Volume 4: Chapter 10 – The 10 Great Masters

When the bell signalling the end of school rang, I slowly began to wake. While Mu Zi was still packing up her desk, I happily smiled at her and said, “Can I treat you to a meal? How was the lesson today? What I said made the teacher speechless!”

Mu Zi coldly replied, “Who would want to eat with you? You would only ruin my appetite. Besides, everything you said was false. The teacher just didn’t want to fuss about you.”

I showed a wronged expression. “How was it false? Those were my results from a long period of research. What’s so scary about me treating you to a meal? Let’s go together!”

Mu Zi coldly snorted and walked away without looking back at me.

I thought, why are you playing so hard to get, even though your looks are just average? I will definitely make you fall for me, just wait for it.

There was still time before dinner so I went to chat with Ma Ke in the dormitory and taught him some magic. After dinner, I did my everyday routine of cultivation: I slept.

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Once I awoke, I felt very refreshed and full of magic power ready to be used at any time.

Just as I was about to go and look for him, Ma Ke arrived. “Ma Ke! Are you interested in a spar with me? My body is itching for one!”

Ma Ke instantly shook his head. “That’s not necessary! My level of magic can’t be compared to yours so how would that even be a competition? And I don’t want to be bullied by you. If you really want to fight, it’s not that difficult. You just need to challenge the top ten ranked students of the school.”

“The top ten ranked students of the academy? What’s that?”

“This academy has a ranking system. Those who can get themselves ranked are the top experts of the academy.”

“How do you get ranked?”

“That’s really easy! You just need to challenge a student who has a higher rank than yours. If you win the match, you will get that person’s rank and the ranking below that position will shift.”

“Do you have a rank?”

Ma ke proudly exclaimed, “Of course I do! I am currently fifth ranked.”

Ma Ke was only fifth ranked despite his level. It was clear that the academy had numerous talented students. This sparked my interest. “Who else is in the top ten rankers?”

Ma Ke said, “The top ranker is a year 5 student who specialises in earth magic. He is extremely powerful. You should know that earth magic is generally good at defense, but bad at offense. However, not only does that person have an impregnable defence, but his offensive power is also even more unpredictable. He is extremely hard to deal with. I’ve also fought against him before, but even I couldn’t break his defense. He should at least be at the magic scholar level. You should go and directly challenge him. If you win, you will be the top ranker in this academy. He is known as Si Wa Ming.”

I curiously asked, “What about the rest of them?”

Ma Ke explained, “The second ranker is someone you know. He is big brother Hai Ri. He is extraordinarily gifted. In the past few years in the Advanced Magic Academy, he rapidly improved himself; even his fire magic is slightly stronger than mine. Basically, there isn’t much of a power difference between the top ten students. Who do you think is the third ranker?” Ma Ke gave me a secretive look.

Who was it? Did I know that person? It was probably Hai Shui. Her skills slightly exceeded those of her older sister, Hai Yue, so I decided that she would be my answer.

“Is it Hai Shui? Her Absolute Disruption and Water Dragon’s Chant should be more powerful than before.”

Ma Ke shook his head. “Hai Shui’s is a rank lower than me at sixth.”

“If it’s not Hai Shui, then who else could it be? It couldn’t be that scion of the Ri family right?”

When I mentioned him, Ma Ke’s expression darkened, but he still continued to shake his head. “Although he is powerful, he is only one rank higher than me at fourth.”

“Ah~ I definitely won’t be able to guess it. Those were all the students I know so just quickly tell me, who is the third ranker?”

Ma Ke grinned and said, “You know the third ranked person; she is none other than the girl who sits beside you, Mu Zi Mo.”

I said in shock, “I wouldn’t have thought that it would be her. She didn’t seem that powerful. This is too unbelievable!”

Ma Ke smiled and replied, “Why is it unbelievable? Mu Zi is a very low profile person, but her wind magic is the best I’ve ever seen. Her magic control is greater than mine. She is definitely at the magic scholar level. If it wasn’t for Tu Ke Feng, it’s possible that the first rank would be hers. When I first attended this academy, I lost when I fought against her during the newcomer students’ battle event. I was not satisfied with the outcome of the battle, so I challenged her many times afterward, but lost every time. Now I don’t dare to duel with her. If you challenge her, I’ll treat it as you helping me take my revenge.”

I sighed. “You didn’t know about this, but today I wrote her a love letter.”

Ma Ke jumped in surprise and shouted, “What?! You actually wrote her a love letter! Although Mu Zi’s magic power is strong, her looks are just ordinary. She is also the academy’s well known ice princess. The last person who tried to court her faced a terrible outcome. Why did you choose her? You should have chosen Hai Shui. I don’t think that Mu Zi deserves to be your girlfriend!”

I laughed before telling Ma Ke the motive behind the love letter. Ma Ke suddenly understood what was going on. He lifted his thumb. “Boss, the stunt that you just pulled is exceptional. I am impressed. It also serves as a way for me to settle my grudge. Ha ha, don’t worry! I definitely won’t tell anyone about this.”

“Let’s head back to class! I will decide who I want to challenge after school.”

During the lesson, I did the same thing as the day before. I took out a paper and frantically wrote on it. It read: Mu Zi, I was extremely surprised to find that you are the academy’s third ranker. To prove that my power matches your strength, I have decided to challenge one of the other top ten experts of the academy. Can you cheer me on? Right now I’m just falling more and more in love with you... (The rest of the letter’s contents were typical of what one would write to his girlfriend. I shall not waste my time by writing all of that down.)

Just like the day before, after I wrote the letter, I gave it to Mu Zi. She coldly looked at me and did not take the letter. “You are just too bored.”

I tried to give the love letter to her again. “Just take a look, this is important! If you don’t read it, you will regret it.”

Mu Zi glared at me before skimming through the letter. Her face started to turn red, perhaps because what I wrote was too corny. It seemed that I still stood a chance, so I need to be even more serious.

It was just too bad that my letter was treated extremely terribly. She crumpled it into a ball, but this time she did not throw it back to me.She just directly threw it out the window.

I instantly became mad at her. I stood up and shouted, “It’s fine if you don’t accept me, but you can’t just toss my love letter away?! I have sincerely written that letter!” After my outburst, the classroom dissolved in uproar.

Shoot! I realized I was still in class. Mu Zi’s face paled and her lips seemed to start to shake.

Teacher Si Lan Yu, who was standing at the lecturer’s platform, said, “Zhang Gong, what are you doing? This classroom is not a romantic place for you to confess your love.”

I apologetically said, “Sorry Teacher Yu, I will pay more attention next time, but just now, Mu Zi tossed out a paper out the window. For the cleanliness of the academy, can you please give me permission to retrieve it?”

Teacher Si Lan Yu stared at me before erupting in laughter. “Go ahead, you mischievous kid!”