35 Joyful Changes

Xia Ming returned to his own courtyard somewhat impatiently. Having an independent residence was indeed better—he never had to worry that living with others would make them suspicious of his secrets.

The moment he returned to the small courtyard by the pavilion, Xia Ming immediately inspected the state of his sea of consciousness.

Xia Ming's spiritual power had already been freakishly strong to begin with. After advancing to Level Five, it had taken another great leap forward; its intensity was something ordinary people could only gaze upon with a sigh.

Under such circumstances, one layer of [Book of Eternity]'s seal had been broken!

Within his sea of consciousness, Xia Ming used his spiritual power to "open" the Book of Eternity.

Previously, all the knowledge of magical ores and materials within Xia Ming's Book of Eternity had been accessible, along with linguistic knowledge such as Elvish and Draconic.

However, magical incantations, inscriptions, potion-making knowledge, and other skills below Level Five could be opened and consulted directly, while anything above Level Five remained inaccessible, like a great door locked shut tight.

But this time, that door had opened!

"Magical incantations, inscriptions, potion-making knowledge, and other skills at Level Seven and below can now be accessed, but anything above Level Seven still can't." Xia Ming frowned.

So the Book of Eternity's seal had not been completely undone. Still, knowledge up to Level Seven was now available to him, making it vastly more powerful than before.

The remaining portions of the Book of Eternity were still sealed shut. It seemed that only when his spiritual power underwent another meteoric surge would it be possible to break them open.

"But the gains from this advancement are already more than enough." Xia Ming smiled. After his battle with Solomon, he had not only advanced in rank but also broken part of the Book of Eternity's seal. He had truly struck it rich.

Just think about it: the Level Five potion Source of Magic alone had brought Xia Ming fifty thousand gold coins in profit. What could Level Seven potion-making bring him? Not to mention all the other skills...

Poor Solomon. If he knew that he had inadvertently done Xia Ming such a huge favor, he would probably regret it until his intestines turned green.

Stretching lazily, Xia Ming dragged his exhausted body along, yet he still did not forget to meditate. Replacing sleep with meditation every day seemed to have become a habit...

Early the next morning.

Xia Ming climbed out of bed early. After a night of meditation, his mind was clear and his spirits high. Today was not a day when he could afford to be late—it was, after all, the first official day of class.

He hurried downstairs, but the moment he stepped outside, Xia Ming paused. His neighbor Sigru was likewise rushing down, and the two exchanged smiles.

"Brother Xia Ming, congratulations on taking first place in our freshman second region! Haha!" Sigru happily offered his congratulations.

Xia Ming smiled politely. "You did well too, Sigru. You managed to endure through the second round of testing." By the time Xia Ming fought Solomon, Sigru had already collapsed from exhaustion and fainted. He had not seen the whole battle, only knowing that Xia Ming had ultimately won.

Sigru laughed heartily. "There are six freshman regions in total. Brother Xia Ming, you're without question the strongest in our region. But I hear there are several formidable people in the other regions too..."

Xia Ming's heart stirred. Sigru was certainly well-informed; it appeared there were also powerful freshmen among the other five regions. Thinking about it, that made sense. Azure Flame Academy was renowned across the continent, after all. How could a gathering place for the continent's geniuses possibly be lacking?

Sigru had been assigned to Blazing Flame Pavilion, also one of the best warrior classes. The competition there was no less fierce than at Xia Ming's Azure Cloud Pavilion.

After bidding Sigru farewell, Xia Ming headed alone toward Azure Cloud Pavilion.

Azure Flame Academy was like a miniature city. Azure Cloud Pavilion lay at the southernmost end, though fortunately Xia Ming's small courtyard was not far away. Otherwise, walking there alone would have been enough to wear him out.

Azure Cloud Pavilion had always been Azure Flame Academy's holy land of magic.

Azure Cloud Pavilion was also called Azure Cloud Tower. In truth, it was a mage tower. According to the laws of the Azure Flame Continent, every mage of Level Eight or above could construct a mage tower of their own. This mage tower of Azure Cloud Pavilion had been left behind by a legendary mage of the past. Tall and spacious, it could accommodate more than a thousand people studying within.

Xia Ming's first-year class was on the third floor of Azure Cloud Tower. The interior was immensely spacious and divided into several classrooms, specifically for freshmen to study magic.

The magical elements within Azure Cloud Tower were extraordinarily concentrated, more abundant than any Xia Ming had encountered elsewhere. Cultivating and studying magic here would undoubtedly bring enormous benefits.

"Azure Flame Academy actually has a place like this." Xia Ming was both surprised and delighted. Training in magic here would be far faster than anywhere else!

Upon entering the third floor, Xia Ming saw quite a few freshmen dressed in mage robes like himself. Most of them were women, and the vast majority of those women were beauties; even the least striking among them had delicate, pleasant features. It was truly a feast for the eyes.

No wonder that old bastard Lan Ning had wanted him to deliver a love letter. Azure Cloud Pavilion really did have an abundance of beauties.

Though Xia Ming was not the sort to be unable to walk straight at the sight of a beautiful woman, having more beauties around to please the eye certainly did no harm. There were quite a few people throughout the third floor, nearly a hundred at least, all the most gifted magic freshmen in Azure Flame Academy.

Xia Ming swept his gaze around and discovered that Solomon was among them. Solomon had clearly noticed Xia Ming as well; his expression shifted slightly, and he averted his gaze elsewhere.

Xia Ming smiled and did not bother with him. Instead, he casually found a seat on the third floor and sat down.

The magical lamps around them suddenly lit up. A woman in crimson mage robes entered, holding a book of magic. She looked to be around twenty-seven or twenty-eight. Her dark brows were picturesque, her eyes bright as stars. Her crimson mage robes adorned her like flames. Unlike the seductive charm of Yuna, the manager Xia Ming had met at Myriad Phenomena Trading House, this woman possessed the beauty of a blazing rose. Yet even those crimson robes could not conceal her astonishing curves, making many of the male students secretly drool.

"Starting today, I will be your magic instructor—Freya." The crimson-robed female mage spoke gently, her voice clear and bright.

Freya!

This was Instructor Freya, the woman Lan Ning and Tang Ge could not stop thinking about and talked about all day long.

She truly had what it took to make men drool. But Xia Ming did not care much about that. He knew that, as a magic instructor of Azure Cloud Tower, Freya's rank could not possibly be low. At the very least, she had to be an Arcane Mage!

Arcane Mage was the collective title for Level Eight and Level Nine mages.

In Canaan World, Levels One through Four were known as low-level mages, Levels Five through Seven as mid-level mages, and Level Eight and above collectively as high-level mages. Above Level Eight, there were further distinctions. Level Eight and Level Nine mages could wield magical domains, and were collectively known as Arcane Mages.

Xia Ming was amazed by Freya's youth and strength. Arcane Mages as young as her were rare indeed; no wonder Tang Ge and Lan Ning were so enamored with her. Of course, mages above the rank of Arcane Mage all had ways to preserve their youthful appearance—it was merely a matter of whether they wished to do so.

A beautiful instructor giving a lecture was naturally extremely captivating. All the freshmen watched and listened attentively, taking notes seriously from time to time—at least on the surface.

Freya's teaching was indeed quite good. Xia Ming had only just advanced to Level Five and was still hazy about many things, so he listened carefully as well.

Time flew by in the blink of an eye. The magical lamps suddenly went out, and it was already noon, time for class to end.

"Time's up. Class dismissed."

In the blink of an eye, class was over. Freya swayed gracefully out of the classroom. A burst of commotion rose outside, as though quite a few people had gathered there.

Curious, Xia Ming went out as well—and unexpectedly spotted someone he knew.

Amid the crowd outside the classroom stood a tall, imposing young warrior. Muscles covered his body, and he exuded a distinctly masculine air. It was Tang Ge, who had once ventured with Xia Ming into Green Caterpillar Forest!

If Xia Ming remembered correctly, Tang Ge should have been attending class with the warriors of Blazing Flame Pavilion. Why had he come to Azure Cloud Tower, where only mages attended classes?