Chapter 15

Soon, nine clusters of Scarlet Flame slowly took shape beneath his hands. Song Tianqi looked solemn as he began forcibly compressing the nine clusters together.

The second form of Crimson Flames of the Nine Heavens: Crimson Flame Burst.

By forcibly compressing the nine clusters of Scarlet Flame into one, he would create a more destructive ball of Scarlet Flame.

As the Scarlet Flame was forcibly compressed, crackling explosions began ringing through the air.

An even more terrifying power was brewing in Song Tianqi's hands.

On the other side, Song Duoduo and Xu Jintang stood side by side. Both stared solemnly at the tier-two Green Poison Scorpion, preparing to face it.

Chapter 15

Sensing the threat, the Green Poison Scorpion grew restless.

A trace of killing intent flashed through its eyes, which shone with an eerie green light, and it charged at Song Tianqi.

"Duoduo!" Xu Jintang hurriedly called out.

Song Duoduo was already prepared. The moment the Green Poison Scorpion began its charge, she mobilized all her mental power.

Dark purple datura flowers quietly sprouted near the Green Poison Scorpion.

Under her full-powered urging, the datura flowers slowly bloomed in the rain beneath the dark clouds.

A strange fragrance rapidly spread throughout the entire area.

The fragrance was stronger than before.

In just one second, all of Song Duoduo's mental power was drained.

Her lips instantly turned pale, and her face took on a look of weakness.

Previously, the datura flowers she used would only grow to a half-open state. This time, however, she overdrew all her mental power to forcibly mature them into their next stage of growth.

Seeing this, Xu Jintang quickly guessed that this move was probably something Song Duoduo could only fully master after reaching tier two. Using it now also meant overextending herself ahead of time.

The tier-two Green Poison Scorpion was caught completely in the hallucinogenic effect, spinning dizzily in place, unable to move anywhere.

After the hallucinogenic effect had lasted three seconds, just as it was about to fade, Xu Jintang immediately made her move.

The power of Domain of Ice instantly enveloped the entire battlefield, and her mental power began burning away.

Cold air spread throughout the domain, and the temperature plummeted.

Having just escaped the hallucinogenic effect, the Green Poison Scorpion shook its head and regained its senses. Just as it was about to attack, a terrifying chill descended.

Sensing the threat of a high-tier demonic beast within it, the Green Poison Scorpion immediately stopped moving and raised its tail warily, surveying its surroundings.

Xu Jintang stood over two meters away, staring at the Green Poison Scorpion. "I'm over here."

The Green Poison Scorpion's eyes darkened. Three venomous needles shot toward Xu Jintang in unison, but its body's movements were restrained by the ice attribute.

Rain continued to patter down. The icy chill mingled with the rain and clung to the Green Poison Scorpion's shell, gradually forming a thin layer of frost. The cold made it shudder and lash its tail again.

Insect-type demonic beasts feared the cold.

The chill also seemed to conceal the pressure of a high-tier demonic beast, forcing the Green Poison Scorpion to remain wary.

Having exhausted all her mental power, Song Duoduo hid outside the combat area to rest.

Although she was far away, the chill in the air still drifted over to her.

Song Duoduo glanced at Xu Jintang in surprise.

Why did the class monitor's ability have a cooling effect too?

Xu Jintang's mental power was draining away almost as fast as if it were burning.

Fortunately, her mental sea was vast, and she had ample reserves.

She did not fight the Green Poison Scorpion head-on. Each time, she only struck twice before turning and running.

Restrained by the domain's power, the Green Poison Scorpion's movements had slowed considerably. It could not catch Xu Jintang at all and could only be led around in circles.

Realizing it could not hit Xu Jintang no matter what it did, the Green Poison Scorpion furiously stabbed its tail into the ground again and again to vent its anger, churning up patches of dirt.

At that moment, the seven seconds were up.

The enormous ball of crimson fire in Song Tianqi's hands had taken shape. Sweat seeped from his forehead, mingling with the rain.

His arms trembled constantly. Clearly, even he was struggling to control this power.

The enormous red fireball continuously scorched the air, crackling as though it might explode at any moment.

With no time to think further, Song Tianqi gritted his teeth, raised his hands, and hurled the fireball at the Green Poison Scorpion.

At that moment, the world fell silent.

Xu Jintang turned to look toward where the fireball exploded.

The fireball's light was reflected in the Green Poison Scorpion's terrified eyes.

Before it could flee, the enormous fireball swallowed it whole.

After the silence came a thunderous boom.

The terrifying force of the explosion swept through the entire cave, reaching even the places where Xu Jintang and Song Duoduo stood.

The instant the fireball burst, fierce flames raged through the rain-drenched forest.

Inside the simulated battlefield combat room.

The simulation pod stopped operating, and Xu Jintang, who had been blown "dead," slowly woke.

This was her first time leaving the simulated battlefield because she had died.

Her entire body felt as though a truck had run over it. There was not a single spot that did not hurt.

Xu Jintang rubbed between her brows, her taut nerves slowly relaxing.

"Song! Tian! Qi!" Song Duoduo, who had also been blown "dead," started shouting the moment she woke. "You blew us up too!!"

Song Tianqi coughed awkwardly. "That was my first time using that move too. I didn't control its power properly."

If they had not been on the simulated battlefield, he would not have dared risk trying that move.

If he really hurt someone with an explosion in reality, he would bear a terrible responsibility.

"We've all pretty much exhausted our mental power, so let's end training here." Xu Jintang made a point of adding, "But Song Tianqi, I suggest you practice that ability more on the simulated battlefield. Otherwise, it's a little dangerous."

Song Duoduo planted her hands on her hips and snorted. "Exactly. Who blows up their own teammates?"

Song Tianqi scratched his head awkwardly. "All right, I'll practice more."

Although they had unexpectedly suffered "gruesome deaths," all three had gained an understanding of one another's strengths and trump cards. This training session had still been very productive.

After leaving the combat room, the three of them tacitly refrained from questioning why the others had hidden their strength.

After all, they had not known one another that well when they first formed the team.

Now that they all knew one another's trump cards, there was no need to pursue what had happened before.

That evening, the crescent moon overhead shone even more brightly.

Xu Jintang returned to her dorm room, sat cross-legged by the edge of the bed, and continued cultivating her mental power.

The Ice Soul Dragon's voice suddenly rang out. "I sensed that some high-tier ability users recently arrived in your star region. They may be here to track me down. Be careful for the time being."

Xu Jintang grew nervous. "They probably won't trace it back to me, will they?"

"Probably not. Aside from me, no demonic beast has ever tried living in a human's mental sea. Besides, those people couldn't possibly imagine that I would choose to cooperate with a human."

As long as she was not foolish enough to tell outsiders directly about the Ice Soul Dragon, it would be difficult for anyone to suspect her.

Xu Jintang felt a little reassured.

After their experience fighting the tier-two demonic beast, the three members of Xu Jintang's team became more coordinated in combat.

In the round-of-sixteen elimination match, the three easily crushed their opponents again and won.

With their momentum still going strong, the three planned to push straight into the top four.

Then the academy suddenly announced that the assessment would be postponed.

Without special circumstances, the academy certainly would not have suspended the assessment so abruptly.

Sensing that something might be about to happen, Xu Jintang immediately went to ask Song Duoduo.

"You asked the right person." Song Duoduo straightened her back and cleared her throat before lowering her voice. "I only just found out too. Apparently, it has something to do with the Tenth Tier divine beast, the Ice Soul Dragon. They say it's nearing the end of its lifespan and its strength has weakened drastically, but now they can't find it."

"The Federation Government is afraid the Ice Soul Dragon will take revenge on humanity before it dies and slaughter innocent people, so they've been tracking down news of it. Apparently, its aura appeared in our star region, so quite a few Federation experts have rushed over. They're probably preparing to surround and kill it."

Xu Jintang froze for a moment. "The Federation already knows where the Ice Soul Dragon went?"

Song Duoduo shook her head. "If they knew, they wouldn't be making such a fuss. They must be panicking because they still haven't found it. Besides, this time, the administrators and teachers from every academy in our star region-anyone with any combat strength-have all been called to a meeting. They must be afraid the Ice Soul Dragon will make a desperate last stand before it dies, so they need more people to be safe."

Xu Jintang rubbed between her brows, feeling a headache coming on. "Maybe it has no intention of making a desperate last stand at all, and we're just overthinking things."

Song Duoduo thought nothing more of it. "It has nothing to do with us anyway. Let's just follow the academy's arrangements."

That afternoon, Song Tianqi heard about it too.

While they were eating in the cafeteria, he kept talking to Xu Jintang and Song Duoduo about it.

"All these people are mobilizing just for one Ice Soul Dragon. Is it that powerful?" Song Tianqi asked in puzzlement.

"Of course," Song Duoduo said. "It's a Tenth Tier divine beast, the only one on the entire Interstellar Continent. At its peak, even the Federation's strongest ability users couldn't defeat it together."

Jiang Shiyi, sitting on the other side, suddenly joined in. "I heard that eating its flesh and blood gives ability users a chance to reach the Tenth Tier too."

Song Tianqi looked horrified. "Sister Shiyi, why are you so scary? You even want to eat its flesh."

Xu Jintang, who had remained silent all this time, choked and began coughing.

But none of them paid much attention to her, continuing to discuss the Ice Soul Dragon.

Jiang Shiyi continued, "It's not me who wants to eat it. Plenty of people do. A lot of people sanctimoniously claim they're joining forces to hunt down the Ice Soul Dragon to protect humanity, when it's obviously for their own selfish desires."

A trace of disgust showed on her face.

Having finally found someone who shared her views, Xu Jintang hurriedly nodded. "Exactly, exactly. Can't they just cultivate properly themselves? Why do they have to eat its flesh?"

With that, she lowered her head and continued shoveling down her food, pretending she knew nothing.

Just then, her communicator vibrated.

An urgent notification immediately popped up: [A high-tier demonic beast is suspected to have appeared in Blizzard Forest. The forest is now under complete lockdown. No one is permitted to enter or leave during the lockdown. All ability users throughout the FM795 star region are requested to remain vigilant while potential threats are investigated.]