At Shrek Academy's teaching building, the noisy crowd suddenly fell silent. Even the wind seemed to grow quieter.
It happened far too suddenly. Not only the students watching, but even those close to Zhou Yi failed to react at all.
Apart from the students who had been knocked to the ground and were screaming, many stared in shock at the enormous fireball hurtling straight toward Li Mu.
The fireball trailed a blazing tail, tracing a blinding arc through the air. Its scorching heat warped the air around it.
Below, Li Mu was about to cross the finish line when he, too, saw the enormous fireball.
The fireball came fast and fierce, its terrifying flames filling the surrounding air with searing heat.
Watching the fireball slam straight toward him and hearing Zhou Yi's crazed words, Li Mu's originally calm expression abruptly turned icy.
His eyes locked onto Zhou Yi as he raised his hand, and the Silver Dragon Claw on his left hand burst into flame.
Terrifying flames covered the Silver Dragon Claw. With a fierce sweep of his hand, an enormous curtain of fire instantly rose before him.
Like a crimson shield, the curtain of fire stretched between Li Mu and the fireball, sending waves of heat rolling out to either side.
The two collided. A second later, the curtain of fire began absorbing the fireball's power.
The fireball, which should have easily overwhelmed the curtain of fire, rapidly weakened as the superior flames dissolved it, and even began to fall apart.
An ordinary curtain of fire naturally could not have beaten the fireball. After all, this was a Soul Emperor's strike, and not a casual strike from Zhou Yi, either.
Although she had not used a Soul Skill, she had put her full strength into the fireball. How could a Soul Emperor's full strength be so easily blocked?
The problem was that the curtain of fire absorbed the fireball's power even as it consumed its own. As one waned and the other waxed, the fireball truly could not get through.
Shock flashed through Zhou Yi's eyes at the sight. She had indeed attacked in anger.
Once this attack landed, even if Li Mu somehow survived, he would be gravely injured.
He might not recover for a very long time.
Of course, her punishment afterward would certainly be severe. Shrek Academy could not accept such a vicious incident and would undoubtedly impose the strictest punishment.
But by then, Li Mu would effectively be crippled. With Fan Yu backing her, no matter how severe the punishment, at worst she would be unable to teach for a few years.
She could find somewhere to recuperate for a while before returning.
She felt that punishment was acceptable. What Zhou Yi truly could not accept was this little brat trying to ruin her.
So rather than honor that so-called promise or simply turn openly hostile, she might as well strike directly and blow this matter up.
There was actually nothing wrong with Zhou Yi's thinking, and seemingly nothing wrong with her approach, either. Her sole mistake was that she had truly tried to kill Li Mu.
And this attack had dragged other students into it, making the situation even more uncontrollable.
As the fireball dissolved, Li Mu stood there with an icy expression.
One more step forward, and he would have completed those so-called two hundred laps.
But he no longer had any intention of taking another step. He raised his hand and forcibly drew out the Snow Empress's power in an instant.
Inside the secret realm, the Snow Empress stood in silence. She did not stop him, because this attack had come far too suddenly and had been far too despicable.
Had he truly been an ordinary two-ring student, that attack would almost certainly have killed him. If Li Mu's flames had not come from the Dragon God, far surpassing ordinary Ultimate Attributes, he would not have fared well just now, either.
He would have been gravely injured even if he survived, and would most likely have been disfigured. His entire body might even have suffered burns, with damage to his bones and other parts as well.
His entire life would effectively have been ruined by Zhou Yi.
The way she had struck so decisively, committing such a ruthless act without hesitation, had truly angered the Snow Empress as well. That was why she did not stop him.
As she sensed the terrifying fireball slowly flickering out, the Snow Empress had Li Mu raise his hand, and a crystalline spear began forming in his grasp.
This time, he did not form a javelin. A javelin formed quickly, but its damage was only somewhat stronger than an ordinary five-ring attack. A spear was different.
The Snow Empress's spears and longswords took the longest to form, but they also delivered the strongest attacks, unless he manifested the Snow Empress's traits or directly let her out to fight.
Otherwise, these condensed weapons were already the limit of what he could unleash.
As the spear formed in his hand, its jade-white shaft shimmered with rainbow hues in the sunlight.
Cold mist swirled around its tip, and the temperature plummeted. Even the ground developed a thin layer of frost.
The next second, Li Mu abruptly tightened his grip. The Silver Dragon King's Silver Dragon Claw clamped hard around the spear, instantly pouring ice-attribute power into it.
An even stranger cold flowed in, sending a streak of dark blue flashing through the originally pure-blue spear.
Then, a second later, Li Mu abruptly hurled the spear.
The sound of it tearing through the air exploded beside her ears. Zhou Yi had never expected Li Mu to attack her, and when the fireball vanished, she had instinctively turned her head.
She wanted to see what had happened to those students, but the instant she turned, the sound of something ripping through the air rang out.
By the time Zhou Yi turned back, the spear was already flying toward her head at tremendous speed. She could barely raise her hand.
Zhou Yi's hand transformed into a dragon claw, and her entire body shot backward.
Her reaction was actually very fast, but however fast she was, she was still a few seconds too late. The terrifying spear came blasting toward her in an instant.
The spear collided with the fire dragon claw. Flames clashed with the spear's power, and the next second, the spear pierced through the flames.
Then it drove viciously into her shoulder, piercing clean through and carrying her away with its force.
Zhou Yi slammed into a nearby wall. A tearing agony surged through her as the Snow Empress's ice and snow power seeped into her marrow.
Entering alongside it was Li Mu's own ice and snow power.
Although he possessed the Little Dragon God Template, his elements were not innately weak like the Little Dragon God's, requiring new elements before they could evolve.
Every one of his elements belonged to the Dragon God and was innately terrifyingly powerful, though still a sliver short of the divine level.
But as he broke through to two rings, his elemental strength grew along with the Little Dragon God.
Thus, the freezing power contained in this attack was already stronger than even the Snow Empress's.
As the bone-piercing cold spread through Zhou Yi's body, she finally could not hold back a scream.
The disturbance here, especially the terrifying power rippling between the surges of Soul Power, had long since drawn other people's attention.
The door was kicked open, and a woman quickly walked in, confusion in Mu Jin's eyes.
Her gaze swept intently around before turning to one side, where she saw her old enemy Zhou Yi pinned to the wall.
Fine cracks spread across the wall. Blood dripped down the spear, and the surrounding students were too frightened to make a sound.
Horror also filled her eyes. In all her life, this was the first time she had seen Zhou Yi in such a wretched state.
What puzzled her most was who would dare attack within Shrek Academy-and attack one of Shrek Academy's teachers on academy grounds at that.
Mu Jin could not make sense of it no matter how she thought about it. Or rather, she simply could not understand it at all.
Li Mu stood where he was, his gaze frighteningly cold, as though he had yet to emerge from his killing intent.
The Snow Empress remained silent within the secret realm, her gaze passing through the void to rest upon Zhou Yi.
She knew this spear had not merely been a counterattack. It had also been a warning to someone ruthless.
Mu Jin drew a deep breath, her short hair swaying slightly with the movement. She finally realized how serious this was.
A teacher had been gravely injured by a student inside Shrek Academy. News of this would be enough to shake the entire academy.
Zhou Yi's screams still echoed, and the fireball's embers had yet to disperse. The air was filled with scorching heat and icy cold.
Li Mu did not look at Zhou Yi. He merely relaxed his Silver Dragon Claw slowly, his expression returning to calm.
Now that things had escalated this far, there could be no peaceful resolution. But who would suffer in the aftermath was still truly uncertain.