The Zu Family's Second Young Master, Zu Xingyi

At Snow Peak Mountain Station, inside Zhan Kong's office.

Shao Hongying pulled Mo Xie onto the sofa and chatted with him about nothing in particular.

She kept talking about her loving days with Zhan Kong, throwing in embarrassing stories about him now and then.

She laughed as she told them. Seeing Zhan Kong's face darken, Mo Xie smiled too.

From what Shao Hongying had said, Mo Xie had pieced together most of the story.

She and Zhan Kong had met and fallen in love in high school. They had entered Imperial Capital Academy together, then competed in the World Academy Competition together.

Shao Hongying said little about what happened afterward, but Mo Xie could roughly work it out.

The Holy City must have discovered that Shao Hongying was a Fire Element Calamity Survivor and sent envoys from the Holy Tribunal and the Inquisition to capture her.

Zhan Kong must have fought them to the bitter end. His cultivation had been sealed, and he had been sent to Bo City to lie low. Otherwise, he would never have ended up here.

Mo Xie had heard nothing about Qin Yuer or an Ice Element Calamity Survivor. He did not know whether Qin Yuer had missed the World Academy Competition, had stayed in the Tianshan Mountains all along, or simply did not exist in this world.

He had no way of knowing, and he had no interest in dwelling on it.

Qin Yuer was neither family nor friend. Why would he worry about her? Was he that bored?

There was one thing Mo Xie did find interesting, though: Shao Hongying's surname.

Her surname was Shao. Countless people in China shared it; that alone meant nothing.

But if his guess was right, he might be onto something.

Then again, knowing the Holy City, would it really let Shao Hongying, a Fire Element Calamity Survivor, go?

"Hmm, we didn't do very well in this year's World Academy Competition, did we?"

Shao Hongying tapped a slender finger against her lips, looking rather cute as she spoke.

"No. We won first place for China last time, but this year we fell right back to where we started—the top sixteen."

"Looks like the other countries will start looking down on China again."

Shao Hongying sighed helplessly.

"There's nothing we can do about it."

China had never ranked highly in the World Academy Competition, usually hovering around the top sixteen. As a result, many countries looked down on it.

Winning first place in the previous competition had finally given China a moment of glory.

But this year's team had not been strong enough and had fallen back to the top sixteen. Naturally, other countries would think that last victory had involved a bit of luck.

"By the way, didn't you write a song for the World Academy Competition, Xiao Xie?"

Something seemed to occur to Shao Hongying, and she fixed her shining eyes on Mo Xie.

"I did. The competition organizers approached me and asked me to write a theme song, so I wrote one."

Mo Xie nodded and answered honestly.

"That happened? How come I didn't know?"

Zhan Kong looked utterly confused.

"Hmph. You don't pay any attention to Xiao Xie, and you call yourself his Master!"

Shao Hongying shot him a glare and gave him no quarter.

Embarrassed, Zhan Kong laughed it off.

The World Academy Competition's theme song had been released in the first half of the year and had caused quite a stir.

Because the lyrics were in an international language, the song seemed even more popular abroad than it was in China.

"Don't worry. I'm sure we'll take first place again next time... right, Xiao Xie?"

Shao Hongying threw an arm around Mo Xie's shoulders and laughed lightly.

Zhan Kong nodded, wholeheartedly agreeing with her.

Mo Xie froze for a few seconds before realizing that the next World Academy Competition would fall during his year.

So you two are pinning your hopes on me...

Feeling how much faith they had in him, Mo Xie sighed helplessly.

"Xing Yi, when the next one comes around, let's call in a few favors and get Xiao Xie all the nomination votes he needs."

"Sounds good. Let's do it."

Mo Xie's mouth twitched. Since when had he become someone who got in through connections?

"Thanks, but..."

Mo Xie glanced at the two of them before continuing.

"Shouldn't you explain what's going on?"

He feared that if he waited any longer to ask, Zhan Kong and Shao Hongying would start to suspect something.

Shao Hongying looked at Zhan Kong in surprise.

"You haven't told Xiao Xie?"

"I haven't."

Zhan Kong smiled, then sat up straight and spoke seriously.

"Now that you've met your Master's wife, the time is about right. I'll tell you a few things."

Mo Xie nodded. Shao Hongying nodded too.

Zhan Kong glared at her, warning her not to fool around, then continued.

"I know you have a lot of questions. For one thing, my name isn't actually Zhan Kong. My surname is Zu, and my name is Zu Xingyi."

Zhan Kong—no, Zu Xingyi—said this matter-of-factly.

Mo Xie widened his eyes and parted his lips in a masterful display of "shock."

Zu Xingyi nodded in satisfaction. The boy was usually so composed; it was rare to see him startled.

Secretly pleased with himself, he even let a hint of smugness creep into his formerly solemn voice.

"I'm from the Zu Clan in the Imperial Capital. I'm the Zu Family's second young master... Well? Impressive background your Master has, isn't it?"

One moment he was solemn, and the next he was showing off his family. That's you all right.

Mo Xie rubbed his forehead, at a loss for words.

Shao Hongying could not stand it. She smacked Zu Xingyi on the head and scolded him.

"Could you be serious for once?"

Zu Xingyi rubbed his forehead and collected himself before continuing.

"As for my cultivation, certain events sealed it at the Advanced level. I can still cultivate, though. So I'm not actually an Advanced Mage—I'm a Super Mage."

He puffed out his chest proudly at the last part.

"Let me introduce myself properly. My primary Fire Element is at the second level of the Super tier; my secondary Wind Element is at the first level of the Super tier; my auxiliary Space Element is at the third level of the Advanced tier; and my fourth, the Curse Element, is at the first level of the Advanced tier."

"From now on, you can tell anyone you meet that your Master is a Super Mage!"

Zu Xingyi patted Mo Xie on the shoulder, a triumphant smile curling his lips.

He had finally waited long enough. At last, he had something to show off to his disciple!

Did anyone know how long he had waited for this?!

After all that time being looked down on by his disciple, this Master could finally hold his head high!

Seeing how excited Zu Xingyi was, Mo Xie could not bring himself to spoil the moment. He clapped.

"Oh, wow. Impressive, impressive..."

Zu Xingyi's smile vanished. He stared at Mo Xie with a dark expression.

"Could you sound any less sincere?"

"Hahaha! You two are hilarious!"

Watching Master and disciple bicker, Shao Hongying burst into bell-like laughter.

Mo Xie was genuinely surprised. This was the first time he had heard Zu Xingyi's true cultivation level.

Reaching the Super tier before twenty-four despite having his cultivation sealed and suppressed spoke volumes about his talent.

Without that seal, he'd probably have gone even further.

Mo Xie smiled faintly, then steered the conversation back.

"So what caused your cultivation to be sealed?"

At the question, Zu Xingyi's expression darkened visibly. A cold glint flashed in his eyes before he suppressed it.

"I don't intend to tell you. It's still too far removed from your life right now. You'll know when the time is right."

Zu Xingyi spoke with all the authority a Master ought to have.

"All right."

When Mo Xie nodded in agreement, Zu Xingyi smiled and turned to Shao Hongying.

"I'll let your Master's wife take it from here."

"Good! Finally, my turn!"

From the Spatial Ring on her slender finger, Shao Hongying produced another Spatial Ring and handed it to Mo Xie.

"Xiao Xie, Xing Yi told me all about you. I'm sure he hasn't given you any cultivation resources, so I'm giving you some now. Keep them safe. We can't have you falling behind everyone else."

Mo Xie looked at the Spatial Ring in his hand. Its storage space was ten by ten cubic meters. The moment he sent his Divine Sense inside, his eyes widened in disbelief.

The ring was crammed with cultivation resources for the Lightning Element, Fire Element, and Ice Element. There were also Stardust and Nebula Magic Tools. Most precious of all was a Star River Magic Tool.

"This..."