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pter 15

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Translator: Kuroneko

Editor: Samskor

We are all a bunch of lazy people… Enjoy…~

Chapter 15: The Magician Exam

Feng Ping only thought that Ah Dai was forbidden from saying his teacher’s name, and did not take it to heart, smiling as he commented, “You really are a respectful kid, not bad, you’re worthy of being from our TianGang School. Come, let us find a place to have a good chat.” As he spoke, he grabbed Ah Dai’s elbow and led him away.

Ah Dai did not want to follow him, but Owen had instructed him to be polite to people from the TianGang School, so he could only reluctantly be dragged away by Feng Ping, to an area behind the Mercenary Guild.
The area behind the Mercenary Guild was a large training ground, and many mercenaries who did not have missions would always go there to practice their martial arts. Walking into the training ground, there were currently quite some people practicing their martial arts, and when they saw Feng Ping, most of them would call out ‘Big Brother Feng’ or ‘Leader Feng’.

After Feng Ping greeted everyone one by one, he pulled Ah Dai into the center of the training ground, “Okay, here is good.” Using one hand to pull out the large sword behind his back, he smiled and said, “Since you can’t tell me your teacher’s name, then let senior uncle try guessing it. As long as you execute some moves of the TianGang Sword Techniques, I should be able to guess which senior brother’s disciple you are.”
Ah Dai stood dumbly at the center, unsure of what to do. He had just stepped into the society and he was like a newborn child, not knowing anything.

Feng Ping shouted, “Draw your sword! Let senior uncle give you some tips.” As he spoke, his hands gripped the sword, and a faint white light radiated from the sword tip, it was precisely the Boundless Life dou qi.

[TN: suggestions please, boundless life/sheng sheng? People who cultivate the Boundless Life Art have different true qi and dou qi that contain holy attribute/ are more bountiful. In chinese it is called 生生斗气 (Life Life Dou Qi), but it sounds awkward, so for previous chapters I just left it as dou qi/true qi. ]

Looking at Feng Ping use his Boundless Life dou qi, there was a sense of familiarity within Ah Dai’s heart. It was as though Owen had revived, and wanted to exchange some moves with him. Since Uncle had said that he was from the TianGang School, then the person in front of him, must indeed be his senior uncle. Pulling out his own TianGang Sword, Ah Dai respectfully said, “Senior uncle, please advise me.” The image of Owen using a tree branch to guide him flashed across his mind, and Ah Dai’s eyes became slightly red as he raised the TianGang Sword high above his head, letting out a huge shout. The Boundless Life dou qi surged out, carrying a wisp of white light. It was like his usual splitting of the waves, his indomitable momentum, that domineering aura, suddenly surged forth, causing the red-haired fellow to take a few steps back.
Feng Ping’s eyes lit up as he exclaimed, “Good momentum!” His hands gripped the broadsword as he rushed forward to block, just hitting against the edge of Ah Dai’s sword.

Ah Dai felt the Boundless Life true qi within his body was surging out like waves, and his white colored dou qi suddenly produced faint ripples. With a ‘clang’, the two TianGang broadswords clashed against each other in the air, and the rebound force caused Ah Dai to take a step back. However, it felt that the senior uncle’s power was not as strong as Uncle Owen’s.
Feng Ping had to take three continuous steps back before he could stabilise himself and he was taken aback. The dou qi on Ah Dai’s sword was precisely the Boundless Life dou qi that was the pride of the TianGang Sword School, however the difference was that, the child in front of him could actually send out three waves of dou qi in a single strike. Its power did not seem to be any weaker than his, and the boy seemed to have even more profound cultivation than him. According to his knowledge, none of his senior brothers should have been able to teach such an outstanding disciple. Retreating, he gathered his dou qi, and suddenly burst towards Ah Dai, like a streak of rainbow. It was one of the moves of the TianGang Sword Techniques, Rainbow Through the Sun.

The clashing of their strikes just now, allowed Ah Dai’s confidence to increase, and with another loud shout, he swung his sword, using the easiest move of the 9 moves in the simplified TianGang Sword Techniques, cleaving.
[TN: update, I’ve changed the names of the 3 basic sword stances in chap 12.1 from (slash, slice and stab) to (cleave, pick, and stab)]

Feng Ping looked at Ah Dai’s TianGang Sword cleaving against his, but he was unable to counter. He did not know why, but it seemed that Ah Dai’s sword had sealed all the possible paths of countering and he could only forcefully fight head on. Clang, another sound rang out, as Ah Dai once more stepped back, while successfully resolving Feng Ping’s strike. Their sparring had attracted the attentions of many mercenaries, but these mercenaries were of lower ranks and their martial arts were not very good, so they could only cheer on from the sides.
Feng Ping landed on the ground with both feet, his breathing was slightly irregular as he quickly sent away the mercenaries nearby, and pulled Ah Dai aside, praising, “Good sword skills. Kid, you must be the leading 4th generation disciple in our Sword School. Quickly tell me, which senior brother taught you?”

Ah Dai placed the TianGang Sword back into his big leather bag behind his back, while he slowly thought and replied, “I, I don’t know teacher’s name. He only taught me sword skills.”

Ah Dai’s eyes turned red as he replied, “My teacher, he, he is already dead.” Thinking of Owen’s death, sorrow surged within his heart, and he could not help but start weeping.

Feng Ping was shocked, and involuntarily exclaimed, “What?” He continued to question Ah Dai, helplessly Ah Dai could only describe Owen’s appearance. However, no matter how much Feng Ping pondered, he simply could not figure out who was the dead senior brother. It seemed like, he would have to wait till he returned to the mountain, and ask his master about this.

“Ah Dai, how did your master die?”

Ah Dai knew that he could not answer this question, thus he hesitated for a long while before he finally said, “He was killed by a bunch of people in black clothes. I also don’t know why, but before teacher died, he told me to wander the continent, so I came here.”

Feng Ping patted Ah Dai’s shoulder, and consoled, “Okay, don’t be too sad. How about this, in a few days’ time, you can follow me when I return to the mountain. I’ll bring you to meet Grand master, he will surely get justice for your master.”

Ah Dai was shocked, thinking, Does Uncle’s master still have a master? However, he did not dare to ask and merely replied, “Senior Uncle, I, I can’t return to the mountain with your now. Teacher had instructed me to finish some tasks before he died, I’ll go with you after I have finished the tasks.” Right now, what he wanted to do first was to register and become a magician, and secondly, to return to the Illusionary Forest and see his Teacher Gliss. If he followed Feng Ping back to the TianGang Sword School, he would surely be delayed.
Furrowing his brows, Feng Ping said, “What is so urgent that you must do it immediately?”

Ah Dai lowered his head, “Senior Uncle, don’t make it difficult for me, it’s all some private matters of teacher, he had specially instructed me to finish those tasks before he died.”

Sighing, Feng Ping relented, “Okay then, follow me.” As he spoke, he took Ah Dai into a small room behind the Mercenary Guild. The Red Lion Mercenary Group that Feng Ping was in, could be considered to a First Grade mercenary group, and had quite some fame on the continent. Originally, he wanted to pull Ah Dai into joining the group, but looking at Ah Dai now, he could only give up on this idea.

Feng Ping took out a small sack from the cabinet, and passed it to Ah Dai, “Take this on your way. After you have finished your master’s tasks, just come back and find me here. Generally, I will always be here, but even if I’m not, I will usually return within a month. At that time, I’ll bring you to the mountain. Be careful on your journey, the continent is not very peaceful right now.”

Ah Dai took the heavy sack, with his experience as a thief, he only needed one touch to realise that it was a sack of money, “Senior Uncle, thank you, but, how can I take your money?”

“What’s there to be polite with senior uncle, we are all a family, helping each other out is a given. Right, Ah Dai, don’t you have a proper name?”
Shaking his head, Ah Dai replied, “Ever since I can recall, I was always called Ah Dai.”

Feng Ping sighed and said, “You must have suffered quite a bit when you were young. Ah Dai, although I have only exchanged two moves with you just now, I feel that your Boundless Life dou qi does not seem to be any weaker than mine, which stage are you at now? It seems that you are more proficient than me in mastering the essence of the boundless life.”

Hearing this, Feng Ping was shocked, he had only just reached the Fifth Stage last year, while the silly looking kid seemed to cultivate even faster than him. One must know, after reaching the Third Stage, every subsequent stage becomes harder to cultivate. Even in his master’s generation, only one or two people had cultivated to the Eighth Stage, and only Grandmaster had reached the Ninth Stage. When he was at the age of this child before him, he had only reached the border of the Third Stage, and his master was already very pleased with him.

“Reaching the Fifth Stage is already very good. You must continue to work hard, and you can surely be the glory of our TianGang Sword School in the future.”

Ah Dai nodded, “Senior Uncle, I will surely do that.” He had already planned that, after finding his Teacher Gliss, he would focus on training and cultivation for a few years.

“Since you still have many things to do, I shall not hold you back any longer. If there’s a chance in the future, let us have a good chat.” Feng Ping escorted Ah Dai all the way out of the Mercenary Guild before he finally stopped. Under his concerned gaze, Ah Dai did not dare to go straight to the Magicians’ Guild, but instead walked away and took a roundabout route to return. This was not because he had become clever, but rather, it was because he felt that it would be inappropriate for Feng Ping to see him enter the Magicians’ Guild.

“Kid, did you enter the wrong place.” A deep voice rang out.
Ah Dai had just stepped across the entrance of the Magicians’ Guild and he was still thinking about the kind-hearted senior uncle. The sudden voice gave him a scare, as he looked around him, only to see a great magic hexagram drawn on the floor of the great hall. There was also a huge white wooden board on the wall across him, and there were quite a few names written on it, ranking from high to low. At the top was the title of the Mage, but there were no names below it, only the word ‘Vacant’. After that was the Grand Magician, with only one name below it; followed by Advanced Magicians, Intermediate Magicians and Junior Magicians, there were the most names below the Junior Magicians title. Under the wooden board was a counter, and in the whole hall, there was only the old man wearing yellow colored magician robes behind that counter. It was the old magician who had spoken out earlier.

Ah Dai scratched his head and tentatively asked, “Here, isn’t this the Magicians’ Guild?”

The old magician remained seated and replied, “Indeed, this is the Magicians’ Guild. Please leave, we do not have any magicians here who are willing to become mercenaries.”

Ah Dai was stunned, the old magician before him had thought had he was one of members of a mercenary group. Immediately, he waved his hands, saying, “No, no, I’m not a mercenary. I’m here to take the magician’s exam as well as to receive stipends.” He had finally found the Magicians’ Guild, and he wondered how he would look like when he donned the magician robes.

The old magician was dumbfounded when he heard Ah Dai’s words, “Are you kidding? Do warriors practice magic too? It’s such a rare sight.”
Ah Dai blinked his eyes, and retorted, “Why can’t warriors learn magic too? And, I am indeed a magician! Uncle told me, I should at least be at the level of a junior magician.”

The old magician furrowed his brows, the kid wearing warrior clothes did not seem to joking, but with the TianGang Sword behind his back, he seemed to have quite decent martial arts! So how could he learn magic? Magic was not something that anyone could learn, only those with high natural talent could learn it, even he himself, was only an earth elemental junior magician after practising for so many years. As he had no titles of nobility, he could only be a custodian in this building. Looking at the silly looking kid before him, he did not believe that the kid would be any stronger than him. He waved his hand towards Ah Dai and said, “Come over here.”

Ah Dai stepped forward, walking before the old magician. The old magician carefully sized him up, saying, “No matter how I see it, you look like a warrior. However, since you are willing to accept the exam, then hand over the exam fee first. If you manage to pass the exam, the fee will be returned to you, if not, the money will belong to the Guild.”
Shocked, Ah Dai asked, “There’s still an exam fee? I haven’t heard Uncle mention it, how much is it?”

The old magician held out five fingers, and wiggled them, “Not much, just 5 gold coins.”

Five gold coins, Ah Dai started using his fingers to count. 1 gold coin was 10 silver coins which is 100 copper coins, 1 copper coin could buy 2 steamed buns, so 5 gold coins could buy 1000 buns. 1000 buns? That was enough buns to last him a few months. Stammering, Ah Dai asked, “Uncle, can, can I pay less?”

The old magician hmpf-ed in disdain and snapped, “Less? You want to pay less? There are rules here, if you don’t have the money, then quickly leave. Come back after you get enough money.”

Ah Dai felt for the sack of coins that Feng Ping gave him just now, gritted his teeth, and took out the sack. He hoped that the sack was full of silver coins, so that he could have enough to pay for the exam fee of 5 gold coins. Placing the sack on the table, he loosened the strings, and glanced at the old magician again, before opening the sack. Once he opened the sack, both Ah Dai and the old magician were stunned, this was because, the sack was actually full of gold coins, and there were even 7 or 8 purple colored amethyst coins inside.

The old magician could not help but exclaim, “Looking your shabby clothes, who would have thought that you were so rich.”

Ah Dai did not care how much money he had, as long as he could take the magician exam and become a magician, he would be satisfied in fulfilling Owen’s wish.

Passing 5 gold coins to the old magician, he asked, “Then, can I take the exam now?”

The old magician hmpf-ed, “Who knew that such a shabby looking kid was actually so rich, okay then, wait here for a moment.” As he spoke, he entered a small door.

After a while, the old magician walked out with a blue-robed magician. “Branch leader, this is him, look at the warrior clothes that he is wearing, how can he be a magician?”

The blue-robed magician seemed to be around forty or fifty years old, and he glared at the old magician, saying, “Old Huang, you are getting more presumptuous. Although magicians are a revered profession, you cannot treat people in such a manner! If the other branches knew that we have ruined the reputation of magicians, there will be trouble in store for me. Are you getting tired of being a custodian?”

The old magician immediately let out an apologetic smile, “No, no, branch leader, I know my mistakes, I will definitely not do this again.”

Amiably, the blue-robed magician asked, “Lad, are you taking the magician exam?”

Ah Dai nodded and replied, “Yes, I’ve already paid the fees, are we going to start now?” With the money that Feng Ping had given him, he was thinking of quickly finishing up the matters here, then going back to the steamed bun stall to return the money for the buns. That person had treated him so well, and Ah Dai felt indebted to him.

The blue-robed magician gently smiled, and stretched out his hand to Ah Dai, “Here, take back the 5 gold coins.”

Shocked, Ah Dai hurriedly replied, ”I, I really am a magician! I don’t want the money, just quickly start the exam please.”

Smiling, the blue-robed magician pointed towards the old magician, “Lad, I apologize on behalf of his actions just now, there are no fees for the magician exam. He felt that you did not seem like a magician and purposely made things difficult for you. Take back the money, and I will immediately start the exam for you.”
Ah Dai finally accepted the gold coins from the blue-robed magician’s hands, and carefully placed them back into the sack. Without delay, the blue-robed magician said, “Follow me.” Under his lead, the two of them entered a smaller hall.

The smaller hall was in the shape of a square building. Once he entered, Ah Dai could feel strong magic undulations coming from the four walls and the ceiling.

The blue-robed magician seemed to have sensed Ah Dai’s curiosity as he explained, “This place is for magic examinations, therefore there are magic enchantments placed within the walls. Later, you can just display your full power without concerns. My name is Giger, and I am the leader of this Branch Guild. Okay, you may begin.”

Ah Dai was stunned, start? What was he supposed to do, it was his first time going to a Magicians Guild, so how could he know how the magic exam was like? “Uncle Giger, how, how do I start?”

Giger furrowed his brows, he was the only grand magician in this city, and people would normally respectfully call him Sir grand magician, but the kid before him actually called him uncle, thus he could not help but feel uncomfortable. However, he was usually tolerant, and would not make a fuss with a kid, so he just indifferently said, “You just have to cast your strongest magic spell or the magic spell that you are best at. Whichever element you are, just use the magic related to it.”

“En,” Ah Dai replied. The strongest magic spell that he was good at, should be the fire meteor spell. He recalled the incantations, and was just about to cast the spell, when he realised that Giger was still standing in front of him. With kind intentions, he warned, “Uncle Giger, can you step to the side? I’m afraid of the spell hitting you.”

Giger let out a smile as he said, “Your magic spell will not be able to harm me, just be at ease and cast it.” He was thinking that, with Ah Dai’s age, he was at most a junior magician.

At the same time when Ah Dai was undergoing the magician exam, Feng Ping was feeling extremely regretful in the Mercenary Guild. He paced back and forth in the room, muttering to himself, “I am so stupid! How can I just let Ah Dai go? The deaths of senior or junior brothers are important in the school, no matter what, I need to go back and report. Ahh——, I really am so stupid! No, I must immediately go back and report to the Elders, if not, when there are investigations in the future, I will surely be in trouble. Ah Dai had already left for quite some time, forget it, there’s no time to find him, I’ll just have to report back to the school by myself.” Thinking of this, Feng Ping briefly packed his bags, left some instructions for his men, and immediately got on a horse, speeding towards the city gates.

In the Magician’s Guild back hall.

Ah Dai chanted, “Fire elements filling the heavens and earth! Please bestow upon me your blazing strength, in my name, by thy power, searing flame appear.” With two crackling sounds, two dark blue flames instantly appeared in Ah Dai’s palms.

Giger got a great shock, in order to summon such deep blue flames, one must be at least an intermediate magician. Not daring to be careless, he hastily chanted some incantations, and cast a water protection spell. As he finished chanting, a layer of faint blue ripples appeared before him, instantly blocking the heat from Ah Dai’s flame spell.

However, Ah Dai did not just stop here. His hands slowly clasped together as he chanted in a loud voice, “Arise, orbs of fire!” Using a shocking amount of spiritual force, the blue flames condensed into many small fireballs of 3 centimeters in diameter, floating in the air. A glint flashed across Ah Dai’s eyes as he sent the large sea of blue fireballs towards Giger.

Giger was full of praise, “Good, your fire meteors are pretty strong. Under the protection of water, in thy name, by the power of the water elements in the heavens and earth, condense, ——Ice Wall.” Instantly, a thick layer of white colored ice appeared before Giger just as he finished chanting.

Giger had originally thought that Ah Dai’s fire meteors only contained one wave of power, but he had never thought that, there would be endless fireballs. The relentless barrage of fireballs caused a crack in the ice wall, and it actually started to collapse after a short while. Helplessly, Giger could only take two steps back, and summon another ice wall.

It was not that Ah Dai did not want to stop the fire meteors, but he was too anxious, and under such intensity, his magic force rapidly decreased. The ice wall in front of him blocked all of his attacks, and he could only continue to control his fireballs to attack. He thought that he had to break through the defense in order to pass.

Ah Dai successfully broke apart two ice walls, and when Giger summoned the third ice wall, his magic force finally ran out. His face became extremely pale as the blue flames in his hands gradually dissipated. His body felt weak as a strong wave of fatigue washed over him, causing him to stop and gasp for air. There was disappointment in Ah Dai’s heart as he thought, Why? Why can’t I even pass the junior magician exam?

Giger was even more surprised, although he had caused Ah Dai to finally deplete his magic force, he still had a hard time defending. Of course, it was partly due to the fact that he was solely focused on defense.

Ah Dai lowered his head and muttered, “I, I only know how to use the fire meteor spell, it is the spell that I’m best at. I, I’ll leave first then.” As he finished speaking, he turned around and started to walk away.

Giger immediately stopped him, and asked in surprise, “You haven’t claimed your magician badge and your monthly stipend, why are you in such a hurry to leave?”

Shocked, Ah Dai pointed to himself and asked, “Can I still get a magician badge even though I didn’t pass the exam?”

Only now did Giger realised that, the silly kid before him, who was quite talented, actually thought that he had not passed the exam. Giger let out a smile as he said, “Child, your performance was already very good, with your standards, you’ve reached the intermediate magician level. If you know some grander spells, perhaps you might even reach the advanced magician level. After you go back, you have to consult your teacher, hopefully next time when you return, you can pass the advanced magician review. Child, at your age, apart from the clergy, there are very few people who are able to reach such standards.”

Immense delight filled Ah Dai as he exclaimed, “Are you saying, that I’ve already passed the junior magician qualifications?”

Giger replied, “No, you have passed the intermediate magician qualifications. Wait for a while, I’ll go get the registration form. After you’ve registered, you will officially become an intermediate magician.”
“Thank you, thank you Uncle Giger.”

Giger furrowed his brows as he said, “Don’t call me uncle, call me Grand Magician Giger next time.”

After passing the magician exam, Ah Dai was overjoyed, he had finally fulfilled one of Owen’s wishes. In excitement, he readily exclaimed, “Yes, yes, thank you Grand Magician Giger.”

Giger smiled, and walked towards one of the walls. Chanting some incantations, a blue light flashed, causing a small door to appear. Under Ah Dai’s amazement, Giger opened the door and walked in.
Ah Dai was filled with admiration, thinking, The magic level of Grand Magician Giger was indeed profound! I wonder if Teacher Gliss had that sort of power, after I return, I must definitely work hard and learn more magic from Teacher. To Ah Dai, the fancy magics were much more interesting than dully practising martial arts.

Just as he was immersed in his thoughts, the door towards the main hall suddenly opened, and the old magician came running in, with a look of panic on his face. He glanced at Ah Dai, and asked, “Lad, where’s the branch leader?”

Ah Dai replied honestly, “He told me that I’ve passed the exam, so he went to get the registration forms.”

The old magician was shocked, and there was a tinge of jealousy in his voice as he remarked, “Who would have thought that you were able to pass the exam. Youngsters are really not pragmatic, learning both martial arts and magic, be careful of not being able to master anything ultimately.”

Ah Dai immediately nodded his head and replied, “Yes, my Uncle has said the same thing before, thank you for your advice.”

“Why are you so slow! Does your magicians’ guild have such low efficiency?” A clear voice, like the sounds of silver bells, rang out from the main hall.

The door opened, and there was only brightness in front of Ah Dai, it seemed as though the whole back hall had lit up for the person who had entered. It was a fourteen, or fifteen year old girl, who looked like an angel simply by standing there. Her long, light-blue hair was braided into two plaits, her height was around 1.6 metres, and she was clothed in an immaculate white dress. There were two faint dimples on her fair skin and her glimmering eyes were extremely mesmerising, but there was a faint sense of anger in her expression as she glared at the old magician in dissatisfaction, with one of her hands on her slim waist, while her other hand was twirling a small magic wand that was only about 1 foot long. Ah Dai could not see the wand clearly as she was twirling it, but he could vaguely sense that, it was surely not a normal magic wand. The most unusual thing was that, there was a faint holy qi emanating from the girl’s body, making her seem like a celestial fairy.

Ah Dai was in a daze, he had never seen such an elegant and refined beauty before! If comparing Xi Fei to her, the former was like a firefly while the latter was the bright moon. (totally incomparable) The girl instantly discovered his fixated gaze on her, and immediately used her wand to point at Ah Dai’s nose, while hmpf-ing in anger, “You big blockhead, what are you looking at? Haven’t you seen any pretty girls before!”

Ah Dai lowered his flushed face in embarrassment, thinking to himself, Although this girl is very pretty, she is way too hot-tempered, even more severe than Xi Fei, Yatou is still the best to me.
The old magician smile apologetically, “Little Miss, it’s better for you to wait in the main hall, the branch leader has gone to take some stuff, he will come back soon.”

The girl pursed her lips as she said, “No, I’ll wait here, quickly call him over. Your efficiency is really too slow, if not for this young mistress needing money urgently, I won’t even have come to this lowly place.”
It was at this time, that Giger finally came out from the door in the wall, while holding a pile of stuff in his hands. Seeing the current situation, he could not help but feel shocked, he took a glance at the angry girl before he asked the old magician, “Old Huang, what’s going on here?”

The old magician immediately let out a sigh of relief as he saw Giger, and let out a bitter smile, replying, “I wonder what day it is today, normally there won’t be anyone coming for the magic exam in a whole month, but today, two people came. This…, no, this young mistress wants to take the magic exam too. Since you’ve come, I’ll return to the main hall then.” As he finished speaking, he immediately rushed out.

Giger passed the items in his hands to Ah Dai, saying, “Lad, you’ll have to wait a while, after I’m done testing this girl, I will help you register.”


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