Xiao Xun woke from his sleep, and the fragrant maid from before was standing by the bed again, looking at him with a smile.
Although her appearance was beautiful, seeing her sweet smile immediately upon opening his eyes felt eerie to Xiao Xun, quickly turning into fear.
Clutching his rapidly beating heart, Xiao Xun looked at her and asked, "What do you want?"
The maid lifted Xiao Xun's robe with both hands. "By order of the Empress, I am to help you change clothes and remind you that today is the last day of the second round of competition."
Xiao Xun had no choice, knowing he wouldn't be able to get up if she didn't help him dress.
After getting dressed, he took the empty vase and took a carriage to the designated competition venue.
The venue was already packed with people. The few remaining contestants each held a vase containing blooming white flowers. While they varied in form and were all very beautiful, none of them were the fabled 'Ice Snow Enchantress'.
When Xiao Xun appeared before the crowd holding an empty vase, it caused a stir and murmurs among the onlookers.
"Is this considered giving up?"
"If so, why not just not show up, instead of bringing an empty vase?"
"..."
Xiao Xun looked at the vase in his hand. He had thoroughly researched the matter before coming. There was indeed a flower called 'Ice Snow Enchantress', but no one had ever seen what it looked like, or rather, very few had. Furthermore, this flower only bloomed at the very peak of inaccessible snowy mountains, making it extremely rare with exceptionally harsh growth conditions.
Therefore, Xiao Xun shouted to the crowd, "Everyone, the flower in my vase is only visible to the exceptionally intelligent and the wise. It is the true 'Ice Snow Enchantress'."
Upon hearing this, the crowd exclaimed in awe, "Indeed, that is the true 'Ice Snow Enchantress'."
In reality, the people saying this saw nothing.
His statement sparked a frenzy of discussion. Many claimed to have seen it and described its beauty in great detail.
Those who initially claimed not to have seen it now said, "Hey! It really is a flower. I thought I was seeing things."
Xiao Xun walked towards the other contestants, holding his vase. "I wonder where you all obtained your flowers?"
The flowers in their hands were certainly not 'Ice Snow Enchantresses'. However, they never imagined that the seeds given to them would dissolve in water. They believed their cultivation methods were flawed, and the so-called seeds were actually rock sugar.
Later, these individuals spent a great deal of money to purchase the most precious white flowers in the world, hoping to pass unnoticed. They never expected Xiao Xun to pull such a stunt, the 'Emperor's Vase'.
The contestants promptly threw their vases to the ground. "We admit defeat. We were unable to cultivate the legendary 'Ice Snow Enchantress'. These flowers were all bought and slightly altered to their current form."
Branded as dishonest, these individuals shamefully left the stage, leaving only three participants for the third round of competition.
They were Prince Mestor of Wanyin Kingdom, Prince Biyun of Liukao Island Kingdom, and the peerless wise general Svein of Santiloman.
The third round was the highly anticipated magic duel competition. After all, this was a continent that revered magic; one could not hope to marry the Empress without genuine skill.
But how would three people compete? They couldn't just engage in a free-for-all, could they?
Thus, at the suggestion of the Prime Minister and the esteemed elders of the Senate, Dukar of Zhiyue Kingdom was added as the fourth participant.
The competition was scheduled for tomorrow, to be held at Santiloman's most famous Lyceum Square. The four participants would draw lots to determine their opponents.
Immediately, major casinos opened their books, with Xiao Xun having the highest odds. His strength was unknown to everyone; some called him a once-in-a-generation magic prodigy, while others declared him an idiot incapable of even the simplest magic.
The favored to win was Prince Dukar of Zhiyue Kingdom, recently bestowed with the title of Warrior. After all, ordinary mages could not defeat such a magical beast.
As for the remaining two, their advancement to the third round was solely due to possessing branches of the Xiantong tree, not necessarily because they had felled these twenty branches through their own abilities.
Xiao Xun was incredibly excited. Tomorrow would be a true test of magic, not something that could be solved by cleverness or a bit of wit.
Especially since he was unaware of the true capabilities of the other three. Although he knew Dukar hadn't killed the magical beast, the fact that he could sever its head indicated he possessed a divine weapon. Moreover, his teacher was a renowned Archmage throughout the continent.
As Dukar's student, even if he hadn't inherited the full extent of his teacher's knowledge, fighting Xiao Xun, a 'muggle', would be child's play. Otherwise, he wouldn't have dared to face the ferocious magical beast alone.
During lunch, Xiao Xun was preoccupied with worry. Saila Fiss asked him what was wrong, and he explained his concerns.
Saila Fiss smiled and asked, "Do you remember what I told you?"
Xiao Xun paused, then recalled, "You said all three rounds of competition were open-book exams. But the final round is a direct magic battle. Although I'm dealing with what appears to be a Chaos elemental mage, I can't control it at all. I can't just stand there and wait to be attacked. How am I supposed to win?"
Then he wondered, "Could it be? Are those three people all 'props' you hired?"
Saila Fiss looked at him. "What's always going on in your head? It's such a trivial matter, would I bother finding props for you?"
Xiao Xun was about to continue muttering, but Saila Fiss interrupted him directly. "Alright, I promise that tomorrow, you will only win and never lose, okay?"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Xun abruptly stood up. "Then it's settled!"
At that moment, the sound of the violin also abruptly stopped.
In the afternoon, Xiao Xun was in his bedroom on the top floor of the castle, diligently studying the book "Forbidden Arts of Chaos Elemental Magic."
Although Chaos elemental magic was only mentioned at the beginning, the entire book contained very useful magical information, including the origin and development of magic, and how white magic and black magic were initially divided.
It also discussed the advantages and disadvantages of both types of magic, clearly indicating the methods needed by Chaos elemental mages to counter them.
Summoning magic and spatial magic, while also falling under the umbrella of magic, were considered anomalous innate talents. The number of people on the entire continent who could perform these magics was few and far between, yet no figures at the level of Archmage, let alone Magic God, had ever emerged.
The very last page of the book contained only one large line, which Xiao Xun softly recited, "Never fall into the boundless abyss."
After closing the book, Xiao Xun ruminated on its contents, then reopened it and continued reading. Between the lines, he discovered a momentous fact.
The so-called Chaos element was, in the true sense of the word, the absolute ruler of the magical world. All mages referred to him as the God Emperor.
Xiao Xun's eyes widened. "If the descriptions in the book are true, then doesn't that make me the great ruler of this world?"
After saying this, he looked at his ordinary hands. "In that case, I'll have to ask my parents about their origins, to be able to give birth to a son like me."