Chapter 7

"Yes, just like that. Let's go find a Flowing Fire Lizard and practice on it first."

Blizzard Forest was an area entirely covered in ice and snow. Most of the demonic beasts living there were ice-attributed, such as Blizzard Apes.

Yet fire-attributed demonic beasts like Flowing Fire Lizards also lived in this forest.

Xu Jintang had known nothing about this before. Her textbooks had never mentioned it either.

"Flowing Fire Lizards mainly live in underground caves and cultivate by consuming magma. Since they stay underground year-round and rarely appear on the surface, very few people now know that Flowing Fire Lizards actually exist in Blizzard Forest."

Along the way, the Ice Soul Dragon explained all sorts of information about Flowing Fire Lizards.

Xu Jintang asked, "If Flowing Fire Lizards live in underground caves year-round, how do I get them to come out?"

The Ice Soul Dragon said, "Although I'm only a soul consciousness now, I still have my aura and pressure. It's just a little Flowing Fire Lizard. I'll force it out for you."

A few minutes later, in the outer region of Blizzard Forest, a first-tier Flowing Fire Lizard was forced out of its underground cave by the Ice Soul Dragon's aura.

Flames burned all over the Flowing Fire Lizard's body. It wasn't large, but it crawled extremely fast on its four legs, covering two or three meters in the blink of an eye.

Its hissing made her scalp tingle.

Xu Jintang swiftly retreated while activating her ability.

She poured in more mental power. Sure enough, the ice attribute within the domain intensified, instantly extinguishing some of the flames on the Flowing Fire Lizard and sending up wisps of white smoke.

Sensing the threat, the Flowing Fire Lizard instantly scurried in front of Xu Jintang. Its long, spike-covered tongue shot from its mouth straight toward her neck.

Xu Jintang narrowed her eyes slightly. A dagger instantly appeared in her hand. Gripping it tightly, she swiftly slashed at the lizard's long tongue.

At the same time, she strengthened the Slowing Domain's control, imposing a binding force on the Flowing Fire Lizard that was difficult to break free of.

The Flowing Fire Lizard's previously swift movements slowed. Waves of cold radiated through the domain, thinning the flames on its body even further.

A cold glint flashed in Xu Jintang's eyes. She raised her dagger and stabbed straight at the lizard's back.

A sharp clang rang out. The lizard's back armor actually chipped the dagger's blade.

"Stab its eyes or belly. Those are its weak points," the Ice Soul Dragon promptly said.

The tremendous recoil left Xu Jintang's arm numb.

She grimaced, shook her arm, and took another large step back.

After several minutes of fighting, Xu Jintang found an opening, leaped high into the air, and gripped her dagger with both hands.

As the Slowing Domain descended, Xu Jintang's dagger also stabbed toward the Flowing Fire Lizard's eye.

The wounded Flowing Fire Lizard rolled on the spot in agony.

Taking advantage of its inability to fight back, Xu Jintang gritted her teeth and stabbed its belly, ending the fight.

"Phew..." Xu Jintang relaxed a little.

The battle had consumed nearly two-thirds of her mental power and stamina, but fortunately, she had also improved considerably.

"Don't stay here. The smell of blood from the dead Flowing Fire Lizard will attract other demonic beasts," the Ice Soul Dragon promptly reminded her.

Xu Jintang took a couple of seconds to recover, planted her dagger in the ground, and used it to push herself to her feet. She silently extracted the Flowing Fire Lizard's inner core, then turned and walked away.

There were many more Flowing Fire Lizards in the underground caves. Each time, the Ice Soul Dragon forced out only one to spar with Xu Jintang.

As she fought more battles, Xu Jintang defeated the Flowing Fire Lizards faster and faster.

After a month, Xu Jintang had reached the point where she could easily kill a Flowing Fire Lizard within ten minutes.

Watching her practiced fighting moves, the Ice Soul Dragon nodded in satisfaction. "That's about enough. This special training can end now."

After resting, Xu Jintang checked the date and time on her communicator.

School would start in another week.

At the start of every school year, Dawn Academy held a new-semester assessment to check whether the students had worked hard at cultivating over the break.

The corners of her lips lifted slightly.

This time, I have to give my homeroom teacher a surprise.

Just then, a rustling suddenly came from the woods ahead.

Xu Jintang stopped loosening her wrists and looked up warily, scanning ahead.

The next second, a demonic beast with white fur all over its body charged out, baring its sharp claws and fangs.

Killing intent rushed toward her. Xu Jintang narrowed her eyes slightly, swiftly retreated, and turned sideways to dodge the swipe.

Once she regained her footing, she looked up to examine the demonic beast before her.

The snow wolf's eyes were as deathly still as freezing pools. Its snow-white fur shone in the sunlight as though it wore a suit of silver armor.

Its hard, sharp claws dug deep into the ground, inspiring involuntary fear.

"It's a peak first-tier Jade Purity Snow Wolf. This beast has a strong urge to fight. The sounds of your battle just now probably attracted it. But with your current combat experience, taking it down within twenty minutes shouldn't be a problem," the Ice Soul Dragon promptly said.

The Jade Purity Snow Wolf howled. It raised its paws and scraped forcefully at the ground, producing an ear-piercing grating sound, poised to attack.

With a cold expression, Xu Jintang finished loosening her wrists. The next second, she leaped into the air and activated her ability.

-Domain of Ice.

Chapter 7

As the domain's power descended, the Jade Purity Snow Wolf immediately retreated.

But it was still too slow.

The slowing effect had already taken hold.

The Jade Purity Snow Wolf, renowned for its running speed, instantly slowed.

Xu Jintang moved as well.

The dagger that had accompanied her through her earlier battles instantly appeared in her hand.

In the blink of an eye, its sharp blade stabbed toward the Jade Purity Snow Wolf.

Her offensive capabilities were too weak. If the Jade Purity Snow Wolf managed to react, it could easily counterattack afterward.

I have to finish it as quickly as possible.

Clang-

When the dagger's blade touched the snow wolf's fur, a crisp clang rang out.

Xu Jintang frowned slightly at the blade, which had been chipped yet again.

The Jade Purity Snow Wolf's fur was as hard as jade. Ordinary daggers and swords couldn't harm it at all.

Putting the dagger back into her spatial bracelet, Xu Jintang jumped into the crown of a tree opposite her. She crouched slightly and looked down, observing the Jade Purity Snow Wolf's movements within the domain.

Then I'll have to change strategies.

Trapped in the Slowing Domain, the Jade Purity Snow Wolf gradually ran out of patience. It abruptly raised a paw and let out an earthshaking howl, carrying powerful energy fluctuations that shattered the entire domain.

The moment the domain shattered, Xu Jintang's mental power rapidly drained, and a sense of weakness slowly rose within her.

I can't drag this out any longer.

The Jade Purity Snow Wolf was stronger than ordinary first-tier demonic beasts, and its mental power was even more terrifying.

She couldn't fight a battle of attrition against it.

An attack inscription quietly appeared in Xu Jintang's palm.

This was a first-tier basic attack inscription she had stayed up late inscribing during that period.

Breaking free of the Slowing Domain's restraints, the Jade Purity Snow Wolf opened its bloody maw and lunged ferociously at Xu Jintang in the tree.

Its sharp claws gripped the trunk firmly, leaving deep gouges. The trunk Xu Jintang stood on began to shake violently.

A cold glint flashed in Xu Jintang's eyes as she crushed the inscription talisman.

Three attacking air blades slowly took shape.

Then she leaped from the trunk two meters above the ground, charging toward the Jade Purity Snow Wolf below.

-Domain of Ice.

Xu Jintang frantically mobilized her remaining mental power, gathering all the energy within the domain.

A terrifying chill slowly descended.

The bone-piercing cold carried powerful pressure, the threat and killing intent of a high-tier demonic beast.

Sensing the threat within it, the Jade Purity Snow Wolf actually showed a measure of fear in its eyes. Its body involuntarily halted, and it began to shrink back.

At the same time, the three air blades from the attack inscription had already reached the Jade Purity Snow Wolf.

Suddenly, something unexpected happened.

A red-tasseled spear glowing with golden light descended from the sky, locking straight onto the Jade Purity Snow Wolf in front of Xu Jintang.

The red-tasseled spear flying in from afar pierced the Jade Purity Snow Wolf without hesitation. Its eyes widened, and before it could even resist, it let out a scream and collapsed helplessly to the ground.

"Class monitor! Come over here!"

A girl's clear voice rang out.

Xu Jintang froze for a moment, silently withdrew the ability she had been about to activate, and turned to look behind her.

Huang Binhan was hurrying over with a group of people.

The girl who had called out was Song Duoduo, the classmate who loved gossip the most.

She ran out of the group to Xu Jintang, anxiety in her eyes. "Class monitor, why did you come to Blizzard Forest alone? If our teacher hadn't acted in time just now, it would've been so dangerous."

Huang Binhan also walked over with a frown, his tone somewhat stern. "You came here by yourself?"

Only then did Xu Jintang realize that this group must be the students from the academy who had joined the winter-break special training.

She cleared her throat and replied, "I just wanted to see whether I could beat a first-tier demonic beast now."

Huang Binhan's frown deepened. "Nonsense! You only awakened your ability recently. Even a first-tier demonic beast has far greater combat capabilities than you. Coming here alone-what would you do if something happened?"

Song Duoduo hurriedly pulled Xu Jintang toward the group and helped smooth things over. "Sir, I'm sure the class monitor didn't mean to. Since we've run into her, why don't we have her join us?"

Xu Bohan, who stood among the group, cast a cold glance her way, probably also inwardly mocking Xu Jintang for overestimating herself.

Demonic beasts had harder shells, claws, and fangs. Delicate human skin couldn't withstand a single swipe, so demonic beasts had greater attack power and defense than humans of the same tier.

Under normal circumstances, first-tier ability users wouldn't recklessly fight demonic beasts of the same tier alone.

Huang Binhan turned, sweeping his stern gaze across the other students. "I know you've only just awakened your abilities, and you're all eager to fight demonic beasts. But before you can grow stronger, you have to protect your own lives. Don't challenge dangers beyond your strength just for a moment's satisfaction. If something really happens, you won't have a chance to regret it."