Chapter Thirteen: The Genius Priest

Though his movements were somewhat awkward, the junior priest Dio still stood up, mustering all his courage to raise his head and face Chu Tian. Chu Tian knew his own abilities were probably not even on par with a priest apprentice; after racking his brains and nearly running out of tricks, a wicked idea crept into his mind: since he couldn’t do it himself, why not find someone else to take the fall?

Having observed all the students carefully, Chu Tian was delighted to discover Dio, the odd one out: his robe was a bit shabby but spotlessly clean—a clear sign of a child from a commoner’s family, with no influential background. Offending him would pose no danger at all! He looked about fourteen or fifteen, with a tender, innocent face that had clearly not seen much of the world—he should be easy to fool. Hugging a thick stack of notes, he was evidently a diligent and hardworking student.

Most importantly, as soon as their eyes met, Dio immediately became flustered, lowering his blushing face and shrinking into the last row—a clear sign of a slightly self-conscious but good-hearted child.

He’s the one, Chu Tian thought, narrowing his eyes and putting on his most sacred smile. He beckoned to Dio, “Come! Come up to the lectern and give us a talk!”

At that moment, Dio was both nervous and excited—nervous to speak before more than a hundred classmates, but thrilled that his idol had actually spoken to him! Dio was born in a small fishing village in the eastern empire. From a young age, he was diligent and studious, eventually passing the entrance exams to the Royal Academy of Magic by sheer effort, and at fifteen, he had already become a junior priest! Aspiring to be a great priest since childhood, Dio had worshiped the legendary figure among priests—Anthony—since the day he first understood the world. But recent events in the imperial capital had added another idol to this naive youth’s heart.

Healing a ninth-tier dragon—surpassing even Anthony; reviving a hundred thousand cavalrymen with a wave of the hand—these two legendary feats orchestrated by Chu Tian had made the innocent Dio look up to this young lord as well. So, when he heard the Marquis Vladino would be selecting students, he gave up everything else and fought through layer upon layer of examinations to secure a precious ticket to attend the class.

Trembling, he walked onto the stage and bowed to everyone. Dio looked in confusion at Chu Tian, who had stepped aside, then, under Chu Tian’s encouraging gaze, began his presentation: “Pri… Priest, this pro… profession originated from…”

His stammering speech drew looks of jealousy and disdain from his classmates—some even began to snicker! But Chu Tian was secretly delighted. The more Dio stammered, the longer he could stall; with any luck, he might even stretch this out for the entire class period!

Thinking this, Chu Tian signaled for silence and said, “The Goddess of Life once said: Do not mock others for their nervousness!”

Who knew whether the Goddess of Life had ever said such words, but the phrase worked; under Chu Tian’s righteous gaze, several students’ expressions turned to shame, and the classroom fell silent.

Dio shot Chu Tian a grateful look, his eyes reddening slightly, but his speech quickly became more fluent: “As we all know, the priesthood is divided into nine levels, which are…”

Chu Tian looked a little guilty at the lectern, seeing how Dio was moved by his casual words. He thought to himself: Brother! I’ll remember your kindness! The vice principal will not treat you poorly!

“Currently, the most famous priests on the continent include our own empire’s mentor—His Excellency Anthony, the ninth-level Holy Priest of Light, as well as…” Dio glanced shyly at Chu Tian, cursing inwardly that he didn’t even know his idol’s priest rank! Pausing briefly, he added, “as well as the Chief Court Priest, our vice principal, Marquis Vladino!”

A thunderous round of applause erupted. Chu Tian bowed modestly to express his thanks, savoring the thought: I’ve become a person of importance too!

Dio’s speech continued: “As the most basic form of magic, healing is fundamental to all priestly spells, and that is because…”

Chu Tian blushed, recalling Little White, who often pestered him for massages. Why was it that his healing spell worked only as a dog massage? Chu Tian could only smile wryly.

“The advanced version of healing—the resurrection spell—is developed by adding…”

Chu Tian’s spirits lifted. This student was truly remarkable and must be very diligent! Though Chu Tian was a magical dunce in practice, he had followed Anthony for over a month and had become quite adept in theory! Estimating Dio’s content and pace, the young lord smiled knowingly—he could easily drag out the lesson for the full period.

But soon, Chu Tian’s smile froze.

“Priests’ offensive spells can only be mastered at the level of a seventh-tier priest mentor. The basic principle behind these spells is…” Now that Dio had relaxed, his words flowed faster. But the scope of his lecture had already far exceeded Chu Tian’s expectations. He had only wanted Dio to stall for time, but Dio was actually delivering a real magic lesson in his place!

Everything Dio discussed, Chu Tian had heard before from Anthony. He could understand it, but not perform it himself. Still, he knew very well: Dio was not mistaken!

“In my observations, the same priestly spell can yield different results depending on the casting rhythm. I believe this is because…” Dio was now fully in his element, moving beyond textbook theory to offer his own analysis!

Chu Tian was shocked to discover that all of Dio’s analyses matched Anthony’s theories exactly! And these were the fruits of Anthony’s decades of research—yet Dio, at such a young age, had already arrived at the same conclusions!

Watching Dio speak with poise and confidence, Chu Tian felt as if he had returned to the Sunset Mountains, beside that shabby hut, where the aged priest patiently guided his student...

“Through my research, I’ve found that the priesthood’s most powerful offensive spell, the ninth-level magic—Judgment of Light—contains three errors in its activation incantation! This diminishes its power! The spell as presented in our textbooks may be incomplete!” Never before had Dio felt so free in his speech. Without realizing it, he voiced a long-held doubt, finally questioning the priestly texts that had been passed down for millennia!

His words instantly stirred up an uproar, with protests and accusations ringing out:

“What right do you have to question the incantation? For a thousand years, countless priests have used this spell!”

“So many great priests never found a mistake, but you, a junior priest, claim to have discovered one?!”

“I say it’s not the textbook that’s wrong—it’s you who are mistaken!”

The students’ criticisms grew harsher, and some of the auditors from other departments began to join in the heckling. Dio was at a loss, gesturing helplessly, stammering out, “I… I didn’t mean it like that. I… I was just saying…”

But none of that mattered. Fixing his gaze on Dio, Chu Tian’s heart was in turmoil, his mind clear on one thing: Dio was wrong!

The incantation didn’t have three mistakes—it had five! But those five errors were only discovered by Anthony after ten years of research! For this junior priest to have spotted three at such a young age—his future was limitless!

At that moment, the magic bell rang for the end of class! Chu Tian stood up, pointed expressionlessly at Dio, and said, “You! Come with me to the office!”

Turning away, he ignored the other students and strode out of the classroom in silence, his face as calm as deep water. But in his heart, he was savoring a single word: Genius!

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Tonight, around midnight, there will be another chapter. At that point, I’ll be able to enter the Newcomers’ Ranking, so I hope everyone will support me—otherwise, if I can’t make the list, I’ll be quite pitiful! Of course, if you can vote now and then vote again after midnight, that would be wonderful! Hehe.