"What is this?" Xiao Xi’s eyes widened in horror. "Is it Magic? Or Magic Plants?"

Pei Ze was also secretly puzzled.

The Blood-colored Vines hadn’t emitted any Spiritual Power fluctuations when they burst from the ground. Otherwise, Su Shouhai wouldn’t have been caught so completely off guard. This meant it most likely wasn’t Magic.

As for Magic Plants...

The rules for this competition were similar to the labyrinth trial. The use of any strange artifacts or external puppets was forbidden, which naturally included Magic Plant Seeds.

But seeing that the six Wizards present showed no intention of intervening, he knew these Blood-colored Vines weren’t from Magic Plant Seeds.

Suddenly, inspiration struck Pei Ze, and he blurted out, "A Biological Witchcraft Artifact!"

At his words, Xiao Xi froze for a moment, while Yuan Meng shot him an appreciative glance.

Even Zhuang Li on the opposing side gave him a somewhat surprised look, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Not bad, young man. Few Wizard Apprentices can recognize a Biological Witchcraft Artifact."

Pei Ze just shrugged in response and said nothing.

Xiao Xi, however, asked Yuan Meng for information about Biological Witchcraft Artifacts.

Yuan Meng explained softly, "A Biological Witchcraft Artifact is a product of combining puppetry and enchanting. To put it simply, the principle is to transform a living organism into a witchcraft artifact."

"A witchcraft artifact refined this way retains a part of its life. It’s more flexible in combat than most witchcraft artifacts and puts less strain on the Wizard. Even a Wizard Apprentice can use it for a longer period."

Xiao Xi frowned. "In that case, doesn’t that make Biological Witchcraft Artifacts incredibly powerful? Why have I never heard of them?"

"Not exactly." Yuan Meng affectionately stroked Xiao Xi’s hair and explained patiently, "Biological Witchcraft Artifacts have many flaws as well."

"First, they are difficult to refine. Because it involves two different fields, only a master proficient in both enchanting and puppet-making can create one. This also makes Biological Witchcraft Artifacts extremely rare."

"Second is the issue of lifespan. Ordinary witchcraft artifacts have almost no ’lifespan’ to speak of. As long as they are constantly nourished with Energy Particles, they can be used indefinitely without damage. Even in an environment depleted of Energy Particles, they can last for decades or even centuries before becoming useless."

"But Biological Witchcraft Artifacts are different. They have a ’lifespan.’ Even if constantly nourished with Energy Particles, they cannot survive for long. If they are unable to absorb Energy Particles, they will die in a short amount of time. This is the greatest flaw of a Biological Witchcraft Artifact." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Xiao Xi came to a sudden realization.

Pei Ze nodded thoughtfully.

In short, a Biological Witchcraft Artifact was a special type of witchcraft artifact that sacrificed lifespan in exchange for reduced consumption during use.

For a Wizard Apprentice, this was undoubtedly an excellent witchcraft artifact.

"The situation looks bad," Xiao Xi said, her brows tightly knitted.

The battle was clearly turning against Su Shouhai.

Under the binding and corrosive power of the Blood-colored Vines, the gale-force winds enveloping Su Shouhai’s body had almost completely vanished.

It was foreseeable that once the protection from his witchcraft artifact was broken, Su Shouhai’s other Defensive Magical Items alone would definitely not be enough to withstand the strangling force of the Blood-colored Vines.

At this point, the outcome of the battle was almost certain.

Su Shouhai’s continued resistance was nothing more than a desperate struggle.

If he didn’t want to be killed, his only option was to surrender.

Amidst the Blood-colored Vines, Su Shouhai’s expression was fraught with indecision, a fierce struggle clearly raging within him.

But reality didn’t grant him much time to hesitate. The Blood-colored Vines tightened once more.

Seeing the protection from his witchcraft artifact about to break, he finally buckled under the psychological pressure and opened his mouth to surrender.

But in that instant, Su Shouhai suddenly felt a cold presence behind his head.

In a flash, that cold presence broke through the defenses of the three Magic Items on his body and touched the skin on the back of his head.

Su Shouhai’s face changed drastically in an instant. He opened his mouth to scream.

But it was too late. The next second, he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, and then darkness surged in like a tide, drowning his consciousness.

On the white mist, the expressions of both Pei Ze and Xiao Xi changed simultaneously.

In their perception, Su Shouhai’s life force was suddenly fading fast.

Looking down, the Blood-colored Vines suddenly contracted violently. A hair-raising CRACKLE of breaking bones came from within, and blood could be seen splashing through the gaps in the vines.

A few seconds later, the Blood-colored Vines squirmed and burrowed back into the ground as if they had never been there.

And where Su Shouhai had been standing, there was now nothing but a dark red pool of blood on the ground.

Seeing this, Xiao Xi’s expression instantly turned ugly.

Pei Ze’s gaze grew cold as he looked at Gong Xinghe.

Despite having just killed his opponent, Gong Xinghe’s expression was calm and completely untroubled, as if he had just crushed an ant. He exuded an intimidating aura of detached cruelty.

Noticing Pei Ze’s gaze, Gong Xinghe turned to look straight at him, his eyes openly conveying a single message: ’You’re next!’

Pei Ze paid it no mind. This kind of psychological attack wasn’t enough to shake him, but a ghostly light flashed for a moment in his eyes.

On the back of the giant eagle, a grim smile flashed across the faces of the three Wizards.

Zhuang Li turned his head and chuckled as he looked at the three on the other side.

"It seems Red Lotus City has taken the first victory."

Facing their opponent’s gloating and provocation, Ai Yuan and the masked Wizard paid them no heed, choosing to ignore them completely.

Only Yuan Meng snorted coldly and said, "This isn’t a best-two-out-of-three competition. The real winner is the one left standing at the end."

Zhuang Li didn’t argue, just smiled. "That’s true. Then let’s have the second person come up."

Yuan Meng’s brow furrowed slightly as she turned to look at Xiao Xi and Pei Ze.

Before Pei Ze could speak, Xiao Xi took a step forward and said with a solemn expression, "I’ll go."

She whispered to Pei Ze, "Yang Xu’s abilities counter mine, and I don’t have a good way to deal with Xu Ke’s Illusion Technique. So just let me handle Gong Xinghe!"

Xiao Xi’s decision was well-considered.

Although Gong Xinghe was the strongest of their three opponents, he had just been through a fierce battle and expended considerable energy. She wasn’t entirely without a chance of winning.

Even if she lost to Xu Ke and Yang Xu afterward, they still had Pei Ze as a safety net.

Pei Ze understood Xiao Xi’s plan after a moment’s thought. He glanced at her and nodded. "Be careful."

The Red Lotus City side clearly wasn’t planning on holding back. Given the chance, Gong Xinghe would definitely kill her without hesitation; he wouldn’t let an opponent surrender and live.

"I will."

Xiao Xi nodded heavily and jumped down from the white mist without a second’s hesitation.

After landing safely with the Feather Fall Technique, she immediately assumed a combat stance as if facing a great enemy.

But Gong Xinghe just stood there quietly the whole time, showing no intention of launching a sneak attack.

Seeing his arrogant expression, as if victory was already in his grasp, a cold light flashed in Xiao Xi’s eyes, and she attacked without another word.

Having watched the previous battle, she knew her mastery of Magic was no match for Gong Xinghe’s, let alone close-quarters combat. So, she had no intention of competing with him in Magic or Swordsmanship, and unhesitatingly took out her personal witchcraft artifact.

It was a small, jet-black ring, shaped like a fiercely burning flame.

As Xiao Xi lightly swiped the pad of her finger across the ring’s surface, a layer of dark, profound firelight, like the dead of night, suddenly enveloped her, giving her a strange aura.

The next moment, Xiao Xi abruptly disintegrated into a countless, dense swarm of flies. With a low, deafening BUZZ, they swept toward Gong Xinghe like a black cloud.

If one looked closely, they would see that each and every fly was wreathed in a layer of black flame.

’This is...’

Pei Ze’s eyes flickered. He quickly searched his memories and soon identified the origin of the ring.

The Ring of Nether Fire!

A special witchcraft artifact created in imitation of the High-level Magic, ’Starfire Insect Cloud’.

It was called special because the targets this witchcraft artifact could affect were very limited.

In the hands of an ordinary Wizard Apprentice, the Ring of Nether Fire was only slightly more powerful than a Glimmer-grade Magic Item.

But in the hands of a Wizard Apprentice who possessed a specific ability, the Ring of Nether Fire could unleash power far superior to that of an ordinary witchcraft artifact.

And this so-called specific ability naturally referred to an ability like Xiao Xi’s, which allowed her to transform into a swarm of insects.

It could bless a designated target with the Power of Nether Fire, temporarily granting them physical damage immunity equivalent to that of a Ghostly Shadow and medium Magic resistance. Furthermore, its attacks would carry additional fire damage. It was truly a dual enhancement of both offense and defense.

Because the enhancement wasn’t that significant, its effect on a single target was not particularly noticeable.

But when applied to thousands of flies, the effect was astonishing.

One could say that this witchcraft artifact’s compatibility with Xiao Xi was extremely high.

Although the insect swarm Xiao Xi transformed into was agile, versatile, and its movements were unpredictable, its attack and defense were not outstanding.

However, with the Ring of Nether Fire, this shortcoming was instantly remedied.

Her combat power had clearly increased substantially.