Xue Yin stood at the peak of the cliff, the Moonlight Staff in her hand, the elf script on its surface faintly glowing.
This place was already within the Frost Snow Wasteland of the Demon Realm’s Sixth Ring, the temperature considerably lower than before.
Ailia stood in the distance, pulling her cloak tighter, her breath forming white mist in the air.
“Master…”
Jin’s voice was low, his eyelashes lowered, lacking enthusiasm.
“I haven’t fully mastered the ferocity of the black flame yet. The last thing I want is to hurt you. The thought of truly fighting you with all my might, just imagining that scene, I…”
Xue Yin shook her head.
“Are you already assuming in your heart that you can hurt me? You must learn to control the power of your bloodline and completely master it.”
“Master knows I don’t mean it that way. Can’t we find another method to improve my strength?”
Jin’s voice was full of grievance.
Xue Yin tightened her grip on the staff, afraid she might soften and retract her command the next second.
Her tone carried an indisputable severity.
“Combat is the best teacher. And during the process, I will guide you step by step, making it twice the result with half the effort. If you keep dawdling, I’m going to get angry. This is not a discussion; no objections allowed!”
Seeing he couldn’t persuade Xue Yin, Jin took a deep breath.
“I understand.”
He retreated five steps, sheathed his dagger, and slowly spread his wings.
“Then Master must be careful.”
A slight smile touched the corner of Xue Yin’s mouth.
“Just what I wanted.”
Xue Yin made the first move.
The Moonlight Staff lightly tapped the ground.
Silver light rippled outward, the moss on the ground growing wildly, transforming into supple vines that wove together into an arc-shaped fence, both sealing the space and leaving room for evasion.
Jin saw that his master’s move was gentle, not like a fight, more like an invitation.
He hesitated no longer.
With a beat of his wings, his figure shot out like a phantom.
Black flame grazed the edge of the vines, aiming straight for Xue Yin’s shoulder.
The force was precise, only seeking to force her to dodge, not to harm a hair.
Xue Yin sidestepped to avoid it.
The tip of her staff tapped the ground again, and the vines, like living snakes, coiled towards Jin’s ankles.
“Too light,” she said.
“You’re holding back.”
Jin gritted his teeth, increasing his force a bit.
Black flame gathered at his knuckles as he punched, shattering the coiling vines.
“Like that.”
Xue Yin retreated half a step, leading him forward.
“Continue.”
The two moved back and forth within the fence.
Jin’s attacks grew faster, his use of black flame gradually shifting from stiff to fluid.
Thinking he had grasped the knack, he began to attack more boldly.
Suddenly, Xue Yin withdrew her staff and stood still, neither dodging nor avoiding.
Jin’s fist stopped a hair’s breadth from Xue Yin’s nose.
The fist wind, carrying the residual heat of the scorching black flame, blew her silver bangs into disarray.
The tips of her silver hair brushed against his taut knuckles, stirring a faint, ticklish sensation.
“Master?” He panted, his eyes full of confusion and lingering fear.
“Do you think you’ve mastered it?”
Xue Yin asked.
Jin hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Xue Yin didn’t speak.
She just raised her staff and lightly tapped his chest.
A gentle yet irresistible force surged into his body.
The black flame, like a bursting dam, erupted violently around Jin!
“Ah—!”
Jin screamed.
The black flame surged out of control.
The vines were instantly incinerated to ash.
The ground beneath his feet cracked and blackened.
The shockwave sent rubble swirling into the air.
“Master… I…” His voice trembled with fear.
“I can’t control it…”
“Ailia, move further back. Protect yourself.”
Xue Yin did not retreat.
She continued speaking to Jin.
“If you can’t control it, then don’t. Don’t worry about hurting me. I’ve definitely made preparations in advance.”
Xue Yin took hold of his trembling wrist, guiding his hand to slowly press down.
“The black flame is a part of you, not your enemy. You must learn to actively guide it.”
Jin gritted his teeth, bit by bit pulling the overflowing black flame back.
Sweat soaked through his clothes.
The Heart-Binding Chain bit into his flesh, drawing beads of blood.
He chanted silently in his heart:
I absolutely cannot let the black flame burn Master.
Xue Yin’s hand remained on his wrist, not letting go.
Finally, the black flame ceased its rampage.
It swirled around Jin’s body.
Jin gasped for breath, looking up at her. “Is this… control?”
“Just the beginning.”
Xue Yin released his hand.
“A moment ago, you thought you had learned, but you had only touched the threshold.”
She retreated several steps, lightly waved her staff, and softly chanted an incantation.
Silver light surged like a tide in all directions.
“Now, I’m going to increase the pressure.”
“In The Name Of The High Elves, Open The Realm—Moon Court!”
With her as the center, within a hundred paces, the space suddenly became crystal clear!
Moss spread.
The wind condensed into threads.
Even Jin’s breathing became distinctly audible.
This was the High Elves’ temporary rewriting of natural law:
In this domain, creation was the rule, blocking all traces of magical power from overflowing.
Jin felt the black flame within him, like a tamed wild horse, galloping through his veins yet not losing control.
“Master, what is this?”
“My battlefield.”
Xue Yin landed, her staff pointing diagonally.
“Now, use all your power to break through it!”
Jin was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled.
“Alright.”
His wings spread wide.
The Heart-Binding Chain on his left wrist blazed like the sun.
This time, he did not hesitate.
“Then I won’t hold back, Master!”
Before his words faded, Jin vanished.
His Fallen Angel bloodline fully activated, combined with the intermediate wind magic “Rift Step.”
His figure transformed into a black afterimage.
Xue Yin did not dodge.
She stood at the center of the Moon Court domain.
The strings of her Still Domain automatically unfurled, providing a 360-degree, blind-spot-free perception of the incoming trajectory.
‘Left side, three inches, elbow strike; but the real killing move is the black flame thrust from the sole!’
Her staff swept horizontally.
The vines on the ground instantly surged upward, forming a spiral vine shield!
Black flame exploded.
The vine shield shattered into green mist, forcing Jin’s true body out.
Xue Yin chanted softly.
The power of the realm activated.
Dozens of ice spikes condensed in the air, their cold light glinting, shooting down like a torrential rain!
Jin swiftly retracted his wings.
Black flame covered his body like armor, hardening to withstand the ice spikes.
Amid the flying ice shards, his right wing slammed the ground, using the force to propel himself upward.
His left hand summoned black flame into a long whip, lashing straight at Xue Yin’s waist!
Xue Yin pressed her staff down.
An ice wall rose from the ground.
The black flame whip struck the ice surface, exploding into a sky full of white mist.
She passed through the mist barrier.
The tip of her staff tapped rapidly, sending wind blades, ice spikes, and vines shooting out alternately, giving Jin no chance to catch his breath.
Jin dodged left and right.
Black flame wove into a swirling vortex around him, blocking the incoming spells one by one.
Jin gritted his teeth, no longer passively defending.
His right wing swept horizontally, stirring a gale that scattered the white mist.
Locking onto Xue Yin’s position, his figure shot forth violently!
Xue Yin tapped her staff on the ground.
Three stone walls rose from the earth, layered one after another before her.
Jin punched through the first, the second, the third.
As his fist penetrated the final layer of stone, Xue Yin was no longer there.
He looked up sharply to see Xue Yin descending from above, her staff wrapped in wind pressure, slashing straight down! Jin had no time to dodge, only able to cross his wings to block.
Thud!
Jin was smashed to one knee, the ground beneath his feet cracking into a web-like pattern.
“Power is sufficient. Judgment is not.”
Xue Yin used the force to flip backward, landing steadily.
Jin stood up, patted the dirt from his knee, and the corner of his mouth curved up.
“Then Master must be careful.”
The two moved back and forth within the Moon Court domain.
Magic and black flame collided.
Rubble flew.
Ice shards and sparks intertwined.
The ground was blasted with one scorched black pit after another.
Xue Yin no longer held back, even simultaneously controlling three elements, attacking from different angles.
Jin added several wounds to his body under the storm-like onslaught, but he never retreated.
“Master!” he suddenly shouted.
“Take this move!”
Black flame condensed around Jin into four fire dragons, roaring as they pounced on Xue Yin from four directions.
Simultaneously, he himself vanished into the curtain of flame, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
A flicker of satisfaction passed through Xue Yin’s eyes.
She raised her staff high.
The Demon Rose at her lower abdomen glowed brightly.
Water vapor in the air condensed into countless fine water threads, weaving into a giant net.
The fire dragons crashed into the water net, hissing loudly, evaporating into a sky full of white mist.
Jin charged out from the mist.
His fist, condensed with the combined power of black flame and wind pressure, punched straight at Xue Yin!
Xue Yin did not dodge.
She compressed her magic power to the tip of her staff.
Lightning flashed brilliantly, meeting his fist.
BOOM—!
The shockwave exploded.
Both were forced back.
“You had a chance just now to bypass the water net and attack from the side,” Xue Yin said.
“But you chose to charge head-on.”
Jin looked down at his fist.
Xue Yin’s electric magic still crackled between his fingers, carrying a faint, tingling numbness.
“I wanted to see if I could break through Master’s defense head-on.”
“And the result?”
“Seems… not easy to break through.”
He admitted honestly.
“Final round.”
She declared.
“Use all your power. Break through me head-on, as you wished.”
Jin took a deep breath.
His wings slowly folded.
The black flame no longer radiated outward but was drawn inward into his body.
He closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, Xue Yin’s reflection was mirrored in his molten gold pupils.
“Jin Heart—No-Self!”
He abandoned all defense.
His wings folded.
All the black flame in his body condensed to a single point.
His figure transformed into a black meteor trailing the sound of tearing air, shooting straight at Xue Yin!
This strike had no technique, no form—only trust and speed!
Xue Yin’s Still Domain strings screamed warnings but could not lock onto Jin’s trajectory.
Because this extreme-speed strike held no killing intent, only intent.
She suddenly smiled, her heart filled only with relief and satisfaction.
No blocking, no dodging, no defense.
Let that light-arrow pierce through her Moon Court domain.
Whoosh!
“I won.”
His voice was excited.
Xue Yin knelt on one knee.
She looked up, her cold star-like eyes gazing at him, carrying a trace of weary smile.
“Mmm, you won.”
Jin retracted his wings, helped Xue Yin sit down, and rested his forehead against her shoulder, his voice muffled.
“Even though I could feel Master guiding me on the battlefield the whole time, the reward still can’t be skipped.”
Xue Yin was stunned.
“What?!!!”
“You said if I won, there’d be a reward.”
He said happily.
“I want… Master’s lap pillow.”
The smile on Xue Yin’s face instantly froze.
Her mind went completely blank.
She instinctively avoided Jin’s gaze, frantically retracing their conversation from not long ago.
When on earth did I ever promise something like ‘a reward for winning’?!