Chapter 16: Leveling Up Amidst Battle

  Sanbao stared intently at the Eight-Trigram Oak Shield in the white-cd young lord’s hands. The yin-yang pattern on the shield was dimming, and the growing cracks across its surface threatened to shatter it at any moment.

  Sweat beaded on the young lord’s forehead, the once-casual smile frozen stiff.

  The bck-cd leader took it all in with a calm sneer. "Young Lord Wang," he said coolly, "our target is only Miss Xu. This matter does not concern you. Withdraw your treasures and leave. Let’s not make this messier than it needs to be."

  Hearing this, unease flickered across Sanbao’s heart. She knew all too well—if the young lord left now, she would have no chance of resisting. But more than that, she didn’t want others getting hurt because of her.

  "Thank you for standing up for me, Young Lord Wang," she said quietly. "But this is my problem. You should leave."

  The young lord turned to look at her. There was a strange depth in his eyes, a glimmer of sadness fshing across them. His lips curled into a mocking smile.

  "Don’t be so na?ve," he said. "Even if I handed you over now, they wouldn't let me walk away. Having offended the Wang family, their only way forward is to silence everyone involved."

  *Silence all witnesses...* Sanbao’s heart skipped a beat.

  The bck-cd leader said no more. He simply barked the next command: "Kan Position—activate!"

  From the northern edge of the formation, another bck-cd man responded. The sigil on his chest began to glow brightly. Blood flowed along the pattern’s grooves as he activated the ritual.

  The formation bzed anew— the third fire dragon roared and ascended, joining the fray.

  Three fire dragons now whirled through the formation, their fmes interweaving into a bzing inferno that pushed the room's temperature to terrifying heights. The air itself seemed ready to ignite.

  The Eight-Trigram Oak Shield groaned under the strain— cracks spiderwebbed across it, ready to shatter at any second.

  Sanbao’s heart seized with urgency. "Young Lord Wang! Give me the sword!" She thrust out her hand toward him.

  The young lord blinked, clearly surprised. But after a brief hesitation, he handed her the **Condensed Snow Sword**.

  The moment her fingers wrapped around the hilt, a chill seeped into her palm. Sanbao drew in a deep breath, chanting a spell under her breath as she raised the bde.

  A ke-blue light shimmered in her eyes. The bde itself shone with frost, and the surrounding air grew sharper, colder.

  With a sweep of her arm, Sanbao began to dance the sword.

  Sword light fred through the formation— an invisible chill swept outward, snowfkes materializing in the freezing air.

  It began to snow within the array.

  Crystalline fkes spun and drifted, lending her dance an ethereal, deadly beauty.

  Where her sword passed, biting cold spread. The entire space seemed on the verge of freezing over.

  The young lord’s pupils contracted in shock. He hadn’t realized— *She’s a water-type ability user!*

  Sanbao moved faster, her strikes tracing arcs of snow and frost.

  Suddenly, she raised her left hand and shouted: "Command!"

  A column of water burst forth from her palm, surging straight toward the nearest fire dragon.

  At the same moment, the shield could no longer endure. With a sharp crack, it split in two.

  The searing fmes of the dragons surged toward them without hindrance.

  Sanbao’s water column cshed head-on against the torrent of fire. Blistering fmes and bone-chilling water collided in midair— ice and fire waging a furious war.

  Steam exploded from the impact, filling the room with dense, rolling fog.

  Outside the array, the sigils on the three supporting bck-cd men’s chests flickered madly, their light growing weaker and weaker.

  Seeing this, the bck-cd leader scowled. "Prepare for close combat!" he barked.

  His men unsheathed their weapons, ready to charge in for the kill.

  Within the formation, the three ritualists supporting the array colpsed, their bodies limp as ragdolls, barely breathing.

  The three fire dragons dissolved into ash, vanishing from the world.

  "Break!"

  Sanbao gathered her dwindling strength, driving her water column forward. Without the resistance of the dragons, it shot straight through the array, bsting toward the bck-cd leader!

  "Thud!"

  The leader took the hit full in the chest, staggering backward as the stone in his hand shattered into dust.

  The formation colpsed.

  The eight-trigram pattern on the floor fractured and vanished, and the room finally returned to normal.

  The bck-cd leader gritted his teeth, his face twisting with fury. He roared: "Attack! They’re running on fumes!"

  His remaining men hesitated only a moment before surging forward, weapons gleaming coldly.

  Sanbao inhaled deeply, then raised her hand skyward.

  The moisture in the air instantly condensed— countless ice bdes materialized, raining down like a deadly storm!

  "Ahhh—!"

  Agonized screams filled the room. The bck-cd men fell one after another, blood staining the floor.

  At that moment, Sanbao felt a strange surge within her body. Her blood boiled. Her cheeks flushed. White mist rose from her skin. Her spirit energy swelled uncontrolbly.

  The young lord’s face changed.

  "You’re about to ascend! Sit down and focus!"

  Sanbao jolted to her senses. She immediately dropped into a seated position, crossing her legs, closing her eyes, and focusing inward.

  Time blurred.

  Suddenly— a faint popping sound echoed in her dantian, like the cork of a champagne bottle popping free.

  A flood of immense spiritual power erupted within her, surging through her meridians.

  In one breath, Sanbao leapt from an early-stage first-tier water ability user straight to a **second-tier** water ability user!