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Gu Yuan arrived at his assigned dormitory, carrying a quilt.

He opened the door to the dormitory and looked inside; it seemed there was already someone else there.

Unfortunately, the Kingdom Magic Academy assigned dormitories based on talent; students with six-star talent or lower all lived in the same building.

Xia Er had seven-star talent and lived elsewhere, while those with eight or nine-star talent reportedly lived in the same building as the mentors.

However, most mentors did not reside within the academy, preferring to live in their own manors in the city, though a few did live on campus.

Gu Yuan placed his quilt on the bed and began to tidy up. Just as he was about to head out to purchase some daily necessities, the student who was already living in the dormitory happened to return.

"Oh, we have a newcomer in this dormitory. What's your talent, and which family are you from?"

The youth who entered had golden-blue hair and eyes like sapphires. He cast his gaze upon Gu Yuan, looking him up and down, and soon, seemingly having discovered something, his eyes filled with disdain.

Gu Yuan had no interest in talking to someone so brainless, so he turned to leave.

A lackey behind the golden-blue-haired youth blocked his path, shouting, "Didn't you hear our Young Master Xinglan ask you a question!"

The two lackeys were quite arrogant, even condensing magic circles in their hands on the spot.

These two lackeys were actually level four. Gu Yuan couldn't help but marvel inwardly; the Kingdom Magic Academy truly had an extraordinary foundation.

Back in his hometown, a level four mage would have been considered one of the top figures.

Yet here, they were merely ordinary students.

"Move."

"Hah, you've got some nerve," the golden-blue-haired youth said, crossing his arms with a cold gaze. "You're just a six-star talent; even the guard dog at my estate is stronger than you. I'll give you one chance: crawl out of here. Otherwise, heh, I'll ensure you can only crawl from now on."

The magic circles in the hands of the two lackeys shimmered with a dangerous light; they were all level four spells.

Although the Magic Academy had powerful restrictive barriers, it did not completely forbid magic. Spells of various levels could still exert a certain amount of power, though they were heavily suppressed.

Gu Yuan frowned. It seemed that the children of noble families within the Kingdom Magic Academy were indeed incredibly arrogant.

But it was also clear that the academy did not seem to forbid fighting among students.

A magic circle had just begun to condense in his hand.

Two familiar voices rang out from the corridor behind him.

"Who dares to lay a hand on our boss!"

"Damn it, so you're the two little bastards, huh?"

The golden-blue-haired youth was about to retort, but when he saw the badges on their chests, his expression changed instantly.

Seven-star talent, and… eight-star talent!

The faces of the two lackeys also turned pale in an instant.

At the seven-star level, your noble status or magical family background no longer carried as much weight.

Students with seven-star talent generally had their own direct mentors, all of whom were level eight mages—the most authoritative powerhouses in this kingdom.

Those with eight-star talent could even follow academy professors—who were level nine mages—whom even the family behind the golden-blue-haired youth dared not offend.

They were figures who were only one step away from the very top of the kingdom's pyramid.

"Boss?" The golden-blue-haired youth's expression darkened. These two were calling his roommate "Boss"?

He found it hard to believe. A six-star elemental affinity? How could he possibly be the boss of seven-star, or even eight-star, talents!

Without a word, Xia Er unleashed a Shadow Thrust. Although he didn't use a dagger and only used his fists, all three of them were sent flying backward.

Mars stepped forward and planted a foot on the golden-blue-haired youth's chest. "If I ever see you try to bully my boss again, next time I'll show you exactly what a four-hundred-pound fat man can do!"

"Boss, let's go!"

Gu Yuan dispelled the magic circle in his hand and asked the two, "Have you gone to find your mentors yet?"

"Not yet. We just got to our dorms and came straight here to find you. Boss, where are you headed?"

"I'm going to buy some daily necessities."

"Huh?" Mars scratched his head. "Do you need to buy daily necessities? Didn't the school provide everything? My dorm room has everything I need, and a lot of it is magical equipment."

Xia Er nodded as well. "Same for my dorm. They even gave me a storage ring."

He raised his hand, revealing a standard-issue academy storage ring.

Mars raised his hand with a cheeky grin. "Hehe, I've got one too. Mine is one hundred cubic meters—ten times bigger than yours."

Gu Yuan's composure cracked. "Wait, does the academy really discriminate this much?!"

Xia Er shrugged. "That's just the gap between geniuses."

Mars leaned in and whispered, "Boss, maybe if you just tell that old man you have a natural Magic Source, you could become the Dean's direct disciple!"

Gu Yuan was very tempted, but after a moment of thought, he shook his head. "I can feel that with the Magic Source, even without extra resources, I'll have no problem becoming a level nine mage before I'm forty. Besides, I have a feeling the Magic Source isn't that simple. I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I feel like I'm already a level nine mage; I'm just missing the high-level spells."

Mars rolled his eyes. "And I'm a Saint-level mage!"

"Saint-level?" Gu Yuan turned his head, having never heard the term before.

"I just entered the mentors' dormitory building and saw two mentors discussing it, so I asked. Saint-level mages are those above level nine. The gap is even larger than that between level eight and level nine. Rumor has it that the Saint-level is also divided into nine stars—each star is a world of difference—and Saint-level mages can live for five hundred years! I heard that advancing by one star adds another three hundred years to your lifespan! Our kingdom's King and the Dean are Saint-level mages!"

Gu Yuan was shocked. So, mages didn't stop at level nine! And a Saint-level could live for five hundred years! Advancing one star could add another three hundred years!

If one reached nine stars, wouldn't that mean they could live for two thousand nine hundred years!

Xia Er was also stunned by this revelation.

"Living for that long… are they even human anymore?"

"Who knows? They're probably no different from the gods in legends." Mars shrugged. "But we don't have much hope. I heard that even with nine-star elemental affinity, the probability of breaking through to Saint-level is less than one percent. The academy professors are basically all nine-star elemental affinity or mutated eight-star elemental affinity, yet it seems only the Dean has reached the Saint-level."

"Still, I'd be perfectly satisfied if I could just become a level nine mage." Mars was quite content.

Gu Yuan, however, wondered if he could become a Saint-level mage. He possessed a level nine Magic Source and the book of ten thousand beasts. The Magic Source was equivalent to an autonomous cultivation magic tool, allowing him to be in a constant state of cultivation.

The book of ten thousand beasts even allowed him to skip the time required to learn spells, letting him go straight to the stage where he could cast them.

Perhaps I could try some higher-level magic.

Putting these thoughts aside, Gu Yuan prepared to spend his time in the academy peacefully until graduation.