Versatile Mage c1-2021, page 367
"It's my only option!" Sayed clenched his teeth as he made a difficult decision.
It was his only chance, even if it would cost him a leg. Anything was worth it as long as it could secure him the final victory!
Sayed withheld the pain as he f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y dragged his right leg out from the ice.
His leg was rigid from the cold. He basically twisted wildly and pulled with great force, snapping off his leg off under the knee!
There was not any pain due to the cold, but Sayed knew it was only temporary. He would soon be overwhelmed by the pain from losing his leg.
The sacrifice was necessary to secure the victory. The woman was surely going to lose as long as he could move!
"Fleeing Shadow!"
Sayed merged with the shadow and vanished into thin air, leaving a leg stuck behind in the ice. It was a very eerie sight!
The crowd was stunned. How cunning was this Sayed? He pretended like he had already lost the duel just to get Mu Ningxue to lower her guard. He then detonated the Death Saber Mummy behind Mu Ningxue to distract her, just so he could successfully deliver his surprise attack!
They could not help but admit that this Sayed was truly crazy, willingly sacrificing his leg just to win the duel. Anyone would have thought that Mu Ningxue had already won the duel!
"Watch out!" someone from the crowd screamed, but it was too slow. Sayed's move had taken everyone by surprise!
A black shadow flowed over to Mu Ningxue's side. Sayed's tall figure appeared from it. He looked rather sinister covered in the dark aura.
He was holding a short, dark dagger. It was difficult to notice it without seeing the icy flicker it was reflecting.
It was the Devouring Dagger. Anyone who was stabbed by the dagger would feel their body being eaten by tens of thousands of ants, leaving them in incredible pain.
As a matter of fact, Sayed was hesitant to treat a beautiful woman with such a cruel method, but wasn't it her fault after forcing him into a pinch like this?
Sayed's move was completely unpredictable. The speed of his Devouring Dagger was as quick as the bite of a poisonous snake. Even instructor Bai Dongwei did not expect the move!
"You must be proud after costing me a leg, but you're going to pay a bigger price!" Sayed stabbed the dagger at Mu Ningxue's shoulder.
Mu Ningxue stood where she was. Sayed was only around a meter away. Most terrifyingly, the Devouring Dagger was inches away from piercing her skin.
Mu Ningxue remained expressionless.
The dagger stabbed at Mu Ningxue fiercely, yet it did not penetrate her skin. Somehow, it felt like the dagger had hit a sturdy crystal.
Sayed's hand turned numb from the rebound force. His eyes almost popped out from their sockets as he could not believe what he saw.
Mu Ningxue's body was covered in a layer of icy crystal. It was not an armor, but the same frost that had spread across the Death Saber Mummy and Gray-Cloth Iron Mummy's bodies. Mu Ningxue actually covered herself in ice as a layer of protection!
Sayed was not surprised by her ability, but her reaction speed!
Even though his plan consisted of a few steps, including losing his right leg, disappearing in the shadow before showing up close to Mu Ningxue to ambush her, his actions were completed almost instantly after he detonated the Death Saber Mummy's head. As such, he was dumbfounded; he could not believe the woman had actually predicted his move, and had set up her defense beforehand!
However, if she knew he was planning to deal her a surprise attack, why did she only cover herself in ice after he broke off his leg...
"You...you did it on purpose!" yelled Sayed furiously, now on the verge of having a breakdown.
Mu Ningxue ignored his cry. She had no intention of interacting with lowly sc.u.m. He was going to enjoy the pain from breaking off his leg...
She turned around and slowly walked off the stage. The Ice Domain lingering in the area was soon withdrawn, including the ice that was covering Sayed's right leg.
The ice worked like anesthesia, but as the ice melted, the returning pain was going to become true torture!
Chapter 864 - A Nation of Savages
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
Sayed stood still, glaring fiercely. His heart was engulfed in fury as he watched Mu Ningxue proudly turn around and walk away.
He was incredibly furious at the humiliation. His dignity as a member of an ancient, noble family from Egypt did not allow defeat, especially to a woman!
Sayed's face started twitching when he felt the pain coming from his leg. It was growing stronger gradually.
He clenched his teeth. His expression was twisting.
He tried to stand straight still with his remaining leg, yet he had underestimated the pain from his right leg after his senses recovered!
"Ugh!" Sayed let out a deep groan, like a beast who was about to go crazy.
"AHHHH!" Finally, the true agony came. Sayed let out a miserable cry. His ridiculous pride no longer existed. He could not even stand properly.
He fell to the ground. Blood started pouring out from the wound. His face turned extremely pale as cold sweat ran down his face.
"Treat my wound! Hurry up and treat my wound! You shameless and uncivilized sc.u.m!" yelled Sayed.
He crawled toward his shattered leg, as if he could stop the pain by connecting it back to his body. However, he started rolling around halfway. His cries even spread to the outside of the building.
This was the meaning of reaping what one had sown!
Instructor Bai Dongwei did not show any pity, nor did any of the students.
A severed leg was nothing compared to what he had done to Yue Tangxin. His life was not even in danger. Besides... he had actually snapped his leg off himself!
He naively thought he could sacrifice it in exchange for the victory. A shattered leg did not really affect him as long as he could treat the wound in time. However, he did not expect Mu Ningxue to come out on top. She waited until he proceeded with his little trick, and punished him for his deed in the simplest way!
No one would feel sorry for him since his actions were utterly detestable, not to mention that he had done it to himself!
As for treating his injury, it was obvious that Yue Tangxin needed treatment more than he did, since she was still in a critical state. Besides, the cold had actually slowed down the bleeding. It was unlikely that he would die of excessive blood loss.
"You...you assholes... I...I, Sayed, swear I'll make you all pay!" screamed Sayed in pain.
The more he screamed, the stronger the urge for the crowd to ignore him grew. They did not even bother giving him a blood serum.
"Ugh! AH!" Sayed continued to roll on the ground. His face was distorted, his tears and snot all mixed together.
He had totally lost his noble, arrogant demeanor in front of the pain. He quickly grabbed the remaining snow on the ground and pressed it on the wound, trying to use the cold to ease the pain.
However, Mu Ningxue had withdrawn the majority of the ice. He only managed to grab a limited amount of it.
"Please, I'm begging you, please treat my wound..." Sayed finally understood his position. He could barely endure the pain using the ice left behind by the merciful Mu Ningxue.
"Will you stop cursing?" asked Bai Dongwei calmly.
"I...I won't curse anymore," Sayed's expression recovered slightly. The ice was able to ease his pain slightly.
"Apologize to Yue Tangxin," added Bai Dongwei.
"I'm sorry, I was being too full of myself..." Sayed wiped at the mixture of tears and mucus on his face.
He lowered his gaze and saw the ice melting. The pain from his leg was returning slowly.
"Quick, treat my wound. Please treat my wound. I have already apologized!" Sayed was so terrified that his body was curling up.
It was not like Sayed had never experienced pain before, but the pain grew several times stronger as his nerves gradually recovered from the frozen wound. Most people would find it unbearable.
Bai Dongwei did not go too far with the punishment. He quickly called the student Healer over.
Yue Tangxin's condition had stabilized, although she still had to be admitted into the hospital for further evaluation. It was difficult to tell how long it would take for her to fully recover.
Meanwhile, Sayed's injury was not as complicated as it looked. By attaching the broken-off limb to the wound and treating it with Healing Liquid, it would take only a day to reattach the limb.
"Seriously, why are we helping him? Just let him suffer," said Li Yijun unpleasantly.
The others agreed, too. Wasn't he looking down on their National Training Hall? He should figure out how to treat his wound himself! They had fought many duels with national teams from other countries, and had stumbled into strong foreign students, but they had never seen anyone so proud and arrogant. This Sayed from Egypt was simply sc.u.m!
"Mu Nujiao, well done!" said Mu Nujiao sincerely.
Mu Ningxue nodded. She was behaving like an ice statue as normal.
"They won't be taking the challenge stamp. We finally stopped our losing streak."
"Yeah, it's a relief that Mu Ningxue was here. Otherwise, we wouldn't be getting any resources again. We are already behind, yet we are getting even fewer resources. It's so unfair; everyone is focusing on the national team, but no one cares about us."
---
Sayed was carried to the resting room. He had suffered a humiliating defeat. Even he was ashamed to stay in the hall.
Bai Dongwei immediately asked the team to gather after the asshole left.
The students kept quiet, as they knew Bai Dongwei was about to deliver his admonitory speech. They quickly returned to their spots. The entire hall fell silent.
"I believe you've clearly felt the humiliation today. If Mu Ningxue hadn't happened to join our team today, we would have had no choice but to swallow the defeat. I suppose I don't need to describe how horrible it felt. I believe some of you would rather break every bone you have rather than experience it. Everyone has their own pride, and as the elites from your respective institutes, I'm assuming that your pride isn't weaker than most Magicians.
"I want you to understand that there are all kinds of people in this world; those that are kind, courteous, and well-behaved despite their incredible talents, but there are also sc.u.m who are reckless, cruel, and disrespectful, too. I want you to remain modest, polite, and friendly to the former kind, but I also want you to be strong enough to trample the latter kind, so they will know that they shouldn't be messing with the Magicians from China!" Bai Dongwei did not yell at the defenders as usual, but conveyed his thoughts sternly.
They had the option to be a courteous nation, or a nation of savages. Bai Dongwei was hoping that the defenders would not think of themselves as backups for the national team, but young protectors of the nation. They should not let the other countries think their nation was timid and weak, nor should they be forced to swallow the insult when the same situation happened again!
Chapter 865 - Advanced Level Lightning!
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
A man walked out of the Three Step Tower with a confident stride. His face seemed to be hinting that the whole world was within his grasp.
"HAHAHA, I, Guan Ying, have finally improved my second Element to the Intermediate Level! I can finally train on the same team as Wen Jing and crush that asshole Xu Dongqiang. Uncle is going to be impressed too, how splendid!..." The man who referred to himself as Guan Ying burst out laughing in excitement.
Meanwhile, a man in simple clothing and unkempt hair was also walking with a confident stride and joy on his face.
"HAHAHA, I finally did it. I am a f**king genius!" The man was laughing even more crazily.
Guan Ying was interested in making friends. He immediately went up to the man after seeing that he was around the same age as him. "Brother, it looks like your hard work has paid off too. Mine did too, but I didn't really have anyone to celebrate with. It's noon, so my stomach is already grumbling. Why don't we go have some drinks and celebrate together? I know a barbecue place, I can guarantee that it's one of the best!"
"Why not?" the man agreed.
"Come, haha, it's better to have someone to celebrate with. By the way, brother, which school are you from?" said Guan Ying.
"The Fire School," replied the student.
"Fire School, I heard everyone there is extremely violent. However, I swear I saw flickers of lightning around you when you came out just then. I thought you were from the Lightning School," exclaimed Guan Ying.
"Mmm, Lightning is my secondary Element," answered the student.
"Damn, Lightning and Fire, they say it's the most violent combination. I am Guan Ying from the Light School. Lunch is on me, we can look after one another if anything happens… so your Lightning Element has also improved. Lightning and Fire are pretty scary together. Congratulations, I bet you've worked hard for it?" said Guan Ying.
"Yeah, I almost failed to expand my Lightning Element into a Galaxy. I f**king went all out when I thought about all the money I would lose if I failed the process. I almost fried my own brain. Luckily, I managed to break the barrier in the end. If the barrier was just a bit tougher, I might just be a retard now," replied Mo Fan.
Guan Ying burst into laughter upon hearing it. He patted Mo Fan on the shoulder and said, "Brother, you must be very happy. You even mixed up your Nebula with a Galaxy. Galaxy is for Advanced Level. Yours is a Nebula. The Advanced Level is like a dream for us. I don't even know if I can become an Advanced Magician in the future..."
Mo Fan remained silent.
Guan Ying soon realized the strange atmosphere. He looked at Mo Fan and asked with a strange expression, "Well, did you seriously improve to the Advanced Level?"
Mo Fan nodded with a smile. He was aware that he should not be too high-profile.
Guan Ying's expression changed immediately, but he still forced a smile and said, "You are only around my age. How are you an Advanced Magician? Please don't trick me like that..."
Guan Ying tried to inspect Mo Fan's cultivation with his will. Normally, Mo Fan could have stopped someone else from probing his cultivation, but he had just had a breakthrough. He needed to share the joy with someone, so he did not stop the man.
As he thought, in just a few seconds, Guan Ying's expression suddenly turned indescribable. He even froze in his tracks.
The joy he had from breaking through to the Intermediate Level was gone within an instant. It was replaced by lightning strikes shattering his fragile heart.
-I don't want to live anymore!-
----
The barbecue place that Guan Ying had in mind was not bad at all, but for some reason, the man did not really eat much, even though he looked like he was really starving when he first came out of the Three Step Tower.
Mo Fan was not too bothered by it. He was more than happy to clean up the table full of meat.
"Thanks for the treat, let's drink again some other time!" Mo Fan left in satisfaction.
Guan Ying forced a smile as he watched Mo Fan left. For some reason, it felt worse than if he had failed the breakthrough!
----
Mo Fan went back to the apartment. He felt disappointed when he saw the place still empty. Where did his two beloved concubines go? Why hadn't they received him yet? He was thinking of sharing the joy of improving his Lightning Element to the Advanced Level with them.
"Advanced Level, Advanced Level Lightning, HAHAHA, magnificent, magnificent! I should let Miss Tangyue know!..."
Mo Fan sent a text, hoping that his Miss Tangyue would reply to him instantly to compliment his talent. In the end, Tangyue did not even reply to him. She must be busy doing some work for the Enforcement Union...
Mo Fan sent another text to Lingling, just to let his partner know that he know had two Elements in the Advanced Level. Look how awesome he is! He can definitely take on the difficult quests and earn big bucks!
Only a Hunter Master could easily earn some quick cash. Mo Fan was tired of the little requests that anyone could accomplish.
He suddenly heard the sound of the door being unlocked. Mo Fan leapt off from the couch like a kid who had just scored a hundred on a test.
The person pushing the door open was Mu Nujiao, with her slender figure and long, slim legs. She seemed even more charming after changing her hairstyle to parting in the middle. Every action she did was elegant, like a well-raised daughter of an eminent family!
"Surprise!"
"Jiaojiao, it's been a long time. Come, give me a..."
Mo Fan sprang to the door. He was planning to take advantage of Mu Nujiao before she could react. However, Mo Fan shockingly discovered a familiar face right behind Mu Nujiao, the same gorgeous face that could make his heart pound heavily. However, for some reason, he almost lost his soul when he saw the face this time.
"Give...give me your bag, why are you lifting such a heavy bag yourself? I'll take it for you... ah, Xuexue, why are you here too? What a surprise? Why didn't you tell me you were in Shanghai? I could have gone to pick you up!" Mo Fan grabbed the little handbag that Mu Nujiao was carrying.
Mu Nujiao took her shoes off with a stunned look, but proceeded to invite Mu Ningxue into the place.
Mu Ningxue had gone straight to the National Training Hall after arriving in Shanghai. However, it turned out that the National Training Hall did not provide students with accommodations. Since Mu Nujiao already knew Mu Ningxue, and they had both gone through the disaster at Jinlin City together, she decided to bring Mu Ningxue back to her place, as the girl had yet to find a place to stay at in Shanghai.
Mu Nujiao did not mention Mo Fan was staying with her, nor did she know that Mo Fan was also on the national team. She had no idea why Mo Fan had been gone for such a long time.
Ai Tutu had not been staying at the apartment lately. The whole place felt rather empty. Therefore, Mu Nujiao was planning to let Mu Ningxue stay with her to keep her company. To her surprise, Mo Fan had come back too!
