Seeing that his encirclement strategy wasn't working, Su Ke had to switch to blade attacks.
He glanced at the timer above—two minutes had already passed. If this standoff continued, it would be unfavorable for him. After all, Lin Ning was a support-type ability user. If he couldn't defeat her within ten minutes, he would lose by default.
Su Ke transformed both hands into fire blades, hoping to cut through her shield.
But this rock shield was far harder than he had imagined. Even with continuous strikes, he could only chip off some stones and leave scratches.
"It's useless. This rock shield comes from a Thick Earth Bear's skill crystal core. This type of mutated beast is famous for its defense—few creatures at the same level can penetrate its defense. With your attack power, you can't break through."
"I haven't used my full power yet!"
Heatblast's power lay not only in his fire's ability to burn, but also in its explosive capability. He had been using only the burning aspect. Against rock, without sufficiently high temperatures, burning alone didn't have much effect.
So!
Su Ke rubbed his hands together, gradually forming a fireball between them.
With continuous friction, the fireball's temperature rose steadily, emitting a dazzling light.
Then, without hesitation, he hurled the fireball forward.
The fireball carried powerful kinetic energy, flying rapidly toward its target.
Lin Ning saw the fireball approaching and grew alert. She had originally thought this was just an ordinary fireball and planned to use her usual method to knock it away.
However, the moment the fireball struck the shield, something unexpected happened.
The fireball suddenly exploded, releasing tremendous energy and a shock wave.
The explosion's power exceeded Lin Ning's expectations. The intense impact knocked her to the ground, sending her tumbling several times before she finally stopped.
Su Ke asked with concern, "You okay?"
Lin Ning quickly stood up and replied boldly, "Won't die!"
Then, she dashed forward, raising her shield to slam down on Su Ke.
Su Ke was caught off guard by this sudden attack. He couldn't defend in time, and the shield smashed heavily against his chest.
He couldn't help but complain, "Damn, your family's shield is for attacking?!"
Lin Ning responded with a smile, "Who says a shield can only be used for defense?"
As she spoke, she deftly controlled the shield, making its middle section fragile and easy to break.
Then, with a sharp knee strike, the shield snapped cleanly in half.
Immediately after, she used her earth element power to create two handles on the broken surfaces, instantly transforming it into two sharp stone blades.
Su Ke looked at the weapons in Lin Ning's hands and exclaimed, "Alright, alright, so that's how you want to play?"
Before, he simply thought Lin Ning was good at studying and quick-thinking. Now he realized—this girl's quick thinking was on a whole different level!
Su Ke wiped both hands across his head, and the flames on top blazed like waves, surging dramatically. (For reference, see Heatblast's fire manipulation.)
The flames on his body burned fiercely.
"Come on!"
What followed was a clash of fire blades against stone blades.
Every time the fire blade cut, it left a mark on the stone blade, but Lin Ning could always repair the damage in time.
The two figures crisscrossed each other, constantly exchanging positions on the arena, landing their attacks on one another.
As time gradually passed, only three minutes remained.
This won't work—I can't win like this. The key is that these stones are just too hard. Even explosions can't completely destroy them. What should I do?
He stared intently at the rock armor covering Lin Ning's entire body.
Stone... burning... temperature! I've got it!
Su Ke gathered all his spiritual power into his hands. Fierce flames blazed from both palms.
Then, two powerful pillars of fire shot toward Lin Ning!
She raised her shield to block, avoiding the flames' direct burn, but the tremendous force from the fire pillars still made her retreat continuously.
She adjusted her stance before finally stopping her backward momentum.
Lin Ning: "It's useless. There's less than three minutes left. You can't break my defense!"
Su Ke: "I don't need to break your defense at all!"
"What?!"
Then, she felt the shield in her hands growing hotter and hotter.
Damn it!
Seeing the shield's heat exceed her tolerance limit, she hurriedly threw it aside—but this meant the fierce flames burned directly onto the rock armor covering her body.
"A-Ning, your defense is indeed very high, but my flames are now at two thousand degrees Celsius. As time passes, your rock armor will gradually heat up. How high a temperature do you think you can withstand? There are still two minutes left, but I only need one minute to heat your armor above five hundred degrees! As a First Stage ability user, you can't withstand that kind of temperature!"
Lin Ning's expression grew grave. She knew he was right. Her rock armor was indeed sturdy, but facing such high-temperature flames, it couldn't hold out for long.
He continued, "Moreover, your rock armor isn't completely sealed. It has many small cracks and gaps—these are all weaknesses where flames can seep through. Given enough time, I can let the fire penetrate through these cracks and burn your skin directly!"
Lin Ning's heart sank. She looked down at her rock armor and indeed found tiny cracks and scorch marks appearing, just as he said.
Su Ke didn't dare continue raising the temperature further, so he stopped the flames.
Lin Ning stood in place, panting heavily.
"I... I lose..."
"Su Ke wins!"
With the referee's announcement, Su Ke won this match.
The audience erupted in thunderous cheers, celebrating the end of this exciting match.
Lin Ning quickly dispelled the armor covering her body.
Looking at her skin, now bright red from the high temperature, she gave a bitter smile: "You really don't hold back, do you?"
Su Ke: "Can't be helped—it's a competition, after all. Naturally, I have to give one hundred percent effort. So, how are you? Are you okay?"
Lin Ning: "I'm fine. Just a little hot. You stopped the flames very timely—I wasn't burned."
Su Ke: "That's good then."
The two descended from the arena together, with Wang Zhong coming to greet them.
"That was a beautiful match!"
Lin Ning: "Actually, I think physical-type ability users like Old Wang really need to experience this feeling—it would train their endurance."
Su Ke: "Coincidentally, I think so too."
The two stared at him with mischievous eyes.
Sometimes, teasing a friend is just pure joy.
Wang Zhong: ...
"You know what, the classmates are all waiting. Let's get back to our seats quickly."
Wang Zhong hurriedly left, afraid that they might actually target him and give him a good burning too.
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