Shock, awe, admiration, doubt... all sorts of gazes fell upon him.

News of the battle three days ago had already spread through the crowd.

Neither Gu Lin nor Yin Guang had shied away from the topic. They had openly admitted that they were no match for Pei Ze.

This had caused a huge uproar among the apprentices.

Before the trial began, almost everyone believed the first-place winner would undoubtedly be one of three people: Gu Lin, Yin Guang, or Pei Shaoqi.

As for Pei Ze, while he wasn’t unknown, he was considered top-ten material at best.

Who would have thought that in the end, it would be Pei Ze who seized the first-place throne!

And not just first place—he had single-handedly suppressed the three geniuses, climbing to the top with crushing force!

It was completely unexpected!

"The results of this trial are so surprising. I can’t believe Pei Ze ended up taking first place."

"He was really hiding his strength. Pei Ze was always so low-key before."

"I heard he’s a bloodless one who was cast out by the Pei Family. Tsk tsk, a bloodless one defeating the Pei Family’s famous genius... how interesting."

"Speaking of which, where’s Pei Shaoqi? Why haven’t I seen him?"

"Pei Shaoqi’s points hit zero and never moved again. Cheng Li and his group haven’t shown up either. I’m guessing things don’t look good for them."

"Hiss... you mean..."

"I didn’t say a thing."

The buzz of discussion from all around was endless.

Pei Ze acted as if he heard nothing. With a calm expression, he walked to the shore, stopped, and looked up at the Floating Airship high in the sky.

"Pei Ze."

Shao Hong and the others had approached him at some point. Jiang Weifang was among them, and the entire group looked at him with complicated expressions.

Three days ago, when they saw the changes on the leaderboard, everyone from the Star Spirit Society had been filled with disbelief.

They had vaguely sensed that Pei Ze was hiding his strength, but they never imagined he could suppress Gu Lin and the other two, taking every last one of their points.

It completely exceeded their expectations.

Even Jiang Weifang, who had personally witnessed Pei Ze effortlessly defeat Qi Meng, was dumbfounded when she heard the news.

He had remained quiet, only to astound everyone with a single move.

This time, Pei Ze had given everyone a huge shock.

The final moments quickly arrived.

The instant the trial ended, all the apprentices—whether they were waiting on the beach or still fighting barbarians—found their vision blurring. When they came to their senses, they were back on the deck of the Floating Airship.

Three Wizards stood on the deck at the ship’s bow, their gazes sweeping coolly over the crowd.

"The trial is over."

Ai Yuan spoke slowly, their voice booming like a great bell across the wide deck.

"The top fifty apprentices are to collect their rewards from the logistics department upon returning to the academy."

"We will now set off for Chenxi City."

After a few simple sentences, as was their custom, the three Wizards vanished, leaving only the metal plate behind.

On it were densely packed lists of everyone’s ranks and scores.

Among them, Pei Ze’s score of over forty thousand points was far in the lead, making him particularly conspicuous among the apprentices.

The moment the trial ended, he received another five thousand points for possessing the Ten Thousand Flowers Fairy. His score instantly skyrocketed again, putting him a full thirty-three thousand points ahead of second place.

It was worth noting that Gu Lin and Yin Guang ranked somewhere around 2,300th and 2,500th, respectively.

In the last three days, they had gone back to hunting barbarians. However, as soon as they had enough points to ensure they wouldn’t be eliminated, the two of them simply gave up.

Otherwise, with their strength, getting into the top fifty would have been a simple matter, even with only three days left.

Besides the ranks and scores, the metal plate also displayed the number of deaths from this trial.

Three hundred forty-six people!

It was the highest death toll of almost any trial in history.

Seeing this, many apprentices secretly breathed sighs of relief.

Excluding the three hundred forty-six who died, the bottom-ranking six hundred fifty-four apprentices would have to leave the academy upon their return.

These people were either pale-faced or utterly dejected.

In contrast, those who passed the trial looked relieved, while those in the top fifty were visibly delighted.

For a time, the deck was a mix of joy and sorrow.

...

「The Apartment.」

Walking into the living room, Pei Ze tapped the brim of his hat and chuckled. "You can come out now."

The hat’s brim immediately flipped up, and a tiny figure flew out from underneath.

"WOW!"

It was the Ten Thousand Flowers Fairy’s first time seeing a human living space. She couldn’t help but cry out in amazement, flitting around like a curious child, touching this and poking that.

A moment later, she zipped back in front of Pei Ze, chirping and squeaking loudly, gesturing with her hands and feet as if trying to express something.

Pei Ze couldn’t understand her. He simply picked her up by the scruff of her neck, walked to an open area in the living room, and began preparing a bloodline contract.

A bloodline contract was one of the most common types of servant contracts. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Many Wizards signed bloodline contracts with Flower Fairies, Elemental Elves, and other such Otherworldly Creatures, turning them into servants to work for them.

This type of contract wasn’t difficult. The only materials required were the blood of both parties, and the process was simple and straightforward.

Its only drawback was that it could only be used to contract a target whose Spiritual Power was far weaker than one’s own.

Pei Ze took out a small knife and gently cut the Ten Thousand Flowers Fairy’s wrist. He drew a bit of her blood and mixed it with his own. Then, ignoring the little creature’s teary eyes, he began to draw a Contract Array on the floor.

A moment later, a small, palm-sized Array took shape.

He placed the Ten Thousand Flowers Fairy in the center of the Array, extended his index finger to touch its edge, and slowly recited the incantation.

The Array soon began to glow faintly.

Surprisingly, the Ten Thousand Flowers Fairy was very well-behaved at this moment. She sat motionless, only observing the Array with her lively, curious eyes.

When the intent of the contract was transmitted to her, she almost immediately sent back a thought of agreement.

The contract was formed!

The light dissipated, and the Array vanished.

The feedback of energy from the contract’s formation instantly healed the wound on the Ten Thousand Flowers Fairy’s wrist.

The little one immediately reverted to her active self, dancing and gesturing at Pei Ze.

Through their new contractual link, Pei Ze could now clearly understand what she was trying to say. He nodded. "No problem. You can live here from now on."

"Ee-wah! Ee-wah..."

"Yes, as long as you behave, you’ll get three meals of flower honey a day."

Although the rare plants were expensive, the income from selling Ten Thousand Flowers Honey would be enough to cover the expense, with plenty to spare.

The wool still comes from the sheep’s back, after all.

Having gotten Pei Ze’s promise, the Ten Thousand Flowers Fairy flew about excitedly, completely unaware that she was about to become a corporate drone exploited by a capitalist.

"Right, I should give you a name."

Pei Ze stroked his chin, lost in thought.

’Blossom? No, too tacky.’

’Honey? No, that sounds weird.’

Just as Pei Ze was struggling, the Ten Thousand Flowers Fairy suddenly rushed over and shouted, "Yi... Ni..."

"Yini?"

Pei Ze raised an eyebrow.

"Alright, from now on, I’ll call you Xiaoyi."

The Ten Thousand Flowers Fairy froze for a moment, not understanding why her name had become Xiaoyi.

She pouted and was about to protest, but when she saw Pei Ze take out a Mica Silver Flower, she immediately threw the matter to the back of her mind and flew closer, her eyes crinkling with a smile.

After feeding her the flower honey, Pei Ze let Xiaoyi go play by herself and returned to his bedroom for Meditation.

But just as he reached his bedroom door, he saw a silver butterfly float in languidly from the balcony, shedding flecks of light with every flutter of its wings.

Pei Ze’s expression shifted. He held out his palm, and the silver butterfly obediently landed in it, transforming into a letter with a flash of light.

"Magical trickery."

Pei Ze recognized this minor Magic.

This Zero-Circle Magic could temporarily transform an object or creature into another, or it could create a simple object out of thin air.

He gently opened the envelope, pulled out the parchment inside, and lowered his head to read.

The letter’s contents were simple, asking him to meet at Medicine Garden No. 8 tomorrow morning.

Just as he finished the last line, a bit of silver abruptly appeared at the bottom of the letter where a signature would be. It quickly sketched out a neat signature: Yin Xue.