"Quiet down, the assessment is about to begin!" The examiner's imposing presence made Mu Bai's retort catch in his throat, unable to be spoken.
Mu Bai glared fiercely at Mo Fan.
Let this kid be arrogant for a while; when the school publicly expels him later, I'd like to see how he'll still be arrogant!
Some past events surfaced in his mind, and Mu Bai clenched his fists, secretly vowing to make Mo Fan lose face completely.
...
After the students quieted down, the school leaders droned on for a bit longer.
Only then did the year-end assessment officially begin.
This assessment was different from the final exam; it didn't test theory, only magic cultivation.
The assessment was divided into two parts.
The first part was graded by touching the Star-Sensing Stone, with the strength of the emitted light determining the score.
Each student had three chances to test, with the brightest result being the final score.
The second part assessed magic release, which was optional.
The first student from Class Eight to test was a girl named He Yu.
She kept saying she would fail and that her test score would be very low, and many people kindly comforted her.
However, when she placed her hand on the Star-Sensing Stone, the light emitted spread across the entire stone.
The three examiners instantly gave their scores.
"A!"
"A!"
"A!"
A final grade of A! She could enter the Seed Class!
"Holy crap?"
"What the heck!?" The people below were stunned.
This was what she meant by a low score, this was what she meant by failing?
They couldn't believe that the usually well-behaved and cute student He Yu was actually playing the act of a pig to eat a tiger.
Jiang Yuan had already anticipated this scene.
Heh, just a disguise of the strong.
The assessment continued, and He Yu opted out of the magic release test.
Zhang Xiaohou received an A+ score.
Most students got B, C, or D, but that was enough; they wouldn't be expelled from school.
Soon it was Mu Bai's turn, and the light from the Star-Sensing Stone gave him an S rating.
When it came to assessing magic release, his beginner-level spell, Icebound, earned him a B rating.
"Ningxue, how was it?" Mu Zhuoyun specifically brought Mu Ningxue over, wanting Mu Bai to make an impression on her.
But Mu Ningxue didn't answer; her gaze found Mo Fan in the crowd.
Mu Bai was furious; he had achieved such a high score, so why hadn't the Young Miss noticed him!
She was looking at that Mo Fan again!
Mu Bai moved aside with heavy resentment.
Next was Mo Fan.
Mu Bai had tampered with the Star-Sensing Stone during his assessment, just waiting for Mo Fan to go up for his.
Jiang Yuan called out to him, "Mo Fan, that Star-Sensing Stone isn't right. When you go up later, test it a couple more times."
Mo Fan looked at Jiang Yuan strangely, then nodded.
As he approached the Star-Sensing Stone, the examiner said, "Place your hand on the Star-Sensing Stone."
Mo Fan reached out his hand, and the Star-Sensing Stone emitted a faint light, slowly brightening.
It finally settled on B.
"No, how is this possible?" Mu Bai's eyes widened. He wondered if he hadn't placed the dark stone under the Star-Sensing Stone.
How could the score be B?
With this score, Mo Fan himself could tell something was wrong without needing to be told.
He loudly declared, "I want to retest, and I want a different Star-Sensing Stone!"
The examiner shook his head, "You can retest, but there's no need to change the Star-Sensing Stone."
"Change the Star-Sensing Stone; this light isn't right." A soft voice came.
Tang Yue stepped forward and said righteously, "The light from this Star-Sensing Stone is incorrect. As a mentor, I have the right to inspect the equipment if any anomalies occur during the test!"
Below, Jiang Yuan silently watched this disturbance that was bound to happen.
Such minor setbacks wouldn't cause much impact; the most crucial thing was the disaster two years later.
Jiang Yuan looked at Mu He, who stood behind Mu Zhuoyun.
No one would have thought that he would be the mastermind behind the Bo City disaster, a Blue-robed Deacon of the Black Vatican.
While performing tasks for the City Hunter Squad, Jiang Yuan had destroyed some underground tunnels dug by the Giant-Eyed Blood Rats.
But it was still a drop in the bucket, not very effective.
Because many Giant-Eyed Blood Rats moved through the sewers, and he couldn't destroy the sewers now.
If he did, the city administrators would be looking for him, Jiang Yuan, instead of the Giant-Eyed Blood Rats.
So, he planned to destroy all the sewers when the Bo City disaster was about to strike.
"How is Mo Fan's score so high!"
"Didn't he fail to control even a single star-child last semester?"
"Ridiculous, the first place is going to be taken by the bottom feeder!"
A series of exclamations brought Jiang Yuan back to his senses.
Mo Fan, who was taking the assessment, had already passed, achieving the current highest score.
Jiang Yuan watched as Mo Fan was called over by Mu Zhuoyun, who wanted to win him over.
However, Mo Fan directly retorted, which enraged Mu Zhuoyun, who then had his adopted son, Yu Ang, challenge Mo Fan to a magic duel at eighteen.
After scolding Mu Zhuoyun, Mo Fan felt incredibly refreshed and eagerly ran up to Jiang Yuan, throwing an arm around his shoulder: "Jiang Yuan, how did you know there was something wrong with the Star-Sensing Stone? You're so strong!"
Jiang Yuan smiled and changed the subject, "Just consider it my intuition. You got such a high score, do you want to take first place?"
"Of course," Mo Fan chuckled, "First place gets to use the star dust magic tool first, and for the longest time. How can I not work hard!"
"Brother Fan, you're too cool!" Zhang Xiaohou said admiringly.
Mo Fan was the type who couldn't resist praise; his tail was wagging high now. If they kept praising him, he'd probably grow wings and fly to the Sky .
He couldn't suppress the rising corners of his mouth and winked at Jiang Yuan, "Jiang Yuan, don't worry, I told you before that you'd live well by following me. Zhang Xiaohou and I will protect you from now on. Who would dare to provoke you!"
Jiang Yuan smiled, "That sounds pretty good."
He was about to give Mo Fan a little magic shock.
Without the azure dragon pendant, the star dust magic tool was too important to him.
"Brother Yuan, it's your turn to go up," Zhang Xiaohou reminded him.
Mo Fan comforted him, "Good brother, don't be nervous. Just get as many points as you can. With me here, no one will dare to look down on you."
Jiang Yuan nodded and stepped forward for the assessment.
He approached the Star-Sensing Stone, placed his hand on it, and simultaneously began to infuse his Star Dust magic power.
The light surged at a visible rate, causing everyone's pupils to dilate.
"S!"
"Another S has appeared!"
Everyone exclaimed.
"Do you wish to continue the assessment?" the examiner asked.
Jiang Yuan smiled, "Of course, please continue, teacher."
The examiner cleared some space for him to release his magic.
"Water Magic - Water Barrier!"
Jiang Yuan lightly shouted, and the process of connecting the star-path was incredibly smooth; even Mo Fan couldn't complete it as quickly as him.
In an instant, water formed in the air, and vast water vapor dispersed, bringing a refreshing coolness even in the hot weather.
Although it wasn't as dazzling and powerful as Fire Burst or Thunder Seal.
As examiners, they could all see that Jiang Yuan had reached an extremely proficient level with beginner-level magic; even some intermediate-level mages didn't have such proficiency!
Soon, the three examiners gave their scores.
"S!"
"S!"
"S!"
Final score: S!