Nighttime, by the roadside.
A young man was squatting beside the road, occasionally glancing at the passing vehicles, as if searching for something.
A truck drove by. The young man's eyes lit up, scanning the surroundings—but not a single person was in sight.
He cursed under his breath and stood up, preparing to leave. Who would've thought the truck would suddenly veer straight toward him?
The truck driver seemed to be driving while fatigued and hadn't noticed there was someone on the road at night. The steering wheel slipped in his hands, sending the vehicle charging straight at the young man.
"Screech—!"
The harsh sound of the truck tires scraping against the pavement tore through the air. Then—bang! The young man was flung away, tracing a perfect arc through the air before crashing to the ground. He never got up again.
His last conscious thought was:
If I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have come out to squat by the road waiting for a truck. I didn't think I'd get hit by one...
And then, the world in the young man's eyes was swallowed by darkness.
Not long after, the deer-shaped pendant with a single horn hanging on his chest began to glow faintly. Then it dimmed... and never lit up again.
Who knows how much time passed?
The young man suddenly opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by endless darkness and chaos. Silence enveloped everything.
He tried to sense his surroundings—but felt absolutely nothing.
Time lost all meaning for him. There was only infinite darkness and solitude.
Loneliness gnawed at him, tormenting his spirit every moment. To preserve his sanity, he could only choose to sleep intermittently.
This continued for what felt like forever.
Each time he woke up, he desperately tried to perceive anything, searching for a way out.
Then, one time—his deer-horn pendant began to glow again, flickering with light. For the first time in this endless darkness, he saw light!
The glow grew brighter and brighter. As it did, the young man lost consciousness again. The light eventually engulfed him.
His figure vanished from that world of darkness—as if he had never existed.
Bo City – Mu Family Estate.
"Brother Jing Wuji, aren't you going to play with them?" asked Ye Xinxia, who was sitting in a wheelchair, looking up at him.
"I don't like crowded places. Besides, I have to take care of you," Jing Wuji replied, gazing into the distance at Mo Fan playing with the princess of the estate, Mu Ningxue. He reached out and gently ruffled Ye Xinxia's hair.
Ye Xinxia's lips curved into a soft smile, her expression full of happiness.
Seeing the joyful smile on the girl's face, Jing Wuji couldn't help but smile as well.
It had already been several years since he arrived in this world. He now had some understanding of it. This was a world of magic—and it was Mo Fan who made him realize that he had somehow entered the world of a novel from his past life: Full-Time Mage.
Thinking back on his past life, Jing Wuji couldn't help but sigh. He had originally just wanted to squat and "ambush" a wife... Who would've thought he'd get Isekai'd into another world instead?
Looks like that truck driver didn't want his space-time transport license revoked...
That endless world of darkness still haunted Jing Wuji's memories.
And the deer horn pendant that had glowed back then remained a mystery. It was still hanging around his neck. He suspected it might be something similar to Mo Fan's little loach pendant—but he had no proof.
After watching for a while, Jing Wuji pushed Ye Xinxia's wheelchair as they strolled through the estate garden.
Looking at the cute girl in front of him, he suddenly remembered the disaster that would strike Bo City years later. Most of the plot had faded from his memory during his time in that pitch-black void, but the Bo City Disaster was still vividly imprinted in his mind.
This time—he would never let this girl feel abandoned by the world again!
So—he had to become stronger!
The high school entrance exams ended.
Jing Wuji and Mo Fan walked out of the exam hall together, and right away they saw Mo Jiaxing waving at them with a smile.
"Mo Fan, Jing Wuji…"
Jing Wuji waved back, letting him know he saw him.
Mo Fan looked a bit surprised. "Dad, what are you doing here?"
He was still lost in his thoughts.
More than twenty days ago, Jing Wuji had already noticed that Mo Fan seemed like a completely different person. After thinking it over carefully, he realized—this must be the Mo Fan from Earth.
"I'm here to pick you two up. Wuji, how did the exam go? Do you think you can get into a magic high school?" Mo Jiaxing looked over at Jing Wuji.
"I can." Jing Wuji's answer was, as always, straightforward and concise.
"That's great, that's great! And what about you, Mo Fan?" Mo Jiaxing finally turned his attention to Mo Fan.
"I did alright too." Mo Fan showed a smile.
Fortunately, Wuji had been assigned to the same testing room and even sat right in front of him. Otherwise, Mo Fan definitely wouldn't have passed.
"Now we've got two mages in the family—this really brings glory to our ancestors! Come on, let's bring Xinxia and go out to eat!" Mo Jiaxing was overjoyed, and he took Jing Wuji and Mo Fan home to pick up Ye Xinxia for a nice dinner out.
That evening, Jing Wuji called Mo Fan out alone. The two of them chatted near the exercise equipment in their neighborhood.
"Mo Fan, make sure you memorize all my notes over the summer. Otherwise, you'll be in trouble," Jing Wuji said seriously.
Mo Fan nodded. He absolutely would. Ever since he realized this world allowed the use of magic, he had been working hard to become a mage. He only barely got into Tianlan Magic High School this time thanks to Jing Wuji. If Wuji wasn't around next time, who could he rely on? Becoming powerful himself was the only real solution!
"Even if you hadn't said anything, I would've asked to borrow them."
"Good. You must work hard to grow stronger. Only then will you be able to protect the people you care about when disaster strikes," Jing Wuji hinted meaningfully.
"Disaster? What disaster? ...Well, whatever it is, I'll become stronger!" Mo Fan didn't understand what disaster Jing Wuji was referring to, but he was determined to become stronger nonetheless.
"Mm."
Two months later, Jing Wuji had finished reading every book in Bo City Library related to monsters, and also covered all the important texts on magic theory.
Mo Fan, on the other hand, used the entire summer vacation to make up for everything from the nine years of compulsory education.
Mo Jiaxing rented out their house and started driving an old beat-up pickup truck for delivery work, saying it was so that Wuji and Mo Fan could have better resources for their education.
When Jing Wuji heard this suggestion from Mo Jiaxing, a warm feeling surged in his heart. He swore to himself that he would make sure his adoptive father, Mo Jiaxing, would live the best life possible!
Yes—he had been picked up and raised by Mo Jiaxing. It wouldn't be wrong to call him Mo Jiaxing's biological son. In fact, Mo Jiaxing treated him even better than he treated Mo Fan.
Jing Wuji ended up in Class 8 of Year 1, the same class as Mo Fan. His student number was No. 1 in Class 8—intentionally arranged by him to reflect his score control.
Mo Fan, naturally, was No. 48, the last in the class. Some questions were simply beyond copying, after all.
Unfortunately for Mo Fan, No. 2 in the class was his old classmate—Mu Bai.
"Students, welcome to your new school! I know many of you have been waiting for this exciting moment..." On the Grand Magic Field, all 1,500 new students of the school were neatly divided into 20 classes.
The principal gave a brief speech before announcing the most important event of the day:
"Today, the Awakening Ceremony begins. I hope you all become the rising stars of magic's future!"