Intermediate-Level — Tidal Surge!

Xiao Ke was frozen in disbelief.

She had clearly used Water Control: Guard to shield Captain Xu Dahuang — so how had the One-Eyed Demon Wolf still torn open his chest?!

"Cap... Captain!!" Guo Caitang went rigid beside her.

A Demon-Beast that could shrug off Fire Burst: Blast and tear straight through Water Control: Guard — was this really the kind of creature they hunted every day?

"Xiao Ke, run!!" Feishi bellowed at her.

Xiao Ke snapped out of her daze, but it was like being plunged into ice water — she could see nothing but the endless savagery burning in the One-Eyed Demon Wolf's single eye.

*I'm its next target!!*

"Lightning Seal: Frenzied Lash!"

As everyone fell into panic, arcs of violet lightning brands spread across the air above Mo Fan's head.

One hand raised high — palm snapped shut.

In an instant, every brand transformed into a long, crackling whip of electrical serpents, lashing the One-Eyed Demon Wolf's grotesque body with wild abandon, splitting skin and rupturing flesh.

Each crack of the lightning whips sent cascades of trailing arcs burrowing into the brutal creature's body, seeping down into its muscles and bones.

Unlike Lightning Seal: Serpent Mark, once multiple whip-brands landed on a target and left their marks, those marks began transmitting arcs between one another — delivering a relentless, unbroken chain of electric shocks.

**ARROOO!!**

The One-Eyed Demon Wolf let out an agonized howl.

Its dense, powerful muscles and iron-hard frame might well withstand the raw devastation of Fire Burst: Blast, and the lashing strikes might amount to little more than surface wounds — but no amount of muscle could resist paralysis, and those arcs kept cycling through its supercharged body without pause.

"Lightning! Pure-strength creatures like the One-Eyed Demon Wolf fear Lightning Element magic above everything else!" Guo Caitang cried out.

"This... this is a Tier-2 Lightning Seal!!" Feishi stared, jaw slack.

When their entire squad had been at a loss, none of them had expected it to be this newest member — barely in the team — who stepped up. And more than anything: somehow, without anyone noticing, he had trained Lightning Seal all the way to the second tier.

The One-Eyed Demon Wolf was mid-transformation — muscles, blood, and bones all reshaping at once — which had already given it combat power near that of a fully ascended specimen. At a moment like this, nothing was better suited to counter a creature driven by raw physical might than Lightning Element magic.

Even at Tier 2, the sovereign dominance of Lightning — the crown of all elements — blazed through in full force. Combined with the elemental counter, the One-Eyed Demon Wolf actually began to sway, its limbs going limp.

Farther away, Mo Fan let out a long, slow breath.

*Thank goodness. Tier-2 Lightning Seal actually worked. If it hadn't...*

"Keep going, Fan Mo, keep going — your Lightning Seal is stopping its muscles and bones from growing! As long as we can suppress the ascension, we have a chance!" Guo Caitang called out urgently.

Mo Fan gave a nod.

He traced the Star Trails again, and the violet lightning brands gathered once more above his head.

He was still a little rough with Tier-2 Lightning Seal, but with lives on the line, there was no room for a single mistake.

The lightning whips lashed the misshapen creature again in a frenzy. This time the effect went beyond suppression — the wolf, whose body had already begun to swell with new muscle and bone growth, actually showed signs of pulling back.

"That's it, Fan Mo!!"

"We've got it suppressed!!!"

"Beat it back to normal — beat it back!"

The squad erupted with excitement. To every one of them, Mo Fan's Lightning Seal had just saved their lives.

"The paralysis can't last forever," Guo Caitang called out in warning. "Once the One-Eyed Demon Wolf's muscles and bones adapt to the shocks, it could swell again!"

Mo Fan knew that better than anyone — the control effect of Lightning Seal couldn't hold indefinitely.

Whatever happened next, he had bought some time, and that was the best he could do. At least it had given Li Wenjie the chance to drag Xu Dahuang to safety. Whether the captain would make it was another question entirely.

**ARROOOOO——!!**

A long howl tore through the air — the One-Eyed Demon Wolf had finally adapted to the paralysis. The energy-saturated beast unleashed its savage aura once more.

"No good — it's going to transform again!"

Every face in the squad went pale. Their lives were hanging by a thread all over again.

Watching this, Mo Fan knew he had genuinely run out of options.

*All we can do now is pull back. The Lightning Seal bought the innocent bystanders a little more time — saved some lives. That has to count for something.*

"Vile beast — meet your end!!"

A voice like a thunderclap rang out and echoed over the old street.

Whoever had spoken was not yet visible, but Mo Fan felt an enormous elemental force gathering in the air overhead. A fine mist of water droplets had already begun settling on his cheeks.

**WHOOOOSH——**

Mo Fan looked up — and stared in disbelief at the enormous wave that had appeared in midair above him.

*A surge... in the sky??*

He could hardly trust his own eyes, yet the roaring torrent was undeniably real. It crested over the aged rooftops and then crashed down on the One-Eyed Demon Wolf like a dam giving way all at once.

"Tidal Surge: Expulsion!"

With that resonant declaration, the raging flood slammed the wolf flat, and in an instant it became a rising deluge that inundated the entire length of old Rongshu Street.

Every banyan tree was all but torn down; the walls of the old houses crumbled in succession. The One-Eyed Demon Wolf — savage as it was — had no room to struggle beneath that torrential onslaught. It was swept clean from the center of the street all the way to the far end.

"Inter... Intermediate-Level Water Element magic!!" Xiao Ke's entire face flushed crimson with excitement.

Tidal Surge.

This was the Intermediate-Level Water Element skill. Watching the torrent — powerful enough to drown an entire street whole — surge and crash through, Xiao Ke, herself a Water Element Mage, felt so overwhelmed with awe that she was nearly dizzy.

*Intermediate-Level. The Intermediate-Level I've always dreamed of. When will someone like me ever reach that point?*

The surge churned with stunning force right before them, yet touched no one else — all they could see was that wave, like a raging dragon, obliterating the One-Eyed Demon Wolf and very nearly obliterating the old street along with it.

Mo Fan watched in silence, his heart surging just as hard.

*Intermediate-Level magic. So this is what Intermediate-Level magic looks like. Incredible!!*