Fran Magic Martial Academy, Furnace Proving Ground.
Lin En stepped into the arena, the black combat suit outlining his tall figure.
His gaze was sharp as an eagle’s.
Deep within his Sea of Consciousness, three Crystal Cores rotated at a steady frequency.
On his body, the invisible three-layered [Honeycomb Bulwark] had already been silently activated.
Elvin was already standing quietly at the center of the field.
He still wore that impeccable, spotless Assistants’ Uniform, his back straight as a javelin.
But at this moment, the aura he exuded was no longer the refined temperament of an Academy office worker, but a quality as restrained and dangerously intense as a dormant volcano.
He watched Lin En approach calmly, his eyes as precise as a probe, scanning every trace of Lin En’s presence.
“Lin En.”
Elvin’s voice wasn’t loud, but it pierced the vast, dead-silent space with exceptional clarity, carrying a metallic, cold hardness.
“The Vice Dean values your magic abilities. That power is indeed astonishing, even… defying common sense.”
He shifted his tone, as cold as a blade being drawn:
“But, having the power to destroy the enemy means nothing if you can’t hit your target, or if it’s extinguished before you can release it. That kind of strength is no different from being useless.”
Elvin’s gaze suddenly sharpened, stabbing straight into Lin En’s eyes:
“Today, in this furnace, I’ll show you that true combat—especially the life-and-death struggles between Magi—is never about piling up force and clashing head-on. It is…”
His words were cut short!
Without any warning, Elvin’s right index finger lifted and pointed lightly in Lin En’s direction!
Buzz– -!
A terrifying Spirit Shockwave—formless, intangible, yet instantly distorting the light between them—lashed out like a venomous serpent, tearing through the air without a sound, stabbing straight for the center of Lin En’s brow and Sea of Consciousness!
The intensity of the Spirit Disturbance contained in this attack was enough to render any ordinary high-level Magi instantly blank, with their mana spiraling out of control!
It’s coming!
Lin En’s pupils contracted, alarm bells screaming in his Sea of Consciousness!
Yet just as that soul-crushing torrent of mental power was about to crash into Lin En’s Sea of Consciousness—
Buzz!
Deep within, the three Crystal Cores flared in unison!
The face-centered cubic crystal lattice framework composing the Cores emitted a force field of incomprehensible rigidity!
Pop!
The Spirit Shockwave smashed fiercely against this invisible, rigid bulwark!
There was no earth-shattering boom—only the soft burst of energy, like a bubble popping.
The soul-tearing force was shattered, scattered, and absorbed by the diamond-hard crystal structure—like a wave breaking against a reef—dissipating instantly!
Lin En only felt a faint ripple deep in his Sea of Consciousness, like a lake’s surface stirred by a gentle breeze, and then it returned to perfect calm.
His thoughts remained clear, his casting will as solid as stone—completely unaffected!
“What?!”
At the edge of the arena, for the first time, an extremely subtle yet undeniable expression cracked Elvin’s stone-carved face!
His pupils shrank to pinpoints in an instant, and a trace of indescribable shock flashed through his eyes!
Spirit Shockwave…completely ineffective?!
What…what is this?!
He was all too familiar with the strength of his own Spirit Shockwave!
It was a killing move that could shake the soul of a fellow Archmage!
Even Vice Dean Morton couldn’t take it so lightly and remain unshaken!
Lin En’s Sea of Consciousness…what is going on in there?!
That isn’t just Spirit Power defense…that feeling…it’s as if the core of his soul itself is a diamond, unshakable by any mental force!
But Elvin was still a battle-hardened Archmage.
The shock lasted only a fraction of a second!
He suppressed his turmoil and his attacks didn’t pause for a moment!
As the Spirit Shockwave was unleashed—
Boom!
The dark red Anti-Magic Rock beneath Lin En’s feet suddenly softened and began to boil without warning, transforming into a bubbling Lava Swamp of molten magma!
The scorching lava coiled instantly around Lin En’s legs, pulling him with terrifying suction and heat enough to melt stone and gold!
At the same time, seven or eight Flame Serpents, forged of pure heat and nearly invisible, slithered soundlessly from all directions—even above—aiming to bite down!
The air twisted and distorted from the burning heat!
Control the field! Encircle and kill!
The Crystal Cores in Lin En’s Sea of Consciousness spun at high speed!
His left hand slammed downward like lightning!
“Ice Bind!”
His will surged, unleashing a torrent of ice magic to forcibly freeze a foothold in the Lava Swamp beneath him!
“Hmph.”
Elvin snorted softly through his nose.
His right index finger traced an elegant arc in the air, and a powerful wave of disruptive magic surged forth—not attacking Lin En’s unbreakable Sea of Consciousness, but precisely targeting the streams of Spirit Power that had just extended from Lin En’s body to construct ice Runes!
Zzzzt!
It was as if an invisible blade had severed a delicate circuit!
The Spirit Power Threads that had extended to weave the ice element into magic were sliced at key points by Elvin’s even stronger, more precise disruptive force!
The nearly formed ice magic structure collapsed like a tower of sand!
The runaway ice element dissolved into a cold white mist, instantly devoured by the heat of the surrounding lava!
Ice Shield casting…failed!
At that moment, several high-temperature Flame Serpents had already lunged in!
“Wind Shield!”
Lin En reacted instantly, swinging his right hand and conjuring a spinning shield of violent air!
Pop!
Pop!
Pop!
Several Flame Serpents crashed into the Wind Shield, torn apart and blown askew!
But one cunning serpent self-destructed the moment it touched the shield!
Boom!
Blinding light and a surge of hot air mixed with fire dust exploded, engulfing Lin En in an instant!
Another Flame Serpent, hidden behind the blast, slithered silently around the shield toward the back of Lin En’s neck!
Honeycomb Bulwark triggered passively!
Buzz!
At the contact point, the high-strength outer Honeycomb Bulwark flashed into being!
Countless micro hexagonal energy units absorbed the blast and fiery bite head-on!
Zzzzz…The sound of energy annihilation filled the air as the barrier’s glow flickered under heavy strain, but its resilient structure held, blocking the attack!
The inner, flexible membrane faithfully insulated him from the heat that would’ve roasted an ordinary person—leaving only a burning sensation.
Lin En staggered out of the firestorm, his Wind Shield shattered, breath ragged.
The pressure was crushing!
Elvin’s attacks were like a bone-devouring parasite—relentless, sharply angled, and always capable of disrupting or countering at the most vulnerable points of his spellcasting!
He possessed destructive power and an unbreakable core, but felt like a giant bound hand and foot, his strength wasted!
Every attempt to fight back was like struggling in a quagmire!
“Do you feel it?”
Elvin’s cold voice slipped into Lin En’s ears like a snake’s tongue between attacks.
“Your power is like a heavy battering ram—devastating, but you have no chance to swing it.”
But real combat is the dance of a deadly viper in the shadows—a dance of assassins.
His silhouette flickered at the edge of the Lava Swamp, ghostly, like a spirit controlling the flames.
“Interfere with your mind, disrupt your casting, limit your movement, wear down your defenses…at the vulnerable moment when your spell fails and you’re between exertions…”
Elvin’s tone turned cold and deadly.
“Deliver the finishing blow!”
As if to prove his point, Lin En had just forced back a cunning flame attack with a hastily conjured, heavily compressed Thermobaric Spell: Micro Core.
While Lin En’s mind was taut with tension, the Crystal Core’s Spirit Power Radar swept wildly across Elvin’s position and every point of energy fluctuation in the field…
A sudden mutation erupted!
Just a step behind Lin En, beneath a nondescript dark red Anti-Magic Rock, a shadowy figure seemed to condense from another dimension—moving faster than the eye could track!
No sound, no energy ripple, not a trace of killing intent escaped!
It wasn’t until the figure fully materialized, a Shadow Fang Dagger wreathed in cold, devouring darkness—like the fangs of a death dragon—stabbed straight for Lin En’s unguarded back!
The target—his heart!
Top-level Shadow Stealth!
Completely evading the Spirit Power Radar!
Only at the moment the dagger thrust forward did the icy chill of death, as it tore through the air, register on Lin En’s Spirit Power Radar!
So fast! Far faster than any assassin he’d faced in the Ashen Forest!
His body was still locked in post-casting rigidity from the Thermobaric Art!
All Lin En could do was sense the lethal gleam rapidly swelling in his mind’s eye!
There was no time to dodge, nowhere to block!
The shadow of death closed on his throat!
Pshhk!
The razor-sharp dagger pierced the densest outer layer of the Honeycomb Bulwark without resistance!
“High-penetration physical attack! Triggering middle-layer Reaction Armor!”
The defensive Crystal Core responded faster than thought!
BOOM –!!!
A dull, explosive roar shook the entire Furnace Proving Ground as the impact detonated at the spot on Lin En’s back!
In the area the dagger had pierced, the inert liquid flame filling the hexagonal lattice instantly exploded, triggering a violent phase shift of energy!
A tightly-focused, plasma Shockwave blasted outward, aimed directly along the line of the dagger’s entry—like a volcano erupting after being sealed too long!
Bang !!!
The directional Shockwave of pure fire elemental force slammed full-force into the blade and the attacker’s wrist!
The effect was instant!
The dagger’s deadly arc, meant to pierce the heart, was blasted off course!
In the end, the tough membrane wasn’t fully breached—only leaving a stark white line and a burning sting on Lin En’s skin!
No flesh or bone was harmed!
As for the assassin who launched the ambush, he was clearly unprepared for such a bizarre and fierce counterattack!
Agonizing pain and numbness shot up his wrist; the impact forced him to grunt and stagger back a step!
This slight imbalance shattered his perfect stealth state, making his form shimmer like a figure emerging from water—
He was a middle-aged man of unremarkable appearance, dressed in Academy assistant attire.
Silence!
The entire Furnace Proving Ground fell into utter stillness!
Only Lin En’s heavy, bellows-like breathing and the low hum of energy flowing through the Honeycomb Bulwark filled the air.
“The most effective, most deadly weapon against a Magi—especially one with destructive power like you—is always the dagger from the shadows!”
Elvin’s ghostly figure appeared nearby, only steps from Lin En and the now-revealed Yingya.
“This is Instructor Yingya of the Academy, specializing in stealth and assassination. You’ve already experienced it—when he strikes, you don’t even have a chance to react.”
His eyes dropped first to the torn fabric and glaring white line on Lin En’s side.
“Truly surprising, Lin En,”
Elvin’s voice was utterly cold.
“That strike—without your unusual magical protection, you’d be a corpse with a heart pierced right now.”
His words stabbed into Lin En’s heart like ice picks.
The middle-aged assassin flexed his still-numb wrist, his brooding gaze fixed on Lin En’s back—filled with shock, heaviness, and curiosity.
Not only had the dagger been forced aside by the strange explosion, but even the Seal-breaking Runes meant to disrupt Magic Shields had much of their power nullified before even breaching the body!
Such a defense mechanism was unheard of!
Elvin stepped forward, his sharp eyes cutting into Lin En’s skin like knives.
He pointed at the now-visible Yingya, his voice ironclad with a cruel truth:
“Do you see, Lin En?”
He tapped his own temple, referring to Lin En’s Sea of Consciousness Crystal Core.
“Your core is like an unbreakable stone! This is rare, a tremendous advantage—a gift Magi dream of!”
He changed his tone abruptly, his voice exploding like thunder:
“But! Your limbs—the bridges and conduits that unleash your power—are still fragile enough to be easily severed! Your body—the flesh and blood that houses your core—can still be pierced by a sharp dagger!”
Elvin’s voice echoed through the dead silence, each word pounding into Lin En’s soul:
“Yingya’s dagger was forged to cut off the limbs of Magi, to pierce their bodies! Your defense blocked it—that’s good! It proves your magic has value! But this,”
He pressed his tone, cruel as ice.
“Is only the lowest level demonstration—a gentle warning!”
“In real combat, there are no ring rules, no gentleman’s agreements!”
Elvin’s voice was like a sentence of fate.
“The battle begins before the first move! Intelligence, traps, ambushes, assassination, poison, illusions…nothing is off limits!”
A true top-tier enemy won’t give you a chance to see the dagger coming!
They’ll numb your senses with Toxic Mist, twist your vision with illusions, trap you in a Prohibition Magic Domain—make you a lamb waiting for slaughter.
Even…slip Slow-acting Poison that erodes your mana into your first drink of the morning!
All their methods are for one thing: to deliver death to you at the moment you least expect it—to drive the dagger into your heart!
He stared into Lin En’s pale face, each word a branded law:
“The battle of a Magi has two core rules: First, survive and cast your magic!”
“Second, make sure your magic hits the target!”
“You have a core immune to Spirit Shockwaves and anti-magic disruption—a unique talent barrier! But if you can’t protect the fragile Spirit Power you use to weave spells outside your body, if you can’t block the dagger aimed at your heart from the shadows…this talent barrier will only make you a more miserable living target!”
Elvin’s icy words crashed over Lin En like a freezing tide, waking him fully from the shock of near-death!
He instinctively touched the white line on his side, left by the dagger—the sting of pain and the resilience of the membrane beneath his fingertips sent chills through him, mixing fear and sudden clarity.
The Honeycomb Bulwark had saved him!
Its passive activation, layered defense, especially the precise, directional counter-blast of the middle-layer Reaction Armor, had proved brutally effective in real combat!
It had not only blocked the physical assassination but even disrupted the dagger’s shield-breaking energy—a total success.
But Elvin’s words tore open the bleeding truth:
His Spirit Power Crystal Core was unbreakable and immune to mental interference—a massive advantage.
But the process of casting magic, constructing spells outside the body—against battle masters like Elvin—was heartbreakingly vulnerable!
That was his greatest weakness!
His Spirit Power Radar was all but useless against a top-level infiltrator like Yingya!
If not for the Honeycomb Bulwark, he wouldn’t even know how he died!
Elvin saw the terror in Lin En’s eyes fade, replaced by somber resolve and sharpness.
He knew the brutal lesson had been learned.
He nodded slightly, his voice returning to its usual steadiness, but carrying an unquestionable command:
“Rest for a quarter of an hour. Stabilize your condition, calm your mind.”
He turned toward the edge of the field, leaving a final sentence:
“In fifteen minutes, we continue. I’ll use the flames of this furnace to show you how to protect your channels of power in the storm of interference and counterattacks—how to build the bridge to destruction under the ever-present shadow of death!”