Contest of Magic

“No, you’d better leave.” Ye Chuan looked down at the girl tugging on his sleeve and gently rubbed her head.

“Ye Yue, when things get physical later, I won’t be able to protect you.”

“I want to stay by my brother’s side,” Ye Yue said.

“Good girl, listen to me.” Ye Chuan’s voice softened a bit as he reached up to tousle her hair again.

“All right then.” Ye Yue finally followed Luo Xi as she turned to leave, but before stepping out, she glanced back once more. Her clingy look made Luo Xi chuckle softly.

The door clicked shut, and the next moment, faint golden runes seeped from the cracks in the doorframe, flowing like water along the walls. In an instant, they wove into a magical array that enveloped the entire room.

As the formation activated, the space trembled slightly.

Ye Chuan lightly tapped the tip of his foot and hovered steadily in midair, his gaze fixed on Bai Qianshuang across from him.

Bai Qianshuang, facing Ye Chuan wielding his spirit sword shimmering with a cold, sharp light, looked at the man floating in midair with a strange expression.

This was the same ordinary person she had recently been protecting, yet his cultivation had caught up to and even far surpassed hers. Such an unbelievable speed—even for someone born with a Daoist body like her—made her silently mutter, “Unbelievable.”

“Then let’s begin.” Bai Qianshuang took a deep breath, tightening her grip on the sword hilt as spiritual energy began to flow along the blade.

“Come at me. It’s the perfect chance for me to give you a proper lesson.” Ye Chuan curled his lips in a lazy smirk, his tone casual and unconcerned.

Bai Qianshuang: “…”

Hearing that infuriatingly cocky tone, Bai Qianshuang pressed her lips into a thin line. The hesitation in her eyes vanished instantly, replaced by sharp determination. She flipped her wrist; the spirit sword sliced through the air, unleashing a silver-white sword energy accompanied by a fierce gust of wind.

“Jade Void Slash!”

Though this strike was just a test, the sword energy was powerful enough to cleave the training room’s spirit cloud in two, proving its formidable strength.

Yet, when the sword energy rushed toward him, Ye Chuan didn’t even lift an eyelid. He casually raised his right hand and lightly tapped his fingertip in the void.

“Bang!”

A crisp collision echoed as the seemingly ferocious sword energy shattered directly under his fingertip, dissipating into countless silver-white sparks of spiritual power. Not a single thread of his sleeve fluttered.

Seeing Ye Chuan so effortlessly deflect her attack, Bai Qianshuang’s grip tightened involuntarily. She was finally certain that Ye Chuan’s cultivation was far from simple; his foundation was terrifyingly solid.

That fingertip strike, though seemingly casual, had precisely hit the sword energy’s weak point. His mastery over spiritual power was far beyond hers.

But Ye Chuan didn’t think much of it. That finger tap—pure force.

“Qianshuang, if you don’t take this seriously, you’ll be crying and begging for mercy soon enough.” Ye Chuan withdrew his hand, teasing with a playful tone.

“Who’s going to admit defeat!” Bai Qianshuang’s cheeks warmed, a faint blush rising to her ears. Clearly, his words had struck a nerve. She took a deep breath, her eyes turning resolute.

“I’m going all out now!”

As her words fell, Bai Qianshuang’s toes suddenly tapped the empty air, and her figure instantly retreated. At the same time, her hands formed seals as she silently chanted a spell.

With her movements, the surrounding mist began to churn violently. Golden patterns of light radiated from her body, spreading into the spiritual fog and transforming into palm-sized, shimmering golden lotuses.

These lotuses glowed entirely in gold, their petals edged with a faint halo of light. Delicate sword qi swirled around each petal, and they floated midair, gently swaying as if alive.

“Go!”

Bai Qianshuang’s voice was sharp as she issued the command. With a thought, the golden lotuses instantly turned into streaks of golden light, speeding fiercely toward Ye Chuan.

Along the way, the lotuses spun continuously, the sword qi on their petals growing ever more lethal. They even left faint scratches in the void, densely enveloping Ye Chuan and sealing off every possible escape route.

“Interesting,” Ye Chuan’s eyes flickered with a hint of admiration. He flipped his wrist, and a jet-black spiritual sword materialized in his hand. Holding the sword, he spun his wrist swiftly, sending out waves of dark sword qi that clashed against the incoming golden lotuses.

“Clang clang clang!”

The sharp metallic clangs rang out incessantly. The black sword qi collided with the golden lotuses, sparking dazzling bursts of light.

Yet, the golden lotuses seemed to possess a will of their own. At the moment of contact, they cleverly dodged the sword qi and continued their relentless pursuit of Ye Chuan. They even coordinated attacks from multiple directions, forcing the chaotic Ye Chuan to retreat repeatedly, temporarily falling onto the defensive.

Watching the relentless golden lotuses closing in, a smile curved Ye Chuan’s lips. “Since you’re getting serious, I won’t hold back either.”

He halted his backward steps and sheathed his spiritual sword. Raising his right palm skyward, a faint blue pattern slowly emerged, glowing softly in his palm. As he infused his spiritual energy, the pattern expanded, forming an ice-blue magic circle nearly ten feet in diameter.

At the center of the circle, countless tiny ice shards continuously condensed, radiating a biting cold that even caused the surrounding air to crystallize into fine frost.

“Absolute Zero.”

Ye Chuan whispered, then thrust his right hand forward with force.

In an instant, the ice-blue magic circle erupted, releasing a piercing column of extreme cold that shot straight through the pursuing golden lotuses.

“Crack!”

Where the beam passed, the air seemed to freeze solid. The once lively lotuses were instantly encased in ice midair, their petals thickly frosted. Even the sword qi along the petal edges ceased to move, completely losing their vitality.

Then, Ye Chuan clenched his palm tightly. “Shatter!”

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

A series of crisp sounds rang out as the ice-encased golden lotuses shattered into countless tiny ice crystals, dispersing into the air without leaving a trace.

“Ice-elemental spiritual energy…” Bai Qianshuang watched the scene, puzzled by why Ye Chuan’s moves seemed so chaotic.

It was as if he wielded every element all at once.

She took a deep breath, her hands swiftly weaving intricate seals as a surge of spiritual energy erupted around her. What had been a faint golden glow now thickened into an intense radiance, forming a shimmering golden shield enveloping her entire body.

As the spiritual energy continued to pour in, the shield expanded rapidly, eventually transforming into a colossal golden lotus towering hundreds of feet high!

This lotus was a brilliant gold from petal to core, each layer of petals intricately overlapping and inscribed with complex runes that radiated a terrifying spiritual fluctuation. The very space around it twisted under the strain, tiny black cracks appearing amidst the distortion.

“Spirit Transformation: Azure Lotus Avatar!”

Bai Qianshuang launched her full power, her figure slowly ascending until she completely merged into the massive golden lotus.

With her fusion, the lotus bloomed with an even more dazzling golden light. Countless beams of golden energy shot forth from the petals like a torrential downpour, sweeping toward Ye Chuan.

Each beam carried a terrifying spiritual force, scorching everything in its path and leaving faint burn marks in the very fabric of space.

“An avatar of the Spirit Transformation realm?” Ye Chuan’s expression finally shifted from casual indifference as he watched the golden beams hurtling toward him.

He slowly raised his left hand, and an inky black chaos energy surged from his palm, crawling up his arm until it enveloped his entire left limb, exuding a chilling aura that sent shivers down the spine.

Ye Chuan abandoned all pretense and casually raised his left arm to block the attack. Instantly, the chaos energy condensed into a half-meter-high barrier in front of him. The barrier was pitch black, its surface etched with delicate patterns. Though seemingly fragile, it radiated an aura that devoured everything.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

The golden beams slammed relentlessly against the chaos barrier, unleashing deafening explosions.

Yet, despite their terrifying power, the golden beams vanished into the barrier like water seeping into the earth—no ripples, no cracks, not a trace of damage.

Inside the lotus, Bai Qianshuang watched this unfold through the lotus’s perception, disbelief flooding her heart. Her Azure Lotus Avatar, even against high-level cultivators, was capable of suppressing opponents. But now, facing Ye Chuan’s barrier, it was utterly ineffective!

“How can this be…” Bai Qianshuang pondered deeply. Drawing in another steady breath, she resolved to unleash her final trump card.

“Converge!”

With a sharp command, she poured every last drop of her spiritual energy into the golden lotus.

In an instant, the lotus blazed with unprecedented brilliance. All the petals folded inward toward the center, merging into a golden beam nearly ten feet in diameter. Surrounding the beam, countless tiny runes glowed fiercely, emanating a world-shattering aura.

A low hum filled the air—

The golden beam surged forward at blinding speed, aimed straight at Ye Chuan with full force!

Yet, Ye Chuan’s face remained calm in the face of this all-out strike. He merely raised his hand slightly, and the chaos barrier before him swelled dramatically, enveloping his entire body once again.

“Boom!”

A golden beam of light struck the chaotic barrier with fierce force. This time, the barrier finally trembled slightly, its surface patterns becoming more distinct.

But it was only a slight tremor. The spiritual energy within the beam was still continuously devoured by the barrier. In just a few breaths, the seemingly terrifying golden beam was completely swallowed up, leaving no trace behind.

“This…” Bai Qianshuang’s voice carried disbelief. Her internal spiritual energy was utterly depleted, and the power sustaining her Azure Lotus form dissipated along with it.

The massive golden lotus began to gradually fade, its radiant glow dimming more and more until it vanished entirely into the spiritual mist, revealing Bai Qianshuang’s pale figure.

She staggered backward a few steps, weakened by the exhaustion of her spiritual energy, barely able to maintain her balance. Her eyes were filled with utter astonishment.

Ye Chuan watched her like this, then raised his hand and pointed into the void. “Imprison.”

As his words fell, dozens of jet-black chains materialized in the air, as if alive, swiftly wrapping around Bai Qianshuang.

By the time she reacted, it was already too late to dodge. She could only watch helplessly as the dark chains coiled around her limbs and waist, binding her firmly in midair, leaving her no strength to struggle.

Her graceful figure became even more pronounced under the tight restraint. Ye Chuan instantly teleported in front of her. “How about it? Is this the end?”

“I… can still fight,” Bai Qianshuang replied stubbornly, like a child. “Just let me practice a little longer.”

Ye Chuan snapped his fingers, and the chains all shattered. He then caught the girl as she slipped down into his arms.

“Is that so?” Ye Chuan smiled.

Bai Qianshuang simply buried her face in Ye Chuan’s embrace, like an ostrich hiding its head, refusing to say another word.