At this time, the two groups that stepped out from the weapon refining room had already lost patience. One side could not endure it, directly making a move.
The dharma wheel in the youth's hand burned red, flame patterns circling around it, like a carp flicking its tail in the waves. That was precisely the Huo Yu Lun.
With a single thought, the dharma wheel spun rapidly in his palm.
Three breaths later, the patterns on its surface blazed brightly, separating into a fire fish.
It shot out like an arrow, its tail sweeping across, drawing a scarlet ribbon through the air, coiling down the steps.
"A sneak attack? Truly despicable and shameless!"
The opposite side merely rotated his wrist lightly. A green jade token flashed, an arc shaped wind wall immediately appeared, swirling like the face of a drum, emitting a heavy humming sound.
The gust swept fiercely, the fire fish was flung far away, shattering into countless tiny sparks before extinguishing. The scorched smell gradually dispersed in the chill.
"Hmph! You were only lucky, I did not use my full strength."
"Only good at talking. Brothers, charge!"
As soon as the shout fell, the two sides immediately plunged into a melee. Some stood far away casting spells, safe yet still able to support their companions. Some directly rushed forward, confronting head on.
Immediately after, two streams of spells shot out at the same time. An ice arrow shrieked as it tore through the air, together with a fist sized fireball blasting forward. Red light and blue light intertwined, illuminating the entire staircase.
Boom!
A small explosion rang out, smoke and dust billowed, swallowing both sides into a hazy mist.
Before it could disperse, more spells continued to shoot out. A figure was forced back two steps down the stairs, his heel scraping across the stone edge making a dry "keng" sound, then he turned and hid behind a pillar.
Another tilted his shoulder to evade, his robe hem whipped loudly by the wind. His hand had already raised a silver hammer high, cold light sweeping across his opponent's head.
Magical artifacts continuously unleashed all kinds of spells: fire, thunder, water, wind…
Each strike was far stronger than casting with bare hands.
Partly because the disciples here were not yet proficient in controlling spiritual qi, so magical artifacts were more convenient. Moreover, the spiritual qi from artifacts had limits, did not remain in the body, thus avoiding hidden injuries.
In contrast, casting barehanded was both less effective and caused spiritual qi to surge into the body, easily leaving hidden injuries.
On the staircase at this moment, some dodged, some launched sneak attacks, some ran about chaotically. Some were clumsy, movements stiff like wood, while others executed techniques splendidly, making others secretly envious.
But all were directed toward one common goal: avoid attacks and inflict damage upon the enemy.
Spell fighting had never been merely standing still in one place, casting spells to see who was stronger. If it were only like that, whichever side had more people would win, why would there be any need for strategy or coordinated combat?
It was precisely because of such thinking that quite a few had once fantasized that they could defeat that madman.
The Wu Zhi group saw the battle range spreading over and joined in, spells pouring down like rain.
Although their power did not surpass the other two groups, the types of spells they cast were more diverse, and their strength was not much inferior.
From afar, inside the internal affairs room, the academy elder calmly drank tea. His eyes casually followed the images displayed upon the Zhao Ying stone, a sphere the size of an adult's fist, bright like glazed jade.
Liu Ying stones were discreetly installed around the academy. When needed, one could review recorded segments or observe in real time.
Each set consisted of one Liu Ying stone and one Zhao Ying stone, refined simultaneously to create a connection through shared spiritual qi frequency.
Thus they became effective surveillance tools, almost every household possessing at least one set to manage disciples. The Zhao Ying stone could be large, but the Liu Ying stone was so small as to be hard to notice.
Within this academy alone, there were at least more than ten ultra small Liu Ying stones arranged throughout.
Refining more than ten Liu Ying stones synchronized with a single Zhao Ying stone was extremely difficult, requiring grandmaster level weapon refining.
In addition, Liu Ying stones could be viewed directly. But when paired with a Zhao Ying stone, one could observe from afar without removing them from their original positions.
It was also said that this was originally the inheritance of an immortal. After countless studies and experiments, people gradually succeeded in creating this set of Ying stones.
Whenever that immortal was mentioned, everyone revealed a look of emotion. Some were grateful, some admiring, some curious… in general, whenever hearing of him, all would pause briefly.
It was said his cultivation was invincible under heaven, called by the world the Immortal Emperor. Yet when mentioned again, the world used only a single word, Immortal.
There were rumors that he had existed since ancient times, comprehending all things, with a strange temperament. His words were often like drifting clouds, few could understand, and his mouth always carried a foolish smile.
After overcoming countless trials, he stepped into the Immortal Emperor realm… then disappeared.
A thousand years, ten thousand years, even millions of years passed. No one ever saw his figure again, only rumors like mist and smoke remained.
Until one day, when countless secret realms and ancient ruins were explored. People found a stone slab carved with strange knowledge, along with stories never before told.
It was a different world, a place without spiritual qi. Yet it concealed innumerable extraordinary things.
From those stories, people transcribed and passed them down to later generations. Some understood profound principles within, comprehended part of the knowledge, and wrote books so later generations could have the chance to learn.
They were collectively called… fairy tales.
Among all those illusory characters, the one standing between the boundary of fantasy and reality, between ordinary and extraordinary, was precisely "Immortal". Only then did the world understand why he possessed only a single name.
The academy elder leaned against a wooden chair, the light from the Zhao Ying stone reflecting upon his silver beard. The images shifted according to his thoughts, from one group to another.
"Not bad, not bad…" He stroked his beard, the corner of his lips slightly curling. "These little ones indeed have potential."
His gaze swept across every corner of the bright screen. "Things gather by kind, people divide by group."
"Those two groups must be proficient in weapon refining, the artifacts they refined are nearly mid grade. This group is skilled in spell techniques, if I remember correctly even the weakest only suffered minor internal injuries."
As for Luo Wu Chang, he did not pay much attention, merely thinking those fellows wanted to curry favor with Luo Tian Qiu, thus seeking ways to approach him. After all, the other party was a genius, with a bright future.
While the three groups were fighting over who would obtain Luo Wu Chang, Luo Wu Chang himself had already quietly slipped away.
"Too dangerous… I am not worthy of your affection like this…" He muttered while running.
Luo Wu Chang was originally just an ordinary disciple, strength mediocre. But precisely that ordinariness and innocence made people fond of him.
When achieving poor results, he still proudly showed them off. When achieving high results, he would instead be dazed: "I finally refined a primary magical artifact."
"I am about to draw this talisman… so difficult."
He stood midway between ordinary and useless, sometimes unexpectedly outstanding, sometimes terribly bad.
This type of person did not arouse jealousy, nor contempt. They created in others the illusion that they could completely surpass him.
Thus, people gradually wanted to walk alongside him. The more they traveled together, the closer they became, the more they failed, the more they understood one another.
Luo Wu Chang carried an indescribable attraction, both motivation and companion.
At this moment, he stepped into the spiritual herb planting area. Before he could steady himself, he was seized by a teasing group.
Three circles lit up beneath his feet, each circle containing five different light points. Respectively the formation eyes of the spirit trapping formation, slow formation, and power reducing formation.
Faint blue light condensed into chains locking his ankles tightly.
"Luo Wu Chang! You are caught. Join our team."
This group did not possess mid grade zhuo ling tools, but were proficient in certain formations.
Their low grade zhuo ling tools required five breaths of delay when used, thus not skilled in direct combat.
In return, they understood some aspects of the hundred arts of cultivation. Most talismans they crafted were used for escape or disguise.
The pills they refined were mostly defective, but such defective pills caused stomach pain.
As for formations… extremely mischievous, unable to kill anyone. But enough to make people furious without outlet.
These fellows frequently led in many pranks.
Luo Wu Chang forced a smile. "How about letting me off once. I have a high grade zhuo ling tool."
After that he withdrew his smile, adopting a threatening tone. "You all clearly know the difference between high grade and low grade, right?"
At this moment Wu Chang's expression was extremely insolent, hand raising a middle finger in provocation.
"Be careful or I will send you to meet your ancestors."
They heard this half believing, but certain of one thing: Luo Tian Qiu must have given him that item.
"We know. But with this slow formation and power reducing formation, even with a magical artifact it cannot be fully used."
Fei Yang showed no fear, still maintaining his teasing attitude.
"So what if it is a high grade zhuo ling tool? Falling into a disadvantageous situation it is merely scrap."
"How about joining us?"
The corner of Luo Wu Chang's lips suddenly lifted. He took out a gray talisman, poured spiritual power into it. White light flared, the three formation eyes exploded simultaneously.
"It is a formation breaking talisman drawn by Luo Tian Qiu!"
"Unexpected that he gave Luo Wu Chang this."
Breaking free from the encirclement, he ran while turning back with a forced smile. "Sorry. Let us pretend we never met."
"Stop! You are not allowed to run!" The shouting still echoed, but the image on the Zhao Ying stone had already shifted elsewhere.
The academy elder chuckled softly, continuing to enjoy the antics of the juniors.
After not going far, Su Ming immediately sent a message through a transmission talisman. Not long after, he received a reply from his teammate.
"Ming ge, Luo Yun Ge is targeting weaker teams. We used invisibility talismans to observe, discovering that aside from the group chasing Luo Tian Qiu."
"There is another group chasing someone else, this group is quite numerous. Besides that… there are no more targets for us to act against."