Chapter Six

1

My body felt as if it had been tied down with lead, weighing me down significantly. I had to exert all my muscles just to stand up straight.

The girl struck my knee, hitting me directly in the face. Her punches showed no mercy, continuously striking me three times and knocking me to the ground.

Whoosh... This girl is either a magician or a boxer. Her movements are smooth and flowing, her breath steady, and she attacks with precision. Her punches are as strong as any man's, and her delicate wrists generate an unexpected amount of force.

It feels as if invisible shackles have been placed on my body, making me feel like a helpless stake that others can trample upon. Gravity magic is not among the five elements or light and darkness magic. I'm not sure if the "sealing magic" will work, as this type of magic doesn't heavily rely on elemental support. However, I still need to give it a try.

I released a golden rune band from my right hand, floating it around my body. As soon as the barrier was set up, my body felt lighter and the shackles were lifted one by one.

"This thing is truly an unbeatable immobilization technique. Now we can settle this with our fists," I said to the girl, relieved.

The chubby elder's eyes were fixed on the golden band. He had never seen anything like it before, but it seemed familiar from some inconspicuous book he had read. Despite racking his brain, he couldn't remember the name of the book or where he had read it.

I walked towards Qin Hui, and she attempted to strike downwards with her fist a few more times, but I didn't budge. She must have understood the purpose of the golden band by now. Instead of giving up on casting spells, she leaped into the air and landed a powerful knee strike on my chest. I crossed my arms in front of my chest, but she still managed to overpower me.

Oh... This girl looks so thin. Is she really that strong? Could it be that she understands that the "sealing magic" cannot ignore the magic power within the body? It's more likely that she has applied a hundred times gravity to her knees.

I had no choice but to gather magic power in my fists, breaking the ground in the shape of a Chinese character. I quickly grabbed onto the edge of the collapsed ground and suspended myself in mid-air, while Qin Hui, due to the effects of gravity, fell through two layers of ground.

"Sigh... They say the rooftop isn't a good place," I remarked.

At this moment, Qin Hui floated up from below in a light and ethereal manner, landing without making a sound. Her complete disregard for gravity magic made me envious.

I charged forward, and Qin Hui lightly landed on my fist. There was no weight to her, as light as a feather. The way she stood on my wrist revealed her feminine charm.

"It may be better if this were used somewhere else. As a girl, you shouldn't have gotten involved," I said.

"Do you know how difficult it is for a girl to get involved? During the selection process, girls are not well-received by the elders. It's not just luck that allows me to stand here. I can't give up," she replied.

"I never thought words could make you give up. I'm just sighing over your unfortunate fate," I said.

"Snap!" Ice started forming from my wrist, quickly enveloping it. She could dodge it, but what did I think?

With a graceful backflip, she immediately escaped the ice's confinement. However, I didn't want to let her go so easily. I erected an ice wall behind her, blocking her escape route, and immediately created an ice surface in her left and right directions.

"Close-quarters combat is not my favorite style," the girl said, realizing her retreat was blocked. If she couldn't attack, she would do one thing—break free from the blockade.

I lightly raised my wrist, creating another wall in front of her, forcing her to temporarily give up on attacking.

"But it's with my fists that I've survived until now!" the girl said, possibly her final words.

She increased the gravity on her fists by a hundred times, and with less than a fifth of her full strength, she shattered the ice wall. But the wall was meant to be broken in the first place.

"If you can continue to live, remember to never shatter objects that can reflect or transmit light in front of light magic users." Countless beams of light interspersed, and the shattered ice fragments, numerous and crystalline, were reminiscent of the stained glass ceiling in an old church. even the speedy vampire couldn't escape them.

"Ugh..." Tiny beams of light pierced through her body, and I quickly jumped up and grabbed her neck, causing her to fall to the ground, covered in blood.

"Can I declare that I've won?" I asked the seemingly dozing-off chubby elder.

"Oh! That was quick. I was about to fall asleep!"

Well, turns out he wasn't asleep after all. I thought his eyelids were closed since they were drooping so low.

The chubby elder leisurely walked towards us, shaking his round belly. He took a quick look at Qin Hui's vital signs, probably not paying much attention, and then extended his right hand. He was wearing a strange glove with inscriptions on it, but before I could see it clearly, he told me its purpose.Elder Pangzi pulled out a pale blue...soul above Qin Hui's head and then put it into a small bottle.

"What is this for?" I wondered, why do it this way? Clearly, when a person dies, their soul will be brought back to the underworld by the god of death and enter a new cycle of life. But why did Pangzi do this?

"Oh~~ exceptional talents, we will not let him leave our Qin family. Let the deceased elites be reborn in the Qin family, this is a practice to protect the power of our family from being lost."

"I thought that letting her die would be the way for her to escape from this boring game, but still, nothing has changed."

"Hehe...actually, I know that Qin Hui is not dead. You are sacrificing your magic power for her life. This way, it can also prevent clever people like you from appearing."

I felt a repressed anger in my heart, it had been a long time since I had felt this way, this feeling was anger.

"Now it doesn't matter that she died, there will be another time!" Pangzi shook the small blue bottle, as if talking to her.

"Ah..." Ice randomly appeared beneath Pangzi's feet, but unfortunately, Pangzi returned ahead of time to the white light he appeared from.

My mood plummeted, I frantically pounded the ground, but still couldn't vent my frustration. Things were completely different from what I had imagined, deviating from my expectations. Beams of light pierced through countless places on Qin Hui's body, including her heart, but just as I grabbed her neck, my magic power sustained the last spark of life in her heart. After passing out, there would be a way to revive her, but I didn't expect Elder Pangzi to extract her soul, making any attempt to save her difficult.

"Master!" Nofice, with black and white wings, stood behind me, his face expressionless, waiting quietly for me to calm down.

The evening sun appeared without my knowledge, and I still clung to Qin Hui's body, the shadow extending little by little.

"Sigh~~" I sighed softly, carrying Qin Hui and stepping away from this messy rooftop.

"Where is the master going?"

"Let her be buried. These heartless elders didn't even consider her. The body from which the soul was extracted cannot be thrown around. Let her rest in peace, I will definitely retrieve the soul that was taken away."

I can't see through this candidate competition anymore. What is the purpose behind it? Extracting souls is definitely not as Pangzi said. My intuition tells me that there are many hidden questions behind this.