Black-Haired Lei Xuan

Black-Haired Lei Xuan

At that moment, a blond young man nearby suddenly shouted urgently, "Gavin, dodge!"

The others still had no idea what was going on, Li Junshan included. Then they saw a spike of earth shoot up from the ground beneath Gavin and slam hard into his lower body.

"Ugh..." Gavin collapsed to the ground, his body arching like a shrimp. He clutched his lower body and let out a bloodcurdling scream, his features twisting in an instant as he rolled desperately on the ground.

The blond young man beside him flew into a rage. He rapidly chanted a magic incantation, gripping a black magic staff about a meter long. Light blazed from the red crystal core at its tip, and a small Fireball instantly appeared out of thin air, flying straight toward Fate's face with scorching heat.

"Impressive. A mid-level mage's Fireball really is something else. It's much smaller, but its power has increased several times over."

As soon as the Fireball appeared, a girl in white beside Li Junshan could not help murmuring, her face full of admiration as she looked at the blond young man.

After silently chanting an incantation and injuring Gavin, Fate quickly retreated a few steps to widen the distance, but his mouth never stopped, magic incantations spilling out one after another like sunflower seed shells.

A Wind Blast appeared in front of Fate, sweeping up fallen flowers and bits of grass as it met the Fireball. With a faint sound, sparks burst from the Fireball, and it pierced through the gale, flying straight toward Fate, though its speed had slowed somewhat.

The gale vanished, and a cloud of Water Mist appeared before Fate. Immediately after, another Water Arrow shot toward the Fireball. After passing through the Water Mist and shattering the Water Arrow, the Fireball's dazzling glow dimmed a little. When it flew within one meter of Fate, it was scattered by a Bone Spear.

"Hiss..." The watching students were startled and all sucked in a breath at once. That instant of magical combat left them somewhat dazzled.

"Wind element, water element, dark element, he..."

"How many elements does he have?"

Li Junshan nodded to himself, watching the somewhat nervous and exhausted Fate from afar with a smile. Just then, he heard the blond young man give a cold snort and say, "So what if you have every element? You're still only a junior mage. Try my Flame Blade next."

Fate's expression changed, and he instinctively took two steps back, only to feel his back hit the stone wall. There was nowhere left to retreat.

The blond young man's lips began silently chanting a magic incantation, and crimson light rose from the crystal core at the tip of the magic staff in his hand, giving off a searing aura.

Soon, a Fire Blade appeared before the blond young man. The blade, formed from fire more than half a meter long, shimmered with brilliant fire elements. Just as the blond young man was about to teach this lowly commoner, who did not know what was good for him, a ruthless lesson, a fist suddenly appeared before his eyes, growing larger and larger.

Bang. The violent pain and the blood spurting from his nose interrupted the blond young man's fluent magic incantation, and the Flame Blade that had just condensed scattered through the air like stardust.

The blond young man covered his nose and stared at Li Junshan in shock and fury, too angry to speak.

"Brandon, ah, maybe I should call you cousin. Do you still recognize me?" Li Junshan elegantly wiped the blood from his fist on the dumbstruck blond young man.

This blond young man was none other than Brandon, the eldest son of Nicholas's uncle York, a mid-level mage at George Academy.

"Oh, and you." Li Junshan turned to Feixi beside Brandon and said, "Feixi, when did you arrive at the academy?"

The moment Feixi saw him, her face went white with a swish. Her gaze darted away, and she said nothing.

"Nicholas." Brandon took the silk handkerchief a companion handed him and wiped away the blood, then said to Li Junshan through gritted teeth, "Good. I've been looking for you."

"What were you looking for me for?" Li Junshan said with a smile. "Has it been so long that you missed me?"

"You're courting death." A burly young man beside Brandon cursed angrily and was about to charge forward.

Brandon stopped him with one hand and gave Li Junshan a sinister smile. "If you've got guts, follow me."

With that, Brandon walked toward the nearby Training Ground. Gavin had already been helped away to find a priest. Dozens of men and women around him followed along, talking as they went, all dressed like nobles.

"Master." Fate came over, his face full of guilt as he said, "I dragged you into this."

"Dragged me into shit." Li Junshan followed Brandon and the others with him and said, "They were obviously looking for trouble with me. What does that have to do with you?"

"It would've been fine if I could advance." Fate wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and said, "If I'd reached mid-level, I wouldn't have to fear them."

"Take it slow. Just work hard." Seeing the guilt on his face, Li Junshan could not help offering a word of comfort.

By then, Brandon and the others had already reached the Training Ground. As soon as Li Junshan and Fate entered, a crowd surged around them with a whoosh. They were all students, and there were even a few young teachers wearing instructor badges. People liked watching excitement, and since it was now the lunch break, in just a short while, one person told ten, ten told a hundred, and the area beside the Training Ground was packed with people.

"Nicholas, release your summoned beast. I challenge you." Brandon had regained his composure, and he pointed the magic staff in his hand at Li Junshan from afar as he shouted.

A wave of discussion immediately spread from the edge of the field. Most of it was nothing more than people talking about who Li Junshan was and how he had offended Brandon, the genius mage of the intermediate magic class.

Li Junshan picked his ear, smiled faintly, and said very simply, "Come on, then."

Almost the instant his words fell, Brandon began silently chanting a magic incantation. The magic crystal at the tip of his staff shone brightly, and a Flame Blade slowly condensed.

Li Junshan had no intention of summoning a Xenomorph. He was only a mid-level mage. Relying on the body that had been transformed by Xenomorph genes, he broke into a fierce run, charging straight at Brandon.

"Whoosh!"

The Flame Blade formed out of thin air, spinning as it flew toward Li Junshan and slashed at him. Compared to the small Fireball, this Flame Blade was much faster, reaching Li Junshan in an instant.

Feeling the scorching heat against his skin, Li Junshan did not dare be careless. He twisted and changed direction, but to his surprise, the Flame Blade turned in a bizarre arc and chopped down toward his left shoulder in the blink of an eye.

Li Junshan was slightly startled and rolled aside in a rather sorry state, dodging it. The Flame Blade struck the stone floor not far from him and exploded into a burst of raging flame.

By then, Brandon's second spell had also been released. Li Junshan had not expected him to be a dual-element mage, and when he rose, he was caught off guard, nearly stabbed by stone spikes that suddenly shot up from the stone ground. He barely avoided them.

Brandon's skilled magic technique and clever use of spells immediately drew a wave of admiration. With a smug smile on his face, magic incantations as fluent as a clear spring drifted merrily from his lips.

"Starfire Sky!"

Li Junshan charged rapidly toward Brandon, who was more than ten meters away. Hearing that voice, his heart tightened, and he felt a wave of scorching heat above his head. He had no time to look up. His lightning-fast figure rushed right in front of Brandon, and under Brandon's stunned expression, Li Junshan smashed a vicious punch into his nose.

The fire elements drifting in the sky scattered. Brandon only felt the bridge of his nose break. Clutching his nose, he squatted down, tears streaming from the sharp ache.

"Ah!"

The students watching from the side were dumbfounded. None of them had expected that a fight between a mid-level mage and a summoner would end like this.

"I hadn't even gone looking for you yet, and here you are, nice and straightforward, delivering yourself to my door. Didn't your father tell you whether the current you can afford to provoke me? Ah, I suppose you'll never get the chance now." Li Junshan bent down and spoke softly, smiling as he looked at Brandon, who was crouched on the ground with a hand over his nose.

Brandon had no breath to speak. He only glared at him with hatred. Just then, a figure leapt over and blocked Li Junshan's way.

Li Junshan looked up and saw it was the black-haired youth, Lei Xuan, who had pleaded for Fate earlier. Li Junshan still had a somewhat favorable impression of him, so he did not attack, only looked at him in puzzlement.

Lei Xuan gave a few dry laughs, jerked his chin toward the side of the field, and said quietly to Li Junshan, "Feixi told me to come up and ask you for some pointers. No helping it. I've never had much resistance to requests from beautiful women."

Li Junshan glanced at Feixi. Her face was frosty, and her cold gaze shot right back at him.

During this, Brandon had his back to the two of them and walked off with his head lowered. A flicker of slyness and delight flashed through his eyes.

Brandon had long since heard about Li Junshan's summoned beasts from Feixi. He dared to challenge Li Junshan for two reasons. First, he was certain the other party would not kill anyone inside the academy. Second, he wanted Lei Xuan to deal with Li Junshan.

"A Battle Master won't do, but although Lei Xuan is only a high-level warrior, that doesn't mean he can't. Even if Lei Xuan is injured or killed by Nicholas, naturally someone will go looking for trouble with him." Brandon worked his wishful plan out in his heart, then walked down with a dark expression and stood beside Feixi. The two exchanged a look, and everything went without saying.

"Don't worry. It's just a spar. I'll weigh my strikes and won't hurt you."

In the Training Ground, Lei Xuan spoke to Li Junshan, his expression rather helpless.

"Interesting." Li Junshan chuckled, then said to Lei Xuan, "Then let's do it."

"Don't rush." Lei Xuan waved a hand and said, "You're a summoner. You look like you've trained in battle aura too, and you're pretty fast, but you're still at a disadvantage fighting a warrior. Back up a bit."

Hearing his words, perhaps also because of the color of his eyes and hair, Li Junshan could not help but feel an indescribable sense of closeness and goodwill toward this somewhat simple-minded youth. He backed away more than a dozen steps as told and looked at Lei Xuan with a smile.

At this moment, Li Junshan did not notice that the watching students around them had fallen completely silent. The expressions on most of their faces were far more excited than before.

"Why aren't you summoning your summoned beast?" Lei Xuan shouted to Li Junshan from a distance.

Li Junshan shook his head to indicate there was no need, and at the same time gestured at Lei Xuan with his fists. Lei Xuan scratched his black hair and called, "Then watch out. I'm coming."

Li Junshan nodded and thought, Why is he so long-winded?

Just then, Lei Xuan's entire body suddenly gave off a cyan glow of battle aura. His burly frame arrived in front of Li Junshan in the blink of an eye. His hands were clenched into fists; fire blazed over his left fist, while lightning roamed over his right. Carrying the astonishing force of his charge and a rushing howl of wind, he smashed them toward Li Junshan's chest.

Li Junshan had not expected him to come the instant he said it. His speed seemed even faster than York's Battle Master bodyguard. In the frantic moment, there was no time to dodge, so he gritted his teeth and sent the mass of heat in his lower abdomen surging instantly through his whole body, clenched both fists, and met the attack head-on.

The moment their fists connected, Li Junshan flew backward, hurtling more than ten meters before finally crashing to the ground.

Half his body felt as if it had been devoured by lightning, the other half as if it had been seared by fire. Li Junshan felt wretched from head to toe. Frowning, he struggled to stand, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.