Magic Defies Logic

The blood replenishment pills took effect quickly, but their effects faded just as fast.

After resting for a few minutes, Zheng Qing's burning sensation subsided considerably.

He took out his Pocket Watch.

It was 4:10 in the afternoon.

Wizards came and went through Four Seasons Market, and the marketplace remained bustling.

Zheng Qing lingered over the strange sights around him.

He knew it was time to leave. Most of the items on his list had already been packed into the Gray Bag. He should head home soon and preview those hefty textbooks.

Then he remembered the Promotion Exam Thomas had mentioned.

"Do freshmen have to take exams to advance to sophomore year too? If I fail, will they make me leave?" Zheng Qing rubbed the wizarding book in hand and sighed gloomily. "It feels like I don't understand anything. If I fail and get sent home, wouldn't that be humiliating?"

"At Jiuyou Academy, exams are a basic rule of your academy. So don't expect to advance from freshman to sophomore year without taking one." Thomas cruelly crushed the small hope in Zheng Qing's heart. "Of course, there are other ways."

Zheng Qing's eyes immediately lit up, and he looked hopefully at his interviewer.

"You can choose to transfer departments during the midterms, provided you earn enough credits to meet the transfer requirements. But as far as I know, the credit requirement for transferring departments is even higher than for promotion." Thomas shrugged. "And at Jiuyou Academy, most methods of earning credits still involve exams."

Zheng Qing lowered his head dejectedly and stuffed his brand-new spellbook into the Gray Bag.

He had heard Grandfather tell many stories about transferring departments at university.

For example, some universities had first-tier colleges, second-tier colleges, and even third-tier colleges.

Some students came from well-connected families but did not score particularly well on the college entrance exam. Under their elders' arrangements, they would first enroll in a second-tier college, then use various means to switch majors and transfer into a first-tier college.

How could a little wizard drifting like duckweed have the resources to pull off something as advanced as transferring departments?

"If you fail the Promotion Exam, you won't be expelled immediately. Schools generally give students one or two chances. Of course, repeating students will need even more credits when they take the Promotion Exam the following year. I heard that a boy named Nicholas at Jiuyou Academy has already spent three years as a freshman."

Zheng Qing clicked his tongue.

Failing an exam was humiliating enough.

Failing, then having to study all over again alongside younger juniors while enduring other people's strange looks and gossip—how much courage would that take?

And what kind of pressure must that student who had spent three years as a freshman be under?

"I hate being watched," he muttered. "Like some monkey show."

"I asked you before: what is a wizard?" Thomas stopped walking and stared at Zheng Qing with his emerald-green eyes, looking very serious. "You said that someone who uses extraordinary power to solve problems is a wizard. That is not a bad understanding, but it is not enough."

"Historically, an Archwizard once said this: I think, therefore I am. If magic represents mystery, the unknown, and power, then wizards possess mystery, possess the unknown, and possess power. Think it, and then make it happen. That is a wizard." Seeing Zheng Qing's thoughtful expression, he added, "You need to learn to discard the logic already in your head. Magic defies logic."

Zheng Qing shuddered.

Thomas's words—"magic defies logic"—were simply too overbearing.

He felt even his breathing tremble.

It was not from cold, nor from fear.

It was excitement.

"Some people can only rub out a few little fireballs their entire lives, while others can create astonishing celestial phenomena at a very young age. That is the difference in potential. What First University considers when admitting you is your potential. There are thousands of illusionists gathered in Beta Town. Some of them can perform tricks dazzling even to real wizards. But those are ultimately only tricks."

"You only need to learn how to control your power and why you should do so, rather than how to accumulate power. Accumulating power is a lifelong matter; it will not improve dramatically during a few years at school. In your case, perhaps you will not be able to cast profound spells like others as soon as you arrive at school. But you can understand what the professors say. That is enough."

Zheng Qing stared into Thomas's emerald-green eyes and nodded. In the end, he could not suppress the curiosity in his heart. "I keep feeling that I've seen you somewhere before—before today, I mean. Do you remember?"

"Wizards are all rather curious, but we have something else to consider right now." Thomas avoided his gaze and looked toward the street. "Something seems off about the atmosphere out there."

Zheng Qing braced himself against Thomas's shoulder, rose onto his toes, and looked toward the end of the street.

Sure enough, the distant street seemed somewhat chaotic.

"Neon light is flashing over there!" Zheng Qing narrowed his eyes and asked strangely, "Why are the neon lights on before dark? The wizarding world really is strange!"

Thomas said nothing. He pulled out his brown wizarding book, flipped it open with a rustle, and slapped it hard.

A pale-blue curtain of light appeared around the two of them.

Zheng Qing steadied himself, suddenly understanding.

In the blink of an eye, brilliant colors spread across the entire street.

It was as though evening lights had just come on and neon lights were blooming one after another.

Every wizard on the street had surrounded themselves with these flickering curtains of light.

A piercing roar rang out urgently amid the seven-colored flashes.

The ground beneath their feet trembled slightly.

Zheng Qing stared nervously into the distance.

A pair of scarlet eyes stood out with startling clarity amid the dazzling street lights.

Pigs were creatures that lived in comfort.

After eating and drinking their fill, they liked to huddle together and lazily enjoy the gentle sunlight.

At times like that, even if you poked them with a stick, all you would get was a chorus of grunting complaints.

Wild boars, however, were dangerous creatures.

Experienced hunters always said: first boars, second bears, third tigers. They were thick-skinned, immensely strong, reckless, and irritable.

Hunters could still find ways to deal with cautious tigers; against single-minded, rash wild boars, there were not so many options. If you accidentally provoked one, those vindictive brutes would chase you over four or five hills.

When he was young, Zheng Qing spent part of every summer vacation living in the mountains with his teacher.

He had listened to mountain hunters talk about the terror of wild boars, and the impression had remained deeply etched in his mind.

He had never seen a wild boar go berserk.

But based on the influence of years of television documentaries, he felt that the thing roaring and charging wildly through the streets of Four Seasons Market was a berserk wild boar.

Going berserk was an irritable state.

Zheng Qing had soothed a berserk raging bull before.

The best way to deal with them was to make them calm down.

He drew out a stack of yellow talisman paper from the Gray Bag tucked inside his robes.

Calming Talismans.

Specially made for Calm and Focus.

They treated all manner of agitation, restlessness, and fiery rage.

These were the talismans Zheng Qing was best at drawing.

Whenever practicing calligraphy left him irritated, he would stick one on his forehead. They worked exceptionally well.

Back in the mountains, suppressing that berserk yellow ox had taken only three talismans.