Byluo secretly tugged at Qian Jin's sleeve and whispered, "Breaking through to Level Ten Mage is enough to instantaneously condense a certain amount of spiritual power, earning the title of Spirit Condensing Mage. Only by surpassing the Level Ten Spirit Condensing Mage tier does one become a Great Mage."

"Level Ten Spirit Condensing Mage?" Qian Jin stared blankly at Byluo. So, Huang Quan was even more formidable than he had imagined! She had completely transformed her spiritual power into true magical force! He hadn't realized he'd underestimated Huang Quan all this time! It seemed that unless one delved into the ways of the mage, one could never truly and completely understand the world of mages.

"Leave your name!" Andrews mustered his courage and looked at Qian Jin. "Today, a student from the Warrior stream has come to our Mage stream area and injured one of our students! Leave your name! If I cannot defeat you, then naturally someone who can will seek you out for a challenge!"

"His name is Qian Jin," Mu Ne Tiance said, tapping his palm with his folding fan, a gentle smile on his face. "In the future, it should be quite easy to find his name on the Warrior Stream's Hundred Battles Ranking."

The magic user students stared blankly at Qian Jin's retreating figure. This man would make it onto the Warrior Stream's Hundred Battles Ranking? If someone else had said this, it could be dismissed as a joke, but the speaker was Mu Ne Tiance, who, in his assessments of any personnel at the Conquest Academy, had never been wrong, earning him the moniker 'Iron Mouth.'

"Hey, you can't just leave like that." The teacher suddenly snapped back to attention and hurried after Qian Jin. "Even if it was self-defense, you must come with me to see the Headmaster. When something like injuring a fellow student happens on campus, if I hadn't seen it, it's one thing, but since I did see it, I must intervene."

Qian Jin looked at the pursuing teacher and shrugged helplessly. If he were facing a teacher like Mosuokunsa, he truly wouldn't care, but this teacher looked like a bookish embodiment of righteousness, making it hard for him to react appropriately.

"Come, come, you absolutely must come with me to see the Headmaster." The teacher grabbed Qian Jin's arm and pulled him forcefully in the direction of the Headmaster's office.

Qian Jin followed behind, looking at this teacher whom he could knock unconscious with a casual gesture, and could only sigh repeatedly. Anyone with a pure and selfless heart deserved respect; even if they lacked strength, it was difficult for him to strike.

Byluo followed quietly beside Qian Jin. The cause of this incident lay with her; no matter how Qian Jin responded to the Headmaster, she was determined to stand by him.

As Qian Jin walked down the path of the Mage Stream, feeling the hostile gazes of the surrounding mage students, he slightly bent down to chat with Byluo. "Is this the life you live every day?"

"Mm."

Byluo remained characteristically quiet and reserved. Looking at Byluo's lowered head, Qian Jin felt a pang of heartache. For three months, this girl had quietly endured the ridicule from everyone around her. That kind of pressure could drive many people straight to suicide, couldn't it? Where was Huang Quan in all this? Qian Jin frowned repeatedly in confusion. The Great Mage who had given his sister all the attention and bestowed infinite glory upon Byluo—what was she doing? Just watching her own sister suffer all these slights while hidden inside Byluo?

"Why don't you move to the Torrent Fortress to live?"

Byluo kept her head down, shaking her head rapidly like a startled rabbit.

"It's alright! I can manage. This mockery means nothing. I will become the greatest mage and prove it to everyone! I cannot retreat; retreating would be letting down my elder sister."

Cannot retreat? Qian Jin looked at Byluo, who appeared timid yet possessed an unwavering resolve. The words his father had spoken that day echoed in his mind: Do not retreat! To retreat is to fail everyone who has invested in this endeavor!

"Oh, right, here, take this." Qian Jin flipped his hand, retrieving the magic core of the Sand Python from his Dou Realm and placing it into Byluo's hand. "Take a close look; it might be helpful to you."

Magic? A magic core? Byluo's eyes lit up as she looked at the large magic core in her hand. This seemed to be the core of a very high-level magical beast! Although the Conquest Academy provided many materials to aid mages in advancing their strength, none of them held a value comparable to this high-level beast core! Fabredis had once said that before reaching Sainthood, his chances of defeating a slightly inferior high-level magical beast were at most one in ten, with even less than a one-in-ten chance of killing it; only after reaching Sainthood did he have a slim fifty percent chance.

What was this? Byluo felt the patterns on the magic core were incredibly peculiar. Observing closely, she nearly cried out in surprise. The lines on the core were merely strange symbols to an ordinary person, but to a mage, their value simply could not be quantified by money! The arrangement sequence of the magical elements! This meant she could learn the legendary innate magic of a magical beast? Usually, the elemental sequence for a magical beast's innate magic was deep within the core.

Opening the magic core without damaging the elemental sequence? In the True Policy Dynasty, the Demon Race, or the Barbarian Race, almost every demon considered this an impossible feat. Although many inscription masters currently existed, they had not given up trying to devise a method to unlock it, yet they could not even flawlessly decompose the magic core of the lowest-ranked magical beast.

The innate magic of a high-level magical beast's core? The value of this... Byluo truly couldn't fathom how immense its value was. Moreover, from a cursory glance, the innate magic patterns on it seemed to be more than just one; it was likely that all the resources she had obtained at the academy combined wouldn't match the value of these few high-level magical beast cores.

"It's useless for me to keep it; it's yours," Qian Jin gently patted Byluo's hand. "Keep it safe; I hear this thing is worth something."

"Value? What value?" Isabella’s voice drifted out from the Headmaster’s office, laced with doubt. Seeing Qian Jin seated in the office chair, her eyes instantly lit up, and she looked toward Byluo with remarkable warmth. "Byluo is here too? Is there something the Academy can help you with?"

Qian Jin frowned slightly as he sized up Isabella. From their last encounter, this Headmaster was certainly not someone who was easily swayed. Especially toward those who couldn't enhance the Academy's strength, she probably wouldn't display such patience. Could it be! Qian Jin's body stiffened momentarily. Had this Headmaster known Huang Quan! That was it! Unless something like that had happened!

"Headmaster," the teacher said, sinking onto the sofa in the Headmaster's office and pointing at Qian Jin. "This student injured Zhuang Yicheng right outside Class One of the first year in the Mage Stream."

"Injured Zhuang Yicheng?" Isabella leaned back leisurely against her chair, showing not even a flicker of surprise. Qian Jin, the Demon-Subduing Warrior from three months ago, could have likely taken out Zhuang Yicheng just by flexing a finger. Injuring him this time was hardly anything significant. At least... Isabella lightly tapped the armrest of her chair. Having witnessed him stubbornly and forcefully severely wound Mosuokunsa the last time, right in front of her and after she had clearly stated her intent to intervene, she understood this young man's temperament. Merely injuring a mage student like Zhuang Yicheng? Isabella smiled; could this be considered that the warrior student named Qian Jin was actually quite considerate today?

"Leaving school on leave for three months, and in this short time since returning, you've already fought twice. You seem quite energetic," Isabella raised a slender wrist and pointed toward the running track outside. "Go down there. You are forbidden from using Dou Qi. Run one hundred laps. Then I will listen to your explanation."

One hundred laps without Dou Qi? Fought twice? The teacher instructing military strategy looked toward Qian Jin, who was heading out, with astonishment and quickly stood up. "Headmaster, one hundred laps without Dou Qi is a bit excessive. I suggest instead..."

"Teacher Qiguo, you don't need to say another word." Isabella waved gently, watching Qian Jin leap off the second floor and head toward the track with a smile. "From the moment he entered the Academy, I have been perfectly clear about everything concerning him."

Qiguo paused, then shook his head self-deprecatingly. This young female Headmaster was completely different from the previous one; how could he have forgotten that point? The Conquest Academy was like a palm in her hand; she seemed to know about virtually everything happening in the entire institution almost instantly. Someone like Qian Jin, who managed to fight twice in one day without participating in the academy duels, naturally could not escape the notice of this Headmaster.

"Headmaster..."

Isabella stood up and sat beside Byluo, lightly patting her shoulder. "I know this isn't Qian Jin's fault. But he was gone for three months. If I don't teach him a lesson, how can I vent my frustration?"

"That's because I..."

"It's fine, one hundred laps won't kill him," Isabella patted Byluo's hand. "I also want to see his true depth after he finishes these one hundred laps. This boy is one of the few students whose true strength I cannot discern."

One lap, two laps... ten laps... thirty laps... Qian Jin ran leisurely on the track, occasionally looking up at the Headmaster's office. The life he had experienced recently had taught him so much; he not only needed Saint-level Dou Techniques but also a large variety of different techniques to enrich himself. This was what the Old Man had repeatedly warned him about when he left the Four Seasons Valley, yet he always felt the Old Man never disclosed the real reason.

"These old people..." The image of Uncle Black appeared in Qian Jin's mind again. "Why do they all love to be mysterious?"

On the vast track, passing Warrior and Mage students looked on curiously at Qian Jin, who was running laps alone. Such a track was usually just for warming up, so why was someone running lap after lap without stopping? One lap, then another... gradually, people began to pause, discerning the peculiarity of this running warrior. There was no release of Dou Qi whatsoever, and his running form constantly shifted—sometimes fast, sometimes slow—relying purely on brute strength to move forward.

Ten laps... thirty laps... Some Warrior students started to stop and observe Qian Jin intently. Many could manage this kind of running. But running for this long without his face reddening, without even a slight gasp for air, and without sweating even a drop—this was beyond the capability of an ordinary warrior student.

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