Battle at Fire Hall (Part Two)

"Same old trick — do you really think I'd come at you without any defense?" Jia Zhenlong said.

Mo Fan's speed at completing basic-tier magic was already impressive; mid-sentence, he had already hurled a Fire Burst toward Jia Zhenlong from across the arena. Jia Zhenlong didn't dodge. He simply stood where he was, calmly tracing his Star Chart.

The Fire Burst closed in — and just as it was about to connect, an invisible force materialized in front of him like a wall.

Without Mo Fan to guide it, the Fire Burst detonated on contact. At five times normal power, an exploding Fire Burst could approach half the strength of an intermediate-tier spell — yet against that invisible barrier, the savage flames seemed to be absorbed whole. They flared in a single streak of red, then vanished almost instantly.

The residual force became nothing more than a gust of wind. It washed over Jia Zhenlong, lifting his bangs and revealing the full expanse of his face — flushed with a wide, supremely self-assured grin.

"I told you that trick was useless on me. Now taste my magic."

"Giant Shadow Nail — Twin!"

Jia Zhenlong stood atop a Shadow Element Star Chart as he spoke.

A sword-nail wreathed in shadow energy materialized before his chest. A single push of his palm sent it flying — and it vanished into the air almost at once.

Jia Zhenlong kept his smile easy. Shadow Element was a rare affinity to begin with, and since most mages poured themselves entirely into Elemental Magic, their grasp of Shadow abilities tended to be shallow. The Giant Shadow Nail was a skill he had only recently trained to its second level.

At the first level — a pure binding — the ability could only immobilize the target's body. But Giant Shadow Nail: Twin, once it landed, didn't merely freeze the body; it locked down the mind as well, severing the target's ability to link their Star Motes together.

Make it so the opponent couldn't even cast basic-tier magic, and there was nothing left to fear from them.

……

Across the arena, Mo Fan caught sight of the Shadow Element technique — and a flicker of surprise crossed his face.

*So his secondary cultivation is Shadow Element. He's not even in the Shadow program, yet here he is competing in Fire Hall — unusual. Anyone else would have been caught flat-footed. But as luck would have it…* A smile tugged at the corner of Mo Fan's mouth.

Mo Fan himself was a Shadow Element expert. His Shadow cultivation sat a rank below Jia Zhenlong's, but he knew Giant Shadow Nail inside and out.

The moment his opponent finished the Star Chart, Mo Fan ignited his flames. Crimson tongues of fire leapt up all around him, bathing the air in blazing, dazzling light.

That massive glow erupted outward in all directions from Mo Fan's position, its brightness coaxing the Giant Shadow Nails out from their hiding places in the air — making the invisible visible.

The most terrifying thing about Giant Shadow Nail was exactly this: it moved in complete silence. It might appear to approach head-on, but could just as easily materialize from behind. To evade the most powerful binding technique at the intermediate tier, the first step was locating where the nails actually were.

Firelight could flush out a Giant Shadow Nail saturated with dark energy. When Mo Fan spotted a distinct blade-shadow slicing through the surrounding crimson space and streaking straight toward him, he moved instantly — a nimble backward leap, effortlessly sidestepping the nail's vicious lunge.

"Damn it — this bastard is that seasoned?!" Jia Zhenlong spat, furious.

His trump card had been exactly these Shadow Element abilities. The last thing he'd expected was for his opponent to be this familiar with Shadow magic.

With the technique wasted, Jia Zhenlong let flames ignite across his entire body. Beneath his feet, a searing Star Chart began taking shape at speed. With the transparent water-curtain guardian standing in front of him, he had no need to worry about Mo Fan disrupting his casting.

"Coral Flame — Blazing Fist — Earth Fiend!" Jia Zhenlong completed his intermediate-tier magic.

This time he held absolutely nothing back. He didn't merely unleash Spirit Grade flames — he went directly for the second-level Blazing Fist.

His right fist became encased in a ring of purple-red fire. With a roar, he drove the coiled power straight into the ground.

Like molten rock being forced into the earth's crust, the entire arena scorched and smoldered — it seemed on the verge of igniting outright.

At Mo Fan's position, fire erupted from the ground. The Spirit Grade flame Jia Zhenlong wielded looked exactly like a blazing coral reef, making this Earth Fiend blossom all the more spectacular and lethal — and the surging wave of flame-death energy that crashed upward with it was just as immense.

Mo Fan had no intention of taking that lightly. His feet were already lit with a bloody crimson glow — the Blood Beast Boots, already active.

His legs encased in scarlet armor, Mo Fan drew on the savage strength of the Blood Beast and launched himself skyward in a single leap.

The Earth Fiend surged up and nearly swallowed him whole. At its peak, suspended in midair, Mo Fan felt scorched to the bone. It was fortunate that the Rose Flame had granted him some natural resistance to Fire Element; without it, the sparks spraying upward might have been enough to flay him alive.

He cleared the terrifying Earth Fiend and landed. Boosted by the Blood Beast Boots, the arena floor cracked slightly and sank where his feet came down.

Then — a subtle shift. His body coiled low. He looked exactly like a leopard gathered to spring.

**Whoosh!!**

Mo Fan launched forward at explosive speed, closing the distance to Jia Zhenlong in an instant.

Now he could see it clearly: a completely transparent water-curtain guardian stood directly in front of Jia Zhenlong. So that was what had absorbed the force of his Fire Burst.

"Looks like this is all you've got," Mo Fan said with a grin.

As he reached the water-curtain guardian, Mo Fan leapt cleanly over it and vaulted above Jia Zhenlong.

Blood Beast power surged into his legs. Mo Fan came crashing down from ten meters overhead with savage force — the instant he landed, the grass-covered arena floor erupted in a spray of dirt, and Jia Zhenlong was sent flying by the shockwave.

Mo Fan had shown mercy by stomping down beside him rather than directly on top. If that foot had come down on Jia Zhenlong's head, the man — stripped of his defenses — would have been stamped flat.

Ultimately, Jia Zhenlong had overestimated himself far too much. A Shadow Element mage who never made a point of staying near the shadows — which meant he couldn't even use Shadow Fade. A Hunter-mage like that, roaming the wilds where Demon-Beasts ran rampant? The only reason he was still breathing was sheer, blind luck.

The entire Fire Hall watched as Jia Zhenlong sailed off the arena platform and crashed to the ground coughing blood — and the sight pressed down like a stone on every chest in that crowd.

In the end, nobody had managed to force Mo Fan to use his intermediate-tier magic.

"And… another loss…" White-browed Teacher said with a quiet chuckle.

But seeing Wei Rong's expression grow darker by the second, he thought better of letting his amusement run unchecked, and quickly composed himself.

"What a waste—" Wei Rong started, then stopped himself, suddenly struck by an odd sensitivity around that particular word.

In the end, Wei Rong swallowed the rest of it. He waved a hand, ordering White-browed Teacher to hurry up and get that wretch healed — he couldn't even stand to look at the man.

*Damn it. So we really can't do anything about this kid??*