Leilin stared at the grey mist giant across from him.
After Xis merged into the giant, its attacks not only grew more powerful, but its movements became far more agile as well.
"Applying the principle of a Wizard's Spiritual Power elementalization to the physical body as well? Not a bad idea!"
But Leilin's vision and knowledge were far beyond the ordinary. With the accumulated scholarship of the entire South Coast at his disposal, it took only a few glances for him to roughly deduce the principles and mechanisms behind this mist-form killing technique.
"What a pity. A Wizard's physical body is the very foundation that houses the spirit! Once the body is elementalized, the possibility of further advancement is lost forever!"
Leilin sighed, his gaze toward his opponent tinged with what seemed like pity.
But this attitude clearly provoked Xis. He let out a furious roar, and the grey mist giant charged forward once more.
Without the slightest fear, Leilin commanded the black gas serpent to lock the giant in close combat.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The aftershocks of battle kept expanding. Boulders as large as small hills were shattered outright by the combatants, sending stone fragments flying in all directions, each trailing sparks and leaving long streaks of flame in their wake.
"Just this level?!"
Not only Xiling, but even the Wizards on the opposing side were momentarily stunned.
Just then, a flash of black passed through Leilin's eyes as he stood atop the serpent. Countless black fireballs shot out from the shadows.
The fireballs continuously converged and condensed, forming a small black sun—darker and more searing than before!
Leilin's self-created spell—the Hidden Shadow Fireball—which had once annihilated countless Wizards and struck fear across the entire South Coast, finally bared its vicious fangs once more in the Dark Polar Domain!
And this time, his opponent was a Wizard at the peak of the first rank!
Xis's expression turned grave. He too could clearly sense the immense destructive energy contained within the Hidden Shadow Fireball.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
He struck first, taking a deep breath as two visible streams of white air surged into his mouth. The intake was so massive that it generated small tornadoes in the surrounding air, causing plant debris and pebbles on the ground to float upward.
After absorbing the vast amount of air, the mist giant's chest swelled at a visible rate, bulging like an enormous frog.
"Lesser Compressed Air Sphere!" The giant opened its mouth and spat. A pale cyan bolt of compressed air hurtled toward Leilin like a bomb.
"Go!"
The air cannon generated tremendous wind pressure, sending Leilin's robes flapping wildly.
Leilin merely pointed calmly at the Hidden Shadow Fireball hovering in the air.
The black fireball immediately stretched and elongated, taking the shape of a dark lance. It tore through the void with waves of distortion trailing behind it and raced ahead to meet the air cannon.
Pfft! As though puncturing a balloon.
The black lance pierced straight through the center, penetrating the air cannon entirely.
In the next instant, the entire Lesser Compressed Air Sphere burst apart like a punctured balloon, collapsing in on itself.
The black lance's momentum was far from spent. It plunged with devastating force into the mist giant's chest.
A flash of black light erupted, and a point of flame ignited on the giant's body, burning tenaciously and spreading stubbornly. Within seconds, it had crawled across half its chest.
Xis, who had merged with the mist giant, naturally felt the pain as well. A twisted expression of agony surfaced on his face.
"Aagh..." The Hidden Shadow Fireball burned not merely the flesh, but also the intangible Spiritual Power—and even the soul itself! Xis finally began to scream.
"If I'm going down, you're not walking away unscathed!" A look of desperate resolve flashed across Xis's face as he drove the entire mist giant to lunge at the black serpent.
"Self-detonate!"
With a single thought from Xis, the entire mist giant detonated in an instant.
The black serpent bore the brunt of the blast, engulfed by a massive wave of mist and fire...
BOOM!!!
The ground shook violently as if a massive earthquake had erupted. Dust and debris surged tens of meters high, completely obscuring the scene within.
Moments later, a figure was blasted backward out of the dust cloud.
"It's the School Master!" Several Misty Forest Wizards immediately rushed forward to help.
Xis was in terrible condition. Not only was there a gaping hole in his chest, but his entire body was covered in wounds.
Suddenly! The light on his face shimmered and shifted. His original visage vanished, revealing the sinister features of a middle-aged man.
"So it really is the School Master of the Misty Forest School," Xiling murmured from nearby, the crystal ball in her hand flickering with light.
"School Master! Are you all right?"
Several semi-elementalized elders caught Xis and immediately stepped forward with concern to ask.
"He's injured too, though not as badly as me. He's still got some fight left in him—let's leave now!"
Though Xis looked gravely wounded, his mind was perfectly clear.
"Yes, sir!" The Wizards prepared to leave, and Shigeli hurriedly followed behind them.
"You may all leave! He's the only one who isn't going anywhere!" Leilin's voice echoed from within the mist.