In the lecture area of Qingzhou Academy, a group of people wearing black robes embroidered with three flames were blocking the entrance.
By the time Ye Futian and Feng Qingxue entered, many people had already gathered around, lecturers and students alike. In fact, some of the big chiefs had also heard about the situation, and were arriving as well.
They just blocked the entrance to the lecture area. Ye Futian was shocked by how rude these people from Heiyan Academy were.
The fact that Ye Futian and Feng Qingxue had showed up together surprised a lot of people. Just two months ago, there were rumors this bastard had hugged Qin Yi; now he was hanging around Feng Qingxue. They believed that the academy should absolutely expel him, but not now, as they were facing an imminent external threat.
They knew why the Heiyan Academy students were here. The intruders had terrible intentions to stir up some trouble.
"The directors of the halls are here." People made way for the group of big chiefs to let them through. They were from the College of Martial Arts and the College of Sorcery. They looked very serious about the group from Heiyan Academy. They knew these troublemakers had been planning to come to this place days ago when they had first arrived in the city.
It was snowing heavily now. People were cold, not only from the snow, but from the danger being posed by the intruders.
"This is the sacred lecture hall of Qingzhou Academy. You have come a long way to be here, so why don't we pick a quiet space to have a word?" a director said to the Heiyan group.
"No need for that. This is going to be quick. Just say what you need to here." The leader of the Heiyan group had dark skin, and his face was chiseled. His eyes looked exactly like those of an eagle. He was insulting Qingzhou Academy with the way he spoke. He did not need to be polite, as they were only here to show off their power.
"Bring it on." Leng Qingfeng, the Director of the Hall of the Sword, understood what was happening. He wanted to get down to business.
"It's been years since the last time we came here. Over the years, many young students in our academy have shown their talents. They are always trying to get some new experiences with people from other places. Therefore, I have brought them here to be challenged by your young talents, who have been nurtured in this sacred place," the Heiyan leader said in a cold voice. He then looked back to the young students standing behind him. "You asked for a challenge. Now, come here and accept the challenges."
All the young students looked to be under eighteen, and the youngest of them looked about thirteen. However, they were staring at the students of Qingzhou Academy with disdain.
Bastard. The students of Qingzhou Academy were pissed off. They clenched their fists, looking forward to teaching these intruders a lesson.
A boy stepped forward from the Heiyan group. He appeared to be around sixteen-years-old, and was tall and slim. In fact, he looked like a student from a regular academic school, not a kung fu academy.
"Mu Jiang, from the Heiyan Academy, in the ninth Awakening Plane, the Unmaker, will accept any challenge." He spoke politely. However, he was so calm that it appeared he was actually very proud, and that he did not take any possible challenges seriously.
A student stepped forward from the Qingzhou Academy group.
"Qiu Yan, the Unmaker Plane," he began introducing himself, also peacefully. He had been outstanding in the Spring Quarter Exam this year and had become official. He had always been a powerful and famous mage at this academy.
"Bring it on," Mu Jiang nodded to accept. Qiu Yan suddenly started charging. He was fast, to tsay the least. The power of martial arts was all around his body, but there was a faint flame bursting out. Apparently, he had double cultivation in martial arts and sorcery, and sorcery was the major.
Mu Jiang seemed indifferent. He just stood still and waited.
The masters of Qingzhou Academy saw the danger coming. Mu Jiang was calm, to the point where he seemed to prepared for the attack.
Qiu Yan was approaching his opponent fast. The fire-element power around him became frenzied, and turned into lotuses. The lotuses burned the air with a sizzling sound. Suddenly, the snow from the ground gathered around the body of Mu Jiang. His body was covered with snow, looking almost as if he was frozen.
The attack from Qiu Yan landed. The flaming lotuses suddenly burst into an ocean of fire, engulfing Mu Jiang's body completely. This made the students of Qingzhou Academy really excited, as such a powerful attack from a mage of the highest Awakening Plane could destroy anyone who dared to take them without evading.
However, the excitement ended in seconds. A freezing breath permeated through the flames and drove them away from Mu Jiang. Soon after, people found that Qiu Yan's hands were frozen, and that the ice was traveling up his body.
"What the…."
"He's frozen." People in Qingzhou Academy soon realized that Mu Jiang was a water-element mage. He countered Qiu Yan's element..
Qiu Yan was now trembling with frostbite. Half of his body was already frozen, and the other half was soon to be as well. In fact, he could be entirely encased in ice in seconds.
"Stop!" a master of Qingzhou Academy yelled. Mu Jiang listened to the command and stopped. He reached his hand out to pat the head of Qiu Yan. Qiu Yan fell to the ground, entirely immobilized.
People from the Qingzhou group soon took him to the medical room. His life had been endangered by the frostbite already.
"He just attacked without a backup plan, not even knowing the elemental attributes of his opponent. Is that what your masters teach you to do, losers?" Mu Jiang was still peaceful and arrogant. He returned back to the group once he finished speaking. People in Qingzhou Academy were chilled by his power, as they seldom saw a mage that was able to freeze another mage at only the Awakening Plane level.
Once Mu Jiang was back in his group, another young man stepped forward. His eyes were as sharp as the sword on his back. He was apparently a powerful swordsman.
"Eighth Awakening Plane," he began saying. He was too lazy to say his name; he was more arrogant than Mu Jiang.
"I'll accept the challenge," someone responded.
"Wow, it's senior Li Qingshan." People held high expectations for the responder. Li Qingshan had ranked third on the List of Excellence for the Spring Quarter Exam this year. He was now cultivating in the Hall of the Sword.
"I'll take you down with only three strikes," the young man from Heiyan Academy bragged.
What a presumptuous bastard. Li Qingshan was angry.
"Please." Li Qingshan unsheathed his sword; it whistled through the air.
The power of the sword was a specific martial arts power, and a great one at that. The Spiritual Qi in the universe was condensed into the sword to attack the enemy. This power was not less than the element power of a mage; the attack from a swordsman would be terrifying.
Li Qingshan had learned his lesson from Qiu Yan. He remained cautious and still. However, the young man began to laugh. He said, "So obedient."
Right after he spoke, he charged towards Li Qingshan. He was almost as fast as the wind, so fast that the snow covering the ground was disturbed by his speed.
"Be careful, he's a wind-element mage." The Qingzhou Academy group was shocked; a wind-element mage with sword cultivation would be dangerous.
Li Qingshan looked serious about this attack. He was anticipating the attack, and countered it in a moment with a lightning-fast strike. His enemy was faster, however. The sword took a curve around his body with the wind-element power, so fast that Li Qingshan could not even detect its direction.
Li Qingshan's sword began shaking to condense its power. Soon, Li Qingshan took his first strike at his enemy. However, his opponent dodged the attack quickly, sidestepping the blade.
"Senior!" People were really nervous about the situation on the battlefield, as the combat between the two swordsmen could be life-threatening to both of them.
Li Qingshan directed the power of the sword to his left palm and used its power to block the attack from his side. His enemy used the same tactic again, and rushed behind him for a strike he could never anticipate. The sword was swung, and Li Qingshan fell down with a shriek. His back was severely wounded by the blade; it would not stop bleeding.
"Third strike it is." His enemy sheathed his sword and went back to his group. The people of Qingzhou Academy now felt even worse because they now knew that Heiyan Academy had sent some compelling figures to cause serious trouble this time.
"To be honest, it's a waste of time if the students of Qingzhou Academy keep performing so poorly like this." Another young man came forward from the Heiyan group. His complexion was bright, and his eyes were shining with arrogance. His ego could be sensed by everyone there.
"Hey, why do you want to waste your time on these losers?" someone behind him asked.
He shook his head and answered, "I am here to make sure these losers know how horrible they are. I am in the seventh Awakening Plane, the Mystery, and I will accept challenges from students in any Awakening Plane."
The students of Qingzhou Academy were shocked. This guy was only in the Mystery Plane, yet he was asking for challenges regardless of plane limitation? How arrogant was that?
"I'll challenge you," Yang Xiu responded. He had been humiliated during the Fall Quarter Exam. He needed to prove himself again.
"I'll challenge you as well." Some other people also responded and stepped forward.
The young man took a glance at them and said, "Bring it on all at once, you fools."
Right after he spoke, he stomped hard on the ground, and the snow was removed by the aftershock. A pattern began to show up on the ground. The challengers began their attacks, but the young man seemed to ignore them. He kept stomping, and more complicated patterns appeared on the ground, with ancient letters engraved on them.
"That's a matrix." The big chiefs of Qingzhou Academy were in awe of this young man. In fact, he looked like he was not even fifteen yet. He looked too young to build a matrix, let alone build one this fast.
The Spiritual Qi was now centering on the middle of this matrix. The young man was standing on the powerful matrix, looking at the opponents with contempt. The challengers began to realize something was wrong, but it was already too late. They looked at each other, then launched their attacks together.
Seeing the incoming attacks, the young man did nothing but laugh. He soon responded to the attacks, another matrix showing up behind his body. His body was now radiant with the glow from this new matrix, surrounded by the power of fire.
"Go, pythons," he commanded. All of a sudden, giant flaming pythons rushed out of the matrix behind him and began attacking the enemy. In fact, the flame python summoned by Yang Xiu was so small and weak compared to the giant monsters that the challengers could not hold off the attack for even a moment.
The Director of the Hall of Water Element stepped out and cast a spell. The temperature dropped, and a freezing bite attacked the giant flaming pythons. They quickly dissipated in the snowstorm summoned by the director.
The challengers were now lying on the ground, injured and in pain. They could have died if not for the snow storm summoned by the director.
"Oh my gosh, he's a Mandate Sorcerer!" The Director looked shocked. But it was the truth. This young man who wasn't even fifteen-years-old was a Mandate Sorcerer!