Taking Advantage
The entire expanse of ice crystals appeared as if from nowhere — a crystalline oil painting conjured from thin air. And the Enchantment Spider was the painting's most intricate sculpture: its fury, its arrogance as a Battle-General-class creature of the highest order, its irresistible killing intent — all of it still seemed to linger around its frozen form...
Yet it had gone completely still, its very life force extinguished in an instant.
Everything within a wide radius had been frozen into ice crystals. The pond had become a mirror, the wild grass transformed into rigid, brittle stalks that would snap at a touch, and even the stones had turned to ice. Cold starlight drifted down from above, and within all that crystalline splendor, a bone-deep chill pervaded everything — as though the world itself had gone silent.
Mo Fan stared wide-eyed, barely able to believe the sheer power of that single shot.
He'd seen Slash Enchanted Gear before — they typically took the form of longswords or blades, granting a Mage one brief, devastating strike of cutting magic, a power so overwhelming it rivaled a destructive Intermediate-Level spell.
He'd even browsed them at an auction once. The ones suited to him started at twenty million, and certain unusual forms went far higher — you couldn't even enter the bidding without fifty million RMB.
Mo Fan had enough offensive options of his own, which was why he'd never paid Slash Enchanted Gear much thought.
What he never could have anticipated was that today, with his own eyes, he would witness an incredibly rare bow-type Enchanted Gear.
It had manifested as a bow, scattering ice crystals in every direction, trails of diamond-like dust glittering in its wake. The moment the fierce arrow struck, an entire area froze solid into ice crystals — so fast that no one had time to react.
Its terrifying power went without saying. The real question was: Mu Ningxue was only an Intermediate-Level Mage — how could she possess Enchanted Gear this absurdly overpowered? *If she'd pulled this bow out during those sparring matches at Pearl Academy, everyone there would've been wiped out in an instant.*
And on top of that, what she had Released wasn't Bedrock Ice like before — it was ice crystals of a whole other tier.
An Ice Seed that had crystallized meant it had surpassed Spirit Grade. Mo Fan hadn't had the faintest idea Mu Ningxue commanded an even more powerful Ice Seed.
*But that doesn't add up.* If her Ice Seed was this strong, why had she been holding back? Every moment the Enchantment Spider remained standing was another moment her teammates were dying.
Mu Ningxue exhaled a long, slow breath. Her long hair drifted back down and settled in soft disarray across her cheeks — and somehow, she looked all the more captivating for it.
She was breathing hard. The crimson flush that had marked her brow had vanished completely. Moments ago she had radiated the fierce, commanding presence of an empress; now, after Releasing that single arrow, she looked utterly hollow — exhausted beyond measure, fragile in a way Mo Fan had never seen.
He hurried to her side. Seeing she could barely keep her footing, he moved quickly to steady her.
"Still can't fully control it..." Mu Ningxue murmured, her words trailing off. She was talking to herself more than anyone.
"How do you even have Enchanted Gear this powerful?" Mo Fan asked.
A bow of ice crystals was absolutely beyond the reach of an Intermediate-Level Mage. By all logic, forcibly imprinting such a high-tier piece of Enchanted Gear onto one's soul should leave it crumbling under the strain — wracked with agony.
Mu Ningxue's cultivation was nowhere near the level required to wield something like this. Worry coiled in Mo Fan's chest — for her soul.
Meditation, at its core, was the cultivation of the soul. The number and power level of Enchanted Gear a Mage could imprint depended on their cultivation. For Intermediate-Level Mages like them, the tier of imprinted gear was strictly limited — anything with power comparable to a High-Level spell, like Slash Enchanted Gear, was simply out of the question.
Mu Ningxue's bow, even if it hadn't quite crossed that threshold, felt dangerously close. For a soul to bear the imprint of something like that... it was an unbearable weight.
"I just need to rest for a bit." Mu Ningxue sat down, her face drained of all color, looking as though she might pass out at any moment.
Mo Fan stayed close, unwilling to leave. Watching her sit there with her Magical Energy nearly depleted, his mind filled with questions.
This bow seemed different from most Enchanted Gear somehow — different in a way he couldn't quite identify. Mo Fan, ever the walking knowledge gap, couldn't put his finger on exactly what it was.
But he had a feeling — a strong one. The dramatic change in Mu Ningxue over the years was somehow connected to this bow.
And there was more: her Ice Seed seemed to be something beyond Spirit Grade.
When an Enchanted Gear's attribute matched a Mage's own elemental affinity, the gear's power was amplified by that element's Seed.
What Mu Ningxue had unleashed was a form of ice crystal — stronger than Bedrock Ice. Even the Enchantment Spider, one of the more powerful Battle-General-class creatures, had been annihilated in an instant. That alone spoke volumes about the scale of destruction she was capable of.
This was her last resort — something she would never use unless she had no other choice. One look at her state made that perfectly clear. And yet, beneath the surface, far more secrets remained hidden.
Mu Ningxue rested for a long time but showed no sign of being able to stand. Mo Fan didn't dare leave her side.
Time passed — how much, neither could say. At last she opened her eyes. Those beautiful irises found Mo Fan, then just as quickly looked away.
No matter what, she could still trace in his face a faint echo of someone she had once cared for. That feeling had been buried so deep it was nearly forgotten — but in certain moments it surfaced, and what followed was a thin ripple spreading across what should have been the frozen lake of her heart.
He was watching over her. Mu Ningxue felt genuinely grateful.
In truth, that gratitude had always been there, quietly kept.
The young Mo Fan had been unlike anyone else — fearless, unconstrained by convention, never doing what was expected.
The children who lived nearby had always kept their distance from her, watching from afar, too afraid to come close. Only Mo Fan had ever ignored the warnings from their parents and the scolding from their elders — grabbing her with his grubby hands and dragging her into every bit of mischief, chasing away so much of the loneliness and fear that had followed her through childhood.
He was a slacker. Crude language was his native tongue. He was reckless and rough around the edges — but he was also the only person who had ever had the nerve to stay by her side and talk her ear off endlessly.
The reason Mu Ningxue had once liked him wasn't anything extraordinary. It was simply that Mo Fan was the boy who had come closest to her. Every other boy either kept her at a reverent distance, fawned over her in strange and uncomfortable ways, pretended superiority, went so shy they couldn't string a sentence together, or put on airs...
She shook her head, brushing those old memories out of her thoughts.
*Probably the Enchantment Spider's influence. That's why all this is resurfacing.*
"Let's go. I'm fine." Mu Ningxue got to her feet.
Mo Fan instinctively moved to help her up. Mu Ningxue didn't take his hand. Whatever closeness they'd once shared was in the past. They were adults now, each with their own lives and their own sense of propriety. There was simply no need for—
She was still intent on maintaining proper decorum. Of course, Mo Fan had no interest in playing by the rules. One large hand closed firmly around the back of her smooth, jade-like hand; the other settled onto her soft shoulder.
Right now, Mu Ningxue simply had no strength left to fight back — otherwise she absolutely would have slapped an Ice Lock on this shameless opportunist and beaten him senseless.