His fists blurred—strikes sharp enough to crack stone, kicks compressed with mana. He attacked from multiple angles, slipping between Jin Di’s guard, weaving in and out with ghostlike swiftness, using whatever he learned from Adam.

However, Jin Di didn’t step back.

He didn’t even sway.

He simply blocked.

Every strike—palm, knuckle, sweep, hook—was stopped with minimal movement, almost lazy in appearance but impossibly precise.

Jin Di’s arms followed Lin Fang’s rhythm like a musician hearing the next note before it was played. His forearms intercepted blows before they reached full momentum; his foot slid a hairbrush’s width to deflect a kick without meeting its full force.

Lin Fang felt like he was punching a mountain wearing human skin.

This guy… is a monster in human form.

Jin Di chuckled mid-block. “Not bad, Alpha. But if this is your full offense—”

His hand shot forward.

Not a punch.

Just a tap.

But the tap slammed into Lin Fang’s chest like a battering ram, launching him backward several meters before he rolled to a halt.

Jin Di straightened, expression refreshed as if the warm-up phase had finally begun.

“Then you’ll need to show me more.”

Lin Fang clenched his fists and poured his mana into his legs, charging again with faster speed. He attacked high then low, shifted weight unpredictably, vanished through Spectral Step every once in a while only to reappear at blind spots—

—but this Sage blocked them all.

Not countering.

Not striking.

Simply denying every attempt at offense as if swatting away drifting petals with ease.

The four minutes crawled by without Lin Fang able to inflict even a tiny bruise at all, and the moment the timer hit zero, Jin Di finally moved.

He caught Lin Fang’s fist.

A perfect clamp of fingers around knuckles, locking Lin Fang’s entire arm in place. The grip felt like forged iron, yet the expression on Jin Di’s face was almost bored.

“Your four minutes are up, Alpha.” Jin Di said, calm as still water. “Offense ends.”

Then came the push.

A casual outward shove, but the force behind it isn’t polite this time. It ripped through Lin Fang’s stance. Lin Fang blasted backward across the arena, boots carving twin streaks across the polished floor before he tumbled to a stop dozens of meters away.

Jin Di exhaled through his nose, stretching out his shoulders and then his legs.

“You are fast and carry significant strength, but your movements aren’t polished at all. Most of them are just blindly trying to strike me. It would work against weaker opponents but not me,” he said, tone brightening with excitement. “Anyway, it’s my turn. Prepare yourself.”

Jin Di charged into a blur.

Just in time before the opponent reached him, Lin Fang mutterred, “Fly—” before his body lifted off the floor, fueled by wind and mana. He shot upward, rising ten meters into the air by the time Jin Di reach his spot.

Jin Di blinked once in mild surprise, raising his head.

“You can float? Hah! Impressive control over wind. Wind and darkness… dual element?”

His grin widened. “No wonder Feng Xiu is testing you personally.”

Lin Fang hovered, voice steady despite his thundering heart. “It’s not against the rules, right?”

“No. Didn’t I say earlier that there are no rules?” Jin Di answered cheerfully. “However, it won’t save you.”

The moment he finished speaking, Jin Di bent his knees and launched upward—not reaching Lin Fang, but high enough to cut into his airspace. Lin Fang darted sideways, easily outpacing the trajectory.

But Jin Di… didn’t fall back immediately.

He hung in mid-air for a heartbeat, torso twisting with serpentine grace, and extended his arm.

An orb of golden-white energy bloomed in his palm.

His aim snapped upward.

Lin Fang tensed.

Not good.

The first Energy Blast shot out like a spear of condensed daylight. Lin Fang jerked aside, narrowly avoiding it—the projectile streaked past him, roaring like a comet before detonating against the wall in a thunderous shockwave.

“Alright then,” Jin Di called from below, raising his other hand, “let’s see how long you can keep dancing.”

Twin streams of light erupted from his palms.

Boom-boom-boom-boom—

The blasts came in volleys, each faster than the last. Lin Fang twisted through the air, banking sharply, rolling, diving, snapping upward again. His mana wings flared and folded repeatedly as he shifted paths with split-second precision.

For two minutes, he continued to face the energy blasts. And as time passed, Lin Fang’s stamina started to dip while Jin Di’s attacks became faster…

At last, a blast clipped his left shoulder.

The pain hit instantly and he spiraled downward.

The Wind magic flickered, and his vision rattled for a moment.

Then—

CRASH.

He slammed into the ground hard enough to send cracks spiderwebbing beneath him. Dust exploded outward, rising in a cloud around his crumpled form.

“Argh…”

Pain curled through Lin Fang’s ribs like a metal hook being dragged across bone. He staggered upright, only to see Jin Di already airborne—coming down like a falling mountain with a fist large enough to crater the reinforced floor.

Instinct screamed first.

Thought came later.

Lin Fang rolled.

The fist hit the ground where his skull had been—

CRACK—

The floor split open, stone plates lifting as shockwaves rolled outward.

Lin Fang’s heart lurched up into his throat. Is that killing intent? He sensed a faint trace of killing intent in Jin Di’s eyes a moment ago when he was about to punch his skull down.

Jin Di straightened his back, dust rising off his knuckles. “You dodged that. Good.” His grin only widened, like a predator finding a prey to toy around.

This lunatic…

Lin Fang scrambled up, but Jin Di was already there.

THUD.

A brutal fist buried itself in his abdomen, cutting the air from his lungs. Lin Fang’s body folded around the strike before he was launched backward like a skipping stone. He crashed and skidded across the arena floor, leaving a ragged trail.

*Cough* *Cough*

He curled in on himself, arms locking around his stomach as agony rippled outward and blood trickled down his lips.

Alpha’s voice then thundered in his skull. “Kiddo, you need to use my power. Or take Tiamat’s help…”

Lin Fang rejected the idea. “No. Not right now. I need to wait.”

Footsteps approached him, each one unhurried but heavy with intent. Jin Di stopped above him, casting a wide shadow.

“You’re fast, Alpha. Fast reflexes. Good instincts. However, I kinda lost my interest in this battle…” He tilted his head slightly. “I don’t need to continue to judge you anymore. A-rank is already justified. Do you want to stop here?”

Lin Fang’s fingers curled.

Then curled tighter.

Then tightened until his nails bit into the floor.

Back down?

Quit?

He would not bow out early.

Lin Fang exhaled once, long and steady, then planted his palm against the floor.

Mana surged from his body.

Wind flared beneath, and he shot back into the air.

Raising his mask briefly, he wiped the blood from his lips with the back of his hand, then clicked it back into place. The timer glowed in the corner of the arena—3 minutes, 14 seconds remaining.

He pointed at it. “There are still 104 seconds to go…”

Below, Jin Di’s grin sharpened—something feral behind the brightness.

“Good.” He nodded.

His aura then burst outward in an explosion, and the wind around him started spiraling as cracks spiderwebbed beneath his feet.

“That’s how a hunter should speak.”

He spread both arms, palms opening, energy gathering like a second sun forming in each hand.

“Get ready, Alpha!”

The blasts began again—massive beams and spheres of golden-white energy tearing across the air toward Lin Fang as he started moving around.

But this time, after evading a couple of energy blasts, Lin Fang whispered: “Guardian’s Mantle… activate.”

Mana erupted across his skin like a translucent armor, a living cocoon of shimmering light. His reserves bled rapidly—1000 MP per second—but the world around him softened.

It didn’t take much time for another blast to hit him.

But this time, it hit right on Lin Fang’s chest.

However, it simply vanished without inflicting any wounds.

“Hmm?” Jin Di paused, raising his eyebrow. “A Spirit King’s ability, huh…”

Jin Di’s brows lifted in unmistakable delight as every blast he fired dissolved harmlessly against Lin Fang’s shimmering barrier. “Interesting,” he murmured, then widened his stance. Energy rippled outward from him like a second heartbeat. The floor vibrated beneath the pressure.

“That’s fine… let’s test your limits. Let’s see how long you can hold out for…”

Then the barrage began.

Each blast thundered like a cannon, streaking across the arena in blinding gold streaks.

Lin Fang twisted, dipped, and rolled through the air, dodging as much as he could. And what he can’t, the Guardian’s Mantle softened the blow of like by 99% of those that hit him. In the end, they burst like harmless fireworks against his skin.

A minute and a half passed eventually…

When the timer ticked past the allotted defense period, Jin Di finally lowered his hands, exhaling slowly. “Alright, the second phase is also over. Now, the Final phase.”

His voice deepened, resonating with the intensity gathering around him.

“The last two minutes. We attack each other without restrictions.”

His aura thickened until the very air trembled.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep