407: Chapter 407 The Seventh Dean, Emperor Xiu

The news that the academy was hiding a Nine-Star Archmage spread like wildfire, but it also left many people puzzled. After all, the testing of a Magic Source was always done in public; could someone really hide their level-nine Magic Source?

Let alone a level-nine, even if a level-eight Magic Source appeared in a class, it would be enough to cause a sensation throughout the entire Magic Academy.

If it were a level-nine, they would have been taken as a disciple by the dean long ago and would directly inherit the position of dean in the future.

So, who exactly was this mysterious Nine-Star Archmage of lightning magic?

Not only were the students puzzled, but many instructors and professors felt the same way.

However, the urgent matter at hand was still the punishment of Finnegan.

Although Finnegan's betrayal had not caused any huge losses to the academy, that was only due to the sudden emergence of the mysterious Nine-Star Archmage. Otherwise, his collusion with the Dark Mages would have surely dealt a devastating blow to the Magic Academy. Therefore, he could not be forgiven under any circumstances, and the same went for the other two 8-Star magic professors from the Dragon House.

In the year 350 of the Qiming Era, Mo Qi took over the position of dean. At this time, he was only thirty-seven years old. Originally, there was a lot of controversy, but after Mo Qi revealed two peak 8-Star magical creature pets and his own strength as an 8-Star Mage, no one had any doubts left.

Before his death, Dean Gaius still thought that Mo Qi had failed to break through to a Nine-Star Archmage. However, having handed the academy over to Mo Qi and having reintegrated it during his own lifetime, he passed away in peace and satisfaction.

He was a dean who had dedicated his entire life's work to the academy, a dean worthy of respect.

However, after Mo Qi succeeded him, relying on the stable foundation left by the old dean, he established a new Council of Elders formed by 8-Star Mages. He handed all affairs directly to these 8-Star Mages to handle. The 8-Star Mages, who originally only needed to leisurely teach classes, were instantly reduced to overworked beasts of burden.

As for Mo Qi, under the pretext of preventing the Magic Academy from suffering a gap in succession, he went out onto the continent to search for geniuses.

In reality, he was just sightseeing and enjoying the customs of this otherworld.

Of course, Mo Qi also had another very important task, which was to study immortality magic.

He had already studied the Magic Spring, the Ancient Tree of Life, dragons, and other creatures. Next, he needed to study the soul, and those with the deepest research into the soul were naturally the Dark Mages.

Already possessing the strength to run rampant across the world, Mo Qi constantly unearthed various secrets on this continent.

At fifty, Mo Qi's attainments in soul magic reached the Nine-Star level.

At sixty, Mo Qi's attainments in life magic reached the Nine-Star level.

At seventy, Mo Qi's attainments in nature magic reached the Nine-Star level, and at the same time, his talent broke through to Level 4.

After his talent broke through to Level 4, he clearly felt a change in himself. It was as if some invisible shackle had been broken, yet he also clearly felt another shackle that could not be breached.

That unbreakable shackle was strength. The power of this world was suppressed to its limit at the Nine-Star Archmage level. Even if his talent broke through to Level 4, his power could absolutely never exceed the Nine-Star level.

As for the shackle that had been broken, it was life!

He could clearly perceive that his lifespan had truly undergone a transformation.

Here, even for a Nine-Star Archmage, without consuming the Magic Spring, they could live for 120 years at most, and most only had a lifespan of around a hundred years.

And consuming the Magic Spring would only increase their lifespan by twenty or thirty years.

Lifespan in this world was likewise suppressed to the extreme.

But Mo Qi felt that he was different now; he could definitely live for more than just 150 years.

However, compared to an outright increase in lifespan, Mo Qi felt that his current situation was more like using his talent to forcibly lock the passage of his life. It was equivalent to others losing a year of life for every year that passed, while he only lost a few months of life for every year.

At seventy-five, based on his talent, Mo Qi found another path to longevity and began researching methods to lock his life.

That same year, he found a five-year-old street urchin who possessed a level-nine Magic Source, took him in, and personally guided him.

They traveled around to gain experience.

Although the continent today was not as chaotic as it had been decades ago, turmoil still persisted among the various nations, forcing many commoners to become refugees.

The child Mo Qi had picked up was one of these refugees.

At ninety, Mo Qi's talent broke through to Level 5. This time, his life was no longer just locked, but his life had truly completed a transformation.

And it was during this transformation that he finally comprehended a magic that could be called taboo.

A magic even higher than the Nine-Star profound truth of life magic: Life Burial!

He classified this level of magic as Ultimate Profound Truth Magic.

Life Burial was not to bury others, but to bury oneself. Once successfully mastered, by burying oneself, one could live a second life!

Furthermore, one would perfectly inherit the power of their previous life. This was why he wanted to classify this magic above the Nine-Star level; it had already transcended Nine-Star magic.

By this time, Mo Qi was already a white-haired young man. Although his life was much longer, the white hair represented his heart, which had already grown old long ago.

He was no longer the boy from back then, even though he still occasionally gave his disciple a massive headache and left him speechless.

Mo Qi was ninety, and his disciple Di Xiu was twenty, a 7-Star Mage.

It was also at this time that Mo Qi sent him to the academy. The elders of the Magic Academy were naturally delighted by Di Xiu's arrival. After all, the current dean was already ninety years old, and by all calculations, he was nearing his death.

They had thought there would be another gap in succession, but now things were fine, and they didn't have to worry.

After all, the Magic Academy still had lingering fears regarding the two invasions by the Dark Mages.

As the continent fell into chaos, there was no way the Dark Mages would disappear. Who knew if they would one day produce a Nine-Star Archmage of their own.

After sending Di Xiu to the academy, Mo Qi buried himself.

He was buried deep within the Mist Forest in the eastern part of the continent.

This year was the year 403 of the Qiming Era.

In the year 450 of the Qiming Era, Di Xiu inherited the position of dean, becoming the next Nine-Star Archmage to finally appear on the surface since the last two generations of deans.

However, Di Xiu knew very well that his teacher was not just an 8-Star Mage.

Di Xiu stood at the top of the Magic Book Tower, gazing out in the direction of the continent.

"Teacher, you have really passed away?"

He didn't believe it. What a brilliantly talented teacher he had, who had deduced life and soul magic to their absolute peaks. Even though he was now a Nine-Star Soul Archmage, he still felt his teacher was unfathomable.

In the year 460 of the Qiming Era, it was time for another student recruitment.

There were even more new magic students in this intake.

It was not because the continent had entered a period of peace where nations were recuperating.

It was entirely because his teacher had created several high-yielding food crops. With an abundant supply of food, even during times of war, the population still skyrocketed. In fact, the more chaotic the war, the more those commoners wanted to have children, since they no longer feared being unable to feed them.

Wheat, corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes were all cultivated by his teacher.

He had even single-handedly initiated something called the Industrial Revolution within a country, and this revolution eventually swept across the entire continent.

Di Xiu knew that his teacher, all by himself, was equivalent to feeding over half of the world's population, and there would be even more in the future.

The Magic Academy's student body, which had remained stable at around five thousand for hundreds of years, had also skyrocketed to around ten thousand.

In this intake, Di Xiu discovered a promising young talent with a level-nine Magic Source.