And from the sixth to the seventh ranks, even geniuses would normally need ten or so years.
“I am already a magus of the seventh rank,” Linley told them directly.
“A magus of the seventh rank?”
The three bros of Linley stared at him, seemingly thunderstruck. Even a genius such as Dixie had only become a magus of the sixth rank upon turning sixteen. If he worked extremely hard, perhaps when he was around thirty years of age, he would reach the seventh rank.
But Linley…
Linley was only seventeen years old!
“Third Bro, did you just say that you’ve reached the seventh rank?” Yale couldn’t believe it at all.
“Third Bro, you better not be tricking us.” George was also in disbelief.
Reynolds was silent. He only stared at Linley, not saying a word.
“Squeak squeak!” Bebe, on Linley’s shoulders, began to squeak excitedly towards Linley’s three bros while baring his fangs. Linley could hear Bebe’s voice in his head. “Boss, these three punks think you’re lying! Boss, use a spell of the seventh rank on’m, show’m!”
Linley glanced at Bebe. “Bebe, enough.”
A ‘wronged’ look on his face, Bebe glanced at Linley then fell silent.
“Bebe’s performing skills are pretty good, actually.” Linley secretly laughed, and then he looked at his three close friends. “Boss Yale. You three don’t believe me. When I go tomorrow to apply for graduation, you’ll see.”
Yale, George, and Reynolds all knew what sort of person Linley was. Linley wasn’t the type of guy to lie.
“Third Bro, you really accomplished it?”
Linley nodded slightly. “How about I show you the Soaring Technique.” Linley began to mumble the words to a magical incantation, while Yale and the others quietly watched. After a while, wind-type elemental essence began swirling around his body, lifting Linley into the air.
Linley rose very slowly, hovering perhaps only twenty centimeters above the air. Someone looking from far away wouldn’t be able to tell that he was in mid-air at all.
“This is the Floating Technique,” Reynolds said.
The Floating Technique only allowed one to rise up and down.
“Watch closely.” Linley suddenly shot up into the air at an incline. Upon reaching the height of several tens of meters, he suddenly dropped down at high speed again. But once he reached the height of twenty centimeters, he once more came to a halt, maintaining a hovering height.
After maintaining this state for a few moments, Linley landed.
“The Soaring Technique?” Yale and the others were truly astonished.
Although this demonstration of Linley’s was seemingly simple, it also showed one thing very clearly. Being able to rise at an incline was definitely something only the Soaring Technique would allow.
“Hey, Linley! Long time no see! Didn’t imagine that I’d find you here, showing off your jumping skills.” From far away, a young man laughed as he walked over. From far away, Linley’s movement did indeed seem like he was jumping in the air.
To a very powerful warrior, jumping several dozen meters was not too difficult.
And a large majority of the people at the Ernst Institute knew that this genius, Linley, was not only a magus, he was also a mighty warrior. There had been many people who had seen him easily carry a thousand-pound boulder inside his dormitory.
Linley, Yale, and others exchanged pleasantries with the fellow, as he was a neighbor living next door to them.
“Third Bro, you’ve really become a magus of the seventh rank. This can’t… can’t be possible. But just now, I…” George was the first one to speak excitedly after the neighbor left.
“A seventeen-year-old magus of the seventh rank. My heavens. Has there ever been such a genius in the entire history of the Yulan continent?” Reynolds was getting excited as well.
Looking at Linley, Yale’s eyes were shining. “Even I am starting to look forward to Third Bro’s graduation ceremony. I want to see the looks on the faces of those examiners…”
The next morning. On the empty magical ability examination fields of the Ernst Institute, thirty instructors were standing in a line. In truth, four magus instructors were enough for a graduation test, but most instructors at the Ernst Institute had a lot of free time. Upon hearing that Linley was going to apply for graduation, they all came over to watch the fun.
After all, generally speaking, most students would only apply for graduation after being confirmed as a magus of the sixth rank. After spending some time at the sixth rank, only then would they apply for graduation. In a situation like that, there was no need for an actual graduation examination. Thus, a graduation examination was quite a rare event.
Thirty instructors, plus three students — Yale, George, and Reynolds.
Amidst the thirty or so instructors, there was even Vice Chancellor Deland, who came here out of interest. As Deland had put it, “If one of the two greatest geniuses of our Institute is applying for graduation, of course I must be here to witness it.”
“Linley, utilize the earth-style spell, ‘Earth Spear Array’. Based on the size and speed of the earthen spears, we will be able to assess your level,” one of the examiners said.
If the power of his spells had reached the sixth rank, then he would naturally be able to graduate.
Linley shook his head slightly.
All of the onlookers couldn’t help but feel suspicious. Vice Chancellor Deland spoke out. “Linley, aren’t you applying to graduate? What’s going on?”
“I want to use wind-style magic,” Linley said with a smile.
Vice Chancellor Deland and the onlookers all laughed. They knew that Linley was a dual-element magus of wind and earth. But the test of magical strength was primarily a test of spiritual energy. It made no difference which element was tested; the underlying spiritual energy wouldn’t change.
“Go ahead.” Vice Chancellor Deland and the thirty-odd instructors all grinned at Linley.
Linley immediately began to mutter the words to the seventh-ranked wind-style spell, ‘Soaring Technique’. After a while, a gust of wind began to swirl around Linley’s body. Linley’s body soared into the air, and then he began to agilely glide about in the air, sometimes turning, sometimes diving, sometimes flying straight at high speeds.
“So… Soaring Technique?!”
The thirty-odd magus instructors were all shocked. They all knew what was implied by Linley’s usage of the Soaring Technique.
“A seventeen-year-old, dual-element magus of the seventh rank. This…” Vice Chancellor Deland immediately understood that the quiet Ernst Institute would perhaps no longer be quiet for a long, long time.
67
Second in History
A dual-element magus of the seventh rank, compared to the Yulan continent as a whole, could only be considered someone who had just stepped into the field of powerful figures.
But if you added the words ‘seventeen-year-old’ in front of the words ‘dual-element magus of the seventh rank’, the effect was totally different. The Radiant Church probably wouldn’t care too much about a dual-element magus of the seventh rank; after all, there were plenty of powerful figures in the Yulan continent.
However…
A seventeen-year-old dual-element magus of the seventh rank? Leaving the Radiant Church aside for now, perhaps each and every major power on the Yulan continent would be jealous to possess this.
“Genius. Genius!” Vice Chancellor Deland, a magus of the eighth rank, was extremely excited.
All of the watching magus instructors were in shock as well. All of them understood exactly what a seventeen-year-old dual-element magus of the seventh rank represented. This was a miracle! At the very least, it was the Ernst Institute’s miracle!
“Heh heh.” Yale, George, and Reynolds all started to snicker.
They had all been anticipating the expressions on the faces of these magi. And it was as priceless as they had hope
d.
In terms of power, Vice Chancellor Deland couldn’t even rank amongst the top three here at the Ernst Institute, but he had a significant amount of experience. He was quickly able to tamp down his excitement, and was the first to walk to Linley’s side. “Linley, do you know what being a seventeen-year-old dual-element magus of the seventh rank represents?”
“Heh, does he have to ask?” At this time, Doehring Cowart flew out of the ring, delightedly stroking his long, white beard. “How could the pupil of I, Doehring Cowart, not be outstanding?”
All of the teachers currently present were quite far from the Saint level. Naturally, none of them were able to detect the presence of Doehring Cowart’s spirit.
“Seventeen years…” Deland sighed with praise. “In the entire history of the Ernst Institute, based on age, among all of the students to attain the seventh rank, you, Linley, are the youngest. The previous record holder, a genius who attained the seventh rank at age nineteen, went on to become a Saint-level Grand Magus.”
A silver-haired elder next to him spoke out. “Let’s not discuss the Ernst Institute for now. If we look at the Yulan continent as a whole, and look at the records of the continent as a whole, you are the second-youngest genius in all of recorded history to reach the seventh rank.”
The Yulan continent as a whole had been around for countless years, and also covered a huge amount of territory. There was no way for the Ernst Institute to match it in terms of records.
“The second in history?” Linley was rather surprised as well.
How many countless geniuses had the Yulan continent produced, over these years? For himself to be able to be the second youngest in history was a terrifying accomplishment.
“The youngest magus in the entire history of the Yulan continent to reach the seventh rank was a Saint-level Grand Magus who lived over eight thousand years ago. He became a magus of the seventh rank when he was sixteen years old. The previous second youngest, who has just become the third youngest, became a magus of the seventh rank when he turned eighteen. In the end, he topped out at the ninth rank. This was because afterwards, he suffered a huge setback, and his personality changed. We can put it like this… aside from you, of those top ten young geniuses who reached the seventh rank earliest, six of them became Saint-level Grand Magi, while the other four became arch magi of the ninth rank.”
Generally speaking, a magus of the seventh rank was given the title of ‘Senior Magus’.
A magus of the eighth rank would be respectfully titled ‘Master Magus’.
A magus of the ninth rank would be honored with the title of ‘Arch Magus’.
And a Saint-level magus could be venerated as a ‘Grand Magus’.
“Put another way… based on your talent, becoming a magus of the ninth rank is going to be virtually no problem at all. All you need is time. But if you continue to strive hard, you have the great potential to become a Saint-level Grand Magus. After all, you are the second youngest magus of the seventh rank in all of history.” That silver-haired elder looked at Linley solemnly.
Linley had some degree of eagerness towards eventually becoming a Saint-level magus, but that eagerness wasn’t too excessive.
This was because Linley knew very well that it was even harder for a magus to advance in power than it was for a warrior.
True, warriors and magi both needed spiritual energy. But they had different requirements as to how much spiritual energy was needed.
Magi didn’t train their bodies, focusing exclusively on spiritual energy. The vast majority of their time was spent building up their spiritual energy, because spiritual energy impacted their ability to gather mageforce, as well as to direct and control elemental essences. A mighty magus also needed a terrifying amount of spiritual energy.
But warriors were different.
To a warrior, the most important thing was still their body. Spiritual energy and battle-qi were both secondary. Only once they had a powerful body would they be able to contain lots of battle-qi. Spiritual energy was only used to more finely control the usage of that battle-qi.
If you compared a magus of the seventh rank and a warrior of the seventh rank, the different in spiritual energy could be as much as ten times more for the magus.
“Even if, in the future, I reach the level of Saint-level Grand Magus, I surely would have taken a tremendous amount of time. By contrast, based on my inherent talent as a Dragonblood Warrior, I will reach the Saint level at a much faster pace.” Linley knew his clan’s history very well. Dragonblood Warriors usually only needed a few scant decades to reach the Saint-level of power.
What was more…
A Dragonblood Warrior who had reached the Saint level in power was extremely formidable. Even among Saint-level combatants, a Dragonblood Warrior would be considered an ultimate-tier combatant.
“Linley, you are the most successful student in the entire history of our Institute. For these next few days, we ask that you please remain here at the Institute. We will invite some of the absolute best painters and sculptors to come and paint paintings and carve sculptures of you, which we will keep in the Institute as mementos,” Vice Chancellor Deland said immediately.
As the second youngest magus to reach the seventh rank in the entire history of the Yulan continent, Linley was naturally the pride of the entire Ernst Institute.
“A painting?” Linley was stunned.
He realized that in front of these painters and sculptors, he would have to stand still for a very long period of time. As he realized this, Linley couldn’t help but think to himself, becoming the second youngest magus to reach the seventh rank in the entire history of the Yulan continent was perhaps not as wonderful as it sounded.
The number one genius in the history of the Ernst Institute, and the number two genius in the history of the Yulan continent. A seventeen-year-old dual-element magus of the seventh rank. This astonishing news quickly spread across the entire Ernst Institute.
“A seventeen-year-old dual-element magus of the seventh rank? How is that possible?”
“There’s no way this news is fake. So many of the Institute’s teachers were present at the time, and Vice Chancellor Deland has even invited painters to come and paint pictures of Linley, with the intention of forever enshrining his image within our Institute.”
“My heavens, a seventeen-year-old dual-element magus of the seventh rank. Based on this speed, he should reach the eighth rank in ten years, and the ninth rank in twenty. He’ll be ninth-ranked Arch Magus in his forties. Most likely, within a century, he will become a Saint-level Grand Magus.”
“I just flipped through some of the books in the library. Aside from Linley, of the top ten geniuses in history, six became Saint-level Grand Magi, while the other four all became Arch Magi of the ninth rank. Linley is way too incredible.”
The entire Ernst Institute was shaken upside down by this news. If a student was perhaps just slightly better than his peers, perhaps he would be viewed with jealousy. But once a student’s achievements reached a level as high as this, becoming the second youngest magus to reach the seventh rank in the entire history of the Yulan continent, they would only be filled with respect and veneration.
In their eyes, Linley’s future prospects were limitless. There was no way for them to compare with him.
In the past, there had still been some people who had claimed that Dixie was the number one genius of the Institute. Now, no one said such a thing.
Without question, the number one genius of the Ernst Institute was Linley. And it wasn’t just now; Linley was the number one genius of the Ernst Institute in all of its five-thousand-year-long history. Dixie was currently just a magus of the sixth rank. Who knew how long it would take before he reached the seventh rank?
“Linley, a magus of the seventh rank?” Having just completed his meditative training, Dixie fell silent upon hearing this news from his sister Delia.
After having ‘surpassed’ Linley when he had become a magus of
the sixth rank, Dixie had felt some sense of satisfaction. But this new bit of news seemed to push him into a deep abyss. Linley’s speed of improvement was simply too astonishing. Even when he chased after Linley with all his might, it seemed like he was still being thrown farther and farther behind by Linley.
“Big brother,” Delia said in a soft voice. She was a bit concerned about her big brother.
Delia knew all too well that ever since he was young her big brother had been an extremely proud person. He was very cold to others, and also extremely strict with himself. Her big brother never submitted to anyone, but ever since Linley had rocketed up from the fourth rank to the fifth rank, her big brother had felt threatened.
Her big brother had worked extremely hard, and in the previous year had managed to cross the threshold of the sixth rank.
But Linley actually…
“Don’t worry. I’m fine.” Dixie slowly shook his head. “Delia, I suddenly feel as though there’s not that much point in remaining here at the Institute. I also plan to apply for graduation. In the upcoming days, I’ll return to the Empire and return to the clan.”
Delia was startled.
Within a private area inside the Huadeli Hotel, there were four bedrooms and two living rooms. It was quite large. Linley and his three bros were currently living here.
Ever since the news that Linley had become a magus of the seventh rank had spread out, dorm 1987 hadn’t had a single peaceful day. Huge amounts of people came to pay their respects to Linley, forcing Linley to hide here, within the Huadeli Hotel. Due to the deep background and connections possessed by the Huadeli Hotel, few people dared to trespass here.
Coiling Dragon_Book 1 of the Coiling Dragon Saga Page 58
