Level-Three Ice Vine!

He gave his palm a casual tilt, and the flame resting in it slid downward.

Fire Burst: Scorch dropped, and in an instant, crimson fire spread across the ground at Mo Fan's feet like a vivid red carpet.

The flames burned all around him. As a Fire Element mage, fire posed no real threat to his own body — and the frost creeping across the arena floor was already beginning to melt where the flames touched it.

Mo Fan tilted his head back and smiled from within the ring of fire, his gaze fixed on Yu'ang with a hint of provocation.

The Ice Vine tendrils carpeting the ground evaporated into steam under the scorching heat. He didn't need to move at all — there was no longer any danger of being frozen solid.

"He released Fire Burst: Scorch around himself to neutralize Ice Vine's freeze. Clever." Tang Yue allowed herself a small smile from her seat in the stands.

Magic students still in school might know how to cast a spell, but their tactical grasp of it was paper-thin. Take Fire Burst: practically every Fire Element student reflexively hurled it at the enemy as a direct attack.

In truth, Fire Burst: Scorch had many applications. Released to burn continuously over an area, it formed a wall of flame — a barrier that blocked paths and cut off pursuit. And what Mo Fan had just done, letting it fall at his own feet, used his natural Fire Element resistance to wrap himself in a living shield of flame, one perfectly capable of dismantling an Ice Element mage's freeze.

"A level-one Fire Burst breaking a level-two Ice Vine: Coagulate." Principal Zhu gave a slow nod. "Interesting."

At a stage where students had so few skills to work with, knowing how to use what you had was an art in itself.

Clearly, in this first exchange, Mo Fan had edged out a slight advantage.

"My turn." Standing within his protective ring of flame, Mo Fan let the Star Trail connect once more behind his eyes.

The Star Trail linked at breathtaking speed — effortless, like second nature.

Another Fire Burst bloomed in his palm, but this time something was different about the heat. It was more savage, more restless, practically writhing with volatile energy.

"Fire Burst: Char Bone!"

A searing burst of crimson fire blazed through the air, trailing a long tail of flame across every spectator's line of sight, rocketing straight toward Yu'ang.

"That's a level-two Fire Burst — one touch of that and you'd be burned to cinders!"

There were plenty of knowledgeable eyes in the crowd. Watching Mo Fan conjure a level-two Fire Burst with such ease sent a ripple of genuine surprise through them.

"His Ice Vine was broken. Yu'ang's going to be on the back foot now," Guo Caitang said, a note of concern in her voice.

"Relax," Mu He said, unbothered.

Mu Zhuoyun wore his customary smile — the smile of a man who already knew how every scene would end.

Fire Burst: Char Bone struck — but it struck empty ground. In the instant the fireball closed in, Yu'ang lurched sideways four or five meters in the blink of an eye, the movement so sudden and fluid that those with slower reflexes couldn't even register how he had done it.

Mo Fan watched his Fire Burst: Char Bone splash harmlessly against the arena floor and frowned.

He'd caught it clearly — a faint yellow light pulsing from Yu'ang's boots, and then Yu'ang had slid sideways as if an Earth Wave had carried him, gliding four or five meters without a single casting motion.

*Son of a — Enchanted Gear.*

Boot-type Enchanted Gear, inscribed with Earth Wave.

An extra Earth Element Earth Wave, pulled from nowhere. Mo Fan's mood soured.

Fortunately, Enchanted Gear with inscribed skills needed a Magic Stone to recharge after each use. If it didn't, the duel would already be over — even Fire Burst's speed couldn't match that ghost-step dodge on demand.

"If you think a little scorch is enough to stop me, you're deluding yourself," Yu'ang said, his smile cold and curling. "This farce has dragged on for two years. I'll spare your life — because if I don't, there won't be anyone left to kowtow to my foster father in front of all these guests."

Yu'ang raised both arms, and the arena convulsed. A blizzard tore through the space — frenzied ice and snow cascading from above, bone-piercingly cold, freezing everything it touched.

The wild snow fell, and the temperature plummeted so savagely that even flames could no longer sustain themselves.

The cold was so absolute it felt as though the very air had congealed.

"Ice Vine: Cover!"

Yu'ang stood at the center of the storm like a demon of the snow — cold and imperious, the cascading ice swirling around him in an impenetrable curtain.

The entire arena disappeared into a sheet of white. Ice and snow hammered down without mercy, like a winter catastrophe descending without warning, leaving nothing alive inside it any room to breathe.

Even the spectators in their seats felt as though they'd been dropped into a frozen wasteland. Arms wrapped around their own bodies without thinking, teeth beginning to chatter.

"Good lord — last time I saw Yu'ang, he was on Ice Vine: Coagulate, and now in just one year he's pushed it all the way to level three? Ice Vine: Cover is basically a full-blown ice catastrophe — it put out Mo Fan's flames completely! That kid can run to any corner of this arena and he's going to be frozen solid within seconds!" Feishi couldn't help but cry out.

He remembered clearly: back when they'd faced that One-Eyed Demon Wolf, Yu'ang's level hadn't been much different from Guo Caitang's. Yet Guo Caitang still hadn't reached level-three Ice Vine, and Yu'ang was already there. Just how fast had he been training?

"It's over. It's over. Didn't you see — Mo Fan's protective flames are completely out. Once all this ice and snow settles, we're going to be looking at a man-shaped ice sculpture," Li Wenjie murmured.

Principal Zhu, Deng Kai, Yang Zuohe — all of them had gone still. The other guests broke into awed murmurs.

Eighteen years old — this was Yu'ang's Coming-of-Age Ceremony, and he was eighteen. Veteran mages in their forties and fifties bragged about their level-two Ice Vine skills, yet here was a boy who had already reached a threshold most Ice Element mages never crossed in a lifetime. There were no words for it.

"I suppose that's that."

"Mo Fan has a piece of Enchanted Gear as well…" Luo Yunbo ventured.

Zhankong shook his head. "The Sickle-Bone Shield won't do anything against a skill like Ice Vine."

The Sickle-Bone Shield was a formidable defensive piece, no question — but Ice Element magic was specifically engineered to defeat high-defense targets. No matter how thick your armor or how ironclad your body, Ice Vine would seal you inside a sculpture of frost all the same.

Mo Fan's Enchanted Gear was essentially useless in this duel.