Xuefeng Mountain Waystation
They boarded the bus and drove through a vast stretch of wasteland outside the city. Before long, mountains and forests rose into view on all sides.
The forests were lush and deep — nearby, branches spread thick with leaves and undergrowth tangled in dense mats; further off, peaks jutted at irregular heights beneath a heavy canopy of cloud.
"See that lone peak standing apart from the rest? That's Xuefeng Mountain — it marks the boundary of Bo City. The waystation sits in the valley between Xuefeng Mountain and that ridge over there, the Leiyu Mountain Screen." Luo Yunbo began pointing out the landmarks to the students.
"Bo City is a mid-tier place, in all honesty. The first-tier cities — the great Magic City, the great Imperial Capital, the great Demon Capital — the borders of their Safe Zones wouldn't be called 'waystations' or 'little forts.'" Pan Lijun, the deputy instructor with hair cut no longer than a finger, remarked.
"So, since you two deal with demon-beasts all the time, you must both be Intermediate-Level Mages?" Wang Sanpang spoke up.
"Intermediate-Level?" Pan Lijun swept Wang Sanpang with a withering look, her voice cool. "You think Intermediate-Level Mages would come to babysit a bunch of little brats like you?"
Wang Sanpang didn't appreciate that and muttered, "So you're both just Basic-Level Mages — nothing so great about that either."
Wang Sanpang was the classic open-mouth-insert-foot type. But rather than taking offense, the two instructors simply exchanged a glance and smiled — clearly finding his remark too naive to bother with.
The bus wound deeper and deeper into the mountains over the better part of a day.
Mo Fan hadn't spent that time idle. He sat at the very back of the bus the whole way, maintaining his Meditation.
He and buses seemed to share a peculiar bond — the last time he had completed the seven Star Motes of his Lightning Seal had also been during a bus ride.
This time, he could feel his Fire Element reaching toward something.
The Loach Pendant functioned as a Stardust Artifact, dramatically multiplying his available cultivation time. A full year had passed since the annual assessment, and Mo Fan had noticed that beyond his Stardust simply growing larger and more radiant overall, the Star Motes within his Fire Element Stardust had undergone a distinct change.
Before, if you had described those Star Motes as light that flickered and wavered, now they burned with steady, unwavering brilliance.
It was said that once Star Motes underwent a clear luminous awakening, the magical energy they could channel would swell considerably, and the effects and potency of skills would strengthen in kind.
He had spent an entire second year of high school pushing this refinement forward.
*I wonder what a more powerful Fire Burst will feel like. Can't wait.*
Xuefeng Mountain Waystation finally came into sight.
The term "small fort" had done it no justice at all — this was no ramshackle village.
On both sides of the waystation, sheer cliffs rose a hundred meters into the air, so steep that you had to crank your head straight back just to catch a glimpse of sky. Those cliffs formed natural walls, and both ends of the narrow valley road were sealed by a pair of enormous stone gates. The entire waystation was a fortress town wedged snugly between the peaks.
"So this is Xuefeng Mountain Fortress." Zhang Jianguo stepped off the bus and gazed up at the towering guardian gates, unable to suppress a swell of admiration. "They say that aside from flying demon-beasts or high-tier ones with serious climbing ability, this fortress can hold back the vast majority of threats from ever crossing into the Safe Zone. In all the years since the waystation was established, there hasn't been a single report of a demon-beast attack inside the border."
"Teacher, I heard these guardian stone gates were built by Bo City's own Zhang Yuheng — a famous Earth Element mage and architect. They say nothing below Intermediate-Level magic can even dent them?" Zhou Min asked, ever eager to learn.
"That's right. They look a bit weathered on the outside, but they're every bit as sturdy as steel." Zhang Jianguo walked at the head of the group, holding a small flag marked for Group Three — looking for all the world like a tour guide leading students through an ancient city.
Before long, the buses for the other four groups arrived one by one, and all one hundred of Tianlan Magic High School's top students were assembled beneath the shadow of those immense stone gates.
Guard posts flanked both sides of the gate. At one of them, an off-duty mage was idly playing with a small flame in the cup of his palm. The fire moved like a well-trained pet — dancing nimbly between his fingertips, occasionally spiraling around his body in slow, graceful loops — elegant and strangely mesmerizing.
Mo Fan noticed immediately, something stirring in him with quiet excitement.
The control this man had over fire was incomparably more refined than his own. *I wonder how hard his Fire Burst actually hits.*
"Hey, Boss Zhankong! What brings you down to gate duty today?" Luo Yunbo craned his head back and called up with a grin at the Fire Element mage playing with his flame.
"Nothing better to do. Heard a batch of high school girls was coming through — thought I'd come take a look." The man called Zhankong didn't bother concealing his intentions, smiling without a trace of shame.
Nearby, Zhou Min's brow furrowed — she had already noticed him sizing her up.
"Oh my, he's *so* handsome."
"Right? Not even close to anyone at our school. So much more... *manly*."
"And honestly? Points for the honesty."
A clutch of the more lovestruck girls immediately lost their composure, erupting into whispered chatter.
"Now now, little miss, don't frown at our Boss Zhankong," Pan Lijun said — this from the deputy squad leader who normally showed little warmth for students. Even her voice carried a trace of admiration for the stubble-jawed Zhankong. "He's one of the real powerhouses around here."
"Zhankong — I know that name." Zhang Jianguo craned his neck to look up, voice rising with enthusiasm. "The Fire Element mage with the highest demon-beast kill count at Xuefeng Mountain Waystation! I've long admired your reputation, sir!"
"All he did was kill a few demon-beasts — not like that's anything special," Wang Sanpang muttered.
"Suppose it's not." Zhankong, stubble and good looks entirely intact, leaned casually against the railing. "For what it's worth, when Deng Kai first asked me to let you students in for observation training, I said no."
"The alert period from a year ago is well past," Zhang Jianguo replied. "There's nothing to worry about now. Every mage needs this Field Expedition — you can't keep delaying it indefinitely over something that happened a year ago."
"Fair enough. Just make sure your students don't go wandering off." Zhankong laughed easily. "I'd hate to see tender young beauties like these getting ripped to pieces by a One-Eyed Demon Wolf."
Zhang Jianguo forced an awkward laugh.
The man was the real thing — a genuine expert. Even if he was openly flirting with female students, there wasn't much a teacher could do about it.
*An alert from a year ago?*
Mo Fan had heard his aunt Mo Qing mention it once in passing. But living mostly inside the ivory tower of school, he knew precious little about whatever had been happening in the world outside.