Fighting Side by Side

Not long after Mu Nujiao left, Zhou Sining received a message from Mo Fan.

Mo Fan told him to wait where he was. He would be right over.

Zhou Sining replied with an OK. The next second, a message from Mu Nujiao popped up on his screen.

He raised an eyebrow. "A jailbreak too???"

Holy shit. Where do I even start? Was Shen Feng afraid he wouldn't die horribly enough?

But no matter what he thought of Shen Feng, he knew how serious this was.

He immediately messaged Mo Fan and told him not to come yet. Before he could summon the Nether Separation Shield, he heard a faint whoosh beside him.

He turned to find a ball of fire hurtling straight at him. From the way it roiled, he could tell it was a third-tier Flame Burst, with terrifying explosive power!

Fuck! Already?

Zhou Sining's eyes widened. He leaped aside almost entirely on instinct.

The Flame Burst exploded where he had just been standing, sending thick tongues of fire lashing toward him.

Zhou Sining frowned and stamped hard on the ground. White flames immediately surged up from beneath his feet.

The flames flew over him, forming a striking, formidable coat of white fire that protected him completely.

When the red tongues of fire met the quietly burning white flames, they scattered like children caught misbehaving by their homeroom teacher.

They no longer dared come near him.

Gangsha fire was one of the finest flames in existence. How could ordinary fire hope to stand against it?

Zhou Sining looked toward the source of the attack. By the dim light of a streetlamp, he made out three people standing nearby.

Shen Feng stood at their head, his face twisted by jealousy and hatred. Half a silver bracelet still hung from his right wrist.

Beside him stood two people in black cloaks. One was rapidly connecting stars into a Star Path, while a brilliant cyan Star Map had already bloomed beneath the other's feet!

"I'll kill you!" Shen Feng roared.

"Wind Disk: Tornado!"

The black-robed underling to his right aimed his palm at Zhou Sining and cast the Intermediate Magic spell.

The pressure between them suddenly dropped, drawing in the surrounding air.

As the air reached a critical point of near-vacuum, a spiraling gale rose skyward. The little whirlwind expanded into a raging tornado nearly two meters across!

Whooooosh!

Whooooosh!

The tornado formed at the edge of the woods, sucking up soil, dust, and dead leaves.

The once-invisible wind became an ugly gray-yellow funnel, its thick body twisting as it swept toward Zhou Sining.

Dust flew into his face.

They were not far apart, and the tornado's pull extended a full ten meters. Within a second or two, he was caught in its range.

Zhou Sining spat out a mouthful of dust and cursed inwardly, but he did not dare hesitate. He hurriedly summoned his Flying Lightning Boots!

Purple lightning climbed his calves and formed a pair of sleek boots.

Crackle! Pop!

Purple arcs shone beautifully in the night, as though lending tremendous power to his legs.

Zhou Sining stamped down and easily leaped more than twenty meters away.

He had barely steadied himself when he spotted Mu Nujiao arriving.

Mu Nujiao saw the tornado pursuing him and stopped at once, rapidly connecting stars into Star Paths.

In just a few seconds, she completed her Star Map.

"Wind Disk: Tornado!"

She thrust her palm toward a spot ahead of the slow-moving tornado, and the pressure there plummeted.

The next instant, howling wind spiraled upward. A small gust swelled into a colossal tornado!

Whoooooosh!!

Mu Nujiao's mastery of the Wind Element was clearly far beyond the black-robed man's. Her Wind Disk: Tornado was stronger too.

Even as it formed, it held back his tornado's slow advance and drew away much of its wind to fuel its own growth!

Within a few breaths, the once-formidable tornado was absorbed, torn apart, and gone.

The massive funnel left behind was nearly five meters wide and still roaring. Mu Nujiao waved her hand, sending it howling toward the three men!

"Not a chance!" The other black-robed man had already completed his Intermediate Magic spell. A blue Star Map bloomed beneath his feet.

"Raging Wave: Expulsion!"

Splash, splash, splash!

Wave after wave of water surged up around him. The water gathered into a high curtain that hung suspended in the air, shedding mist!

"Go!" The black-robed man pressed two fingers together and slashed them downward.

The curtain of water instantly became a surging wave that rushed straight at the tornado!

Boom!

The two Intermediate Magic spells canceled each other out on impact. Mist and wild winds swept over all five of them.

Mu Nujiao ignored the shattered tornado and used a Wind Track to reach Zhou Sining.

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Zhou Sining shook his head.

With a thought, the white flames around him flared, evaporating the windblown water and leaving him and Mu Nujiao dry.

Then he fixed his eyes on the man across from them who was still drawing a Star Map and focused all his attention on his legs.

Bzzzz!

The Flying Lightning Boots charged rapidly. Purple lightning, violent and untamed, danced around his legs.

"Flying Lightning Whirlwind!"

Zhou Sining lowered his center of gravity, twisted his hips, and whipped his leg around. His foot traced a crescent through the air.

Purple lightning took the shape of a curved blade and spun toward the three men dozens of meters away.

Craaaack!

The kick struck with the speed of a thunderbolt. In just two breaths, it was upon them!

Shen Feng's expression changed drastically. He abandoned his nearly completed Star Map and hurriedly summoned his Shield Magic Tool!

Brown light flashed, and a three-meter-tall shield of earth rose to protect all three men.

Boom!

The purple lightning crescent was no weaker than a Thunderbolt. It slammed into the earthen shield, shearing off a layer of soil and leaving Shen Feng's hands and feet numb.

But it fell just short of breaking through his defense.

Shen Feng lowered the shield and glared at Mu Nujiao and Zhou Sining with hatred.

"Shen Feng, you've really lost your mind! You're defying the law and the Mage Convention!" Mu Nujiao could not hold back her anger.

Shen Feng's face twisted into a vicious grin. "I have lost my mind. Even if I die, I'm taking you two with me!"

He flung out his hand. "Tear them to pieces!"

Before his words had faded, four pitch-black figures burst from the nearby woods. They charged at Mu Nujiao and Zhou Sining, waving forelimbs as sharp as sickles.

Zhou Sining reacted at once. He scooped up Mu Nujiao and kicked off the ground, using the power of his Flying Lightning Boots to evade the sudden, deadly attack.

The moment he landed, a larger, stronger Water Monkey burst out from beside a nearby building.

"Watch out! Holy Light Barrier!"

Mu Nujiao held tight to Zhou Sining and activated the Shield Magic Tool she had kept ready.

Golden light flashed, and a hemispherical barrier of holy light enclosed them both.

The black monkey reeked of curses and rot. Unable to dodge in time, it slammed straight into the Holy Light Barrier.

Sssss!

"Yaaah!"

Black bubbles immediately rose across its body, as though raw meat had been dropped into hot oil.

Even after it jumped away, the lingering holy light continued to burn its rotting body. The Cursed Beast Demon howled in agony!

The light illuminated their dark surroundings, allowing Mu Nujiao and Zhou Sining to see the five figures encircling them.

They looked like stunted Water Monkeys, black all over and twisted in shape. Their green eyes glowed with hatred, and their bodies gave off the stale, evil stench of a curse.

"Those are...!"

Mu Nujiao covered her mouth in shock, unable to believe what she was seeing.

Even Zhou Sining was startled. "Black Beast Demons!"

Five of them, no less!