Brutal Nine Palaces!
The instant Mo Fan's Dual Spirit Seeds were revealed, the entire arena erupted in commotion.
At the intermediate level, whether or not a student possessed a Spirit Seed marked a clear dividing line in power. The reason the top four hundred Fire Hall students outpaced everyone ranked below them by such a wide margin was precisely because most within that range had already obtained Spirit Seeds.
And Dual Spirit Seeds — that was always the territory of those ranked in the top one hundred and forty.
How powerful Dual Spirit Seeds were went without saying. If the cultivation of both had reached the third tier, their wielder would rank among the true elites of the top fifty — someone ordinary students simply couldn't hope to match.
The strength Mo Fan had just revealed clearly placed him above rank one hundred and forty. Add to that his two fourth-level basic-tier spells, and he could completely overpower any Mage at the same level. His true ranking had to be within the top hundred.
No wonder he'd dared to boast. If basic-tier spells alone were enough to defeat anyone ranked below four hundred, a rotating roster of challengers held no terror for him whatsoever.
"That transfer student really is something else. Fire Hall looks like they're running out of challengers... I've heard of inter-hall battles before, but never an internal war like this. Fire Hall has always been full of arrogant hotheads who think they walk on clouds — getting a hard slap in the face from a transfer student does them some good!" a Wind Hall student laughed.
"Fire Hall is about to become famous — they all ganged up to bully one transfer student, and the transfer student made them cry!"
"What do you mean 'about to'? I already filmed it and posted the video to the school forum. We're past a thousand replies, thank you very much!"
A handful of students from other halls — the type who lived to stir up chaos — had already posted battle updates online. Before long, everyone was following the story, whether they'd made it to the venue or not.
"The fifty-sixth challenger!"
"Sixty-six consecutive victories — who said basic-tier spells were useless?!"
"Transfer student takes on Fire Hall — undefeated and seeking defeat!"
Thread titles like these spread across the internet like wildfire. Everyone had a phone these days, and once something made the rounds on social media and forums, news traveled fast.
As the online buzz grew, students with nothing better to do came streaming toward the arena. The thousand-seat venue, which had some empty spots earlier, was now packed to capacity — people were crowding the aisles and spilling out beyond the seating area.
At first, more than a few people suspected this was another Noble Clan's manufactured publicity stunt — a way to make a name in a school overflowing with hidden talent. But once Fire Hall's own members laid out the whole story from start to finish, any doubt evaporated.
Sixty-six consecutive victories. Mo Fan's name spread rapidly through the school, and it left the Noble Clan scions seething, grinding their teeth in fury. The first day of Challenge Week was supposed to feature peak matchups between the school's top hundred, even top fifty. Yet their arenas sat nearly empty. They probably couldn't even summon the motivation to fight.
Mo Fan exhaled heavily.
His eyes were locked on the student now standing before him.
She was ranked one hundred and twenty-fourth — another Dual Spirit Seed holder. After she used nimble Earth Wave to dodge his basic-tier spells, Mo Fan had no choice but to bring out his full Fire Element and Lightning Element arsenal.
What Mo Fan found most aggravating was facing someone who cultivated both Fire and Earth. The Earth Element's basic-tier Earth Wave could sidestep his Fire Burst with ease, while a solid magical barrier was Thunderbolt's natural nemesis. Against an opponent with airtight defense and evasion, he burned through far more Magical Energy than usual.
After fighting this long without rest, Mo Fan's Magical Energy was running thin.
"You should be satisfied with a record like this. Your magical philosophy is quite unique — investing resources into boosting basic-tier spells, of all things. Without the extremely low cost of basic-tier spells, a result like this would have been impossible..." The female student ranked one hundred and twenty-fourth, Ah Li Yujie, fixed Mo Fan with a haughty stare.
"Get over yourself — if your defense is so strong, I'll just blow through it!" Mo Fan's temper flared. He'd never met a woman so insufferably smug about kicking someone while they were down.
The words had barely left his mouth before scorching Rose Flame erupted across his body. Waves of rolling molten magma poured outward — fire transformed into liquid — smashing through Ah Li Yujie's offense.
"Rose Flame — Blazing Fist — Nine Palaces!!!"
Mo Fan was done stalling. If he kept holding back and carefully rationing his Magical Energy, he'd only end up in a worse state.
There was no denying it — Ah Li Yujie's Azure Rock Spirit Seed gave her a defense formidable enough to weather every attack Mo Fan could throw at her.
But Blazing Fist — Nine Palaces was known for nothing if not brute force. Mo Fan refused to believe he couldn't crack this woman's stone barrier open.
The Blazing Fist crashed into the arena floor, and the entire venue shuddered.
The ground cracked open without warning, and a tremendous pillar of fire erupted skyward. Scorching molten magma blazed with vivid crimson light, nearly blinding to look at.
Immediately after, a second pillar erupted, then a third, both at once...
Nine tremendous fire pillars erupted in sequence, forming an awe-inspiring Nine Palaces formation. The entire arena blazed brilliant red, pillar after pillar reflecting off one another until they merged into a single churning sea of fire and molten magma.
At the heart of the formation, Mo Fan stood wreathed in flame and let out a roar. Blazing Fist — Nine Palaces surged to its peak — pillars of fire, lashing tongues of flame, and whirling fireballs all converging into a single devastating force, hammering against Ah Li Yujie's Azure Rock Spirit Seed defense.
The blue stone blazed red under the heat, then shattered into fragments beneath the relentless assault of the fire pillars.
Ah Li Yujie, being an Earth Element specialist, apparently hadn't bothered to equip herself with decent defensive Enchanted Gear. Once her second-tier Stone Wall crumbled, she had nothing left to protect herself.
"Quick, save her—" Wei Rong saw the situation turning dangerous and was about to call for White-browed Teacher to intervene.
White-browed Teacher shared that alarm — one wrong moment and Ah Li Yujie would be reduced to ash. He was already moving when he noticed Mo Fan, standing at the heart of the inferno, abruptly draw every last trace of that overwhelming force back inward.
The scorching flames vanished in an instant. The Nine Palaces fire pillars sank back into the earth, leaving behind only a smoldering patch of ground.
Within the dying flames, Ah Li Yujie was stumbling backward in a panic. When she realized that the annihilating barrage had simply... stopped, her whole face flushed crimson.
"I... I lost." Ah Li Yujie lowered her head. Whatever resentment still burned inside her, there was nothing left for her here.
His Control over the flames was absolutely effortless. Someone else — someone with a more arrogant core — might genuinely have been unable to pull back Nine Palaces in time.
The moment Mo Fan held back, something complicated flickered in Ah Li Yujie's eyes.
Not everyone could go from an unstoppable force to absolute stillness in the span of a heartbeat — unless that kindness had always been a part of who they were.