"Well, what if I want to know more about the summoning element? As far as I know, it's very powerful." - Mo Fan objected, shrugging his shoulders.
"You could read books." - Xu Zhao Tin said spatially. "Jiaxing Yun, you were supposed to submit your documents to Minzhu a week before the exams, weren't you?"
"Yes, I sent them by mail and recently received an invitation for the theoretical exam." - I said calmly, shrugging my shoulders.
"You're enrolling in the wind faculty, right?" - Mo Fan asked, leaning on a chair. "Your skills will be quite unique."
"No, I'm going to enroll in the lightning faculty." - I said indifferently. "And I think I'll hide the fact that I know wind magic, I don't want anyone to know about it."
"What?!" - They said in unison. After that, Mo Fan added. "Okay, me, there are few people in the summoning faculty and there are special admission rules, but why did you decide to enroll in the lightning faculty?"
"And why did you decide to hide your strongest element?" - Xu Zhao Tin asked. "Won't that make your admission more difficult?"
"No, I understand that he wants to hide his strength, but not to such an extent!" - Mo Fan, who also planned to hide his strength, objected.
"I think it's better for me this way. The wind faculty won't teach me much. I've chosen a completely different path than what's taught in Minzhu. To follow this path, I need a special teacher. Even your Asura, probably, would be suitable. But alas, they are hard to find. And lightning magic is standard for me, so I will be able to learn a lot of useful things there." - I said, spreading my hands.
"I see, but still, it will be almost impossible to get in with your level!" - Xu Zhao Tin said confidently. "The minimum requirement for admission is the third stage of the initial level!"
"Well, I've spent a lot of time cultivating lightning, so it's almost reached the third stage. I think if I show excellent results in the theoretical part, they might take me." - I said, thinking slightly. "Everything will be decided by the interview. If I can't get in, then I'll say I'm a mid-level mage, I just decided to choose the lightning faculty because I liked it more. So I think I can get in."
"I see, you've thought everything through." - Mo Fan grinned. "It's obvious, you're my brother!"
"Are you sure about your knowledge? Have you been studying all this time?" - Xu Zhao Tin asked with slight doubt in his voice. "I heard that the theoretical exam is very difficult, even more difficult than the practical one."
"Well, the practical one consists of measuring your magical energy, as well as releasing magic. What could be easier than that? They won't pit us against monsters." - I said, then after thinking a little, I added. "Although if they put us against monsters, then it would have been even better."
"Why is that?" - Mo Fan asked in surprise, looking at me questioningly.
"Because, individually, we can definitely kill any monster no higher than a mid-level servant." - Xu Zhao Tin replied.
"I see." - He said, scratching his head. "Then Jiaxing Yun, how about a training battle?"
"Are you sure you can handle it now?" - I doubted, looking him up and down. They hadn't had time to wash and change since they arrived. "In any case, I need to study, so I'll return to the rented apartment with Jiaxing Er soon. She also needs to cultivate, as it will be problematic to get into school, given her past, which means we need to prepare for university admission."
"Alright, then another time." - Mo Fan said, trying to appear indifferent, but in reality, he was quite upset.
After that, we talked a little. Jiaxing Er was talking with Jiaxing Xia at that time. What they talked about is a mystery to me. Jiaxing Er didn't want to tell, and I was too lazy to use the contract to find out. Why pry into women's secrets? I'm not a masochist, if you please. Returning to the rented apartment, I, as I said, began preparing for the exams. Of course, I lied a little that I had been preparing all this time. Due to mastering the master's tempering method, I had absolutely no time to prepare for the exams. But thanks to the books and Pin Zhou Lun's assignment, as well as my knowledge, which I had acquired before, I had some confidence that I would pass the exam easily.
I spent all the remaining time preparing, reading books one after another, memorizing everything in them. Truly, I absorbed a huge amount of knowledge in the remaining two days. I intended not just to pass this exam, but to be the best by a significant margin. No, this did not harm my stealth. I only slightly came into the field of vision of the faculty dean and director Xiao. Such attention was only to my advantage. If I don't interest them, I won't be able to count on being selected for the student competitions at the imperial university. And only then will I be able to obtain the blood pearl without significant losses. And if an unknown person gets the maximum score in theory, but is somewhere in the middle, closer to the beginning in practice, then he will be an interesting, but nothing more, young man. After all, practical skills are valued more than theoretical ones. Jiaxing Er also didn't sit idle all this time, continuing to practice her tempering technique and diligently cultivating.
After two days, I met with Mo Fan and Xu Zhao Tin and went to Minzhu for the exam. Jiaxing Er stayed home to practice, and Jiaxing Xia left to enroll in the university in Huangzhou. The canon strove to happen; it was from there that she would be taken to the Parthenon, where after seven years, maybe more, she would become a fairy, and at the same time end the Black Church. Mo Fan went for an interview in a separate корпус, while Xu Zhao Tin and I went to one of the classrooms in the faculty building of the lightning faculty to write the theory exam.
The room was quite spacious, with a teacher's desk on a small podium, a blackboard behind it, and individual desks with chairs arranged in five rows in front of it. In total, the classroom was designed for forty people. Remembering my life, I thought that this was quite a lot. I had only seen such large classrooms at MSU, although there were even larger ones, only with tiered seating. The teacher was not there yet, but there were other applicants. There were about ten classrooms in total, and if we assume that all the others also had forty seats and all of them were occupied, then about four hundred students with the lightning element are applying to Minzhu this year. Of course, not all of them will pass, but it's still quite a lot. In the corner stood a group of mages around an elegantly dressed young man. As soon as we entered, we heard their conversation.
"Why should I take the exams on a general basis?" - the elegantly dressed guy complained. "I belong to the rich and respected Bai family of Shanghai! I have the right to be admitted bypassing all other ordinary mortals!"
"Come on, if these stubborn people from the university leadership don't let us in as we should, then we, members of influential families, should set an example for the commoners and be the best." - said a richly dressed guy standing next to him.
"Exactly, boss Bai Feng, you will be the best in the exam results. I heard that the top ten in the exam results will receive special resources for cultivation." - chimed in a fawning guy standing nearby. "Mr. Shen He, you will be second in the lightning faculty in the new корпус."
"Naturally." - Shen He grinned. "Boss Bai is, of course, smarter and stronger than me, right? As I know, dear friend Bai Feng, you can already create a star map, am I right?"
"Hahaha!" - Bai Feng laughed. "You have outdated information, friend Shen He. I can already create a star map and spend less than twenty seconds on it!"
Xu Zhao Tin and I stood silently watching this scene. He had a rather amused expression on his face, probably thinking that he was stronger than these arrogant scions of rich families. I, on the other hand, was trying to remember where I had heard of Bai Feng. He was clearly involved somewhere in the original, but I couldn't remember where exactly. I only knew that he belonged to one of the four strongest families in Shanghai, the Bai family. Also, in Shanghai, there are the Mu, Dong Fang, and Zhao families. The most interesting thing is that the offspring of all these families will soon be studying here. Only the Zhao family will be represented indirectly, Zhao Man Yan, after all, he is the son of the clan head.
We didn't pay much attention to that group. Let them be arrogant, as long as they don't bother us. We calmly chose our seats, closer to the board, and sat down next to each other. No, of course, we weren't going to cheat off each other, it was just easier to talk like that before the exam started. Soon, the group of rich boys got tired of talking in their corner and headed to sit at the desks. They approached a girl who was sitting alone. She had long hair tied in a ponytail, she was quite cute, but nothing special.
"Move away from here, my brother Bai Feng and I chose this spot." - Shen He grinned, leaning on the desk where she was sitting.
"But, I sat here earlier..." - she replied uncertainly, looking around at everyone present.
"I'll go sort it out." - Xu Zhao Tin said, standing up. "I don't like these guys, but I hate it when they bother the weaker ones."
"Okay." - I shrugged. There was no particular problem with this, it was even a little interesting.
"Wait, get away from her!" - Xu Zhao Tin said confidently. "She was sitting here earlier, choose another place."
"Huh? Who has graced us with their presence?" - Shen He asked with a grin, Bai Feng just cast an arrogant glance at him. "Get out of here, and quickly."
"What if I don't leave?" - Zhao Tin asked, also grinning, without a trace of fear. "You see, I'm a simple guy and I don't like it when beautiful girls are bothered by those who are not worthy of them." - he said confidently, it was clear he liked this girl. I wonder who she is?
"Who are you anyway? An ordinary guy without support will never reach the mid-level of magic, friend Bai Feng will defeat you with one hand." - one of the lackeys interjected.
"Yeah, get out of here quickly, and maybe I'll forgive you." - Bai Feng said, what an arrogant type, however, this is becoming more and more interesting.
"I think you'd better leave." - Xu Zhao Tin smiled. After training with Mo Fan for almost five months, I think ordinary first-stage mid-level mages are no more than a warm-up for him before a truly interesting game.
"How dare you!" - Shen He took a step forward, starting to form a lightning star path in his hand. Xu Zhao Tin's response was not long in coming. He simply grabbed his opponent's hand and twisted it so that he almost tore it from its socket. Naturally, the star path immediately collapsed. At such close range, Zhao Tin doesn't even need magic to deal with all of them, ha. Studying in Minzhu will definitely be fun. So, what was in the canon about the Bai family? I think we can work with them.
"How could you..." - Shen He gritted out, pulling his hand from Zhao Tin's grip, or rather, he let him do it. "Who are you anyway?"
"I already said I'm an ordinary guy, nothing special." - Xu Zhao Tin grinned, putting his hand in his pocket. A barely perceptible killer aura emanated from him, having killed quite a lot. A slight shiver ran through everyone present, and they silently stared at this spectacle. I wonder what would happen if I showed them all my aura?
"We'll talk to you later." - Bai Fan said, stepping aside. Apparently, he still had a bit of sense, as starting a showdown during an exam was clearly not the best idea.
"What's your name?" - Xu Zhao Tin asked with a smile, sitting next to the girl, then looked at me with an awkward smile. I just waved my hand, saying I didn't mind and continued to watch them.
"My name is Zhang Lu Lu, and yours?" - the girl asked, and I felt like I was struck by lightning. I knew, of course, that the canon strives to happen, but clearly not to this extent!