Chapter 141: Light Mage

Hearing Kenny’s words, Rod really felt the urge to rush over and slap him. That damned guy—just by looking at his ambiguous expression, it was clear he said that on purpose.
“What, you don’t have time?” Lucia’s voice came in just in time, making Rod’s head ache even more.
“No, haha, it’s fine. I mistook it earlier. I thought it was Kenny who asked that question. Well, if it’s not Kenbin, then it must be Wiski. By the way, Kenny, didn’t you say you’d do an extra hundred laps after training today? Hurry up and do it!” With an awkward smile, Rod glared fiercely at the culprit, Kenny, and said coldly.
“Let’s go for a walk!” Rod asked Lucia, putting down the book in his hand. He glanced at Kenny, who was wearing a pained expression, then led Lucia outside under the envious and jealous gazes of others. Walking along the quiet paths of the academy, neither of them spoke, just walking in silence. The curious looks from those passing by only added to their awkwardness.
“Do you need something from me?” Rod asked softly after a long while.
“Grandpa said you’ve returned to the capital. Will you participate in this competition? I heard you joined our Holy Light Academy and are now part of it, representing our academy in the competitions for those under 18!” Lucia asked, looking at Rod.
“Mm!” Rod replied softly, frowning slightly.
“Is your training going well? The competition starts in three days. This is a very important event—grandpa and the others take it very seriously, and so does the empire!”
“It’s pretty good. If nothing goes wrong, our group should be fine in the competition! Is that why you came to see me?” Rod asked, puzzled by Lucia’s presence.
“I just wanted to see you. You’ve been back in the capital for so long without coming to see me, so I had to come check on you!” Under the cover of darkness, the slight blush on Lucia’s face was well hidden, unnoticed by Rod.
Hearing her words, Rod inwardly sighed. He had indeed wanted to visit her, but he had been too busy lately—training almost all day, spending evenings either in the library researching or practicing cultivation. He had planned to see her after the competition. If he had known she was a student at Holy Light Academy, he might have gone to see her earlier.

To be honest, deep down, he was still very happy to see Lucia. Although he knew there would definitely be more rumors spreading around the academy tomorrow, it didn’t matter to him now! The joy of seeing Lucia outweighed everything else; in fact, he hadn’t even realized what his true feelings were!
Did he like her? He wasn’t sure. His expression became somewhat complicated as he wondered what exactly his feelings for Lucia were.
“By the way, are you a student at Holy Light Academy? What do you study?” With this thought, countless doubts arose in Rod’s mind. He knew Lucia’s situation all too well—it seemed impossible for someone like her to enter Holy Light Academy. Not to mention her strength, which was far from meeting the admission standards! Let alone becoming a full-fledged student after going through the selection process.
“Mm, I’m a student in the Magic Department at Holy Light Academy, studying light magic. I’m a first-year student with the skill level of an intermediate warrior!” Lucia wasn’t surprised by Rod’s tone, as she had seen such expressions and tones before. Many people would ask questions with that kind of look and tone. After all, she came from a noble family and had a delicate appearance. It was hard to associate such an appearance with a mage or warrior.
“A light mage?” Rod frowned slightly and murmured to himself. Light mages were considered even less useful than water mages—well, at least that was the case before reaching the level of a mage master. Before that, light mages were utterly useless, whether in combat or healing.
Although light magic was known as a healing magic, before reaching the level of a mage master, the healing spells they used were low-level spells with pitiful effects, not even comparable to water magic. As for combat, their fighting abilities were even worse! This was why there were so few light mages across the continent. No one wanted to pursue this magic; it was better to join the church as a priest and learn the church’s healing magic, which was far more powerful than light magic.
“I see. Well, keep working hard. You have a bright future ahead! As long as you persevere, you’ll achieve great things one day!” With these thoughts, Rod glanced at Lucia again and sighed before comforting her. Light mages were indeed a useless profession! But hard work would surely pay off. He couldn’t discourage her, right?

“Well, Grandpa said the same thing. After all, that powerful Law God from tens of thousands of years ago on the mainland was also of the Light element, right?” Lucia said softly with a slight smile. Once again, the two fell silent.

They continued on in silence, speaking little throughout the night. Both were immersed in that quiet atmosphere. Even when it was time to part in the deep night, they hadn’t said much, as if a barrier had arisen between them, preventing deeper communication.

Noticing it was getting late, Rod took Lucia to the dormitory for Light-element mages at the Holy Light Academy, using the address she had given him. Watching Lucia enter the dormitory, Rod sighed and turned to head back to his own dorm.

He wasn’t sure what experiencing a whole night was like, but meeting Lucia seemed to have been quite pleasant. A faint smile appeared on his lips at the thought.

Unbeknownst to him, behind him, a pair of eyes watched him walk away, filled with complexity. Seeing Rod again, she didn’t know what she felt—excitement? Anticipation? Something else?

……

Feeling the barrier posed by that bottleneck, Rod smiled faintly, filled with excitement and satisfaction. Yes, he hadn’t slacked off in his training during this time. Finally, today, he had reached the edge of being a Golden Warrior, sensing the gap between a Silver Warrior and a Golden Warrior. He knew that once he broke through this barrier, he would truly become a Golden Warrior and enter a new level.

He slowly ended his training, knowing it wasn’t the right time to make a breakthrough. Without the right opportunity, such an attempt would be futile. Something that could be sensed but not touched wasn’t easy to grasp. Otherwise, why would so many people get stuck at a bottleneck for three years, five years, or even ten, twenty years—sometimes even half a lifetime or a lifetime?

Looking at Furnace Sky coiled around his shoulder, he smiled gently. “Little guy, it’s time to go back. It’s getting late. Let’s come out again tomorrow!” He patted its head softly.

More than half a month passed, and Fen Tian grew significantly again. Both in length and thickness, it was now completely different from before—much larger, with its red color deepening even further. It now resembled a majestic divine dragon, and it was easy to imagine that it would soon become a great divine dragon. Thinking of this, Rod felt a warm sensation in his heart! The only regret might be that he couldn’t summon it to help him fight yet.

With reluctance, Fen Tian let out a low growl, seemingly complaining, but still returned to its body. Looking at Fen Tian in his dantian and the Xuanyuan Sacred Sword surrounded by it, Rod felt everything was so wonderful. It turned out he had always possessed the strongest energy; as long as he kept striving, reaching the dantian of the world wasn’t an unattainable dream.

Feeling this, he once again experienced that state of unity with nature, which felt truly wonderful. Suddenly, the thin barrier within his body trembled, as if it might loosen at any moment.

Realizing this, Rod became extremely excited. There was only a barrier as thin as paper separating him from that next level. So that’s how it was—he knew it wouldn’t be long before he broke through that barrier and entered that new realm. It was a pity he hadn’t integrated deeper with nature earlier; he had only touched the edge of that level. Otherwise, he might have already broken through by now.

With a hint of regret, he headed to the training ground. Viski and the others had already started training there, waiting for him alone. As the competition approached, they trained with great intensity. Even Rod couldn’t help but admire their effort, thinking that such determination might only be found among top students like those from the Divine Light Academy.

With Rod’s joining, another day of intense training began. Through repeated practice, their coordination improved significantly, and the tasks assigned to them were completed on schedule. Information about the other representative teams was also gathered. Knowing oneself and the enemy ensures victory in every battle. By combining their strengths and characteristics with their own unique tactics, the next two days were spent in such intense training.

Dawn was breaking, and three days had passed in the blink of an eye. Today was the day the mainland students’ competition began. The academy had been decorated with lights and banners, looking especially lively since yesterday. Just yesterday, all the members of the various teams had arrived and settled in the academy, increasing the population there by many times over in no time. Looking at the scenery outside the window, I took a deep breath, stopped practicing, washed up quickly, and then headed out to gather my teammates, ready to face the upcoming group matches.