As for the muddy restraints pinning her legs, Bai Xifeng did not even use a rune. She simply channelled her physical strength, kicking them apart forcefully and freeing herself from the earth trap without much difficulty.

Just as Bai Xifeng was preparing to launch a counterattack, her sharp senses suddenly detected multiple bursts of sharp spiritual energy rapidly approaching her blind spot at high speed. Without hesitation, she immediately threw out a defensive rune, activating a translucent golden shield around herself.

The incoming hidden attacks turned out to be sharp, piercing wind arrows. They came from Xie Zixin, who had been waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Crack! One of the high-velocity wind arrows struck the shield hard enough to create visible, spiderweb-like cracks across its glowing surface. Bai Xifeng immediately scanned the area, attempting to locate Xie Zixin’s exact position, but she could not find him anywhere nearby.

Using the agility of the wind attribute cleverly, Xie Zixin was continuously moving around the perimeter of the battlefield at a blinding speed to conceal his presence. Before she could recover, he launched another wave of rapid-fire wind attacks from a completely different angle.

Even so, Bai Xifeng closed her eyes for a split second, relying on her instincts to vaguely sense the trajectory of his incoming wind arrows.

"Xifeng, do not forget that we are still here, too!" Xie Jingguo shouted loudly, drawing her attention back to the centre.

Taking advantage of Xie Zixin’s distraction, Xie Jingguo had already managed to close the distance between them significantly. Suddenly, several sharp, deadly stone spikes erupted upward from the ground directly beneath Bai Xifeng’s feet.

Bai Xifeng twisted her body mid-air, narrowly avoiding the piercing spikes by mere inches. However, she did not expect Xie Yanlin to immediately follow up with a seamless combination move.

Xie Yanlin executed the exact same technique Xie Lanying had previously used against her before, the formidable Water Slash.

The sharp arc of pressurised water slashed directly toward Bai Xifeng’s sleeve. Even though she managed to tilt her torso so the strike itself did not seriously injure her flesh, the water that splashed onto her fabric instantly froze solid, turning into a coat of frost that rapidly spread further across her sleeve and arm.

Seeing the frost creeping upward, Bai Xifeng immediately activated a fire rune, generating a burst of localised heat to block the freezing effect while simultaneously melting the spreading ice away into steam.

However, because Bai Xifeng’s attention was momentarily focused on saving her sleeve, she failed to notice that the three of them had already coordinated their movements, retreating roughly thirty meters away from her position to prepare a combined ultimate strike.

The trio immediately raised their respective weapons toward Bai Xifeng simultaneously, locking onto her. Unfortunately for them, that single moment of distance and preparation caused them to completely lose sight of her fluid movements.

"Eh?! Where the hell did she go?" Xie Jingguo exclaimed, looking around the empty space hurriedly as his spear lowered slightly.

"I am right here." Bai Xifeng’s voice suddenly echoed from directly above them.

The three of them instinctively looked upward into the sky, their faces turning pale.

At that exact moment, Bai Xifeng smirked and pinched her fingers together, activating the hidden traps she had secretly placed at the very beginning of the battle when the mist was still thick. Three different runes glowing on the ground activated in rapid, flawless sequence.

The first earth rune manipulated the mud beneath their boots, instantly hardening and restraining their legs firmly in place so they couldn’t retreat. The second water rune summoned a sudden downpour of rainwater, drenching the three of them completely from head to toe.

The final lightning rune released violent, crackling electric currents throughout the pre-mapped battlefield. Because the freshly summoned water acted as a perfect conductor, the bright blue electricity immediately spread through the entire area with terrifying efficiency.

Soft, menacing crackling sounds echoed continuously as blue electric currents surged upward from the glowing geometric rune patterns carved into the stone beneath their feet. Since this was merely a friendly sparring session within the academy grounds, Bai Xifeng had deliberately dialled back the spiritual energy, reducing the lethality of the attack so as not to cause permanent damage. However, the numbing, paralysing effect of the lightning was still extremely potent.

"Please enjoy it." Bai Xifeng grinned as she watched the three of them.

Xie Jingguo, whose heavy body and heavy weapon remained firmly grounded to the earth, felt his legs lock up instantly from the intense electric shock. The paralysis travelled up his spine, and he dropped heavily onto the training grounds with a loud, dull thud, laughing helplessly at how easily they had been trapped.

Xie Yanlin, already soaked from his own deflected water attack, conducted the static perfectly and fell backwards, twitching slightly as he giggled. Xie Zixin tried to leap out of the circle, but a stray spark caught his wooden sword, numbing his hand and causing him to drop his weapon out of bounds.

Xie Yanlin, who had already been thoroughly soaked by his own redirected water attacks earlier, became the absolute perfect conductor for the electricity. The current surged through his wet clothes immediately, causing his muscles to spasm. He collapsed backwards onto the ground, twitching slightly while laughing bitterly at his own tactical failure.

Meanwhile, Xie Zixin, relying on his superior speed, desperately attempted to channel his wind qi to leap out of the trap circle entirely. Unfortunately, a stray spark of lightning jumped through the air and struck his wooden sword directly. The shock numbed his hand instantly, forcing his fingers to open and dropping the weapon far outside the boundaries of the training grounds.

***This novel is a contracted work with w e b n o v e l. c o m. If you do not read this novel on w e b n o v e l. c o m, that means it has been stolen. Thank you, from your shameless author, ZerahNeko***