Chapter 232. Nüwa Mends the Heavens (5) Fight me. Don’t worry—you won’t die

     The person Ye Mo challenged was the weakest in Dai Qing’s group, but even Nuwa, who had faced her before, couldn’t defeat her. Rather than saying she was challenging them, it was more accurate to call it a breakthrough of her own limits.  

     Dai Qing and the others hadn’t expected the usually silent Nuwa to suddenly become so bold, daring to issue a challenge in the leader’s name. After a brief moment of surprise, they readily agreed.  

     The location of the duel was set on the snowy plateau.  

     There was only one rule, no intentional killing. The clansmen of the Yanzi tribe would not go easy on their leader either, as that would be disrespectful.  

     Thus, the wild-haired woman who was challenged immediately unleashed a powerful attack, sending countless scorching fireballs hurtling forward.  

     The conventional tactic would be to counter fire with water, using a water barrier to block it. But Ye Mo deliberately went against the norm, forming a hand seal and summoning an entire wall of purple sparks to clash head-on with the fireballs.  

     Is that all?

     The wild-haired woman scoffed, unimpressed.

     Not only the wild-haired woman, but even some of the onlookers let out mocking chuckles. After all, when comparing fireballs to sparks, the fireballs obviously looked far more dazzling and impressive.  

     But Ye Mo knew that the temperature of fire was related to its color. Red and orange flames burned at around 3,000°C, yellow and white at about 4,000°C, blue and cyan at 5,000–6,000°C, while purple exceeded 7,000°C. Beyond that, temperatures reaching tens of thousands of degrees became invisible ultraviolet light and the like.  

     Ye Mo’s current fire spell could reach temperatures of over 10,000°C. She could have shaped it into fireballs, but sparks covered a wider area, making them far more devastating in comparison.  

     When the fireballs collided with the sparks, a scorching wave of heat swept across the lush grassland.  

     To their astonishment, Ye Mo’s fire magic proved superior.  

     The sea of flames surged toward the wild-haired woman, whose carelessness led to her hair and clothes being set ablaze by the sparks.  

     Fortunately, she wasn’t inexperienced in battle. The moment she sensed the terrifying heat, she reacted swiftly, dodging most of the sparks, her natural fire resistance also helped.  

     But her enemy gave her no time to recover.  

     As the flames gradually receded and her vision began to clear, Ye Mo dashed through the fire at high speed, launching another relentless assault of searing attacks. After all, she, too, had formidable fire resistance.  

     Defeating the wild-haired woman in her own domain of expertise, without a doubt, Ye Mo emerged victorious. ✔

     Fighting on Kunlun Mountain was truly exhilarating and the thrill wasn’t just in the battle itself, but also in the way her body absorbed spiritual energy during intense combat, which was equal to or even greater than the gains from meditation.  

     Ye Mo sat cross-legged, entering a new minor breakthrough.  

     However, Ye Mo’s opponent hadn’t made a breakthrough, which highlights the difference in talent levels.

     Those with higher talent absorbed spiritual energy at a faster rate. In previous “end of magic era” dungeon, this difference wasn’t so noticeable, but in this spiritual energy-rich “mythical era,” the distinction is very clear.

     Recalling her history of supernatural awakenings, the countless failures had once been heartbreaking. But now, experiencing the benefits of perfectly balanced Five Elements aptitude for the first time, those past struggles no longer mattered.  

     It felt incredible!  

     Right now, Ye Mo was like a serene spiritual energy absorption machine. In such an ideal environment, she couldn’t afford to waste a single moment, she had to cultivate relentlessly, seizing every opportunity to grow stronger.

     …

     As they watched the match, Dai Qiong and her crew couldn’t help but feel frustrated at their comrade’s lackluster performance. They muttered among themselves about how much better they would have done if they had been the ones fighting, how they would have undoubtedly outperformed the wild-haired woman.  

     They had expected Ye Mo to gloat after her victory, but she didn’t.  

     Her expression remained calm, the only hint of emotion being a brief smile at the moment of triumph. After that, she focused entirely on her meditation, as if defeating her opponent had been nothing out of the ordinary. This composed attitude only deepened the group’s resentment.  

     Their faces burned with quiet humiliation.  

     Ye Mo didn’t rest for long before issuing her next challenge—this time to a man.  

     In a world where female powerhouses were a dime a dozen, male elites who managed to stand out were rare—much like women in Earth’s old bureaucratic systems.  

     This man had a tiny green sprout growing from his head, clearly marking him as a wood-attribute ability user.  

     He started by making the prairie grass surge wildly, briefly obstructing Ye Mo’s movements. In that split second of distraction, the sprout on his head rapidly budded, grew, and bloomed.  

     The flowers resembled roses or wild brambles, vibrant and eye-catching, their stems lined with tiny thorns.  

     These hair-thin thorns could detach and shoot toward the enemy like a barrage of needles.  

     Ye Mo tried to block them with ordinary grass, but the ordinary grass were no match for the piercing thorns, they sliced through as effortlessly as cutting through air.  

     And worse, they could even curve mid-flight, changing trajectory.

     As a result, Ye Mo had no choice but to dodge for three full seconds, taking three hits, before the vine-like plant in her palm finally grew out—forming a perfect, all-natural whip.  

     With the vine in hand, the thorns could no longer touch her.  

     The man’s bloodthirsty flowers met the same fate, wrapped tightly by the vine, flung into the air, and slammed onto the ground before being trapped in a net of woven tendrils.  

     Ye Mo emerged victorious ✔, and as usual, she broke through once more.  

     …  

     Dai Qing and her group grew increasingly furious, their agitation a stark contrast to Ye Mo’s unshakable calm.  

     Ye Mo proceeded to issue the next round of challenges, against wind-attribute and ice-earth-attribute opponents and defeated them using their own elements. Their battles sent the surrounding spirit beasts and plants fleeing in terror.  

     But things couldn’t go entirely smoothly.  

     When Ye Mo delivered her fifth challenge, she faced a multi-talented fighter skilled in earth (primary), wood, and fire attributes and for the first time, she hit a solid wall.  

     The opponent’s three types of spells synergized flawlessly: earth walls provided formidable defense, wood spells created endless disruptions, and fire attacks packed a serious punch.  

     Ye Mo started at a disadvantage, forced to rely on Earth Escape technique to evade. Perhaps because she had dug so many pits in various dungeons, she hadn’t used earth escape much, but she was exceptionally skilled at it.

     Even so, she occasionally still fell into the enemy’s earthen traps, and her hair getting singed by flames.  

     Yet, Ye Mo’s greatest strengths were her unshakable composure and her unparalleled ability to learn.

     The enemy had given her valuable insights.  

     Amidst injuries both minor and severe, Ye Mo continuously adjusted her tactics, shifting from a disadvantaged position to an even footing, until she finally pinpointed the weaknesses in her opponent’s fire and wood techniques.  

     The result?  

     Ye Mo won by a narrow margin. ✔  

     …  

     Following the pattern of her previous challenges, the next opponent should have been Dai Qing, the lightning-attribute ability user.  

     Dai Qing was itching for a fight.  

     But Ye Mo left her waiting, calmly sitting in meditation to heal and break through. In truth, she wasn’t just recovering, she was also replaying the battle in her mind, analyzing every detail.  

     As she pondered, learned, and improved, dawn broke. The snow-capped plateau, bathed in golden sunlight and shrouded in thick mist, resembled a celestial paradise, evoking countless poetic verses about Kunlun.  

     Yet, the people of the Yanzi tribe had little appreciation for such beauty. They were long accustomed to these sights. Only after the impatient Dai Qing stormed up and down the mountain did she finally calm down.  

     When Ye Mo opened her eyes, she saw Dai Qing, who had just returned from her restless descent. Without invoking any leader’s privilege, Ye Mo issued her challenge and Dai Qing eagerly accepted, unable to wait any longer.  

     Dai Qing was more than ready to show her might. The moment the fight began, dark clouds gathered overhead, followed by the roar of thunder and streaks of violet lightning crashing to the ground, leaving behind a series of charred craters.

     Faced with such a fierce onslaught, Ye Mo had no choice but to retreat, dodging rapidly. Even so, she could feel electric currents coursing through her body, slowing her movements for a couple of seconds.  

     Dai Qing, still riding the adrenaline high, riled up her gang, who whooped and cheered in excitement.  

     Ye Mo, as usual, tuned out their noise. While evading, she kept analyzing and strategizing. Amidst the chaos of battle, her control over her tail grew increasingly precise.  

     Then, the moment arrived.  

     Instead of retreating after taking a hit, Ye Mo surged forward, finally closing the gap into Dai Qing’s safety zone. Channeling her lightning spell into her tail, she lashed out with a devastating strike.  

     BAM!

     A direct hit to the face.  

     Dai Qing staggered back three and a half steps. Even as a lightning-attribute expert, the sheer voltage sent a jolt through her body, leaving her hair standing on end—just like Ye Mo’s—in stiff, electrified spikes.  

     Ye Mo gave her no time to recover. She returned the favor with a thundercloud of her own, looming overhead as violet lightning crackled and crashed down in a relentless barrage.  

     The tables had turned in an instant.  

     Dai Qing’s lightning magic was undoubtedly powerful, but her temperament needed tempering. Physically, she wasn’t weak, but her close-combat skills were far from sufficient.  

     One misstep led to another.  

     Without a doubt, Ye Mo emerged victorious ✔, defeating Dai Qiong at her own game, using lightning to conquer lightning.

     …

     Dai Qing fell into self-doubt, while Ye Mo continued her cycle: breakthrough, reflection, analysis, learning, and improvement.  

     Then came the next challenger.  

     By the time she faced the eighth opponent, Ye Mo suffered her first defeat at the hands of a tribeswoman named Shi Nan, a multi-talented ability user skilled in space, darkness, fire, and wind attributes.  

     But this battle left a deep impression on everyone on the plateau—not because of the outcome, but because of Ye Mo’s sheer tenacity.  

     She refused to give up until the very last second. Even covered in wounds, her gaze remained unshakably resolute. Whether standing, kneeling, or even collapsed on the ground, she exuded an indescribable aura of unwavering determination.  

     Dai Qing’s crew had won, but their triumph didn’t bring lasting joy. Instead, they found themselves questioning:  

     “Nuwa defeated seven of us, how did she improve so quickly in such a short time?” 

     “Wasn’t she supposed to be weaker than all of us?”

     “Shi Nan only barely won and her injuries look even worse than Nuwa’s.” 

     “It’s fine, she won’t die.” 

     “Nuwa seemed to only fight us using our own elements, was she looking down on us?”  

     That wasn’t the case at all.  

     Ye Mo had given her all in every battle. The reason she limited her techniques was simple: she was here to learn, not just to win.  

     Mastering each elemental spell to its extreme was her goal. Progress had to be made step by step, foundations built brick by brick. As for combining spells? A master alchemist like her had no trouble with that. If anything, it was the easiest part for her.  

     While the others debated, Ye Mo popped a pill into her mouth. Within half a minute, her injuries both internal and external healed completely. High-grade elixirs worked even faster in this spiritually rich environment.  

     After a pause, she tossed another pill to her opponent, Shi Nan, and stated plainly: “Take it. Then we go again.”

     Shi Nan stared blankly at the dark green herbal pellet in her hand, her face full of confusion: “?”