Death Tidings

The phone data was still transferring when the referee signaled the competitors to take their positions.

Bai Yulang walked at the front, leading his two teammates up the steps and through the Barrier.

Mo Fan dawdled behind them, eyes fixed on the progress bar crawling across his screen. It had already hit ninety percent — another minute or so and the transfer would be complete.

His phone held a fair amount of important data. Things like the daily WeChat messages and voice notes he'd been exchanging with Xinxia, the kind decidedly not suitable for younger audiences. The precious fruits of his own inspired ingenuity.

Across the stage, Dongfang Lie and his three teammates had also taken their places. His expression shifted slightly — he wore a look of casual indifference, yet his gaze drifted toward Mo Fan every few moments, seemingly without intent.

He and Zhou Shuming had been watching Mo Fan for quite some time now. The guy had surprised them more than once. They'd initially written him off as ranking somewhere in the twenties or thirties on the Elemental Rankings, yet here he was, gradually becoming a genuine threat to their circle of elite students.

For a freshman to have climbed this high — remarkable, truly.

"Well, look who we ran into," Zhou Shuming said from nearby, stirring the pot with obvious relish. "I haven't forgotten that you said you'd finish him off in a round or two."

The draw followed shortly after — which, of course, was also something that could be rigged. For someone like Zhou Shuming, ending up on whatever team he wanted was simply a matter of applying the right pressure.

With the two of them on the same side, toss in any two others and they'd be unstoppable.

"Relax." Dongfang Lie smiled, radiating easy confidence. "As long as no one gets in the way, my Blazing Fist can drop him in an instant."

"True enough," Zhou Shuming replied. "Your Innate Talent still ranks above his natural Dual Elements, at any rate."

"Dongfang Lie — ranked fourth in Innate Talent. His Fire Star Motes are mutated, which means every Fire Element skill he casts runs one full tier above what his cultivation level should allow." Bai Yulang kept his voice low as he addressed his teammates.

As a fellow top-tier competitor, he knew Dongfang Lie all too well.

The most terrifying thing about him wasn't simply his cultivation — it was that extraordinary Innate Talent of his.

Any Fire Element skill he used would, without explanation, manifest one full tier higher than his actual cultivation level.

That meant if Dongfang Lie's current cultivation sat at the third tier of the Intermediate Level, the Blazing Fist he unleashed would strike with fourth-tier force.

Even Mo Fan found himself quietly awed by such a gift.

He himself had enhanced twenty-nine Star Motes in total — still twenty short of what he needed to cultivate the fourth-tier Blazing Fist. Yet Dongfang Lie needed no Spirit Essence whatsoever, no enhancement of any kind. The moment his cultivation reached the third tier, his Innate Talent handed him the fourth on a silver platter.

A third-tier Blazing Fist already had overwhelming destructive power within its tier and rank. Fourth tier? Even with defensive Enchanted Gear, there was simply no stopping it.

"His Wind Element is mediocre," Bai Yulang said, making a point of it. "But whatever you do, do not let him use the Blazing Fist. If he does, we lose — full stop."

"I'll keep him occupied."

"Mo Fan, your Lightning and Fire combined should put you close to Dongfang Lie in raw power, but one Star Chart from him can still devastate us outright, so... wait." Bai Yulang stopped mid-sentence. "What is that on your shoulder?"

He had just been laying out the strategy when he spotted a plump little ball of flame darting up onto Mo Fan's shoulder. At first glance it looked like an adorably round fireball; on closer inspection, it was a tiny, exquisite creature made entirely of living flame.

"Oh — my Contract Beast..." Mo Fan sighed. "Little Flame Queen, who told you to come out?!" He reached over and plucked her off his shoulder with the expression of a man about to administer a spanking.

"Ling~~ ling~~!" The little Flame Queen looked utterly aggrieved, her tiny cheeks so soft and pouty they seemed ready to burst.

She was clearly telling Mo Fan: *I want to help Daddy fight the enemy!*

"Well, since she's your Contract Beast, having her out early isn't a bad idea... but." Bai Yulang studied the tiny creature. "Has she actually grown yet?"

"Yeah. Juvenile Stage..." Mo Fan said.

"Ju... Juvenile Stage..." Bai Yulang was speechless. "You called her out to look cute?"

None of them were Summoning Element Mages, but they'd all sat through enough classes to know the basics — a Juvenile Stage Summoned Beast was practically useless in a real fight.

"You should probably just summon the Swift Star Wolf instead..."

"It's fine. The Swift Star Wolf is a Basic-Level spell — easy to call up on the fly during the match. This one needs a Star Chart drawn to appear, so summoning her in advance makes more sense." Mo Fan said.

The moment the words left his mouth, he realized the argument was entirely pointless.

The little Flame Queen had just crawled out of her Contract Space on her own, without any Star Chart drawn at all.

Competition rules stipulated that Summoning Element Mages could only have one Summoned Beast present before a match began; summoning more required waiting until the referee called start and finding the right opening.

"Fair point. Still, get that wolf out as soon as you can — we need it for crowd control. Once..."

"Once Dongfang Lie gets to act freely, we're finished."

"Captain, you've said that at least ten times already."

"Oh, come on! I'm only hammering it in for your own good!"

Mo Fan swept his gaze around the arena. The mist had fully cleared, and among the sea of spectators filling the stands to capacity, he could make out a number of familiar faces.

Mu Nujiao — the one who'd offered to sponsor him — was there, with Ai Tutu at her side. Her brother had apparently already headed back.

His perpetually elusive classmate Ding Yumian was also there, flanked by the tomboyish Huang Xingli. A little further along sat Liu Qian — the self-proclaimed heartthrob who never seemed to disappear — as relentless as ever in his pursuit of Ding Yumian.

Zhao Manyan was there too, seated near the front. He'd been off the radar for so long that Mo Fan had nearly forgotten that shameless face. Strangely enough, no new girlfriend at his side...

The pink-clad pretty boy whose necktie Mo Fan had once flung away was present as well — Mo Fan couldn't remember his name. The guy was clearly running with Zhou Shuming and Dongfang Lie's crowd, wearing a cold sneer as he waited to enjoy the show.

Old "friends" Shen Mingxiao and the portly Luo Song were there too. The pair had been completely inseparable since moving to the inner court, and Mo Fan still couldn't figure out what exactly had happened between them during that desperate escape from Jinlin Desolate City.

Despite the fact that his number one girl had risked her life and the Ice Crystal Slay Bow to save those two ungrateful hides, the pair still looked at him with the same bristling hostility as ever, unable to stand the sight of him doing well.

A pity for them — they'd fallen so far behind in strength that they barely drifted into his line of sight anymore.

**Ding!**

"Competitors, prepare..."

The phone's transfer-complete chime and the referee's final announcement rang out at almost the same instant.

Mo Fan glanced at the head referee, saw him still clearing his throat, and figured he had a moment to spare — so he stole a look at the freshly completed data on his phone.

His plan had been a quick glance, then toss the phone down to Ai Tutu in the stands for safekeeping. But what glowed on the screen was precisely the notification Lingling had mentioned — the one about Zhang Xiaohou.

*Monkey must've gotten another promotion. Sending me good news,* Mo Fan murmured to himself.

He tapped it open. Somewhere nearby, the referee's voice rose in anger, ordering him to put the phone down.

But the moment the full message expanded on the screen, that single, brief line of text struck him like a Thunderbolt. His entire body seized in violent trembling. The sharpness that always lived in those keen eyes of his simply went somewhere else — as though his very soul had been knocked clean out of him.