Mo Fan followed Zhan Kong through the pouring rain, the ground trembling beneath their feet as the first waves of beasts hammered the northern wall. They moved quickly through the twisting alleys and down toward the hidden stairway that led deep beneath the city. Water streamed down the ancient stone steps. The air grew warmer, then humid, then strangely heavy.
The Sacred Underground Holy Spring pulsed below.
Mo Fan felt it before he even saw the glow—the strange warmth spreading across his skin, the sensation of a world within a world.
Zhan Kong reached the bottom first. He pressed his hand against the stone barrier. The glyphs flickered weakly, shattered in some areas.
"The seal is already damaged," he said. "Something broke it from below."
The barrier cracked open. Steam rolled out in a wave. The cavern walls glowed faintly blue-white, lit by the shimmering pool at the center. Pure elemental essence radiated from it—dense, overwhelming, intoxicating.
Mo Fan stepped inside. His Fire stardust trembled. His Lightning stardust flickered erratically. Both elements reacted instantly, pulling toward the pool like metal to a magnet.
Zhan Kong looked at him. "Go."
Mo Fan didn't hesitate. He walked down the stone ramp and stepped into the spring.
Heat rushed through him—not burning heat, but concentrated elemental purity that felt like sinking into sunlight. His Fire element drank it eagerly. His Lightning element surged like a beast released from chains.
Little Loach Stone at his neck trembled.
A faint humming filled the cavern.
Mo Fan gasped.
His spiritual world expanded instantly, the star oceans inside him swelling with raw power. Fire rushed through the star path like rivers of molten gold.
Then Lightning roared to life—violet light flooding every corner of his spiritual sea.
Zhan Kong watched from the entrance, expression solemn. "Good. Take everything the spring gives. You will need it."
Mo Fan's Fire stardust spun faster, brighter. The seven stars glowed like burning embers. His star map expanded, stabilizing into a new form—cleaner, more defined, the orbit stronger than any novice-level mage could imagine.
Intermediate One…
then Intermediate One Peak…
then something began to crack.
Not collapse—
evolution.
Little Loach absorbed the Holy Spring's pure essence, refined it, and released it back into him. It was a cycle of stolen energy, purified energy, and reborn energy that no ordinary mage in history had ever possessed.
Mo Fan felt the explosion inside himself.
His Fire element surged past the boundary.
Intermediate Two.
He didn't even notice himself shouting—the breakthrough tore through him with too much force to contain. Flames erupted from his back, swirling like a vortex around his body, then sank back into his skin.
His spiritual world steadied.
His Fire was now sharper, faster, deeper. The spell resonance connected instantly.
He could now cast Fiery Fist for real—not just the surface-level version. It had entered the realm of Intermediate-High, where a single strike could split boulders.
Lightning followed.
The seven lightning stars lit—one, two, three—each exploding with newfound clarity.
His spiritual sea shook.
Violet bolts streaked across the mental sky.
He saw it.
The Intermediate Lightning diagram.
It snapped into place with such force that Mo Fan staggered, clutching the edge of the spring. Lightning burst from his palm, striking the water, sending sparks dancing across the surface.
Intermediate One Lightning.
"Unbelievable…" he whispered.
Zhan Kong nodded once. "It suits you."
Mo Fan breathed hard, staring at his own hands. Fire flickered at his fingertips. Lightning danced across his knuckles. Two Intermediate realms. Not impossible—but unheard of for a student his age.
Then the cavern trembled.
Not from his breakthrough.
From above.
Zhan Kong turned sharply. "They're breaking through the walls. We move."
Mo Fan stepped out of the spring, elemental essence dripping from him like molten gold and liquid lightning. Little Loach glowed faintly, now strengthened by the purified spring.
Xu Mang and Lu Jun felt it the moment he re-entered the battlescape.
The air shifted.
Like someone had ignited the entire district.
Mo Fan leaped atop a roof, flames trailing behind his feet like he had used Wind Trail—except it was pure Fire energy allowing him to slide across the rain-soaked tiles.
Xu Mang's eyes widened. "He actually reached it."
Lu Jun nodded, casting Metal Slash at a lunging wolf. "Lightning too. His entire aura changed."
Mo Fan raised his hand.
Fire Burst—no, something beyond it—formed instantly.
He punched downward.
Intermediate Fiery Fist erupted through the street like a volcanic hammer, obliterating a cluster of beasts in one explosion. The heat rolled outward, turning the rain to steam for several meters.
Xu Mang and Lu Jun watched with grim satisfaction.
"He's ready," Xu Mang said.
"No," Lu Jun corrected. "He's necessary."
A new roar exploded across the wall. The commander beast crashed into the battlements, knocking hunters aside like dolls. Zhan Kong met it mid-strike, his blade of wind piercing through the night.
Mo Fan landed beside Xu Mang and Lu Jun, panting slightly but glowing with newfound strength.
"What's the situation?" he asked.
Xu Mang answered instantly. "Wall's breached. Northern district flooding. Commander at the west wall. Black Vatican manipulating the tide. This is the real invasion."
Mo Fan tightened his fists.
Lightning ran across his knuckles.
Fire pulsed behind his eyes.
"Good," he said. "Let's end this."
The three of them turned toward the collapsing districts—
the flame of Bo City's last defense.