Ten seconds?
Hearing Evan Lin's words, Aiden Zhou, who was channeling his spell, couldn't help but pause.
Are you crazy, kid?!
Li He shouted from the sidelines, "Can't you see how powerful Aiden Zhou is right now?"
Ten seconds, you say?
Who are you even talking to?!
Li He kept cursing—he honestly didn’t see anyone else nearby.
Besides, up here in midair, there shouldn’t be anyone else around anyway.
What do you mean by that?
Aiden Zhou’s gaze darkened. "Don’t think you can stall for time with these weird tricks!"
Prepare to die!
As soon as Aiden Zhou finished speaking, he suddenly pushed his spell to the limit, surging upward together with the afterglow radiance around him.
But unexpectedly, cries of shock and commotion rang out by his ears.
He was far from the crowd—when he spoke, he used a special method to amplify his voice so people elsewhere could hear him.
He did this partly to show off the power of Grandmaster Victor Zhou’s lineage, and partly in hopes that today’s battle would become a hot topic across all of Hong Kong.
More than anything, he wanted to use today’s events to spread his fame into the mainland and make both himself and Grandmaster Victor Zhou household names there.
But now, just when Aiden Zhou thought he had absolute advantage, he suddenly felt immense pressure.
Even though Master Lin from Seacrest—standing right in front of him—hadn’t done a single thing!
What is that?!
No idea! Looks like a new road just appeared in the sky!
There’s someone—someone up there!
A wave of shocked cries erupted.
Just outside the hotel’s main floor, at the rooftop pool.
Half the pool was steaming, half frozen solid—and suddenly, those frozen waters began to tremble.
A pale-white, misty water column shot skyward. Wherever it passed, the water condensed into something like ice.
Eight seconds.
The person hadn’t arrived yet, but their voice had.
The crisp, slightly proud tone landed in Aiden Zhou’s ears, making him freeze for a second—then erupt in fury.
Eight seconds!
He, the number-one disciple of Grandmaster Victor Zhou, could only last eight seconds?
This random newcomer—whoever they were—was seriously talking big!
They weren’t just ignoring him—they were ignoring Grandmaster Victor Zhou entirely!
What a boast!
Aiden Zhou whipped his head around, and under the cold moonlight, saw the towering water column right in front of him.
Behind the water column, a slim silhouette strode swiftly atop it.
I’m using fire like the afterglow of the setting sun! And you’re dumb enough to walk on water up in the sky?
Aiden Zhou sneered, "Fine then."
I’ll finish you off first, then see what excuses Master Lin from Seacrest has for not making a move.
I want him to watch—watch as his so-called disciple is utterly crushed right before his eyes!
Aiden Zhou kept shouting, full of fury.
He spun his whole body around, and the orange glow flared up all over him.
Melt for me!
As soon as Aiden Zhou spoke, a streak of orange light shot out from him, smashing straight into the towering, ice-like water column.
"This disciple of Master Lin from Seacrest—is he stupid or something? If that water column melts, won’t he just fall?"
The onlookers shook their heads, sighing with pity.
"Honestly, I think Master Lin from Seacrest isn’t too bright either. If he had brains, he wouldn’t have come to Hong Kong and provoked Grandmaster Victor Zhou!"
Another person chimed in gleefully, "Now look—Master Lin from Seacrest is about to crash here, and his disciple’s going down too!"
Everyone kept talking over each other.
Watching everything unfold, they’d already made up their minds.
Right now, Aiden Zhou looked just like the sun.
Even if it was a setting sun, it was still the sun!
The sun’s fire—seen from afar, it doesn’t seem that hot. But up close, the flames could totally vaporize a person.
The heat and waves distorted the air all around Aiden Zhou.
Down below, Serena Tong and Queenie Tong watched nervously.
"This ends here!"
Aiden Zhou snorted coldly.
But the moment the orange glow touched the ice-like water column, the expected scene—where the pillar melted and the person running atop it plummeted—didn’t happen at all.
Instead, as soon as the orange light met the ice pillar, Aiden Zhou suddenly felt an incredibly cold fire.
That’s right.
It was cold—obviously like ice.
But at the same time, Aiden Zhou felt like he was being burned!
Two conflicting feelings—yet both were real, coexisting at once!
What is this? How is it possible?!
Aiden Zhou shouted, watching as his orange afterglow fire transformed, at visible speed, into icy shards.
The afterglow fire was being assimilated!
What is this thing?! How could there be ice I can’t melt?
Eyes wide, Aiden Zhou abruptly severed his connection to the orange glow—if he didn’t, at the rate things were spreading, that strange ice might soon engulf him completely.
He’d tried using his spells to resist, but no matter how hard he fought, his afterglow fire—normally unstoppable—was utterly powerless now.
That’s not ice—it’s fire.
Can’t even tell ice from fire, idiot!
A light snort.
The silhouette stepped forward.
Hearing this, Aiden Zhou instinctively looked closer at the newcomer.
Now that they were closer, he could finally see her clearly.
She wore red clothes and had a beautiful face.
But what really shocked Aiden Zhou was her fiery red hair and eyes—her gaze flowed with fire, like molten lava.
How—how is this possible?!
Aiden Zhou roared, nearly beside himself: "How could any fire overpower my afterglow fire?!"
This is a spell I’ve spent more than ten years mastering!
Just one exchange—and he was already defeated.
Even with all his years of training, Aiden Zhou just couldn’t accept it.
Especially since this girl in front of him was so much younger than he was!
‘Afterglow fire’? Please.
You’ve clearly never really played with fire.
Let me show you what real fire is.
Although my fire isn’t nearly as strong as his...
As soon as she finished speaking, she ran to the end of the ice column and leaped forward.
She soared through the air.
Fire erupted from her, inside and out, surging forth.
Holy crap!
It’s like I’m looking straight at the sun!