"Bang!"
A wave of scorching heat swept forward as the fire whip snapped in half on the spot.
Bai Mu's expression didn't change in the slightest as he continued closing the distance.
"What?!"
Huo Wu's face changed drastically. She hadn't expected her attack to be shattered by bare hands.
Reacting instantly, she flicked her wrist again. The broken flames reformed into a series of strikes, attacking Bai Mu for a second time.
This time, the whip wasn't ferocious. Instead, it moved like a soft fire serpent, trying to bind and restrain him directly.
"Interesting."
Bai Mu reached out, grabbed the fire whip head-on, endured the burning heat, and yanked hard.
"Ah—!"
Huo Wu staggered forward, and the fire whip in her hand instantly scattered into sparks.
Bai Mu didn't slow down at all. Taking advantage of the opening, he rushed to within ten meters of her.
Close combat—right now!
"Blazing Impact!"
Huo Wu didn't have time to think. She raised both hands as a spirit ring lit up.
A violent burst of flames erupted from her palms, forming a fan-shaped shockwave that blasted forward.
This spirit ability wasn't particularly powerful, but it could forcibly repel approaching enemies.
Scorching heat surged forward.
Yet Bai Mu's speed didn't drop in the slightest.
He shifted his body sideways and used an Iron Mountain Lean, forcibly smashing through the shockwave.
The moment he closed in, a heavy punch shot straight toward Huo Wu's beautiful, flower-like face!
Fast as the wind, fierce as thunder!
"Charged Punch!"
Huo Wu hurriedly crossed her arms to block.
Bang!
At the moment of impact, Huo Wu was blasted backward, skidding across the ground and retreating three steps before barely stabilizing herself.
Her arms went numb, trembling uncontrollably.
Fear flashed through her eyes.
This man's raw strength was actually greater than that of many attack-type Spirit Grandmasters!
"Don't just stand there!"
Bai Mu pressed the attack relentlessly, fists and kicks falling like a violent storm.
Huo Wu tried to widen the distance, but the limited size of the arena left her nowhere to retreat.
"It's over."
Before her arms could recover enough to counterattack, Bai Mu swept her legs out from under her, then casually kicked her off the Spirit Dueling Platform.
"The winner—Order of the Dragon!"
The referee's voice rang out.
"Whoa—!"
The audience exploded into cheers.
Fighting above his level, without summoning his spirit or using a single spirit ability—and he still won!
"This guy… where did he even come from?"
Below the platform, Huo Wu bit her lip, staring at Bai Mu with unwillingness in her eyes.
The sharp pain throughout her body told her this wasn't a dream.
She had really been defeated by a Spirit Master who hadn't used a single spirit ability.
The only thing that comforted her slightly was that her spirit abilities had at least dealt some damage to Bai Mu…
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Huo Wu's eyes widened.
She saw a strange fluctuation spread across Bai Mu's body. The burns she had just inflicted healed instantly.
Then, as that fluctuation washed over her, the pain throughout her body vanished without a trace.
"A boring match," Bai Mu said calmly from the platform, looking down at her.
"Your spirit ability combination is a complete mess. The Fire Shadow's ghostly charm wasn't displayed at all."
"No control when you need it. No offense when you need it. No speed when you need it. Disappointing."
After this fight, he finally understood why Huo Wu rarely used her first and second spirit abilities in the original timeline.
They were simply too impractical—arguably even worse than Tang San's early combinations.
What puzzled him even more was why the Fire Shadow spirit focused on control. Wouldn't it make more sense to follow an agile attack path instead?
"What did you say?!"
Huo Wu's beautiful eyes looked like they were about to shoot flames.
"…."
Bai Mu glanced at her indifferently, then turned and walked off the stage.
He found a staff member and asked to be matched with new Spirit Grandmaster opponents.
Next—
Against a Rank 23 Spirit Grandmaster with the Blazing Pig spirit, he won.
Against a Rank 25 Spirit Grandmaster with the Flame Wolf spirit, he won.
Against a Rank 29 defense-type Spirit Grandmaster with the Lava Turtle spirit, he still won.
Each match was harder than the last.
Especially the final one—Bai Mu fought for over ten minutes before finally exhausting his opponent and claiming victory.
"Impossible…"
"He doesn't even have a second spirit ring. He's relying purely on his physique and that healing spirit ability… how is this even possible?"
Huo Wu sat in the audience, staring at the figure whose true appearance was never revealed, her emotions in turmoil.
What hurt her pride the most wasn't Bai Mu's strength.
It was the fact that among everyone he fought, she had lost the most miserably.
"No! I just didn't perform well this time. I underestimated him!"
"Encore—I definitely won't lose that badly again!"
She convinced herself and deliberately signed up to face Bai Mu again, determined to prove herself.
What she didn't expect was that she did prove herself—
Just in the opposite way.
"It's you again?"
Not long after, Bai Mu looked at Huo Wu standing across from him, completely speechless.
"This time, I won't lose!"
Huo Wu puffed out her chest confidently.
"Fine. Let's see what you've got."
Bai Mu smiled faintly. The moment the match began, he accelerated at full speed and charged straight in.
Seeing Huo Wu swing her fire whip, he adjusted his footing and dodged lightly.
"So fast?!"
Huo Wu was shocked and hurriedly raised her hands, planning to unleash Blazing Impact regardless of spirit power consumption—
She intended to blast him off the stage in one shot.
But just as the flame shockwave burst from her palms—
Bai Mu's crushing punch landed at the exact same moment.
Bang!
The punch shattered the shockwave. The force carried through her lower back.
Huo Wu's vision went black, and she collapsed on the spot.
"I thought you'd come up with something new," Bai Mu said, glancing at her helplessly.
"But after all that effort… this is it?"
Being young really is nice—you fall asleep the moment you hit the ground.
"Where's Order of the Dragon?!"
After waking up, Huo Wu angrily grabbed a staff member by the shoulder.
"He… already left."
"When will he come back?"
"I don't know…"
—
"Time to process the ten-thousand-year Whale Gel."
Back in the small courtyard, Bai Mu took out the top-grade ten-thousand-year Whale Gel.
He used a charcoal stove at its highest temperature to heat it, but the softening progress was painfully slow.
"The temperature's still not enough…"
Bai Mu sighed helplessly. "Little Soft, do you really not know any fire-type moves?"
"Woof~"
Zygarde tilted its head innocently.
Over the past six months, it had worked hard—upgrading Dragon Breath into Dragon Pulse and learning Double Team through Agility.
But fire-type moves… that was a bit too much to ask of a dragon.
"Sigh…"
Bai Mu could only accept reality and wait patiently.
After all, even in the Pokémon games, the only fire-related move Zygarde could learn was Sunny Day.
Sizzle—
After a full ten minutes, the Whale Gel finally softened.
"It's ready."
Bai Mu grabbed it and refined it immediately.
The energy of the ten-thousand-year Whale Gel surged through his body like a raging flood.
He sat cross-legged, circulating his spirit power and refining it with everything he had.
Months passed in the blink of an eye.
"I did it!"
As the final trace of Whale Gel fused into his body, Bai Mu opened his eyes, his gaze sharp as lightning.
He stood up and threw a punch.
The force shattered the air itself, knocking green leaves off a distant tree.
"My physique… might not be weaker than a Spirit Ancestor's."
He felt the earth-shaking transformation within his body.
"Now, even absorbing a five-thousand-year spirit ring would be completely safe."
Next—
It was time to think about his second spirit ring.