13: Chapter 13 Avril, You Might Have a Rival Now

Potter was clamoring, insisting that Zhang Mu perform the Fireball Spell once more.

Zhang Mu stated that his mana was completely depleted; he would attend class first, absorbing mana in the meantime, and try again once it had recovered.

But Potter shook his head in refusal; if he didn't see it one more time, his heart would be in such a turmoil that he wouldn't be able to teach in peace.

Helpless, Zhang Mu sat cross-legged and spent over half an hour recovering his mana before releasing a fireball.

It was slightly better than before, maintaining itself for about four seconds before exploding and dissipating.

There was no helping it; the amount of time he had been in contact with mana was simply too short.

Under normal circumstances, by the time a mage reached the stage of practicing spells, their mana would have already broken through the first rank.

After watching the fireball, Potter said nothing. He remained silent for over ten minutes before waving his hand to signal the start of class.

It was still about brewing potions and identifying herbs.

When the day's lessons ended, Zhang Mu bid his farewell and left.

After he departed, Potter pushed open the wooden window.

As the sun set in the west, the gentle glow of the evening clouds was exceptionally intoxicating.

He pulled a crystal ball from his mage robes and channeled mana into it.

"Teacher, is something the matter?" It was that same icy voice, with a chill that seemed to seep into one's very marrow.

"Avril." Potter held the crystal ball, his gaze fixed on the distant horizon. "You might... have a rival now."

"Oh?" The chill seemed to gain a hint of warmth. "What kind of genius could earn your recognition, Teacher?"

"To master the Fireball Spell, he only needed one night."

The air fell silent for a moment before the voice rang out again, returning to its flat tone: "Teacher Potter, please do not take the liberty of making such boring jokes."

Potter did not continue to explain.

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, and someone else had told him that a person could master the Fireball Spell in a single night, he would probably have mocked them as a madman.

With a silent smile, he changed the subject: "What is your royal brother's attitude?"

It was a sentence lacking a clear subject, yet Avril understood: "Forerunners with sufficient courage are, in the end, only a small minority, Teacher."

"Mm." Potter nodded indifferently. "Then we shall rely on oursel—"

Perhaps, there will be one more fellow traveler.

Midway through his sentence, this thought abruptly surfaced in his mind. Although he hadn't performed any verification yet, he was inexplicably filled with confidence.

After a moment of silence, he said, "We need time, Avril."

Keep yourself hidden for now to avoid attracting the Church's attention; now is not yet the time."

"I understand, Teacher."

...

Upon returning home, Zhang Mu went into his bedroom and picked up his phone.

As expected, there were over a dozen missed calls, all from Ye Ming.

He unlocked the phone and called back.

The phone was picked up immediately after a single ring.

"Zhang Mu, where did you get this grass?!"

"Is there any more!"

The inquiry was almost roared out, fully expressing Ye Ming's excitement.

"Just that one. I only noticed it because of that dash of deep purple amidst a patch of green leaves. If there were many, I wouldn't have bothered to specifically dig it up."

Tossing out the excuse he had prepared long ago, Zhang Mu's tone was flat and his pitch was very steady.

"That's true." Ye Ming muttered on the other end, then immediately asked, "Did you look nearby?"

"I did, but I didn't find the source of the mutation. Perhaps the issue is underground, or maybe it's the sky."

Zhang Mu feigned a curious voice: "Are the test results out?"

Heavy panting could be clearly heard through the receiver; it seemed Ye Ming was taking deep breaths.

"They came out this afternoon. It... it's hard to explain in a sentence or two. I'll contact you again once there are concrete results."

"Okay."

...

Inside the laboratory where Ye Ming worked.

Lin Miao sat at a desk, her right hand propping up her soft chin.

Her loose long hair had been tied into a ponytail as per laboratory requirements, and she wore a white lab coat identical to Ye Ming's.

Her index finger lightly tapped her cheek, her eyes entirely focused on the man making the call nearby.

Ye Ming stuffed his phone into his pocket and turned around with a smile. "Let's go, I'll treat you to a late-night snack."

Seeing that he had finished his call, Lin Miao immediately stood up and trotted over with a giggle. "Senior Brother."

"Can the project pass now?"

"It's a sure thing." Ye Ming was beaming with joy. "Although we don't have more samples, the project itself was only meant to set a direction. The data we have is enough."

"I'll start preparing the paper as soon as I wake up tomorrow. Heh, I really have him to thank."

"Will the supervisor let us pass?"

"Don't worry." Ye Ming waved a hand confidently. "That old fellow never bothered to manage this experiment. I've kept all the video evidence."

"He won't be able to back out."

"Tomorrow I'll find a supervisor I'm familiar with and attach the paper to their side. At worst, we'll give up the first authorship."

Fu Xiyuan had some background within the school; naturally, no one wanted to offend him over trivial matters.

But when interests were involved, it was hard to say.

If you had a background, other supervisors weren't exactly alone either; it just wasn't worth starting a dispute over a graduate student.

Having set their plan, Ye Ming led Lin Miao in tidying up the instruments. Once finished, they changed clothes, and then he placed the herb with deep purple leaves into a small box and tucked it into his jacket pocket.

They turned off the lights, locked the door, and prepared to leave.

After walking a few steps, Ye Ming thought of Fu Xiyuan's lackeys. To avoid the herb being discovered, he turned back, opened the door, and went inside to remove the hard drive containing the surveillance footage.

This actually violated regulations, but it wasn't a big deal.

The experiment itself was on the verge of being abandoned and had the lowest level of confidentiality; even then, no one was monitoring it.

Or rather, this experiment was entirely a means for Fu Xiyuan to torment Ye Ming and Lin Miao; he never expected any valuable results to be researched.

He locked the door again.

Ye Ming tilted his head toward the elevator. "Let's go, time for a snack."

"Mm." Lin Miao held her hands behind her back. "Senior Brother, you should really thank that friend who helped you. I still have some cash on me, you..."

"Keep it for yourself." Ye Ming walked toward the elevator, stirring up a breeze. "What's the point of being polite with him?"

"Well, let me know if you need to use it."

...

Zhang Mu's home.

The matter of Ye Ming's call was forgotten in an instant; after all, he already had a good idea of what the test results would be.

At this moment, he was sprawled out on the sofa, holding his phone and swiping the screen with his thumb, searching for common herbs.

He didn't plan on buying many.

His goal was to test whether herbs from the real world would undergo mutations under the influence of mana if brought to the Other World.

If feasible, he would also need to record how much time was required for the mutation to complete.

Therefore, three or four types of herbs would suffice as samples.

After picking and choosing for a long while, Zhang Mu placed three orders for different herbs from three different shops on JD.com.

He tossed the phone onto the coffee table and rested his head on his hands.

"As soon as the delivery arrives, I'll take them over and try it out. Once I'm sure it works, I can buy in bulk."

"Some herbs are quite expensive; I need to find a way to make more money."

Speaking of money, Zhang Mu suddenly sat up and rummaged through the coffee table piled with opened plastic packaging bags. Soon, he unearthed a bank card from beneath the clutter.

"It's really like seeing a ghost; whose is this, anyway?"

Examining both sides, Zhang Mu rubbed his face with his free hand.

He had always disliked owing favors; debts of gratitude were hard to repay.

One hundred and fifty thousand—and it was sent to him without him even asking to borrow it. Even though he had a way to make money now, the person who sent it certainly knew nothing of that.

This favor was far too great.

After stroking his chin and pondering for a while, Zhang Mu muttered to himself, "I'll find a way to ask someone to check the account holder of this card."

He said it, but he didn't know any friends with the ability to privately check bank card information.

"We'll see. If all else fails, I'll just hand it over to the Government Officials and say I found it."

Zhang Mu pushed the matter aside, washed up, and went to bed.