Mu Zhuoyun was known for being benevolent by not making Zhang Ye's entire family drop to the point where they'd have to beg for food!
"Zhao Kunsan, could you shut your mouth?!"
"What, did I say anything wrong?" Zhao Kunsan replied.
Zhang Ye glanced at Zhao Kunsan.
Truth be told, the words he spoke made Zhang Ye feel guilty. This matter was far from what he imagined the reality to be.
Some people understood things only after they had grown up. Some teased the students with bad grades, but a rich family, that was a silly thing. After entering the society, the ones with money went overseas to study and came back with an incredible diploma. They could easily find a company and earn a tens of thousands per month, and they'd still think it was too little money. Whereas those who had diligently studied, entered university, then submerged themselves in a multitude of jobs still had a quality of life that was simply not on the same level as those who were teased for their family background. Their ideal world was erased; they lost their spirits, yet remained tired, and still more poor than a freaking dog.
The words Zhao Kunsan had said did, however, make people understand that his mindset was more mature than his peers. He already knew it'd be better like this than mindlessly pursuing his goals. Or else, failing the dream, and the cruel reality would cause you to lose all the ambitions from the past in just a single moment; it would be an unacceptable nightmare!
Naturally, Zhang Ye had no reason to admire Zhao Kunsan's perspective on reality. Instead, he felt like laughing.
"Zhao Kunsan, you sure have the potential and consciousness to be a dog. That is something I, Zhang Ye, would never be able to have in my lifetime. I admire that; I truly do!" Zhang Ye said back to him.
"Who the hell are you. If I am a dog, then I'd be a posh dog, eating good food, living in a small pretty house, wearing beautiful clothes. You're just the dog of a dying family; a degenerate dog. A dog that eats from the trash. Why don't you look at what kind of thing you are, with your body that emits the stench of a garbage heap? The most amusing thing is, you still don't understand how stinky you are yet. You just had to ruin the last land of your family simply so you could come to the Magic High. But at the end of the day, you just get kicked out anyways. I just want to ask your dad, if he ever regrets giving birth to a person with such shit luck, like yours!" Zhao Kunsan continued to curse.
Zhang Ye's cursing had actually directly struck Zhao Kunsan's weak points. However, Zhao Kunsan wasn't someone who was easy to deal with; he admitted he was a dog and bit Zhang Ye back.
Zhang Ye looked toward the group of people.
Naturally, his eyes caught the vague person who seemed to somewhat take pleasure in this whole ordeal; this person was naturally Mu Bai.
This was the young master who lived on someone else's charity; the same one who Zhang Ye had pressed down onto the floor and beaten up in the past.
In the past, when everyone was still a child, their retaliation would at most be throwing stones, breaking their windows… fairly harmless actions.
But now, a person's fate would greatly change under the Magic Awakening and Magic Examination. The Mu Bai who suddenly rose up had finally been given an opportunity to hitZhang Ye back.
For now, Mu Bai had released this dog, Zhao Kunsan. Zhang Ye, however, had been plotting for a while, and he'd waited for a more better opportunity to give a ferocious cut.
Not bad, not bad. The kid who was beaten like a dog in the past had finally learned how to scheme. It seemed that disciplining him like a father for so many years had not been in vain.
'Come, use whatever move you have in your arsenal.'
'I have more than enough experience dealing with these flamers and posers. I have never lost. To fight meanness with meanness, and seek revenge for the smallest grievance, not letting them get away!'
"Alright, stop being so loud. The examination begins now. If there is any more noise coming from any of you, then you'll lose your qualifications to take it!"
"Just thinking about the expression on Lady Mu Ningxue's face at seeing you being expelled in front of all of the students and teachers, I reckon she would definitely regret wanting to run away with you in the past selfishly," Mu Bai didn't feel a need to conceal his objectives anymore as he whispered these sinister words into Zhang Ye's ear.
"Your mouth smells like crap. I can't handle this stink; don't get close to me," Zhang Ye used his hand to block him.
The corner of Mu Bai's mouth twitched.
'I'll let this kid be arrogant for a while more yet!'
In the past, Zhang Ye had held Mu Bai on the ground as he fiercely beat him up in front of Mu Ningxue. Since then and for the rest of his life, Mu Bai would be unable to raise his head in front of Mu Ningxue; even now, he still felt ashamed.
....
Today, he, Mu Bai, planned on letting Zhang Ye suffer even worse.
Being expelled in front of the entire school and Mu Ningxue… In this society where Magic was the ultimate authority was reason enough for Zhang Ye to be ridiculed and looked down upon by Mu Ningxue. When he return to his family, how is he going to explain this to his family who sold their house just so he could enter Magic High, when he returned?
Unqualified students being expelled during the annual examination was a very common matter.
Being expelled wasn't something announced to the entire school. The school wasn't likely to be that unkind.
However, there was one exception where the school would directly announce the expulsion. That would be when the magician's magic hadn't shown any progress at all!
Under normal circumstances, after the students had awakened their magic, they would properly cultivate it every day. Even the more clumsy people would slowly make their magict glow, and develop their magic capabilities unless the student was too lazy to do so!
In order to punish this type of student, who wasted the awakening resources and magic books, and to help make the other school students understand that cultivation was not a child's game where you could waste your time, the school would publicly announce the expulsion of a student whose cultivation was far too low.
This kind of public announcement might not happen every year, and it was set up to encourage the students who took the back door to enter the school.
During the start of this school semester, the entire class conducted a rough examination. At that time, Zhang Ye's cultivation was practically at zero. Xue Musheng almost made a public slandering of Zhang Ye in a fit of fury.
Now, the school semester had ended, while also entering the most important annual examination.
If things went according to the calculations, then Zhang Ye's cultivation would be very likely approach the line of public expulsion.
Naturally, to prevent a miscalculation, Mu Bai and his uncle, Mu He, had also prepared a big present for Zhang Ye.
This big present was enough to put Zhang Ye out of bounds, giving him the honor of receiving the punishment the school hadn't given for three years.
The most fortunate thing was that Mu Ningxue and Mu Zhuoyun would also be present to view this scene!
Mu Bai felt much happier just thinking about it.
Today was the day to show himself off, and from that day on, soar through the sky with high status. It was also the day for that cheap Zhang Ye to be humiliated. 'How great, how great!'
...
"The Annual Examination will now officially begin!"
All of the thirty classes in the school began simultaneously.
The process of the test was actually very simple. You just had to place your hand on the Magic Appraisal Stone while everyone, including the examiners, watched. Then, you concentrated to enter a meditative state, and at that time, the Magic Appraisal Stone would emit the same radiance as the examinee's magic. They would then assess the level of the cultivation based on the radiance.
Every student had three attempts.
The final result was based on the attempt with the brightest radiance.
Naturally, the more the student concentrated on it, the more the Magic Appraisal Stone would accurately display the radiance of the student's magic.
The order of the examinee's was random. The first examinee naturally happened to be that weeping beauty, classmate He Yu, who was already standing at the front.
The girl was still that timid; she was still extremely shy as she walked to the front of the Magic Appraisal Stone under everyone's gaze. She looked as though she was scared of being expelled.
"You may begin," the bald examiner said.
"Good luck He Yu! Your teacher and your fellow classmates believe in you," Xue Musheng said.
"Don't worry if you don't do well; I will take care of you," the nutjob of a dorm head, Jian Hua said.
He Yu was feeling shy as she closed her eyes; she then placed her small hands on the massive Magic Appraisal Stone.
The entire class suddenly turned silent. Their eyes were attentively watching the girl who was taking the first test, and it seemed as though they were more nervous than the examinee.
For some reason, Zhang Ye felt a change in He Yu's temperament after she began her test. Her expression turned serious; although she was nervous, she wasn't frenetic.
The black Magic Appraisal Stone gradually emitted some radiance from within. In the beginning, it looked like the early sunrise. Following He Yu's intense focus, the radiance gradually spread around the Magic Appraisal Stone, causing the radiance to fill the surroundings.
"A!"
"A!"
"A!"
In this moment, the three examinee's practically announced the results simultaneously.
"Classmate, it's done. Your final result is an A!" the bald examiner said without an expression on his face.
He Yu opened her eyes; she looked as though she was unable to believe it, before she excitedly said, "Re… really? I got an A?"
Although the scene of a girl happily yelling out she got an A was strange, they had no choice to admit that He Yu's final results gave everyone a surprise.
"I… freaking hell. A?! That's the standard for entering the Elite Class!"
"I'm speechless. Before the test, she was sitting there wailing endlessly. We really thought she was drifting on the borderline of being expelled, but as the final results came out, she freaking got an A!"
The homeroom teacher, Xue Musheng's expression was stiff. He was deceived by the female teacher who acted all cute. However, having the first one to take the test and get an A made Xue Musheng feel happy overall.
All the grades will be summed up, and after that, the thirty classes will compare the average grades. Xue Musheng felt like his own class had the potential to reach the top three.
The biggest competition was the class next door, class 7. With that Lightning Element kid, Xu Zhaoting, who knew how much of a difference there would be between the classes? However, what he wished for was the most outstanding student in his class, Zhang Ye, to not be inferior to Xu Zhaoting in any respect.
"Next one, do you want to partake the test?" the bald examiner said, as he looked at He Yu.
He Yu shook her head in haste as she said, "I've only grasped little magic so far, so I'll let it be."
"Alright. We'll use the evaluation from your other teachers to decide which class you'll be placed in," the bald examiner said.
"Thank you, teacher."
He Yu walked out, happily. Originally, she wanted to share this joy with the friends next to her, however, she realized the friends were all a meter away from her. She was puzzled by this.
She didn't do anything wrong; her grades were pretty good, right?
"Next, Zhang Xiaohou," the examiner announced the name.
Zhang Xiaohou couldn't help but be surprised. He didn't think it would be his turn so soon.
"Brother Ye, I'm going," Zhang Xiaohou said to Zhang Ye.
"Mhm, do your best, and stay calm," Zhang Ye replied.
"You shouldn't be advising other people; hearing it makes me wanna puke," without fail, Zhao Kunsan followed, saying this.
Zhang Ye was puzzled. 'Is this Zhao Kunsan on a stalker mode and conversation denial mode? How is it possible that he would just pour cold water along with everything I do?'
Zhang Xiaohou glanced at Xu Musheng, and then took one glance at the Practical Teacher, Tangyue.
"Do your best, teacher believes in you." The one who said this was the Practical teacher, Tangyue.
Zhang Xiaohou nodded as he walked to the side of the Magic Appraisal Stone.
Closing his eyes, Zhang Xiaohou adjusted his breathing and slowly entered a meditative state.
The radiance emitted from the Magic Appraisal Stone flickered; it followed Zhang Xiaohou's breath as it brightened and dimmed. It was easy to tell that Zhang Xiaohou was slightly nervous, which explained why the Magic Appraisal Stone was unable to grasp the energy from his magic.
However, Zhang Xiaohou slowly entered the meditative state.
At last, the radiance stabilized. The cyan colored radiance from the Wind Element covered the surroundings of the Magic Appraisal Stone, and the radiance was superior to He Yu's. Other than being a bit unstable, there was no other fuss about it.
"A!"
"A!"
"A+!"
The three examiners seemed to have different views regarding it.
"Teacher, let me try one more time."
Zhang Xiaohou didn't seem pleased with this result; thus, he once more entered a meditative state.
This time, he was considerably calmer.
The intense radiance covered the Magic Appraisal Stone's surroundings; it was apparent that it was much stronger than He Yu's. Additionally, there didn't appear to be any unstable flickering from it anymore.
The three examiners glanced at each other and nodded.
"A+"
"A+"
"A+"
"Final results, A+!"
After they announced the results, the students of his class all showed shock and envy.
"Crap, A+! That's a grade that secures your place in the Elite Class! This kid, Zhang Xiaohou's lifestyle, is just mediocre, so who would've thought that his cultivation would be so amazing? We were mistaken; we really were mistaken."
"That's really amazing! If I could get A+, then my dad would immediately gift me a car!"
Xue Musheng and Tangyue, the two teachers, gave a slight smile as they nodded their heads. Their eyes were filled with praise.
Zhang Xiaohou had always been an outstanding student to them, thus, having this kind of result was well within reason.
"Classmate, you're done. We will assess accordingly…" the bald examiner was about to announce the final result.
"Teacher, I'd like to attempt the next test," at this moment, Zhang Xiaohou's expression was firm, but his face showed a shyness as he said this.
"Are you sure?" the examiner asked, a bit surprised.
"I know that the higher you place in the rankings during the Annual Examination, then the longer you will get to use the Magic Tool. Thus, I'd like to take the Activation test," Zhang Xiaohou said with certainty.
Xue Musheng and Tangyue maintained the smiles on their faces. They already knew that Zhang Xiaohou had reached the level of Activation.
The examination consisted of two parts.
The first part was the Magic test.