Chapter 41: The Steel Dragon Of Mistforge
The battlefield changed the instant they transformed.
A freezing wind swept across the arena.
Snow that had once drifted gently now fell in thick sheets, covering the broken stone until the world became white once more.
Tianyu's body expanded rapidly.
Bones shifted beneath his armor.
White fur spread across his arms, shoulders, and legs. His face lengthened only slightly, preserving his human features while giving him the unmistakable appearance of a wolf. His ears rose from his hair, and silver claws extended several inches from each gauntlet.
When the transformation finished...
He stood nearly two meters tall.
His breath emerged as clouds of frozen mist.
His blue eyes had become luminous, glowing like moonlight reflected upon fresh snow.
Beside him...
Bingya underwent an even more dramatic change.
The already imposing Frost Wolf grew until his shoulders stood nearly three meters high.
His body stretched to almost six meters in length.
Large frost crystals protruded from his shoulders, spine, and tail like natural armor.
Curved horns swept backward from his head, thicker and longer than before.
His claws glittered like polished silver ice.
When he opened his eyes...
They resembled two pale moons staring down upon the battlefield.
The temperature plunged.
Frost raced across every surface.
The spectators closest to the barrier instinctively stepped backward despite knowing they were perfectly safe.
A murmur spread through the audience.
"They've become monsters..."
"No..."
Captain Han answered quietly.
"They've become what their bloodline was always meant to be."
Across the arena...
Yun Che tightened his grip on his sword.
For the first time since the duel had begun...
He felt genuine uncertainty.
They're completely different.
Everything before this had been familiar.
Different techniques.
Different equipment.
Different strategies.
Those he could understand.
This...
This was something else entirely.
He had never fought this form before.
He knew the transformation greatly increased their physical abilities.
He simply didn't know by how much.
His heartbeat slowed.
Observe.
Understand.
Adapt.
That was all he could do.
The chains answered his command.
One after another they flew toward him, circling his body in a widening spiral.
Ten meters.
Twenty heavy chains rotated continuously around him like the rings of a steel planet.
Each one capable of intercepting an attack.
Each one controlled through telekinesis.
The moving barrier gave him only a brief sense of security.
Then...
They vanished.
Not literally.
His eyes simply couldn't follow them.
A blur.
A flash of silver.
A sudden impact.
CRACK!
One chain froze solid the instant Tianyu's claw touched it.
The next heartbeat...
It shattered into hundreds of glittering fragments.
Yun Che's eyes widened.
That fast?
He barely turned—
Bingya was already there.
"Heavenly Frost Rend!"
Brilliant arcs of frozen Ki crossed through the air.
Yun Che only caught sight of them at the very last instant.
The blow struck his chest.
The force lifted him completely off his feet.
His armor groaned loudly.
For one terrifying moment he thought the breastplate had collapsed inward.
Booster vents erupted.
Compressed Ki blasted from his back.
The sudden acceleration pulled him away before Bingya's follow-up claw could finish the attack.
He crashed across the ground, leaving a trench through the snow.
Need space.
Panels along his armor opened.
Gray clouds poured outward.
Paralysis poison.
Sleeping poison.
Blinding herbs.
Every mixture Yun Mie had taught him spread together.
Within seconds the battlefield disappeared behind poisonous fog.
Yun Che drew one long breath.
Recover.
He never got the chance.
Twin roars echoed through the mist.
The sound carried ancient authority.
The poison clouds froze.
Not merely chilled.
Frozen.
Every droplet became glittering crystal before shattering into harmless powder.
Then...
The moon appeared.
Not the real moon.
An illusion formed by condensed Frost Aura.
Its pale light illuminated countless wolf-shaped figures emerging from drifting snow.
Dozens.
Then hundreds.
Each one made entirely from frost.
Each one running silently toward him.
"Heavenly Wolf Pursuit."
Master Liang's expression became serious.
"So they've mastered it..."
The wolves were not individually powerful.
They didn't need to be.
They never hesitated.
Never feared injury.
Never slowed.
They existed only to force mistakes.
Every illusion concealed the movements of Tianyu and Bingya.
Every dodge became harder.
Every decision slower.
The hunt began.
Yun Che blocked one strike.
A second slammed into his shoulder.
He turned—
Another claw tore across his side.
He raised his sword.
Bingya crashed into it with enough force to launch him through the air.
Before he landed—
Tianyu was already waiting.
A spinning kick struck his ribs.
His boosters fired instinctively, only changing where he crashed.
He never found time to recover.
Again.
Again.
Again.
The wolves never stopped moving.
The illusions never stopped coming.
His chains shattered one after another.
His wires froze before snapping apart.
One lance exploded into fragments beneath Bingya's claws.
Another disappeared beneath Tianyu's frost.
The Mountain Piercer fired repeatedly from its hidden position.
Each shot forced Tianyu to evade.
Each shot bought only another heartbeat.
Eventually...
Bingya reached it first.
The massive wolf crushed the weapon beneath one enormous paw.
The rifle that Yun Che had spent months perfecting disappeared beneath twisting metal and shattered runes.
The battlefield gradually filled with wreckage.
Broken chains.
Twisted wires.
Shattered lances.
Fragments of armor.
Pieces of the puppet.
Everything Yun Che had prepared...
One by one...
Was destroyed.
The audience watched in complete silence.
Even the children had stopped cheering.
Yun Che could barely think.
Every direction held danger.
Every heartbeat demanded another decision.
His body felt impossibly heavy.
Yet...
His mind refused to panic.
As he was thrown across the battlefield...
He watched.
As he was forced to defend...
He observed.
The rhythm of Tianyu's attacks.
The slight delay before Bingya changed direction.
How the summoned wolves always drifted slightly toward their creators.
How Tianyu's right shoulder dipped before using Frost Rend.
How Bingya always favored striking from Yun Che's blind side.
Every painful exchange revealed another piece of the puzzle.
I understand...
Not yet...
Almost...
When the assault finally slowed...
Yun Che remained standing only through sheer determination.
His breathing came in ragged gasps.
Blood trickled from beneath his helmet.
Several ribs were cracked.
One arm trembled uncontrollably.
His once-pristine white dragon armor had become scarred beyond recognition.
Entire plates had fractured.
The boosters sparked weakly.
Around him...
Snow was stained with soot and blood.
The silence that followed felt heavier than any blow.
Tianyu's own breathing had grown rough.
The werewolf transformation consumed enormous amounts of Ki.
Bingya's chest rose and fell rapidly.
Maintaining both their battle forms and the Heavenly Wolf Pursuit had drained them far more than they had expected.
Even so...
Neither relaxed.
Tianyu slowly walked forward, claws hanging at his sides.
A tired smile crossed his face.
"You've still got something."
Yun Che didn't answer.
"You always do."
Another step.
"What surprise are you hiding now?"
Across the battlefield...
Yun Che slowly raised his head.
Though exhausted...
Though bleeding...
Though surrounded by the ruins of nearly every weapon he had brought...
His eyes remained calm.
He had not been waiting to surrender.
He had been waiting to understand.
And now...
At last...
He believed he did.
------------------------------
The battlefield had become unrecognizable.
What had begun as a carefully prepared arena was now a scarred wasteland of shattered stone, twisted chains, broken wires, cracked armor plates, splintered trees, and frozen craters. Snow continued to fall, covering the wreckage in a thin white blanket, only for fresh explosions of Ki to scatter it once again.
Silence settled over the spectators.
Not because nothing was happening.
Because everyone understood that they were witnessing the final moments of the duel.
Both sides had reached their limits.
Both sides had exhausted nearly everything they possessed.
The next exchange...
Would decide everything.
Yun Che slowly straightened himself.
Every movement sent pain screaming through his body.
His ribs felt as though they had been crushed beneath a mountain.
His left shoulder barely responded.
His right arm trembled uncontrollably.
Blood trickled from beneath his helmet.
He could hear his own heartbeat echoing inside the dragon-shaped helm.
Slow.
Heavy.
Painful.
Without hesitation, he bit down.
Hidden inside the helmet was a small medicinal pill.
It shattered between his teeth.
A bitter taste flooded his mouth.
Warm medicinal energy spread throughout his body.
The pain did not disappear.
Nothing so miraculous existed.
Instead...
It became distant.
Muted.
His damaged muscles loosened.
His breathing steadied.
His thoughts became clearer.
Just enough.
Exactly as intended.
Across the battlefield, Tianyu watched quietly.
"...A painkiller."
Yun Che gave a tiny nod.
"And something to help the healing."
"I was wondering when you'd use it."
"I was wondering when you'd stop hitting me."
A faint laugh escaped Tianyu despite his exhaustion.
Yun Che slowly raised his sword.
There were no chains left protecting him.
No puppet.
No rifle.
No lances.
Everything had been broken.
Everything...
Except himself.
He closed his eyes.
One long breath.
Then—
Ki flowed gently from his body.
Unlike the violent surges everyone had seen throughout the battle...
This Ki was quiet.
Gentle.
Almost peaceful.
It spread outward in every direction until it formed an invisible sphere roughly five meters around him.
The snow drifting into that space changed.
Every flake.
Every current of wind.
Every tiny vibration.
Everything entered his awareness.
Ki Zone.
Tianyu frowned.
"...What's he doing?"
Bingya's ears lowered.
"I don't know."
"But don't underestimate it."
Tianyu nodded.
He never had.
Not once.
"Let's test it."
With a wave of his claw...
The remaining ice wolves charged.
Dozens of spectral wolves bounded across the battlefield, their frozen paws kicking up clouds of snow as they closed the distance.
Yun Che never opened his eyes.
The first wolf entered the invisible circle.
His sword moved.
One clean slash.
The construct shattered into sparkling frost.
A second lunged from behind.
He stepped aside before it even attacked.
His elbow smashed into its head.
Another vanished.
Two more came together.
A low sweep of his leg broke one apart.
His fist shattered the other.
The spectators leaned forward.
"...He's not even looking."
Master Liang narrowed his eyes.
"No."
"He's sensing."
Within those five meters...
Nothing escaped him.
Tianyu's excitement returned instantly.
A grin spread across his face.
"There you are."
"That's what I wanted to see."
Bingya, however, remained cautious.
"Don't get carried away."
"He's changed."
"One mistake now..."
"...and we'll lose."
The wolf's warning erased Tianyu's smile.
"...You're right."
He inhaled deeply.
Blue-white Ki erupted around both master and partner.
A pressure descended upon the battlefield.
The snow itself seemed heavier.
The air thicker.
Even spectators behind the barrier instinctively stiffened.
Lord Shen recognized it immediately.
"The Frozen Mountain Domain."
Though nowhere near the level of his own mastery...
It carried the same principle.
To stand within its reach was to feel as though an invisible mountain rested upon one's shoulders.
Stone groaned.
Snow compressed.
Yun Che's knees bent.
His breathing became labored.
Every movement demanded greater effort.
For a heartbeat...
It looked as though the pressure would overwhelm him.
Then he took another step.
And another.
His posture straightened.
His eyes remained calm.
Iron Will.
The foundation of the Iron Forge Genesis Cultivation Art.
His cultivation did not merely strengthen muscles.
It tempered resolve.
Just as steel resisted the hammer through repeated heating and folding...
His mind resisted pressure through relentless discipline.
The invisible mountain remained.
But it no longer ruled him.
Lord Shen watched with genuine admiration.
"...Excellent."
The wolves attacked.
No hesitation.
No warning.
Yun Che couldn't follow their movements with his eyes.
They were simply too fast.
But eyes no longer mattered.
The instant Tianyu crossed into the five-meter sphere—
Yun Che moved.
His sword intercepted the claws.
Sparks burst into the air.
Before Bingya could strike from the opposite side—
Yun Che pivoted.
His shoulder absorbed the impact while his blade redirected the wolf's claws away from his body.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Every clash echoed through the arena.
Each exchange lasted less than a heartbeat.
Each defense appeared impossibly precise.
He wasn't reacting after the attacks.
He was meeting them the instant they entered his domain.
No surprise attacks.
No blind spots.
No hesitation.
The duel transformed.
Instead of chasing Yun Che...
The wolves were now forced to solve him.
The scattered wreckage became part of the battle.
Yun Che's fingers twitched.
A broken chain rolled into Tianyu's landing path.
Tianyu adjusted without slowing—but the change carried him half a step farther from Bingya.
A shattered armor plate tilted beneath Yun Che's telekinesis. Sunlight flashed across its surface and struck Bingya's eyes.
The wolf blinked.
Yun Che used that fraction of a second to retreat.
He fought around it.
Every fragment became another obstacle.
Another angle.
Another opportunity.
Tianyu laughed despite himself.
"You're using the battlefield itself."
Yun Che answered with another perfectly timed parry.
"I paid for it."
Seconds passed.
Neither side could gain ground.
Both slowed.
Both breathed harder.
Both understood.
Something had to change.
Tianyu exchanged one quick glance with Bingya.
No words.
None were needed.
They had reached the same conclusion.
End it.
Blue Ki exploded around them.
They spun.
Master and partner became twin drills of ice and wind.
The Heavenly Wolf Drill.
Faster than before.
Stronger than before.
Everything committed to one final charge.
The spectators rose to their feet.
"They're going to break through!"
The spinning attack entered the Ki Zone.
Yun Che's eyes opened.
"Now."
His left hand rose.
Magnetism.
An invisible force seized every piece of metal worn by the two wolves.
Their armor suddenly felt impossibly heavy.
Not enough to stop them.
But enough...
To slow them.
For the first time in the duel—
Their momentum faltered.
"What?"
Tianyu's eyes widened.
Before he could adjust—
Yun Che's second technique activated.
Rotation answered.
Yun Che could not reverse the Heavenly Wolf Drill completely.
He did not possess that much power.
But he did not need to.
He applied the force against their spin at the exact moment Magnetism dragged their bodies downward.
The change was tiny.
Barely noticeable.
Yet at that speed, a fraction was enough.
Tianyu's angle shifted.
Bingya's rotation slipped out of rhythm.
The twin drills struck one another.
Their combined attack collapsed.
Both crashed heavily onto the frozen ground.
The arena gasped as one.
Yun Che had been waiting for exactly this.
Every shattered chain.
Every broken wire.
Every twisted fragment of metal.
Every damaged weapon.
All of it lay scattered across the battlefield.
Connected.
Waiting.
He thrust his sword into the earth.
"Lightning Piercer."
The metal scraps throughout the battlefield answered.
Lightning erupted all at once.
Blue-white arcs raced through the buried wires.
Across shattered chains.
Through broken armor fragments.
Toward the grounded wolves.
The battlefield became a web of lightning.
There was nowhere to dodge.
Electricity engulfed Tianyu and Bingya.
Both roared as their bodies convulsed violently.
Their muscles refused to obey them.
Steam rose from their armor.
The smell of scorched metal filled the air.
The audience stood frozen.
No one spoke.
Yun Che slowly pulled his sword free.
His breathing had become ragged again.
He had almost nothing left.
One final attack.
That was all.
Drawing Technique.
Ki gathered.
Not ten percent.
Everything he still possessed.
He walked forward.
One slow step after another.
The sword remained in its sheath.
Waiting.
He stopped a few meters away.
"Give up."
His voice was tired.
Honest.
"I'd rather not cut you."
Tianyu tried to laugh.
Only a cough came out.
His body trembled.
His muscles still spasmed from the lightning.
Bingya lowered his head beside him.
The great wolf nudged Tianyu's shoulder.
A pulse of remaining Ki flowed from partner to master.
Enough.
Just enough.
Bingya finally collapsed onto the frozen ground.
His strength was spent.
Tianyu forced himself upright.
One last time.
His jaw hurt.
His vision blurred.
But his eyes remained sharp.
Searching.
Always searching.
Then—
He saw it.
Yun Che's left side.
The sword.
The stance.
A tiny opening.
Chance.
Ice Prison.
The frozen ground exploded upward.
Ice wrapped around Yun Che's boots.
For a brief instant...
He couldn't move.
Tianyu saw a prisoner.
Yun Che felt an anchor.
"I've got you!"
Tianyu roared.
He threw everything into one final charge.
His claw shot toward Yun Che's sword arm.
Break the arm.
Break the blade.
Win.
The distance vanished.
Five meters.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
The claw reached the sword.
And...
Yun Che smiled.
Not confidently.
Not mockingly.
Knowingly.
You saw exactly what I wanted you to see.
The Drawing Technique had never been the real attack.
His sword remained still.
His right fist moved.
Most of his Ki flowed into that single strike.
His entire body rotated.
His legs rooted against the ice.
His shoulder turned.
His waist followed.
The punch exploded sideways.
It struck Tianyu squarely on the cheek.
CRACK!
The sound echoed across the arena as the helmet broke.
Tianyu's feet left the ground.
His transformation shattered.
The werewolf form dissolved as he crashed heavily onto the snow.
At the same instant—
Yun Che screamed as he had just used the power strike with his fist.
Pain tore through his arm.
The bones in his hand had fractured from the impact.
His fist hung limply at his side.
He barely remained standing.
The arena became perfectly silent.
Yun Che slowly turned.
Bingya lay unconscious.
Tianyu did not move.
His own legs threatened to give way.
He looked around the ruined battlefield.
Broken weapons.
Shattered armor.
Scorched earth.
Frozen trees.
And not a single opponent left standing.
Captain Han waited several seconds to be absolutely certain.
Then he raised his arm high.
"The duel..."
He paused, looking at both exhausted young warriors with unmistakable pride.
"...is over."
For one heartbeat...
The city remained silent.
Then the academy erupted into the loudest applause Mistforge had ever heard.