Volume 1: Bo'an Awakening & The Calamity Storm
Chapter 13
Crimson Shockwave
The cavernous examination hall of Fenglan Magic High School remained awash in the lingering commotion from Ling Bai’s dazzling display. The biting frost released by the Ice-type Magic Stone had yet to disperse, hovering in midair like wisps of pale mist. It served only to accentuate the haughty swagger of the young master of the Ling Clan, who had just secured a stellar Grade A.
“Next candidate: Lin Feng! Examination Pedestal No. 1!”
The mechanical public address system crackled to life, dry and grating, slicing through the noisy din and hammering directly into the ears of everyone gathered below the grandstands.
The instant that name echoed across the hall, the seating section of Experimental Class 1 went dead silent for a split second—only to erupt immediately into a chorus of malicious sneers and snickers.
Lin Feng sat in the very last row of the waiting benches. His fingers brushed gently across the somewhat clumsy stitches of the ash-grey woolen scarf draped around his neck. Xiaomo had spent several sleepless nights beside a flickering kerosene lamp to knit this for him before exam day. That gentle warmth and his little sister’s tender smile felt like an ember burning softly in his chest, filling him with quiet resolve.
He rose to his feet unhurriedly, smoothing down the hem of his faded school uniform.
“Feng...” Zhang Hu, sitting beside him, reached out a meaty hand and gripped Lin Feng’s forearm, his voice choked with anxiety. “Ignore those barking dogs! Just give it your all. Worst comes to worst, you’ll be demoted down to the standard classes with me. We’ll keep grinding together!”
Lin Feng patted the back of his best friend’s calloused hand, the corner of his lips curving upward. “Don’t worry, Chubby Hu. Today... I’m not going anywhere near the standard classes.”
With that, he stepped into the aisle between the rows of seats.
“Well, well, look who’s finally taking the stage! The celebrated ‘rocket genius’ of our class!”
A sharp, shrill voice rang out from the front row. Li Peng leaned against the iron railing, chin tilted arrogantly toward the ceiling. Seeing Lin Feng approach, he deliberately took half a step forward to block the walkway, raking his eyes over Lin Feng from head to toe before lingering on his frayed cloth shoes with an obnoxious snort of laughter.
“Do make sure to light that stone up, Archmage Lin! Try not to leave it as pitch-black as a piece of burnt coal! Young Master Ling Bai just casually lit the Star-Sensing Stone all the way to Grade A, earning nonstop praise from the proctors. If you can’t even get the damn thing to flicker once, think of how pathetic that will be for the teachers! They’d have to whip out flashlights just to search which rat hole your stars are hiding in!”
As the barbed insult landed, several sycophants trailing behind Ling Bai burst into raucous laughter. Surrounding gazes from neighboring classes instantly gravitated in their direction—some driven by curiosity, but far more carrying malicious glee, eager to witness a humiliating spectacle. A penniless commoner daring to squeeze into the elite Experimental Class was, in the eyes of these wealthy scions, an eyesore that desperately needed to be eradicated.
A few paces away, Ling Bai twirled a silver ring on his index finger, a contemptuous smirk playing on his lips. He didn’t even deign to open his mouth. To him, someone like Lin Feng was nothing more than a speck of dust beneath the heel of his boot.
Faced with the poisonous jeers, Lin Feng didn’t slow his stride by so much as half a beat. He brushed right past Li Peng as if walking through empty air, his gaze fixed serenely ahead.
The sneer on Li Peng’s face froze solid, flush crimson with indignance. “Bastard! Putting on airs of lofty detachment? Just wait until that big fat ‘F’ is stamped onto your forehead—we’ll see how proud you look then!”
Lin Feng ascended the polished marble steps toward Examination Pedestal No. 1 with calm, measured strides. The rhythmic thud of his cloth-soled shoes against the stone floor echoed in the quiet hall.
Standing beside the evaluation desk, Homeroom Teacher Kang Mu was sweating profusely from anxiety. Seeing Lin Feng step onto the stage, he hurried forward, his hands wringing tightly.
“Lin Feng!” Kang Mu kept his voice low, his tone trembling with tension. “Stay calm! Just perform exactly as you have during practice. Do not let the pressure scramble your focus. As long as you channel your mana steadily and illuminate two to three Star Cores, you’ll secure your place in the school. Remember my words!”
Looking at the deep concern etched into the poor teacher’s face, the icy resolve in Lin Feng’s eyes softened a fraction. He inclined his head slightly. “Rest assured, Teacher Kang. I know what I must do.”
The lead proctor overseeing Pedestal No. 1—a middle-aged mage wearing black-rimmed spectacles—lightly tapped his mana pen against the desk.
“Candidate Lin Feng, take your position!”
Lin Feng stepped forward to the elliptical obsidian pillar. The surface of the Star-Sensing Stone was smooth as a dark mirror, deep and impenetrable, carved with intricate arcane runes that linked directly to the massive holographic monitoring screen behind the proctors’ table.
“Begin. Place both hands upon the stone, focus your spiritual intent, and channel the mana within your Sea of Consciousness into the core of the stone,” the proctor instructed in a flat, tired voice, dulled by a long morning of routine testing.
Lin Feng exhaled softly. He slowly extended both hands, pressing his palms against the icy surface of the Star-Sensing Stone.
A piercing chill immediately seeped through his skin. Lin Feng closed his eyes halfway, plunging his consciousness deep into his Sea of Consciousness.
An immense, boundless expanse of cosmic void unfurled before his inner sight. At its center, two distinct stardust nebulas revolved simultaneously along their enigmatic orbits.
To the left lay the Lightning Stardust—a savage, tempestuous swirl of deep amethyst. Crackling lightning tore through the ethereal void as seven violet Star Cores flickered aggressively, coiled like thunder vipers poised to strike.
To the right was the Fire Stardust—a blazing expanse of molten scarlet. Searing heat surged like an erupting ocean of boiling magma, its seven Star Cores bonded seamlessly together into an immaculate, flawless Star Path.
Lin Feng understood the brutal law of survival in this world. As a commoner with zero backing, exposing his trump card—his Innate Dual Elements—at this juncture would invite endless peril from shadowy syndicates and the avaricious scrutiny of the Ling Clan.
Lightning Element, sleep!
Lin Feng’s spiritual intent solidified like an iron anvil, forcibly suppressing the Lightning Stardust down into the deepest abyss of his Sea of Consciousness. He locked away every stray violet spark, refusing to allow even the faintest ripple of electric energy to leak outward.
Time ticked by in agonizing silence.
Three seconds... five seconds... ten seconds passed.
The Star-Sensing Stone atop Pedestal No. 1 remained dead and black, refusing to emit even the faintest glimmer of light.
Below the stage, murmurs began to buzz like an agitated hive of hornets.
“What’s going on? It’s been ten seconds without a single flicker!”
“Could it be that he hasn’t even connected with a single Star Core after half a year? Is his mana so pathetic that the stone can’t even register it?”
Standing in the front row, Li Peng brayed with delight. “Hahaha! Didn’t I tell you? It’s nothing but dead honeycomb coal! What are you doing standing up there like a stone statue? Get lost already and make room for someone else!”
Ling Bai shook his head slightly, turning on his heel to leave. To him, continuing to watch was an utter waste of time.
Teacher Kang Mu clutched the edge of the proctor table, his knuckles whitening, his eyes wide with distress. “Xiao Feng... hold on, boy...”
The lead proctor sighed, lifting his pen to record a failing grade. “Candidate Lin Feng, mana threshold insufficient to—”
Before the words could fully leave his mouth—
BOOM!
A muffled, earth-shaking detonation—like thunder rolling through the subterranean bedrock—erupted violently from the core of the Star-Sensing Stone!
Lin Feng’s palms remained planted firmly against the obsidian face. Within his Sea of Consciousness, with the Lightning Element completely locked down, every ounce of his spiritual consciousness converged upon his Fire Stardust!
No more holding back!
Right against his chest, the Primordial Dragon Pendant suddenly pulsed with ancient, primordial vigor, accelerating the surge of magical energy to breakneck velocity!
All seven scarlet Star Cores blazed in unison! A torrent of pure, unadulterated Fire mana—surging like a catastrophic deluge pent up for ten thousand years—roared along the completed Star Path. It poured down his arms, surged through his ten fingertips, and flooded recklessly into the Star-Sensing Stone!
ROAAAR——!
The deafening howl of elemental fire tore through the vast examination hall!
The Star-Sensing Stone shuddered violently upon its pedestal, and the marble floor beneath Lin Feng’s feet cracked with fine, web-like fractures!
From the very heart of the black stone, a blinding eruption of crimson radiance burst forth like a descending sun! This was no feeble glimmer of nascent mana—it was a blazing, incandescent supernova so brilliant it dyed the entire examination hall in deep, bloody scarlet!
“Ah! My eyes!”
“It’s too bright! What the hell is happening?!”
Thousands of students and instructors instinctively raised their arms to shield their faces. Countless onlookers squeezed their eyes shut as the searing brilliance stabbed into their retinas, leaving their vision engulfed in a blinding red haze.
Ling Bai had barely taken two steps when the violent glare illuminated the back of his neck. Startled, he whipped around. But the moment his eyes locked onto Pedestal No. 1, the blazing crimson inferno stabbed into his vision like burning needles. He was forced to throw up an arm to shield his face, his pupils contracting violently in shock!
Simultaneously, a terrifying shockwave of scorching heat rolled outward from the stone in every direction!
The air inside the hall, previously chilled to the bone by Ling Bai’s ice magic, skyrocketed into an oppressive swelter in the span of a single breath. The atmosphere around Lin Feng distorted and warped under the searing thermal distortion! Heatwaves billowed outward like asphalt baking under a merciless summer sun. The grey woolen scarf wrapped around Lin Feng’s neck fluttered furiously in the thermal gale, yet the young man stood rooted to the platform like an ancient pillar driven deep into the bedrock.
The ancient arcane runes carved across the surface of the Star-Sensing Stone flared with such an intense crimson glow that they seemed on the verge of shattering, emitting shrill, overloaded shrieks!
Down in the front row, Li Peng felt the blistering heatwave slam directly into his face. His jaw dropped slack, his eyes bulging as his knees shook uncontrollably. His mocking laughter choked in his throat, replaced by sheer, suffocating terror.
And yet, the shockwave was far from over!
Amidst the roaring sea of crimson radiance, points of celestial light began to condense across the surface of the Star-Sensing Stone at a frightening speed!
The first Star Core flared to life!
Then the second! The third! The fourth!
Four brilliant stars of fire materialized with absolute clarity, their luminous intensity far surpassing ordinary testing benchmarks!
The lead proctor at Pedestal No. 1 dropped his mana pen onto the floor. “Four... four Star Cores!” he stammered, his voice trembling.
Clang!
The fifth star erupted with blinding brilliance, its radiance matching the peak of Ling Bai’s celebrated achievement!
Below the stage, Ling Bai’s face turned deathly pale. His ten fingernails dug into his palms until blood nearly welled. “Impossible... How could a penniless piece of trash possibly...”
CLANG——!
Another sharp, metallic chime rang out like a war bell!
The sixth star ignited with ferocious intensity! Its crimson fire completely outshone the previous five, driving the luminance of the Star-Sensing Stone to a tier never before witnessed in the history of Fenglan High School’s midterm examinations!
“Six stars?!” Teacher Kang Mu’s legs turned to jelly; he had to cling desperately to the table just to keep from collapsing. “Heavens above...”
And then, before thousands of breathless, petrified gazes, the purest stream of mana poured forth from Lin Feng’s palms one last time!
BOOM!
The seventh star—the ultimate sovereign star of a Tier 1 Novice Mage—ignited with sky-piercing brilliance!
Seven scarlet Star Cores burned like sacred flames, connected together by an unbroken, flawless thread of incandescent crimson light!
Seven blazing stars arrayed proudly across the surface of the Star-Sensing Stone, forming a complete, immaculate Star Path!
CRASH——!
The sharp sound of shattering porcelain smashed through the dead silence!
Up on the highest VIP rostrum, Principal Qin and the entire panel of senior evaluators had bolted to their feet in unison! The violent reaction sent the heavy rosewood table shaking, knocking Principal Qin’s prized purple clay teacup off the edge. It crashed against the stone tiles below, shattering into pieces as scalding tea splashed across the floor!
Not a single soul paid the ruined tea any mind.
Principal Qin and the venerable proctors stared with wide, stupefied eyes at the blazing Star Path burning atop Pedestal No. 1, where the impoverished youth Lin Feng stood tall amidst a roaring sea of crimson light!
Seven Star Cores linked into a Star Path!
The sole, undeniable hallmark that a mage had fully mastered the ability to cast magic!
A destitute student, devoid of resources, without a clan’s backing... had completed a Star Path barely half a year after his Awakening?!
The entire examination hall plunged into a suffocating, terrifying stillness. Nothing remained except the roar of magical energy and the scorching heat billowing continuously from Pedestal No. 1...