Magic City Shanghai

Mo Fan could only shake his head.

There was simply no future left for Bo City. Who could say whether the Wing-Azure Wolves might come swarming back — the military couldn't post a permanent garrison there. The city had only ever grown into even a modest settlement because of certain unique local resources, and those resources had been almost entirely plundered by the Black Church. Most critically, the Earth Sacred Spring — the most precious of them all — had been drunk straight by Mo Fan himself.

That particular incident had seen him called in for "tea" more than once. Even so, Yang Zuohe, Mu Zhuoyun, and Zhankong had all refrained from pressing the matter too hard. Whatever anyone thought of the spring, Mo Fan's role in keeping Bo City's survivors alive was impossible to deny.

"Mo Fan, you're a grown man now — I'll follow your lead, son. Wherever you decide to go, that's where we'll go." Mo Jiaxing told him.

"Let's head to Magic City," Mo Fan said without a moment's hesitation.

The greatest city in the south was, naturally, Magic City Shanghai. Back when he'd still lived in a world of science, he had always dreamed of making his mark in that sprawling metropolis. In this world of magic, Magic City Shanghai had to be the destination every Mage across the country longed for.

"Shanghai housing prices are brutal. Let me go check whether there's any resettlement housing set aside for us Bo City folks." Mo Jiaxing said.

Xinxia had nothing to add. Wherever Mo Fan went, she went.

It wasn't long before Mo Jiaxing came jogging back, grinning ear to ear. "Would you believe it — there actually is a resettlement complex in Magic City Shanghai reserved for Bo City people. If everything checks out, I'll go put our names down."

No time to waste. The three of them packed up in short order... though there wasn't much to pack. The house had already been sold, after all.

In hindsight, Mo Jiaxing had shown remarkable foresight — as if he'd somehow sensed disaster coming well in advance. He'd offloaded the property without looking back, and good riddance to it.

The entire city of Bo City had since been absorbed by the military. Mo Fan couldn't help wondering what Mu He, Bo City's biggest real estate magnate, must be feeling about all of this right now.

They took a car to Xiamen — the nearest major city — then boarded a high-speed train heading for Magic City Shanghai.

"One thing I've been wondering — if a Demon-Beast wandered onto the rail line, what would happen?" The thought floated up in Mo Fan's mind as he sat looking out the window.

"The railway lines all fall within the Safe Zone. They're protected by barrier formations." Xinxia explained.

"You know, this is actually my first time traveling this far from home." Mo Fan scratched the bridge of his nose, a little sheepish.

"Mo Fan, you're like someone who got dropped into this world from somewhere else entirely. There are so many basic things you just don't know." Xinxia tried to hide her smile.

"Well, I actually *do* come from a world of science — where schools don't teach boring, dull magic, but instead teach genuinely fascinating scientific theory. They explain every natural phenomenon through science. Nothing like this place, where magic is basically considered superstition!" Mo Fan delivered this with the solemn conviction of a man stating an irrefutable truth.

Xinxia blinked at him, looking as though she hadn't witnessed anyone spout such utter nonsense with such a completely straight face in quite some time.

"What rubbish are you going on about? Students like you, who can't be bothered to apply yourselves, sitting around fantasizing about some unmagical 'science' — without the great pioneers who dedicated their lives to exploring magic, you'd have none of your household appliances, your computers, or your transportation. Never mind sitting aboard a high-speed train — a colossal locomotive driven by a Lightning Element spell array. You have absolutely no respect for history. No respect for those who came before you!"

The voice belonged to an elderly man seated next to Mo Fan — black hair, black beard, and an unmistakable air of authority.

Mo Fan sat there, thoroughly unsettled.

He had honestly thought three years had been enough to adapt. But the moment the old man mentioned that the train ran on a Lightning Element spell array, he couldn't help feeling that his brain had quietly stopped cooperating.

"Pay him no mind, sir — my son just loves to say strange things. Don't take it to heart. Are you heading to Shanghai as well?" Mo Jiaxing, ever the natural conversationalist, immediately launched into friendly chatter with the old man.

"Indeed. I finished a symposium in Xiamen and I'm on my way back."

"From the way you speak, sir, might you be a professor?" Mo Jiaxing pressed.

The old man stroked his beard, a flicker of amusement settling into the corners of his eyes. "History professor at Pearl Academy."

Mo Jiaxing's expression shifted at once, the warmth in his face deepening into clear reverence.

Mo Fan turned to look at the old man with the black beard, genuinely surprised.

*Pearl Academy.*

The institutions that had been Shanghai's crown jewels in his previous world — Jiao Tong University, Fudan — had no real equivalents here. In their place, Pearl Academy stood alone at the summit: the Magic University that every Mage across the country dreamed of attending.

If the Bo City disaster had never happened, Mo Fan's plan had been to sit the entrance examination for Pearl Academy. As it was, the mass relocation of Bo City's population had become a logistical undertaking of staggering scale, and most students were being subsidized to spend another year at other schools before entering the next Magic College Entrance Examination cycle.

Magic high school had nothing more to offer someone who had already reached Intermediate Level. What Mo Fan needed now was a Magic University.

Awakening Stones for a Second Awakening were extraordinarily expensive — and the things were generally controlled by schools, the Magic Association, the military, and prominent noble families. Even the black market couldn't always turn one up.

Upon reaching Intermediate Level, Mo Fan would not only gain access to Intermediate-Level spells in both the Lightning and Fire Elements — he would also be entitled to a new Awakening.

So once he reached Magic City Shanghai, his first priority was finding an organization that could facilitate his Second Awakening. The most natural choice would be joining the Magic Association; at his current level, gaining membership shouldn't be an issue... but Pearl Academy was equally compelling.

The Magic Association was a mature, well-established institution. They had their own Mages to cultivate, fixed responsibilities, and an orderly system for distributing resources. An Intermediate-Level Mage walking into the Magic Association branch of a city as major as Shanghai might not actually stand to gain all that much. Going through a magic school was probably the smarter play.

Magic schools, after all, were fundamentally built around nurturing talent — and when it came to resources, they rewarded results.

He'd need to ask around and find out whether Pearl Academy offered any special intake programs — whether a Mage with his particular gifts... his gift for... for charming women... ahem, his gift for Lightning Element, would receive any preferential treatment.

And speaking of which, wasn't there a Pearl Academy professor sitting right beside him?

"Sir, does Pearl Academy have any kind of special recruitment?" Mo Fan asked.

"Special recruitment?" The old professor looked Mo Fan up and down — he appeared completely, unremarkably ordinary in every possible way. "Unless a candidate has demonstrated truly exceptional achievement in a specific area, Pearl Academy simply doesn't operate on that basis." He studied Mo Fan a moment longer and asked, "You're hoping to get into Pearl Academy?"

"That was the original plan."

"Then take the entrance examination like everyone else and stop thinking about special recruitment. Pearl Academy draws the finest and most promising students from across the entire country. Standing out from tens of millions of candidates is already something quite remarkable." the professor said.

"So — does the special intake exist or not?" Mo Fan asked directly.

"It does, naturally. But I genuinely don't believe it's something an ordinary person could accomplish."