“What’s that?!”
Keno shrieked in panic at the sudden scene. “Where did this tornado come from?!”
His snow hands, now uncontrolled, scattered as regular snow onto the ground, releasing Su Xing’s neck.
Su Xing instantly collapsed to her knees, clutching her throat, coughing hoarsely.
As air rushed back in, her face flushed, and she greedily gulped down fresh air.
The little fox nuzzled beside her, worriedly rubbing her hand.
Su Xing slowly recovered, shaking her head to signal she was fine.
But her legs were still weak; she couldn’t stand or control the tornado, leaving Keno to fly helplessly in mid-air.
She rasped to Keno, “See, cough, cough! Even the small, fragile lives you despise can unleash immense potential under the threat of death, killing a self-righteous degenerated like you.”
Keno screamed frantically in the tornado, “Su Xing! I won’t let you get away with this!”
Su Xing chuckled, still coughing.
“Su Xing! Su Xing, are you over here?!”
“Su Xing, where are you?!”
“Su Xing! We’ve brought people to save you! Where are you?!”
Kaka and others’ shouts echoed from afar.
Su Xing, unable to move, gestured for the little fox to quickly fetch them.
Soon, Kaka and the others, led by the little fox, rushed over, immediately seeing the tornado raging in the room.
The tornado was confined by the small house; had it not been for the thick snow above, it would have pierced the ceiling and escaped.
Evangel nimbly dodged the tornado to check on Su Xing.
Seeing she was only breathless, she sighed in relief.
Su Xing barely managed to look at the newcomers.
Besides Kaka and her two companions, there were also Winx and two unfamiliar individuals, a man and a woman, both appearing competent.
The three looked at the tornado with some surprise, but quickly summoned their Phantoms.
Winx used her Mist Phantom to pull Keno from the tornado, then quickly subdued the almost unconscious Keno.
The woman summoned a large bird that flew into the tornado with a strong gust of wind, spinning in the opposite direction.
Under such opposing forces, the tornado quickly subsided.
Su Xing noted this, warning herself that this was a method to counter her ability.
Although her skill was powerful, it was still far inferior to high-tier Phantoms of the same element.
The man jogged over, summoning a white miniature angel, only fist-sized.
The angel circled Su Xing twice, sprinkling some shimmering white dust.
Su Xing felt the sharp pain in her throat rapidly ease, soon vanishing without a trace.
She widened her eyes in surprise, tentatively asking, “I… I’m okay now?”
The woman walked over, saying naturally, “Of course you are. The one treating you now is the Spirit Realm Academy’s exclusive physician.”
Hearing “Spirit Realm Academy,” all four of them were shocked. For 15-year-old children like them, nothing was more influential than the Spirit Realm Academy, especially since they had all awakened their Phantoms.
“Let’s talk outside,” Winx said, carrying the thoroughly shrouded Keno with one hand, leading everyone out through the exit.
The exit was in the opposite direction from Su Xing, no wonder she couldn’t find it.
Upstairs, Winx took out a crystal ball and a conch shell.
The conch was shaped like an ear, very peculiar.
This was a “Big Ear Conch,” a type of Phantom often used for communication.
But she didn’t know the purpose of the crystal ball.
Soon, an image appeared on the crystal ball. Inside was a white-haired child, but strangely, this child had a long, white beard.
Winx nodded to the child, then looked at Su Xing and the others, “Would one of you please tell us what happened underground?”
As she spoke, the short-haired woman beside her handed a badge to Su Xing and the others, “I’m Irene, a high-ranking Federal police officer, dispatched to investigate the anomalies here.”
The four quickly conferred, finally delegating Su Xing to handle the communication.
Su Xing resisted her curiosity to look at the child in the crystal ball, organizing her thoughts while recounting Keno’s plot and the incident from ten years ago as thoroughly as possible.
Naturally, the focus of the narration was on how powerful Keno was, how many difficulties they faced, and how many injuries they sustained.
Su Xing specifically exaggerated these aspects, hoping to receive more rewards.
Irene clearly saw through Su Xing’s little scheme but didn’t criticize her cleverness.
Self-interest was human nature, and besides, Su Xing had just resisted a major temptation and almost died for it. In Irene’s eyes, this bit of cleverness was merely endearing.
By the time she finished, Winx and the others’ expressions had become serious.
Keno’s research, to some extent, indeed fell into the realm of genius.
If he were rashly handed over to the Federation, it was uncertain what some high-ranking Federation officials might do for their own benefit.
Winx made a decisive decision, “We’ll temporarily detain Keno.”
Spirit Realm Academy was not only the most renowned academy on Mercury but also widely recognized for its fairness and integrity. Irene showed a conflicted expression; although she didn’t want to stop Winx, it was difficult to disobey her superior’s orders.
***
The child in the crystal ball spoke at the right moment.
Although he himself looked like a child, Su Xing clearly saw what could be called a benevolent emotion in his eyes.
The person spoke softly in a childish tone, as if comforting a small child, “It’s alright, don’t worry. I’ll go discuss this with those old folks from the Federation later. Miss Irene, you can come back with us first. By the time we get back to the city, I estimate this matter will have a conclusion.”
Irene’s expression relaxed, and she calmly accepted the suggestion.
Su Xing looked up and interjected, “What about… Qina? Where is she now? She’s also a Snow Maiden; it’s best to keep her under control.”
Winx nodded reliably, “Don’t worry. As soon as I detected something was wrong when you were buried by the avalanche, I took control of all those tourists and guides.”
He finished, then asked Su Xing, “So what about that tornado we saw? You didn’t tell us everything earlier!”
Kaka and the others also looked at Su Xing curiously; that tornado was truly astonishing.
Su Xing then explained her Phantom’s situation, a hint of annoyance in her expression, “I can’t fully control this ability yet. I can’t possibly have to be on the verge of death every time to activate it!”
All the adults present were well-experienced.
Hearing this, Winx patted Su Xing’s shoulder and gently said, “Don’t worry. You just can’t control such a powerful ability right now because you’re too weak. But after you’ve trained at the Spirit Realm Academy for a while, I think you’ll definitely be able to use it freely.”
Su Xing nodded anxiously, then suddenly looked up sharply, “You mean?”
Winx nodded with a smile, looked at the four of them, stood tall, and formally stated, “I, in my capacity as the first-year teaching director of Spirit Realm Academy, formally invite you to enroll when school starts on September 1st this year, with all tuition fees waived.”
He bowed slightly, “Four young heroes, are you willing?”
Kaka pointed at himself in disbelief, “Us? We can all get in?”
Even Evangel was uncharacteristically unconfident, “But my Phantom… is very weak, and I… my identity…”
Winx shook his head at her, “It’s alright. We already understand your situation. But no one said an assassin can’t enroll, right?”
“What? Evangel is an assassin?!”
Kaka exclaimed in shock.
Evangel rolled her eyes at this slow-witted idiot, while Su Xing playfully leaned in, “And Evangel was the assassin who came to kill you, too!”
Kaka froze, then jumped up excitedly, “That’s so cool! I made friends with the assassin who wanted to kill me!”
“Hahahahahahaha!”
Hearing his extraordinary thought process, Su Xing and the others burst into laughter, Su Xing laughing so hard that tears almost streamed down her face.
Only Kaka scratched his head, utterly bewildered.
Winx finished laughing, then continued to Evangel, “As for your Phantom, I can only say there are no weak Phantoms, only weak Phantom Masters. Your actions when facing the Snow Maiden have earned our approval.”
“I can tell you responsibly that we all believe you have the potential to become a Great Phantom Master. Not just you, all four of you have the potential to become Great Phantom Masters.”
Su Xing and the others exchanged glances.
At their age, they certainly felt a sense of self-importance.
But when truly affirmed by others, they inevitably felt disbelief and shyness.
After a long silence, Kaka suddenly jumped three feet high, “Yay! I can enter Spirit Realm Academy! I got in by myself! My mom doesn’t have to throw money at it!”
The child in the crystal ball, who was about to close the image, paused upon hearing this, then turned back and childishly added, “Actually, you can still throw money at it; we don’t refuse anyone.”
He said this with a smile, clearly joking.
Su Xing and the others couldn’t help but laugh, and the atmosphere instantly became cheerful.
Kaka pulled Su Xing with one hand and Evangel with the other.
Su Xing used her free hand to pull Quinn, and Quinn and Evangel held hands.
Evangel stiffened for a moment but didn’t refuse.
Then, led by Kaka, they started skipping and spinning in a circle, shouting as they spun, “Wow! We all got into Spirit Realm Academy! We’re awesome!”
Su Xing also laughed happily, relaxing and joining the celebration, “No tuition fees!”
Quinn was also smiling.
He was too shy to flail his arms, but he still joined in the spinning.
Even the usually indifferent Evangel showed a smile, pure joy in her eyes.
In the snowy expanse, four visibly young children joyfully spun in circles, surrounded by laughter.
This beautiful scene made the adults present exchange glances, their eyes also filled with smiles.
Irene even specifically took out a Soulstone to permanently record this moment.
This would surely become the most precious memory for these children in the future.