Volume 2: Shenzhou Academy & The Battle of Venice
Chapter 139
Defeating Murong Xue, Breaking into the Top 50
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM——!!
A cataclysmic thunderclap ripped through the firmament, sending violent shockwaves reverberating across the colossal Demon Sky Arena.
From within the swirling, pitch-black storm clouds churning directly above Arena Number One, the colossal phantom of a thunderous fiend—resembling an Asura Yaksha—descended upon the mortal world. Forty-nine radiant Lightning Stars intertwined into seven dazzling Star Orbits, fusing into a Tier-2 Intermediate Star Atlas of breathtaking perfection. The deep, dark-violet lightning, condensed to the density of pure liquified mana, coalesced into a twelve-foot-long lightning lance that crackled and howled with writhing, dragon-shaped electrical serpents.
CRASH!
The lightning lance plunged violently into the black-leaf stone at the very center of the arena.
The instant its tip pierced the reinforced floor, an apocalyptic shockwave of sheer voltage blasted outward in every direction. Surging like a tidal wave of dark-violet fury, the electrical deluge engulfed the entire stage. Multi-ton flagstones groaned under the terrifying pressure before fracturing into cavernous fissures, magical flames blazing fiercely along every jagged crack.
Directly opposite the blast, Murong Xue’s expression warped in sheer horror. She was pouring every drop of mana from her Ice Nebula into maintaining her ultimate defense—the Glacial Chain Array. Twelve thick frost chains, each as wide as a grown man’s thigh and crystallized from her top-grade Ice Spirit Seed, had woven together into an impenetrable barricade enveloping her slender figure. Waves of pale-blue frost mist billowed outward, plunging the local temperature near absolute zero, cold enough to flash-freeze solid steel in the blink of an eye.
Yet, before the annihilating onslaught of Thunderbolt: Yaksha, the proudest defensive technique of the Ice Branch’s greatest genius was reduced to fragile glass beneath a sledgehammer.
Crack! Crack! SHATTER——!!
Under the savage rampage of high-voltage violet lightning, the reinforced links of the frost chains spiderwebbed with fractures. In less than half a breath, the entire glacial barrier detonated into tens of thousands of glittering ice shards. The shattered crystalline fragments were instantly vaporized mid-air by the scorching thermal backlash of the lightning, generating a hazy mist that mingled with shimmering frost-dust like a collapsed galaxy showering down from the heavens.
The violent recoil hurled an overwhelming concussive force forward, obliterating Murong Xue’s final personal mana barrier.
“Ugh...”
A stifled groan escaped her lips as if an invisible warhammer had slammed directly into her chest. Her slender legs, encased in snug leather boots, skidded uncontrollably across the blackened, scorched stone. She was forced back ten staggered steps, each desperate tread gouging deep, smoking grooves into the ruined arena floor.
Her fair, jade-like right hand trembled violently. The residual numbing shock of the high-voltage discharge had surged up her arm, completely paralyzing her meridians and the pathways required for mana conduction.
Clang!
The exquisite frost-jade wand she treasured most slipped from her limp fingers and clattered onto the fractured stone, ringing out with a crisp yet utterly helpless echo amidst the desolate ruins. Her pale-blue hair, once neatly pinned, cascaded wildly in the wind, singed strands drifting with the faint scent of ozone and ash. Her entire body had stiffened. Though her consciousness remained lucid, her mental sea of magic was suppressed to a dead standstill by the overbearing tyrant pressure of the Lightning element. She could not muster even a single Star to cast a rudimentary Primary defensive spell.
Murong Xue bit her lower lip until it bled, her beautiful eyes wide with sheer disbelief as she stared through the churning haze of smoke and dust.
There, as the black smoke parted, the tall, steadfast figure of Lin Feng was revealed.
He was not even breathing heavily. The hem of his black, silver-trimmed academy uniform fluttered gently in the dying embers of the lightning fire. Taking a single forward step, his silhouette blurred into shadows before vanishing and reappearing instantly before Murong Xue at a speed completely imperceptible to the naked eye.
In Lin Feng’s right hand was a condensed, three-foot-long lightning spear. Forged from the purest dark-violet lightning, it crackled with terrifying, sizzling static.
The razor-sharp tip of the electric spear hovered motionlessly in mid-air, steady as an ancient mountain.
The distance between that lethal tip and Murong Xue’s smooth, porcelain forehead was precisely three inches!
Chilling frost and scorching electricity intertwined, washing against her skin. The delicate strands of hair framing her forehead stood on end from the intense electrostatic pull, dancing alongside miniscule arcs of purple sparks. She could palpably feel the apocalyptic devastation sealed within the tip: with merely a twitch of the youth’s finger, that spear would obliterate her mental sea, utterly destroying the magical foundation she had painstakingly cultivated for years.
The vast arena, packed with over twenty thousand spectators, plunged into a suffocating silence.
Not a single sound could be heard save for the lingering rumble of residual thunder vibrating along the bronze pillars of the arena. Every gaze—from the tiered seating to the competitor zones and the elevated VIP boxes—was glued to that suspended lightning spear.
Lin Feng stood firm, his expression as serene as an autumn lake. Not a shred of arrogance or triumphant conceit showed on his face. His obsidian eyes met the gaze of the proud Ice Branch genius, clear, candid, and calm.
After two breaths of bone-chilling silence, Lin Feng gave a slight flick of his wrist.
Sssss...
The lightning spear in his grip dissolved into hundreds of glittering purple motes of light, dispersing harmlessly into the air without leaving a trace. The crushing weight pressing down on Murong Xue’s chest vanished like smoke.
Lin Feng stepped back half a pace, cupped his hands, and bowed slightly in the formal etiquette of a mage.
“Thank you, Senior Sister Murong, for showing mercy. In this duel, I was merely fortunate to win by half a move.”
His decisive recall of the lethal spell and his humble, courteous words were like a gentle spring breeze, dispelling the suffocating tension that had gripped the arena.
Murong Xue stared at Lin Feng in stunned silence. As a direct descendant of the prestigious Murong Clan, she had been hailed since childhood as a favored daughter of heaven. Cold and fiercely proud, she had never yielded to any peer of her generation. She had stepped onto this arena brimming with the unshakeable confidence of Rank 48 on the Battle Board, determined to use absolute frost to snuff out the reckless arrogance of this sensational freshman.
Yet, cruel reality had dealt a devastating blow to her pride. The youth before her was not only vastly superior in magical control and tactical vision, but even that second-tier lightning strike possessed an overwhelming might that simply defied resistance.
Moreover, Lin Feng’s poised demeanor—withdrawing his lethal strike at the perfect moment rather than seizing the chance to humiliate her—completely dismantled the last shred of stubborn defiance in her heart.
Murong Xue lowered her eyelashes, her delicate shoulders trembling slightly before relaxing. Biting her lower lip, she bent down to retrieve her frost wand. Looking straight into Lin Feng’s deep obsidian eyes, her voice was quiet yet crisp and clear:
“A loss is a loss. There was neither good fortune nor mercy involved.” Taking a deep breath, an undisguised look of genuine admiration shone in her eyes. “Your Lightning magic has already reached the pinnacle of returning to natural simplicity. I accept my defeat wholeheartedly... Lin Feng, you are the most terrifying monster I have ever encountered in all my years at Shenzhou Academy.”
With those words, Murong Xue did not linger for another second. Nodding politely to Lin Feng, she turned decisively and walked down the arena steps. She left behind a proud silhouette, yet one that had thoroughly yielded before absolute power.
The instant Murong Xue crossed the barrier threshold, the Chief Arbiter—clad in a deep-blue judicial robe on the observation platform—raised his right arm high. Infused with mana, his voice boomed like a bronze bell across the arena:
“Challenger Lin Feng wins! The match has officially concluded!”
BZZZZT——!!
As the referee’s signal faded, the mana-monitoring formation of the Demon Sky Arena activated immediately. The four wind-and-thunder pillars at the arena’s corners blazed with radiant golden light, projecting a brilliant beam straight onto the colossal magical crystal scoreboard suspended high in the academy’s central sky.
The thirty-meter-tall monolithic stele, which displayed the rankings of Shenzhou Academy’s top one hundred elite disciples, began emitting deep mechanical hums. Lines of glowing blue magical inscriptions shifted and rearranged at dizzying speed.
Instructors, elders, and over twenty thousand students throughout the stands craned their necks skyward in unison, holding their breath as they witnessed history unfold.
At the Rank 48 position, the name “Murong Xue – Ice Branch Sophomore” faded into ash-gray before tumbling downward.
Immediately following, a blinding burst of golden brilliance erupted, etching burning characters onto the 48th slot:
【 RANK 48: LIN FENG 】
【 BRANCH: NATURAL MAGIC COLLEGE 】
【 YEAR: FRESHMAN 】
The blazing golden script shone like a miniature sun against the clear sky, illuminating every corner of the Demon Sky Arena!
One second of silence.
Two seconds of dead quiet.
By the third second, as everyone finally registered and digested the glowing text displayed on the crystal stele, an unprecedented shockwave rippled through every mind in attendance.
“Heavens above... Rank 48! It really is Rank 48!!”
“A first-year freshman... breaking into the Battle Board’s Top 50?! Am I dreaming?!”
“Ten years! For ten whole years since Senior Brother Xiao Yan graduated, no one in Shenzhou Academy has accomplished such a miracle in their very first semester!”
“The academy’s ten-year record... has been shattered by a freshman!!”
ROOOOAAAR——!!
The twenty-thousand-seat stands erupted like a long-dormant volcano blowing its top after a thousand years of suppression.
Cheering, ecstatic roars, and thunderous applause crashed together into a sonic tempest that shook the very skies of the Magic Capital. Tens of thousands of students, unable to contain their fervor, leapt to their feet. Colorful robes billowed in the air as countless arms pumped the sky, chanting the name of the youth who stood unwavering in the arena center:
“Lin Feng! Lin Feng! Lin Feng!”
The deafening unison shook mountains and seas, violent enough to rattle the academy banner flags lining the fortress battlements.
In the section reserved for the freshman class, the frenzy reached fever pitch. The entire first-year cohort seemed to lose their minds with unbound pride. For years, freshmen had been oppressed by upperclassmen, treated as fledgling novices who could only endure and bow their heads. But today, Lin Feng had used monumental, unprecedented strength to shatter every prejudice, trampling the haughty arrogance of the sophomore and junior core disciples beneath his boots!
“Ahhh! He won! He really won!!”
Gu Xiaowei bounced off her seat, her twin pigtails swinging wildly with every leap. Her delicate face was flushed crimson with pure ecstasy, tears glistening in her eyes from overwhelming joy. Unable to contain the tidal wave of emotions welling in her chest, she threw her arms around Ye Qingwan beside her, sobbing and jumping at the same time:
“Sister Qingwan! Did you see that?! He did it! He broke into the Top 50! He’s Rank 48! Big Brother Lin Feng is the absolute best!!”
Embraced tightly by Gu Xiaowei, Ye Qingwan’s ethereal, otherworldly face blossomed with a radiant smile like a snow lotus opening in midwinter. She gently patted the young girl’s back to soothe her, but her clear, jade-like eyes never strayed from the heroic figure on the arena for even an instant. Hidden within the folds of her white silk sleeves, Ye Qingwan’s slender hands clenched tightly, her chest rising and falling with hurried heartbeats. Better than anyone, she knew that behind today’s dazzling glory lay countless nights of solitary cultivation, soaked in sweat, blood, and unyielding iron resolve.
Beside them, Xie Zhaoyuan was so agitated his plump face was flushed purple. The chubby young master of the Shenbai Merchant Guild clapped his hands together with resounding smacks, his boisterous laughter echoing across the entire seating section:
“Damn it all! Thrilling! Beyond thrilling! Holy shit, I freaking knew it! Brother Lin is a true dragon born into this world! Investing in Brother Lin is the greatest business venture in Xie Zhaoyuan’s entire life! Hahaha, let’s see if anyone in the guild dares claim I squander money ever again!”
Joy, jubilation, and reverence swept through every corner of the arena, painting a brilliant tapestry of glory unseen in a decade.
Yet, amidst that sea of euphoric celebration, there was one corner frozen in chilling dread.
In the VIP section reserved exclusively for prominent clans and the elite nobility of the Magic Capital, the atmosphere had solidified into a bleak block of ice.
Slumped in a red velvet leather armchair embroidered with the Zhao Clan crest, Zhao Jingshan sat paralyzed like a stone statue struck by lightning.
His handsome face, which normally wore an aloof, arrogant sneer, was completely drained of color—pale as a corpse. His eyes bugged out, pupils shrinking to the size of pinpricks as he stared unblinkingly at the blazing golden line on the crystal board: Rank 48: Lin Feng.
Each letter hammered into his consciousness like a thousand-pound sledgehammer, shattering the pride, dignity, and presumption of a prominent clan heir to dust.
Cold sweat drenched his forehead, streaming down his chin to soak the collar of his expensive silk shirt. Both hands on the armrests trembled uncontrollably. His knuckles dug so savagely into the thick leather that his fingernails cracked, blood oozing out to stain the armrest, yet he seemed entirely numb to the pain.
“Impossible... How could this happen...”
Zhao Jingshan’s teeth chattered violently, grinding out horrific clicking sounds. His voice was hoarse, mumbling incoherently like a madman:
“He’s just a commoner... a penniless orphan with zero background... Why is he this strong?! Thunderbolt: Yaksha... that’s second-tier magic! He’s only a freshman! Where did he get enough resources to make that breakthrough?!”
A bone-chilling dread surged from the depths of his soul straight to his scalp, freezing him down to his marrow.
He was ranked 88.
Lin Feng was now Rank 48!
A forty-rank gap on the Shenzhou Battle Board was far more than forty mere numbers—it was an impassable chasm, a gulf between heaven and earth! Everyone inside the Top 50 was a genuine monster, afforded paramount protection by the entire Academy Council, serving as core seeds slated to represent Shenzhou Academy in the national inter-collegiate tournaments.
Zhao Jingshan had once viewed himself as a predator high above, hiring the Blood Wolf Assassin Squad with coin to crush a pitiful insect. But now, that mere ant had transformed into a sovereign dragon, soaring proudly through the nine heavens.
An all-consuming terror, real and suffocating as the shadow of death, tightened around his throat until he could barely breathe.
He suddenly recalled the intelligence report from this morning: all contact with the Blood Wolf Assassin Squad had been severed without a trace, and the Disciplinary Hall was already making covert moves to seal all exits of the academy.
Lin Feng had not merely defeated Murong Xue; he was striding toward the pinnacle of power, where a flick of his sleeve could crush the Zhao Clan’s Magic Capital branch into ash!
“It’s over... The Zhao Clan... has provoked a living devil this time...”
Zhao Jingshan slumped his head against the backrest, staring hollowly into the sky as all strength drained entirely from his body.
Amidst Arena Number One, strewn with shattered stones and residual lightning ash, Lin Feng stood upright like a lance piercing heaven and earth.
Looking up at the magical scoreboard displaying his name at Rank 48, a faint smile played at the corner of his lips.
Rank 48 of the Battle Board.
This was far from an empty title of honor. It meant he had officially unlocked the premier privilege reserved for elite disciples: the qualification to enter Shenzhou Academy’s ancient Mana Micro-Realm, home to thousand-year-old veins of pure mana stones, along with a massive monthly stipend of cultivation resources.
Yet for Lin Feng, the Top 50 was nowhere near his final destination.
His deep obsidian eyes shifted higher up the monolithic board, scanning past the names reigning over the Top 20, the Top 10, and the very zenith—Rank 1 of the Battle Board. There stood the true titans of the Advanced Branch, figures wielding power capable of moving mountains and draining seas in an instant.
Beneath his chest, the Primordial Dragon Pendant pressed against his skin suddenly emitted a warm pulse of heat, vibrating rhythmically as if resonating with the blazing battle will surging through its master’s soul.
Just then, in the highest VIP box belonging to the academy leadership, three figures clad in resplendent golden archmage robes slowly rose to their feet.
The Dean of the Elemental College, Archmage Gu Yuanshan, stroked his snow-white beard, his gaze brimming with undisguised admiration and amazement as he looked down at Lin Feng. In his hand, a gold-embossed sheepskin letter bearing the special seal of the Academy Elders’ Council gleamed with an ethereal luster.
The archmage’s deep, majestic voice echoed across the arena, easily suppressing the roar of tens of thousands:
“Student Lin Feng! With extraordinary prowess, you have shattered the academy’s ten-year record! At the Hour of the Monkey this afternoon, you are summoned to the Supreme Council Tower. The Leadership Council has a special mission and a classified reward prepared specifically for you!”
The moment the decree ended, the arena erupted into waves of commotion once more!
A special mission from the Leadership Council? A classified, supreme reward?
Lin Feng raised his head slightly, meeting the gaze of the Dean from afar. He knew that the gate leading to the true pinnacle of the vast magical world of Shenzhou had only just cracked open before him...