Chapter 260 – I'm Now a Professional Sorcerer

An unexpected delight!

And what a huge surprise it was!

Su Ming truly hadn’t expected that a simple drinking bout would lead to a breakthrough by sheer coincidence, elevating him from a Four-Star Sorcerer to a Five-Star Sorcerer!

Feeling the surging Spirit Power within his body and the Vision Mark on his forehead, now far more powerful than before, Su Ming broke into a faint smile.

“If it’s the current me, even without using the Vision Mark or Demonization, I should be able to defeat a Peak Five-Star Hunter like Mo Leng, right?”

If he went all out, he estimated he could now hold his own against a Six-Star Professional.

“Challenging across two star ranks?” Su Ming muttered to himself, then shook his head. “No, I’m already a Five-Star Sorcerer. Even if I can challenge a Six-Star Professional, that’s still just fighting one star rank above.”

The real question was whether he could defeat a Peak Six-Star expert like Lord Crow, who stood out even among Six-Star Professionals.

After careful calculation, Su Ming concluded it wasn’t impossible.

“The amplification multiplier of my Vision Mark has increased. Both Demonization and the power of my right arm are enhanced by the Demon Emperor Sword’s energy without negative side effects now. Plus, there’s the Blue Demon Ceasefire Ring that even works on Divine Artifacts…”

Su Ming assessed his capabilities as objectively and calmly as possible before reaching a conclusion.

“If it were the Lord Crow I fought in the underground Ruins, I’d have a real chance of defeating him.”

That was Su Ming’s evaluation of his current strength.

Of course, this assumed Lord Crow had already been going all out during that battle.

One mustn’t forget—Lord Crow never used Demonization until the very end, when Su Ming’s 【Silver Arm: Torrent】 struck him, forcing him to demonize at the last moment to block that world-shattering blow.

Had Lord Crow demonized from the beginning, that battle would’ve been hopeless for Su Ming.

Even now, if Su Ming faced a fully-powered Lord Crow from the start, the outcome would still be uncertain.

Still, Su Ming felt thoroughly satisfied.

After all, during that previous battle, he’d consumed every combat-enhancing alchemical potion in his backpack while achieving a breakthrough mid-fight to become an Upper-Class Hunter—only then gaining power sufficient to threaten Lord Crow.

Those potions included extremely rare, top-tier specimens. Though individually none matched the exaggerated effects of the Bloodburn Potion, their combined potency was undoubtedly comparable.

Only with all those precious alchemical enhancements had Su Ming barely managed to withstand Lord Crow.

This time, however, Su Ming’s calculations didn’t include any potion use.

He was evaluating his true, unassisted combat power.

The two situations couldn’t be compared equally.

“Without question, my current strength rivals that of a Six-Star Professional.”

This thought lifted Su Ming’s spirits even higher.

And why not?

In Longyao City, Six-Star Professionals represented the pinnacle of combat prowess.

Even in the current Longyao City, only the two stationed Seven-Star Professionals could truly threaten him.With this level of strength, even in a Human Race Holy Land like Tianfeng City—a Base City that gathers the most outstanding and powerful Professionals from all of humanity—it would rank among the top-tier combat forces, second only to the very peak.

“This way, even if I go to Tianfeng City, I won’t have to worry about lacking the power to protect myself.”

Moreover, with Little Hai’er, whose strength rivals that of a Six-Star Professional, their combined power meant they could even hold their own against a Seven-Star Professional.

The more Su Ming thought about it, the happier he became. Unable to contain himself, he hugged Little Hai’er tightly and planted a firm kiss on her forehead.

“Mi-ling?”

Little Hai’er widened her beautiful large eyes, staring blankly at Su Ming. Her face seemed full of disbelief, and her eyes silently accused him as she froze in place.

“I couldn’t help myself, I really couldn’t…” Su Ming finally snapped back to reality, quickly releasing Little Hai’er and offering an awkward, sheepish smile.

“Mi-ling!”

Little Hai’er came to her senses, puffing out her cheeks in apparent anger.

But judging by her expression, Su Ming strongly suspected that this girl had no idea what a kiss meant—she probably just thought he was bullying her.

After all, lately, Su Ming had often playfully tugged at her smooth, elastic little cheeks during their games.

Perhaps, in Little Hai’er’s understanding, Su Ming’s recent action was no different from pulling her cheeks to tease her.

“Sorry, sorry.”

Su Ming quickly put on a silly grin to smooth things over.

“Mi-ling!”

Little Hai’er turned her head away, still pouting, but her body betrayed her as she snuggled back into Su Ming’s embrace. Her little nose sniffed around, occasionally revealing an expression of pure enjoyment.

Hmph! Since this little master smells so nice, she’d let it slide this time!

With that thought, Little Hai’er immediately forgot all about Su Ming kissing her.

If Su Ming knew what was going through her mind, he would have been astonished.

“Good grief, she’s this forgiving even after being taken advantage of like that?”

Thankfully, she was a Phantom Demon. If she were human, she might have been deceived enough to have enough children to form a soccer team by now.

“Knock, knock…”

Just then, there was a knock on Su Ming’s door.

“Brother Su Ming, are you up?”

An Zijin’s voice came from outside the door.

“I’m up!”

Su Ming replied while getting up, causing Little Hai’er—still puffing her cheeks—to summon a mist of water that enveloped her entire body before she disappeared from the room.

Only then did Su Ming open the door.

Outside stood the incredibly cute girl-next-door, looking as fresh and lovely as ever. She wore her usual sweet smile, as if yesterday’s conversation and events had never happened, and said:

“Everyone is planning to head back. What about you, Brother Su Ming?”

An Zijin asked with a cheerful smile.

Su Ming responded with a carefree grin of his own.

“Of course, I’m going back too.”

He wanted to properly enjoy these last few days of Academy life.

After this, such opportunities would be gone forever.

……

And so, Su Ming and the others returned to the Academy.

News of his plans to graduate early slowly spread throughout the Academy over the next few days.

When the other students learned that Su Ming had applied for early graduation, they were quite surprised.

“In this day and age, someone actually applied for early graduation?””This is the first time I’ve seen someone graduate early.”

“Su Ming?”

“Wait, that guy is planning to graduate early?”

“Hell yeah! Get lost already!”

These were the typical reactions from the students.

Especially Xu Qianqian and An Zijin’s admirers and fan club members—they couldn’t wait for Su Ming to leave immediately.

After all, hadn’t Su Ming suddenly gotten entangled in rumors with their goddess, causing quite a stir?

There were plenty in the Academy who couldn’t stand his presence.

Thus, regarding Su Ming’s decision to graduate early, most people were overjoyed, practically wanting to form a parade to send him off.

As a result, during his final days at the Academy, Su Ming unexpectedly received blessings from many.

“You can do it!”

“Go for it!”

“Ganbatte!”

Whenever students encountered Su Ming on the road, they would enthusiastically cheer him on with such fervor that they might as well have been his personal cheer squad.

Even in the Dormitory, Su Ming would occasionally receive gifts from the rough guys in the Male Dormitory—either mascots to bless his exams or supplements to relieve fatigue and boost energy, fully demonstrating what “comradely love” meant.

“I always believed Su Ming was destined for greatness!”

“Graduating in his second year? That’s definitely a Genius among Geniuses!”

“May our Genius Su pass his exams smoothly!”

“Ohhh!”

The rough guys in the Male Dormitory acted like passionate youths, shouting excitedly around Su Ming every day as if pumped full of adrenaline, making him barely resist the urge to kick them out of the Dormitory.

“Damn, everyone in this Academy is insane.”

Su Ming was genuinely speechless.

He never expected that his early graduation would turn these previously hostile people so enthusiastic and kind—something he hadn’t anticipated.

Nor did he need it.

If not for his rationality, Su Ming might have secretly slipped laxatives into the cafeteria food to give these annoying guys a taste of agony before leaving.

However, compared to these mind-numbingly foolish antics from his classmates, Xu Qianqian’s reaction surprised Su Ming even more.

“Why hasn’t that Young Miss come to ask me about this?”

Su Ming was quite puzzled.

Indeed, Xu Qianqian still hadn’t contacted Su Ming.

As if completely unaware of his plans to graduate early, things on her end remained eerily quiet without any news, which truly surprised Su Ming.

He had assumed that upon hearing the news, Xu Qianqian would immediately seek him out to ask about his intentions.

Yet, she seemed genuinely oblivious, showing not even a hint of reaction.

Whether she truly didn’t know, Su Ming couldn’t be sure.

Although the matter had caused an uproar in the Academy, recent events in Longyao City were turbulent with no shortage of incidents—perhaps Xu Qianqian was tied up with Family affairs.

Moreover, she still had a mess to clean up.Someone within his private army had betrayed him, leading to heavy losses among his forces. The villa had become a blood-soaked scene with many casualties. Regarding this matter, Xu Qianqian had numerous tasks to attend to.

Whether to replenish the private army was one issue; another was that there were traitors within the ranks, with her own family members secretly manipulating things behind the scenes. Both emotionally and logically, Xu Qianqian could not let this slide.

Su Ming had previously heard Xu Qianqian mention briefly:

“Grandfather was furious when he learned about this, and Father plans to take some covert actions in return against those people.”

It was easy to imagine that Xu Yanyan’s father would not have an easy time in the coming days.

After scheming against Xu Qianqian so many times and putting her in danger repeatedly, it seemed the time had come to settle the score.

Su Ming did not know what kind of turmoil this had caused within the Xu Family, nor was he interested in the subsequent developments of the matter.

He simply held his phone, stared at Xu Qianqian’s number for a long time, and then put it away.

“Forget it, I’ll deal with it later.”

After all, before leaving Longyao City, he would say goodbye to Xu Qianqian.

When the time came, they could properly part ways.

……

Soon, the weekend arrived.

This was also the day Su Ming would take his graduation assessment.

The Academy was not particularly lively that day.

Even at the Demon Hunter Academy, weekends were holidays. Aside from a few students who stayed behind for self-study and cultivation, most either lazed in their dormitories or went out to have fun, leaving the Academy somewhat deserted.

The Academy had arranged Su Ming’s assessment at the gymnasium, instructing him to go there on his own.

His group of friends wanted to accompany him, but Su Ming refused.

“It’s just a graduation assessment. There’s no need to come cheer me on.”

Su Ming firmly dissuaded everyone and went to the gymnasium alone to take the assessment.

It wasn’t that he looked down on the Academy’s graduation assessment.

…Well, he did somewhat underestimate it.

As mentioned before, because the industry was always short on manpower and combat strength, unless a student made a fundamental error, they were usually not held back from becoming a Professional.

As long as one spent four years at the Academy and genuinely learned combat techniques, even those at the bottom of the rankings would graduate smoothly.

This was also why the quality of one-star Professionals in the industry varied greatly, their numbers were vast, but few managed to advance to two stars.

Those in the know understood that in the Professional circle, only from two stars onward could one be considered truly skilled. The one-star Rank was a mixed bag of all kinds, a true melting pot in the Professional world.

Given this, Su Ming was not at all worried about failing the graduation assessment.

Even if he hid a tiny bit of his strength, Su Ming could smoothly pass the assessment and become a certified Sorcerer without any risk.

The reality aligned closely with Su Ming’s expectations.

The Academy didn’t even send many people—just a few instructors to supervise and conduct the assessment—before letting Su Ming proceed.

The content of the assessment was also straightforward.

For Hunters, it involved testing physical abilities, conducting a physical examination, and scoring based on performance.If one is a sorcerer, the test involves casting spell formulas—performing spirit arts on both stationary and moving targets to assess casting speed and precision. Following that, one must use the highest-sequence spirit art currently mastered before receiving a final evaluation.

As someone ostensibly an apprentice sorcerer, Su Ming naturally underwent the sorcerer examination.

Thus, after deliberately holding back a tiny bit, shattering all the targets, and demonstrating the Twenty-Eighth Form: Spiral Fire as his currently mastered highest-sequence spirit art, Su Ming smoothly obtained his graduation certificate and sorcerer license.

His final evaluation was: One-Star.

“From today onward, I’m a professional sorcerer.”

Having already advanced to a Five-Star Sorcerer and also being a Four-Star Hunter, Su Ming was as happy as a 200-pound big guy.

Congratulations all around. Congratulations all around.

(End of Chapter)