Volume 2: Shenzhou Academy & The Battle of Venice
Chapter 147
Shadow and Summoning Elements Break Through to Intermediate Tier
Deep within Lin Feng’s spiritual sea, a miracle unprecedented in the magical history of Shenzhou was silently unfolding.
Under ordinary circumstances, for a human mage to break through from the Primary Tier to the Intermediate Tier was an agonizing, life-or-death trial. It demanded years of secluded meditation to accumulate mana, exorbitant and rare marrow-cleansing elixirs to temper the spirit, and above all, the guidance of serendipitous fortune to smash through the unyielding mental barrier. Countless mages of ordinary talent spent a decade—or even an entire lifetime—shackled at the bottleneck of Primary Tier-3, helplessly watching their mana wither away until they resigned themselves to mediocrity.
Yet at this moment, within the celestial firmament of Lin Feng’s consciousness, the immutable laws of nature appeared to have been completely shattered by a sublime, primeval force.
His mental expanse was no desolate, solitary starry sky hosting a single, modest Stardust like that of ordinary mages. Instead, it was an awe-inspiring, boundless spiritual cosmos that stole the breath from the soul. In the eastern and southern quadrants, the deep-violet Lightning Nebula—surging with the wild, untamed fury of Yaksha thunder—and the blazing Fire Nebula—radiant as a dawn-scorching twilight—held supreme dominion. They rotated along celestial orbits, pulsing with savage thermal waves and crackling lightning arcs, standing as proud testaments to the two elements that had long crossed into the Intermediate realm.
And in the remaining two quadrants, the Shadow Stardust and the Summoning Stardust, which had lingered at Primary Tier-3 for so long, were now welcoming an earth-shattering cataclysm!
“RUMBLE——!”
A low, muffled roar echoed through his consciousness, sounding as though it heralded the chaotic dawn before heaven and earth were first cleaved apart.
The incomparably pure Primordial Dragon Qi drawn from the black marble slab of the Primordial Dragon God Temple had surged through the jade pendant against Lin Feng’s chest, materializing into an immense Black Dragon straddling the sky of his spiritual sea. Its majestic, sinuous form stretched into infinity, each violet-black scale gleamed like tempered divine iron, and its nine pairs of draconic eyes blazed with supreme divine sovereignty as it looked down upon the two trembling Stardusts below.
The Primordial Dragon Qi was far more than mere unowned magical energy; it was the concentrated essence of origin vitality accumulated since the era of ancient gods! When that torrent cascaded down like a celestial cataract from the nine heavens, Lin Feng’s entire spiritual sea was instantly churned into a tempestuous ocean.
The first to bear the brunt of this terrifying scourging was the Shadow Stardust.
In the northwestern quadrant of his spiritual sea, the Shadow Stardust had originally been nothing more than a faint ribbon of violet-black mist, wherein seven Shadow Stars drifted peacefully around a tranquil center. By nature, the Shadow element was treacherous, elusive, and serene, notoriously difficult to stimulate through brute external force. Yet under the ferocious constriction of the Primordial Dragon Qi, those seven Stars were abruptly compressed to their absolute limits!
“Whir... whir...”
The spiritual spatial pressure skyrocketed tenfold, then a hundredfold!
The seven Shadow Stars, which had once drifted with languid grace, were squeezed brutally together at the core of the Stardust. Grinding violently against one another, they ignited eerie, pitch-black sparks. A wave of soul-rending agony and suffocating suppression lashed directly into Lin Feng’s nervous system. Every sinew in his body locked rigid, and cold sweat poured down like rain within his energy cocoon. Yet his teeth remained clenched in an iron bite, his inner vision locked unblinkingly onto every shift of the metamorphosis.
He understood with crystalline clarity that this was an unavoidable crucible. To break free of the chrysalis and soar, one first had to endure the crushing, suffocating compression of the cocoon’s shell!
“Buzz... buzz...”
The invisible spiritual barrier of the Shadow element—the unyielding boundary separating the Primary and Intermediate tiers—began to materialize, resembling a block of smoky, translucent black crystal encasing the Stardust. Upon its polished surface, the crushing force of the Dragon Qi hammered down like divine sledgehammers weighing thousands of tons, battering the spiritual membrane rhythmically and relentlessly.
One second... two seconds... ten seconds...
The buildup reached its critical threshold! The energy was compressed to such an extreme that space itself around the seven Stars warped and twisted, resembling a magical warhead on the verge of detonation.
And then, at the precise heartbeat when the crystalline barrier shuddered most violently, the Black Dragon suspended across the firmament parted its maw, exhaling a concentrated breath of deep-violet Dragon Qi Quintessence straight into the core of the Shadow Stardust!
“CRACK!”
A sharp, brittle sound rang out, like glacial ice fracturing at the first thaw of spring.
The thousand-foot-tall, impenetrable barrier of the Shadow element shattered into hundreds of thousands of illusory crystalline shards! In that same breath, having gorged upon that concentrated breath of Dragon Qi, the seven Shadow Stars emitted a spine-chilling screech reminiscent of nocturnal beasts of the dark. Their glossy surfaces fractured with violet fissures, and then abruptly cleaved apart!
One split into two! Two split into four! Four split into eight!
Under the boundless nourishment of the Primordial mana, this spiritual mitosis unfolded at an astonishing, dizzying velocity. Every newly birthed Star was darker, a deeper violet-black, far more mystical and laden with profound, abyssal power than before.
The original seven stars multiplied frantically: 14... 28... 35... 42...
Until the final Star coalesced into being, a complete set of 49 Shadow Stars occupied every inch of the newly expanded celestial expanse!
“BOOM——!”
The Shadow Stardust detonated!
From the ashes of the old Stardust, an abyssal ink-black radiance erupted, sweeping the 49 Stars into a colossal spiral vortex. It was no longer a rudimentary ribbon of stellar dust, but had thoroughly shed its mortal coil to become a true Shadow Nebula!
This Shadow Nebula rotated relentlessly, its vortex core pitch-black and bottomless, like a cosmic black hole devouring all light. Forty-nine Stars glittered like premier obsidian gems, bobbing rhythmically atop tides of darkness. With every flicker of a Star, an eerie, spectral aura rippled forth, blanketing an entire quadrant of Lin Feng’s spiritual sea!
Breakthrough successful! The Shadow element officially stepped into the INTERMEDIATE TIER!
The shackles that had bound him for so long vanished like mist, replaced by an abundant, icy, yet remarkably obedient stream of shadow mana flowing through his veins. At this moment, Lin Feng felt that with a mere thought, he could dissolve entirely into any shadow under heaven, undetected by mortal eyes!
Yet the seismic upheaval in his spiritual sea showed not the slightest sign of abating.
After facilitating the metamorphosis of the Shadow element, more than half of the Primordial Dragon Qi still remained. Sensing the triumphant ascension of its shadowy brother, the Summoning Stardust presiding in the northern quadrant suddenly began to pulse with frantic, resonant tremors!
Lin Feng’s Summoning Stardust had always possessed a crystalline, silver-white luster, like moonlight shimmering on the calm surface of an autumn lake. Seven slender Summoning Stars floated peacefully, tethered to a delicate thread of soul that pierced through the boundless void, reaching straight toward the distant Summoning Plane.
Compared to purely destructive elemental affinities like Lightning or Fire, the Summoning element demanded vastly greater spiritual fortitude and spiritual sea capacity. Breaking through to the Intermediate tier in Summoning was exponentially more difficult than other elements, because it did not merely entail expanding a Nebula within the mage’s soul—it required a colossal reservoir of mana to tear open the dimensional barrier and expand the Otherworldly Contract Gate!
“ROAARR——!”
As if sensing its master standing before a fateful crossroads of destiny, the deep, thunderous roar of the Nether Prison Dark Wolf echoed from deep within the Contract Gate, resounding back into Lin Feng’s spiritual sea. That roar was brimming with savage battle lust and absolute loyalty, like a blazing beacon igniting his will.
“Come on! Let me see where the true limits of this spiritual sea lie!”
Lin Feng roared inwardly. Without flinching or hesitating, he mobilized his entire mental consciousness, directing the remaining half of the Primordial Dragon Qi like a spear of violet-black light, driving it straight into the Summoning Stardust!
“BOOM!”
A world-shattering collision erupted at the center of his consciousness!
The seven silver-white Stars shuddered violently under the deluge of dragon qi. Distinct from the gloomy nature of the Shadow element, the Summoning Stars absorbed the Dragon Qi in an entirely different fashion. Their pristine silver-white hue began to sprout ancient, winding dragon patterns, radiating a blinding halo akin to the shattered fragments of a primeval full moon.
The mental space surrounding the Summoning Stardust was warped and bent by the sheer pressure. The azure-silver spatial barrier guarding the Intermediate tier materialized with absolute clarity. It was several times thicker and sturdier than the Shadow barrier, radiating spatial fluctuations sharp as razors, relentlessly slashing at Lin Feng’s consciousness to repel this foreign intrusion.
A piercing pain, like thousands of needles stabbing directly into his cerebral cortex, caused Lin Feng to shudder. Yet his spiritual gaze remained steady as a mountain. Having reached this stage, a step back was a bottomless abyss—only forward lay the boundless heavens and vast seas!
“Shatter for me!”
Lin Feng’s razor-sharp will fused seamlessly with the ancient majesty of the Black Dragon. The Black Dragon roared, sweeping its razor-sharp claws to shred the spiritual mist, slamming a savage paw directly into the azure-silver spatial barrier!
“CRASH——!”
A crisp, shattering resonance echoed throughout his entire spiritual sea!
The barrier collapsed! The spatial shackle that had imprisoned him for so long dissolved entirely into shimmering silver motes, cascading like falling stardust!
The instant that barrier shattered, the seven silver-white Summoning Stars flared with a radiance so brilliant it temporarily eclipsed the surrounding fire and lightning. They commenced a divine dance of division!
Each Summoning Star split in twain amidst a melodious, sacred hum. Boundless spatial mana from the deepest reaches of the cosmos rushed in to fill the expanding void. Seven became fourteen, fourteen became twenty-eight, and swiftly reached a complete set of forty-nine Summoning Stars!
“RUMBLE!”
The Summoning Stardust expanded at an unstoppable rate.
The originally cramped spiritual space swelled tenfold, fiftyfold, then skyrocketed to a hundredfold! A magnificent, silver-white Summoning Nebula, resplendent as a miniature galaxy, formally coalesced in the northern quadrant of his spiritual sea. Forty-nine silver-white Stars, pure as virgin celestial bodies, drifted rhythmically, linked by radiant silver filaments of light, exuding the profound and boundless aura of the infinite void.
BREAKTHROUGH SUCCESSFUL: THE SUMMONING ELEMENT OFFICIALLY REACHES THE INTERMEDIATE TIER!
But the miracle did not end there.
The instant the Summoning Nebula took shape, a vast quantity of residual Black Dragon divine might traced along the spectral chain of the contract soul-link, billowing violently toward the Otherworldly Contract Gate.
“Whir whir whir——!”
The Contract Gate connecting to the Summoning Plane, previously merely a faint spatial fissure, abruptly tripled in size under the reinforcement of the Primordial Dragon Qi. The ancient stone arch transformed into lustrous black occult stone, its surface densely inscribed with winding dragon runes glowing with golden light and violet lightning—so sturdy and unshakeable that even spatial tempests could not shake it in the least.
Inside the Contract Dimension, the Nether Prison Dark Wolf threw back its head, howling at the heavens as a cataract of primeval divine might rained upon it!
“ROOOAAARRR——!”
The earth-shattering howl of the Dark Wolf echoed across both dimensions.
Its massive frame was engulfed within a sphere of violet-black fire. Under the brutal yet transformative tempering of the Primordial Dragon Qi, the Nether Prison Dark Wolf’s physical architecture underwent a comprehensive metamorphosis!
Its skeletal structure crackled with crisp, popping detonations, lengthening by half a meter, its bone frame expanding until its silhouette became as massive and burly as an ancient war elephant. Veins of dense muscle bulged beneath its thick hide, hardened like cold iron quenched in glacial frost. Its jet-black fur, once sleek, grew denser, standing erect like thousands of steel quills, venting plumes of ghastly dark flames that scorched the surrounding air.
Most extraordinary of all was the solitary horn upon its brow.
That horn, originally glossy black obsidian, now bore spiraling, deep-violet blazing runes under the dragon qi baptism. Crackling arcs of jet-black lightning danced across the horn’s tip, radiating a ferocious aura of annihilation that forced the weaker creatures in neighboring regions of the Summoning Plane to drop to the ground, trembling in sheer terror!
Its four scythe-sharp claws tore gouges into the bedrock of the contract dimension, black flames blazing beneath every stride.
The aura of the Nether Prison Dark Wolf surged violently!
Early-stage Warrior Class...
Peak Early-stage Warrior Class...
“BOOM!”
A heavy detonation rang out in the beast’s soul. The bottleneck shattered!
The savage aura of the Nether Prison Dark Wolf rocketed straight into the Peak Lower Warrior Class, and what was more, the mana within its body continued to churn and build, resting merely a hair’s breadth from Mid Warrior Class!
With its constitution reforged by Primordial Dragon Qi and the newly awakened black flame lightning upon its obsidian horn, the Nether Prison Dark Wolf’s true combat potency was now more than capable of easily ripping apart ordinary Mid Warrior Class magical beasts!
Feeling the dramatic evolution of his contracted beast, Lin Feng felt a surge of exhilarating satisfaction.
And within his spiritual sea at this moment, the vista had become magnificent beyond compare!
Four Nebulae!
A full FOUR INTERMEDIATE NEBULAE!
In the East: the deep-violet Lightning Nebula, churning with rolling thunder and dancing with the wild fury of Yaksha lightning.
In the South: the crimson Fire Nebula, blazing like a sea of molten lava, its Scarlet Flowing Flames radiating scorching heat capable of incinerating all things.
In the West: the pitch-black Shadow Nebula, deep as a cosmic black hole, eerie, frigid, and deathly silent.
In the North: the silver-white Summoning Nebula, resplendent as a galaxy, carrying the vast, mystical expanse of the spatial void.
Four colossal Nebulae, each possessing a complete set of 49 scintillating Stars—a grand total of 196 Stars rhythmically orbiting the Primordial Dragon Pendant suspended at the center of his spiritual sea!
They formed a flawless four-colored magical cycle: Violet – Red – Black – Silver, interweaving and supporting one another, resonating with deep, majestic magical harmonies like a symphony of the gods!
QUAD-ELEMENT INTERMEDIATE TIER!
A mad, impossible miracle that, if revealed to the outside world, would send shockwaves rattling through the entire magical civilization—from the Shenzhou Federation to the Sacred City of the West—down to its very foundations!
A young mage not yet twenty years of age, who had barely set foot through the gates of the Demon Capital Magic Academy, yet simultaneously commanded four independent magical elements—and ALL FOUR HAD ATTAINED THE INTERMEDIATE TIER!
Lin Feng’s mana capacity within his spiritual sea was now quadruple that of any ordinary Intermediate mage of his generation. Not to mention, having undergone the purification and tempering of the Primordial Dragon Qi, the purity and density of his mana could rival, or even utterly overpower, a mage who had reached the Third Tier of the Intermediate level!
Back in physical reality, in the underground secret chamber at the bottom of Blood Wave Bay.
“CLANG——!”
The violet-black energy cocoon encasing Lin Feng suddenly emitted a crisp, crystalline fracture sound.
Shards of violet-black light dissolved into the air as Lin Feng’s tall frame steadily descended, his feet landing firmly upon the glossy black marble floor.
“Phoo...”
A long breath of turbid air, carrying scorching heat and the acrid tang of lightning and fire, slowly exhaled from his chest.
Lin Feng slowly opened his eyes!
“BOOM!”
The moment his eyelids lifted, the entire underground chamber shook violently!
From deep within his pupils, one eye blazed with tempestuous lightning and fire, interweaving fiery crimson and deep violet, while the other held the deep, abyssal obsidian of shadow fused with the mystical silver brilliance of space. Four completely distinct elemental mana fluctuations violently erupted from his body, forming an invisible tempest that swept out in all directions!
Stone dust rained down from the cavern ceiling like a downpour.
Strangest of all was the darkness within the chamber. Under the dim glow of the surrounding Sea-Azure Spirit Ore shards, the elongated shadows cast upon the marble walls suddenly seemed to come alive. They writhed, twisted, and crept across the ground, bowing subserviently toward Lin Feng’s feet, resembling a legion of phantoms paying reverent homage to their newly crowned Emperor of the Night!
The aura of a Quad-Element Intermediate Mage—vast as a boundless ocean, heavy as Mount Tai crushing down—saturated the cramped subterranean cavern!
“Gulp...”
More than ten paces away, Xie Zhaoyuan swallowed hard, his legs trembling so violently he nearly lost his footing. The wind-thunder shield in his grip rattled uncontrollably under the invisible pressure radiating from Lin Feng. His eyes bulged, his weathered face draining of all color in sheer disbelief:
“This aura... holy shit... Is this really the aura of a first-year student?! This mana pressure... I feel like I’m standing before a senior academy professor!”
Beside him, Gu Ling gripped her magic staff tightly, her knuckles whitening as her hand trembled faintly. She was an Intermediate mage with extensive combat experience in the wilderness, having clashed with savage beasts and depraved dark mages alike. Yet standing before Lin Feng right now, an overwhelming sense of suffocating danger screamed through her survival instincts.
The young man before her was like a bottomless abyss—completely unfathomable!
“He... he actually succeeded...” Gu Ling whispered, her voice cracking: “Not just one element... Those mana ripples just now... Heavens above, he broke through both of his remaining elements at the same time!”
Ye Qingwan leaned against the rock wall, her clear, crystalline eyes fixed upon Lin Feng’s towering back, waves of emotion surging relentlessly through her heart. She had known he was a towering prodigy ever since their battle in the old city of the Demon Capital, but every time she saw him take action, every time she witnessed him evolve, he shattered every standard and preconceived notion she had about the world of magic.
He was not a prodigy. He was a monster born to tear apart all human norms!
“Brother Lin Feng...” Gu Xiaowei huddled behind her elder sister, her large eyes blinking with boundless, star-struck worship.
Amidst the epicenter of their astonishment, Lin Feng lightly raised his right hand.
He clenched his fingers.
“Crackle... hiss...”
An arc of violet Yaksha lightning coiled around his index finger, a tongue of Scarlet Flowing Flame flared in his palm, a tendril of dark, elusive shadow mist swirled around his wrist, and drifting specks of silver summoning dust hovered gently over his knuckles. Four magical elements harmonized flawlessly across a single hand, without the slightest hint of conflict or repulsion!
Feeling this immense, boundless power coursing through his grasp, the corners of Lin Feng’s lips curled into a proud, arrogant smirk.
Quad-Element Intermediate Tier!
With his current strength, if he were to encounter another pack of Giant Blade Yaksha Lizards like before, he wouldn’t even need to waste effort maneuvering. With a mere snap of his fingers combining Intermediate Shadow Shift with rampant lightning and flame, he could grind the entire pack of monsters to cinders in the blink of an eye!
However, Lin Feng’s joy in his breakthrough lasted only a few fleeting seconds.
“CRACK... CRACKLE——!”
A series of piercing fractures suddenly rang out from before him.
The smile on Lin Feng’s lips instantly vanished, his gaze sharpening as he looked toward the black marble wall of the Primordial Dragon God Temple.
Having had all its Primordial Dragon Qi drained dry by Lin Feng and the dragon pendant, the majestic nine-headed Black Dragon bas-relief upon the stone wall seemed to have lost its life-sustaining anchor. Crystalline marble scales began to peel away, tumbling to the floor.
Worse still, from the center where the ancient script ”THIRD SEAL: BLOOD WAVE BAY” had been deeply engraved, massive fissures as thick as a man’s arm began spreading like a spiderweb!
“Rumble, rumble, rumble!”
The ground beneath their feet shook more violently than any previous tremor. Stalactites crashed down from the ceiling, shattering into powder against the bedrock.
“Not good! The cavern is collapsing!” Xie Zhaoyuan cried in panic.
“It’s not collapsing!” Gu Ling’s face turned pale as she pointed at the fractures on the stone wall: “Look! Something is flooding in!”
Through the jagged fissures across the ancient marble wall, torrents of blood-red seawater began gushing through! The pungent, suffocating stench of fresh blood and rotting deep-sea carcasses instantly flooded the secret chamber.
And along with that rushing surge of crimson brine, a deep, horrifying roar from the abyssal depths of the ocean outside the bay suddenly penetrated the rock wall, blasting straight into everyone’s eardrums!
“BOOM——! BOOM——!”
That roar was heavy as rolling thunder at the bottom of a ten-thousand-fathom abyss, carrying the supreme biological majesty of an apex predator—frigid, brutal, and ravenous for slaughter. This oppressive pressure was so terrifying that it far surpassed any Warrior Class beast Lin Feng had ever encountered.
It was the aura of a being that had at least reached the COMMANDER CLASS!
A Commander-level Sea Beast that had slumbered beneath the depths of Blood Wave Bay for centuries had been awakened by the collapse of the ancient seal!
“What... what kind of beast’s roar is that?!” Ye Qingwan drew her longsword, her melodious voice laced with rare gravity.
Standing at the crest of the storm, his black hair whipping wildly in the pungent sea wind, Lin Feng stared directly at the collapsing stone wall. There was not a trace of fear in his eyes; on the contrary, a blazing, tempestuous battle will ignited in his dark pupils.
“Whatever it is...”
Lin Feng clenched his fists, lightning, flame, and shadows instantly howling around his frame:
“It arrived right on time. Just in time for me to test how formidable the might of a Quad-Element Intermediate Mage truly is!”