Lin Yun and Linley paid the testing fee and provided their identification to join the queue. Bebe stayed with Hillman for the time being.

The magic test consisted of two items: elemental affinity and spiritual energy. Neither was too difficult for the two. Elemental affinity went without saying. As for spiritual energy, when Linley first came into contact with magic half a year ago, his spiritual energy was about ten times that of his peers. Now, after more than half a year of meditation, it had reached seventeen or eighteen times that of his peers, far exceeding the average. Lin Yun was even more so; half a year ago, he had already reached the spiritual energy of a Level 4 Mage. Over the past six months, although he had mainly focused on refining magic power, his spiritual energy had also improved to a certain extent.

The preceding tests proceeded in an orderly manner. After testing dozens of people, only one girl barely reached the threshold to become a mage; the others' spiritual energy did not meet the passing line.

Soon it was Linley's turn. He calmed his heart and stepped inside. Doering Cowart remained by Linley's side. In Doering Cowart's view, only a Saint Realm expert could barely sense his existence; as for these ordinary mages, it was impossible for them to feel him at all.

Linley placed his hand on the crystal ball.

Suddenly—like the sun, the entire crystal ball flared brilliantly. Earth-yellow and cyan light intertwined, and there was even a tiny, faint trace of fire-red mixed within. The dazzling light even caused those standing nearby to squint their eyes.

Seeing the crystal ball as dazzling as the sun, everyone in the great hall was stunned.

The bald old man looked at the paper in his hand with trembling hands. It was written very clearly: Linley was only eight years old.

"Age eight, Elemental Affinity, Earth and Wind elements: Super-grade! Fire element: Medium-grade." The bald old man felt his heart pounding violently. Generally, a mage's elemental affinity is medium-grade, and high-grade is already quite rare. As for super-grade... that is incredibly scarce.

It could be said that while others spend ten hours refining magic power, Linley would likely achieve the same result in just one hour.

"Whoa!" A gasp of surprise swept through the entire hall. The elemental affinity was actually super-grade, and dual-element at that; this was simply terrifying.

After testing elemental affinity, it was time to test Spiritual Energy! Unsurprisingly, Linley's Spiritual Energy reached nineteen times that of his peers, slightly stronger than in the original story, ranking as high-grade Spiritual Energy!

Several academy recruiters immediately extended olive branches to Linley, offering various generous conditions—full scholarships, private tutoring, and recommendations to join the Kingdom's Mage Corps upon graduation...

Linley, however, politely declined them one by one, stating that he would wait until his younger brother finished his test before making a decision.

Lin Yun walked toward the testing platform amidst the anticipation of the crowd.

With a hint of nervousness, he placed his hand on the Crystal Ball and closed his eyes. Following the method Delin had taught him, he carefully guided his Spiritual Energy—allowing only Light and Thunder elements to surge into the Crystal Ball, while suppressing the other four elements with all his might.

But controlling magic elements is easier said than done.

Suddenly, the entire Crystal Ball became as dazzling as the sun once again. White and purple lights intertwined, and the piercing radiance forced those nearby to squint their eyes.

However, what shocked Lin Yun was that a faint trace of fire-red and water-blue had mixed in!

He still hadn't managed to control it perfectly.

He sighed inwardly, but could only maintain the status quo, not daring to make any further adjustments for fear of exposing more.

Seeing the Crystal Ball as dazzling as the sun, everyone in the hall was stunned once again.

The bald old man's hands were now trembling uncontrollably. He looked at the paper in his hand, which clearly stated—Lin Yun, eight years old, twin brother to the Linley who had just been tested.

"Age eight, Elemental Affinity—Light and Thunder elements: Super-grade; Fire and Water elements: Medium-grade." The bald old man felt as if his heart were about to stop beating.

Two consecutive geniuses with super-grade affinity, and they were twin brothers at that. Judging by the introduction, they were clearly from a small rural noble family—this small family was destined for greatness!

Lin Yun, however, felt a lingering fear. Even though he had followed Delin's method to absorb only the Light and Thunder elements, he hadn't expected other elements to slip in. Fortunately, the test results only showed them as medium-grade; if they had been super-grade in all four elements, it would have been quite troublesome.

This was exactly what Delin had strictly warned him about—the talent revealed now, while strong, was not enough to make various factions fight over them like crazy. A genius with dual-element super-grade and two-element medium-grade affinity, while rare in the history of the Yulan Continent, was not without precedent.

"Please step into the Magic Array," the bald old man said with great kindness, even more friendly than he had been toward Linley just moments ago.

Lin Yun stepped into the Magic Array. He saw a warm white light ignite within the array, and a sense of pressure acted directly upon his soul.

Light element magic—Deterrence.

As expected, I don't feel a thing, Lin Yun thought to himself. This level of magical Deterrence had almost no effect on him. His soul, tempered by three lifetimes of accumulation and the Small Cauldron, was far stronger than anyone could imagine.

But he could not show it.

As time passed, the light of the Magic Array grew brighter, and the intensity of the Deterrence grew stronger. Lin Yun gradually began to show signs of struggling—his brows furrowed, his breathing grew heavy, and his body swayed slightly.

He silently calculated the time in his heart. Falling too early would arouse suspicion, and falling too late would also attract unwanted attention. He needed the perfect moment.

Finally, when the intensity of the Deterrence reached a considerably high level, Lin Yun pretended he could no longer hold on and dropped to one knee.

At the same time, everyone turned their eyes toward the bald old man once again.

The bald old man took a deep breath and announced in a loud voice: "Spiritual Energy—twenty-four times that of his peers, high-grade! High-grade Spiritual Energy, super-grade Elemental Affinity."

The crowd in the hall erupted into an uproar again.

Two consecutive geniuses with high-grade Spiritual Energy and super-grade affinity, and they were twin brothers—this made everyone green with envy. With such talent, they were destined to be high-level mages! Many were already eager to step forward and try to build a connection in advance.

Several academy recruiters swarmed over again, offering even more generous conditions than before.

But Linley and Lin Yun had already made up their minds.

"We choose the Ernst Institute," Linley said on behalf of both of them.

This choice was not surprising—as the premier magic academy of the entire Yulan Continent, the Ernst Institute's faculty and heritage were incomparable to other magic academies.

The bald old man nodded and stamped the Ernst Institute's seal on their test results: "Report directly to the academy when the spring semester begins next year."

After the tests were over, Hillman took the brothers and immediately set off to return to Wushan Town. Linley couldn't wait to share this joy with his father!

In the Swallowed Star World, Lin Yun's other body was attending class at a school in Yangzhou City. In a few years, he would join the Limit Dojo and begin his cultivation as a Warrior. Meanwhile, in the Coiling Dragon World, he and Linley were about to enter the Ernst Institute and embark on the path of magic.

The test in Fenlai City was just the beginning. The true path still lay ahead.

And before that, he still had half a year to continue accumulating strength in both worlds.