NOVPUBThe flamenstructed giant dragon was now soaring in the night sky, Aileen stood atop the dragon’s head, one hand bracing its curved horn and the other waving her magic wand, withuntless stars flickering and trailing behind, striking towards that chaotic world of shattered mirrors.
On the other side,untless fragmented silver mirrors reflected the inverse images of giant dragons and flares,nstantly reflecting Aileen’s attacks, while emitting beams of laser light that shone upon the dragon, creating crystal formations that fractured like glass.
In the night sky, Wei Ke suddenly burst forth, a greatsword of silver mirror clasped in her palm, swinging down with all her might from behind Aileen, the sharp and silvery sword radiating ald light so intense, it gave the illusion of being cut just by looking at it.
Such a wide greatsword, as if cleaving through a muted world, made no sound whatsoever, and at this moment Aileen was stillmpletely unaware, only some witches watching the battle had their pupils dilate, their mouths nearly shouting out, but it was already too late.
"Shikala—"
A sound like glass shattering resonated in the night sky, when another black-haired girl materialized out of thin air, her clasped blue crystal greatsword clashing and blocking the greatsword of the silver mirror, shattering it into pieces.
Afterwards, the broken shards of mirror fell through the air, twinkling with a vast array of light spots, while Aileen had alsome to her senses. The fire dragon shemmanded beat its wings fiercely, then turned its head, the surging, dazzling flames engulfing the two still inmbat.
Silver light twinkled, and the crossing sword blossoms bloomed within the flames, breaking through the fire soon after and flying to the upper reaches of the night sky.
Wei Ke frowned as she looked at the black-haired girl who had appeared so suddenly, leaped back, and vanished into the mirror, while below the fire dragon attacked once more, Aileen standing on the dragon’s head looked on with a hint ofnfusion at this stranger in the night sky.
In response, Tilan did not speak but gave a slight nod as a greeting, and then her form quickly ascended, shedding the attacks behind her, with peck feathers suddenly emerging behind her, until she reached the apex of the night sky. There, the girl abruptly turned around, her eyes faintly closed, before unsheathing from her palm a dazzling longsword entwined with purple lightning, a peck feather mark also bming visible on her brow.
"Qing Luan Legitimate Inheritance: Nine Heavens Thunderous Divine Sword Technique."
Clasping the dazzling longsword wrapped in purple lightning with both hands, Tilan plummeted from the sky, the sword blade trailing a violet electrical storm hundreds of meters long through the air
Then, amidst Aileen’s surprise and futile resistance, the fire dragon shentrolled was cleaved in two by the Purple Lightning Blade, turning into fragments of flame and disappearing. Tilan rose again, easily twisting mid-flight while three streaks of electricity passed through Aileen’s body, shattering the protective barrier around her and the roaming stars nearby. She then lostnsciousness and fell from the sky.
On the other hand, Wei Ke stillncealed among the fragmented mirrors floating in the night sky, watched it all with a calm,ld gaze. She didn’t understand why this person had intervened in the duel, but she wasn’t going to rush in head-first and engage in directmbat without any reason.
However, although she wasn’tncerned with time, Tilanuldn’t afford to waste time here or else the Great Witch Xiu Lin would arrive on the scene.
"Sorry about that."
Tilan raised her sword blade horizontally high, then her brow aligned with that sword, the peck feather shining a strange light. Her figure flickered, and with a spin, hundreds of shadows identical to her split off, wielding the Purple Lightning Blade, charging towards the scattered silver mirrors in the valley and the night sky.
"Azure Bird’s Inheritance: Breezy Shadow Sword Technique."
These shadows cleaved and ground each silver mirror on the scene into dust amidst thunder and flashes, then vanished into nothingness, leaving the entire valley clean and silent.
The fireballs ignited by the witches in the valley still burned, and now theyuld hear the gentle crackling of the flames, while the black-haired girl floating in the sky also slowly descended. Just as everyone was about to ask who she was, the girl effortlessly danced and twirled in the air, the graceful purple lightning flashing, and Wei Ke, who was hidden invisibly, was struck by the blade, stunned and falling from the sky. Tilan caught her in a swooping arc and slowly placed her on the grass at the edge of the valley.
It was only then that Aileen, lying on the other side of the valley, barely regainednsciousness, propping up her electrified and numbed body with the help of hermpanions, she looked up to see the figure who had just defeated her.
"Are you, Hexia Tilan?" Her voice carried surprise and disbelief.
The surprise was that she had euntered the recent Winter Festival champion at her own academy, and disbelief that her own strength was so thoroughly crushed by the champion of the Winter Festival, with barely any chance to struggle. She had watched the live broadcast of the Winter Festival, aware that the girl she faced tonight hadn’t even used her strongest moves, not even revealing moonlight or frost before easily defeating her and Wei Ke.
Could the gap between Tri-Phase Moon Academy and Edith Academy be so large? She had thought that although her academy was not able to participate in the Winter Tournament, with her own strength, it was still possible for her to make it to the top 16.
However, this evening’s battlempletely shattered hernfidence, making her even doubt herself.
"That’s right, it’s me."
Tilan wasn’t surprised to be rgnized, after all, the previous Winter Festival was broadcasted across Star Domain and sparked various discussions. Themmemorative album of the festival had even sold out online, especially the few snapshots of her battle against her opponent, which were nothing short of stunning andllected by many. As she admitted her identity, the witches on both sides of the valley erupted into noisy chatter, some curious to get a closer look, some puzzled why she would suddenly appear and take part in an academy’s internalntest.
Knowing oneself to be famous is one thing, but facing a crowd with equanimity is another; indeed, interrupting someone’s duel midway is a bit indefensible, so Tilan decided to offer a simple explanation.
"I apologize for disrupting your fight; that was not my intention," the girl said with a slight shake of her head, then shifted her gaze to arner of the forest where she had spotted the witch, Xiu Lin.
"However, as for the specific reason, I believe Teacher Xiu Lin will help me explain it." As she spoke, she blinked her eyes, her figure vanished, and then reappeared at therner of the forest, landing behind Xiu Lin.
Such an action and flashuld not fail to capture the attention of the witches, and soon everyone noticed the Great Witch Xiu Lin, who was observing the duel from within the forest.
"If it involves Teacher Xiu Lin, it seems to make sense."
"These old hags have always been so disparaging, huh," someone muttered disdainfully.
"So it was her idea," the students whispered to one another, sensing a familiar pattern. It seemed that skirmishes and pranks between the elder and younger witches weremmon occurrences within the Tri-Phase Moon Academy.
Although there were things they dared not say out loud, Xiu Linuldn’t be bothered with the whispers; to her, these students were no different from little brats.
"It seems you have many disrespectful things you’d like to say about your elders," she intoned deliberately before sweeping her gaze across the students, silencing them one by one until they all quieted down.
As the scene became quiet, the Great Witch walked up to a hillside by the valley, her gaze indomitable, her eyes half-closed, and began to speak.
"I know you’ve always been proud, whether as transcendents with exceptional talents, witches who possess secret knowledge, or followers of the Witch Sect—"
"But!"
"If you only revel in victories within this small circle, then that’s truly laughable."
"By tonight’s events, you should be able to feel how vast the gap is between yourself and those top-tier peers."
"I am not just your teacher, your senior, but also one of the current holders of the Witch Sect; it is my duty and responsibility torrect your way of thinking and to change the current state of the Academy."
"In theming years, Tri-Phase Moon Academy will form a deep alliance with Edith Academy, and the Academy will also select the most outstanding students to go to Edith Academy for exchange studies."
"Haven’t you always thought of yourselves as unappreciated talents, lacking the best educational resources, missing out on a vast stage to showcase your talent? Now, the opportunity lies before you."
"The precious slots of the Winter Festivalmpetition—Edith Academy has agreed to allocate two of them. If you want to prove yourselves, seize this opportunity tightly!"
Xiu Lin’s words echoed across the crowd, exploding like an earthquake among the young witches. As an independent academy located in the remote northern forests, the bright stage of the Winter Festivalmpetition seemed to exist only in the distant rrds of the academy’s library, yet now it loomed tantalizingly close.
Although they knew the likelihood of winning the championship was slim, who would willingly dismiss this possibility and walk into a future of mediocrity and scarcity?
Tonight, the students of Tri-Phase Moon spread the news, waking their roommates who had already gone to sleep, just to inform them of this significant decision. For the academy, long isolated in theld forests of the north, it was as if a flame had been lit, spreading rapidly.
Numerous students began to look forward to this year’s Winter Festivalmpetition because that distant stage, which had previously held no relevance for them, was now intertwined with a thread of possibility and hope.
"Ready to start working hard?" asked a witch to hermpanion in the midst of the midnight lamplight, looking at her roommate who was still awake.
"Yes, I still have many dreams to chase, and at least this time, I don’t want to miss out unnoticed," she replied.
"That’s nice," murmured the person beside her, who then walked over to the cupboard, retrieved a recently purchasedmmemorative album, carefully pulled out one of the pages, and affixed it to the wall above her desk.
It was a resplendent night sky over a bustling city, with an enormous oval auditorium at its heart, and in arner of the scene, a figure with black hair stood with their back to the viewer, overlooking the brilliantly lit venue, their silhouette beautiful and dream-like in flight.
