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The opposing team's tactics were somewhat different from what Yu Tianheng's group had anticipated.
However, it wasn't a major issue.
Since Su Wen was charging straight at him, Yu Tianheng wasn't intimidated in the slightest.
However, as Su Wen and Yu Tianheng moved towards a head-on clash, Yu Feng merely circled in the air, not launching any attacks to avoid getting entangled by Dugu Yan.
His task in this battle was to intercept Su Wen if he attempted to use aerial attrition tactics.
Now that Su Wen was engaging Yu Tianheng directly, both Yu Tianheng and Yu Feng assumed Su Wen intended to use the same trick as before—use the clash to launch himself into the air for a surprise attack.
This time, however, they were mistaken.
The flames on Su Wen's right fist compressed madly, an explosive aura already becoming irrepressible.
"First Spirit Skill, Thunder Dragon Claw!"
Yu Tianheng didn't use all his skills right away, merely probing Su Wen with his first skill.
"Flame Fist!"
Su Wen punched out.
Within his body, a dense white light nourished his right fist, rapidly healing the burns caused by the flames.
Enduring the pain, Su Wen forcibly integrated his techniques for flame compression and excavation into the Flame Fist, unleashing a true Flame Fist.
Boom!
"That's... Xiao Zhan's Flame Fist." Qin Ming, observing the battle, was also startled. He hadn't expected Su Wen to have already learned Xiao Zhan's signature move.
This was in no way inferior to gaining an additional spirit skill of the same level.
For a Grand Spirit Master, it was absolutely comparable to a hundred-year spirit skill, perhaps even rivaling a thousand-year, power-attack type spirit skill.
"Judging by Little Wen's appearance, he probably can't use it freely. The strain on him is still considerable."
Qin Ming quickly discerned the truth.
Ye Lingling had her spirit skill active the entire time, focused solely on Su Wen. This was clearly the maximum effort to provide him with constant healing.
BOOM!
Su Wen's fist collided with Yu Tianheng's claw. The power of thunder and explosive flames erupted, creating a deafening roar.
A massive airflow erupted from Su Wen's fist, forming an inverted cone shape with his fist at the apex at the very instant the flames and thunder exploded. This cone shielded him from the majority of the blast.
"Hahaha, good!" Yu Tianheng's eyes lit up. He laughed heartily and renewed his Thunder Dragon Claw to clash with Su Wen again.
Su Wen condensed flames on both fists and engaged Yu Tianheng in close combat.
"Is that a self-created spirit skill?" Ao Siluo and Yu Feng watched dumbfounded, completely taken aback that Su Wen could unleash such power.
They could accept Su Wen's earlier paper wings, fireballs, and wind blades as developments of his existing skills. But this Flame Fist was certainly more than just skill development; it had to be a self-created spirit skill, the kind a Spirit Master could cultivate after birth.
"It's not weaker than a Spirit Elder's hundred-year skill at all. By that count, Su Wen effectively has two hundred-year skills and one thousand-year skill. The only difference between him and a true Spirit Elder is the total amount of spirit power."
And in terms of total spirit power, Su Wen had that monstrous recovery speed.
Both Yu Feng and Ao Siluo felt a phantom toothache. It felt like Su Wen could already be treated as a genuine Spirit Elder.
And Su Wen was only eleven years old!
Seeing that Su Wen wasn't at a clear disadvantage in his clash with Yu Tianheng, Dugu Yan, though surprised, didn't forget to act according to their original plan.
Jade Phosphor Serpent Poison spread out.
On the training field, Su Wen clashed with Yu Tianheng.
Dugu Yan, Shi Mo, plus Ye Lingling fought against Ao Siluo, Yu Feng, and Shi Mo (the brother).
With Dugu Yan, a control-type Spirit Master, present, and Shi Mo guarding Ye Lingling with his life, Ao Siluo and Yu Feng were completely countered and quickly taken down.
On the Tian Dou Royal Team, Yu Tianheng was the captain and the undisputed strongest combatant. Dugu Yan was the vice-captain; although her direct combat ability was inferior to Yu Tianheng's, she was the core of the entire team.
Coupled with the fact that control types countered agility types, she handled Ao Siluo and Yu Feng with relative ease.
It was just that Su Wen wasn't having an easy time during this process.
"Tianheng, you've lost." Dugu Yan, Shi Mo, and Su Wen surrounded Yu Tianheng from three directions, declaring his defeat.
Three versus one—no, wait, Ye Lingling was still providing them healing. How could they lose four versus one? Could he turn it all around and kill them all?
Although Dugu Yan and Shi Mo weren't in great shape—their injuries weren't severe, but their spirit power consumption was huge—Yu Tianheng's consumption wasn't small either.
Su Wen had forced out his third spirit skill!
"Sigh, I didn't expect your direct combat ability to be so outstanding, Su Wen," Yu Tianheng gave up struggling, saying with a wry smile.
Su Wen, a level twenty-three Grand Spirit Master, had held him, a level thirty-three Spirit Elder, off for over ten minutes!
Su Wen didn't speak, taking a long time to recover. Only after Ye Lingling's purple light had shone on him continuously, lessening the pain in his body, did he finally speak.
"I was only able to unleash those moves just now thanks to Senior Sister Lingling's healing."
In reality, it was the combination of Su Wen and Ye Lingling that had managed to stall Yu Tianheng for ten minutes.
"What you used just now was Teacher Xiao Zhan's Flame Fist, right? I didn't expect you to have mastered the technique at only level twenty-three," Yu Tianheng lamented.
The Fire Demon Xiao Zhan... his self-created 'Fire Demon Style' spirit skills held immense fame. Many in the Spirit Master world wished to learn them. Xiao Zhan did have a few Tian Dou-level students under him, all of whom possessed fire-control type spirit skills, yet none had managed to master even the Flame Fist, just one technique within the Fire Demon Style.
Self-created spirit skills could be learned after birth, without relying on spirit rings, and could likewise be passed down. But the difficulty of inheritance was also considerable.
Qin Ming gave his final summary, then dismissed the eight of them to go cultivate on their own.
Returning to the library, Su Wen sat cross-legged in meditation, circulating his internal technique while pondering the two battles from today.
"Using the wind element to agitate the fire element... the power it can unleash is indeed stronger."
Su Wen had long had the idea of combining the wind and fire elements to perfect his Flame Fist. Today, under Ye Lingling's healing and the pressure of clashing directly with Yu Tianheng, he had successfully attempted it.
The gains were undeniably significant.
"Using the wind element to agitate the fire energy and enhance the explosion damage is just one aspect. I can also combine wind and fire to unleash a fire tornado. That would be a powerful ranged attack."
As his mind continuously pondered these things, contemplating the techniques that might be required, Su Wen's spirit power also increased bit by bit as it circulated.
"Additionally... it seems my first spirit skill might have potential for further development."
Previously, Su Wen had only considered his first spirit skill as an enhancement-type skill. But now, he discovered it might have more room for excavation.
"The enhancement ability of my first spirit skill might not only apply to my spirit."
Starlight Fruit Tree... Starlight Fruit...
Connecting the origin of his first spirit ring with the sensation he'd felt during today's battle when he unconsciously fused the book pages into his fists, Su Wen had an idea.
"Perhaps... my book pages can also fuse into a target... and enhance that target."
Just like how the Starlight Fruit Tree bears Starlight Fruits, which enhance the spirit beasts that eat them.
If this was feasible... that would be fantastic.
"Then my first spirit skill could truly be called an auxiliary spirit skill..."
(End of this chapter)