Giant Shadow Nail!

The black, translucent threads had already coiled tight around the four members of the Dongfang Clan, and one could almost sense their very souls being slowly siphoned away by something malevolent — each of them slack-faced, eyes glassy, heads lolling back.

The only one with any resistance left was Dongfang Jun, whose cultivation ran deepest among them. His face was drawn with tremendous pain, yet his eyes blazed with a fury that cut to the bone. "Kill us," he ground out, "and the Dongfang Clan will never let you go!"

"Noble clans really do breed idiots," Chao He said, his smile cold and hollow. "I don't fear the Tribunal — why would I fear the Dongfang Clan?"

He dismissed the four men — their souls slowly ebbing away — without another glance, and fixed his gaze on the deeply cracked floor of the dried-up reservoir below.

If he was being honest, Chao He was surprised. This had been a water source. So why had a Fire Element Spirit Seed formed here? Could it possibly be earth fire?

Earth fire was typically born of the heat churning beneath the world, tempered over thousands of years deep underground into slow, steady life. Among all varieties of fire Spirit Seeds, it ranked as one of the most docile — and therefore among the easiest to subjugate and refine.

That docile temperament, combined with formidable raw power, made it the top choice for the vast majority of Fire Element Mages — and precisely why it commanded the highest prices at auction, every single time.

A single earth fire Spirit Seed could easily sell for tens of millions of yuan. If you attempted the refinement and failed... you'd sooner rip your own cultivation out than live with the consequences.

"Excellent." A grin of pure delight spread across Chao He's face. "Once I refine this earth fire, my power will multiply — and then I can do whatever I please."

The chasm between him and High-Level Mage had long seemed uncrossable — he had plateaued for what felt like an eternity. But with this earth fire, his Fire Element magic would double in strength overnight. Let those shortsighted hunters and Tribunal agents come looking for trouble after that.

**BOOM.**

A thunderous crack split the air as the parched reservoir floor burst open, leaving a scorched, gaping hole.

The earth fire hadn't been buried deep. In fact, the moment any elemental Spirit Seed began causing the kind of dramatic environmental damage they'd already witnessed, it was as good as announcing its own presence to the world.

As the hole broke open, a wave of subterranean heat surged upward as if shattering chains, erupting into a towering pillar of flame that shot skyward in an instant.

Staring at that magnificent column of fire, Chao He's entire face twisted with rapture.

There truly was a Fire Element Spirit Seed here.

The deep rose-crimson hue — utterly free of any impurity — told him this was among the purest varieties of earth fire: a Rose Flame.

Ordinary fire burned in blood-red scarlet. That kind of flame was nothing more than a Common Seed — the default available to any Mage who had awakened the Fire Element, nothing special.

But a Spirit Flame was something else entirely. Only flames nurtured by heaven and earth, imbued with a rare, innate spiritual nature, earned that name. This particular variety, suffused entirely in rose-crimson, was called the Rose Flame. Its temperature far exceeded that of any other Fire Element Spirit Seed — brutal in its simplicity, overwhelming in its heat.

A treasure like this was worth any risk. Worth any number of lives.

Chao He trembled with excitement, his ecstasy forming a stark contrast with the four Dongfang Clan mages nearby — each one hollowed out now, their souls wrung dry.

"Stay here and watch," Tang Yue murmured to Mo Fan. "I'll make the first move."

"I don't get a turn?" Mo Fan asked, pointing at himself.

"The target is a serial killer," Tang Yue said, her expression serious. "I brought you along as an extra layer of insurance — not to throw you at something like this."

In Tang Yue's eyes, Mo Fan was still a student. Most people would have gone weak at the knees watching four Intermediate-Level Mages from a noble clan die like that. She knew Mo Fan feared nothing — but that didn't mean she was willing to put him in harm's way.

If the Tribunal weren't stretched thin chasing down every lead from the Bo City disaster, she never would have involved him in an operation this dangerous in the first place.

Tang Yue had made herself clear. Mo Fan had no choice but to stay where he was.

Across the way, Chao He had already pressed both palms directly into the surging Rose Flame pillar. Deep rose-crimson energy visibly poured into his body as he tilted his head back, his face a picture of pure indulgence.

Tang Yue waited just a moment longer — and then she moved.

Her lithe figure glided from tree shadow to tree shadow with effortless grace, and in what seemed like the blink of an eye, she had materialized silently behind Chao He.

The instant Mo Fan saw Tang Yue begin channeling her Shadow Element magic, he held his breath without thinking — as if even breathing too loudly might rouse that monster.

First came the dark Star Trails, weaving nimbly at Tang Yue's feet, interlacing with rapid precision until they formed a Star Chart — deep and shadowed, radiating an aura of mysterious power.

As the Star Chart fully materialized, Tang Yue slowly spread her arms wide. Between her outstretched hands, a half-visible, half-phantom massive nail began to coalesce in the air before her.

The Giant Shadow Nail radiated dense, oppressive dark energy — the very tree shadows around it bent and warped under its influence — yet it formed in complete, eerie silence.

Even as it tore through the air ahead, the only trace it left was the faintest ripple in the surrounding shadows. Not a single sound.

Mo Fan stared after it, struck cold, his gaze dropping to the ground just in time to catch the faintest outline of a shadow streaking across it at blinding speed — the only proof that the thing actually existed.

*This is an Intermediate-Level Shadow Element spell?*

*How is anyone supposed to defend against something with no shape and no sound?*

The Giant Shadow Nail shot through the treeline and slammed onto Chao He's shadow.

It hadn't targeted Chao He's body. It had targeted his shadow.

Brilliant as the fire pillar blazed — illuminating everything around it — Chao He's shadow still fell sharp and clear across the cracked earth. The Giant Shadow Nail Tang Yue had loosed from the treeline struck it dead-on, precise as a spike driven through a man to pin him to the ground.

Chao He's entire body seized violently. His shadow couldn't move so much as a millimeter — and to his horror, his body and soul felt equally locked in place. He couldn't move at all.

Seeing Chao He successfully pinned, a breath of relief finally crossed Tang Yue's face.

The Giant Shadow Nail was likely one of the most powerful binding spells in the entire Intermediate-Level arsenal. It dealt no damage whatsoever — but like driving a needle into an acupressure point, it locked an enemy's body in place, and more critically, it sealed their Mental Intent entirely, making it impossible for them to cast any magic for a window of time.

Since its target was the shadow itself, neither shield Enchanted Gear nor Armor Enchanted Gear could block it.

"The oriole behind the mantis." Chao He turned his body with tremendous difficulty — the sensation like rotating around a spike driven through his chest. "Things just keep getting more and more interesting."

"Four more lives on your hands — and all Intermediate-Level Mages." Tang Yue stepped out from the treeline, cold and composed, the authority and fury of an officer of the law burning in her eyes as they fixed on Chao He. "A death sentence is the least of your worries. They'll be putting your soul on trial alongside the rest of you."