Starting Unlimited Evolution from Grinding

Chapter 332: The Invitation from the Mage Society, the Kingdom's Gift of Gratitude

"By the way, young brother Lin Mo, this is for you."

Before activating the teleportation, Elvish handed an invitation to Lin Mo.

"What is this?"

"Teacher Aaron gave it to me. It's an invitation from the Mage Society. If you're interested, you could consider joining."

"The Mage Society?"

Lin Mo seemed to have heard of this organization.

"That's right. It's a society formed by the top mages across the entire continent, primarily focused on pioneering research in the fields of elements and magic. Generally speaking, to be eligible to join this society, one must at least be a mage professional of the Heroic Realm."

The Heroic Realm?!

That threshold was incredibly high. Even Dean Elvish before him didn't have the qualification to enter.

"Teacher Aaron originally wanted to invite you personally. However, considering you are not a citizen of the empire, a rash invitation might lead to some unnecessary misunderstandings. So, he chose this method, letting you decide for yourself." "Additionally..."

He watched as Lin Mo put away the invitation and added, "Possessing this invitation is equivalent to receiving recognition from the Mage Society. No matter which country you go to in the future, or what trouble you encounter, you can try showing this invitation. Generally, no one would dare to cause you trouble."

It had this function too?

Lin Mo felt a surge of joy in his heart. This was truly a generous gift.

His strength was naturally peerless among the younger generation, with almost no one able to rival him. But after returning this time, he would likely leave the Doria Kingdom not long after to go to other kingdoms. It was hard to guarantee he wouldn't encounter some troublesome or difficult situations then.

With this invitation, at least in some official settings, it could indeed play a significant role.

"Alright, children, it's time for us to go back."

After finishing his instructions, a smile reappeared on Elvish's face. "Go back and receive the flowers and applause that belong to you."

In the past, when the Doria Kingdom's representative team returned after participating in the Academy Grand Competition, they often couldn't hold their heads high, as their results were truly embarrassing and not worth mentioning.

But this time, the situation was completely different.

The halo of the teleportation array lit up. Accompanied by a familiar sensation of the world spinning, when they opened their eyes again, they had returned to the Doria Kingdom, back to that building in the academy.

Having watched matches for several consecutive days, everyone was quite exhausted. The earlier excitement had slowly faded, and they all wanted to go back and rest properly.

But when they pushed open the heavy door and stepped outside, they found the area outside the building was already packed with people.

"They're back! They're back!"

"Finally back... brothers, let's begin!"

The next moment, celebratory cannon fire boomed. Petals sent skyward by mana-powered salutes showered down upon them. Cheers erupted abruptly, and the scene became incredibly noisy for a moment.

Many young noble girls holding bouquets walked over. The crowd parted to make a path, revealing a long red carpet ahead.

They really went all out with the ceremony.

Although the competition had just ended, and the news of their championship hadn't been relayed back yet—the range of mana communication couldn't support such a long distance from the empire to the kingdom.

But a few days ago, the news of them advancing to the elimination rounds had already spread and reached the kingdom.

For the Doria Kingdom, which had always been at the bottom of the group stages in previous years, this was already tremendously uplifting news.

Therefore, the King himself had organized this welcome ceremony. Those able to attend were undoubtedly nobles, wealthy merchants of significant standing within the kingdom, or students from the academy.

And besides here, outside the academy, the entire Royal Capital had also fallen into a celebratory atmosphere.

This lively celebration would last for three days.

Many senior teachers of the academy stood a bit further away, watching the returning team, looking at the tired expressions on those young faces, their eyes glistening with tears.

"How many years... so many Grand Competitions, we've never managed to enter the elimination rounds."

"Don't even mention entering the elimination rounds, the number of times we were at the bottom is countable..."

"Not easy, truly not easy..."

As for the specific results in the elimination rounds, they actually didn't dare to think further. After all, given the Doria Kingdom's scale, being able to break into the elimination rounds was already an incredibly miraculous performance. To ask for results within the elimination rounds would be too demanding on these young people.

Elvish looked at the momentarily bewildered young people and said with a smile, "These cheers belong to you. Go and receive the glory you deserve."

Those students watched as the elaborately dressed noble girls smiled and cast meaningful glances while presenting them with flowers. They all craned their necks eagerly.

They were able to enter the Royal National Academy and become its elites, so their futures naturally wouldn't be bad. Perhaps they even had a chance to marry into Earl or even Marquis families. But that would be marrying into the wife's family, requiring them to curry favor with those noble girls. When had they ever seen these high-status, beautiful girls actively showing them such attention?

So, each of them became immersed in this ideal world, unable to extricate themselves.

Of course, there were also many handsome young noblemen who wanted to try and gain favor with a few of the girls. Seeing this, Ellie was the first to immediately grab Lin Mo's arm. Finnie followed closely behind. Then came Lena, who had also gone to the empire with them this time, cheering them on along the way. She was even less adept at handling such situations and hid behind Lin Mo, clutching the hem of his clothes.

Sherfilia coldly blocked the way in front, instantly scaring off many unwilling suitors.

Thus, the remaining Eve, Flora, Amy, and Milan became the targets.

Especially Amy and Milun. Eve and Flora had "formidable reputations" that still made people somewhat wary. The remaining two were different, however.

Of course, Amy was naturally happy with this situation. Someone like Lin Mo was too distant, visible but unattainable, and she no longer dared to have such ambitions.

But these handsome young gentlemen...

Milun hid helplessly behind her teacher. Flora looked somewhat pained at the swarm of young noblemen, frowned, and was just about to scare them off when she suddenly saw Eve walk directly to Lin Mo's side. After a brief hesitation, she directly wrapped her arm around his neck.

So, Flora also smiled, took Milun with her, and stood behind Lin Mo to "seek refuge."

This sudden scene, however, left both Finnie and Ellie on either side stunned.

"Sister Eve..."

Finnie's face was full of shock, her expression carrying a hint of grievance.

Ellie instinctively became protective of what she considered hers and started to bare her teeth.

Lin Mo was also taken aback, not expecting her to be so bold in front of so many people.

Eve remained silent, but Lin Mo could feel the increasingly scorching temperature emanating from her body.

That cool, aloof face was already flushed like fire, waves of red spreading across it.

"This... can avoid trouble..."

She finally whispered softly into Lin Mo's ear, though it was unclear if she was explaining to Lin Mo or making an excuse for herself.

"My, my~"

Flora behind them spoke up with a teasing tone. "Surrounded by so many pretty girls, how enviable... How about you lend me a bit of shelter too?"

Saying this, she actually stepped forward and pressed herself against Lin Mo's back.

That soft sensation pressed against his back, assaulting Lin Mo's nerves.

Finnie's mouth hung half-open as she stiffly lifted her head to look at her sister Flora.

Flora chuckled softly. "Don't worry, little Finnie. Sister won't steal your boyfriend. I'm just borrowing him a little to avoid trouble..."

With so many beautiful girls surrounding him, the surroundings immediately exploded into an uproar. Many people wore expressions of grief and indignation as they said, "What the hell? Who is this guy? What gives him the right?"

"One or two is fine, but he wants them all?!"

"How come even Miss Eve and Instructor Flora are..."

Lin Mo smiled wryly in helplessness, feeling his head was about to split.

He also really didn't like such occasions, so he hurriedly spoke to Elvish and then quickly left with Ellie and the others.

Flora and Eve also used this chance to extricate themselves, slipping away with him.

However, after leaving the noisy area, Milun immediately went back to rest, but Eve continued to follow them, arriving at Flora's dormitory.

It wasn't until they entered the dormitory that she seemed to wake from a dream, sitting on the sofa with a dazed expression, pretending to be busy but not knowing what she was busy with.

But right now, obviously, no one was paying attention to her.

Having finally finished the Academy Grand Competition, it was natural to rest properly. Before that, they needed to have a meal.

It was too noisy outside now, and they couldn't be bothered to go out, so they decided to simply cook something themselves.

Sherfilia and Lena were the main chefs. Lin Mo and Finnie helped on the side. Ellie and Flora... well, it was good enough if they didn't cause trouble.

A short while later, the food was placed on the dining table. After a simple dinner, everyone went back to their respective rooms to wash up and rest.

Eve was also invited to eat. After finishing, she again wore a dazed expression. It wasn't until she saw everyone returning to their rooms that she stood up, realizing she should go back.

When she reached the door, she suddenly felt reluctant. She glanced back at the dining table where they had just eaten. At that moment, Sherfilia was cleaning up.

Eve bit her lip and finally pushed the door open, heading towards her own dormitory.

Along the way, she kept her head down, lost in thought.

During the meal earlier, watching the interactions between Lin Mo, Finnie, and Ellie, she felt something strange in her heart.

The atmosphere of their communication was good, it felt very warm. But she seemed out of place, drifting on the outside.

Eve placed her hand on her chest, feeling her own heartbeat.

Was this feeling... disappointment? Or something else... a more complex emotion?

Lin Mo took a shower, dried his hair, and lay down on the familiar large bed, letting out a long sigh.

These past few days had indeed been physically and mentally taxing.

Winning this championship wasn't easy. At the very least, the final match was quite difficult.

If not for the "Space Slash" skill and gradually making Shirleyas lower her guard step by step, he probably wouldn't have found it so easy to defeat that master-servant pair. After the fight, he still had to face the remaining two instructors. Even if he could ultimately win, he would likely have exhausted his mana and qi-and-blood and sustained injuries.

And during this battle, he also discovered the problems he currently had—

"Demonic Qi" was a power formed by the combination of qi-and-blood and mana, a clever fusion of these two energies, thereby achieving an effect where 1+1>2.

But now, the mana and qi-and-blood within his body were not balanced, and the gap was huge.

This led to him needing to expend more mental effort for manual intervention, and his Magic Sword skills couldn't achieve their maximum effect.

Furthermore, as his mage level continued to rise, he would slowly approach the threshold of the Transcendent Level.

But he couldn't just advance to Transcendent Level like this... Although he had already unlocked the Spellsword profession, who knew if the Spellsword profession would continue to level up and receive enhancements if the Warrior and Mage professions couldn't advance to Transcendent Level simultaneously?

In the coming period, he needed to shore up his weaknesses.

Including the two agility-based professions, there were even more shortcomings there, and they needed to be prioritized for improvement and compensation.

Before leaving the Doria Kingdom, he needed to give the Silent Forest another good thrashing.

Just as he was thinking about these things, *thud*—the door was suddenly pushed open.

Or rather, kicked open. Lin Mo turned to look and saw Ellie, wrapped in a bath towel, boldly rushing over.

Catching the little wolf-girl in his arms, a little tail followed closely behind—Lena, her face flushed, her expression shy.

As Lin Mo's Constitution attribute grew higher and higher, they no longer held back, no longer worried about his physical condition, and thus became increasingly unrestrained.

It seemed he had no vacation to speak of...

The next day, when he got up at noon for a meal, Flora informed Lin Mo to go with her to the palace later.

Before this, Flora had promised that after the Hunting Competition and the Academy Grand Competition ended, she would give Lin Mo additional rewards.

Now, those rewards had been increased.

Yesterday, upon learning that they not only entered the elimination rounds but also directly won the championship, the entire Royal Capital had already gone "crazy."

The sounds of celebration didn't stop until late at night. The entire capital was brightly lit all night.

And the King of the Doria Kingdom was so excited he couldn't sleep, immediately stating he wanted to properly thank Lin Mo.

So, he had Flora invite Lin Mo to the palace, host a banquet to entertain him, and incidentally bestow rewards and prizes.

For such good fortune, Lin Mo naturally wouldn't decline. In the afternoon, around four o'clock, under Flora's lead, the group entered the palace.

The King of the Doria Kingdom had already prepared the banquet. A host of nobles, officials, and even the King himself had already taken their seats, waiting for them.

Seeing them, the King immediately broke into a wide smile and said, "Welcome, everyone, to the palace. Thank you..."

A series of polite formalities followed, which Lin Mo found rather uncomfortable.

Fortunately, afterwards there were no more cumbersome formalities. The banquet began, and the atmosphere became lively and casual.

They ate, drank, and enjoyed themselves until night fell and the banquet ended. Only then did the King lead them into the adjacent palace hall.

He pushed open the palace doors, pointed inside the grand hall, his tone growing even more solemn and sincere. "Lord Lin Mo, Elvish has already told me the whole story. If not for you, the Doria Kingdom would have had absolutely no chance of achieving such honor. This debt of gratitude, I and all the people of the Doria Kingdom will remember it in our hearts... These are some modest gifts prepared by me and the Royal National Academy for you."

Before their eyes was a dazzling expanse of golden light.

Damn, there really is a lot...

Looking at the nearly hill-like piles of gold coins and various treasures and items, Lin Mo widened his eyes in surprise.

This King was much more generous than he had anticipated.