A Battle of Wits

"So — who wants to go first?" Dean Xiao smiled at the seven Summoning Element students.

"Me." Hai Dafu stepped forward without a moment's hesitation. "Every last one of these people wants to make a name for themselves fighting our Summoned Beasts. I'll put them all face-down on the ground."

"Then I'll leave it to you."

Hai Dafu strode toward the center of the arena. At the iron-cage barrier's entrance, the line of challengers already stretched far back — every one of them straining with impatience.

He swept his gaze over the students packed at the front, watching them bicker over who got to go first.

"You lot — just come at me all at once," he called out. "Saves time. Our instructor will record how many challengers each of us handles and factor it into our year-end grades. You're all just padding my stats. What does the order matter?"

Not a shred of that arrogance was hidden. He made no effort whatsoever to conceal his contempt for students from every other element.

"Who do you think you are, punk?" The young man with dyed-blue short hair snapped back. "Believe me, I can wipe out that sorry beast of yours in one move!"

"If your beast can even graze the hem of this Wind Element grandpa's clothes," someone else fired back, "I'll call you big brother."

"I wouldn't want a worthless little brother like you," Hai Dafu said with a dismissive wave.

That pushed the students at the front of the line past the point of patience. Before another word was exchanged, the first four vaulted into the iron-cage barrier together, faces flushed with barely contained fury.

"Only four?" Hai Dafu laughed. "My beast will barely notice you."

He stepped slightly forward and closed his eyes.

Moonlit radiance shimmered around him — first as scattered points of starlight drifting seemingly at random, then snapping together under the pull of his Mental Intent into a single dimensional Star Trail.

The Star Trail tore open space, punching a corridor through to another world. A dark, chaotic, glacial aura surged from the dimensional rift like a tide, churning into coiling turbulence that swirled around him—

Dust rose from the ground. Through the gray haze, a steel-armored shape drilled out of the crack — shoulders, back, and limbs bristling with razored edges, every surface armored with blades built to flay anything they touched.

**Hssss——!!**

One shriek. The dust settled. The crowd finally saw the creature in full.

Its triangular head was studded with needle-sharp horn-spines. Its thick forelegs — each built like a colossal battle-axe — were sheathed in dense, hard horn-plate armor. Its scorpion-body bristled with angular armor-spines across every inch; the hind legs were less imposing than those eye-catching axe-limbs, but at both rear claws, bone-scythes curved outward — capable of scissoring apart any creature foolish enough to try attacking from behind.

"Wh — White Armor Battle Sting!!" The blue-haired youth went pale the instant he recognized it.

Pearl Academy students were exceptional not only in ability but in knowledge. They could identify a Demon-Beast the moment one flickered past.

But book knowledge was always only book knowledge. No text or illustration could capture both the visual shock and the primal dread of standing in the presence of a creature like this.

"Turns out there really are people who come charging in without bothering to check the intel first." Hai Dafu grinned. "My White Armor Battle Sting often doesn't listen to me — if you walk out of this missing an arm or a leg, don't come looking to me for medical fees."

**Hssss——!!**

The White Armor Battle Sting didn't waste a moment. The instant it clapped eyes on the four challengers, it moved.

Those massive axe-like forelegs swept high — high enough that the displaced air was palpable, a testament to the terrifying force behind them.

"Scatter! Get out of the way!!" The blue-haired youth cried out, throwing himself aside.

The Wind Element Mage reacted fastest, launching Wind Trail to put distance between himself and the creature in an instant.

The other two broke into a run as well — but they had been too slow, and the White Armor Battle Sting had already chosen its targets.

It came down to who was slowest. The beast's gaze fixed on the slender, good-looking student wearing his cap backwards. Those wind-churning axe-limbs swung like a cleaver, aimed squarely at the young man's head.

A collective sharp breath ran through the entire arena. Hai Dafu was showing no mercy whatsoever. If that blow connected with the student's skull, there would be no second chances.

At the barrier control station, Light Element teacher Gu Han's brow tightened. As the White Armor Battle Sting raised its axe-limb for the killing blow, golden starlight already stood ready at his feet.

Gu Han was today's supervising teacher. Accidents during the Beast Battle were inevitable — his responsibility was to intervene before any student's life was genuinely at stake.

But just as he was about to complete the intermediate Light Element magic, he noticed azure starlight flickering around the good-looking student. Gu Han quietly let his Release go.

**Clang!!!!!**

The axe-limb crashed down with full force. The crowd cried out — and a brown stone shield materialized from nowhere in front of the student.

The massive foreleg buried itself deep in the stone, wedged.

Beneath the shield, the student — who moments ago had looked ready to collapse in sheer terror — now had a sly glint in his eyes. Every trace of that frantic, stumbling figure had vanished.

"Light Radiance: Blind!!"

The corners of his mouth curled into an exaggerated grin. Cupped in his open palm — conjured at some unknown moment — was a blazing sphere of golden light.

"At this distance, your Summoned Beast is going blind for certain. Running into me, Xie Wenfeng — that's just your misfortune." He swung his hand forward.

The golden orb detonated in front of the White Armor Battle Sting. Blades of searing radiance lanced into the creature's eyes — relentless, merciless, impossible to shut out.

The White Armor Battle Sting's eyelids slammed shut, but it made no difference. Both eye sockets were scorched open and ruined.

"YES!!" The blue-haired youth and the other two erupted in cheers.

Light Radiance: Blind, used well, was a godlike technique. Blind an enemy's eyes, and even the mightiest Demon-Beast became helpless. Finishing it off after that was purely a matter of time.

*Now that's what I call scheming.* Mo Fan raised an eyebrow.

These were Pearl Academy students, all right. Compared to his former classmates — plenty of whom couldn't even complete a full cast when a Demon-Beast was right in front of them — they were on an entirely different plane.

And this Light Element student's use of his skill had been brilliantly clever: feign terror to draw the enemy in, then release Light Radiance: Blind at point-blank range. A technique considered the weakest at the basic level had been transformed into the decisive blow.

Even Mo Fan felt a flicker of excitement stir in him. If even a random Pearl Academy student already had this kind of Control and tactical acumen — fighting them was going to be absolutely thrilling.