Chapter 33

Everything happened too quickly; even the fleeting bolt of lightning drew no attention from the surrounding uncles and aunts.

In the corner of the pavilion, where no one noticed, Lin Mo acquired a mid-grade spell worth a million.

“Finally got it!”

He instinctively wanted to try it out, but public places forbade the casual release of offensive spells.

Only in designated practice rooms could one train spells with lethal potential.

Lin Mo carefully glanced at the spell resting in his panel, then noticed that the experience bar beneath “Heavenly Thunder Incantation” was noticeably longer than that of an ordinary low-grade spell.

“Needs 2000 experience points? No wonder it’s a mid-grade spell!”

Lin Mo finally understood why the mid-grade spell benchmark in the Immortal Exam was so much higher.

A doubled experience bar meant the cultivation difficulty was naturally doubled.

Low-grade spells required only 100 experience points to reach beginner level; mid-grade spells required 200.

By extension, to bring “Heavenly Thunder Incantation” to the peak level like “Kui Star Stance,” it would need nearly 1200 experience points.

Converted into merit points…

“Whoa~! 6000 merit points!?”

Lin Mo was startled, then recalled the merit points he’d calculated last night, silently thinking:

“Still enough, but I’ll need to slightly compress my cultivation progress—can’t go all-in…”

“Snap!”

A soft sound came from beneath his foot.

Without looking, he skillfully stepped on it, feigned tying his shoelace, then swiftly slipped the few red streaks into his pant pocket.

When he stood up, he found Chu Wange had already stood before him, her beautiful phoenix eyes fixed on his utterly ordinary canvas shoes.

Lin Mo snapped his fingers at her, raising an eyebrow: “See that?”

Chu Wange nodded, and Lin Mo continued: “Let’s go. Split the spoils—grilled skewers!”

Chu Wange nodded vigorously: “Mm!”

The two walked with practiced ease to the barbecue stall at the park entrance, nonchalantly ignored the scowling vendor, skillfully grabbed two full baskets of skewers, then sat down at the small table with practiced calm.

“Crack—”

Chu Wange snapped apart two disposable chopsticks, rubbed the ends together rapidly to scrape off the tiny wood splinters, then placed them before Lin Mo.

So thoughtful!

Lin Mo smiled in satisfaction.

At first, Chu Wange didn’t know how to do these things—until one day he casually suggested that since he was treating, she should contribute some labor.

To his surprise, she readily agreed; since then, every time they cleaned tables and chairs, or snapped chopsticks, she took care of it all.

Now, she did it without him even asking.

I wonder if Da Hai and the others saw this, would they envy me even more?

Lin Mo thought to himself, then suddenly remembered something and looked at Chu Wange, who was still scraping splinters, and said:

“By the way, how did your direct admission talk go today?”

Chu Wange said: “Not finished.”

No wonder Qing Shan Sect and Wen Dao Academy are so fiercely competitive.

Lin Mo had expected this result—he’d clearly sensed the tense atmosphere between the two Immortal Elders before he left.

He couldn’t help but sigh: “No wonder—Heavenly Spirit Root plus Qi Refining Level 9!”

But Chu Wange shook her head: “Not just that.”

“Huh?”

Lin Mo froze, then heard her continue: “Also, Heavenly-grade fortune and 92 points of comprehension.”

“….”

Lin Mo fell silent.

No wonder—everything made sense now…

No wonder Ye Chen, with only a Yellow-grade fortune, was ignored—they wanted Chu Wange, with her Heavenly-grade fortune!

No explanation needed—anyone could see the difference with their toes.

If Ye Chen barely scraped by at Qi Refining Level 4, then Lin Mo, stuck at Level 4 himself…

So the two Immortal Elders really did make major concessions.

Lin Mo sighed again, then asked: “With 92 points of comprehension, what’s your spell mastery level?”

Chu Wange replied: “Mastery of Kui Star Stance, Mastery of Plucking Star Step…”

Maybe it’s not that insane… Lin Mo thought, then heard her continue: “Perfected Basic Sword Art, Perfected Piercing Cloud Sword, Perfected Galesword, Perfected Break Army Sword, Perfected Thunder Qing Sword, Perfected…”

“Alright, alright, stop counting! Are you counting beans?!”

Lin Mo widened his eyes and shouted to halt her, clutching his chest as he gasped for breath.

Close call—almost shattered my Dao heart. Even my cheat isn’t this fast!

He glared “fiercely” at Chu Wange: “Why the hell are you practicing so many sword arts?”

Chu Wange replied matter-of-factly: “The more I clear, the more I train—and sword arts are easy to practice.”

Lin Mo wanted to say something, but couldn’t think of what.

Sword arts are easy to practice?

Of course not!

Leaving other sword arts aside, Basic Sword Art and Kui Star Stance are equally grueling—requiring massive time and effort.

And in later stages, the former is even harder to master than Kui Star Stance.

Yet Chu Wange had perfected not only Basic Sword Art, but also those sword arts whose names alone suggested high quality—all perfected.

Compared to “Heavenly Thunder Incantation” sitting idle in his panel, his own progress looked pitifully meager.

Lin Mo asked again: “So your Heavenly Spirit Root is… Metal?”

Chu Wange nodded as if it were obvious.

Definitely a sword cultivator!

Even though he’d suspected it, Lin Mo still couldn’t suppress his envy.

He’d previously thought Chu Wange carried that wooden sword around like other students—just for show.

Now he saw… she was a sword cultivator at heart—would she carry a knife instead of a sword?

Sword Spirit Root, Heavenly-grade fortune, 92 comprehension points…

Come on, tell me—you’ve also opened it, right?!

Lin Mo gritted his teeth, finally understanding how Zhang Dahai felt after yesterday’s Immortal Exam.

Afraid your brother suffers, yet terrified he’s driving a Land Rover.

And Chu Wange wasn’t driving a Land Rover—she was wielding the flying sword every cultivation student dreamed of.

That boomerang had finally struck him—faster than he ever imagined.

Lin Mo ate a lemon slice and spoke: “No wonder all Nine Great Academies are fighting to invite you—your panel’s maxed out. What’s the point of the Immortal Exam? You’re just crushing everyone.”

But Chu Wange looked at him and said: “No, I still need the Immortal Exam.”

Lin Mo tilted his head: “???”

Chu Wange tilted her head too, then added: “Oh, right—you’re only Qi Refining Level 4. Your homeroom teacher probably hasn’t told you.”

Ouch, sis.

Lin Mo didn’t even have the energy to complain.

Chu Wange didn’t notice his expression—she picked up the newly served beef skewer, bit into it, and said:

“Mmm~ The Nine Great Academies’ Immortal Exam isn’t the ordinary one organized by Qinzhou authorities—it’s organized by the Heavenly Dao System.”