Chapter 217 : Chapter 217

Chapter 217: Now is the time to flip the table

Departing from the sea area, I passed through the still-burning region.

Although it was no longer under my guidance, the fire was spreading much faster than I had anticipated.

However, I also saw firebreaks left behind after many trees were felled.

Amidst the raging flames, they had bought this forest a chance to breathe in this manner.

But it was still quite a distance from that World Tree.

Even from afar, I could see the pillar of light enveloping the entire World Tree, Aphrodite's unique Mother God Hymn Ritual.

Praising the greatness and selflessness of the Mother God through hymns, expressing the Forest Elves' devotion and adoration through the ritual.

This ritual required specially treated offerings and pure Forest Elves to perform.

The ritual naturally involved singing the melodious Mother God Hymn to pray for the Mother God's response.

And the preparatory work before the ritual also required tedious processing, including the Forest Elves singing the hymns needing to wear specific attire, and drinking the flawless dew from the World Tree's fruit…

“Halt! No flying here! Get down!”

“Hm?”

I lowered my head and looked at the commotion below.

After all the things I had stirred up in the exchange competition, hearing such an angry rebuke was indeed quite attention-grabbing.

“Do you not know who I am?”

I looked up at the World Tree not far away, then descended.

“I don't care who you are! Anyone who isn't from the Beast Academy or an Elf can forget about passing through here!”

“B-boss, this one looks like a witch. Weren't the Beast Academy previously…”

“How can there be such a coincidence! Even if she is a witch, not every one of them can be that strong.”

“That's right, I'm one of the not-so-strong members of the Witch Academy. I'd like to ask, is Aphrodite Academy conducting a ritual here? Why are you from the Beast Academy guarding this place?”

“None of your business! It's all thanks to the good work of you Witch Academy folks! Witches are not welcome here! Scram! Or my brothers and I won't be merciful!”

“Is that so…”

In other words, although the alliance with the Sea Race failed, the Elves and the Beast Academy reached a deal, and the Beast Academy was even helping to guard the ritual…

“But there's no need for you all to help Aphrodite Academy this much, right? What benefits can they give you for completing the ritual?”

“Don't try to get information out of me.”

The other party clearly had no intention of cooperating, and had also lost patience with my endless questions.

He picked up his weapon and charged towards me.

“Die.”

I sent a Fireball and sent this guy away directly.

“Boss! I told you, witches…”

“You can go with him, so you'll have someone to answer to.”

After sending these two off, I had caused quite a stir, but it didn't matter.

A little further ahead, and I should be at the foot of the World Tree.

This was the first time I had seen the so-called World Tree from such a close distance.

Even though the rules stated that this was just a fake, a simulated and scaled-down branch of the World Tree, I still felt a sense of shock upon arriving at a place shaded by such enormous greenery.

“A witch! It's a witch! The witch is attacking!”

“Damn it, is this the kind of vigilance the Beast Academy promised!”

“It's that Yang Yuehan!”

“I told you so…”

“Yang Yuehan! Are you here to stop our ritual from proceeding!”

“I guess so.”

I did a quick scan but didn't see any Elves I could name.

Looks like they haven't made it here after reviving?

I wondered which region they were randomly teleported to.

But the number of Elves gathered here at this moment made me feel a little bit of what it means to be in a tough spot.

Following the alert from the Elves, it wasn't long before I was surrounded and attacked by people from the Beast Academy from behind.

“Yang Yuehan, I heard that you, a single witch, managed to suppress three parties during the scramble for the fruit of life. I wonder what you will do now?”

“Oh? A new leader for the Elves, an unheard name…”

“Lin Qinlin, remember this name, witch. You will taste failure under this name in a moment!”

“Your demands are getting lower and lower each time, even your taunts are so conservative huh?”

But before I could finish, the attack had already arrived.

They were unwilling to waste words with me.

For this round of rituals, Aphrodite Academy had the upper hand.

The only ritual ahead of them was the one from the Sea Race.

The Sea Race's ritual was notoriously difficult.

After all, without external help, it was very difficult to go to the sea area to stop the Sea Race from holding their ritual.

Even though that ritual had been made easier by requiring it to be held above the water surface, it was still very difficult to stop.

“Alright, alright, launching a sneak attack before I've even finished speaking?”

I quickly put up a shield for myself.

The Forest Elves were skilled with bows and arrows, and were very specialized in archery.

Coupled with the blessing of their natural power, it could be said to be a very terrifying long-range attack method.

If it was a sneak attack in a forest, it might be even more terrifying.

Therefore, when dealing with Elves, one couldn't use conventional methods and pit one's weaknesses against their strengths.

When they lost their cover, the buffs from the forest, and the advantages of their agility and nimbleness, they were now just shooting arrows at a person.

Oh, and those so-called elf spells, but it was obvious they hadn't learned many of them.

Many elf spells were even just means to enhance their arrows.

It wasn't just the Elves; the Beast Academy was the same, as they all had a common enemy.

And the Elves preparing for the ritual were still continuing.

“Are you ignoring my existence!”

Seeing that they were still preparing the ritual even under these circumstances, I directly used the Protection of the Elemental Spirit of Fire.

“Mother God, grant us your protection!”

Seeing me use this tactic again, Lin Qinlin directly resonated with the World Tree in a high-pitched elven language.

A dense force of nature transformed into power and enveloped the Elves.

The next moment, their attacks became even more ferocious, even reaching a level of absolute fire suppression.

Through my Spirit Vision, I watched the terrifying energy flowing within this World Tree.

Although the World Tree was fake to me, it was real to the Dream State, just a castrated version.

As expected, The World Tree is so powerful, directly strengthening these Elves within its range.

The power of their arrows even reached the level of my modded Evocation Spells with every shot.

But faced with this surge of power, it was obvious they were also adapting.

Arrows missed, and elf spells didn't hit, which was equivalent to being useless.

At this moment, I didn't dare to skimp on body strengthening and perception enhancement spells at all.

The Speech-Spirit Spell: Unity of Knowledge and Action could now, through suggestion, further enhance the various qualities I lacked in battle.

For example, concentration, dodging attacks, precise casting, etc.

Many things that would be subconsciously ignored in battle could be constantly remembered through this kind of suggestion.

As expected, once the enemy seriously joined forces, my "little tricks" for combat seemed to become ineffective.

The overwhelming mindset I had previously established for dealing with battles short-circuited at this moment.

Because the understanding I had established at that time was that when a Transcendent's power has a very high ceiling and a very low floor, evenly matched battles are rarely encountered.

Therefore, overwhelming the opponent was the most common form of combat in clashes between Transcendents.

As long as one's power level was higher than the opponent's, so-called combat skills and tactical thinking were secondary to overwhelming power.

My confidence in this idea was naturally thanks to my terrifying Spirit Vision level and the modding of my spellbook, because I believed this was a shortcut that only I could take.

This was something I learned during the Newcomer Competition, and not even Tan Han had shaken this thought.

If everyone's strength developed forward, just at different speeds, then in the face of battle, being evenly matched was ultimately just a fleeting moment.

At this moment, I even had the thought of refilling my magic power and trying out the power of my one and only Super Consumption Spellbook.

But doing so was still a bit extravagant.

After all, my main purpose here was to delay their ritual's progress, not to go all out and fight them to the death.

Right now, they were buffed by the World Tree.

A direct confrontation might result in mutual destruction, and I still didn't know what else the World Tree was capable of.

“Witch, you're only fit to fly around in the sky like a fly! How dare you cause trouble here at our World Tree!”

“It's fine, I have plenty of time to wear you down.”

My attention was not only on the Elves' ritual here, but also on the rituals in other places.

However, I didn't see the rituals of the other two top-tier academies appear.

Did they back down because they foresaw the Elf Academy's determination to complete this ritual?

After all, a head-on clash would only result in mutual destruction and waste their own time.

Now that the Elves were being pushed to make a last stand by the great fire, they probably wouldn't choose this moment to challenge their might.

I admit that their firepower was fierce, to the point that the ritual could proceed as usual under such protection.

My harassment, in contrast, seemed insignificant.

I could see their clear division of labor and cooperation.

After suffering a loss, they tried hard not to suffer a second one.

“I admit you are indeed fierce with the World Tree's blessing.”

At this moment, I also quickly distanced myself from them.

Without flipping the table, which meant using the Super Consumption Spellbook, it was still a bit difficult for me to shake them with my current combination of techniques.

“But what if I let you complete the ritual, and I set fires around you? How would you respond? That's right, you'll get one academy point, but what will you have lost? Do you dare to come out and face me?”

Since the opponent wouldn't come out, then I would create an opportunity to make them come out.

I admit that the blessing the World Tree gave them was like an easily defensible position.

But if you don't come out, I'll burn down everything around your home.

As for the threat, it all depended on how they chose to weigh their options.

“Then go ahead and burn it! The World Tree will protect us from harm. Ordinary flames cannot touch the World Tree at all. If you don't believe me, you can try.”

“Wait! The World Tree can protect you, but what about us from the Beast Academy!”

“Looks like you're about to be deserted by your allies? The Aphrodite World Tree is only your academy's World Tree. Do the other Elves also want to accept the World Tree's protection!”

“Don't fall for her divisive tricks! Once our ritual is successful, we will use the power of the World Tree to extinguish the forest fire!”

“Hahaha! Where do you get the confidence to say the World Tree will extinguish the forest fire? Extinguish one for me to see right now!”

“Stop using words to provoke us! After the ritual is successfully held, a hidden rule will be triggered, right? You're from the Witch Academy, you know this best. Do you dare say that a hidden rule won't be triggered after the ritual?”

“Alright, alright, so all of you knew, is that it? That's right, I admit that a hidden rule will indeed be triggered.”

I smiled and nodded.

They were so certain, they must have known something in advance.

Just like the Sea Race, this made me feel like a clown.

Was this the consideration of the other academies?

Since everyone knew, and the exchange competition was still ongoing, it meant that all of this was tacitly approved.

They could have countless excuses, they could blame it on guesses or something else.

After all, our Witch Academy had already confirmed it.

“But instead of expecting Aphrodite Academy to help you put out the fire after their ritual ends, you might as well pray that the Sea Race can help you. Why hang yourself on one tree? Aphrodite Academy is clearly using you as cannon fodder.”

“Cut the crap! Why should the Sea Race help us? Anyway, once we deal with you, everything will be fine!”

“Hehe, then suit yourselves.”

Since they believed all this, there was nothing more to say.

Regardless of whether they were truly foolish, or had reached a point of no return and couldn't convince themselves otherwise, the choice they made would not change, and I had no need to worry for them.

I looked at my recovery potions.

Although I had used quite a few, I still had some left.

After a brief analysis, I concluded that after this incident, there probably wouldn't be another situation that required such high consumption, so I didn't hold back.

There were many factors that led to this decision.

The most direct was to obstruct the ritual progress of other academies according to the contract, and then there was the opponent's cheating with the World Tree's power.

These were the objective reasons.

Although I also had to complain that even with their cheats, they were only evenly matched with me.

Then there was the subjective realization of the unfairness of this exchange competition itself.

Being powerful was our own strength.

Since you other academies want a fair exchange platform, then provide one.

Now, making things so flashy and complicated is just annoying to look at.

Compromising with the script, I knew this was a stage prepared for those Children of Destiny.

It was precisely because I knew this that I subconsciously did so many things I had never even thought of myself.

Perhaps it stemmed from a rebellion within my own heart, a rebellion against the fact that this was not my stage, but I could use my own power to turn it into my stage.

This was a process of self-verification.

After all, everyone subconsciously resists when faced with a predetermined outcome, don't they?

I even wondered if my behavior was also part of the script, because I found that I seemed to be gradually becoming the villain that everyone here was resisting.

The final ending couldn't be them joining forces to crusade against me, could it?

Perhaps by dragging the entire Witch Academy down with me, with the target being Tan Han?

Such an ending would be too cliché.

Sometimes, I feel so powerless living like this.

The root of this powerlessness is guessing what might happen but being unable to change anything.

I'm just hypnotizing myself into acknowledging the occurrence of such things.

If everything happens according to my speculation, I will feel that everything is as I expected, that my level of thinking is higher, that I'm so smart.

If it doesn't happen according to my expectations, I will hypnotize myself into saying that it's an unexpected surprise, not the short-sighted, fixed, cliché ending I had anticipated.

The world is truly wonderful.

But the fact is that nothing has changed; the only thing that has changed is the way I deceive myself.

Whenever I ponder about life, I always end it by taking a deep breath, because I myself know that it is a self-consuming internal struggle with no conclusion.

I use this method to cast those things to the back of my mind.

Right now, I'm about to do something big.

Something even Tan Han has never done.

She probably hasn't, right?

I haven't seen Tan Han use her Ancient Glacial Ice Transformation Spell in the exchange competition.

Instead, I'm the one using it first.

Fire Rain Domain Spell.

Although Fire Rain doesn't sound very powerful, its suffix is Domain, which instantly elevates its status, plus its identity as a Super Consumption Spellbook.

I am very much looking forward to its power.

At this moment, I chugged a few more recovery potions to reach my peak state.

“Now is the time to flip the table.”

As I spoke softly, the spellbook I had never used was activated at this moment.

I could feel the magic power in my body being crazily drained.

After all, my upper limit was just over a thousand, which could be said to be just barely meeting the threshold to use this spell.

Then I quickly chugged a few more recovery potions.

If only I had that alchemy item Tan Han had for storing magic power, but I estimate that there won't be any in the entire exchange competition.

“Not good! Stop her quickly! She's charging up a terrifying spell!”

At this moment, it was as if everything had been reversed.

Lin Qinlin, as the leader, was also feeling an indescribable sense of annoyance and panic.

The surrounding air began to feel scorching hot.

And I also felt the terrifying sense of power that Tan Han had after using that kind of spell, and the aura that this spell emanated even as it was being cast was enough to leave the enemy with no room to resist.

But this was not a transformation spell, that kind of imposing aura was not emanating from a single entity.

This was a domain, the Fire Rain Domain.

At this moment, the sky seemed to have ignited.

Flames replaced the clouds, covering the sky and causing a strange phenomenon.

This phenomenon even surpassed the pillar of light from the ritual, enough for anyone in any open area of the exchange competition to see a true fiery cloud.

The scorching light and heat became the most dazzling phenomenon on the exchange competition map.

It was a domain formed of high temperature and fierce flames.

The flames condensed into "raindrops" and fell from the sky.

Each drop of rain kicked up a heatwave as it landed on the ground.

Flames covered the entire land and trees.

When the fire rain dripped onto the flames, it caused the flames to surge, just like raindrops falling on the surface of water creating ripples.

The World Tree was now spreading its branches and leaves to provide shelter for these Elves.

Every leaf of the World Tree turned yellow and withered upon contact with the fire rain, while ordinary trees instantly caught fire, with no greenery to be seen.

This was much more efficient than simply starting a big fire.

And at this moment, it was also the first time I witnessed the terror of the World Tree.

Could it provide a safe haven for these Elves even under the effect of a domain spell from a Super Consumption Spellbook?

Those from the Beast Academy were now fleeing in disarray after the fire rain fell, while some were directly burned to death by the high temperature.

Unfortunately, the range of the domain was not very large, but even those who escaped the domain were burned half to death.

“Now, are you satisfied?”

At this moment, I was protected by the Protection of the Elemental Spirit of Fire, because this domain was an indiscriminate attack, including me.

But strolling through this fire rain did indeed calm me down.

After all, the consumption was too great all at once.

If I didn't calm down, it would really be a problem.

“Watch quietly. Until another academy holds a ritual, you… will just have to wait quietly with me for the completion of the Sea Race's ritual.”