Back at the martial academy, Shui faced Rizer in a nostalgic setting. In the trial, Shui lost to him once and then returned to defeat him, and after the trial, when he came to Cyrus, he had given him a fatal wound.
'Tch, he should have just died.'
Shui clearly remembered that time when he shot a cursed rock through Rizer's body, but through some method he seemed to have survived. However, judging from the fact that he was only in early Earth Realm, Rizer obviously hadn't recovered easily.
The only reason he was able to keep his life was because of a precious pill that he had kept hidden, but the damage that the curse caused before he took the pill was irreversible. Since that day, he kept searching for Shui, but was never able to find him, and even though he was right in front of him, he wasn't aware.
"Hmm, I was allowing the locals to go but, I guess you would be an exception."
Shui didn't adjust his voice so Rizer felt irritated just from hearing it, but he attributed that to his anger towards this enemy. Rizer couldn't clearly see through Shui's cultivation, but he didn't think it was too high based on the fact that he didn't feel as scared as when he faced the former elders of the Lava Stream Sect. Maybe he wouldn't be his match, but he had no reason to fear him.
"Hmph, you fool! Your grave has already been made, and once that mask is off everyone associated with you will be next. What you're doing is only dragging them to their deaths. But if you drop on your knees right now I might be able to plead your case to the esteemed elders. Now, hurry and-"
In the middle of flapping his gums, Rizer felt a blow across his cheek.
"You talk too much."
As if he couldn't believe what just happened, Rizer slowly raised his hand and put it on his cheek, only to flinch from the spike in pain. In terms of damage, it was less than a serious punch, but this caused even the bystanders to look at him with pity.
He didn't know how he slapped him, but that didn't matter. Enduring this absolute humiliation was impossible for Rizer who was used to crushing others beneath him. Even when he needed to butter up his superiors, none of them would slap a smiling face, and yet this unknown assailant dared to treat him this way.
While trembling in rage, Rizer shouted, "I'll kill you!!!"
Without any concern for the spectating students, he erupted with flames that scattered in all directions.
"Ahhh!"
"It burns! It burns!"
There were no deaths but those near to Rizer were inflicted with severe burns, while those closer to Shui only felt a burst of hot air. Watching Rizer glare at him with hatred while preparing a spell, Shui could already tell what spell he would use.
"Ha!!! Take this!"
Just as he thought, flames transformed into various armaments that flew towards him. This wasn't the first time he faced this spell, so his response was already set.
"Hmph, let me show you what a real fire spell is like."
To face the artillery of flaming weapons, Shui sent a flock of yellow fiery birds. The birds seemed more lifelike and the yellow fire was more stable, but Shui still wasn't satisfied by this spell yet. However, these fire birds were on a different tier compared to Rizer's spell.
"What?!"
Each one gulped up the flaming arsenal and charged while getting hotter and hotter. By the time they ate up all of Rizer's spell, the flock of them crowded Rizer's sight and approached him with heat that made him uncomfortable. Rizer tried to defend with a barrier, but only two birds were needed to shatter the barrier while the rest slammed into his position.
There was a huge burst of flames that seemed to signal Rizer's end, but Shui could tell that someone had interfered.
Sure enough, after the explosion settled, a barrier formed by a shield artifact was seen around Rizer and another figure who stood behind him. This figure was about the same age as the oldest student in the martial academy, so he was rather young, but his cultivation was the highest here, matching Rizer's former cultivation.
With an arrogant demeanour he retrieved the shield, but he was well aware of how much damage it took. It was obvious how much stronger Shui was compared to Rizer, but judging by the cracks that were now on his spirit-rank artifact, he wouldn't have been able to handle that attack either.
'Who is this?'
Despite his knowledge on all the local geniuses and experts, he wasn't able to distinguish Shui based on the spell he used. The concept of the spell itself wasn't that rare, but he didn't know anyone who could use it to the same extent that Shui could.
"Young Lord Cino! Thank you for-"
"Shut up, trash."
The young man made no attempt to hide his disdain for Rizer, but Rizer could only bitterly smile. From the moment he arrived, the young man, Cino, only had his eyes on Shui.
"You seem to be quite bold to charge in here. Do you dare state your name?"
"Do you think you're worth hearing my name?"
The young man clenched his fist tight, but responded coldly.
"I admit that you're decently strong, but if you think you can mess with us and leave alive, you're sadly mistaken."
"Oh, prove it to me then."
Shui didn't make a single move, but the young man and Rizer suddenly felt a massive pressure pressing down on them.
'He can exert this much pressure with just his aura?!'
Although both Cino and Rizer acknowledged his strength, they didn't think he was too much stronger than them. That he still couldn't compare to the elders. However, this pressure was something that only a Sky Realm expert would be able to exert.
Though he was the one who would succeed the eldest of the supreme elders to lead their new force, Cino knew his limits. If it was someone in the Earth Realm, even if they were at the peak then he would want to test his skills, but this was a foe for the elders. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to call his elders for help under this pressure so he could only trust his backup plan.
As the two trembled while resisting his pressure, Shui slowly approached them.
"What's wrong, weren't you going to prove that I wouldn't leave here alive? Where did that bravado go? If you don't back up your words, the one who's going to die here, will be you."
At this time some students had fled the scene, but a large portion still remained to see history created before their very eyes.
"Senior Brother!"
With the commotion that this was causing, the other former disciples of the Lava Stream Sect came out to help their senior brother, but none were able to enter a fifty-foot radius of them because of an invisible barrier.
They could only watch helplessly as the enemy got closer to Cino. When Shui was right in front of him and raised his hand, all held their breaths in anticipation for the next move, but Cino was sure of what would happen next.
As soon as Shui was about to swing his hand down on Cino, a blade shined on its way through Shui's back.
"What?!"