With the Melody Empress assisting him, Leon Huang's domain took shape at an astonishing speed. The thumb-sized flames had grown into fist-sized fireballs, and the searing heat radiated outward, forcing the surrounding onlookers to keep retreating.
At the same time, every building within the domain was ignited, bursting into flames.
Fortunately, over a dozen instructors were present. Under their control, the flames did not spread any further.
After a while, the flames continued to surge, and the area within a 150-meter radius had become a sea of fire.
Inside the room.
Leon was still sitting cross-legged on the ground, surrounded by flames. Even his clothes caught fire, and in an instant he was left completely naked—his hair and eyebrows burned away, his skin flushed red, but showing no signs of injury.
The domain barrier was rapidly condensing.
Leon sensed that his domain was nearly complete.
Just then, Leon suddenly began absorbing metal-attribute qi from the world around him.
The Melody Empress, who was helping Leon gather fire-attribute qi, frowned slightly. What was this kid up to—why was he suddenly drawing in metal-attribute qi?
The intensity of the burning firesea seemed to diminish, and the flames grew noticeably dimmer.
Seeing this, the dozen instructors all furrowed their brows, growing even more worried. Was this kid really going to fail at the final moment?
If he really failed, it would be such a shame!
No matter how you looked at it, Leon had stopped drawing in fire-attribute qi and was now rapidly absorbing metal-attribute qi. As the metal energy gathered, the brightness of the flames continued to fade, and the once-continuous firesea split into patches.
In the crowd.
Liamson Liang saw this and couldn't help but feel a surge of joy. He thought to himself, looks like this kid is running out of steam. If he fails to break through, he'll suffer heavenly backlash and won't be able to condense a domain again for the next three years. That would give me another chance to assassinate him.
With that thought, his recently extinguished urge to assassinate flared up once more.
Meanwhile, Lynette Ji, standing among the crowd, knitted her brows and murmured, "Leon Huang, don't disappoint me!"
"Huh? Why are the flames shrinking?" Yoon Zhengyang, who had been watching closely, said in a low voice, sensing that something was off.
Celine Murong looked worried. "It seems Junior Brother Huang is running out of strength. The domain he's trying to condense is too large, and since he's skipping the usual Grandmaster breakthrough and condensing a domain directly, I'm afraid his true qi might not be enough to fully materialize the domain!"
"No way! Senior Brother Huang is definitely going to pull this off!" Winnie Shentu, Leon's number one fangirl, pumped her fist, though deep down her eyes were clouded with worry.
"Is there anything we can do to help him?" Harriet Gu suddenly blurted out.
Celine Murong shook her head. "If Junior Brother Huang broke through to Grandmaster first, then tried to condense his domain, his chances would be way higher. But domain condensation relies on your own soul power and true qi—outsiders can't really help at all!"
"Really? There's nothing at all we can do?" Harriet pressed, her usual icy calm gone—her face was written all over with worry.
"Ah..."
Eric Zhou, Ian Tian, and the others all let out long sighs, feeling a deep regret for Leon. If he succeeded in condensing his domain, his future would be blindingly bright; but if he failed, he'd become the butt of everyone's jokes.
"Haha! Told you so! Heaven-Rank Domains aren’t something you can just pull off! Leon Huang’s ambition is way too big—now he’s finally getting burned!"
An older student laughed out loud, his voice full of glee.
"You're talking nonsense! Senior Brother Huang will definitely condense his domain!"
Winnie Shentu happened to overhear and glared at him, raising her voice to argue for Leon.
The older student sneered, pointing at Leon’s still-unformed domain. “Actions speak louder than words, little girl. Look—aren’t the flames inside his domain even dimmer now?”
"Hmph! Senior Brother Huang is just catching his breath. He’ll bounce back in no time!" Winnie Shentu refused to believe her idol could fail.
"Catching his breath?"
The older student sounded even more dismissive. "Condensing a domain is all about one big push—momentum builds and builds! How could you just stop halfway? You think it's like eating or drinking, taking breaks between bites?"
"Shut your filthy mouth!"
Yoon Zhengyang was pissed, his eyes cold as he stared down the older student.
"What did you say? Say that again if you dare!"
"I said shut your filthy mouth. Say one more word and I'll knock all your teeth out!" Yoon Zhengyang threatened coldly.
"Enough, Senior Brother Yoon, arguing with this kind of person is pointless," Celine Murong advised.
"Yeah, some people just can't stand seeing others succeed! Bickering with him only drags your own status down," Yvette Xue added.
"You guys...!"
Seeing Yoon Zhengyang's side gain two more supporters, the older student could only shut his mouth, sulking. But inside, he was already plotting: just wait until Leon Huang fails to condense his domain—he'd definitely rub it in and mock these guys to their faces.
Up on the rooftop.
The Melody Empress frowned even deeper.
She really wanted to send a sound transmission and tell Leon to stop drawing in metal-attribute energy, but after thinking it over, she gave up—she guessed Leon was probably trying to condense a dual-attribute domain.
"This kid's ambition is honestly bigger than I imagined. Hope he pulls it off!"
She’d already stopped channeling fire-attribute energy to Leon, switching to metal-attribute energy instead.
Because of that, the flames inside the unformed domain grew smaller and smaller, the sheets of fire breaking up into scattered tongues of flame.
"It's over! Leon Huang's done for—his domain failed!"
A mid-level student shouted.
"Haha!"
Seeing this, Liamson Liang nearly burst out laughing, feeling a rush of satisfaction—this was just too good.
And most of the students who’d envied Leon before now had looks of pure schadenfreude on their faces.
Whoosh!
A figure appeared in a flash—a blue-robed, middle-aged man with frosty white hair at his temples stood beside the Melody Empress.
"Empress, what happened? Just now his domain was flourishing—why did it suddenly dim?" the blue-robed man asked urgently.
The Melody Empress rolled her eyes. "What do you think? The kid's just too ambitious."
"What do you mean by that?" the blue-robed man asked, confused. But then he noticed the surge of metal-attribute energy pouring into the unformed domain, and suddenly realized: "He's trying to condense a dual-attribute domain—fire and metal!"
The Melody Empress nodded.
But right away, the blue-robed man's face darkened and he snapped, "This is reckless! Stop him now—let's help him condense the fire-attribute domain instead!"
"No rush!"
The Melody Empress waved her hand. "This kid's ambition is just too big—if you don't let him try, he'll never be satisfied!"
"What if he fails?"
The Melody Empress shot him a look. "You worry too much! So what if he fails? He can just try again! You think with the two of us here, he'd suffer backlash from heaven and earth?"
The blue-robed Martial Saint thought about it and realized she was right. With two Saints watching over him, Leon Huang could afford to take risks.