The Opponent is Ding Yumian?

Demonization — and the cultivation regression that came with it — had left Mo Fan's strength struggling to keep pace. He'd decided not to waste any more time. His mind was made up: he would challenge someone from the top ten of the Fire Rankings.

The moment his challenge notice went out, the entire Fire Hall erupted. News spread like wildfire, and within moments people had given Mo Fan yet another nickname: the Rankings Madman.

Among the new students, Mu Nujiao had been the most aggressive climber — the only freshman to crack the top fifty. But compared to the Great Demon Lord, she was still a full forty spots behind.

"Mo Fan, do you have to be this relentless? I'm still sitting somewhere past two hundred, and when you bulldoze your way into the top ten — where does that leave me, Zhao Manyan?" Zhao Manyan wailed, his face a picture of misery.

"You can forget about ever making the rankings," Mo Fan said dryly.

*What elements had this guy even cultivated, anyway?*

*Light Element and Water Element. Mo Fan remembered all too clearly — back in magic high school, anyone who awakened either of those two was basically heading straight for the roof.*

In a real fight, Mo Fan was sure beating Zhao Manyan wouldn't be easy. But then again, that went for anyone who faced him.

The guy was nothing but a walking turtle shell. His only path to victory was sitting there patiently and waiting for his opponent to drain themselves dry of Magical Energy.

Honestly, making it past two hundred was already a miracle. He'd hate to imagine the looks on the faces of every opponent Zhao Manyan had somehow managed to beat.

"I'm headed for the World Academy Tournament. These rankings are beneath my notice," Zhao Manyan declared, chin raised with exaggerated dignity.

"Is the World Academy Tournament actually fun?" Mo Fan asked.

"Fun? It's beyond fun. Once you're selected, the school funds a world tour — officially called a pre-tournament World Field Expedition. Think about it: the team alone will have a handful of girls who are both gorgeous and powerful. And then you'll encounter the exotic beauties from every country you visit along the way. So even if you get absolutely crushed in Venice, you'll have left behind a legendary trail of romance — sowing your seeds across the entire globe!!" Zhao Manyan sighed with the blissful expression of a man lost in a beautiful daydream.

"Sowing your seeds across the entire globe!!" The moment those words hit Mo Fan's ears, his eyes lit up.

*Zhao Manyan really did have vision. Chasing girls in your own backyard was never a sustainable long-term strategy — the world was full of women yet to be met. Yes, yes — the World Academy Tournament. Now* that *was something to get fired up about!*

"Alright, it's settled!" The two shameless men were in immediate, perfect agreement. "We're storming the World Academy Tournament!"

After all, what separates a man from a salted fish, if not his dreams?

Hearing Zhao Manyan lay out all the perks of the World Academy Tournament, Mo Fan felt his character reach new heights of spiritual elevation.

"The selection is strict, though. Pearl Academy probably has very limited spots. You don't need to worry much — it sounds like you're already shortlisted. I'm the one who needs to put in real work. If I don't make the cut, I'll miss out on this glorious world of ours," Zhao Manyan said.

"Oh — I nearly forgot about that. Dean Xiao did mention something..." Only then did Mo Fan remember: he'd apparently already been informally reserved a spot. The World Academy Tournament was practically a done deal for him.

"You got so much out of the Hangzhou plague incident. Why do I never have that kind of luck?"

"Luck?" Mo Fan laughed mirthlessly. The Silver Dome Lord, the Totem Xuan Serpent — either one could have reduced him to a fine red mist with a single swipe. If anything like that ever came up again, he was staying well clear.

That peculiar season had arrived again — T-shirts and sweaters sharing the same streets, flip-flops and snow boots marching side by side. Two strangers would pass each other on a narrow lane, and each would take one look at the other and think: *What an idiot.*

What you needed at a time like this was a world-splitting, primordial confidence. Whether snow fell under the blazing southern sun or spring bloomed in the frozen northern night, you kept your composure — so serenely unruffled that everyone around you began to doubt their own wardrobe choices. So self-assured that they started questioning their very existence.

Mo Fan was exactly that kind of confident man — and not just because of his Fire Element. The little Flame Queen was his personal portable space heater, his cozy fireplace on legs, his most beloved little warm jacket... A warmth so profoundly "thoughtful" that when she burned down someone's breakfast stall, she would helpfully incinerate Mo Fan's compensation money right as he was reaching into his pocket — leaving him ready to crawl into a hole and never come out.

"You should go now. I'll remember you," the middle-aged breakfast stall owner told Mo Fan with a perfectly straight face.

"I'll pay you back tomorrow, I promise!" Mo Fan held the little Flame Queen under one arm and bowed apologetically with the other.

"Actually, I'm taking the day off today. I heard you're challenging the top ten of the Fire Rankings — bring my son along to watch, let him learn something from seeing elite Mages spar. Do that, and we'll call today's incident even." The owner waved an empty ladle at him.

"No problem — wait, you already know about that?!" Mo Fan's eyes went wide.

It was just a challenge to the top ten. There was no reason a breakfast stall owner should already have this information. Wasn't this getting a little out of hand?

"My stall gets all the news — mostly firsthand. Students come eat here in groups every morning..." the owner said with an air of great pride.

Mo Fan had been having his "morning meals" here often enough lately that they'd grown familiar with each other. Still, today's incident had gone too far. For some reason he couldn't figure out, the little Flame Queen had completely lost control of her flames recently — she burned everything she laid eyes on. She'd even torched his bank card, forcing him to queue up at the bank for a replacement.

Worse still, she'd been in a terrible mood on top of it all. Forget scolding her — one word of criticism and she'd start whimpering and threatening to run away from home. So Mo Fan had been forced to swallow his pride and speak to her in the gentlest possible tone:

"You've really improved this month, you know. You burned one fewer place than last month."

Only with that bit of praise did the Flame Queen cheer up and retreat to the contract space to sleep in.

The moment she was gone, Mo Fan let out a long breath.

*What on earth had gotten into this little disaster lately — was she on a one-woman demolition mission?*

Arriving at Fire Hall, Mo Fan could feel the weight of his classmates' stares.

Having challenged the top ten, he could practically feel each person mentally sticking a "death wish" label on him. If those labels had been real, by the time he'd walked through the door he'd have been wrapped head to toe — plastered tighter than a mummy, with no end in sight.

Mo Fan kept his world-splitting confidence and composure fully intact, turning the Flame Queen situation over in his mind while calculating when his next trip to the Three-Step Tower would be.

"Have you done your research?" Ai Tutu's voice cut through his thoughts, startling him enough to wonder if he'd wandered into the wrong classroom.

"What are you two doing here?" Mo Fan looked at Ai Tutu and Mu Nujiao in surprise.

"Waiting to watch you get destroyed, obviously... Don't change the subject. Have you actually looked into what innate talent your opponent has?"

"Innate talent?" Mo Fan's expression was thoroughly blank.

Mu Nujiao rolled her eyes so hard they nearly disappeared. "Didn't we already tell you? Most of the top ten have innate talents."

"I knew this scatterbrain hadn't prepared a thing, so I did the research for you. Ding Yumian's innate talent is—" Ai Tutu began with a grin.

"My opponent is Ding Yumian?!" Mo Fan interrupted, stunned.

The moment those words left his mouth, both Mu Nujiao and Ai Tutu looked about ready to lose their minds.

This idiot didn't even know who he was fighting!