Empty Thought Bridge

The moment the flames appeared, they drove away the surrounding chill.

But a level-one Fire Seed could not block level-two Ice Tendrils head-on, though there were ways to deal with Ice Magic.

Mei Qian had already learned how from the teacher.

She flipped her hand, and the ball of fire in her palm dropped to the ground beneath her feet.

Blazing flames spread out underfoot, flowing around Zhou Tianyuan and Zhao Qingying like a bright red carpet, covering the ground.

The cold air on the ground was quickly melted away, and the Ice Tendrils everywhere were turned into vapor by the Scorching Flame.

"Tch." The Ice Magician curled his lip, not surprised. He was only there as cover.

All he had to do was buy his teammate a little time. When the last wisp of frost was swallowed by the flames, an even more scorching heat came from a girl to the right of the Ice Magician opposite them.

The girl's eyes also shone with fiery red light. Her expression was solemn, her right palm raised, and a low, grave chant came from her lips.

"Fire Seed!"

A fireball the size of a human head answered her call, burning to life in her palm, its searing heat wave slapping out in every direction.

Its manic, violent aura was like a bomb ready to explode at any moment, its scorching energy terrifying enough to make the heart tremble.

"Burst!"

The girl controlled the flames and hurled them straight at Mei Qian at the very front. The fireball, carrying terrifying heat, whistled as it smashed toward Mei Qian.

"Wind Track—Drifting Shadow."

A level-three Burst flame not only had the explosive shock of detonation, but also the follow-up sweep of fire waves. It was not something Water Barrier could withstand.

So even though Mei Qian and the other two were all protected by the Water Barrier Zhou Tianyuan had cast, they still faced the incoming fireball.

Zhao Qingying immediately released the magic she had long since prepared. Dense wind aura gathered around her, and stepping on the rapidly flowing wind, she flashed to Mei Qian's side in an instant.

"Burst!" At the opposing Fire Magician's command, the fireball exploded with a boom when it was still three meters away from them, and violent waves of fire surged outward.

But Zhao Qingying had already grabbed Mei Qian and dodged backward. Under the ghostlike speed of a level-three Wind Track, the fire waves simply could not catch up to them.

However, just as Zhao Qingying was about to reach Zhou Tianyuan's side and take him along out of the attack range of the Burst flame...

The opposing team's last member, along with the captain who had used Earth Wave to dodge Mei Qian's attack earlier, both slapped their hands onto the ground.

Dense earthy-yellow light radiated from their hands where they touched the ground, accompanied by a loud shout:

"Earth Wave—Slow!"

The ground beneath Zhao Qingying and the others began to move like quicksand, but this only slowed Zhao Qingying's steps slightly.

But when Zhao Qingying reached Zhou Tianyuan's side, the power of the two slowing quicksand currents suddenly converged, forming an even larger quicksand vortex.

The quicksand vortex moved in the opposite direction from Zhao Qingying, greatly restricting her movement speed. Of course, with Wind Track on her, she would not be trapped.

As long as she was given a few seconds, she could very quickly take Mei Qian and Zhou Tianyuan out of this quicksand vortex.

But right now, time was exactly what they lacked.

They were already at the edge of the Burst's attack range. They would not be defeated in one blow, but injury was unavoidable.

Although three against four was a little forced, Mei Qian was at least Intermediate Level, which counted as one and a half people. It was just that no one had expected the two Earth Element mages opposite them to know a combination technique.

And they had used it at the critical moment.

Bai Mo certainly could not let his teammates get hurt. He merely glanced lightly at the roaring wave of fire rushing toward Zhao Qingying and the other two, about to devour them.

The air rippled almost imperceptibly, and the aggressive flames abruptly stopped, as if they had crashed into an invisible wall and met an uncrossable chasm.

"Sigh, you guys are so bad."

Hearing Bai Mo's words, both sides on the Arena looked ugly.

The opposing team felt that the combo they had painstakingly set up had been so easily resolved.

As for Zhao Qingying and the other two, although they were physically fine, they felt wounded inside.

"Isn't it good to let you show off a little?" Zhou Tianyuan did not care about Bai Mo's words. After sharing a desk with Bai Mo for two years, he had long since forged a heart as tough as diamond.

Zhou Tianyuan felt it was the kind even a Mind Element mage could do nothing about.

Bai Mo shrugged and continued watching them fight.

Now that they knew the opposing team's trump card, Mei Qian directly used two Lightning Seals to take out that Ice Magician first. Afterward, Zhao Qingying relied on Wind Track's extreme speed to weave between the two Earth Mages.

Zhao Qingying followed the path of an assassin mage. Although she had no weapon in her hand right now, she was already very familiar with certain combat techniques.

For a moment, she actually beat the two opposing Earth Mages into something resembling panic-stricken flight.

Meanwhile, Zhou Tianyuan focused entirely on putting defenses on Mei Qian, while Mei Qian traded blasts with the opposing Fire Magician. Because they were both Fire Magicians, Mei Qian was not especially afraid of the other side's Fire Seed.

Her fire resistance was very strong. She only needed Zhou Tianyuan to connect Water Barrier in time to defend against the explosive shock wave, then block the sweep of the fire waves afterward.

Soon, the battle was over.

"You look a bit battered. I told you three against four would be tough." After they stepped down from the platform, Bai Mo looked at the three of them covered in dust and soot, shook his head, and said.

"Weren't we carrying out Teacher Su's plan and hiding your strength?" Zhao Qingying curled her lip, unconvinced. This guy really did not know how to appreciate kindness.

Bai Mo rolled his eyes. "Don't listen to her. What's there to hide? Besides, it can't be hidden anyway."

"We just wanted to try it, that's all," Mei Qian explained, pursing her lips.

"Yeah."

Bai Mo glanced at Zhou Tianyuan, who had chimed in, then spread his hands and said, "Fine. Do whatever you want."

For various reasons, the plan he had made two days ago to go with Mu Nujiao to the Four Directions Beast Arena had fallen through, so Bai Mo had arranged to go this afternoon instead.

After the match, he went to the school gate to meet up with Mu Nujiao, picked up Aitutu, and the three of them headed to the Four Directions Beast Arena together.

On the way, Bai Mo asked, "By the way, what were you two busy with a couple days ago?"

When Aitutu heard that, she gave Mu Nujiao beside her a teasing look and giggled. "Jiaojiao had a relative visiting."

"Tutu!" Mu Nujiao's face turned a little unnatural when she heard that. She grabbed Aitutu's hand and shot her a reproachful look.

Bai Mo found it a little strange and grew curious. He asked, "A relative? Who?"

"Her auntie... mo~" Aitutu had only enthusiastically gotten out two words before Mu Nujiao beside her covered her mouth.

"Auntie?" Bai Mo's eyes turned odd. He glanced at Mu Nujiao, and after a quick turn of thought, he understood what it was. He studied Mu Nujiao a couple more times.

He couldn't see anything wrong. For no reason, his tone softened a few degrees as he asked, "Then has your relative left yet, Nujiao?"

"It's not a problem anymore," Mu Nujiao said evenly. She knew Bai Mo had figured it out, and stopped holding on to Aitutu.

Her expression was calm and composed, as if she had not just been embarrassed and annoyed enough to want to deal with her little best friend.

Bai Mo also felt the atmosphere in the car was a little awkward, so he changed the subject and asked, "Right, for this field training of yours, are there any rewards?"

"They said we're going to the Empty Thought Bridge. Every mage who enters can obtain something suited to them."

Bai Mo nodded. He had heard of the Empty Thought Bridge. It had been established by the ancient Wu State.

It had been passed down to the present day, and every administrator of Modu allocated a portion of resources into it. Many social elites also donated resources into it.

The Empty Thought Bridge was a masterpiece of the Space Element. It contained a special formation spirit that would select suitable items to reward those who entered. It was a treasure vault.

However, this building was specifically used to nurture young mages. Each person only had one chance to enter it.

He had heard that once one's cultivation stepped into Mid-Tier Level 3, they could no longer obtain anything useful from it.

Because the quality of the resources was suited to Elementary Level mages and mages who had just entered the Mid-Tier, it had become the place where all high schools in Modu sent outstanding students for rewards.

"Too bad it's not Jingan Stone Temple. Otherwise, I could help you two a bit," Bai Mo said regretfully.

"What's special about Jingan Stone Temple?" Mu Nujiao was a little curious. She had already learned about the buildings in Modu used to cultivate high school students beforehand, and they were all things useless to the Mid-Tier.

"You go inside and knock on a wooden fish. It can raise your Mental Power."

Hearing that, the two girls understood.

"What a pity. Jingan Stone Temple doesn't sell slots to outsiders. That effect would suit Tutu perfectly," Mu Nujiao sighed regretfully. She had heard that people with high Mental Power had better concentration. Maybe it could treat this little sister's flighty nature. Aitutu, however, said without caring much, "It's nothing. Maybe we'll get something even better in the Empty Thought Bridge."

"Oh, please! If you don't place in the top three, you won't get anything at all," Bai Mo struck back without mercy.

"Hmph! Jiaojiao and I are the two people with the highest cultivation in our grade," Aitutu huffed.

Bai Mo rolled his eyes. "When you actually see a demon beast, you'd better not wet your pants."

"You're looking down on us! Jiaojiao, teach him a lesson!"

Mu Nujiao was somewhat helpless. Seeing that they had already arrived, she scanned the code and pulled Aitutu out of the self-driving car.

At the demon-fighting arena, Bai Mo became the Safety Officer.

He looked at the remote control in his hand, which was smaller than half his palm.

There were only four buttons in total: strong, normal, weak, and stun.

He finally understood how those Safety Officers switched demon beasts and knocked them unconscious.

"Begin."

Bai Mo said that, then pressed normal and hid in a corner.

A Sparrow-headed Yellow Toad slowly appeared opposite Mu Nujiao and Aitutu.

Mu Nujiao and Aitutu had not yet reached Elementary Level 2, so they still could not use Whip, which meant they had no offensive ability. They could only play a restraining role.

The outcome of this battle seemed to have been decided the moment it began.

The battle began.

Facing the demonic aura rushing toward them, the two of them were calmer than Bai Mo had imagined.

Having long since drawn their magic, they cast it the instant the Sparrow-headed Yellow Toad woke up.

Mu Nujiao was the first to use magic, cyan Star Scars flashing around her.

A Blue Silver Entanglement appeared!

Oh, no—a Vine Transformation: Entanglement appeared, binding the Sparrow-headed Yellow Toad just as it was about to leap.

Under Mu Nujiao's direction, Aitutu seized the chance and used her own Entanglement as well, wrapping vines around the Sparrow-headed Yellow Toad's other foot.

The vines of the Entanglement were as thick as an arm, and for a moment, they really did restrain the demon creature.

The two girls and the demon stared at one another.

The demon roared, "Ribbit!!!!"

The two girls panicked and hurriedly began drawing their second Star Orbit.

But the demon's physical strength was formidable, and these restraints were only extremely brief. The Sparrow-headed Yellow Toad merely gathered all the strength in its body and wrenched hard, and the coiled vines were directly torn apart by that tremendous force.

"Ribbit!!!"

Then, with an angry, unpleasant cry, its two long legs stomped heavily against the ground, sending countless bits of rubble flying as it charged fiercely toward the two of them.

That long, scarlet tongue, slick with mucus, had already stretched out.

From the looks of it, as soon as the distance closed even slightly, it would roll one of them up for a snack!

The two girls' magic release speed was about three seconds, so there was no way to block this attack.

So Bai Mo immediately reached out and slapped the Sparrow-headed Yellow Toad as it leaped through the air.

He smacked it into the ground, then hit it with an electric stun. These demon creatures were all property of Sifang Doyaoguan.

If he could avoid killing them, it was better not to.

And Aitutu, who had been a little frightened by the Sparrow-headed Yellow Toad's ferocious appearance in the arena, immediately cried out when she saw this scene:

"Great Wilderness Cloud Dispelling Palm!!"

Bai Mo: (￢д￢.)

Mu Nujiao: (-_)?

Aitutu: (^O^)