Hours passed. One by one, the injured students were carried away, and the infirmary finally settled into quiet. Ling Yu was about to take Tongxi home.

Spotting Ling Yu coming for her, Tongxi beamed and dashed straight into his arms, hugging him tightly.

Just then, the priest instructor stepped out. “You must be Student Ling Yu? I’ve heard much about you. It’s rare to see a student who can defeat an instructor.”

“Haha, Instructor, please don’t exaggerate! I’m really not that impressive,” Ling Yu replied modestly, flustered by the praise.

“Never mind that. Who’s this child?” The priest instructor glanced at Tongxi, who was still holding Ling Yu’s hand.

True to form, Tongxi shrank back shyly behind Ling Yu at the sight of anyone other than him.

“Oh, her? She’s my adopted daughter, Tongxi. Since her parents aren’t around, I’m taking care of her now.”

“Oh! We truly owe her our thanks. Without her help, us instructors would’ve been completely overwhelmed!”

The priest instructor crouched down, smiling gently at Tongxi. “This child’s healing magic and mana control are extraordinary—even surpassing many of our own instructors. May I recommend her for admission to Huangfeng Academy?”

Ling Yu was stunned. He’d seen Tongxi heal the wounded with his own eyes, but he never imagined…

The child he’d taken in—a being he once feared might endanger his own kind—had unexpectedly become a blessing to humanity.

How could he possibly refuse? A flicker of excitement lit his face. “Of course! With my consent, Tongxi can enroll anytime. But, Instructor… since I’m letting her join, could I possibly…?”

The priest instructor stood, eyeing him with mild confusion. “Do you have a request, Student Ling Yu? Please speak plainly.”

“Well… I haven’t even finished the final trial yet. But since I’m agreeing to let Tongxi join Huangfeng Academy… could you recommend me too?”

“Oh! *That’s* what you mean? You were qualified long ago! The trial doesn’t require defeating an instructor. Anyone who accepts the challenge and perseveres until the very end is generally accepted.”

“Especially someone who defeated *three* instructors?”

“Hah?! That’s the rule?! I had no idea!” The reply hit Ling Yu like a cold bucket of water.

So all he needed was to put up a decent fight? He didn’t have to win? All his intense effort these past days—wasted?

“Well…” the instructor added dryly, “if we *actually* required students to beat instructors, we’d have almost no new enrollments. How many students possess strength like yours?”

*Oh. Right.* That actually made perfect sense. Had he just been an idiot?

Feeling utterly foolish, Ling Yu fell silent.

***

With the trials concluded, late that night, deans and instructors from various Arcanist Warrior departments gathered in a meeting room, sorting through applicant files. One spoke up:

“What kind of Arcanist Warriors do you think this year’s students will become?”

“This batch is no different from the last. Same old story,” another replied flatly.

“Oh! Have you heard of a student named Ling Yu?”

“The young swordsman with exceptional skill? I’ve heard the tales—he utterly defeated three instructors of different professions.”

As he praised Ling Yu, the speaker’s eyes deliberately flicked toward Mo Feng across the table.

Mo Feng caught the glance, understood the jab perfectly, and returned only a cool look of disdain.

“Save the chatter. Student assignments aren’t finished yet,” a female instructor muttered, frantically organizing scattered documents.

These files held profiles of applicants soon to join Huangfeng Academy.

“Hehe, Instructor Mo Feng, don’t be down. Knight-path Arcanist Warriors aren’t to be underestimated, right?” The teasing instructor grinned. “As Dean of the Knight Department, I’d be thrilled to have him!”

After the jab, the Knight Dean’s eyes locked onto Ling Yu’s file. He stood, reaching for what he considered a sure addition to his stack.

“Oh dear, let’s see this outstanding prospect…”

Beyond the photo of a boy who looked about seventeen, Ling Yu’s details seemed utterly ordinary—until the Knight Dean’s gaze snagged on the address field.

He recognized it instantly.

“Oh ho~! He lives in Huangfeng Town… at the former residence of the Second Knight! No wonder his swordsmanship shines. Does the place itself bless its residents?” he mused playfully.

Others smiled knowingly but stayed focused on their work.

Suddenly—

“Huh… what?!” the Knight Dean blurted, baffled.

His neighbor leaned in. “What is it?”

“Is Ling Yu sure he didn’t misclick his profession? Why does it say *Mage*?!”

The room fell silent. Even Mo Feng looked up.

“What? A sword prodigy choosing Mage? Hah! First time I’ve heard that,” the Archer Dean shrugged with a chuckle.

“Why not? I’m curious—what if he pioneers a new Arcanist Warrior path? I’m rooting for him,” the Priest Dean (the same instructor from the infirmary) added with a warm smile.

“Hmph. Such talent… a shame he won’t be mine,” the Knight Dean murmured, reluctant to release the file.

“Hey!”

*Whoosh!*

A soft glow erupted. Ling Yu’s file floated smoothly from the Knight Dean’s grasp and glided straight into Mo Feng’s waiting hand.

“I am Dean of the Mage Department. He is *my* student,” Mo Feng stated coolly, not even glancing up.

The Knight Dean shot him a grudging look and buried himself back in paperwork.

“Instructor Mo Feng—here’s another file for you,” the Priest Dean said knowingly, holding up a document but not offering it.

True to habit, Mo Feng levitated it into his palm with a flick of magic.

His eyes widened.

Snow-white hair. Ruby-red eyes. Porcelain-pale skin. A little girl of seven or eight, hat perched atop her head.

*Her?! A child… how…?*

Huangfeng Academy didn’t admit toddlers. He’d never seen her undergo trials. How did this file exist—and why *Mage*?

“Instructor Mo Feng… don’t you recall? Back at the infirmary…”

Mo Feng’s expression cleared in an instant.

“…You recommended her.”

“Exactly! You saw it yourself—her mana precision, power, and healing technique were astonishing! She healed multiple critically injured students in seconds with a spell formation I’ve never seen!”

“True. Nurtured properly, she’ll be extraordinary. But… why Mage? Shouldn’t she choose Priest?”

“Oh! I heard she wants to follow Ling Yu. So she picked the same path.”

“…I see.”

Mo Feng’s gaze lingered on Tongxi’s photo, fixed on those brilliantly crimson eyes.

***

Fine snow drifted under a silver moon, gilding the already white earth.

Amid rocky ruins, muffled thuds of digging broke the silence.

Shadowy figures moved in the moonlight, hauling a corpse from the rubble.

Hands clamped around its neck. In seconds, the body withered—drained dry.

“Bro, what’d you do? Only *this* many corpses? Barely a mouthful for the three of us!”

“Hah, quit complaining. That ‘Huang-something’ Academy… every instructor’s skilled. Without them guarding it, we’d have toppled the whole building and taken *many* more.”