When the water wave nearly swept the students and some teachers who hadn't reacted in time toward the exit, Director Xiao finally stood up from his seat.
As soon as he raised his hand, the water first stopped flowing, freezing in place, then began turning into magical water-element mist, gradually dissipating into the space.
Even the students' soaking-wet clothes quickly regained their dryness. Though professionally applied makeup and fancy hairstyles even such a great mage couldn't restore, so the appearance of most of the girls present turned from beautiful swans into toads. Some guys even jumped away from their girlfriends in fright, not recognizing them in their new look.
That's why, realizing this, they began glaring at me menacingly, covering their faces with their hands. I even got chills down my spine—and I'm an ice-element mage with the best possible Spiritual Seed!
Girls are truly terrifying when angry; I'd rather fight a half-Commander-in-Chief than face their collective hateful stares again. I hope they don't give me a title like "Illusion Destroyer" or even "Women's Enemy."
Noticing Ai Tutu's narrowed gaze as she fixed her ruined hairstyle, I quickly looked away, as if I hadn't noticed her. Damn, in the heat of the moment, I really forgot about her—I'd need to apologize properly.
Finally, when everything settled, Director Xiao announced with a barely audible sigh:
"Since Mu Bai has brought the number of defeated mages from his faculty to two hundred, and considering the previous conditions, I must inform you that the resources of all faculties in the green campus for this year, from first to fifth course, will be given to the first-year Summoning faculty." His words created the effect of a bombshell.
"Director, he clearly cheated!"
"Yeah, he shouldn't have had enough magical energy!"
"I don't believe he's at the third tier of Mid-level!"
"This clan mage clearly came to deprive us ordinary mages of a chance to rise!"
"I demand the results be annulled! My father won't let this stand!" Draco, is that you?
"He's a cheater!"
Mournful cries, insults, requests to review the results, even pleas. All this filled the spacious hall, drowning it in noise.
Some students, who had torn their guts out to get into one of the country's best magic universities for its resources, collapsed powerlessly to their knees. They had vacant stares, as if their dreams had been shattered.
I might have even felt sorry for them if I didn't know that kind Director Xiao wouldn't leave them without resources. That's just the kind of guy he is—he'd marinate them in despair for a couple of days, teaching a valuable life lesson, and give resources from his own pocket, even if I refused to trade the ones I fairly won.
"Quiet!" After the Director's loud shout, silence fell in the hall.
"Do you think Mu Bai cheated?" he asked.
Numerous cries of agreement answered him. The students refused to believe in such a huge power gap between peers.
"Do you think Mu Bai is a clan mage?" The Director asked the second question.
Even louder cries of agreement followed. If not everyone was sure about cheating, 99.9% of students agreed I belonged to some clan. Especially with my surname and strong ice element. Their logic was simple: clan mage = lots of resources = strong mage.
And I couldn't say there was any flaw in that logic. The overwhelming majority of China's strongest mages are clan mages, or they rose up and founded their own clans. There are few strong unaffiliated loners, and most of them are in some state structure. Like the Magic Tribunal or the army.
Raising his hand, Director Xiao achieved complete silence again and spoke:
"I can confidently state that the answer to both questions is no." As the students were about to protest again, the Director raised his hand once more, and everyone shut up.
"I can assure you of this, as someone who personally saw his personal file. He's from the city of Bo that made headlines a year ago. Moreover, his file has notes about helping evacuate civilians and clear the city of monsters." The students had no counter to that argument.
And I, somehow, even got embarrassed—it's nice to be praised, though not unexpected. After all, I terrorized the military myself to make sure they noted it and asked for reward money. Good thing there's no note about greed in the file, or they'd have highlighted it in bold, circled it in red, and underlined it three times.
Looking at the students who had shut up but were still dissatisfied and unwilling to accept reality, the Director continued:
"I know you're wondering—'Then how did he achieve such strength if he's clanless from a small city?'" The students nodded eagerly, ready to hear the answer to their inner cry.
"Well... I don't know myself." Hearing his answer, a multitude of students choked on their saliva. Interesting—is the Director venting after my antics, or is he just an old troll by nature?
"But I think Mu Bai will share that secret with us himself. If he wants to, of course." He passed the buck to me.
The students turned their eyes, burning with interest, to me. Of course, I could tell them to get lost, but when else would I get such a perfect chance to legitimize my wealth in the form of a pile of souls for strengthening stars and seeds, plus artifacts I'd show in the future?
"Hearken to me, unenlightened ones! For I am about to reveal my main secret to success!" After my pompous words, the students instantly perked up their ears. They really wanted to know the secret of such a strong clanless mage's power.
"My secret is... that I found a sugar mommy!" Did I hear crickets chirping and see a tumbleweed?
"You're wondering where I got such a reserve at the second tier? Simple! I strengthened all 49 ice-element stars first with Servant souls, then Pack Leader ones! That totals about one billion three hundred million yuan!" The stunned crowd couldn't utter a word at those figures.
"You're guessing why my magic is so strong? I'll tell you! Because it's boosted by a Spiritual Seed on the verge of Soul-grade! That costs about a hundred million yuan, if you can even find it on the market!" The sum was more modest here, but it hit their brains that for that money, you could buy five Spiritual Seeds instead of one.
"And finally, you don't understand how my summoning creature can be so strong? Elementary! My Bula consumed resources totaling four hundred million yuan, including plenty of Spiritual Seeds!" Now the students looked at Bula with eyes saying, "They spend more on a pet than on me!"
"And that's me quoting minimum prices! Buying in bulk would push total costs to two billion yuan!" These words finally finished off the students, and they started looking at me like regular folks look at a gold toilet. That is, with eyes saying, "Why the hell spend on that!?"
With that money, you could buy two of the most expensive Spiritual Seeds with strong domains, and still have enough left for a good artifact. Even a High-level mage would be thrilled with such things, yet they squandered this sum on a Mid-level mage.
"My sugar mommy is called Tang Yue! She's the niece of the chairman of the Magic Tribunal! When she was on a mission in Bo City, she immediately fell for my handsome face! The very day we met, she made me an offer I couldn't refuse." I covered my face with my palm and lowered my voice a bit, as if I was deeply ashamed.
"To survive in this dangerous world, I made a deal with my conscience and sold her my body in exchange for material patronage. But you know... I regret nothing! She's a bit old for me, but her tits are magnificent! And the results speak for themselves—I crushed you geniuses from across the country without even breaking a sweat! I think it was worth it! That's all I have to say!" Now I looked at the audience with a proud gaze of superiority and my head held high. It was clear I felt no shame whatsoever.
Seeing the hall drowning in a bizarre atmosphere, with many guys and even some girls showing thoughtful expressions, Director Xiao hurried to wrap up the event:
"Ahem, this is a somewhat unconventional way to get stronger, but it has its place. I think you've learned today's lesson and stopped suspecting Mu Bai of cheating. You may disperse; your faculty instructors will hand out schedules and lead you to the dorms. Mu Bai, follow me to my office for your reward." After shooing away the students, Director Xiao beckoned me and led me to his office.
As the jubilant Mu Bai strode after the director, imagining how he'd haggle for a massive stay in the Three-Step Tower in exchange for the earned resources, he didn't notice the sharp gaze Ai Tutu fixed on his back.
Weather forecast – Expect a huge influx of hot students from the magic university onto rich widows and widowers. If you're a wealthy widower or widow, choose carefully; the flood is real.