40: Ice and Light

The bracket for the individual competition was displayed high in the center of the arena, cold electronic light streams outlining each name and the fate that followed it. There was no lengthy opening ceremony, no superfluous speeches from officials. Once everyone was seated, the matches began directly. Efficient and ruthless, just like the reality Ability Users would inevitably face in the future.

On the massive electronic screen, the names for the first match were prominently displayed:

[Lu Guangming (Eastern Radiance) VS Severe Winter (Northern Star)]

The spectator stands instantly erupted into a wave of fervent noise. On one side was the most talked-about 'Light Mage' from the team competition; on the other was Northern Star Academy's long-established young talent. This direct clash between Eastern Radiance and Northern Star ignited the entire venue from the very start.

"Classmate Xiaowan, could you look after Little Sprite for me?" Lu Guangming untied the pouch at his waist, signaling for Little Sprite to fly into the little house.

Little Sprite desperately clung to Lu Guangming's earlobe, indicating he didn't want to.

"Of course, Little Lingling, come to big sister." Su Xiaowan opened her hands, which emitted waves of Healing Glimmer.

Little Sprite seemed to sense something. He looked at Su Xiaowan's hands glowing with faint green light, then looked back at Lu Guangming.

"Go on, wait for me to come back." Lu Guangming placed him in Su Xiaowan's hands and walked onto the broad competition stage.

Severe Winter wore the deep blue athletic attire characteristic of Northern Star, his posture as straight and tall as a pine tree, his gaze as sharp as a blade. Subtle ice crystals already swirled around him, and the air temperature quietly dropped. He stared at the figure opposite him, who still appeared somewhat lazy, a nameless fire burning in his chest.

Lu Guangming was still the same as ever, even letting out a discreet yawn as he stepped onto the stage. He rubbed his eyes, looked at the imposing Severe Winter opposite him, and smiled wryly: "We meet so soon, Classmate Yan."

"I've been waiting for this opportunity, Lu Guangming." Severe Winter's voice, like his Superpower, carried a chill. "Since the team competition began, I couldn't stand your attitude. Clearly possessing talent others can hardly reach, yet you always wear that careless, lazy, evasive demeanor. You simply don't understand what this power means, nor the responsibility we bear!"

His voice, amplified by Superpower energy, spread throughout the arena, carrying a long-suppressed resentment. Cheers rose in unison from the Northern Star Academy section. Their philosophy was that power stems from discipline and trials by fire. Severe Winter's words were an embodiment of their belief.

The laziness on Lu Guangming's face receded somewhat. He looked quietly at Severe Winter, offering no rebuttal.

"Referee, may we begin?" Severe Winter, no longer looking at Lu Guangming, turned to the referee and spoke gravely.

The referee nodded and swung his arm down: "Match begin!"

As the words fell, Severe Winter moved. He offered no probing attacks, going all out from the very first move! An icy path instantly spread beneath his feet as his figure shot forward like a blue lightning bolt. Simultaneously, he swung his arms, sending countless sharp ice spikes raining down on Lu Guangming like a storm—precisely the 'Ice Spike Storm' he had displayed in the team competition.

Lu Guangming's body swayed, his footwork seemingly chaotic, yet he always managed to evade the deadliest ice spikes at the last possible moment. Those he couldn't completely dodge were shattered by his palms, wrapped in faint light, sending ice shards flying.

"Is dodging all you can do?" Severe Winter growled, closing in on Lu Guangming, his punches and kicks carrying bone-chilling cold air. Wherever he passed, the ground froze into a slick sheet of ice, attempting to restrict Lu Guangming's movement.

Lu Guangming continued to focus on evasion and blocking. His seemingly passive-defensive Starlight Power circulated across his body, quietly dissolving the cold air attached to Severe Winter's attacks. He seemed to be observing, sensing.

"Frozen Palm!"

"Frost Bind!"

"Polar Pierce!"

Severe Winter's offensive was like a violent storm, each move faster than the last, each strike fiercer than the previous. Icy-blue Superpower light flashed across the field, transforming half the competition stage into his domain of frost. The audience, intimidated by this fierce assault, gasped from time to time.

Yet, no matter how dense his attacks or how tricky their angles, Lu Guangming always managed to evade at the final moment. That poised, effortless demeanor formed a stark contrast to Severe Winter's all-out effort.

After several minutes of high-intensity assault, Severe Winter's breathing grew slightly ragged. He stared fixedly at the nearly unscathed Lu Guangming, his heart slowly sinking. He clearly felt a chasm existed between them. His opponent hadn't even launched a single truly active attack, like an adult watching a child's tantrum, with a sense of resigned tolerance.

This realization was like a poisonous thorn, deeply piercing his proud heart.

"Why... why won't you fight back!" Severe Winter's voice carried a tremor he himself hadn't noticed. "Do you look down on me? Do you look down on our Northern Star's way of fighting?"

Lu Guangming stopped moving, standing amidst ice shards, and shook his head: "No."

"Then show me your true skill!" Severe Winter roared, a hint of crimson flashing in his eyes. "I know you're strong. You didn't even try your hardest in the team competition! Let me see, you heaven-blessed genius, just how far you've reached!"

The Superpower within him circulated at an unprecedented, frenzied speed. The temperature on the competition stage plummeted below freezing, even those in the front rows of the spectator stands feeling the piercing cold. Water molecules in the air condensed into white icy mist, swirling around him.

"Take this move! 'Absolute Zero: Frozen Prison'!"

This was his trump card, an instant eruption of all his power to create an extreme cold force field, freezing everything within its range. Icy-blue light surged from him like a tidal wave towards Lu Guangming. Where it passed, even the air seemed to freeze!

Facing this decisive strike, Lu Guangming finally got serious. He sighed softly, and the light he had kept restrained suddenly burst forth. It wasn't blinding, but carried a warm, resolute power, like dawn tearing through the night.

He took a step forward, his right hand forming a fist. Pure light coalesced at his knuckles, no longer the faint glow from his earlier defense, but like a miniature sun!

He didn't use any flashy techniques, simply and straightforwardly, threw a punch forward.

*Hum—*

Light and frigid tide collided head-on!

There was no earth-shattering explosion. The seemingly surging frigid tide, upon contact with the light, melted and dissipated rapidly, like spring snow meeting the sun. The light on Lu Guangming's fist, with an irresistible force, pierced through Severe Winter's 'Frozen Prison', stopping precisely an inch from his chest.

The warm light dispelled the bone-piercing cold, and also dispelled the domain Severe Winter had constructed with all his might.

Severe Winter stood frozen in place, his face deathly pale. He could feel the immense power contained within that light hovering before his chest. With just a thought from his opponent, he would be instantly defeated. He had lost, completely and utterly, without a shred of doubt.

He had given everything, even overdrawn his strength, yet couldn't even make his opponent take a single step back.

"I... lost." A hoarse voice squeezed from his throat.

Lu Guangming withdrew the light, lowered his fist, and looked at him quietly.

"Why... why, after shedding so much sweat, enduring such harsh training, slaying so many Beasts, holding such firm belief... can I not compare to someone as lazy as you..." Severe Winter's voice grew softer, thick with resentment and a hint of barely concealed sob. He stubbornly held his head high, refusing to let the tears welling in his eyes fall, but his slightly trembling shoulders betrayed the collapse within.

He had always firmly believed that power stemmed from trials by fire and unyielding Willpower. He looked down on Lu Guangming's laziness, considering it a desecration of talent. Yet reality had dealt him the most merciless blow. All his efforts, all his beliefs, seemed so pale and laughable before the absolute gap in innate talent.

Watching this usually stern and resilient opponent before him, now on the verge of tears from resentment and grievance, Lu Guangming fell silent. He had originally found Severe Winter's persistence somewhat laughable, even overly extreme. But now, in those stubbornly held-back tears, he saw a near-stubborn pursuit of the 'right path', a relentless drive that allowed no self-indulgence.

This purity subtly moved him.

He stepped forward, not with a victor's posture, but meeting Severe Winter's gaze as an equal, speaking softly, uttering words that stunned Severe Winter and all the spectators:

"Your path... is not wrong."

Severe Winter jerked his head up, his reddened eyes full of astonishment.

Lu Guangming looked at him, the previous laziness gone from his eyes, replaced by something more complex: "You are strong, and you work hard. It's just..." He paused, as if searching for the right words. "We are different. Perhaps it's heaven's favor. Favoring your steadfastness, unlike mine, lost..."

Having said that, he spoke no more, turning and walking off the stage. Only then did the referee snap back to reality, announcing loudly: "The winner, Lu Guangming!"

The cheers belonged to Eastern Radiance, to the victor. But Lu Guangming's retreating figure, as he walked off the stage, seemed inexplicably silent.

Severe Winter still stood alone in the center of the cold competition stage, the words 'Your path is not wrong' echoing in his ears. He looked in the direction Lu Guangming had left, his tightly clenched fists slowly relaxing. A drop of warm liquid finally slipped uncontrollably down his icy cheek, shattering into crystalline fragments on the frozen ground beneath his feet.