17: Xu Yan vs Lu Ming 1

Lu Ming's speed was still fast, and he didn't keep Xu Yan waiting in awkward silence for too long before running back with great enthusiasm.

Given the previous state of the Crimson Fire Fox, recovering so quickly meant he definitely paid extra for it.

"Xu Yan, I've recovered. Come on, let's have a proper fight!!!"

Looking at the passionate and battle-ready Lu Ming, Xu Yan didn't say much; he nodded and quickly walked onto the arena, while Lu Ming also swiftly arrived at the other end.

Both sides stood on their respective ends. Lu Ming summoned the Crimson Fire Fox again, which stood behind him on all fours in a hunting stance.

On Xu Yan's side, he called out, "Zhu Yan."

Then, Zhu Yan's figure emerged from his shadow, confronting the Crimson Fire Fox opposite.

Seeing how Zhu Yan appeared and the aura it emitted, which was not inferior to the Crimson Fire Fox, Lu Ming was stunned for a moment, then ecstatic.

"As expected, I knew you weren't simple, Xu Yan. It looks like you're really strong.

But that's what makes it interesting!!! Let's get fired up!"

Facing Lu Ming's somewhat edgy words, Xu Yan didn't respond, instead glancing at Lu Qinghua, who was temporarily acting as the referee.

Lu Qinghua seemed long accustomed to her younger brother's state. Facing Xu Yan's slightly strange gaze, she showed no emotional fluctuation and shouted, "Battle start!"

As soon as Lu Qinghua's voice fell, both sides gave commands to their spirit beasts immediately.

"Zhu Yan, Shadow Submergence."

"Crimson Spirit, Festival Fire Dance."

"Shadow Assault."

Seeing Lu Ming use a buff skill right from the start, Xu Yan felt like he was back in the situation when he fought Zhang Cheng at Ning City No. 1 High School, subconsciously choosing the same opening combat style he used against Zhang Cheng back then.

However, it was clear that Lu Ming was not as inexperienced as Zhang Cheng.

Just as Zhu Yan activated Shadow Submergence and was about to dive into the Crimson Fire Fox's shadow, it encountered a repulsive force, causing the skill to fail directly, leaving it standing there in a daze.

After the daze, it realized that there was no shadow beneath the Crimson Spirit, which was dancing not far away.

Without a shadow, Zhu Yan's Shadow Submergence skill naturally failed.

During the time Zhu Yan was dazed, the Crimson Fire Fox opposite had already completed the Festival Fire Dance.

Seeing this, Lu Ming chuckled and said with a slightly mocking tone, "Pure flames don't have shadows, you know. I've got this battle in the bag."

Seeing this, Xu Yan couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

Indeed, one should never underestimate anyone.

From the very beginning of this battle, both he and Zhu Yan had made significant mistakes.

Especially him; his own problems were the greatest.

His previous act of having Zhu Yan appear directly from his shadow did look cooler than summoning a spirit beast from the beast taming space.

However, it was precisely this "showing off" by Xu Yan that directly exposed one of his abilities when neither side knew the other's information.

Lu Ming seized this information the moment Xu Yan called out Zhu Yan, and in the shortest possible time, thought of a countermeasure, taking advantage of Zhu Yan's first move to get a free buff for himself.

Zhu Yan's problem was that it didn't react when the skill failed, failing to seize the opportunity while the opponent was buffing, instead remaining in a daze, allowing the opponent to successfully complete the skill.

This was due to a lack of experience in combat and dealing with accidents; given Zhu Yan's age of just over a month, one shouldn't be too harsh on it.

However, the ultimate reason was that he had been blinded by his recent progress and the crushing victory at Ning City No. 1 High School, becoming too arrogant.

All these thoughts flashed in an instant. The Crimson Fire Fox, having completed the Festival Fire Dance, spat out three fireballs under Lu Ming's command, attacking Zhu Yan in a triangular formation.

Facing Lu Ming's attack, Xu Yan quickly put aside his wandering thoughts and focused on dealing with the battle.

"Light and Shadow Phantoms."

Following Xu Yan's command, amidst the shifting light and shadow, three phantoms appeared around Zhu Yan, running in different directions.

Two phantoms successfully dodged the fireball attacks, while the remaining one was hit and instantly dissipated into light particles.

Zhu Yan's true form transformed back into a shadow, diving into the bodies of the phantoms.

Compared to other clone-type skills, Zhu Yan's Light and Shadow Phantoms were more inclined towards illusions or visual deceptions like mirages, basically shattering upon contact with attacks.

However, while fragile, it also had its unique aspects.

That was, they had shadows, and they could allow Zhu Yan to enter their shadows.

This was one of the remedies Xu Yan specifically found for Zhu Yan to use when the Shadow Submergence skill failed.

If there's no shadow, just create one.

Watching Zhu Yan dive back into the shadows, Lu Ming was somewhat surprised, but his commands didn't slow down at all.

He had encountered this many times when sparring with his older sister and had developed some immunity.

Several more fireballs were spat out by the Crimson Fire Fox, intending to directly shatter the two phantoms, leaving Zhu Yan with no shadows to hide in, forcing it out of the shadows.

Facing this situation, Zhu Yan directly abandoned control of one of the phantoms, attracting multiple fireballs as much as possible before being shattered.

Zhu Yan hid in the shadow of another phantom, while controlling the phantom to dodge, and used its Spider Spear, imbued with light and shadow power, to shatter the incoming fireballs.

Watching Zhu Yan rushing towards it, the Crimson Fire Fox showed no fear.

With flames surrounding its body, it spat out several more fireballs while actively rushing forward to meet it.

However, this time, facing the opponent's attack, Zhu Yan had no intention of defending at all.

It directly abandoned the phantom it was hiding in, letting it be swallowed by the flames and dissipate into stars of light.

Just after the Crimson Fire Fox shattered Zhu Yan's last phantom, a force of darkness erupted directly on it, causing significant damage while also applying a curse effect, making it show a pained expression.

Clearly, the previous phantoms and the attempts to approach with Shadow Submergence were all feints.

The real killing move was this Shadow Curse.

The curse hidden on the phantom landed directly on the opponent once it entered the attack range.

"You also said it, only pure flames don't have shadows. Then, is a flame tainted with a curse still pure?"

Looking at the Crimson Fire Fox afflicted by the curse, Xu Yan simply modified Lu Ming's words and returned them to him.