Every year during the enrollment season, the major academies were extremely busy. Just the magic tests before the semester alone lasted a full week!
Nobles, commoners, dragonkin, dragonbeasts, and youths from other intelligent races poured into the royal capital from every corner of the Fire Dragon Kingdom to take part in this grand event that would change their destinies!
Anyone who aspired to cultivate magic refused to miss it!
The square was packed with people coming and going in an endless stream.
Besides the testing youths, their families, and the examiners on Dragon God Square, there was another special group—the recruitment teachers from each academy!
Not far from the magic testing area stood dozens of "stalls," each with a large banner proudly declaring its identity: "Fire Dragon Warrior Academy," "Dragon God Holy Knight Academy," "Kaelnas Giant Axe Academy," and so on.
These stalls were precisely the recruitment stations of the various academies.
At this moment, in one corner of the recruitment area…
Three old men in purple magic robes lounged in their chairs, chatting idly.
"Today is the last day of the magic tests. Looks like there won't be any more geniuses. Sigh… I've been in charge of recruitment for so many years, and this has to be the most disappointing year yet!"
The old man with a bulbous red nose and messy hair let out a drunken burp and spoke listlessly.
The moment he finished, the old man with a single horn on his forehead and a black scale between his brows immediately became unhappy. "Karls, you still have the face to complain? You've already snatched so many top-quality students this year. If I were you, I'd be laughing in my dreams! Poor me has been running errands for you two every single year…"
"Bullshit!"
Hearing this, the bald old man snorted coldly. "You call that running errands? What about Ordos, huh? Don't forget—the strongest genius this year was snatched away by your Dragonkin Academy!"
He sighed. "I'm the one who's really running errands for you two every year, watching geniuses get taken away right before my eyes and being powerless to stop it. It truly… hurts the heart!"
The horned old man shot the bald one a glare and said indifferently, "No matter how good Ordos's talent is, he's still just one person. How can he compare to all the geniuses Karls has stolen? Sigh…"
"You old bastard, stop pretending to be pitiful after getting the good end of the deal!" The red-nosed old man grumbled. "You know better than anyone that geniuses are about quality, not quantity. One Ordos is worth dozens of ordinary geniuses! Tsk tsk—dual super-grade in Light and Wind elements, spiritual power eighty-eight times that of his peers. What a monster!"
"Exactly! If I could, I'd trade every single student we recruited this year for Ordos alone!" The bald old man nodded firmly. "A genius like Ordos, if properly trained, is guaranteed to become a Level-9 Archmage. He might even…"
He didn't finish the sentence, but both the red-nosed and horned old men understood what he meant. A talent like Ordos had a real chance of reaching the Saint Domain!
The Saint Domain!
What kind of existence was that?
One Saint Domain alumnus was worth how many ordinary ones?
"What a shame for such a genius to be wasted on your Dragonkin Academy!" The red-nosed old man grumbled indignantly. "He should have come to our Fire Dragon Academy. Only we can give him the best educational environment!"
The horned old man immediately bristled. "Old fart, stop talking nonsense! Our Dragonkin Academy is no worse than your Fire Dragon Academy. If it weren't for—"
"Teachers! Quick! Another genius has appeared!"
Just as the three old men were arguing nonstop, a young man in a magic robe suddenly ran over, panting heavily.
"What?"
"Another genius?"
The three old men's eyes widened. They leaped up from their chairs in unison and stared at the young man. "What level? How's his talent?"
"Elemental affinity: Thunder—super-grade! Spiritual power: one hundred times that of his peers!" the young man reported quickly. "Comprehensive evaluation: supe—"
Before he could finish, the three old men bolted past him like greased lightning, nearly knocking him over. He stumbled and fell flat on his backside.
"What the heck! They didn't even let me finish!"
The young man climbed to his feet, rubbing his sore bottom and complaining. But he completely understood the three teachers' reaction. After all, this super-genius really was… a total monster!
"Elemental affinity: Thunder—super-grade!"
"Spiritual power: one hundred times that of his peers!"
"Good heavens!"
"Such talent is no worse than Ordos!"
"He's mine! He belongs to our Fire Dragon Magic Academy!"
"No! He's ours—Douglas Magic Academy!"
"Daydreaming! A genius with this kind of talent must be a dragonkin. He will definitely join our Dragonkin Magic Academy!"
"Dragonkin or not, this old man is determined to get him!"
"Move!"
"Get out of my way!"
"…"
Meanwhile, Meng Lei was basking in the crowd's envy, jealousy, and hatred. He didn't mind it at all; he had expected this.
"Big Brother Meng Lei, you're amazing!"
Joanna, Joseph, and Andrew crowded around him, staring at Meng Lei with starry eyes full of admiration. Although they didn't fully understand what his talent meant, the shocked gasps and exclamations from everyone around them said more than enough.
Meng Lei was a genius that everyone envied!
"Make way! Out of my way!"
"Where's the genius…"
At that moment, three frantic old men shoved their way through the crowd, looking left and right with urgent expressions. Finally, their eyes locked onto a dragonkin youth standing beside the spirit meter.
The dragonkin youth wore an embroidered robe, had a pair of black wings on his back, and was strikingly handsome and imposing. Just his appearance alone was impressive.
"You're the genius?"
The red-nosed old man grabbed the dragonkin youth's shoulder, unable to contain his excitement. "Hello, hello! I'm Karls, the recruitment teacher for this year from the Fire Dragon Kingdom's number one magic academy—Fire Dragon Magic Academy!
I sincerely invite you to join our Fire Dragon Magic Academy!
If you join, all tuition, living expenses, material fees… everything will be completely free. You'll also receive a scholarship of 1,000… no, 2,000 gold coins per year…"
The red-nosed old man rattled off all the benefits in one breath, only to be interrupted by the bald old man, who shoved him aside and said eagerly, "Hello, genius! I'm the recruitment teacher from Douglas Magic Academy! I sincerely invite you to join us. Tuition, scholarship—everything is negotiable!"
"Stop spouting nonsense! He's a dragonkin—he belongs in our Dragonkin Magic Academy!"
The horned old man forcefully pushed the bald one away, his face blooming into a smile. "Hello! I'm from the Dragonkin Magic Academy…"
Watching the three overly enthusiastic old men, the surrounding crowd exchanged bewildered looks, completely at a loss for words.
Meng Lei was the genius! Why were they inviting the dragonkin youth?
What a ridiculous mix-up!
Meng Lei could only smile wryly. But he… understood.
Since ancient times, dragonkin who had inherited giant dragon bloodlines indeed possessed far superior magic talent compared to humans, and the probability of producing geniuses was much higher. The main reason humans produced any geniuses at all was simply… their massive population base!
It was perfectly reasonable for the three recruitment teachers to have mistaken the person.