The commentator had just lifted his teacup, and the tea had not even touched his lips.
The matchup list for the third round had already lit up the entire arena.
"Third individual match—Sky Abyss Academy's Yan Wuji versus—Shrek Academy's Ma Hongjun!"
In an instant, the clamor from the stands became a tangible wave of sound.
"Yan Wuji? That name screams fire user!"
"What kind of monsters does Sky Abyss Academy have? I've never even heard of a single one!"
Bang—!
With a deafening crash, a chair flew backward, slammed viciously into the railing of the contestants' section, then bounced twice before hitting the ground.
Ma Hongjun shot to his feet.
He yanked open his collar, the veins on his neck bulging like furious dragons coiled beneath his skin.
The humiliation from the team match had been bottled up in his chest for an entire night.
He had not even seen his opponent's face clearly.
For twelve minutes, he had been trapped in an endless maze of vines, like a bird being toyed with.
A bird?
His martial soul was a phoenix!
Who dared cage a phoenix?
"Third Brother."
He whipped his head around, his voice suppressing a volcano on the verge of eruption.
Tang San looked into his bloodshot eyes without speaking, then gave the slightest nod.
That was enough.
That single nod said more than a thousand words.
Ma Hongjun charged toward the arena in great strides, the out-of-control Evil Fire beneath his feet branding two rows of charred footprints into the hard stone steps.
Across from him, Yan Wuji was walking up at an unhurried pace.
He wore a plain white robe, its cuffs and collar embroidered with intricate dark patterns in silver thread. His long hair was held up by nothing but a white jade hairpin.
His steps were terrifyingly precise. The length of every stride and the height of every lifted foot seemed measured by a ruler.
He did not look like he was here to fight.
He looked like an emotionless messenger, here to deliver a death sentence.
Ma Hongjun glared at him fiercely.
"Your name is Yan Wuji?"
"Yes."
Yan Wuji's voice was gentle, yet carried a sense of distance.
"What's your martial soul?"
"Profound Ice Dragon."
Ma Hongjun froze for a moment, then erupted into unrestrained laughter.
The sound made the eardrums of the front-row spectators buzz.
"Your surname is Yan, but your martial soul is ice?"
"Ha! How much fake liquor did your father drink when he named you?"
A burst of laughter came from the stands.
There was not the slightest anger on Yan Wuji's face. Instead, he revealed a mild smile.
"My father does indeed enjoy a drink."
"But when he named me Wuji, he hoped I would remember one thing."
He extended his right hand, spreading his five fingers.
Above his palm, a hexagonal ice crystal condensed out of thin air. It slowly spun, refracting a deep blue glow.
"The most extreme ice in this world is closer than the fiercest fire..."
His voice softened, yet it pierced everyone's hearts like an ice awl.
"To destruction itself."
Ma Hongjun's laughter came to an abrupt stop.
Not because of those words.
But because, the instant that ice crystal appeared, the Evil Fire surging through his body trembled violently beyond his control.
It was not fear.
It was the instinctive shudder of a lifeform being watched by its natural predator!
"What a load of nonsense!"
Ma Hongjun roared as his martial soul was fully unleashed!
Evil Fire Phoenix!
Crimson fire wings exploded from his back, while three Spirit Rings—two yellow and one purple—shot into the sky!
The terrifying heat instantly softened the metal seams of the arena, sending up hissing white smoke.
"Fire overcomes ice. That's the law of nature!"
Ma Hongjun clenched his fists, the Evil Fire around his knuckles scorching the air until it warped.
"I don't care if you're some Profound Ice Dragon or Frost Ice Dragon—"
He moved.
His entire body transformed into a blazing meteor, tearing through the air as he charged straight at Yan Wuji!
First Spirit Skill, Phoenix Fireline!
A blazing white pillar of fire as thick as a water barrel erupted from his palm. At its tip, the flames carried a faint, sinister purple hue from the extreme heat!
Yan Wuji merely shifted to the side.
The fire pillar grazed his robe, instantly burning a charred hole through the right sleeve of his white robe.
He lowered his head and glanced at the cuff, his brows furrowing slightly.
He looked as though he regretted a flaw appearing on a treasured collectible, rather than celebrating his escape from danger.
"Not a bad temperature."
He raised his hand and lightly flicked at the lingering sparks in the air.
First Spirit Skill, Frostseal.
A layer of white frost spread from his fingertips, flowing backward along the trail scorched by the flames!
The scattered sparks still burning in the air froze one by one.
They did not go out. Instead, they froze into orange-red crystalline particles of ice, clinking onto the ground and shattering into cold dust.
Ma Hongjun's pupils suddenly contracted.
Fire... had been frozen?
Before he could process that bizarre sight, his strongest Spirit Skill had already been unleashed!
Third Spirit Skill, Phoenix Firebath!
Evil Fire exploded in every direction with him at its center!
A crimson sea of flames instantly swallowed half the arena. The temperature soared beyond a thousand degrees, and the iron railings at the edge of the platform glowed red as they let out groans of unbearable strain!
Yan Wuji stood right in the center of the sea of fire.
The hem of his white robe had caught fire, but the faint smile on his face remained unchanged.
He raised his right hand again and flicked his fingers for the second time.
Third Spirit Skill, Profound Ice Seal Domain.
There was no thunderous explosion.
No impact.
Only a silent white ripple spreading outward from him as its center.
Then the entire world lost its sound.
The violently leaping crimson flames of Phoenix Firebath began to lose their "vitality," layer by layer, starting from the outermost edge.
The tongues of flame curling upward froze.
The patterns of the burning fire froze.
Every blaze retained its burning posture, but no longer flickered, no longer shone, no longer gave off any heat.
They had died.
They became a vast and magnificent tombstone forged from flames.
The entire venue fell dead silent.
Three seconds later, earthshaking screams nearly blew off the arena's dome.
"What was that? What the hell was that!"
"Fire! The fire was frozen into ice sculptures!!"
Ma Hongjun stood stiffly in place, like a stone statue.
Trembling, he reached out and touched the motionless "flame" beside his feet.
What met his fingertips was neither cold nor heat.
It was... nothingness.
It felt like touching a stone that had been dead for ten thousand years, one in which even the concept of temperature no longer existed.
"No... that's impossible..." he muttered, his faith collapsing.
"The essence of flame is the violent motion of matter."
Yan Wuji's voice came from the other end of the "fire-sea ice sculptures," as calm as though he were lecturing in a classroom.
He stepped forward. The "flame ice sculpture" beneath his feet shattered in response, turning into red powder.
"My Profound Ice Dragon does not freeze temperature."
He took another step, crushing a patch of dead flames with every stride.
"What I freeze is motion itself."
"When all motion stops, what difference is there between thousand-degree fire and Absolute Zero ice?"
Ma Hongjun staggered backward, his teeth grinding audibly.
He did not believe it!
A phoenix's pride would not allow him to believe it!
Phoenix Fire Rain!
He raised both arms, his Soul Power pouring out wildly! Hundreds of millstone-sized fireballs condensed in the sky and came crashing down upon Yan Wuji like an apocalyptic meteor shower!
If a single-target attack can be frozen, then I'll drown you in sheer numbers!
Yan Wuji lifted his head, gazing up at the burning sky.
The smile on his face finally faded.
"Your fire is worthy of my respect."
Fourth Spirit Skill, Profound Ice Forbidden Domain—Ten Thousand Miles of Ice Seal.
There were no hand gestures, no violent flashing of Spirit Rings.
An invisible absolute domain with a hundred-meter radius descended silently around him.
Within the domain, every trace of heat in the air was instantly drained away.
Minus one hundred degrees.
Minus two hundred degrees.
Minus two hundred and seventy-three degrees!
The hundreds of Phoenix fireballs roaring downward all came to a stop the instant they touched the boundary of the domain.
The crimson fireballs turned into crimson ice spheres, floating in midair in defiance of gravity.
Completely motionless.
Above the arena, where dusk had settled on all sides, a sea of stars formed from hundreds of frozen flames hung upside down over everyone's heads.
It was heartbreakingly beautiful.
And despairingly cold.
Ma Hongjun's body became completely rigid in the extreme cold.
The Evil Fire Phoenix martial soul behind him let out a shrill cry of grief. Its brilliant flaming feathers dimmed at once as it was forcibly sent back into his body.
His Soul Power circulation froze, and even the breath he exhaled condensed into white frost at his lips.
Yan Wuji slowly walked up to him, raised a hand, and lightly patted his shoulder.
That seemingly gentle pat shattered the thick frost coating Ma Hongjun's shoulder.
He abruptly came back to his senses and began gasping violently.
"Your fire is very pure." Yan Wuji's tone held a trace of sincere approval. "Unfortunately, you are too impatient."
"For a phoenix to undergo nirvana, it still requires nine days and nine nights of annihilating silence."
"And you cannot even wait nine seconds of quiet."
Ma Hongjun dropped to one knee, trembling as though he had the shakes.
He wanted to say something to save face, wanted to curse back, but only broken, rasping sounds could squeeze from his throat.
In the end, he closed his eyes and exhaled a heavy cloud of white mist.
"...I concede."
The head referee raised his slightly trembling right hand.
"Third match—Sky Abyss Academy's Yan Wuji wins."
No one applauded.
No one cheered.
The entire arena was terrifyingly quiet, with only the head referee's voice echoing beneath the empty dome.
Three to zero.
Sky Abyss Academy, three to zero.
In a best-of-seven, first-to-four format, the outcome was no longer in doubt.
The head referee cleared his throat, preparing to announce the result.
"According to the rules, Sky Abyss Academy has reached match point. For the remaining rounds, both sides may choose—"
His words were interrupted by two voices that rang out at once.
One came from the eastern contestants' seats.
The other came from the western contestants' seats.
"Continue."
"Continue."
The head referee's mouth froze half-open.
He looked to the east—Su Chen was still lounging leisurely against the back of his chair, as though he were watching a play that had nothing to do with him, amusement and probing curiosity in his eyes.
He looked to the west—Tang San sat upright as a bell, his back ramrod straight. In those deep eyes lay a coldness and persistence that had sunk to the bottom of a well.
The former was saying: You haven't shown all your trump cards yet, have you?
The latter was saying: Three crushing defeats still aren't enough for me to see everything you have.
The head referee fell silent.
He closed the schedule booklet in his hand. The procedures written inside no longer meant anything.
He took a deep breath and shouted the next name with all his strength.
"Fourth match—"
Before you continue