“This is way too strong. The last time we saw a mage like this was centuries ago, right?”
“No wonder it’s the Crown Princess—both handsome and powerful. She’s literally my white moonlight!”
The crowd in the stands was stunned by Qin Yu’s talent.
Elements from the world flowed into Qin Yu’s body, and her magical energy gradually surged.
Qin Yu stood up, her gaze fixed on the magic array ahead.
Her right hand reached out into empty air, and a Magic Staff materialized from nothing.
The third stage—the “final challenge” of the assessment.
Yin An was definitely planning something big; there was no room for complacency.
Qin Yu took a deep breath, adjusting her breathing rhythm to stabilize her state.
Between inhalation and exhalation, she seemed to become translucent, and her inner magic subtly resonated with the surrounding elemental power.
“As expected, I wasn’t mistaken. Your Highness, a breakthrough on the spot? Looks like things are about to get intense. Let’s see what surprises you can bring to this old man,” Yin An murmured.
“I’ll use this opportunity to help His Highness break through the third stage and become a fourth-stage Archmage.”
Qin Yu closed her eyes, feeling her own condition.
Her whole body seemed renewed, lighter and more agile.
She knew this was the sensation of her magic reserves breaking through from third to fourth stage.
Her magical skill and talent were already at fourth-stage level, so this breakthrough in mana reserves meant she was only one practical combat exercise away from becoming a true fourth-stage Archmage.
She opened her eyes, determination shining within them as she stared forward.
Let’s go!
“Third stage, begin! Opponent: Warrior Automaton, elite model, Imperial Palace special edition, fourth stage.”
At this, Qin Yu’s clear blue pupils suddenly contracted.
These Imperial Palace special edition Warrior Automata were the core force of the Palace Guard Corps, closely guarding her and the Duke of Changning.
Seven of these automata made up an elite special operations squad capable of holding off nearly three thousand ordinary troops equipped with Magic Weaponry.
The Warrior Automaton stood two meters tall, its entire body silver-white with a sleek mecha-style appearance.
Its right hand held a War Blade, while its left carried a Magic Staff inscribed with a complex Magic Conduit Array.
Its head suddenly lit up, and two red beams shot from its eyes.
“T-800!” Qin Yu couldn’t help but exclaim.
She knew the machine automaton had activated.
“No more waiting. T-800, start!”
Qin Yu knew this special edition had longer magical endurance, so she had to end this quickly.
Pointing her Magic Staff at the ground, she began chanting.
The Saintly Light Baptism array gradually appeared on the floor.
As her chant ended, the array emitted a brilliant light three times stronger than last time, shining upon the automaton.
“Just as I thought, with the array supporting it, the spell’s power is much greater. But is this enough?”
As Qin Yu expected, the automaton was unaffected and stepped forward, preparing to cross out of the Saintly Light.
‘Seems like its magic resistance is very high, probably fifth-stage. What now? Hmm, there’s nothing that one burst of Saintly Light can’t solve—if there is, then two bursts it is.’
With that thought, Qin Yu waved her staff, and the ground array rose into the air.
At the same time, several identical arrays appeared overhead. “381mm Saint Light Array, simultaneous fire!”
With her staff pointed forward, eight beams of Saintly Light pierced the air toward the automaton but were all blocked.
The automaton braced against the barrage and charged directly at Qin Yu.
“Damn! It’s closing in!” Qin Yu’s heart tightened.
Manipulating the atmosphere, she leapt into the air and flew backward, continuing to fire Saintly Light.
The automaton hesitated slightly, lowering its defense and shifting its footing; its feet crossed in a complex pattern, dodging the beams.
“What kind of monster is this?! Such magic resistance! And it can dodge attacks! The teacher said it stops attacking to charge up, right? What’s its weakness? What did the teacher say in class? Wait, I think I was spacing out during that lesson (T＿T) Uh… no, I think I spaced out every class!”
With no better option, Qin Yu withdrew her arrays and stopped attacking to recover magic, ascending to gain height while pondering a strategy.
At that moment, the automaton suddenly slid forward, raising its left hand to the sky.
Four high-powered Base-State Magic rays shot out.
Qin Yu hastily deployed a Base-State Magic Shield to defend, but barely matching the automaton’s fourth-stage level, she was blasted back.
The automaton leapt into the air, the magic thrusters on its back spewing Base-State Magic as propulsion, chasing after her.
“Air combat?” Qin Yu was shocked, stabilizing herself.
“This thing can fight in the air?”
Luckily, Qin Yu’s previous life as a modern 21st-century human gave her over 300 hours of experience in Ace Combat, more than 100 hours in War Thunder, and over 700 hours in World of Warplanes.
She considered herself confident in aerial combat.
But her first problem was that she was being tail-chased!
Qin Yu accelerated; the automaton remained firmly on her tail, its left hand faintly emanating energy, preparing to attack.
Suddenly, Qin Yu sharply slowed and rolled left.
The automaton reacted too slowly and passed her.
Attack and defense switched places; the automaton’s attack missed.
Qin Yu raised her Magic Staff and unleashed Saintly Light Baptism, striking the automaton’s magic thruster.
The automaton had just finished its attack and was unprepared to defend.
Its thruster’s defenses were insufficient; it immediately malfunctioned and plummeted.
From Qin Yu’s takeoff to the automaton’s ascent to her counterattack, it seemed like an eternity, but in reality, only six or seven seconds passed.
The crowd was exhilarated, especially by the 21st-century-style aerial dogfight.
Qin Yu wanted to continue aerial strikes but was nearly out of magic.
She had to land and prepare for close combat while replenishing mana.
The automaton, seemingly enraged, ignored its dwindling magic and continued firing Base-State Magic rays.
These were much weaker than before, meant only to restrict Qin Yu’s movement range—sufficient at this strength.
Qin Yu held her breath and concentrated, sheathed her Magic Staff, and gripped the hilt of her sword.
This sword was rare quality and relatively strong for such; it was custom-made for Qin Yu.
As an all-elemental mage, her melee weapon had to maximize her elemental power in every attack.
Its core Magic Conduit Array was complex, and it contained a certain amount of Magic Storage.
The distance between Qin Yu and the automaton closed steadily: 80 meters, 70 meters, 60 meters.
The automaton’s War Blade lit up as it fully drew the blade from its arm.
The blade was a Mo Dao, nearly one meter long, shimmering coldly.
Qin Yu pressed the scabbard with her left hand, gripped the sword’s hilt with her right, and drew it!
The blade was about sixty centimeters long, the handle thirty centimeters, eight centimeters wide along the spine, tapering to three centimeters at the tip.
Space magic faintly rippled along the blade, granting incredible sharpness.
The stored Base-State Magic within supported the sword’s innate spatial magic and provided some defensive capability.
Qin Yu held the sword with both hands, the tip pointing at the automaton in front of her as a starting stance.
Despite her preparation, her hands trembled uncontrollably.
She truly wanted to ask, “Me, a mage, doing close combat? Seriously?” Σ( ° â–³ °|||)︴
The distance rapidly shrank to just over ten meters.
Suddenly, the automaton’s Mo Dao ignited with fire elemental power as it charged, slashing down!
Sword raised to block!
Though Qin Yu blocked the blade, she couldn’t stop the fire elemental damage.
She was forced back two steps and had to use her own fire element control to neutralize the flames.
From this first exchange, Qin Yu realized she was outmatched: the block nearly exhausted all her strength; she could barely defend, let alone counterattack.
The automaton ignored Qin Yu’s state, stepping forward two paces and swinging its blade horizontally!
Qin Yu blocked again, but now she was utterly spent.
It was only the sword’s passive defensive magic that kept her from being cut through.
Though uninjured, she was sent flying dozens of meters away.
The crowd’s faces grew serious.
They were all experts who could tell that this Warrior Automaton’s magic resistance was fifth-stage strength.
Its Command Array was newly developed, but because its magic reserves were fourth-stage, its overall power was only rated fourth-stage.
In reality, it was near the peak of fourth stage, almost fifth-stage level, with excellent offense and defense.
Many fifth-stage mages wouldn’t necessarily defeat it, let alone Qin Yu, who had just entered the fourth stage, fighting it in close combat.
Grand Tutor Yin only furrowed his brow but said nothing.
On the field, Qin Yu lay on her side, her entire body aching from the recent impact.
“Thump, thump, thump,” heavy footsteps echoed as the automaton assessed the battle was not over and continued pressing the attack.
“Ugh… I fell? Ouch!” Qin Yu’s delicate face contorted in pain.
“Not much magic recovered… what should I do?”
Her right hand gripped the sword’s hilt, left hand on the ground, pushing herself up.
“I can’t fall now! I still need to survive through the break!”
Qin Yu looked up at the two-meter-tall automaton’s blood-red eyes glaring down.
The silver armor over its joints flickered faintly with Base-State Magic.
“I see! The weak points are at the joints! But how do I attack them effectively?” Qin Yu racked her brain.
The automaton closed in step by step, just eight meters away now.
Judging by its stride, it had at most one more attack.
Qin Yu used the sword as a crutch to steady herself and stood.
Her left hand gripped the Magic Staff, its base touching the ground.
This time, she held the sword in one hand, crossing it in front of her body.
Her clear blue eyes were tired but resolute, staring up at the enemy nearly half a meter taller.
The distance was down to three meters.
Qin Yu slightly bent her knees.
The spatial magic on her sword suddenly brightened with a “shing,” forming a blade of light two meters long.
This blade drew not only on her newly recovered magic but also the Base-State Magic stored within the sword.
The automaton abruptly stopped and raised its Mo Dao vertically in front of itself.
In that instant, the two faced off, neither daring to strike first.
Both knew this was the final chance to defeat their opponent.
The Wuyan Arena seemed to freeze at that moment.
The crowd held their breath, waiting for the final blow.
The two stood one tall and one short, sword positions crossed, their breaths shallow and weak—both at their limits.
It was truly the calm before the storm.
This calm shattered instantly.
The Warrior Automaton slid forward, raising its blade high above its left shoulder.
A powerful spatial elemental wave surged through the Mo Dao.
This elemental magic boost was stronger than its previous two combined—it was a decisive strike!
A flash of light, and the blade slashed diagonally downward from top left.
Everyone watching could see that if Qin Yu failed to defend, she would die instantly.
“Crack.” The Mo Dao struck an arc-shaped shield, behind which Qin Yu raised her Magic Staff.
The staff radiated an unusually bright light.
It was clear she was using the staff itself to form the shield, pushing the staff’s output far beyond what it could withstand.
Cracks spread rapidly from the point of impact.
Then the staff and shield shattered violently, consuming the last of Qin Yu’s magic.
Qin Yu staggered backward, dodging the Mo Dao’s follow-up attack.
Though protected by the shield, the blade was still sharp.
“Aah!” A short scream escaped her lips as the blade struck her head, but her helmet played a crucial role, blocking the strike.
“Bang!” The helmet was hit and flew off.
Qin Yu’s white hair cascaded down like a waterfall.
Her face was pale, but her gaze was firm, full of longing for the break (not really).
She gritted her teeth against the head pain, swung the sword with her right hand, and squeezed the last drops of magic from herself and the sword’s Magic Storage into the blade of light.
The blade flashed and extended to three meters as Qin Yu thrust toward the automaton’s vital spot.
The two were now in close combat, barely half a meter apart.
Qin Yu clearly saw the cutout at the automaton’s neck designed for mobility.
Her sword pierced through.
With the sound of metal shattering, the automaton’s head fell off, enacting a scene reminiscent of Louis XVI.
“Finally, I won! The break is secured!” Qin Yu collapsed, pushing the sword tip into the ground and gripping the hilt to steady herself.
She looked toward the stands.
Grand Tutor Yin smiled kindly.
Students from the Academy cheered loudly, while the assembled dukes and princes wore faces of disbelief.
Suddenly, Qin Yu felt a cold glare.
Looking up, the Duke of Changning Qin Yi’s gaze was icy, as if he resented not having been cut down by a single strike earlier.
Qin Yu’s heart tightened.
Rumors had long circulated that some dukes harbored ill intentions.
It seemed those words were true.
It was definitely necessary to expand the Crown Princess’s Eastern Palace Palace Guard.
Lost in thought, Qin Yu was brought back to reality as the Imperial Physician lifted her onto a stretcher.
“Better not worry about all that for now. Just enjoy the break!” (・∀・)