Whoosh~ Whoosh~ The wind howled.
Butterfly fluttered out from atop his head, flying forward a hundred or two hundred meters, her body expanding from palm-sized back to a height of one meter twenty.
Her emerald-green hair streamed in the wind, her butterfly wings trembling faintly, scattering tiny specks of light.
Opposite her stood another wood-type spirit.
It had a humanoid body, similar in height to an adult male, with slender limbs made of branches and leaves.
It wore a robe fashioned from leaves, trailing all the way to the ground.
That leaf robe, like Butterfly Fairy's swarm of butterflies, Elephant General's stone hammer, and Golden Armor Overlord's battle blade, was part of the spirit itself.
Yet it seemed like a tangible object, fluttering and rustling in the wind.
But what drew the most attention was its hair, like an afro.
White, dense strands spread outward, making it look from afar like a top-heavy figure that might topple over at any moment.
Spirit: Pampas Grass Prince!
Evolved from Dandelion into Fluffy Fluff, and then into its final form!
"Pampas Grass Prince is wood-type, but its combat style revolves around a sea of dandelions, somewhat similar to illusion techniques."
Illusions affect the mind.
But Zhou Mingze's Pampas Grass Prince interfered from the physical realm.
It was a false illusion.
Butterfly had the ability to counter it.
"Moreover, though Butterfly is only at the Transcendent level, after absorbing eight thousand credits' worth of 'nutrients,' her base attributes are no weaker than Pampas Grass Prince's. The only shortcoming is her lack of combat experience at the Transcendent level."
But that was precisely the purpose of Su Hao's challenge.
To grind some experience.
They weren't on a formal battlefield now. The two towers to the left and right were too far apart, and there were no spirit-controlling pillars.
So Su Hao rode on Husky Qilin, stepping into midair.
Across from him, Zhou Mingze also rode a scaled dragon eagle, surveying the earth from high above.
He gazed at Butterfly Fairy, his mind racing:
'No matter what tricks it has, they're definitely based on illusions...'
'Then I'll adopt a long-range siege tactic to guard against its illusion invasion.'
Eyes, sounds, smells—all could be exploited by the enemy, leading to being trapped in an illusion.
But as long as he didn't look, didn't listen, and kept his distance, illusions would have little room to operate.
Zhou Mingze judged this and quickly gave orders.
In an instant,
Pampas Grass Prince's arms spread wide, its afro constantly swaying, releasing countless white dandelions that rapidly filled the surroundings.
Its figure instantly vanished into the dense sea of dandelions.
Tactical core: Dandelion Sea!
One by one, dandelions spun, their white fluff like metal spikes, tearing through the air with piercing shrieks as they shot out.
It was the basic move—Feather Needle!
Modified version: Dandelion Feather Needle!
Seeing this, Butterfly also considered countering with a basic move.
She thought of using a hurricane, but noticed the dandelion fluff was exceptionally sharp, like hidden weapons; using a hurricane would fall into a trap.
Her butterfly wings trembled lightly, and countless emerald-green specks of light flew out like raindrops.
Rice Grain Machine Gun!
Enhanced version!
The rice grains and dandelions collided midair, exploding into countless clouds of dust.
Dense and thick.
Neither the dandelions nor the rice grains could break through the other's defenses, intercepting each other.
The explosions formed a line of smoke, dividing the battlefield.
Onlookers outside could only see the two spirits striking, sending up countless white and green specks that burst apart in waves, with booming sounds echoing one after another.
Even basic moves possessed terrifying lethality—this was the Transcendent level!
"They seem evenly matched, but Pampas Grass Prince's Feather Needle relies on the Dandelion Sea tactic, gradually increasing in number, while Rice Grain Machine Gun requires Butterfly Fairy to execute it herself. In another ten-plus seconds, Pampas Grass Prince will fully take the upper hand."
A senior student remarked.
Su Hao naturally saw this too, and without him needing to speak, Butterfly adjusted her tactics on her own.
Her wings flapped again, releasing not emerald-green specks, but countless fist-sized glowing butterflies that fluttered and scattered in all directions.
At this moment,
With no rice grains to block them, the dandelions spun and gradually occupied most of the field.
Looking out, the dense dandelions surged like a white wave, rushing toward them.
Su Hao understood the opponent's plan.
Once the Dandelion Sea covered the entire field, Pampas Grass Prince would have absolute home-field advantage, and no matter what moves it used, Butterfly would be overwhelmed.
Of course, they weren't on a formal battlefield, and behind Butterfly, there was still plenty of space to dodge.
But since they had challenged, they would defeat the opponent fair and square.
So...
Attack with attack!
The glowing butterflies flew forward in a fan shape, soon colliding with the oncoming dandelions.
Yet there was no explosion.
The glowing butterflies seemed intangible, passing through the dandelions and continuing forward.
Outside, students could see the white wave sweeping from left to right, with pink glowing butterflies swimming against the current.
The two colors intertwined.
Just as the white wave seemed about to swallow Butterfly Fairy, suddenly, her body dissolved into countless butterflies, scattering in all directions.
She vanished completely into the Dandelion Sea.
She was gone!
"Are we under an illusion?"
"No, illusions can't directly affect us spirit summoners!"
"Where did she go?"
"When did she pull that off?"
"Clone? Decoy?"
Zhou Mingze frowned, thinking as well.
After half a second of thought, he issued a command in his mind.
"Infuse with spiritual power and seal off those butterflies."
But there were too many glowing butterflies; Pampas Grass Prince could only target them in batches.
In an instant, the fluff on some of the foremost dandelions glowed faintly, stabbing toward the few hundred butterflies that had just split off from Butterfly Fairy.
Like spikes popping bubbles, the glowing butterflies burst with a "pop," but the force behind them also affected the dandelions.
In that moment, the spinning, flying dandelions dimmed, fell to the ground with a thud, and dissipated into pure spiritual energy in the air.
Just like at the start, only rice grains had been replaced by illusion butterflies, canceling each other out.
In mere moments, hundreds of illusion butterflies shattered and vanished.
Only one illusion butterfly remained, now possessing a solid form, its scattered light causing dandelions to fall one by one.
"That's the real body, right?"
Zhou Mingze's eyes widened.
Outside, some tensed up, others sighed.
A few seconds later...
With a "pop," that special illusion butterfly shattered, and a wisp of gray mist drifted away.
And the scene was still empty!
"!!!"
Zhou Mingze turned his gaze to where Pampas Grass Prince was.
Just moments ago, when attention was diverted, the foremost illusion butterflies had already flown two-thirds of the way through the white sea.
A sudden tension and unease rose in his heart.
"Impossible, I won't lose!"
"Destroy all the illusion butterflies—its real body must be hidden among them!"
Pampas Grass Prince poured out its power continuously.
Dandelions danced one after another, emitting faint glows.
They collided with the illusion butterflies fluttering their wings.
Dandelions kept falling.
Illusion butterflies kept vanishing.
But new illusion butterflies kept splitting off.
And new dandelions kept spreading.
Both sides were depleting.
One used a special application of illusion power.
The other infused its spiritual power into the sea, unleashing its strength endlessly.
No explosions.
Not even any sound.
Outside, the audience could only see illusion butterflies breaking apart, dandelions falling and disappearing.
A silent stalemate lasted five minutes.
The Dandelion Sea still showed no sign of thinning.
But...
The faint glow on them had noticeably dimmed.
It took two dandelions to consume one illusion butterfly.
Pampas Grass Prince's spiritual power was running low!
Slowly, the pink cloud began to overtake the white tide, pressing forward bit by bit.
Then, ten special illusion butterflies formed an arrowhead, breaking through the sea with unstoppable force.
Dozens of seconds later, the white dandelions were sparse.
While the illusion butterflies still had a considerable presence.
They clustered around Pampas Grass Prince, surrounding it.
The scene froze there.
Su Hao rode his horse, stepping through the air, and came forward, looking at Zhou Mingze.
He saw a face full of reluctance, shifting expressions for several seconds before he lowered his head and said dejectedly, "I lost."
Lost to a freshman.
Lost to a spirit that had just reached the Transcendent level!
Zhou Mingze walked away in dejection.
The students and instructors outside fell silent for a moment, then erupted in clamor!