The Elemental Body’s Path and a Calculated Encounter

Among the three major constitutions, the elemental body was widely regarded as the weakest by the world.

The reason was simple: the elemental body’s greatest trait was its ability to elementalize from the Bronze Tier onward. However, any Battle Lord-tier mage could achieve elementalization.

Yet, merely being capable of something differed significantly from mastering it. Rayne was among those who possessed exceptional mastery.

To be precise, Rayne had dedicated immense effort to evasion, all to maximize the destructive power of his drawing sword technique.

You might wonder what this had to do with the technique’s power. Ordinarily, it had no connection, but Rayne was an exception.

For every offensive spell he cast, he was compelled to perform the complete sequence of preparing to draw his sword.

This was the ‘self-limitation’ he had chosen. In this magical world, immense power invariably demanded a price.

Geniuses were considered geniuses because their inherent talent, a stroke of luck from birth, served as an early payment for a portion of that cost.

Nevertheless, this world was never lacking in geniuses.

The academy Rayne attended, for instance, teemed with young prodigies who dreamed of learning a move or two from the Thunder Battle Lord.

To truly stand out among them, one had to strive even harder. Individual effort alone was insufficient; one also needed the heavens to acknowledge that effort, to pay a price to the divine.

Rayne’s ultimate path was to restrict his own spellcasting methods, thereby exchanging convenience for formidable power.

Naturally, this proved incredibly difficult at first. He was often overwhelmed by enemies before he could even draw his blade.

Consequently, he rigorously trained in various evasion spells. After breaking through to the Battle Lord tier, he practiced elementalization tirelessly, day and night.

Thus, he rose to become the strongest among the Empire’s younger generation.

He had even withstood the Blade Battle Lord’s ultimate strike.

Was he now merely contending with a volatile Martial Lord?

Such was the situation, yet his opponent was the Imperial Emperor’s third son. By his side pulsed a dark power, a force akin to disaster itself.

To solidify his crown, royal blood had been infused into this power, allowing imperial subjects to establish a rule of bloodline suppression. This imperial power could halve the combat strength of Battle Lords within the nation, reducing the power of other Battle Lords to a mere tenth of their true capability.

This third prince, Reinhardt, despite his unremarkable standing within the Empire, possessed an exceptionally high concentration of this bloodline. While still in the nation, he had struggled to control this immense power.

He was only about ten years old at the time, and it required Golden Tier guards to stop him. Now, as a Martial Lord, simply his proximity caused Rayne to feel his own strength diminish to only a third of its potential.

Combined with Rayne’s conscious or unconscious holding back, it could be said he was actually using only a fifth of his true power to confront Reinhardt, whose strength had swelled to the peak of the Martial Lord tier.

“Honestly, at such a young age, you shouldn’t rely on such power excessively!”

Rayne unleashed a high-speed lightning cross-slash, sending Reinhardt, who had tried to resist but ultimately failed, flying. He swiftly and carefully returned his katana to its sheath, then reset into his stance for drawing his sword.

The entire process took no less than three seconds.

For a Battle Lord-tier fight, this was incredibly perilous, yet the resulting boost in strength was immense.

He drew his sword once more, finally knocking Reinhardt unconscious.

“Now, all that’s left is to defeat the reinforcements he summoned.”

To prevent the High Priest from secretly engaging in illicit activities, Rayne decided to gather the unconscious individuals and protect them with defensive magic. Things had been proceeding smoothly until he reached Li Tianming, who suddenly rolled away, breaking free from his control.

“You bastard, you think you’ll succeed!”

Li Tianming cursed, panting as he struggled to his feet.

Rayne offered no explanation, silently assuming his drawing sword stance. After all, he was an enemy of the Kingdom; saying he didn’t wish to harm them would only invite ridicule.

This time, however, before he could even draw his blade to strike his opponent down, he sensed a powerful aura suddenly appear and rapidly approach their location.

‘Could it be?’

Rayne’s entire body began to tremble with excitement. He immediately modified the spell he intended to cast and slashed towards the sky.

“Thunderflow Drawing Sword Technique, Thunder Surge of Nine Heavens!”

With a powerful upward swing, the blade traced a crescent arc, sparking with electricity along its path. From the tip, nine majestic thunder dragons erupted, encircling the approaching figure from all directions.

To his disappointment, the figure did not simply wave a hand and erase everything. Instead, they darted about somewhat awkwardly, only deflecting one of the thunder dragons with magic when they could no longer evade.

Watching the precarious magical shield, Rayne swiftly reined in his initial excitement and nervousness, settling back into his usual calm to engage the opponent.

The approaching figure was, naturally, Xie Haizhu, in her ‘scorching’ form, transformed by Xie Shenhong.

However, contrary to Rayne’s expectations, Xie Haizhu actually possessed ample reserves of strength. Her mindset had undergone a profound shift since her return from Qilin City.

She would no longer recklessly overexert herself simply because she could assume the Saintess’s form.

Nor would she force herself to achieve feats only the Saintess of old could accomplish.

Instead, she focused on diligently working towards the outcomes she desired. In her previous life, she hadn’t been a seasoned general, nor did she possess any experience leading troops, but she had diligently studied.

She had committed the contents of her books to memory, and whether when formulating plans earlier or during this current rescue mission, she conscientiously applied the knowledge she had acquired.

In fact, she had transformed and teleported to a nearby location even earlier. While her teleportation still tended to be imprecise, through numerous tests, she had discovered a pattern.

Therefore, if she teleported south, she would appear in the west.

Of course, spatial coordinates varied in breadth and height, and the magical energy required differed based on distance, making the true situation far more complex. It wasn’t until yesterday that she finally managed to grasp its rules.

Furthermore, she had been continuously casting a cloaking spell as she approached. Though her cloaking magic was inherently weak, its effect remained normal when observed from a sufficient distance.

Upon confirming that everyone was still unharmed, she immediately suppressed her aura and retreated to a safe distance. Only when the unpredictable Li Tianming awakened did she suddenly unleash a vast surge of magical power that, in reality, was deceptively hollow, designed to attract Rayne’s attention.

As for her subsequent evasion of the thunder dragons, Xie Haizhu executed it based on the principle of minimal expenditure. Regrettably, her skill was still lacking; otherwise, she wouldn’t even need to deploy a minimal defensive shield to block the attack.

Moreover, she had meticulously analyzed Rayne’s behavior, similar to previous encounters, and concluded that this individual was from the Empire, yet clearly not aligned with the Sakura Nation’s remnants.

He was upright, possessed a moral bottom line, and in his several attacks, had always held back, never aiming for a lethal blow. Even she stood a chance against such an opponent.

“Tianming, please take care of the others for me. It’s crucial that I have no worries about them. This is very important.”

Xie Haizhu transmitted her message to Li Tianming. Seeing his reluctant expression, as if about to protest, she immediately added the latter half of her sentence.

Then, she flew higher, away from Li Tianming, and waited for Rayne to follow.

Just as she anticipated, Rayne, fully aware of her intentions, pursued her.

“You, the Kingdom’s Puppeteer, cannot defeat me. Summon your Saintess to face me.”

‘So that’s it. This person wishes to speak directly with the Saintess.’ Xie Haizhu offered a faint smile, placing a hand over her chest.

“I am already here. What is it you wish to discuss?”