Chapter 172: Lin Mo: You Are the Challenger!
Upon hearing Feng Xiaotian's request, Lin Mo did not hesitate and immediately nodded in agreement.
"Alright."
As he finished speaking, his thoughts stirred, and crimson light surged beside him.
The next moment, Charizard appeared in the center of the training grounds.
Upon appearing, Charizard let out a low roar. Its dragon wings spread halfway, while searing white flames slowly flowed across its body.
Five spirit rings, two yellow, one purple, and two black, slowly emerged beneath its feet.
The moment those spirit rings appeared, the atmosphere throughout the grounds visibly froze.
The members of the Imperial Fighting Team were already accustomed to this sight. The Shi Family Brothers remained calm, Oslo crossed his arms over his chest, and Yu Feng wore an expression of anticipation, clearly ready to enjoy the show.
However, the students from the Four Element Academies, including Feng Xiaotian, all kept their gazes firmly locked on the five spirit rings beneath Charizard's feet.
Especially the two deep black spirit rings.
Even though they had long heard the rumors that Lin Mo possessed a ten thousand year fourth spirit ring, hearing about it was one thing, while witnessing it firsthand was another.
Seeing this completely unreasonable spirit ring configuration with their own eyes brought a shock that words could never properly convey.
Feng Xiaotian's pupils contracted slightly, and his breathing involuntarily quickened.
He was thirty three years old this year, with the cultivation of a four-ring Spirit Ancestor and Innate Full Spirit Power. He was considered a top genius in Shenfeng Academy and even among all Four Element Academies.
But compared to Lin Mo...
Feng Xiaotian clenched his fists tightly, forcing down the surging shock in his heart and trying his best to remain calm.
Lin Mo looked at him, his voice flat.
"How do you want to spar? Your team against one, or one on one?"
Feng Xiaotian raised his head, his eyes becoming firm.
"One on one," he said in a deep voice. "I want to see just how large the gap in strength is between Brother Lin Mo and me."
His words were frank and carried no hesitation.
Lin Mo nodded.
"That works."
His thoughts stirred, and through his mental connection with Charizard, he sent it an instruction.
Hold back your strength.
The purpose of this spar was not to win quickly, but to let Charizard familiarize itself with using its wind attribute abilities while fighting others and attempt to comprehend new skills from the battle.
Otherwise, with Charizard's current strength, no one present would be able to endure a full-power Flamethrower.
Extending the battle was the goal. A quick victory would be meaningless.
Charizard tilted its head and let out a low roar in response.
Understanding flashed through its dragon eyes, and the searing white flames flowing around its body gradually receded.
The aura it emitted quietly weakened by a considerable amount.
Seeing this, everyone retreated to the spectator seats at the edge of the grounds and sat down.
Lin Mo sat in the front row, with Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling seated on his left and right.
Only Charizard and Feng Xiaotian remained in the center of the grounds.
Without requiring instructions from anyone else, Charizard and Feng Xiaotian moved almost simultaneously.
"Martial Soul Possession!"
Spirit power surged from Feng Xiaotian's body, and four spirit rings, two yellow and two purple, rose from beneath his feet.
Green light emerged as Feng Xiaotian's physique visibly expanded. His long hair turned golden, and a wolf head appeared over his left shoulder.
The seven members of Shenfeng Academy were all rather unique. Their Spirits were all of the wind attribute, and every one of them possessed a flying type wind attribute Spirit, granting them the ability to fight in the air.
Feng Xiaotian was naturally no exception.
His Spirit was the Double Headed Storm Wolf, a mutation of the medium high grade Beast Spirit, the Storm Devil Wolf.
In terms of quality, it was close to a top Spirit and was a rare Beast Spirit that emphasized both the attack and agility systems.
Green light condensed behind Feng Xiaotian, forming a pair of illusory wolf wings.
With a flap of his wings, he rose into the air.
Seeing this, Charizard gently flapped its own wings and likewise ascended, facing Feng Xiaotian from across the sky.
Feng Xiaotian did not rush to attack. Instead, he tentatively released his first Spirit Ability.
"Wind Blade Array!"
He swung his wolf claws, sending more than a dozen green wind blades tearing through the air toward Charizard from different angles.
The wind blades were extremely fast, and their trajectories were tricky, attempting to seal off Charizard's paths of evasion.
Charizard remained in place and gently flapped the wings on its back.
Whoosh!
A powerful gust of wind appeared out of nowhere and collided with the incoming wind blades.
The Wind Blade Array that Feng Xiaotian had carefully released was instantly torn apart and dissipated in midair.
Feng Xiaotian's expression changed slightly.
Although he had anticipated that his first Spirit Ability would struggle to threaten Charizard, he had not expected it to be resolved so easily.
Lin Mo's voice sounded at this moment, his tone flat.
"Feng Xiaotian."
Feng Xiaotian turned his head to look at him.
Lin Mo sat in the spectator seats, watching him with a calm gaze.
"You are the challenger now."
"If your subsequent attacks are only at this level, then I'm afraid this spar will end very soon."
As those words fell, Feng Xiaotian's body trembled slightly.
He suddenly realized the problem.
That was right.
He was the challenger.
At Shenfeng Academy, he was always the one being challenged. Among his peers, it was rare for anyone to force him to use his full strength.
This difference in mindset had caused him to subconsciously hold back during his previous probing attack, intending to observe his opponent's response before revealing more of his strength.
But against Charizard, such probing was meaningless.
Feng Xiaotian took a deep breath and slowly adjusted his mindset. The final trace of wishful thinking in his heart completely vanished.
Since that was the case, he would attack with everything he had.
At the very least, he needed to see how large the gap between them truly was.
Green light flared within Feng Xiaotian's eyes, and his second and third spirit rings lit up simultaneously.
"Second Spirit Ability, Twin Wolf Possession!"
"Third Spirit Ability, Storm Wings!"
The green light around Feng Xiaotian instantly surged.
A pair of enormous green wings spread from behind him. At the same time, a green phantom condensed at his back, taking the exact form of the Double Headed Storm Wolf.
With a powerful flap of his wings, Feng Xiaotian shot into the sky.
Borrowing the surrounding currents of wind, he instantly soared upward, rising to a height of fifty meters above the ground.
With the assistance of his two Spirit Abilities, Feng Xiaotian's condition had been raised to its peak. It seemed as though he had completely merged with the wind.
He hovered in the air with his enormous green wings spread wide, his aura surging violently around him.
"Brother Lin Mo."
Feng Xiaotian spoke, his voice echoing throughout the grounds.
"To show my respect for you, I will use my self-created Spirit Skill in my next attack."
"This skill is called the Storm Devil Wolf Thirty-Six Consecutive Slashes."
As Feng Xiaotian's voice fell, a burst of suppressed laughter suddenly came from the spectator seats.
The members of the Imperial Fighting Team looked at one another, each seeing the same trace of amusement and mockery in the others' eyes.
Everyone familiar with Lin Mo knew that, apart from his astonishing cultivation talent, what was most incomprehensible about him and Charizard was their mastery of self-created Spirit Skills.
The number and variety of self-created Spirit Skills mastered by Charizard had already reached a staggering level.
For Feng Xiaotian to use a self-created Spirit Skill in front of Charizard seemed somewhat like showing off one's skill with an axe before Lu Ban.
The students from the Four Element Academies, however, reacted completely differently. Shock appeared across their faces.
They looked at one another, unable to understand what the members of the Imperial Fighting Team were laughing about.
A self-created Spirit Skill was clearly a field that only a handful of Spirit Masters with astonishing talent and comprehension could touch.
Feng Xiaotian had mastered such a rare self-created Spirit Skill.
Shouldn't the members of the Imperial Fighting Team be surprised?
Why were they acting so dismissively?