The Plant Element!

There was no shortage of challengers. Mo Fan could already see them queued in a long line at the entrance, and the expression on virtually every face was the same: *You son of a bitch — I'm going to cut you down.*

"My name is Zhuang Lifeng, a disciple of the Zhuang Clan." The young man strode forward with an unmistakable scholar's bearing. "From the moment you stepped into this arena, you've rubbed me the wrong way. Do you think being Summoning Element makes you something special? I'll show you exactly what the Zhuang Clan is made of!!"

Admittedly, the guy was decent-looking. His courteous self-introduction carried a righteous air — the kind that made you feel like he was doing heaven's work — and it was enough to make Mo Fan take him seriously.

Then again, it wasn't the speech that put Mo Fan on guard. It was something he could feel: this person's aura was noticeably different from everyone else's.

"Arrogant fool." Zhuang Lifeng swept his sleeve with practiced elegance. "I'll destroy that tyrant beast of yours first, then deal with you properly."

The Gloom Wolf Beast had no patience for human theatrics. Its claws were already moving.

Zhuang Lifeng did have genuine skill. His command of Wind Trail surpassed the "Big Head" student from earlier by a considerable margin.

Even with Third Burst at its disposal, the beast found itself outmaneuvered. Zhuang Lifeng had seeded Wind Trail anchor points across the entire arena — a ghost that flickered into view at one spot only to vanish the next instant. Three consecutive burst attacks later, the beast had managed nothing more than a shallow gash on his right arm.

"Beautiful — Zhuang Lifeng, keep it pinned!" called a dark-complexioned female Fire Element student.

"Fire Burst: Blast!!!" A mass of scorching flame erupted from her palm.

The fire flew toward where the beast had just landed — detonating before it could dodge. The savage wave of heat **slammed** into the Gloom Wolf Beast and launched it several meters through the air as a rain of embers cascaded down around it.

*"Hrrrn—"*

The Gloom Wolf Beast pulled itself upright and shook off the lingering flames.

This was likely the first time it had taken a real hit. Mo Fan felt a flicker of concern — until he saw that the fire in those eyes hadn't dimmed in the slightest. He let out a quiet breath.

One Fire Burst: Blast couldn't seriously wound an Ascension Phase Gloom Wolf Beast, especially not one built the way this creature was.

"Ignore the Wind Element one for now," Mo Fan told his beast. "Deal with the others first."

The Gloom Wolf Beast had already reached the same conclusion. The Wind Mage was too slippery to pin down.

It shifted targets immediately, eyes locking onto the female student who had just fired the Fire Burst.

No one was standing between her and what was coming. When the Gloom Wolf Beast broke into its full sprint, it was all but unstoppable — no matter how fast Zhuang Lifeng could move, there was nothing he could do now—

"Vine Shift: Entangle!!"

The incantation rang out just as the beast closed to within twenty meters of the girl.

What followed was unsettling: tendrils of blue-green vine had sprouted from the ground directly in its path, as if they had always been there. Each vine was thick as a grown man's arm, bristling with densely-packed barbed thorns. Under their controller's direction, they moved with startling speed and aggression.

The beast's legs were mid-stride when it crossed that patch of ground. The vines shot upward and cinched around its limbs with brutal force.

Caught completely off guard, it was yanked off its feet. The Gloom Wolf Beast crashed to the ground, throwing up a massive cloud of dust.

"Plant Element???" Mo Fan stared at Zhuang Lifeng — who stood not far away, unhurried — a look of surprise crossing his face.

Zhuang Lifeng smiled. Not the noble smile from before; something colder. "Did you really think I was nothing more than a Wind Mage?"

The revelation of his second element drew a collective gasp from the entire arena.

*Another Intermediate-Level Mage!*

He had already demonstrated Wind Element skills — his first awakening was almost certainly Wind. And now he had revealed Plant Element magic as well.

Plant Element belonged to the school of White Magic, rare enough at the basic level. But there was no mistaking it: Zhuang Lifeng had reached the Intermediate-Level Mage threshold, and Plant Element was his second awakening.

Mo Fan had been watching him closely from the start. His instincts had been right — this was someone who had already stepped into the Intermediate tier.

"Interesting." Mo Fan couldn't help but smile. "A shame, though. You've still got a long way to go compared to that fat kid Luo Song."

The smug look drained from Zhuang Lifeng's face. Something about the way this Summoning student spoke made him feel like he'd already been read.

"Reaching Intermediate is impressive enough," Mo Fan continued, "but you can't complete a full Star Chart — not for Wind, not for Plant. You can't Release a single Intermediate-Level spell."

Zhuang Lifeng had expected revealing his second element to rattle his opponent. Instead, Mo Fan had seen through everything before he'd even made his move.

"A handful of basic-tier tricks won't be enough to hold my Gloom Wolf Beast."

Mo Fan was attuned to his beast — he knew exactly what condition it was in.

Vine Shift was a basic-tier trap-type skill. If Zhuang Lifeng had mastered a higher level of it, the beast might genuinely have struggled to break free — but as things stood—

**"Hrrrn!!!!!"**

The Gloom Wolf Beast roared and threw its full strength against the vines holding it. They looked solid, but they lacked the flexibility to withstand that kind of force. Under the beast's full exertion, every last one snapped at once, shredding into debris that scattered across the ground around its feet.

It didn't linger. The ground beneath it had already been treated by the team's Ice Element member — another two seconds and its legs would have been locked in ice. Speed burst, leaving the Ice Vine technique behind as if it were nothing, eyes still fixed on the Fire Element student.

This time there was no escape. The Gloom Wolf Beast, showing mercy in its own way, simply lowered its head and rammed straight into the girl. She went flying, light as a leaf, and crashed into the barrier cage.

Fortunately, the barrier was Water Element in nature — forgiving on impact. Otherwise, that collision would have shattered bones.

With the Fire Element threat eliminated, the beast worked its way through the Ice Element and Light Element students in sequence, until only Zhuang Lifeng remained — the one opponent who had never been easy to catch.

Watching his teammates fall one by one, something cold flickered in Zhuang Lifeng's eyes.

"Foolish." His silhouette vanished. "Did you honestly think I had to fight your Summoned Beast? A Summoning Mage who can't protect himself is useless — no matter how strong his beast."

While the Gloom Wolf Beast had been finishing off the others, Zhuang Lifeng had already activated Wind Trail — and was now streaking like a ghost directly toward Mo Fan's position.