Time quickly flowed by. Mo Fan gave his precious youth to cultivating and hunting beasts as he immensely enjoyed this experience.
In just a wink, the number of beasts killed by Mo Fan had already gone past fifteen. In the eyes of the old veterans in the Hunters Union, he would be classified as a extremely experienced Magician.
In school, the Magic High Exams, the waterfall that could allow the students to leap onto the gates of the dragons, was slowly approaching.
“Your comfortable days are quickly coming to an end, Mo Fan,” Zhoa Kunsan said to Mo Fan, delighting in Mo Fan’s misery.
With graduation coming, it would also mean the previous Magic Duel promise which was witnessed by the School Principal was nearing.
Mo Fan couldn’t help but admit that this guy Mu Zhuoyun sure was cunning. He had set the Magic Duel on a date before the Magic High exams.
This would mean that if Mo Fan were to get into some small accident in this Magic Duel, then it could very well influence his performance at the Magic High Exams.
“Brother Fan, I heard the neighbors talk about Mu Zhuoyun. He is preparing for Yu Ang’s eighteenth-year Coming of Age Ceremony. Our Bo City has always placed a great importance on the Coming of Age ceremony, and a big family clan like the Mu Family would definitely set up their most important disciple’s Ceremony to be grander than anything,” Zhang Xiaohou said.
“I know, they will invite rich and powerful guests. All the people of importance within Bo City have been invited, families with status just enjoy doing this kind of stuff,” Mo Fan said.
“But this is so unfavorable toward you, this old scoundrel is obviously trying to cheat you. He’s using you as a stepping stone for that guy Yu Ang. In any case, Brother Fan is currently the number one student of Tian Lan Magic High. If you were to lose the Magic Duel in front of the gazes of all these people, then not only will it give their family an awe-inspiring authority, but it would also mean that the number one student among the fifteen hundred at Tian Lan Magic High was not able to win against the student nourished by their family. Principal Zhu will not be able to leave that stage.”
Principal Zhu was the most important person in Tian Lan Magic High; he and Mu Zhuoyun could be said to be two old rivals in Bo City.
The prestige of Principal Zhu in Bo City was very high; after all, he had earned the trust of the people. All of the grassroot Magicians who were outstanding were unable to succeed without Principal Zhu’s support. Principal Zhu had used the school to dig up many brilliant Magicians with no background.
Mu Zhuoyun was more of a typical case of a Magic Family clan. This basically meant the family was more specialized in nurturing their own disciples. By relying on the more outstanding children of the aristocrats, Mu Zhuoyun was able to obtain a long-standing position within Bo City.
Every once in a while, the grassroot Magicians and the Clan Magicians would have a contest. The most important time for Mu Zhuoyun every year was when he saw the young Magicians from his own clan completely wipe out the students which Principal Zhu had nurtured from his public school, Tian Lan Magic High.
Deng Kai and Principal Zhu were both completely on the side of the school. That was why when Mo Fan slandered Mu Zhuoyun, even if they hadn’t settled the matter down to having a duel with a younger generation of the Mu Family, they would still somehow suppress this matter.
A student who is able to take three S’s in the annual examination, that would make him the school’s treasure. How could they let the tyrant Mu Zhuoyun suppress him?
After hearing that Mo Fan had smoothly eliminated the summoned beast that went berserk, both Principal Zhu and Deng Kai increasingly felt like they had obtained a treasure.
Mo Fan himself didn’t know that Principal Zhu and Deng Kai had always been meticulous about him. The two of them, who put great importance on the grassroot Magicians, had always arranged for people to watch over him.
However, a school was still a school, they couldn’t be selfish. They also wanted to give a Stardust Magic Tool to Mo Fan so he could use it all the time. However, they couldn’t be like an ancestral family, favoring one and discriminating against the others!
——
When the time arrived for Yu Ang’s holiday-like Coming-of-Age ceremony, Principal Zhu and Deng Kai finally couldn’t help themselves, and called Mo Fan to the Principal’s office.
Mo Fan had met Deng Kai before, he had stood up to help Mo Fan before. He was the boss of Bo City’s Hunters Union. He was even stronger than the Intermediate Mage Yang Zuohe!
Principal Zhu was someone Mo Fan was meeting for the first time. This old Principal who held a prestigious status in the hearts of the students and their parents actually seemed to have the aura of a hermit. However, when there were big things happening, he would still come out and take charge.
“Mo Fan, there are some matters we need to discuss with you seriously,” Deng Kai took the lead to say.
Mo Fan stood there as he listened attentively.
“The truth is, every now and them, the students of our Tian Lan Magic High and the disciples of the Mu Family will have a session of interaction. In past years, we would always pick the most outstanding one from among the students, and the student with the strongest combat ability would fight against the disciples of Bo City’s families… Originally, we had put our hopes on Xu Zhaoting; after all, he is a rare Lightning Mage, and thus, he had a higher chance of success in this contest. However, on the annual examination, you had very good grades, and were even presumptuous enough to provoke their family. In order to prevent Mu Zhuoyun from making your life difficult, we intentionally moved the matter toward this fight that was already bound to happen,” Deng Kai sincerely said to Mo Fan.
“I know… Oh, what I meant to say is, thank you, to you two directors, for helping me out of an embarrassing situation,” Mo Fan said.
“To be honest, we have already helped you delay the time by two years. The growth that you have achieved within these two years has been noted in our hearts. But, you still need to pay the cost for being so rude back then.” Deng Kai helplessly shook his head.
Deng Kai had already obtained some information from other people. Yu Ang’s cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds in these two years. Additionally, he had real combat practice provided by the family. Even if Mo Fan was more clever, he still might not be Yu Ang’s opponent. Everyone knew that he was lucky when he had killed the summoned beast back then.
The principal sighed. “Mo Fan, we also know that the heavens are sometimes unfair; they sometimes give people privileges from birth, where others get nothing. However, this does not mean that you can blame the gods and accuse others and boldly vent out the resentments in your heart. Although you may have spoken out about your discontent to these superior characters, and there are many who want to do the same, those words also signify that you are putting yourself on the edge of the abyss. When your strength is far from being capable of contending against a big family like this, swallowing your anger is not a bad thing,” Principal Zhu said with sincere and earnest wishes.
Principal Zhu had been a principal for so many years, and had seen many haughty students. Some of them really did accomplish a lot, and had become Magicians who many revered. Some others, however, had sunk so far that they were never heard of again.
Talent was important, cultivating was important, but the most important thing was to judge the size of the situation. Don’t do unnecessary things, the school was only able to provide protection for a few years. After joining society, only the words of those at the top mattered.
“Thank you for the guidance, I was indeed too willful back then,“ Mo Fan nodded.
“The reason as to why we called here today naturally isn’t for educating you… We actually do hope for you to be victorious in the duel this time, and that is because the winner will obtain a chance to cultivate at Bo City’s sole Underground Holy Spring,” Principal Zhu continued.
“Underground Holy Spring??” Mo Fan’s eyes immediately brightened.
* * *
Translator: Tofu
Editor: RED
*[Long Taos]: side characters in Chinese operas who perform acrobatics and fight scenes
*[12.47 to 13.07]: don’t ask me about the tree sap