The final month before the Bo City year end examination arrived quietly, as though the entire school had entered a breathless wait. Snow still clung to the roof tiles in the early morning. Frost mist lay thick above the training grounds. The winter wind carried the faint scent of pressure and ambition.
Three months had passed since the awakening ceremony.
Three months where everyone believed the same simple truth.
Mo Fan had fire.
Lu Jun had metal and water.
Xu Mang had lightning with a questionable attendance record.
And Lu Mei was the elegant upperclass mage who occasionally visited to check on her brother.
But the quiet truth hiding beneath the surface was far more shocking.
Lu Jun's Breakthroughs
Lu Jun's cultivation had always been steady, almost gentle.
But on the twenty ninth night of winter, something in his spiritual world suddenly stirred.
His Metal stardust pulsed first.
A single spark turned into a trembling star.
The trembling star ignited into a roaring silver burst like a blade ringing across the heavens.
The moment the star stabilized, his Water stardust responded as well.
It rippled like a river struck by moonlight, split apart, and then merged again in a powerful surge.
Metal: Novice Three Star.
Water: Novice Three Star.
A dual breakthrough, perfectly synchronized.
Lu Mei had been watching from the hall. Even she, an intermediate mage, had widened her eyes for a moment.
"He really is the bearer of the White Tiger Pendant," she whispered before returning to her calm demeanor.
Xu Mang's Breakthrough in the Ice Plane
Everyone thought Xu Mang skipped classes because he was lazy.
But far away in the Summoning Plane lay the Ice Territory, a land colder than the deepest regions of Antarctica.
A land where even intermediate beasts froze in their sleep.
There, deep within an ancient glacier, Wolfie finally opened its eyes.
Its small body was wrapped in a storm of white frost.
Ice crystals floated like feathers around it.
The emperor bloodline inside the little wolf pulsed once.
Twice.
Then—
BOOM.
A pillar of pure white frost erupted into the sky, splitting the frozen clouds.
The breakthrough from Servant to Warrior was like a star exploding in silence.
Ice runes formed naturally along the cub's claws.
A faint crown of frost flickered behind its head. He grew from 4 metres to 8 metres.
Wolfie: Warrior level.
Even the glacier trembled as though bowing to a young monarch.
Far away on Earth, Xu Mang opened his eyes from the summoning trance. His spiritual world shook violently before expanding outward like a deepening ocean.
Summoning Element: Intermediate One Star.
His breath misted white even though his room was warm.
Wolfie's advancement had pushed him across the boundary.
Xu Mang stood, exhaling a long breath.
"Good. The year end exam will be interesting."
Mo Fan's Hidden Advancement
Mo Fan had practiced silently, away from crowds and away from suspicion.
Every day he forced the fire energy to compress, refine, and settle into perfect control.
Every night he practiced lightning with the help of Little Loach, suppressing the glow so no one would sense it.
One winter evening, while the town slept, both of his stardusts trembled at the same time.
Fire stardust burned brighter.
Lightning stardust crackled like a sealed thunderstorm.
Then—
A soft but heavy boom echoed through his spiritual world.
Fire: Novice Three Star.
Lightning: Novice Three Star.
But Mo Fan immediately suppressed his aura until he looked like a mere Novice Two Star student.
No one could know.
Not yet.
Yu Ang's pride had to be crushed at the right moment.
The Coming Final Examination
The school buzzed as the year end exam approached.
Teachers whispered about rankings.
Students bragged about improvements.
Everyone believed the top spot would go to either Mu Bai or Mo Fan with his "fire."
No one had the faintest clue what Lu Jun had become.
No one had any idea where Xu Mang really had been.
No one had seen Wolfie's frost crown.
And absolutely no one knew Mo Fan carried a second storm inside him.
Bo City Magic High was walking unknowingly into the most explosive final exam in its history.
A new storm was about to arrive.
And it had three centers.