The instant the ripple of distorted space appeared overhead, the expression on the ice staff youth's face changed drastically.
"Damn it!" He shouted inwardly, raising his ice staff in a hurried attempt to cast a defensive spell, but it was already too late.
A flash of golden light flickered in the air around him.
Boom!!
A cone-shaped burst of compressed energy exploded directly in front of his face. The force of the sudden spatial ejection sent him flying backward, slamming hard into a tree trunk dozens of meters away. He groaned, chest heaving violently from the impact.
The little girl—his younger sister—screamed in panic and ran over to check on him.
The explosion didn't leave visible wounds, but it had stunned him completely. Even though the spell hadn't contained lethal power, it clearly could have ended his life if the user had intended.
He had lost. Completely.
In mere seconds, he had gone from confident predator to the defeated prey. The humiliation of that realization burned in his chest far more than the aftermath of the explosion.
And the one who had done it to him wasn't even a soul elder yet.
The other students in Zero Class were equally stunned. They knew South Fusheng had always been calm and unassuming, usually staying in the rear to support, but no one expected this level of power and precision.
"Damn… that was... epic," Zhang Yangzi muttered, eyes wide.
Even Tang Wulin found his breath catching. He always knew South Fusheng was strong, but this? A unique technique—space-based, near-instantaneous, and impossible to trace. If that had been an actual battle to the death, the enemy would have never stood a chance.
South Fusheng stood quietly, golden eyes gleaming faintly.
The ripple in space faded. The atmosphere hung thick with tension for a moment, until—
"I concede," the ice staff youth said hoarsely, holding up one trembling hand. He was still clutching his staff, but his eyes had lost their edge.
He looked at the boy before him—not with disdain or anger—but with a strange, grudging respect.
"Your name?" he asked.
South Fusheng replied flatly, "South Fusheng. Zero Class, Eastsea Academy."
The young man nodded slowly. "Wei Han. Second-year advanced division, Northern Spirit Academy."
Beside him, his sister finally let out a breath of relief. "You're not hurt, are you, Gege?"
"I'm fine," he muttered, then looked to South Fusheng again. "Thanks for holding back."
South Fusheng's lips twitched. "You have a good sister."
Wei Han's expression softened for a moment. "You're strong… and careful. It's rare to see that in someone so young."
There was a moment of silence between them.
Then Wei Han glanced down at the yellow glow of spirit energy that still surrounded Zero Class's group.
"Don't worry. I won't fight you for that. I lost—fair and square." He turned away, helping his sister to stand properly. "Come on, Xiaoyan. Let's go."
Without waiting for a response, the two disappeared into the forest, leaving behind only the echoes of their departure.
Back in Zero Class's formation,
Zhang Yangzi finally blurted out, "Holy crap, Fusheng, what was that!? That was like... like teleporting a bomb over someone's head!"
"Heh, I call it... Flying Thunder God - Guided Thunder."
South Fusheng's tone was still calm, but everyone could tell—he was a little proud.
Tang Wulin narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "It's not just teleportation. You set a trap ahead of time, using the star worm's mark, didn't you?"
South Fusheng nodded. **"Exactly. The moment I retrieved that ice disc and vanished it, I embedded it into a dimensional rift and left a spatial anchor above him using my second soul spirit. Then I just... waited."
"Once he used his full power, I simply redirected it back to him. Classic bait-and-punish."**
Even Gu Yue blinked, clearly impressed.
Zhang Yangzi scratched his head. "Wait, wait. Doesn't this mean you've created a guided missile spell... with teleportation?"
"In short: yes," South Fusheng smirked. "But I'm still perfecting the targeting system."
Everyone laughed. Even Gu Yue cracked a faint smile.
Tang Wulin clapped a hand on South Fusheng's shoulder. "Nicely done, vice-captain. Looks like you've been busy during those three days off."
South Fusheng replied with a straight face, "Well, when you're poor, you gotta get creative."
Everyone burst into laughter again.
But beneath the laughter was a deeper recognition:
South Fusheng was no ordinary support-type soul master. He was something... more. A tactician. A researcher. A wildcard.
And most importantly—
Someone who never wasted an opportunity to sharpen the blade in the shadows.