Elite Mages' Academy

“That was an interesting judgement, and he switches very quickly between attack and defense. To be frank, in terms of being a mage, Chen Dao did it better.” Bai Ning continued with her assessment.

“Could you tell what technique Xiao Lin used?” Yu Mei asked.

“Compression and condensation.” Bai Ning knew what she was looking at in an instant. She remarked, “I’ve heard about him a long time ago. I never expected that he would be able to raise his meditation and perception to such a high level while dual cultivating.”

“It’s probably very hard to compress spells. Have you studied it before?” Yu Mei said with some amusement.

Bai Ning shook her head. “It’s a class taught by Professor Qin. I took part in his course last year, and I understand the principles behind it, but it’s extremely hard to learn. Furthermore, the time it takes to learn it and the benefits you gain aren’t equal. Even though Xiao Lin is decent at compressing spells, he can only do so with Black Iron-ranked ones.”

“So Bronze-ranked ones will be even harder?” Yu Mei’s understanding of magic, especially spell compression, was not great.

“Yes, the difficulty is about equal to learning a Silver-ranked or even Gold-ranked spell, which is why I said it’s not worth it. With that time, it’s much better to learn other spells.” Bai Ning sighed.

“From your professional perspective, do you think Xiao Lin will lose?” Yu Mei asked.

“It’s hard to say. Chen Dao’s talent is hard to judge,” Bai Ning said with some hesitation.

Yu Mei was mildly curious as she shifted her focus back to Chen Dao before going deep in thought. Bai Ning might only be a fourth-year student, but she was exceptional in various areas. If even Bai Ning could not make a judgement, then Chen Dao’s talent was probably not so simple.

Xiao Lin was also speculating on Chen Dao’s talent. The earlier battle against Han Manman had led to him understanding that he needed to be more careful when fighting against talent holders. Using one’s talent at the right time could potentially change any situation.

Xiao Lin controlled the mental energy he was using, and threw out various compressed Black Iron-ranked spells, such as Wind Blade, Flame Ball, and Icicle. The spells were basically raised to a Bronze rank in level after compression, and they benefited from using up less energy, which would allow him to constantly be on the attack.

Chen Dao’s spells were all at quite a high rank. He had the Bronze-ranked Pyroblast, Sea of Flames, and even the Silver-ranked Magma Stream. The man had used it all, and Magma Stream was particularly threatening. That Silver-ranked spell could allow the user to unleash magma that was close to a thousand degrees. Its destructive power was immense, and the monitors whispered among themselves after he used it. It was obvious that they never knew Chen Dao had mastered that spell.

It was that Silver-ranked spell that caused Xiao Lin to finally use Momentary Ruin in order to hold it back, but the training hall had turned completely hot, and the floor was filled with red lava. Thankfully, Yu Mei set up defensive measures in time, and the training hall was made with materials that could withstand Gold-ranked spells, so safety was not an issue.

“Xiao Lin is in trouble.”

“Why do you say that? Chen Dao might have shockingly mastered a Silver-ranked spell, but Xiao Lin managed to clock it.”

“Are you dumb? Look at the floor. It’s filled with flames and lava. How much space is left for them to stand on?”

“I remember that the individual fights are held in an arena?”

“That’s right.”

“I see. If it was a real battle, then Chen Dao might not be able to beat Xiao Lin, but since it’s a tournament, the available space is limited. Xiao Lin really is in trouble. Chen Dao is fighting very smartly.”

…

The discussion among the monitors was heard by Xiao Lin, but even if he did not, he still understood the situation very well. Xiao Lin was conflicted for a moment before he smiled as he looked at Chen Dao. “I didn’t think you’d be trying to use something like this to win.”

“How could that be? I would never use such a petty trick!” Chen Dao widened his eyes as he retorted, causing the monitors who speculated on it to feel awkward.

“In truth, this is the best way. Victory is the only result.” Xiao Lin was a little annoyed. Chen Dao was the youngest among them, having just turned into an adult, and he was quite naive at times.

“I don’t think restricting the area like this is enough to make you lose.” Chen Dao rolled his eyes somewhat mysteriously before he said in an excited tone, “In truth, I’ve been wanting to properly fight you for a long time to see how far apart we are. It’s a pity that it’s so hard to see you, and I finally have a good chance today, so how could I leave any regrets behind?”

“It seems you still have trump cards that you aren’t using.” Xiao Lin raised his eyebrow slightly. He had thought that Chen Dao’s talent was some passive talent, which made it easy to explain how Chen Dao had mastered a Silver-ranked spell so easily, but it seemed like it was not the case.

“Indeed, the active ability of my talent has actually never been revealed to anyone. I’ve never used it, even in any of the prior monthly examinations.”

Xiao Lin’s smile receded. He had researched talents before, and lower-ranked talents normally only had one ability, either active or passive. The higher-ranked talents would not only increase one’s innate skills; they also had various other abilities. For instance, Xiao Lin’s Academic Genius talent had the passive ability of increasing the effectiveness of his learning, and its active skill could replicate the abilities of others.

Even Yu Mei and Bai Ning’s gazes turned into one of shock, and Gu Xiaoyue, who had been disinterested the whole time, looked over with an expression that was deep in thought. Everyone knew that talents with two abilities were at least A-rank, or even S rank!

Xiao Lin and Chen Dao’s battlefield was only a two hundred-meter wide area, and over eighty percent of the area was covered by lava and fire. Even though the training hall’s temperature regulation system had pushed down the temperature, it was still very hot.

Chen Dao’s expression turned brighter as the clothes on his body started to burn. The flames got more and more intense until his entire body was swallowed within, forming a gigantic flaming person.

“Flame God Talent! The S-rank Flame God talent!” The one who exclaimed was Yu Mei. Her tone was quite excited.

“My God! I’ve read about this talent from the records, and it was from over sixty years ago!” Bai Ning widened her eyes in disbelief.