Ghostly Footwork
"Mo Fan, are you really sure about this?" Ai Tutu asked hesitantly.
"Relax." Mo Fan patted his chest with all the confidence in the world.
Ai Tutu was tempted to give Mo Fan a perfect score for the performance, but after two rounds of competition, she genuinely knew better — everyone who had made it into the Elemental Rankings top twenty was no pushover. If Mo Fan had to drag her along as dead weight, winning was going to be anything but easy.
Whatever her doubts, the next match had to go on. Before long, a fresh set of opponents arrived.
They had clearly just shown up and had no idea what had already taken place. One of them — a young man with hair dyed blue — strolled over to Gu Jian with his hands tucked in his pockets, clapped him on the shoulder with a grin, and said, "Brother, I'm not going easy on you today. Drawing my name means you're out of luck."
Gu Jian's eyes lit up the moment he spotted the blue-haired newcomer. "So you're my third-round opponent?" he said quickly. "Looks like I'm not the unlucky one after all."
He said it with a smirk — and his gaze had already slid over to Mo Fan and Ai Tutu, dripping with ill-concealed satisfaction.
Liu Xin and Ah Li Jie, Gu Jian's two teammates, went pale the instant they recognized the blue-haired young man.
"This is bad — that's Xu Mingcong. That guy is only a step below Bai Yulang!" Ah Li Jie was the first to cry out.
"It's over. All three rounds, gone... Not that I expected to get nominated with so many elites here, but losing like *this*? My end-of-term scores are going to be a disaster. I'll never live it down." Liu Xin looked equally ready to weep.
"Don't lose heart. Work together and we'll be fine!" Mo Fan said encouragingly.
"You don't understand. Xu Mingcong is top five on the Wind Rankings. His Wind Element ability means our spells literally cannot touch him — he'll just dodge everything we throw. How do you beat someone who's impossible to hit?" Liu Xin said.
"You won't know until you try."
On the other side of the arena, Xu Mingcong had apparently heard from Gu Jian what had happened in the earlier rounds. He was staring at Mo Fan with an exaggerated, theatrical smirk.
"Kid, I've seen plenty of arrogant types at Pearl Academy, but someone like you? First time. Oh, and don't bother introducing yourself — I have zero interest in memorizing the names of small fry."
He was digging at his ear with his pinky finger, barely sparing Mo Fan more than a glance as he spoke.
"If you can't even remember the face of someone who's about to beat yours black and blue, that just says something about your brain."
Mo Fan had never been one to spare anyone with his tongue.
"Ha! Look around you and you'll see that barely anyone at this entire academy —"
"— dares say that to your face. Save it. Same line every time. Don't you know any other material?" Mo Fan cut him off cleanly.
Xu Mingcong actually froze for a moment. *Damn, this kid really doesn't play by the script.*
That was indeed the line he'd been about to deliver. Now that Mo Fan had swiped it, all he could do was scowl and say, "Hmph. Get ready to eat grass."
Xu Mingcong's three teammates were clearly accomplished Mages in their own right, and on excellent terms with him. Watching Mo Fan's brazen display, they stood there with cold, amused smirks.
As both teams stepped onto the competition platform and took their positions, it was apparent from Xu Mingcong's side that he was the vanguard. The two flanking him were of unknown elements, while the slightly heavyset young woman standing furthest back was almost certainly a support type.
Mo Fan led his teammates up and was just about to set their formation when something suddenly occurred to him. He spun around and asked Liu Xin and Ah Li Jie, "Right — what elements do you two use?"
Both of them slapped their foreheads with expressions that screamed: *You're asking now? What possible good does that do?*
"My primary is Water, secondary is Ice Element," said the taller, stockier Ah Li Jie.
"My primary is Wind, secondary is Fire Element," said Liu Xin.
Ai Tutu stood quietly to the side without volunteering her own elements — Mo Fan already knew exactly what she cultivated.
"I work with Fire and Lightning," Mo Fan told his teammates.
"Oh, right — similar to Gu Jian, then."
"When we start, everyone free-form it — improvise as you see fit. Ai Tutu, focus your Light Element magic on protecting the team. Our defensive coverage is thin." Mo Fan said.
Ai Tutu gave a single nod, unusually compliant.
The three referee instructors had their scoreboard ready. Once all participants signaled they were prepared, the call came to begin.
Xu Mingcong's confidence bordered on arrogance. Even after the referee called start, both hands stayed in his pockets — he wasn't even pretending to take his opponents seriously.
Liu Xin was the first to complete a Fire Element Star Trail. A Fire Burst leapt from his palm and he hurled it without hesitation straight at Xu Mingcong, who stood at the front.
Liu Xin's fundamentals were exceptional — his Fire Burst Release speed was actually a fraction faster than Mo Fan's. Sure enough, no one who'd made the Elemental Rankings top twenty was weak; for someone whose Fire Element was only a secondary study to bring his Star Trail connection speed to this level was genuinely impressive.
The Fire Burst took the form of a blazing fireball — like a great coconut wrapped in flame — tracing an arc across the arena and landing squarely on target.
Xu Mingcong didn't look up. His hands never left his pockets. His body simply flickered with a few ghostly wind afterimages, and by the time the Fire Burst exploded against him, he had already drifted ten meters away. The erupting flames consumed nothing but the phantoms he'd left behind.
A contemptuous smile tugged at his mouth. Xu Mingcong stood there with the posture of someone inviting anyone to try hitting him. Refusing to believe it, Liu Xin completed a Fire Burst: Detonation — but the result was identical. Xu Mingcong played with him like a cat toying with a mouse, deliberately waiting until the very last instant before slipping aside.
"Come on, all of you at once. Did you really think that sluggish basic-tier magic was ever going to land on me?" Xu Mingcong kept his hands in his pockets, utterly unhurried, disdain radiating off him.
Soon Ah Li Jie joined the assault as well, attempting to use Ice Vine to lock down Xu Mingcong's movement before following with Ice Lock for a decisive blow.
Xu Mingcong dodged just as easily. When Ah Li Jie escalated to intermediate-tier Ice Element magic, all it cost Xu Mingcong was a single basic-tier spell — Shadow Fade — to slip between the incoming attacks, threading through them like smoke...
His Shadow Element ability combined with Wind Track had brought him to a realm of movement that was genuinely uncatchable — phantom-like, untraceable, beyond the reach of sight.
Both Liu Xin and Ah Li Jie had gone to their intermediate spells, and still Xu Mingcong, cycling between Wind Track and Shadow Fade, kept taunting them with absolute ease. From beginning to end, both hands had never once left his pockets — much to the audible admiration of several girls watching from the sides.
*This guy's footwork is on par with Zhang Xiaohou's,* Mo Fan thought.
But Mo Fan had already hatched something. A glint of fox-like cunning flickered behind his eyes.
A quiet flame kindled in Mo Fan's palm. He didn't draw a Star Chart — the magical aura a Star Chart emitted was far too conspicuous, and would betray his intentions to any careful observer.
He was using a Fire Burst.
Mo Fan released it casually, folding it seamlessly into Liu Xin and Ah Li Jie's ongoing barrage — silent, unannounced, slipping through unnoticed...