Volume 2: Shenzhou Academy & The Battle of Venice
Chapter 148
Night Shadow Escape and the New Summoning Domain
Early autumn morning mist hung heavy and glistening upon the fiery crimson maple leaves fringing the granite boundary walls of Villa Sixteen. The Gold Eagle Villa District was nestled snugly against the southeastern slopes of the Demon Capital, thoroughly sequestered from the clamorous bustle of the commercial magic avenues sprawling beyond. The early morning air carried a crisp chill, laced with the sweet, verdant scent of damp turf and the faint, salty tang of ocean breezes drifting inland from the bay several miles away.
In the middle of the lush emerald lawn stretching across nearly half an acre in the backyard, Lin Feng stood motionless as a monolith, his eyes gently closed.
The dawn wind swept past, fluttering the hem of his thin black t-shirt against a lean, iron-hard torso. Had a Sensory-element mage been standing anywhere nearby, they would have recoiled in utter disbelief: the space enveloping this youth was visibly bending and warping under the weight of four radically opposed elemental vibrations, churning in layered, interwoven cycles that felt unnervingly harmonious.
Within Lin Feng’s sea of consciousness, an earth-shattering metamorphosis had just concluded following an entire night spent refining the Sea-Azure Spirit Ore.
Only yesterday, his Shadow and Summoning elements had remained modest, flickering novice stardust adrift in his mental cosmos. Now, four majestic Nebulae had formally crystallized, each reigning supreme over a quadrant of his inner firmament!
To the northeast surged the tempestuous Lightning Nebula, where bolts of deep, midnight-purple electricity twisted and roared like a nest of voracious thunder serpents. To the southeast blazed the radiant Fire Nebula, rolling with the incandescent, sky-scorching thermal waves of his Crimson Blaze.
And occupying the remaining two quadrants, the miraculous fruits of last night’s breakthrough stood in breathtaking clarity. The Shadow Nebula was pitch-black as an abyssal void, drinking in every errant photon of light—tranquil, unfathomable, and chilled to the very marrow. Symmetrically opposed to it spun the Summoning Nebula, shimmering with resplendent platinum-silver radiance like an ancient primordial galaxy, casting off translucent dimensional ripples that sent rhythmic tremors through the fabric of space itself.
Four distinct magical elements—four fully consolidated Intermediate Nebulae!
This was a miracle of cultivation that would have sent the teacups crashing to the floor from the trembling hands of even the Super-tier old monsters sequestered deep within Shenzhou Academy. A mere first-year freshman, barely enrolled for half a year, had truly scaled the monumental pinnacle of a Quad-Element Intermediate Mage!
Resting against his bare chest, the Primordial Dragon Pendant clung warm to his skin. The ancient jade surface gave off a slow, deep, resonant pulse, akin to the slumbering heartbeat of a primordial dragon. Having thoroughly absorbed the profound insights of the ancient stone stele from Blood Wave Bay alongside the boundless spiritual reserves of the spirit ore, the divine jade had flushed every meridian and purged every lingering impurity from Lin Feng’s mana pathways, flinging wide open the Intermediate gates for his two auxiliary elements that had previously lagged behind.
“Time to test the harvest...”
Lin Feng murmured under his breath, his eyes snapping open. In the depths of his pitch-black irises flared an ominous, pitch-black glow.
With a mere flick of his mental intent, the forty-nine Shadow star particles within his nebula fell into line with absolute obedience, tracing esoteric orbits through the dark. No longer the rudimentary Star Path of his novice days, seven distinct Star Paths now seamlessly wove together, assembling a flawless hexagonal Shadow Constellation beneath his boots.
The entire constellation manifested in less than a single second! Through relentless, bone-grinding combat drills and the mystic resonance of the Dragon Pendant, Lin Feng’s casting speed had reached the pinnacle realm of instinctive thought.
“Shadow Escape—Void!”
There was no crack of thunder, nor any blistering wave of heat. Beneath Lin Feng’s boots, the morning shadow cast by an ancient maple abruptly twisted and coiled.
If the novice skill Shadow Escape: Glide was merely hitching a ride along surface shadows to skate across the terrain at high speed, then the Intermediate Void represented a fundamental qualitative evolution of reality itself!
The edges of Lin Feng’s black attire dissolved into translucent obscurity. In the fraction of a heartbeat, his entire flesh-and-blood physique dispersed into a wispy wisp of black mist, melting into the dense shadow canopy of the sprawling maple tree without leaving behind so much as a ripple.
One second... Two seconds... Three seconds!
Throughout those three agonizingly precise seconds, Lin Feng felt his body entirely shed the physical constraints of mass and gravity. He was a phantom drifting through the narrow fissures between light and shadow. A withered red maple leaf fluttered down from a high branch, passing cleanly through the space occupied by his sternum without meeting the slightest resistance, landing soundlessly upon the dewy grass below.
Absolute immunity to all physical collisions!
Even if a ferocious torrent of elemental magic had swept through this pocket of space during those three seconds, it would have merely pierced harmlessly through the ethereal vapor without grazing his true form. This was the pinnacle life-saving art that any assassin or frontline combat mage would have sold their soul to possess!
A subtle ripple disturbed the ambient mana. Thirty meters away, beneath the shade of a carved marble statue beside the koi pond, the dispersed black mist converged.
Lin Feng’s slender frame re-materialized with steady grace. Not a sound was made; not a single speck of dust clung to his trousers; even the residual mana fluctuating about his presence was completely swallowed clean by the veil of darkness.
“Overbearing indeed.” A subtle smirk curled the corner of Lin Feng’s lips as profound satisfaction welled up within his chest. “Three seconds of pure incorporeality is more than enough to evade a lethal strike from a Commander-Rank demon beast or a surprise ambush from an Advanced Mage. But Intermediate Shadow magic offers far more than just evasion...”
He pivoted, turning toward a five-ton granite-steel training boulder resting in the corner of the courtyard. The academy housing office had placed this slab specifically for Earth and Strength mages to hone their offensive force, its hardened surface already marked with shallow gashes left by mundane enchanted blades.
Lin Feng slowly raised his right arm. Within his mental realm, the Shadow Nebula churned with violent turbulence, pumping pitch-black mana into the sinews and veins of his forearm.
Thick ribbons of dark miasma, viscous as bubbling tar, began oozing from between his fingertips, twining tightly around his hand before condensing into five razor-sharp talons extending over a foot in length!
The talons were jet-black and glossy, resembling ancient, polished obsidian. The wicked edges emanated faint trails of insidious, toxic vapor that audibly corroded the surrounding air, producing a sinister, muffled sizzling.
Shadow Offensive Art—Night Strike Claws!
Stepping half a pace forward, Lin Feng’s right arm slashed horizontally through the air!
Shhhk——!
The sound produced was neither the jarring screech of metal against rock nor a concussive blast, but rather the silky, effortless whisper of fine fabric being sheared in two.
Five crescent-shaped arcs of black radiance sliced cleanly through the air, carving directly through the five-ton granite-steel boulder. The iron-hard stone yielded before the Night Strike Claws like soft, warm curd!
Five cavernous gashes, gouged straight to the very foundation of the monolith, yawned open. Even more terrifying was the fact that the cut surfaces were anything but clean; they were coated in a film of corrosive black mist, rapidly decaying the crystalline granite into brittle, crumbling ash.
“Not only does it possess devastating physical tearing force, but it carries the virulent properties of dark rot and soul severance.” Retracting the claw phantoms, Lin Feng examined his fingers as they reverted to normal, inwardly calculating: “If this strike were to land squarely on an enemy mage, ordinary mana armor would be shredded in a heartbeat. Even if the target survives the initial trauma, the dark venom and soul-rending damage would render them permanently crippled.”
Previously, when facing agile or close-quarters combatants, he had been forced to rely on the stunning paralysis of Lightning Strike or the broad-area incineration of Crimson Blaze. But now, with the ethereal approach of Shadow Escape: Void combined with the lethal, close-range execution of Night Strike Claws, Lin Feng possessed the full tactical repertoire of a true shadow reaper!
Having tested his Shadow abilities, Lin Feng stretched his shoulders against the cool morning breeze, his mind instantly turning toward the fourth Nebula that had awakened within his soul.
The Summoning Element!
For ordinary summoners, breaking through to the Intermediate tier simply meant a larger mana reservoir to sustain their battle beasts longer on the battlefield, or the qualification to contract a secondary beast. Yet for Lin Feng—whose soul was perpetually nourished by the Primordial Dragon God’s bloodline—his summoning domain had undergone an earth-shattering mutation.
He raised his left hand level with his chest, his index finger tracing an elegant arc through the empty air.
The platinum-silver Summoning Constellation flared into life. A diamond-shaped spatial fissure tore straight through the morning fog, revealing an abyssal, violet-tinted rift crackling with dense lightning and savage demonic essence.
Awoooooooo——!
A deep, imposing howl brimming with primal bloodlust reverberated across the villa’s backyard. The flock of sparrows perched upon the tiled eaves took flight in blind terror, scattering into the dawn sky.
From within the dimensional fissure, a colossal shadow stepped forth with majestic poise.
It was the Abyssal Thunder Wolf!
Yet the demon wolf standing before him was utterly unrecognizable compared to its state back in Blood Wave Bay. Its frame was now built like a light armored vehicle, measuring well over four meters from snout to tail, its massive shoulder ridge reaching level with Lin Feng’s chest. Its sleek, raven-black pelt gleamed like polished ebony, soft to the eye yet bristling with the resilience of tempered steel needles. Along its spine and down the rippling musculature of its four limbs, arcane patterns of deep-purple fiendish flames flickered ominously. Every heavy paw that met the turf left behind small, smoldering embers of dark magical fire.
Its jade-green lupine eyes had shifted to a cold, piercing silver. Pair of curved, razor-sharp fangs protruded past its dark lips, exuding the suffocating, predatory dominance of a beast standing on the very precipice of the Commander Rank!
Most remarkably, Lin Feng could clearly sense that the mental bridge between himself and the Abyssal Thunder Wolf was no longer draining his mana reserves by the second.
The expansion into an Intermediate Summoning Domain had established a permanent, self-sustaining energy conduit. Now, so long as it was not engaged in grueling, high-output combat, the Abyssal Thunder Wolf could freely walk the mortal realm for hours—or even days—at Lin Feng’s side as a steadfast guardian!
The instant it beheld its master, all the savage bloodlust on the great beast’s face vanished without a trace. Its pointed ears folded back, lowering its massive, quill-crested head to affectionately nuzzle its damp nose against Lin Feng’s open palm, letting out soft, rumbling whimpers like an overgrown, pampered pup.
Lin Feng chuckled softly, burying his hand into the wolf’s warm, bristling ruff. “You grew fast, big guy. Looks like the energy from the Sea-Azure Spirit Ore wasn’t wasted on you.”
The Abyssal Thunder Wolf gave its bushy tail a vigorous sweep like a snow broom, scratching its front claws against the earth as though eager to showcase its newfound strength.
“Alright, let’s see what your new bond can do.” Lin Feng tapped a finger against the wolf’s brow.
Upon the wolf’s forehead, a silver, flame-shaped brand flared with brilliant light. Simultaneously, an identical crest ignited between Lin Feng’s brows.
The exclusive auxiliary technique of the Intermediate Summoning tier—Preliminary Beast Soul Fusion!
Boom!
A surge of pure, ferocious primal vitality from the Abyssal Thunder Wolf flooded across the contract brand, cascading into Lin Feng’s four limbs and every meridian throughout his body.
Crack... crackle...
Lin Feng’s skeletal frame resonated with a crisp, rhythmic snapping. While his exterior physique did not mutate into some grotesque half-human monstrosity, his dark pupils flashed with wild, silver-green luminance in an instant, contracting into vertical, razor-sharp slits!
His sensory perception expanded tenfold in a single breath!
He could hear with crystal clarity the rhythmic flutter of a dragonfly’s wings sixty meters away; he could catch the subtle, verdant aroma of wild chrysanthemums blooming outside the compound gate; and his eyesight effortlessly tracked every microscopic drop of dew drifting through the morning air.
“Speed!”
Lin Feng uttered a low growl, driving his heel into the turf.
Whoosh——!
Before the blades of grass beneath his feet could even compress, Lin Feng’s silhouette had completely vanished from sight!
No Wind magic had been invoked; there was no deafening sonic boom. It was purely an explosive burst of sinew power and predatory agility channeled directly from his contracted beast. A series of blurred afterimages traced a flawless zigzag across more than a hundred meters around the courtyard, weaving past the ancient maple trunks so swiftly that the mortal eye could perceive only a dark phantom streaking through the shadows!
When he finally pulled up alongside the Abyssal Thunder Wolf, a miniature vortex stirred up by his sheer velocity swept through the yard, sending a shower of red maple leaves rustling down onto the lawn.
“Spectacular... This purely physical burst of speed is already on par with a second-tier Intermediate Wind Mage channeling a Wind Track!” Lin Feng clenched his fists, marveling at the wild currents of primal strength coursing through his veins, his eyes burning bright with excitement.
“Good heavens above... Am I hallucinating?!”
A shrill cry of utter disbelief floated down from above, shattering the morning serenity.
Lin Feng lifted his gaze.
Standing upon the second-floor balcony of the villa, two stunning young women leaned against the marble balustrade, staring down at the lawn with wide, paralyzed eyes.
Gu Xiaowei was dressed in a pair of oversized, baggy black-and-white panda pajamas, her short hair adorably ruffled and messy from just rolling out of bed. She rubbed her eyes furiously, her jaw practically dropping down to her chest after witnessing the young man flash across the lawn like a specter.
Beside her stood Ye Qingwan. She was draped in an elegant, pale-jade silk morning robe, her long, lustrous black hair cascading over her shoulders like a silk waterfall. In her hands rested a wooden tray bearing a steaming pot of herbal tea. In contrast to Xiaowei’s comical shock, Ye Qingwan’s clear phoenix eyes were filled with profound, breathless astonishment.
As a Wood and Healing mage possessed of acute sensitivity to life-force fluctuations, she comprehended with absolute clarity what she had just witnessed.
“Lin Feng... you... did you just break through to Intermediate in your other two elements as well?” Ye Qingwan set the tray down upon the small tea table, her silvery voice trembling with faint awe.
“What?! Broke through to what?!” Gu Xiaowei shrieked, instantly leaping forward to grab Ye Qingwan’s sleeve, her eyes bulging as she peered over the railing: “Are you saying... this monster didn’t just have Intermediate Lightning and Fire, but even his Shadow and Summoning are... are Intermediate now too?!”
Lin Feng smiled, severing the Beast Soul Fusion. His eyes relaxed back into their familiar, calm ebony shade. Looking up, he gave them a light wave: “Just had some luck absorbing the remaining medicinal potency from the spirit ore late last night. You two are up early.”
“Luck, your head!” Gu Xiaowei puffed her cheeks, stomping her slippered feet against the balcony floor in an equal mix of envy and boundless admiration: “We spent nights on end grinding our teeth just to barely stabilize our third-tier Novice Star Paths, and you swallow spirit stones like candy and suddenly become a Quad-Element Intermediate overnight! Are you even human, you abnormal pervert?!”
Ye Qingwan let out a soft chuckle, her gaze lingering on Lin Feng with warm affection and quiet pride. Looking down at the Abyssal Thunder Wolf lying obediently at Lin Feng’s boots, she noted: “Your Black Wolf’s presence is immensely more oppressive than before; the demonic flames on its body have already begun coalescing into solid substance. It seems that during this Blood Wave Bay expedition, the one who reaped the greatest harvest was you.”
“He endured plenty of pain to achieve this evolution,” Lin Feng smiled, reaching down to pat the wolf’s resting head. The massive beast immediately licked his palm in agreement, prompting Gu Xiaowei on the balcony to burst into giggles.
“Look at that! That terrifying, savage wolf from the arena looks just like a giant puppy begging for treats! Hey Lin Feng, tell him to stay right there—I’m coming down to pet his fur!”
The courtyard was bathed in a gentle, warm light. After harrowing days of risking their lives in the subterranean caverns of Blood Wave Bay, these rare moments of peace within Villa Sixteen were deeply cherished by them all.
Yet that tranquility was destined to be fleeting.
BAM——!
A deafening crash erupted from the front gates of Villa Sixteen. The heavy, rune-inscribed iron gates were shoved violently outward from both sides, slamming against the stone pillars with a shrill, metallic reverberation.
The Abyssal Thunder Wolf’s ears instantly shot straight up. Its sinews tightened like a drawn bowstring, low growls rumbling in its throat as crackles of purple lightning flared around its jaws.
Through the morning sunlight, a figure stumbled into the front courtyard, panting desperately with his clothing in complete disarray.
“Lin Feng! Disaster! We have massive trouble!”
Xie Zhaoyuan’s frantic shouting tore through the peaceful air of the estate. The young master of the Xie Clan Commerce Guild was pale as a ghost, his gold-rimmed spectacles knocked askew, sweat pouring down his forehead and dripping from his chin in rivulets.
Ye Qingwan and Gu Xiaowei’s expressions turned grave in an instant. Without hesitation, they dashed down the spiral stairs from the balcony and into the backyard.
“Zhaoyuan, what happened to make you look like you’re being hunted by ghosts?” Lin Feng knitted his brows, catching Xie Zhaoyuan’s shoulder just as the latter nearly tripped over a granite paving stone.
Xie Zhaoyuan braced both hands against his knees, wheezing like a ruptured bellows, his chest heaving violently. With trembling fingers, he raised the object clutched in his grip. It was a pitch-black sheepskin scroll trimmed with blood-red silk, sealed by a bone-chilling aura of Ice-element mana and emblazoned with the crest of a great clan: a frost sword wrapped in jagged lightning.
“A challenge scroll... A formal, public challenge scroll!” Xie Zhaoyuan swallowed hard, his voice shaking with agitation: “Early this morning, at the academy’s Sky Demon Square... an absolute earthquake went down!”
“Whose challenge? Addressed to whom?” Gu Xiaowei asked urgently, crowding close.
Xie Zhaoyuan lifted his head, his gaze locking dead onto Lin Feng. Each word he uttered landed heavy as lead: “Addressed to Lin Feng! The challenger... is Liu Zhendong!”
The moment the name left his lips, the surrounding air seemed to freeze solid.
Ye Qingwan’s delicate features hardened instantly: “Liu Zhendong? The one ranked twenty-eighth on the Shenzhou Battle Rankings?!”
“The very same!” Xie Zhaoyuan ground his teeth, his tone dripping with both fury and cold dread: “The foremost prodigy of the direct Liu Clan line right here in the Demon Capital! A third-year senior, dual-element peak Intermediate Lightning and Ice, and a core disciple of the Combat College! He... he had his men post a blood-red challenge banner directly onto the stone stele of the Battle Rankings, openly challenging Lin Feng before thousands of students!”
Lin Feng’s brows lifted slightly. A distant fragment of memory drifted to the forefront of his thoughts.
“The Liu Clan... Liu Zhendong?” Lin Feng murmured, his lips curving into a cold, contemptuous arc: “What relation does he bear to that parasite Liu Yifan back in Bian’an City?”
“He is Liu Yifan’s direct older cousin!” Xie Zhaoyuan tightened his grip on the scroll. “During that duel in Bian’an City last year, you shattered Liu Yifan’s arm, completely dragging the honor of the southern branch through the mud. The main clan headquarters here in the Demon Capital took that as a humiliating disgrace. Over the past few months, after you entered the academy and rapidly climbed to Rank Forty-Eight, they were already watching you like hawks.”
Xie Zhaoyuan paused to draw a shuddering breath before continuing: “But this time, it’s different! Liu Zhendong seized the excuse of your return from Blood Wave Bay, fabricating slanderous rumors that you used underhanded schemes to rob Senior Sister Gu Ling of her rightful credit. He has formally issued a life-or-death challenge on the Sky Demon Arena for tomorrow at noon!”
“A life-or-death challenge?!” Gu Xiaowei cried out, her small hands balling into fists of fury: “Has he lost his mind?! A third-year senior who has ruled the Top Thirty for an entire year issuing a life-or-death challenge to a first-year freshman who hasn’t even finished his first semester?! Does the Liu Clan have no shame whatsoever?!”
“The regulations of the Battle Rankings only permit challenges within a ten-rank bracket,” Ye Qingwan analyzed in a measured, icy tone, deep concern clouding her eyes. “Lin Feng is currently ranked forty-eighth, while Liu Zhendong sits at rank twenty-eight—a gap of twenty full ranks! By the statutes of Shenzhou Academy, Lin Feng has the absolute right to decline without losing a single contribution point!”
“That’s where the venom lies!” Xie Zhaoyuan shook his head bitterly, unfurling the parchment: “Liu Zhendong didn’t just submit a standard challenge. He invoked the Liu Clan’s hereditary ancestral prerogative: the ‘Blood Order Challenge.’ In the scroll, he declared that if Lin Feng dares to step onto the Sky Demon Arena, he will wager all three thousand of his academy contribution points alongside a top-grade Ice Soul Spirit Stone valued at ten million gold coins!”
“And if Lin Feng refuses...” Xie Zhaoyuan hesitated, looking at Lin Feng’s impassive face before forcing the words out: “He has already flooded the academy magic forums with venom, proclaiming that... mages from Bian’an City are nothing but cowardly rats, shameless freeloaders who hide behind women’s skirts and stumble into glory by dumb luck. He proclaimed that if you don’t dare accept, every single time you encounter a member of the Liu Clan within the academy grounds, you must bow your head and walk around them!”
The air in the backyard plummeted into suffocating, icy silence.
Every single word of the challenge was arrogant and brazen to the extreme. This was no ordinary martial exhibition; it was a calculated snare engineered to crush Lin Feng’s dignity and self-respect, cornering him onto a lethal proving ground!
Gu Xiaowei’s eyes turned red with rage: “Vile bastards! Seeing Lin Feng rise too fast, they want to use this chance to snap his wings! Lin Feng, you cannot fall for their trap! Liu Zhendong is no ordinary opponent—his Ice Lock has already reached the third tier, and with the premier defensive magic gear bestowed by the Liu Clan, even the top thirty fighters treat his name with immense dread!”
“Xiaowei is right.” Ye Qingwan stepped beside Lin Feng, her voice soft yet unyielding: “Lin Feng, enduring for a time is not cowardice. You are only a first-year freshman; time is entirely on your side. Give yourself just one more year, and forget Liu Zhendong—even the Top Ten of Shenzhou will not be your match. There is no need to gamble your life on the Sky Demon Arena right now.”
All three companions directed anxious, pleading eyes toward the black-clothed youth. They feared that beneath the reckless heat of youth and such vile provocations, Lin Feng might lose his customary composure.
Yet, in stark contrast to Xiaowei’s fury and Ye Qingwan’s worry, Lin Feng stood there in absolute, tranquil silence.
The dawn wind whispered through the maple canopy, fluttering the stray strands of dark hair across his forehead.
His eyes held not a speck of reckless anger; they were serene as the surface of an unfathomable, ancient well. Only those who truly understood Lin Feng knew that whenever he wore such an expression, it signified that the killing intent within his heart had crested its absolute zenith.
He stepped forward, reaching out to accept the gold-trimmed sheepskin scroll from Xie Zhaoyuan’s trembling hands.
The moment his fingertips grazed the icy vellum, the dormant Ice-element mana sealed within seemed to detect an unfamiliar presence. It flared to life, coalescing into needle-sharp icicles that sought to pierce through his skin in a haughty show of intimidation.
“Hmph.”
Lin Feng let out a cold snort. A wisp of brilliant Crimson Blaze burst from his fingertips!
Sizzle——!
Before the haughty frost could even manifest its chill, it was thoroughly vaporized into a puff of white steam by the scorching flame. The entire corner of the sheepskin bearing the Liu Clan’s crest was consumed in an inferno, reduced to a handful of charcoal ash that fluttered harmlessly onto the grass.
Lin Feng lifted his eyes, gazing toward the distant center of the Demon Capital, where the colossal spire of the Sky Demon Arena pierced straight through the azure heavens.
A cold, arrogant smile curled across his lips—chilling to the very bone:
“Liu Zhendong... Rank Twenty-Eight on the Battle Rankings?”
He turned back to face his three companions, who watched him with bated breath. His voice was low, yet resonated with an indomitable, iron-willed grandeur:
“Back in Bian’an City, I could snap the legs of that cur Liu Yifan. Here in the Demon Capital, Liu Zhendong is nothing more than a slightly larger stepping stone.”
“He wants to trample the honor of Bian’an? He wants to cripple my cultivation to restore the Liu Clan’s fallen prestige?”
Lin Feng clenched his right fist tightly. Within his spiritual sea, four Intermediate Nebulae surged in unison like a roaring tidal tempest, whipping his dark hair wildly against the wind:
“How convenient. My Intermediate Nebulae have just formed, and I happen to lack a worthy whetstone to sharpen my blade!”
“Zhaoyuan, go deliver my answer to Liu Zhendong and the entirety of Shenzhou Academy...”
The battle intent in Lin Feng’s eyes ignited like rolling subterranean magma, his resolute declaration echoing with finality across the entire estate:
“Tomorrow at noon, at the Sky Demon Arena... This challenge—I, Lin Feng, accept!”