Chapter Twenty-Six: Waiting for Your Verdict

  She furrowed her brow, wincing in pain as it came on in waves. With her left hand, she discreetly covered her right hand and lifted it up, quietly moving her fingers when no one was paying attention. When she saw that the puppet's five fingers could freely clench into a fist and then open again, her face returned to calmness.

  Ansu waited with a dignified demeanor for Yunhai Fan to get up from the ground, whistling while looking at the bow in his hand, with a satisfied expression as if he was accepting applause from the crowd below.

  The crowd under the stage was indeed cheering for her.

  Yun Haifeng caught sight of Xiang Ke sitting in a corner, her hand tightly clutching a handkerchief as if ready to rush on stage and bandage her at any moment. Yun Haifeng flashed her a reassuring smile, mouthed "I'm fine" and turned his head towards An Su: "Is that all?"

  An Su didn't know whether to say Yun Hai Fan was arrogant or overconfident, having broken an arm but still refusing to concede, coldly snorting: "If you really want to see it, then I'll let you see it."

  As she spoke, she drew her bow again, but this time the arrow was different from the beginning. Although its speed was not as fast as before, it expanded into a dense fireball during flight. The audience outside the trial field watched as the air distorted due to the high temperature of the flames, and even those who had been mocking Yun Haiyan couldn't help but feel a chill run down their spines.

  Yun Hai Fan finally decided to use her puppet, and before anyone could see how she would make her move, the puppet suddenly leaped into the air, stretched out its hand, and grasped the fireball. At first, flames were still seen spewing out from between the puppet's fingers, and the puppet let out a hissing sound as if it was being scorched by the flames. However, soon after, the fireball began to shrink, leaving behind only a cluster of white mist that rose up into the air, resembling the twinkling of stars in the daytime.

  "You've finally decided to use your precious puppet? No wonder it's a rag doll." An Su sneered, "It was originally wet, but the fireball from earlier should have dried it out by now."

  "How could it be ordinary water?" Yun Hai Fan said casually, shaking off the dust that had accumulated on his body earlier.

  "What's wrong with ordinary water?" An Su put away his bow and gathered spiritual energy with both hands: "Exploding Flame Ball."

  The fireball was twice its original size, with a loose and sloppy appearance that seemed to be on the verge of bursting at any moment. Yunhai Fan finally raised her right hand in annoyance, and the puppet danced along with her movements, leaving trails of white mist wherever it went. The mist gradually wrapped around the fireball, which seemed about to burst, seeping into its interior from the edges, and every time the fireball showed signs of bursting, the white mist tightly enveloped it, causing the fireball to shrink smaller and smaller until it finally subsided.

  "How is this possible?!"

  Ansu couldn't believe her eyes, as she continuously released fireballs that were all broken through by Yunhai Fan's puppet's eerie dance in front of her. On the other hand, it was the lovely doll's figure shrouded in white mist that made her seem like a dream, evoking cheers from the countless people present.

  Are you all here to watch the show?

  The sail of the cloud sea is not full of complaints.

  Call me again and I'll use puppets to beat you up.

  Although Xiang Ke didn't understand what had happened, he also knew that Yun Hai Fan had turned the unfavorable situation around, and his hand gripping the handkerchief relaxed.

  Yun Hai stood with his hands behind his back, gazing at An Su who was struggling to keep up with the wind, and said calmly: "Is that all? Then next, I'll take action."

  As soon as he finished speaking, Yun Hai Fan suddenly made a move. The puppet that was originally swaying and dancing in the air immediately changed direction and charged straight at An Su. An Su hastily set up a flame barrier. The semicircular flame barrier and the thin puppet formed a stark contrast, with only the hem of the puppet's clothes being eroded by the flames, nibbling away at one side of the barrier.

  Ansu exerted herself to maintain the barrier, but it was clear that she had exhausted herself beforehand and was somewhat spent. Although Yunhai Fan's spiritual power was insufficient due to his injuries, he took advantage of the situation and held out with his endurance, causing the two to be locked in a stalemate for a time. Ansu's forehead was already covered in fine sweat, her hands trembling slightly as she concentrated her spiritual power, while Yunhai Fan slowly increased his spiritual power, step by step expanding the range of his spiritual net, forcing Ansu to retreat backwards.

  Suddenly, Yun Hai Fan exerted a burst of strength, and no one saw how the cotton-made puppet flew through the barrier, unafraid of the fierce flames, leaving behind a brilliant white rainbow that extinguished the wall of fire. An Su, who suddenly found herself without a gathering point, fell to the ground unprepared, and the puppet that broke through the firewall pounced on her face, unmoving no matter how hard she struggled. Yun Hai Fan stood in the distance, adjusting the puppet's posture with An Su's struggles, fixing it firmly on her face.

  Yun Hai Fan coldly gazed at An Su, who was lying on the ground. That fiery red hair was now covered in dust, and her hair tie had fallen off with her hair scattered all over. As she struggled with decreasing strength, Yun Hai Fan suddenly turned to the examiner beside him and said, "Teacher, aren't you going to make a judgment?"

  They were waiting to see if An Su would turn things around, but as they watched An Su's situation get worse and worse, the normally calm examiner hastily used his eyes to signal to Yun Hai Fan to let her go.

  The cloud sea sail face brought a warm smile in response to his prior declaration.

  On the one hand, he was worried about An Su's situation, and on the other hand, he couldn't bear to let this puppetry student win. The examiner hesitated, weighing the pros and cons, but saw Yun Hai Fan's calm expression indicating "the longer you drag it out, the worse her situation will become, and when something happens, it will be your responsibility." Helpless, the examiner announced: "Yun Hai Fan wins."

  As the game went on, some of the audience had already guessed the ending, but most people were still quite surprised by this result. For a time, the audience seats were another boiling pot, with everyone discussing how Yunhai Fan was able to render An Su completely powerless.

  Upon hearing the verdict, Yun Hai Fan finally withdrew his puppet and An Su was quickly carried away by the supporting members of the trial arena. Her cheeks were not the bright red that everyone had imagined, stained with the flame-temperature puppet, but rather a pale white, as if Death itself had crawled over her, with a faint purple aura lingering for a long time. Xiang Ke rushed onto the trial arena from another side and hugged Yun Hai Fan: "I was scared to death, are you okay?"

  "Ow, ow, ow......" Yun Hai Fan looked at his own battered left hand, the solidified blood on his arm making it look even more gruesome.

  He pulled her down to the right arm of the cloud sea sail: "Your wound needs to be cleaned, otherwise it will definitely become inflamed tomorrow. And your burn is too serious, there's a high chance of scarring."

  Yun Hai Fan still seemed as if he was immersed in a dream: "Xiao Ke, did I really become the first student to pass the assessment?"

  "Ah." Xiang Ke gave Yun Hai Fan's left hand a hard push, and it was just in time to receive the dislocated arm. "Honestly confess, what is inside your puppet?"

  "Ow... it's dry ice." Yun Hai Fan gritted her teeth and scrunched up her face in pain, as Ke Bao brought her to the edge of the water pool and repeatedly rinsed her wounds with icy cold water. "It's a puppet illusion - it looks like just ordinary water and dry ice, but actually it's an extinguishing element conjured up by spiritual power."