An Affront to Dignity!

In the Plant Element classroom, Ai Tutu was gleefully reading aloud from her phone to Mu Nujiao beside her. "Big sis Mu, come look — the Big Demon King is at it again! He actually walked right into the Fire Hall lecture hall and publicly called a bunch of Fire Hall students trash, and then went after Department Head Wei Rong's teaching ability on top of that... Hahaha, the Big Demon King is barely back and there's already a show!"

The overwhelming majority of students at Pearl Academy's Main Campus kept their heads down and followed the rules. The rare few who swaggered about were, in Ai Tutu's estimation, mostly just putting on a performance.

Mo Fan was something else entirely. One move and the whole campus erupted — the Big Demon King lived up to his name, kicking up this kind of storm on his very first day. The school's online forums had lit up with nothing else.

"The Noble Clan heirs rack their brains trying to make a name for themselves here at the Main Campus — putting on all sorts of shows just to get noticed. But him?" Mu Nujiao couldn't help laughing. "He doesn't represent any faction at all, and yet he pulls off something this spectacular without even trying..."

"Right, right! Last month there was the whole staged demon hunt that Xiao Jiahe and the Xiao family put on, and not long ago the so-called peak showdown that the big shots from the Zhou Clan and the Ah Li Family hyped up to the heavens... Compared to the Big Demon King, those were embarrassingly weak!" Ai Tutu laughed with delight.

"Still, what he did this time seems like it might have gone a bit too far." Mu Nujiao's laughter faded, and worry for Mo Fan crept in.

The Main Campus was nothing like the Blue District. The Blue District was full of fresh students who had just come up from magic high school, with abilities clustered around the intermediate level. Even those with strong family backing wouldn't casually put their real strength on display.

Here at the Main Campus, every student was already an Intermediate-Level Mage with an established standing in society. Many represented different factions and power groups — exceptional talents, formidable backing, and staggering ability all walked the same corridors.

The Main Campus had a simple rule: as long as you hadn't broken through to High-Level Mage, you could keep studying there indefinitely.

Which meant anyone below the High-Level threshold could end up here — and the place had collected every kind of remarkable freak imaginable.

Take Mu Nujiao herself. As a first-year at the Main Campus, her strength placed her only 145th in the Plant Element rankings. She hadn't even cracked the top hundred.

For a new student, that was already a standout result.

Back in his apartment, Mo Fan was stretched out on the sofa, working his way through a bowl of fruit.

The place had one thing in abundance: snacks and fruit, all bought by Mu Nujiao and Ai Tutu. Mo Fan had never once felt the need to stand on ceremony with his two beloved consorts.

He hadn't been resting long when a message buzzed through on his phone from Lingling, asking him to come by the Azure Sky Hunting Firm.

That was when Mo Fan realized he'd been back all this time without once checking in to report to Old Bao. The old man had probably already gotten wind that he'd dragged himself back to Magic City in one piece.

Mo Fan headed out and flagged down a cab.

*Gotta get the Swift Star Wolf registered one of these days,* he muttered to himself. *Having to hail a cab every time I go out is such a drag... Do Summoned Beasts even need to enter a lottery to get a license plate?*

At the Azure Sky Hunting Firm, Old Bao was slumped behind the battered counter with his usual air of dejection. Business had evidently been slow lately — no big contracts coming in, and he'd even downgraded his tea leaves.

"Old Bao, I'm back!" Mo Fan greeted him with a broad grin.

"Hmph. Would've been better if you'd died out there — then the Azure Sky Hunting Firm could finally hire someone more capable. Someone who actually shows up to work!" Old Bao grumbled.

"Hey, hey, don't say that — I'm counting on earning some living expenses here... Oh, right, Old Bao, I've got some decent Armor Enchanted Gear materials. You know everybody — could you introduce me to a skilled forger? I need to get myself a proper set of Armor Enchanted Gear. I'm tired of walking around with my life hanging by a thread."

"Forging Armor Enchanted Gear isn't cheap. Got the money for it?" Old Bao raised an eyebrow.

"I've got a bit. I've just gotten into a spot of trouble, and without some reliable Enchanted Gear, I'll have a hard time handling it."

The Armored-Shell Giant Lizard's carcass had been handled by Ah Li Man, who had transferred nineteen million to Mo Fan's account without any fuss.

No rare variants, no Spirit Essence — just the carcass alone had sold for nineteen million. To Mo Fan, that alone was staggering.

Then again, Commander-class creatures weren't easy prey. One wrong move and you paid with your life.

"I'll put in a word with an old friend of mine. Just bring your materials and money to the Oriental Pearl Magic Association and look for him there. Since you're back anyway, there's a stack of commissions I've been sitting on — you and Lingling go take care of them." Old Bao pulled out a thick pile of commission sheets all at once.

"No problem!" Mo Fan thumped his chest with the air of a man who had everything well in hand.

The moment he actually looked through the commission sheets, his expression went peculiar.

Not because the jobs were dangerous — but because what on earth were these?

"Catch a Bloodmarked Giant-Eyed Ape-Rat in the sewer — you could hand that off to any Hunter-mage. Then there's this one: someone's newly tamed beast ran away, go catch it. And what's this one supposed to be, running a protection racket...? Old Bao, are you flat broke, or what? You're actually taking on garbage like this?" Mo Fan's jaw nearly hit the floor.

"Ahem... I was away for a few days, so I left a friend to mind the shop. The man went and accepted a mountain of nonsense. For the sake of the Azure Sky Hunting Firm's completion rate, I'm afraid these fall to you... Besides, you are our weakest hunter." Old Bao said.

"...The problem is these jobs pay a few tens of thousands at best — isn't this a colossal waste of my time?!" Mo Fan snapped.

With his current strength, any proper commission should start at a hundred thousand minimum. Intermediate-Level Mages might be a dime a dozen at the Pearl Main Campus, but out in the wider world they commanded genuine prestige — their appearance fee rivaled that of major celebrities.

"Stop whining and go handle them. When a decent high-paying job comes in, I'll send it your way. And while I'm at it — my old friend's forging fees are steep. That little bit of money you have might not actually be enough to get him to take the job." Old Bao said, looking somewhat sheepish. Truth was, he felt the same way — accepting commissions like these on the firm's reputation was genuinely embarrassing.

Back one day and already being put to work as a glorified errand boy. Whatever he earned would barely cover his eye-watering rent and everyday expenses.

He thought back on his recent glories — demolishing a Giant Lizard Pseudo-Dragon, outsmarting an Armored-Shell Giant Lizard, rescuing the Totem Xuan Serpent, driving off the Silver Dome Lord — and then looked at the stack of papers in his hands. These commissions were the equivalent of working at a sleazy detective agency: chasing down cheating spouses, finding someone's lost dog, plastering advertisements on telephone poles.

*This is a goddamn affront to the dignity of a true powerhouse.*