The Power of Wind — Wind Trail!

Hot air crested the mountain ranges and swept across the south, scattering the languid spring and replacing it with the damp, cloud-swathed heat of summer.

Right on its heels came a downpour — sudden, without any warning — thrashing everything flat. Dead leaves and fallen petals lay strewn across the ground.

Bo City was a city that still had seasons, technically. But sometimes it behaved as if seasons were merely suggestions. That very morning the sun had blazed in a cloudless sky; one afternoon nap later and it felt like being dropped into a different world — violent wind, dark clouds rolling in. By evening, a freezing rain lashed along by bitter gusts.

"Is a typhoon coming or something? This crazy weather... it's like Bo City just shuffles all four seasons at random and plays whichever it feels like!" Zhang Xiaohou grumbled from inside the dormitory.

"Zhang Xiaohou, you're Wind Element, aren't you? Come on — step out into the wind and see if you can release Wind Trail, the basic Wind Element skill." Their dormitory roommate Lu Xiaobin piped up.

"You're Water Element — how come nobody ever sees you pulling off Water Control? Here you are, an esteemed Water Element Mage, walking around with an umbrella. Aren't you embarrassed?" Mo Fan unloaded on Lu Xiaobin without missing a beat.

Lu Xiaobin's face cycled through several shades of red and white.

Fair point, though. A Water Element Mage in a rainstorm was supposed to walk through the deluge like a sovereign — one raincoat, completely untouched, moving through the world as though it barely applied to him.

The problem was that with the annual assessment almost upon them, Lu Xiaobin had only mastered four Star Motes, and he was still a long way from being able to Release Water Control.

"Zhang Xiaohou, can you actually use Wind Trail now? Give us a demonstration — honestly, apart from watching that hothead Zhou Min pull off Fire Burst, none of us have ever seen anyone in our class perform a complete spell." This from the dorm leader, who spent every waking hour daydreaming about Teacher Tang Yue.

"It might not go well. I'm not a hundred percent on it." Zhang Xiaohou said, a little sheepish.

"Monkey, just try. I want to see what a Wind Element skill actually looks like." Mo Fan's eyes lit up and he set down the theory textbook he'd been reading.

"The room's too small."

"The corridor, then — it's long enough."

"Alright... alright, I'll try. Just don't expect perfection." Zhang Xiaohou gave a nod.

It was nearly the end of term, and Zhang Xiaohou had turned out to be genuinely talented — he was already one of the handful of students in class who had mastered all seven Star Motes.

Everyone was curious about what the various elemental skills actually looked like, and naturally they wanted to see him perform.

Zhang Xiaohou closed his eyes and entered the Release state.

His opening movements were slow — clearly, his Control over the Star Motes wasn't fully settled yet.

He kept to a steady breathing rhythm, each breath audible in the quiet room.

*Whoosh... whoosh... whoosh...*

Suddenly, the books on the desk began to flutter.

The old dormitory door rattled in its frame.

Dust rose from the floor. A pair of dirty briefs that had been lurking under one of the beds got swept up in the current — the dorm leader lunged for them, but the little garment pulled a deft sidestep with almost willful flair and went on flapping freely in the wind.

"Wind Trail: Rapid Rush!"

Zhang Xiaohou's entire bearing changed. His eyes shifted to a pale green, and his clothes snapped and thrashed around him.

The instant the words left his mouth, every toothbrush, cup, and loose utensil in the room clattered into motion at once, the whole lot shifting along some invisible designated path.

Mo Fan sharpened his focus and stared hard. Through the drifting debris and swirling dust, he was astonished to make out a distinct air current taking shape in the room — a track of flowing wind that began at Zhang Xiaohou's position, stretched out through the doorway and down the corridor, all the way to the communal bathroom at the far end.

**Whoosh!!**

Suddenly, Zhang Xiaohou's silhouette blurred.

One moment he was standing still in the center of the room — the next he had launched himself out the door like something out of a legend, blazing along that barely-visible current of wind at terrifying speed, hurtling down the corridor straight toward the bathroom.

"That's insane!!" Lu Xiaobin let out a howl.

The whole dormitory poured into the hallway.

But in the few seconds it took them to step outside, Zhang Xiaohou had already crossed the entire length of the corridor — from one end to the other.

*That was fast.*

Any world-class sprinter would look embarrassingly slow next to movement like that.

*Even the basic Wind Element skill is this spectacular,* Mo Fan thought, a ripple of awe moving through him. *Riding a trail of wind at full speed — that must feel incredible.*

"AHHH — help, help—"

**BOOM!!**

The corridor shuddered. Before Mo Fan had finished his admiring thought, Zhang Xiaohou had slammed full-force into the communal bathroom door at the far end.

*Creak, creak, creak...*

A crooked tap exploded with water. One side of the rotting door gave way entirely. With nothing to hold it back, a thick, rancid stench rolled out and spread instantly through the entire floor, triggering a chorus of curses from every room.

The wind trail finally dissolved. Zhang Xiaohou lay rigid on the ground, blood streaming from his nose.

That was already pitiful enough. Then the briefs — which had been dancing so elegantly in the wind — lost their lift the moment the air died, and drifted straight down, settling squarely over his face.

Lu Xiaobin and the dorm leader rushed over and dragged Zhang Xiaohou back into the room.

The dorm leader snatched his briefs back. He turned them over to inspect them — and found a red smear of blood.

"Getting your time of the month, are we?" Lu Xiaobin doubled over laughing.

"Get lost." The dorm leader dropped his beloved briefs into the trash with visible reluctance.

Mo Fan quietly retreated back inside. When the dorm supervisor came thundering up the stairs, he was already on his bunk, the picture of innocence.

*That Wind Element skill is something,* he thought. *The movement speed has to match a car at cruising pace, at minimum. Zhang Xiaohou just clearly skipped the lesson on how to stop.*

"You little delinquents — the annual assessment is practically here and instead of sitting down and doing your Meditation, you're causing trouble! I catch you at it again and I'll have your hides!" The dorm supervisor's roars cut through the wind and rain and echoed down the entire hallway.

The annual assessment finally arrived.

For many students, today was a nightmare — they stood a real chance of being expelled from school, and that was about as shameful as it got. Going home to face your parents after washing out of a magic high school was not something anyone wanted.

But magic wasn't a hobby. Every magic high school operated by the same rules: those who weren't suited for it would be shown the door as early as possible, sent off to find their path elsewhere. Nobody was going to let them waste their youth drowning in a sea with no end in sight.

For the students who had trained hard and pushed themselves without rest, though, today was their chance to prove it — especially those rare few who could already cast a skill.

The typhoon had passed. The morning was bright and clear, the summer air clean and sharp.

At the Mu Clan estate.

Mu Bai had dressed with deliberate care — a white shirt trimmed with embroidered cold-plum blossoms, sharp trousers. The whole ensemble radiated good breeding and a quiet, understated elegance that never crossed into ostentation.

His looks combined with that perfectly calibrated style had already won him the hearts of quite a few girls.

Not that it mattered. He was a full-blooded member of the Mu Clan — how could he possibly lower himself to ordinary girls like them? His ambitions ran higher. Someone like Mu Ningxue — a true daughter of the heavens — was the standard he measured by. Though, he reflected, if Teacher Tang Yue were ever willing, he certainly wouldn't say no.

"Mu Bai, you need to put your best foot forward today. You know how it works — the Mu Clan allocates cultivation resources to the young generation based on two things: the contribution record of each branch family, and the assessment results of the younger members. Your branch has nearly been forgotten by the clan. Make sure they remember you exist."

Mu He had arrived early in a black car to personally drive Mu Bai to school. As a member of Tianlan Magic High School's board of directors, he would be presiding over the assessment himself.

Mu Bai was his nephew, after all, and Mu He wanted the boy to make an impression in front of the other board members.

"Uncle, rest assured." Mu Bai said, full of confidence.

Then something occurred to him. His eyes shifted, and he lowered his voice. "Uncle... I heard Mu Ningxue is also coming to Tianlan High School today?"