The Duke of Changning, watching the battle from the main hall, looked up at the figure in the sky, astonished: “It’s you!”
The black shadow in the air raised his staff, generating a protective shield that covered Qin Yu and Luo Shangyu.
Qin Yu looked up and instantly recognized the person, calling out joyfully, “Grand Tutor Yin!”
Yin An glanced at Qin Yu, then at the barely breathing Luo Shangyu lying in Qin Yu’s arms.
Descending from the sky, he handed Qin Yu a jade cong and said, “This is for healing.”
After speaking, Yin An strode toward the ninth-tier Pseudo-God.
The Pseudo-God showed no sign of panic.
He raised his staff and launched an attack against Yin An.
The Saint Light Sword sliced across the sky, aiming to strike Yin An.
Yin An remained calm.
With a wave of his staff, a defensive shield appeared out of thin air, blocking the light sword.
After a brief skirmish, the Pseudo-God frowned, “Your mana reserves…”
“My mana reserves are already at the peak of ninth-tier. It’s just that my talent for magic isn’t strong, and my potential isn’t enough, so I’m still stuck at seventh-tier. Zhao Zhuang, you’ve gotten slower than before. The old you would have sensed something wrong the moment we started fighting.”
The ninth-tier Pseudo-God was shocked—not only by Yin An’s unexpectedly strong power but more importantly because Yin An recognized his true identity.
Indeed, this ninth-tier Pseudo-God was Zhao Zhuang, Yin An’s classmate at Ji Xia Academy.
“Zhao Zhuang, it’s been years! You’ve actually reached ninth-tier Pseudo-God!” Yin An said loudly.
“But for the Crown Princess’s sake, I will definitely kill you here!”
“Yin An, back in school, you barely ever won against me. Now that I’m a ninth-tier Pseudo-God, what can you do?”
Saying that, he condensed the light sword.
The blade shortened but became saturated with light elements, nearly overflowing.
The Saint Light Sword, as a Pseudo-Divine Technique Magic Array level battle skill, is extremely versatile.
It can either, like Luo Shangyu before, exchange attack power for a wide attack range for area damage, or, like Zhao Zhuang, sacrifice range for maximum attack power.
In short, the Saint Light Sword’s attack power and attack range have an inverse relationship: the larger the range, the weaker the attack power; the smaller the range, the stronger the attack power.
How small the range can be compressed—and thus how much attack power can be increased—depends on the caster’s skill and tier.
Increasing attack power within the same range depends on the magic output’s power.
Previously, Luo Shangyu’s sword blade nearly a hundred meters long could break a puppet with fifth-tier magic resistance.
Now, Zhao Zhuang had compressed the Saint Light Sword’s blade to just over one meter, with its attack power reaching the peak of ninth-tier.
Zhao Zhuang charged fiercely at Yin An, who used base-state mana to construct multiple layers of shields to block the attacks.
The shield level was limited by Yin An’s power, so a single shield couldn’t fully stop Zhao Zhuang’s assault, but he could generate many shields to withstand one onslaught.
Quantity over quality.
Since Yin An’s mana reserves were already at the peak of ninth-tier, slightly more than Zhao Zhuang’s, he didn’t worry about running out of mana.
While Yin An and Zhao Zhuang clashed, Qin Yu carefully examined the jade cong Grand Tutor Yin had just given her.
The jade cong was filled with abundant life attribute magic.
Qin Yu activated it, releasing life attribute magic to heal Luo Shangyu’s injuries.
The wound on Luo Shangyu’s right shoulder gradually stopped bleeding, her scapula slowly regenerating.
She regained some strength and struggled to sit up from Qin Yu’s embrace.
“Feeling better?” Qin Yu asked with concern.
“Mm, it hurts less, and I can feel the wound healing. The bones, flesh, and skin are growing back,” Luo Shangyu replied.
“But can Grand Tutor Yin really defeat Zhao Zhuang?”
Qin Yu said confidently, “Grand Tutor Yin is the Crown Princess’s Grand Tutor, so naturally, he’s strong. Besides, he has the Royal Family’s support and many secret weapons. He’ll definitely defeat Zhao Zhuang.”
Qin Yu sat on the ground behind Luo Shangyu, legs spread so Luo Shangyu could lean against her back.
The two sat together, Qin Yu holding Luo Shangyu as they watched the battle ahead.
In the distance, Duke Qin Yi of Changning stood at the garden’s edge under the protection of an eighth-tier mage who had previously fled, watching the fight.
Farther off, behind the windows of the west wing, the main hall, and the kitchen, servants, maids, guards, and the Duke’s attendants quietly observed.
After a while of fighting, Yin An suddenly deactivated his shields and instantly teleported within an extremely small area using spatial magic to dodge Zhao Zhuang’s attack.
Then, from his chest, he pulled out a jade cong, instantly releasing stored mana to unleash a barrage of fireballs toward Zhao Zhuang.
Zhao Zhuang remained calm, sheathing the Saint Light Sword, and used water magic to conjure several water droplets in midair, shooting them at the incoming fireballs.
The fireballs were pierced through immediately.
Zhao Zhuang expected the fireballs to extinguish instantly, but unexpectedly, the flames followed the water streams, rolling back and continuing to rush toward him.
With only about a meter between them, Zhao Zhuang had no time to dodge and had to generate a water curtain to block the flames.
“This fireball is a Pseudo-Divine Technique level battle skill,” Luo Shangyu judged.
“With Grand Tutor Yin’s strength, it’s clearly impossible to easily cast such a high-level battle skill. There must be the jade cong assisting.”
“Storing mana in a jade cong and engraving a magic array allows such easy release of high-level battle skills. Quite clever,” Zhao Zhuang praised.
“But relying on external objects, the actual power won’t be that great!”
“Oh? Think it’s not powerful? Then how about this?” Yin An said as he pulled out a jade seal and threw it to the ground.
A magic array immediately formed beneath it.
Yin An then poured mana into the array.
Suddenly, bolts of thunder tribulations descended from the sky, forcing Zhao Zhuang to defend with all his might.
The Pseudo-Divine Technique level lightning attack battle skill—the Thunder Tribulation Inferno!
Since the fight began, this was the first time Zhao Zhuang felt the situation slipping out of control.
Yin An, who was weaker than him, could still fight so evenly.
Coupled with his mysterious artifacts, Zhao Zhuang estimated his chance of winning had dropped to just sixty percent.
With this thought, Zhao Zhuang decided to unleash a high burst attack to break through Yin An’s shields before he had time to use his artifacts to recover, ending the fight in one blow.
He created a wall of fire to restrict Yin An’s movement, then once again wielded the Saint Light Sword, charging straight at Yin An.
He then used spatial magic to teleport around Yin An, attacking from all sides, and activated time attribute magic to cast a Pseudo-Divine Technique battle skill—time acceleration—to make his attacks extremely fast.
Time acceleration was originally a divine technique level skill, but now downgraded, its power was much reduced, yet Zhao Zhuang could still strike twelve times in one second.
Yin An hastily used two jade congs that generated shields to barely block the attacks.
‘He’s going all out. At this rate, I’ll run out of jade congs soon,’ Yin An thought with a sigh.
“Zhao Zhuang, if you’re using your full strength, then I’ll have to go all out too.” With that, Yin An rose into the air.
‘More tricks?’ Zhao Zhuang thought. ‘Yin An’s specialty back in school was… domain magic… no!’
A sense of crisis spread throughout Zhao Zhuang.
He decisively flew upward toward Yin An, determined to kill him at all costs.
He knew that Yin An’s domain magic ability was extremely powerful and must not be allowed to activate.
But it was already too late.
A lute-like instrument appeared in front of Yin An.
It was extremely ornate, with an intricate brocade pattern on its surface and five strings.
“Is that… a jinse?” Luo Shangyu muttered to herself.
“A jinse?”
“Yes, a divine artifact-level weapon nowadays. The domain magic it releases is among the strongest,” she explained.
“Domain magic?” Qin Yu wondered silently.
She had long heard of the Fantasy Realm’s most mysterious domain magic but had never seen anyone use it.
Today might be a rare chance to witness the legendary domain magic firsthand.
Zhao Zhuang was only ten meters from Yin An.
Yin An plucked the strings, and music poured forth.
Instantly, the music echoed through the Changning King’s Residence—melancholic and sorrowful.
Everyone inside felt their spirits haze, recalling memories of their past.
“This…”
“This is just the domain magic starting. He hasn’t begun chanting yet, so the domain isn’t fully formed,” Luo Shangyu explained to Qin Yu.
Suspended in the air, Yin An recited loudly, “The jinse has fifty strings without reason; each string and peg evokes memories of glorious years.”
This was only the opening move.
Within the residence, everyone was immersed in their past lives, reminiscing.
The domain officially unfolded!
In the air, Zhao Zhuang suddenly halted, affected by the domain’s influence, his mind hazy.
Yet he struggled to suppress his thoughts, resisting the domain magic’s effects, continuing to charge at Yin An.
“This draws out Zhao Zhuang’s memories, making him lose focus on the fight,” Luo Shangyu explained.
Qin Yu was stunned, “This is only the opening of domain magic, yet it can control a ninth-tier powerhouse like Zhao Zhuang for a moment. The power of domain magic is truly no exaggeration. But the domain magic chant sounds like a poem from the world before reincarnation…”
In the air, Yin An’s playing accelerated; the music grew even more mournful.
“Zhuang Sheng’s morning dream confuses butterflies; Emperor Wang’s spring heart entrusts the cuckoo!” Yin An continued reciting the chant.
As the main target, Zhao Zhuang felt it strongly: he seemed trapped in a dream, lost in a confusing blend of illusion and reality.
Then, with the last line, his heart sank bitterly: gifted and achieving ninth-tier Pseudo-God in only sixty years, yet having remained at this level for over fifty years, was he doomed to stagnate here?
“Not good!” Zhao Zhuang sensed disaster.
“Being forcibly controlled twice in such a short time—this domain magic’s effect is extraordinarily powerful!”
He tried hard to interrupt his thoughts and suddenly retreated, putting distance between himself and Yin An.
After flying a stretch, the domain magic’s power lessened.
He maintained distance, intending to defeat Yin An with ranged magic.
Seeing Zhao Zhuang still not giving up, the music changed: “The bright moon over the vast sea weeps like pearls, the warm sun of Lantian produces jade smoke!”
The sorrowful tunes of “The Pearl Wept by the Mermaid” and “Lantian’s Beautiful Jade” intertwined, bringing a rare and elusive feeling over the domain.
Zhao Zhuang, affected by the domain magic, again felt the heavy sadness he had suppressed—the regret that while achieving tenth-tier True God status was so rare and precious, his heart was filled with lingering bitterness.
After a moment, the domain’s influence faded.
Zhao Zhuang was horrified—though far from Yin An, he was still affected, and his regrets were repeatedly stirred.
Such unrest was the worst for a battle; he could no longer continue.
Zhao Zhuang shouted, “Yin An, you’re ruthless! We’ll have plenty of time in the future!”
Yin An knew this was Zhao Zhuang’s concession.
He hurriedly descended beside Luo Shangyu, carefully checking her wounds.
Seeing her injury had improved, he waved his hand, signaling the two to prepare to leave.
He cast atmospheric magic, gathering wind to carry the three of them away.
Before departing, Yin An shouted sternly, “Qin Yi, your treasonous and reckless act today will surely bring you death!”
With that, the three took to the sky, leaving the Changning King’s Residence, flying toward the Imperial Capital.