Resources Through the Roof!

For the Summoning Element students, it felt like a dream. For every other freshman in the school, it was a nightmare.

Nobody could spare a thought for how Mo Fan had managed to escape from the Kun Grove prison.

"Dean Xiao — what... what do we do about this?!" The department heads were just as dumbstruck.

None of them had seen clearly how Mo Fan escaped, but the situation before them — unprecedented in over a decade — was far more pressing than that. Couldn't they see the pandemonium erupting around them?

"Maybe we should persuade Mo Fan to withdraw voluntarily," Zhou Zhenghua said. "Otherwise the fallout will be enormous."

None of them had expected things to go this way. When Dean Xiao announced that final rule at the start, they'd half-listened without taking it seriously. Who could have known Mo Fan wasn't merely the standout of the Summoning Element, but also a master of Intermediate-Level Lightning Element magic?

And on top of that, this guy clearly had other abilities he was hiding — otherwise Mu Nujiao would have put an end to him. Her strength was already on a completely different level among the freshmen.

"Rules are rules." Dean Xiao let out a cold snort and dismissed Zhou Zhenghua's suggestion without a second thought.

The arena was in utter chaos. Dean Xiao furrowed his brow, cleared his throat, and let out a single booming shout.

The sound crashed through the stadium like a thunderclap detonating overhead, leaving everyone's ears ringing and heads spinning.

The reverberations rolled through every corner of the arena, and the noise died to dead silence.

"Very well. Today's Beast Battle is hereby concluded. All cross-department public resources for this semester are awarded to the Summoning Element." Dean Xiao's pronouncement was crisp and final.

"Dean Xiao—"

He didn't wait for another word. "The public resources allocated to each of you this semester," he said, his voice cutting through the air, "are neither particularly generous nor particularly paltry. They will not define your cultivation. What you cannot accept is not the penalty of losing those resources. What you cannot accept is watching them go to a single department — a single person."

"When the rule was first proposed — that if the Summoning Element fell short of one hundred students, their resources would be redistributed among the rest of you — where were your voices then? Where was the outrage? Where were the people calling it unfair? Was it simply because the Summoning Element had only seven members and couldn't band together the way you're doing now?"

"Have you forgotten what I said at the opening ceremony? Have you forgotten what kind of Mages our school motto says we are here to produce? In over a decade, Pearl Academy has never seen a situation like this — and that is proof that Pearl Academy has stagnated for over a decade, particularly when it comes to its freshmen. Today, I am glad. Someone has finally shattered that mold. It may be a far cry from changing the world, but it is a very good sign."

His words hit the assembled crowd like thunder — fury running through every syllable, with a note of genuine disappointment beneath it all.

Not just the newly enrolled freshmen — even the upperclassmen who had spent time at Pearl Academy bowed their heads, not daring to say another word.

If, from the very beginning, anyone had protested that the rule was unfair, Dean Xiao would have agreed to revoke it.

So why wait until someone else had won decisively, until their own interests were stripped away — and only then band together in open opposition?

If Pearl Academy was going to be filled with students like this, Dean Xiao would rather donate those resources to Mages who hadn't made it into the academy but had real drive. At least those people would understand that resources didn't come for free.

"Dean Xiao, what you're saying makes sense — but have you considered this?" A young man with fierce defiance carved into his expression rose to his feet and addressed Dean Xiao in a clear, carrying voice. "Students like us — born with nothing, who rely entirely on the academy's resources to keep our cultivation going — we have to compete against people with so many advantages that they can get into Pearl Academy with less than a third of the effort we put in. Every scrap of resource matters to someone in our position."

Dean Xiao removed his heavy-framed glasses and looked out at the student from across the arena.

He was unhurried. "Because this is a school," he said, "you have the right to ask that. In the real world, that question would be naïve. You assumed Mo Fan was born with more resources than you — that he came from a prominent family, and that reaching Intermediate-Level ahead of you was simply his natural birthright?"

"Yes," the proud student said.

"Very well. I wasn't going to bring this up — but since you've asked on behalf of the majority of students from ordinary backgrounds, I'll tell you." A flash of anger crossed Dean Xiao's face. "This student you all resent so bitterly for taking your resources — he is from Bo City."

Bo City.

The Bo City the entire nation had mourned in the news just over a year ago?

That disaster hadn't faded from memory. The true death toll was said to have reached a hundred thousand.

Scarlet Alert. Rivers of blood.

"His family background is ordinary — less than most of yours, in fact. I don't think I need to say anything more." Dean Xiao let out a long sigh.

A heavy silence fell over the crowd.

The proud student stared at Mo Fan in the center of the arena, unable to believe what he had just heard.

*How could someone with no backing reach Intermediate-Level at his age? How was that even possible?*

Mu Nujiao stared at the person who had defeated her, equally shaken. She had been convinced Mo Fan was the talented heir of some major power. Learning he was a commoner — just an ordinary person — left her at a loss. No wonder he hadn't used a single piece of Enchanted Gear throughout the entire fight. He probably didn't own any.

Children of great clans typically deployed more Enchanted Gear than elemental spells in a fight. Mu Nujiao had simply assumed that, like herself, he had chosen not to flaunt his family's wealth in front of the whole school.

"Dean Xiao, I didn't exactly sign up to be anyone's example here..." Mo Fan called out helplessly. "Airing out my background without my permission is a bit much, isn't it? How am I supposed to charm rich girls now?"

"Ha! I got a little carried away in the moment — I finally had a decent example to make my point." To his credit, Dean Xiao said it without any pretense.

Mo Fan was speechless.

*Being held up as the neighborhood overachiever was a world-class way to make enemies.*

*Ah, forget it.* He'd already made every freshman in the school hate his guts by sweeping their resources — a little extra resentment was a drop in the ocean.

Mo Fan trusted that anyone who'd made it into Pearl Academy had decent enough character. He'd just have to start carrying a silver needle whenever he went to the dining hall.

Once the competition was truly over, Mo Fan could barely contain his elation.

It was only the public resources — not the academy's core allotments — but when everything was added together, the sheer volume was enough to send him through the roof.

One second flat, and he'd gone from nobody to loaded.