“Alright!”
Ning Zhu smiled, bidding farewell to his grandparents.
In this life, his parents had both died when he was five, leaving him an orphan. He had moved into the Teapot Orphanage.
When the orphanage was demolished at thirteen, he moved here, and three years passed in a blink of an eye.
It was time to move again.
The weak could not decide their own lives, but the strong at least had the right to choose.
Depart! To the Mirage Tower! To become stronger!
Following the direction in his memory, Ning Zhu weaved through the streets and alleys, quickly finding a platform paved with black bricks.
“Hello, I’d like to take the special car to the Outer City.”
“Outer City?”
The ticket seller scrutinized Ning Zhu up and down.
Seeing him holding a bamboo umbrella in broad daylight, he calmly said, “Ordinary people cannot leave the inner city.”
“You look young, could you be a top student from the academy?”
“Something like that.”
Ning Zhu nodded, handing over a button-shaped ID card and five rice-sized crystals:
“I need to report to the Mirage Tower, and today is the last day. Please arrange an express special car for me.”
“Please wait.”
Upon hearing the words “Mirage Tower,” the ticket seller’s expression tightened.
He used a glove-shaped metal device to scan the button ID card, and after confirming that the information sealed within was correct, his attitude became respectful:
“Your reservation has been made. The express special car will arrive within three minutes.”
“Okay.”
Ning Zhu retrieved his ID card from the ticket seller and began to wait.
One minute and five seconds.
A tremendous sound of iron hooves thudding on the ground came from afar, dust rolling, and a redwood carriage screeched to a halt in front of Ning Zhu.
“Whinny, whinny, whinny… Who called this car? Get in, get in! We’ll depart immediately!”
The speaker was a magnificent white horse.
Its entire body was covered in triangular white scales, its hooves struck the ground, stirring up strong winds, its nostrils flared skyward, spewing hot air. Tall, strong, and irritable—that was Ning Zhu’s first impression of it.
Species: White-Scaled Horse
Evolution Level: Late Disadvantageous Species
Talent: Rough Scales / Swift as the Wind
One-Star Skills: Accelerated Dash (Mastered) / Sharp Turn (Minor Attainment)
—
This was a Magic Coffin, a magical creature transformed from a human.
Therefore, it could both use the physiological structure of a magical creature to emit monstrous roars;
And also use the “Soul Whispers” that a Magus must master, to conduct normal conversations between humans.
Ning Zhu put away his bamboo umbrella and climbed into the carriage.
“Hold on tight! Let’s go!!”
The White-Scaled Horse only gave Ning Zhu three seconds to react, then kicked off with its hind hooves, launching forward.
Instantly, strong winds poured into the carriage, disheveling Ning Zhu’s short hair. A unique coolness and exhilaration continuously stimulated his brain.
He squinted, looking out the window.
The ancient streets flowed like a moving scroll, leaving behind illusory afterimages.
Occasional glimpses revealed the warm and mundane daily lives of ordinary people. Aside from the lack of advanced technology like the internet, high-speed rail, cars, or airplanes, it was largely similar to an old town on Earth.
But this was only the inner city of Mangcao City.
As the ninth-ranked large city in the Da Luo Dynasty, Mangcao City had a population of over a million.
Among these millions, mortals accounted for ninety percent, all residing in the safest inner city.
Once one ascended to the transcendent class and became a Magus, they could go to the Outer City and even the suburbs, embarking on a new journey.
“Clip-clop, clip-clop—”
The White-Scaled Horse was not skilled in endurance, but the distance from the inner city to the Outer City, which was almost custom-made for it, was just enough for it to show off its prowess, maintaining peak speed from start to finish.
A moment later, they passed through a towering city wall.
There were no more children playing on the streets; instead, the passersby were vibrant young men and women, and quite a few formidable mercenaries and adventurers. The change in atmosphere was instantaneous.
“Charcoal-grilled Red Wolf meat, free samples!”
“Frozen Bear Eggs, good for yin and yang, last portion!”
“Anti-static snake skin coat, specially for thunderstorms…”
In the shops along the street, a palm-sized red fox stood in front of a stove, spewing fire to cook oil, the sizzling sound of roasting meat tempting appetites.
Next door, at a clothing store, a curvaceous and sexy cat-girl batted her eyes, enthusiastically inviting male customers to try on strange clothes inside.
A little further away was a nail salon, a huge establishment where a group of Magi with beast-like Magic Coffins resembling wolves, bears, and leopards had already formed a long line, patiently waiting for their nails to be trimmed.
…
Ning Zhu was dazzled.
After a while, the White-Scaled Horse gradually slowed down, and a shout rang out:
“Here we are, here we are, get off the car.”
Ning Zhu awoke as if from a dream, responded, leaned half his body out of the carriage, opened his bamboo umbrella, and quickly got out.
“Whinny!!”
The White-Scaled Horse snorted, stretched its long legs, and clip-clopped away.
Ning Zhu looked up at the sharp spire reaching into the clouds on his right.
This was the Yanwu Tower—one of Mangcao City’s landmark buildings.
It was located in the center of the Mirage Tower, serving both as a teaching venue for students and instructors, and also allowing for observation posts to be set up on its top floor to promptly detect anomalies in “Gates” within a five-hundred-mile radius of Mangcao City.
“Seven fifty-five?”
“Although it seems there’s no concept of being late for reporting, going early will at least leave a good impression…”
Ning Zhu saw the clock hanging on the Yanwu Tower, paused his steps, and then… broke into a jog!
Their current location was near the west gate of the Mirage Tower.
At the entrance was a large arched gazebo, with a banner displaying the words “Admissions,” which was very conspicuous.
Ning Zhu only saw a female instructor dozing at a desk; all the other dozen long tables were empty, and there was no one else around. He had no other choice but to walk towards her.
“Hello, Instructor, I’m here to complete the reporting procedures.”
“Reporting?”
“Today’s the last day, so logically there shouldn’t be many people coming… And so early in the morning…”
Lin Yanyan, whose attempt to slack off had failed, rubbed her eyes. Her bewildered brown pupils gradually sparkled with vitality.
She straightened her back, adjusted her posture, and scrutinized Ning Zhu, who was folding his bamboo umbrella, from bottom to top, her brows unconsciously furrowing:
“Our Mirage Tower… only students of Pseudo-Earth Grade and above are exempt from the entrance examination.”
“For ordinary Human Grade, the elimination rate is extremely high, averaging two out of five… Are you sure you’re ‘direct reporting’ and not ‘taking the exam first and waiting for notification’?”
Human Grade, Pseudo-Earth Grade, Earth Grade, Pseudo-Heaven Grade, Heaven Grade—
The talent and potential of a Magus were largely determined by the quality of the Magic Coffin within their body; that was innate and could not be changed later.
“Confirmed.”
Ning Zhu took out his button ID card and calmly explained:
“My internal Magic Coffin has Pseudo-Earth Grade potential, but I spent a lot of time sealing a more suitable magical creature, which is why I’m late.”
“Oh, that’s understandable then…”
Lin Yanyan verified Ning Zhu’s personal information while her brows relaxed:
“It seems you’re really lucky.”
“Every year, all eligible pre-Magi of age undergo the unified corpse sealing on this day in mid-year.”
“The optimal period for corpse sealing is only one hundred days. If you miss it, even if you succeed by chance, it will be difficult to have room for further advancement in the future.”
“For you to complete the golden three steps on the very last day, luck, talent, and effort… none could be lacking.”
“If you came tomorrow, you wouldn’t be able to enter the Mirage Tower. You’d only be able to go to the three ordinary academies—Martial Arts, Tianhe, and Chunqi. Although you could still learn some things, you understand that their resources are limited and not suitable for cultivating elites…”
Lin Yanyan chattered on, taking a finger-thick golden scroll from a drawer and slowly unfurling it.
She then dabbed some blood-red liquid from a nearby jar onto her hand, and gestured towards Ning Zhu with her chin:
“Data shows that your father was a Third-Stage Magus during his lifetime, making you a ‘High-Grade Hunter Orphan’.”
“Mangcao City has a special support policy. As long as you enter our academy, all welfare benefits will automatically be raised by one level, on par with Earth Grade.”
“Now—transform into your Magic Coffin. I need to record your initial form; it’s a simple procedure.”