Blizzard Burial!
The moment the massive ice sword descended, a surging, roaring blizzard tornado erupted from the sword's tip, taking shape in an instant and howling toward Guan Tong, as if intending to bury his entire being beneath the snowstorm.
Blizzard Burial... Guan Tong watched the blizzard bearing down on him and thought the name was quite fitting. If he did nothing, he really would be buried by it.
Perfect time to try that!
Guan Tong didn't consider using Body Swap to dodge the attack. Instead, he activated his remaining flowable Mind Power, and a suit of armor formed from shadows enveloped his body in an instant.
Unlike the thick, purely defensive Shadow Armor he'd used before, this suit clung almost perfectly to his body, automatically adjusting its elasticity with every breath he took.
He pushed off lightly with his feet, shattering the layer of frost that had formed on his legs, then crossed his arms in front of his chest and faced the blizzard tornado head-on.
The ice storm, a convergence of howling wind, freezing snow, and razor-sharp ice blades, brought searing, knife-like pain across his entire body the moment it touched him. The pain was within his expectations. He let out a low shout and began swinging his fists forward relentlessly!
He let the shadow suit drive his body, amplifying the force and speed of each punch. Dozens of punches later, the resulting gale of fist wind had already dispersed a portion of the wind and snow before him.
This experience thrilled Guan Tong. His theory had worked! Using the Shadow as a suit rather than mere armor provided a superior boost to overall combat capability and offered far greater flexibility.
He remained rooted in place, not leaving the ice storm's range, continuously tapping into his reserve Mind Power to explore the suit's potential. He knew opportunities like this were rare; he rarely came under area-of-effect attacks of this magnitude.
This ice storm created by Yelanka was perfect for tempering the resilience of both his shadow suit and his own body.
The terrifying ice storm lasted a full half-minute before beginning to subside. Outside the storm, Yelanka was bent over with her hands on her knees, gasping for breath.
The two-handed ice greatsword in her hands had long since dispersed from Mind Power depletion. Chain-using Ice Crystal Burst, creating a domain, and finally unleashing her ultimate trump card, Blizzard Burial, had squeezed out every last drop of her Mind Power.
Now, looking at the blizzard ahead, Yelanka felt a flicker of worry.
What if...
She had listened to Guan Tong's instruction not to hold back, and since she rarely had the chance to face a top-tier expert stronger than herself, her excitement had gotten the better of her. She truly hadn't held anything back, using up all her ultimate techniques.
She had complete faith in Guan Tong's strength, yet she still worried the attack might be too powerful. If Guan Tong was even slightly careless, he could still get hurt.
Just as she was thinking this, she saw a black figure emerge from the weakening ice storm.
It was Guan Tong, no doubt, but his entire body was now covered in a form-fitting shadow, giving him a strange, eerie appearance. Especially beneath that pitch blackness, there was a faint, flowing crimson visible.
"Teacher Guan Tong!"
Yelanka realized the flowing crimson was blood seeping out from within the Shadow. She immediately ran over, grabbing his arm nervously: "You're hurt!"
The Shadow peeled away from his body, revealing that Guan Tong indeed had many wounds on him. But instead of looking upset, he had a smile on his face.
"Yelanka, that move of yours is incredibly powerful. But my experiment succeeded as well."
Facing Yelanka's ultimate attack, Guan Tong had dared to withstand it using his unpolished Shadow Battle Suit, without using any other protective items, and even deactivating the shield formed by his natural Mind Power circulation. His goal was to push himself.
Judging from the results, his development direction was correct. Once he gradually transitioned the purely defensive Shadow Armor into the all-around offensive, defensive, and speed-boosting Shadow Battle Suit, his weakness in fast-paced combat would be covered.
Yelanka didn't know any of this. Seeing the many wounds on Guan Tong, she assumed he was severely injured. Her concern clouded her judgment, and she frantically pulled a bunch of healing items from her Storage Box for him to use.
"I'm really fine. Look."
Guan Tong restarted his Mind Power circulation, and its inherent healing capability was enough to repair superficial wounds. After circulating it a few times, all the wounds had stopped bleeding.
Yelanka let out a long breath of relief upon seeing this: "Thank goodness, I thought..."
"Heh, don't worry. But the domain you developed, and that ultimate move 'Blizzard Burial,' are truly impressive."
This wasn't Guan Tong offering empty praise. Yelanka's combination of first slowing enemies with her low-temperature domain, then blasting them with a massive area-of-effect ice storm, was a highly effective combo technique.
He could withstand it not because the ice storm was weak, but because he had an endless supply of reserve Mind Power feeding the suit to share the defensive burden.
If it weren't for that, he wouldn't have taken it head-on. After all, that ice storm contained not just howling wind and snow, but also dense, razor-sharp ice blades! His body was covered in wounds precisely because those blades had sliced through the suit.
So under normal circumstances, Guan Tong would never tank an attack like this. He would have immediately used Body Swap to avoid it.
"However, your domain expansion speed still isn't fast enough." As a combat sparring partner and support, Guan Tong still needed to point out flaws and shortcomings.
"An enemy with rich combat experience or a meticulous mind will sense your intent the moment their body is touched by the cold. They'll quickly create distance to avoid being trapped in your domain."
Yelanka nodded: "Yeah, I also feel like 'Ice Prison Array' isn't fast enough, and its range isn't large enough either. It needs further development."
"So that move is called 'Ice Prison Array'? The name really is fitting." Guan Tong thought about how Yelanka would cross her two ice swords, the cold spreading along the blades to freeze enemies within, and compared to a domain, it truly was more like an array-based prison.
Guan Tong then took out several items storing flowable Mind Power from his Storage Box and handed them to Yelanka: "Here, restore your Mind Power to full, and let's go again. This time I'll use a different training method."
Five minutes later.
The moment the battle began, the Shadow Battle Suit enveloped Guan Tong's entire body, and then darkness expanded from him as the center, spreading across heaven and earth.
Yelanka's vision went completely black. Before she could adapt, countless sharp gusts of wind assailed her from all directions. She knew they were shadow spikes, and she hastily swung her sword to defend, her movements somewhat flustered.
She forced herself to calm down, coating her blade with white frost and swinging it to illuminate a patch of darkness for visibility.
However, there was no trace of Guan Tong within her field of view. His entire body was covered in Shadow, almost blending perfectly into the dark Shadow Domain. Finding him was no easy task!
Yelanka gritted her teeth and fired countless ice crystals in all directions. Finally, when a few were blocked unnaturally, she deduced Guan Tong's position.
She unexpectedly flicked her right wrist, and the ice sword in her right hand shot out, striking exactly where she thought Guan Tong was. But thanks to the sword's glow, she saw it was just a shadow wall meant to deceive her.
"Ice Prison Array!"
Relying on her sixth sense, Yelanka sensed a threat behind her. As she spun around, a new ice sword condensed in her right hand, and she crossed both blades, decisively activating the array.
The moment the cold spread outward, she immediately merged the two swords into one and unleashed Blizzard Burial!
But when the ice storm swept outward, she realized that what was in that direction wasn't Guan Tong either, but a Shadow Pillar. The next moment, her body tensed as several shadows bound her and pulled her to the ground. Their formidable toughness and stretchable elasticity made it impossible for her, with her Mind Power completely depleted, to break free.
"Your abilities are extremely powerful, but you use them too hastily."
Guan Tong dispelled the Shadow Domain, untied the shadow ropes binding Yelanka, and pulled her up from the ground.
"When visibility is obstructed, it's better to defend and counterattack than to attack recklessly."
...
Yelanka looked at Guan Tong, her face pale, saying nothing.
She hadn't expected that when things got serious, the gap between them would be this huge.
The principle Guan Tong spoke of wasn't something she didn't know. But when she found herself in that pitch-black Shadow Domain where she couldn't see her own hand, she couldn't help but panic. Under such immense pressure, staying calm and thinking clearly was incredibly difficult.
Thinking back to seeing Guan Tong injured earlier, besides her worry and distress, she'd also felt a tiny hint of secret delight. She'd thought that being able to wound her teacher meant the gap between them had shrunk considerably compared to their academy days.
But when Guan Tong stopped holding back and seized the initiative the moment battle began, only then did she realize just how terrifying her teacher truly was. The gap between them hadn't shrunk at all...
Guan Tong looked at Yelanka's grim expression and could vaguely guess what she was feeling. He offered encouragement: "You might feel a sense of defeat, and that's normal. But I know you're not the type to be brought down by failure. Besides, the kind of offense I used is what an enemy would do. No enemy is going to fight you in turn-based rounds, trading blow for blow."
"...Yeah!" Yelanka pulled herself together. "Let's go again in a bit. This time I'll stay calm and think carefully about how to handle combat when my vision is impaired!"
Guan Tong smiled and nodded: "That's the spirit."
The two continued their training until evening.
When they finished, Yelanka was drenched in sweat, strands of her light golden hair sticking to her forehead and face.
A powerful Ascendant's body rarely sweats under normal circumstances, but Yelanka now looked like she'd just come out of a steam room, showing just how intense today's training had been.
Guan Tong, on the other hand, looked no different from usual. Even though Yelanka was also at the Second Stage of Ascension, there was still a gap between them. Moreover, his fighting style leaned toward controlling the battlefield with his Shadow, which didn't demand nearly as much physical exertion as Yelanka's.
"I'm going to take a shower first..." Yelanka felt completely soaked. Even in her sportswear, she felt a bit self-conscious under Guan Tong's gaze. "Teacher Guan Tong, will you stay for dinner?"
"I'll pass on dinner. The new rule is coming out the day after tomorrow, so I plan to head back and organize things to prepare." After saying this, Guan Tong looked at Yelanka and remembered something. "You should have received the notification about entering the Second Stage of Ascension?"
At his mention, Yelanka suddenly remembered: "Right. I was actually planning to talk to you about that, Teacher Guan Tong. I knew you must have entered long ago."
"Yes. After entering the Second Stage, the Mind Network restarts. It's just that it's somewhat different from the Mind Network during the previous [Digital Detox]. Also, the restarted Mind Network can be used to identify parasitized forms. As the Administrator, you must have known that already."
Yelanka nodded, hesitated for a moment, then took the initiative to ask: "Teacher Guan Tong, should we establish a Mind Network? Wouldn't that make it more convenient for us to communicate?"
"Sure." Guan Tong had no reason to refuse.
The two extended their hands and gently clasped them together, their Mind Powers merging as one.
As their eyes met, they both silently chanted in their minds: Establish Mind Network.
That electric, tingling sensation swept through both of them. In that moment, they had established a Mind Network.
"Teacher Guan Tong?" Yelanka kept her lips sealed, yet her voice sounded directly in Guan Tong's mind.
Guan Tong replied through the Mind Network as well: "Yeah, it's established."
After saying this, he felt a sudden surprise. He discovered that their Mind Network was actually independent, not merged with the one he and Shi Jingyi shared.
What was going on?
He had originally assumed Mind Networks would merge with each other, as they had during the [Digital Detox] rule period. But now... Could it be that, just like how every use of the Mind Network now consumed Mind Power, this function was also a crippled version?
He'd noticed during the first restart that the Mind Network after the reboot was far inferior to the one during the rule period. Back then, he and Shi Jingyi had joked that the rule period version was a "free trial period," while the restarted one was more like a "non-member experience version."
Looking at it now, they hadn't been wrong at all.
Guan Tong didn't dwell on it further. He said goodbye to Yelanka: "From now on, if anything comes up, just use this to communicate directly. I'll head off now. See you later."
"See you later." Yelanka said softly.
After Guan Tong left, Sigaochin appeared shortly afterward.
"Administrator, today's training was exhausting. Please take a shower, have dinner, and rest early."
"I understand. Sigaochin, please put away that dress for me. Afterwards, make a few more identical ones and store them."
......