I was quite surprised. To think he would break through this.

It seems that if you’re a direct blood relative, your level is indeed different.

‘Although the help of that artifact must have been great.’

I stared at the bracelet with the blue jewel embedded in it.

Just like a martial artist’s famous sword or a mage’s staff, that artifact was amplifying Zhuge Paegang’s energy.

“Consider it an honor. Since I came to the academy, the number of times I’ve taken out this Cheongeumcheon can be counted on one hand.”

As soon as Zhuge Paegang’s words ended, a blue light formed on the Cheongeumcheon, and a desolate energy scattered.

‘Interesting.’

Just by using an artifact, the opponent’s control and interference over the five elements had increased. If there were an artifact that could assist magic like that, it would be much easier to face an enemy.

I dropped a jade stone on the floor and fell into thought.

“You’re just standing there blankly. Have you already given up?”

Zhuge Paegang stretched his arm with the Cheongeumcheon diagonally downwards as if to mock me.

A cool energy spread, and it transformed the area into a field of white frost. Then, the ice fragments that had fallen on the floor began to take root and grow.

Crack!

An ice flower that slowly bloomed.

The white flower that had grown, containing the cold air, filled the area with Zhuge Paegang at the center.

It was a fantastic sight that even created the illusion of being in a white snowfield.

“I’m curious. At this level, what’s your rank in the family?”

I opened my mouth in a low voice. Now, even a white breath came out.

It was something that couldn’t happen in this season, when early summer was approaching. But in a formation, all of this was possible.

“Ha, have you felt the wall? At this level, you can’t even be counted on both hands in the family!”

Along with Zhuge Paegang’s confident voice, buds formed on the ice flowers, and then they began to burst.

Craaack-!

The condensed cold air spewed out a mist and filled the area. A yin qi that was incomparably thicker than the mist at the beginning.

As a result, the curtain of the trap formation began to churn. As a pressure difference between the outside and the inside began to form, a crack began to form in the formation little by little.

“Then that’s a relief.”

Even though it was a crisis situation where the formation could burst at any moment, I answered with an indifferent voice.

“Because I would have been disappointed if the potential of the Zhuge family was only this much.”

“You’ve lost your mind!!”

At the provocation, Zhuge Paegang shouted, scattering the yin qi even more thickly. Anyone could see that it was a disadvantageous situation, so it was only natural to react like that.

“What can you do in this small formation? Bring out the flames like the first move. The surroundings will be devastated by the clash of yin and yang!”

This was his aim. In the first place, since the trap formation was made for one-time use, it was not a structure that could withstand a strong clash of the five elements.

It was also the reason why he had been running wild without looking back and forth.

Because from the perspective of the one who had chosen the defense, if the trap formation were to break, it would be an immediate defeat.

But I couldn’t just leave it as it is. The more the yin qi thickened and the cold air settled on the floor, the easier it was for the trap formation to break in the imbalance of the five elements.

Or, I would slowly lose the initiative due to the unique erosion effect of an ice-type formation.

The surroundings freeze. In the white land covered with frost, the formation itself shrinks, and a crack begins to form.

A pure white, unstable world where the yin qi rages. In the midst of it, I opened my mouth.

“Yin and yang are originally one, but do you know why they clash?”

“What?”

Rumble-

The surroundings churn. The formation, unable to overcome the discrepancy due to the excessive yin qi, began to contract inwards.

“It’s for harmony. By accepting the differences and becoming one, the impurities of the opposite poles pop out, and a transformation occurs.”

“…Are you trying to give me a lecture?”

Even while that was happening, the trembling continued within the formation. But as time went on, something was strange. The vibration was on a different level from the vibration that came from the ceiling and all directions when the formation collapsed.

The ground was trembling. As if it were a certain omen.

“What if there are no impurities of the two? What would you do? If one side is that pure, and on top of that, it’s a karma fire that not only accepts the opponent’s opposite pole but even swallows it.”

“You’re talking nonsense. Even a flame burned from a fire stone cannot contain only fire qi. Are you saying you’re a divine being?”

He looked at the area filled with ice and snow as if it were ridiculous.

“There isn’t that much energy of the five elements left in this formation right now. Are you dreaming in the cold?”

Whether that was the case or not, I dropped another jade stone I was holding on the floor. A white jade that fell as if it were being sucked into the thick snow that had settled up to my feet.

In the ever-growing vibration, I asked him again.

“A formation is a single world that circulates. If there is such a vast amount of yin qi in the center of the formation, where would the yang qi be pushed to?”

“Ha, now you’re even acting like a teacher. Of course, it’s the outside! Or the boundary…”

“Really?”

I amplified the mana of the second circle and concentrated the mana on the white jade in my hand. The white jade, which had been white, was heated red-hot and then began to shine yellow.

“Since you’re so curious, I’ll show you a little. How I’ve survived until now with what kind of ability.”

And then I dropped the white-yellow jade, which had turned into a flame ball, right into the center of the formation.

Sizzle!

Even before the flame ball reached the center, the snow path melted from the radiant heat. In the hot heat that rushed in afterwards, a lake was created as if drawing a concentric circle.

The bubbling pond soon began to emit steam and evaporate.

“W-why isn’t it reacting?”

Zhuge Paegang looked at the boiling lake as if he were flustered.

He had put clumps of yin qi in the roots of the ice flowers like thunder bombs. So that they would explode in reaction to the heat. But to think they would melt in an instant without any reaction like this.

‘It’s impossible unless there’s a considerable difference in firepower, or if the compatibility is not matched.’

While Zhuge Paegang was inwardly astonished, the bottom of the lake, which had soon revealed its bottom.

Zhuge Paegang’s lips trembled as he faced the bottom of the formation, which had been hidden by the snow and was not visible.

“In what gap?! No, this can’t be…!”

“Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s gone.”

On the floor, a land that had cracked like the shell of a turtle and revealed a crack of red lava was spread out.

Despair was cast on Zhuge Paegang’s face, which was tinged with a reddish light.

The ice flower he had shown was a kind of illusion that had grown by eating yin qi, imitating the principles of nature.

A phenomenon that was possible because it was a formation that imitated and implemented the principles of nature. In that case, it was also possible to reproduce the overwhelming force of nature here.

A disaster.

A part of the disaster of overwhelming majesty that could swallow a whole country had manifested here.

“I had a hard time secretly gathering the geothermal heat that you had driven out without any impurities. And on the side, I also added my own energy.”

Bang! Bang!

As soon as the words were finished, flames soared from the churning floor.

“Impossible…”

Pillars of fire that spewed out as if the end of the world had come. The heat flame dyed the world red, swallowing the ice flowers that were spread all over.

“How dare you!!”

Along with a shout, Zhuge Paegang’s black sleeves fluttered, and the Cheongeumcheon flashed.

Fwoosh-!

But the compressed flame melted the ice flowers from their roots and swallowed them before they could even react. Like a snake made of flames.

Zhuge Paegang, who had lost all control in the red-dyed karma fire, stood blankly. Until the pure white garden he had created had all burned up.

“One quarter of an hour (15 minutes) is over. It’s my victory.”

I opened my mouth in the middle of the trap formation, which had turned into a lava zone.

The opponent had overlooked two things. First, he had been careless against me, and second, this side knew how to handle the energy of the five elements freely as long as the circle allowed.

It meant that I could control the formation strongly without the help of an artifact.

For example, the opponent was playing chess with only the basic pieces, but I could freely carve a queen and a knight and place them on the board.

We were playing a different game from the beginning.

Of course, Zhuge Paegang, who didn’t know this, was looking at me with a dumbfounded expression.

“Since I won the bet, I’ll speak informally now.”

I dismantled the trap formation as it was. Then, the terrain that had been changed by the influence of the formation wavered and then changed into a back road within the Martial Academy.

“Since you bet the honor of the family, there will be no reversal. But don’t come looking for me annoyingly.”

I added, looking at Zhuge Paegang, who was still standing with a pale face.

It seemed the shock was great. If I were to touch him any more, I might get hurt instead, so I turned my back.

Because even if I could win in a formation battle, he was a monster that I couldn’t even face in terms of force.

“How did you do it?”

Just then, Zhuge Paegang’s voice was heard.

“…That scorching flame at the end. It was definitely not a red jade or an artifact.”

I stopped my feet without a word. As befitting an advanced student from the Zhuge family, he had a sharp side.

“Is that your power?”

It would be funny to deny it now, so I slowly nodded my head.

“The fire qi gathered and then became a single point. It’s not a normal fire art. To blend into the formation, you adjusted and redesigned the principles of yin and yang and the five elements. It has surpassed the level of simply containing and arranging true qi.”

An analysis close to a mumble continued, and then he glared at me with a look close to astonishment.

“I don’t know what kind of trick you pulled, but you’ve become a completely different person. As if it were a lie…!”

Whether that was the case or not, I just did what I had to do.

“I’ll take that as the wealth I’ll receive. The Cheongeumcheon.”

I said, pointing to Zhuge Paegang’s wrist.

“What?”

Zhuge Paegang with a shocked expression. But a bet is a bet.

“You definitely promised on the honor of the family, right? You won’t go back on your word now, will you? Shamefully.”

“Y-you bastard…!”

When I scratched him with a single word, he trembled with both hands and took off the Cheongeumcheon and threw it at me.

“Take it. Make sure to keep it.”

And yet, as if he were resentful, he narrowed his brow, glaring this way.

‘Am I going to get into big trouble for this?’

The inner demon that was forming inside the master became a sinister qi wave and covered the area.

I activated my circle to the maximum in preparation for a possible attack.

Woooong-

The moment I couldn’t distinguish whether what I was hearing in my ears was the sound of my heart or the vibration of the fiercely rotating circle.

“Who is scattering killing intent within the academy?!”

An instructor’s voice was heard from afar. It was worth it to have made the energy scatter when I dismantled the formation on purpose.

Just as I was about to call an instructor, Zhuge Paegang’s growling voice was heard.

“I had the upper hand in the battle of wits. Don’t think you can be cocky just because you believe in your strange sorcery. There won’t be a next time.”

Leaving only those words, Zhuge Paegang’s figure disappeared.

‘As expected, it was a good thing I fought with a formation battle.’

I missed his movement for a moment. Zhuge Paegang’s footwork was definitely more stealthy and faster than a normal instructor.

‘I can feel that you have to surpass the level of an instructor to become an advanced student.’

After that, the instructor who came late questioned me, but when I brought up Zhuge Paegang and made a moderate excuse, I was able to be released without difficulty.

Since even an instructor couldn’t rashly reprimand an advanced student, it was a natural result.

And so, I, who was left alone, examined the Cheongeumcheon. A blue jewel with a yin qi was embedded in the upper part of the bracelet, which was crafted with platinum.

Woooong-

When I put mana into it, I could feel the energy that the artifact itself contained reacting and amplifying.

‘This will be helpful for magic too.’

If an artifact that Zhuge Paegang had was this much, I wonder how many artifacts were hidden in the Zhuge family.

The reason I had to go back during the vacation became clear.

‘Of course, there’s something I have to solve before that.’

There was still something important left before the semester ended. It was the mid-term exam and the final exam of the semester.

The mid-term exam was basically a format of taking the exams that each professor gave, so if I just did as I had learned until now, I could easily get into the top ranks.

The problem was that this alone was not enough to achieve my goal.

The final goal of this semester was only one. Skipping a grade.

‘There’s no need to stay in the junior level for long.’

As I knew that the crises of this world were approaching in real time, there was no time to hesitate.

‘For survival, and to see the final episode of the original work.’

And to skip a grade, a few conditions had to be met, and one of them was to receive recognition from at least three professors.

‘Then who should I target first…’

After thinking about it, one person came to my mind first.

I untied the Cheongeumcheon and put it in my bosom, and then I moved my feet as they were.

(End of Chapter)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep