Volume 1: Bo'an Awakening & The Calamity Storm
Chapter 9
Eve of the Examination
Exactly twenty-four hours remained until the Mid-Term Examination of Fenglan Magic High School.
The entirety of Bian’an City seemed to palpably buzz with the escalating heat of the event. At roadside tea stalls and bustling drink shops throughout the streets, patrons fervently gossiped over which prominent clan’s heir would seize the coveted top rank this year, and how many unlucky students would be culled from the elite experimental classes, banished down to the standard ones. For poor, working-class households, this examination was nothing short of a carp leaping over the Dragon Gate—their sole chance to transform into a mythical dragon and overturn their humble fates.
Late afternoon, inside a modest home nestled along South Street.
“Brother Feng, save my life! I’m completely doomed this time!”
A mournful howl echoed in from the alley. An instant later, Chubby Hu’s tubby silhouette barreled into the courtyard like an artillery shell, his tent-sized, plus-size T-shirt utterly soaked in sweat.
Lin Feng, who was sitting under the porch wiping down his bicycle with a rag, looked up and chuckled. “What’s the panic? Is someone chasing you?”
“Who else could it be? Tomorrow’s exam, that’s who!” Chubby Hu collapsed onto the stone steps, panting like an exhausted plow ox. “Damn it all, I sat in meditation for four straight hours last night! The second Star Core of my Earth Element finally stayed put for five measly seconds before—bam!—it broke free and darted off again! Teacher Kang warned that anyone who fails to stably control at least two stars tomorrow will be booted straight down to Standard Class 8! Being dumped into that pit of slackers and troublemakers? My life would be over!”
Lin Feng set down his rag and poured a cup of magical chrysanthemum tea, handing it to his friend. “Drink up and cool off. Entering meditation in such an anxious, fearful state will only cause the Star Cores to push you away even harder.”
“I know that, but how am I supposed to stay calm?!” Chubby Hu clutched his head in agony, his fleshy face twisting into a grimace. “You don’t understand—this morning, Li Peng was parading around boasting that he’s already mastered two stars! He strutted past my desk with his nose in the air like a champion rooster. I was so furious I nearly coughed blood, yet I couldn’t do a damn thing about it!”
Lin Feng patted him on the shoulder and pulled Chubby Hu down to sit cross-legged on the woven straw mat in the courtyard.
“Sit down here and do as I say.”
“Huh? What are we doing?” Chubby Hu blinked in bewilderment.
“Teaching you a trick,” Lin Feng replied earnestly. “When you reach out with your spiritual will to make contact with a Star Core, stop trying to overpower it by brute force as if you’re chasing down a thief. The Earth Element represents mother earth itself; its essence is steadfast, nurturing, and serene. The more you rush and force it, the more it perceives your spiritual will as a hostile invader.”
“Now, close your eyes. Inhale deeply through your nose, let that breath sink down into your dantian, and then slowly exhale through your mouth. Envision your spiritual will not as a binding rope, but as warm, fertile soil, gently welcoming the Star Core to nestle within of its own accord.”
Chubby Hu looked half-convinced, half-skeptical. Yet, seeing the profound, unshakeable confidence in Lin Feng’s eyes, he squeezed his eyelids shut and began regulating his breath according to the guidance.
Sitting beside him, Lin Feng discreetly channeled a wisp of soothing mana from the Primordial Dragon Pendant at his chest, lightly placing a fingertip against Chubby Hu’s shoulder. That intangible, pure warmth was like a gentle spring breeze, softly banishing all traces of anxiety and dread from the chubby boy’s mind.
Five minutes slipped by.
Ten minutes drifted past...
Chubby Hu’s heavy breathing gradually smoothed out, becoming deep, steady, and tranquil.
All of a sudden, Chubby Hu’s body gave a sudden jolt! Across his sun-tanned skin, a faint halo of earthy-ochre stardust suddenly pulsed with rhythmic, harmonic vibrations!
“Holy shit! I... I did it!”
Chubby Hu snapped his eyes open, his round face instantly erupting into stunned ecstasy. “Brother Feng! The second Star Core... it stayed still! It’s resting peacefully inside the Stardust without darting off! Even... even the third star flickered for a brief second just now!”
With that, the fat youth leaped to his feet and swept Lin Feng up into a crushing bear hug, spinning him around. “Heavens above, Brother Feng! What kind of god descended into you?! Your family secret art is unreal!”
“Alright, let go! You’re choking the life out of me!” Lin Feng pushed the hefty boy away with a wry laugh. “Commit that sensation to memory. When you get home tonight, meditate for another two hours to consolidate it. Tomorrow, just approach the exam the exact same way. I guarantee you’ll earn a ‘Good’ evaluation—no one is kicking you down to the standard classes.”
“Thank you, Brother Feng! Once the exam wraps up tomorrow, I’m treating you to a lavish magical beast hotpot feast!” Beaming with delight, Chubby Hu cupped his hands in gratitude and bolted out of the alley like a gust of wind.
Watching his friend’s departing figure, Lin Feng smiled and shook his head.
He turned and stepped indoors. Inside the small chamber to the left, a kerosene lamp still cast a warm, dim light.
Lin Feng gently pushed the door open. Resting against the headboard on a narrow bed by the window, Lin Xiaomo was quietly knitting a grey woolen scarf. Beneath a thin quilt, her legs hung motionless.
“Xiaomo, why aren’t you asleep yet?” Lin Feng walked over and pulled up a stool beside her bed.
“I was waiting for you, Big Brother,” Xiaomo looked up with a sweet, delicate smile, holding out the knitted scarf. “Winter is coming, and Bian’an gets so cold. I knitted this scarf for you. Make sure to wear it tomorrow for the exam so your neck stays warm.”
Looking at the neat, meticulous stitches woven with such devotion, Lin Feng felt an immense warmth fill his heart. He reached out to gently stroke his sister’s velvet-soft hair.
“Thank you. How have your legs been feeling lately? Any aches or pain?”
As he spoke, Lin Feng bent down and gently massaged her toes and ankles, a tender nightly habit he never missed.
“Not at all, Brother,” Xiaomo blinked her bright, innocent eyes, leaning in close to Lin Feng’s ear to whisper like a conspirator sharing a grand secret. “Big Brother, let me tell you something... Over the last few days, I felt my right big toe twitch. Just a tiny, tiny bit!”
“Really?!” Lin Feng was startled, his gaze snapping up to his sister.
“Really!” Xiaomo nodded vigorously, a faint rosy blush tinting her porcelain cheeks. “And... every time Big Brother meditates up in the attic, when I lie down here, I can feel a warm, milky-white light drifting around me. It makes the meridians in my legs feel so comfortable and soothing...”
Lin Feng stared deep into Xiaomo’s pure, luminous eyes, his heart trembling with sudden revelation.
A milky-white light?
That was the unmistakable hallmark of White Magic—the Healing Element!
It all made sense now! Xiaomo’s legs weren’t slowly recovering by sheer fluke; an innate seed of White Magic lay dormant within her body! Whenever he meditated in the attic, the Primordial Dragon Pendant’s purification of the ambient world-energy inadvertently harmonized with Xiaomo’s soul!
“Xiaomo, you must never speak of this to anyone else—not even Dad, understand?” Lin Feng clasped his sister’s frail little hands, his tone firm and solemn.
“Mm, I know. I’ll only ever tell Big Brother!” Xiaomo nodded obediently.
“Good girl. Get some rest now. Tomorrow, your brother will bring home the highest score in all of Fenglan High!”
Midnight.
The attic room was engulfed in pitch-black silence.
Lin Feng sat cross-legged on the straw mat, his eyes firmly closed as his entire consciousness plunged deep into the tranquil expanse of his inner domain.
Within his fiery red Fire Stardust, six Star Cores were aligned in an exquisite arc, blazing with incandescent crimson radiance like a burning crown.
Not far off, the seventh Star Core—the final star—drifted languidly in the void.
Lin Feng took a long, deep breath.
By now, his spiritual will had ascended to its zenith—abundant, steadfast, and towering like an unshakeable mountain standing between heaven and earth!
Ling Bai... Li Peng... Experimental Class 1... Fenglan High School...
Tonight, let my flames awaken in full!
Lin Feng let out a low, thunderous roar in the depths of his soul:
“Seventh star, take your place!”
Boom!
His colossal spiritual intent, fused with the ancient draconic majesty of the Primordial Dragon Pendant, descended in a majestic torrent!
The seventh Star Core shuddered violently. Then, like a blazing meteor tearing through the nocturnal sky of his Sea of Consciousness, it hurtled straight toward the final vacant aperture of the six-star crown!
The distance between them shrank to a mere hair’s breadth...