Chapter 174 | The Otherworld Journey That Starts From a Slime

Looking at Zhang Ye as he leaped onto the stage, Shana's eyes burned with anger.

The pressure from his overwhelming presence last time was still fresh in her mind. The girl had clearly held a grudge and was determined to reclaim her honor on the stage.

‐Are you ready to be blasted off the stage by this princess?‐ Shana said, tilting her chin up. She was clearly extremely confident in her Bursting Flame magic.

Zhang Ye chuckled and nodded. The match began!

Right from the start, Shana blasted a 【Bursting Flame Spell】 toward Zhang Ye.

【Bursting Flame Spell】 was a Tier Nine spell, somewhat similar in appearance to Great Fireball, but its flames were a beautiful orange-red. The moment it reached its target, it exploded violently. The resulting shockwave and wave of fire swept across the entire arena with terrifying power!

With this kind of power, its single-target damage was already on par with a Tier Ten spell.

She truly lived up to her reputation as a genius capable of fighting above her tier!

Zhang Ye nodded in approval, then used Blink to appear directly behind her.

As if she had anticipated this, Shana's flames surged over a hundred meters high, and an Exploding Ring expanded outward, carrying a powerful repulsive force and searing heat.

Zhang Ye immediately flashed backward, blazing blue flames erupting around his own body.

Fighting fire with fire!

【Lion Fireball】!

A blue flaming lion's head roared as it surged toward Shana.

Shana snorted coldly. ‐Trying to compete with this princess in firepower? Know your place!‐

The moment the words left her mouth, she pulled out a gorgeous red-gold staff. Pointing it forward, a pillar of exploding fire blasted toward the blue flaming lion's head. When the two spells collided, waves of heat rolled across the arena, and flames erupted in all directions.

It was clear that a Tier Six 【Hydrogen-Oxygen Enhanced · Lion Fireball】 cast with a Tier Eight late stage cultivation was no match for Shana's exploding pillar of fire. It held out for only a brief moment before being dispelled by the pillar.

In truth, this was already incredibly impressive.

If Zhang Ye had only cast a standard 【Lion Fireball】, its power would have been comparable to Tier Eight at most. But with the aid of the 【Hydrogen-Oxygen Enhancement Formation】, its power was pushed close to Tier Nine.

This was why it could clash briefly with an exploding pillar of fire that was nearly Tier Ten in power.

Seeing the pillar of fire rushing toward him with undiminished force, a confident smile appeared on Zhang Ye's face.

A beam struggle?

Bring it on!

In the next instant, Zhang Ye channeled a massive amount of mana, and a blue magic circle materialized in front of him.

【Hydrogen-Oxygen Enhanced · Bursting Flame】!

While 【Bursting Flame】 was indeed only a Tier Three spell, its power was not simply limited to Tier Three. Instead, it was determined by the quantity and quality of the mana the caster injected into it.

The higher the quality and the greater the quantity of mana, the stronger the Bursting Flame would be!

A ferocious blue pillar of fire surged forth, clashing with the exploding pillar of fire, causing the temperature of the arena to skyrocket!

The one on the left always loses the beam struggle!

Although Shana's exploding pillar of fire was more visually grand and possessed impressive power, Zhang Ye's Bursting Flame was far more condensed. Furthermore, his mana quality and reserves completely outclassed Shana's. As a result, his Bursting Flame took on a blue-white hue, looking more like a laser beam as it pushed Shana's exploding pillar of fire back with overwhelming momentum.

Shana was shocked, cold sweat breaking out on her forehead.

She had already channeled her maximum amount of mana, yet she was completely unable to overcome Zhang Ye.

The pillar of Bursting Flame quickly pushed right up to her face.

Shana's face turned pale.

Her mana was almost depleted, and at such a short distance, she had no way to dodge. On top of that, she was a pure mage with a weak physical body.

That terrifyingly powerful Bursting Flame would undoubtedly burn her to ashes!

Seeing this, the referee mentor prepared to intervene.

However, Zhang Ye suddenly flashed to Shana's side, pulling her out of the way. The pillar of Bursting Flame soared past her, crashing into the protective magic circle at the edge of the arena and sending ripples through it.

Shana's face was pale with lingering fear, and she stood there in a daze.

‐You lose,‐ Zhang Ye said with a gentle smile.

Shana turned to look at him.

She knew Zhang Ye had saved her at the very last moment. Otherwise, she would have been heavily injured, if not dead!

Of course, she had protective Treasures and the defensive power of a Saint-tier protecting her. Even if she truly couldn't block it, she wouldn't have suffered any actual harm, but in this moment, she subconsciously forgot all of that.

‐I'll... I'll let you count this as a win!‐ Snapping out of her daze, Shana's face flushed red as she looked at Zhang Ye's gentle, handsome smile. Crossing her arms, she snorted, ‐Next time, this princess will definitely defeat you!‐

Zhang Ye chuckled. This tsundere little princess was truly something else.

But it was clear that after this "heroic rescue," his relationship with Shana was no longer as tense.

As Zhang Ye turned to walk off the stage, Shana suddenly called out to him.

‐Wait!‐

‐What is it?‐ Zhang Ye turned back to ask.

Shana hesitated, fidgeting with her small hands. Still, she pretended not to care, turning her head away as she mumbled, ‐Th... thank you.‐

As she spoke, a blush crept up to the tips of her ears.

This time, Zhang Ye almost burst out laughing.

‐You're welcome.‐

‐Are you really not going to consider becoming my follower? This princess can promise you many things you want!‐ Shana asked.

‐No, thank you for your kind offer, Your Highness,‐ Zhang Ye replied with a smile.

‐Fine, then. Don't come begging me later.‐ With that, Shana skipped off the stage. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought she was the one who had won.

On the other side, Gajeel's opponent was Connor. Gajeel won with absolute, crushing dominance. By the time Connor stepped off the stage, his injuries were severe, barely any better than Copico's.

This only fueled the anger burning in Zhang Ye's heart.

Nan's opponent was the light-attribute mage, who was simply no match for him.

In the end, only Zhang Ye, Nan, Gajeel, and Lina—who had received the bye—remained.

The next round began!

Looking at his opponent for this round, Zhang Ye let out a sigh.

Zhang Ye's opponent was Lina, while Nan's opponent was Gajeel.

There was no need to say anything about his own match; he was definitely going to win.

As for the other match, whichever of them won was not an outcome Zhang Ye wanted to see.

If Nan won, he would have to face Nan in the final showdown.

If Gajeel won, it would mean Nan had lost... So by comparison, he would much rather have Nan win.

Before going up, Zhang Ye walked over to Nan's side and asked with a serious expression, ‐Can you win?‐

Nan replied without the slightest hesitation, ‐Yes!‐

With a Tier Nine Peak cultivation and a Tier Nine late stage physical body, if Nan still couldn't beat Gajeel—whose cultivation and physical strength were both only at the Tier Nine mid stage—then Nan might as well commit suicide.

‐Good,‐ Zhang Ye nodded. ‐For my sake, beat him to death!‐

Nan was taken aback.

This was the first time he had seen Zhang Ye like this.

But in the next moment, the corner of his mouth curved upward.

He had been planning to do exactly that!

‐Alright!‐ Nan nodded, then leaped onto the stage.

Zhang Ye and Lina leaped onto their own stage, and both matches commenced simultaneously!

Looking at the incredibly nervous Lina in front of him, Zhang Ye couldn't help but chuckle.

When this girl fought others, her performance was incredibly stable, and she could outplay her opponents until they were completely bewildered.

But when facing him, she became visibly anxious and flustered, her small hands constantly fidgeting.

‐Brother Ye...‐ Lina bit her lip. ‐Should I just concede? I can't beat you anyway...‐

In their usual training sessions, she had never once won against Zhang Ye. As a result, she knew better than anyone just how terrifyingly powerful he was.

Zhang Ye smiled. ‐Don't be like that. Every battle is a valuable accumulation of experience, so don't let any opportunity to temper yourself pass you by.‐

‐Just relax. Treat it like our usual training, and try your best to defeat me!‐

‐Okay!‐ Lina nodded vigorously at his words.

‐Triple Thunder Prison Kill!!!‐

Meanwhile, on the other stage, the battle had already erupted. Nan immediately assumed a terrifying combat stance, unleashing his ultimate move right off the bat.

Gajeel was utterly shocked. How could Nan's cultivation... be this high?!

Wasn't he only at the Tier Nine mid stage?!

In just a single month, even if he progressed at an absurd rate, he should have reached the late stage at most. How could he possibly be at the Tier Nine Peak?!

He had no time to overthink. He hurriedly cast spells to weaken Nan's magic and restrict his mana. However, Nan's strength lay not only in his magic, but also in his physical body.

Nan closed the distance instantly, his long blade slashing toward Gajeel like a bolt of lightning. Gajeel brought out his spear to counter, but he was forced back step by step.