Three Years!

This wasn't Mo Fan's first time hearing about the Earth Sacred Spring. As he recalled, the One-Eyed Demon Wolf had nearly advanced to a higher tier after stealing energy from the Spring — which told him everything he needed to know. The Earth Sacred Spring had to be one of Bo City's rarest natural treasures, so precious that even Demon-Beasts would risk venturing into dangerous human territory to take from it.

"Bo City does have certain special resources, specifically earmarked for students about to enter magic university. Unfortunately, the Earth Sacred Spring is an extremely limited resource — each cohort, we can only open it to a single student. And that student isn't chosen from the school alone: mage families and clan disciples all compete for the same spot." Principal Zhu said.

At this, Deng Kai let out a rueful smile. "Principal Zhu, we haven't claimed that single spot in many years now. At this rate, it might as well have the clan disciples' name carved into it permanently."

"No surprise there. Clans and families can pour all their resources into one exceptional disciple. The immersion and training they receive is simply not something a school like ours — where everyone gets the same share — can match." Principal Zhu said this with quiet composure, as though he had long since made his peace with it.

"Mo Fan, don't put too much weight on winning or losing this time. Coming face to face with the strength of clan disciples early isn't a bad thing — it'll keep you grounded and push you to train harder on the road ahead. As for the Mu Clan's grudge against you, there's no need to lose sleep over it. Once you get into magic university, their reach won't extend that far. And even if you were to stay in Bo City, we would still be glad to continue supporting your growth." Deng Kai said.

Hearing the two mentors speak, Mo Fan felt a genuine warmth stir inside him.

No wonder Principal Zhu and Deng Kai commanded such respect among students and parents alike. All this time, they had stood firmly on the side of ordinary students — willing to weather the pressure of powerful clans and families just to protect them. That was genuinely rare. Plenty of administrators at public schools were nothing but sycophants, forever climbing toward wealth and power.

"All right. The duel is the day after tomorrow — come in with the right mindset and give it everything you have. Beating Yu'ang, the disciple the Mu Clan has spent everything to shape, is nearly impossible. But this duel is still an opportunity in its own right. It's not every day that so many prominent figures in Bo City gather to watch two young mages fight."

"And keep this in mind — even after you enter magic university, a Mage's advancement will always depend on resources. If some powerful faction takes notice of you before you arrive on campus, and is willing to back you from behind the scenes, your time there will be far easier. Competition between Mages at that level is fierce. Walk in with nothing and no one behind you, and you won't be able to keep up with students from larger, more powerful factions." Principal Zhu told Mo Fan.

Neither mentor had offered empty reassurances. Instead, they had laid out with stark honesty the challenges Mo Fan would face ahead, hoping he would come to understand that a Mage's path to growth was anything but simple.

Mo Fan expressed his gratitude to them both once more.

Time moved quickly. Over at the Mu Clan estate, preparations were in full swing.

Mo Fan walked out through the school gates, tilted his head back to stare up at the sky, and felt something wash over him. *Damn — three whole years have just slipped by.*

It wouldn't be much longer before he walked out of these gates for good.

Three years ago, he had walked out of middle school. Three years later, he was about to walk out of high school.

Today, the school entrance was lined with cars as always — most of them there to collect their beloved mage children and take them home. The school had granted students ten full days of self-directed study time, all to prepare for the Magic College Entrance Examination ten days away.

And before that examination, Mo Fan still had his own trial to face.

In truth, he had been waiting for this day for a very, very long time.

He hadn't forgotten — three years ago, Mu He's swaggering arrogance as he stripped their family of their home. He hadn't forgotten the way his father Mo Jiaxing had stood there, so meek, so diminished, and how the sight of it had twisted something deep inside him.

He hadn't forgotten — two years ago, Mu Zhuoyun's insufferable air of superiority. The man had driven his entire family off like stray dogs at the first opportunity, then tossed Mo Fan a bone on that one day and expected him to come crawling back. Was this really his fate — to spend his life at the very bottom of the social ladder, at the mercy of men like these who abused their power over everyone beneath them?

Nobody was born to be a servant — not unless they chose to lick their master's shoes.

Yesterday's Mo Fan hadn't been worth a second glance — a clown, a trick rat. But tomorrow, he would step onto the Mu Clan's stage and use every drop of cultivation he had ground out over these years to crush the disciple they had spent so much effort shaping. He would make those fools understand that a single spark can set the plains ablaze.

"Mo Fan! Mo Fan!" A familiar middle-aged voice called out to him.

"Dad? What are you doing here?" Mo Fan pulled himself out of his sky-gazing, turning with a look of faint surprise.

"I heard the school was giving you self-study leave today, so I came to pick you up." Mo Jiaxing grinned, showing a row of white teeth, his face creasing into the same open, unaffected smile as always.

It was like being thrown back three years — to the moment he had walked out of that exam hall in defeat. The school entrance packed with cars just like this. His father Mo Jiaxing standing in the crowd, face damp with sweat, waiting for him.

But things were different now. Mo Jiaxing was noticeably darker-skinned and thinner — the kind of lean that only came from three years of never stopping, of grinding away for the family without rest.

And he himself was different. The boy who had failed his exams and had nothing to his name had grown into a Mage who commanded both Lightning and Fire.

At least — he had proved worthy of the decision Mo Jiaxing had made without a moment's hesitation, the day he enrolled him in magic school.

"Dad, you don't have to push yourself so hard. Didn't I transfer some money to you?" Mo Fan said, his heart sinking a little at how deeply the sun had weathered his father's face.

"Keep that money for yourself — Mages need it for all kinds of things. I heard from some of the veteran mages at the Waystation that there's something called a Stardust Artifact that can speed up cultivation. I'm looking into whether I can scrape together enough to buy you one. I don't want you heading off to university with nothing to your name — how are you supposed to compete with kids from the big cities otherwise?" Mo Jiaxing said, still smiling.

Mo Fan found himself at a loss for words.

Magic had replaced science in this world — but Mo Jiaxing was still exactly like any ordinary father: simple, straightforward, and completely sincere.

"Don't worry about it — the school provides one for me. Use that money for something else. Go look at apartments with Auntie sometime when you have a chance. We don't have to buy anything right away; renting a decent place would already be a start." Mo Fan said.

Over the past year, Mo Fan had hunted quite a few Demon-Beasts. The commissions had added up — somewhere around 120,000 to 130,000 yuan.

That wasn't enough to buy Enchanted Gear, and it wasn't enough to buy Magic Weapons. But it could give his father a real rest, and ease some of the financial pressure that had been bearing down on the family.

What Mo Fan couldn't bring himself to say — and didn't know how to — was the truth: a Stardust Artifact wasn't just expensive. It was extraordinarily, impossibly expensive. Not the kind of thing you could save up for with a few extra years of hard work. You couldn't buy one in a lifetime of it.