The early commander's final roar echoed once before it collapsed, its massive body hitting the ground with a thud that shook the dirt. Zhan Kong stood over it, his coat settling around him as the beast's lifeless eyes stared blankly into the night sky. Hunters and guards alike stared in disbelief. Even the demonic beasts lingering near the treeline hesitated before retreating into the darkness.
The city erupted into cheers.
People shouted his name from rooftops and from behind barricades. Families came forward with tears in their eyes. Some dropped to their knees and bowed. Others simply stared with awe they couldn't hide.
Zhan Kong nodded politely, offering a rare, thin smile, but his eyes told the truth. The commander-level wolf was only a warning, not the calamity itself. Still, the people needed hope, and so he allowed their celebration to continue for the night.
Mo Fan, Xu Mang, and Lu Jun watched quietly from a distance. None of them were fooled. They knew exactly what Zhan Kong knew.
This wasn't the real disaster.
The real disaster was coming.
Two months passed.
The city repaired what it could. Students returned to school. The Mu Family increased their presence. The looming duel between Mo Fan and Yu Ang became the talk of every classroom and corridor.
Both sides began preparing.
Yu Ang was trained hard by the Mu Family—endless hours, private instructors, advanced resources. His ice stardust finally became stable, and his star map grew clean enough for him to be praised as a young genius. His family fully expected him to crush Mo Fan.
But Yu Ang had no idea what he was truly preparing for.
Mo Fan had spent the last two months stabilizing his new Intermediate Fire realm. Every star was more controlled than the last. His spiritual world expanded. His cultivation daily cycle became smoother and smoother. Xu Mang and Lu Jun saw him in training more than they saw him in class.
Even Xu Mang, who trained almost obsessively, had to admit it.
"Mo Fan's speed… is absurd."
Lu Jun agreed. "The early commander forced everyone to grow, but Mo Fan reached a different level entirely. If he completes the Intermediate Fire spell, Yu Ang won't even survive the opening attack."
Xu Mang laughed under his breath. "One Intermediate fire spell is enough to end the entire duel. Yu Ang is technically talented, sure… but he's still a novice. Mo Fan is already beyond him."
The school didn't know this.
The Mu Family didn't know this.
Even Yu Ang didn't know this.
Only the three reincarnators saw the gap widening every day.
Two months before the duel, an unspoken tension settled across Bo City's magic academy. Word spread quickly: Yu Ang was planning something big, something to humiliate Mo Fan before the actual fight. Mo Fan didn't care. His cultivation mattered more than the noise around him.
While the city watched Yu Ang practice, Mo Fan quietly practiced the basics of Intermediate Fire: controlling the flame seed, tracing the larger star diagram, pushing mana into the expanded vortex. He wasn't trying to get flashy. He just practiced the fundamentals the way the great spellcasters did in the books.
He didn't show off.
He didn't talk.
He didn't argue.
He simply got stronger.
When he stabilizes the Intermediate Fire spell, he'll become a completely different kind of fighter.
But the duel wasn't the only thing happening in those two months.
Lu Jun and Xu Mang began forming quiet connections around the city, mirroring the politics they had once read about. A small alliance formed between them and a few trustworthy figures—Hunters, students, minor clans. Not the big clans yet. Those would come later.
Xu Mang spoke quietly one afternoon. "We need allies. The timeline is shifting faster than canon. The invasion came early once. It might come early again."
Lu Jun nodded. "Then we prepare early too. The city doesn't have enough people who understand what's coming. We need a force. Something unified."
Xu Mang smirked. "Just like that chapter we both read. When the alliances were formed before the big events."
"We're ahead of schedule," Lu Jun said.
"And we need to stay that way," Xu Mang replied.
They both turned to look at Mo Fan training alone on the field, fire spiraling around him like a contained storm. Each controlled spark was a reminder of how far he had come.
Mo Fan didn't notice their conversation. His eyes were fixed on the flame he held in his hand.
He murmured to himself, "Just a little more… and Intermediate Fire will obey."
Yu Ang was cultivating harder than he ever had in his life.
But Mo Fan was already far, far ahead.
The duel was no longer a contest.
It was a formality.
Two months passed like a slow-burning fuse.
Finally, the day of the duel arrived.
Students filled the arena until the stands were overflowing. Teachers lined the sides. Even the Mu Family sent representatives, confident that Yu Ang would end Mo Fan's arrogance for good.
Yu Ang walked into the arena with frost drifting off his shoulders, confidence radiating from him. His stardust glowed with clean Ice resonance — cold, sharp, elegant. He lifted his chin, staring at Mo Fan with a look that held both contempt and finality.
Mo Fan stood opposite him. No flashy entrance. No arrogance. Only a calm spark of fire dancing between his fingers. The air around him rippled slightly — a sign of his recently consolidated Intermediate realm.
The referee raised his hand.
"Begin."
Yu Ang moved immediately. His Ice stars lit up cleanly, forming a precise, polished star map. Ice Vines burst from the ground, racing toward Mo Fan in a jagged wave.
Mo Fan stepped forward, his Fire stardust aligning effortlessly. His hand swept across the air.
Fire Burst.
A ball of flame erupted, smashing directly into the vines. The frost shattered like glass, melting instantly. Yu Ang's eyes widened slightly — he hadn't expected Mo Fan's fire to be that condensed.
Yu Ang flicked his wrist, forming a second spell.
Ice Bound.
A frozen aura spread outward in a circular pattern, attempting to trap Mo Fan with a rising wall of crystalline frost.
Mo Fan didn't even stop walking.
Fire Path ignited beneath his feet, carving a trail of burning red across the ground. Ice melted as he walked, each step turning the battlefield hotter.
Yu Ang felt panic flicker.
He formed his final star pattern quickly.
Ice Rose.
The delicate flower bloomed in front of him, petals unfolding, releasing a deadly, concentrated blast of freezing shards directly toward Mo Fan's chest.
But Mo Fan had already prepared his answer.
His hand tightened, gathering all seven fire stars into a sharp, swirling diagram. The heat pulsed violently, cracking the tiles beneath him. Flames spiraled around his arm.
Intermediate Fire Burst.
It roared forward like a compressed explosion.
Not just heat — momentum.
Not just force — precision.
It tore through the Ice Rose like it wasn't even there.
Yu Ang barely had time to raise an Ice Shield.
It shattered instantly.
The flame slammed into his stomach and sent him flying across the arena, skidding across the ground until he hit the barrier wall with a dull, choking sound.
Silence fell over the arena.
Everyone stared, their expressions frozen in disbelief.
Mo Fan slowly lowered his hand.
He hadn't even used his full power.
He hadn't needed to.
Yu Ang tried to stand. His legs shook. Frost cracked across his arms. But his eyes were filled with something new: fear.
Mo Fan walked toward him, step by step, the arena growing hotter with every footfall.
Yu Ang trembled.
Mo Fan stopped in front of him.
With no anger, no gloating, only the calm tone of someone telling the truth, he said:
"You were never my opponent."
Yu Ang collapsed fully, unconscious.
The referee swallowed hard and raised his hand.
"Winner: Mo Fan."
No one cheered.
No one clapped.
They were too shocked.
It was as if they had witnessed something they weren't supposed to see yet — a level far beyond what a first-year student should have.
The duel was over.
Mo Fan had won decisively.
POST-DUEL TRANSITION — XU MANG & MU NINGXUE
Xu Mang found Mu Ningxue standing alone near the academy's outer walkway, snowflakes forming unconsciously at her feet. Her expression was unreadable. She had watched the duel from beginning to end.
He approached calmly.
"You saw it."
Mu Ningxue didn't look at him. "He's stronger than I expected."
"In the original flow of events, he shouldn't have been Intermediate yet," Xu Mang said quietly. "But the timeline's shifting. Zhan Kong fighting that early commander triggered everyone's growth early."
She turned slightly toward him. "What does that matter to me?"
Xu Mang studied her for a moment. Cold, distant, proud. But beneath the frost, her stardust was trembling — not from weakness, but from wanting to grow.
"Your innate talent is extraordinary," Xu Mang said plainly. "Your Ice is not simple. Not basic. It's something much closer to the peak of what a mage can achieve."
She stayed silent.
"You need a place that can sharpen that talent," he continued. "Somewhere cold enough to push Ice mages beyond their limits. Somewhere that matches your potential."
Her eyes narrowed. "And where would that be?"
"At the Tiansheng Mountains."
She blinked, surprised.
Xu Mang went on, his tone steady, almost teacher-like.
"Those peaks create a unique natural environment. The cold there is pure Ice-element energy. Not elemental storms. Not random. Pure. Steady. Ancient. It resonates with innate talents like yours. People with ordinary Ice talent would freeze, but someone like you… you'd grow faster than you can in any city."
Mu Ningxue hesitated.
"It sounds dangerous."
"It is," Xu Mang said. "That's why it's perfect."
She turned to face him fully now. "Why are you telling me this?"
Xu Mang shrugged lightly.
"Because your potential shouldn't be wasted. And because soon, Mo Fan will step into challenges you can't support yet. If you want to stand beside him in the future… you need power to match."
A faint flush of emotion flickered beneath her cold exterior — quickly hidden.
Xu Mang smiled slightly. "Go to Tiansheng Mountains. Train there for a few months. When you return, you'll be far stronger than any of the prodigies here."
Mu Ningxue lowered her gaze, the frost around her thinning slightly.
"…I'll consider it."
"Do more than consider it," Xu Mang said. "Your story is about to change."
And as he left her there, a light snow drifted around her —
not from the weather,
but from her cultivation stirring in response.
She looked up at the sky.
Tiansheng Mountains.
A path she had never taken in the original story.
But in this story…
She would.