The Thunder Orb and Fire Orb in mid-air completely lost control, crackling violently.

The wind howled amidst them, wailing as if someone were crying.

Zheng Qing, feeling a bit guilty, shuffled forward a couple of steps, cautiously peering at the owner of the tail. Tushan Chujiu was lying flat on the ground, motionless. The robust blue stone slabs of the Magic Stage had been shattered into a web of cracks, and she was at the center of it all.

Miraculously, there wasn’t any blood on the ground, not a single drop.

Tushan Chujiu’s brains were also intact—just moments ago, that loud bang had truly startled Zheng Qing, making him think he had made a grave mistake. Now, regaining his bearings, he felt incredibly relieved.

Zheng Qing surmised that perhaps the amulet worn by the witch had functioned, or perhaps the elders on the judges’ seat and Centimeter Mountain had secretly stepped in to protect her.

Regardless of which possibility, it allowed him to let out a heavy sigh of relief.

A low moan emanated from the ground.

Compared to the relieved warlock, Tushan Chujiu felt utterly bewildered.

Watching helplessly as her face approached the ground closer and closer, until it finally crashed together, the intense visual and psychological impact was indescribable in words.

As a witch, especially a beautiful, highly esteemed, and noble-blooded witch, she had never been treated like this. She had never even taken slightly heavier blows, let alone been swung by the tail onto stone slabs.

She was a wizard!

A spell-casting wizard!

An elegant wizard, whose everyday smiles and demeanor were deemed impeccable by the elders!

Except for that group of freaks from the Tianmen Zhang family, what wizard would rush in fists flying during a fight? Not to mention using such violent means on a lady in a refined setting like the Shanglin Garden Spring Hunt.

At this moment, she was both angry and anxious, feeling extremely aggrieved, and just wanted to dig into the pile of rubble, disappearing from sight. But the strange sensation from her tail made her realize that even if she wanted to burrow, she couldn’t.

Soft footsteps sounded nearby.

Zheng Qing shuffled closer again.

The distance between them had narrowed to within two or three steps, with Zheng Qing still tightly gripping Tushan Chujiu’s tail, and Tushan Chujiu simply continued to lie limply on the ground, pretending to be dead.

He surely couldn’t swing me around again!

The witch buried her face in the rubble, thinking bitterly.

Neither spoke, the scene was slightly awkward—or rather, it was exactly because the scene was so awkward that neither knew how to begin.

Does this mean the victor has been decided?

Zheng Qing hesitantly looked up in the direction of the judges’ seat.

If this were a boxing ring, when an opponent lies motionless for a period, it would count as a defeat. The problem is, they are wizards, and the Magic Stage is not a boxing ring.

The judges’ seat remained silent.

Perhaps they were still stunned by the earlier scene.

Tushan Chujiu remained speechless.

The silence stretched on for several minutes, and Zheng Qing finally couldn’t hold back, giving the large tail in his hand a tug.

"Hey."

He tried greeting, then felt the word too impolite, paused, and politely asked while holding the tail, "Hello, would you like to surrender?"

Do you even hear yourself?!

Tushan Chujiu rolled her eyes internally, continuing to lie still on the ground.

Could he have really beaten her to death? No way, she just let out a groan. Zheng Qing watched the figure lying in front of him warily, with tales of crafty fox spirits playing dead and then launching deadly counterattacks flashing through his mind.

He couldn’t rule out the possibility that the shockwave had deafened her.

Thinking of this, Zheng Qing lifted his leg, tentatively nudged his captive with his toe—since he was still holding onto the tail, considering the length of his arm and leg, his toe happened to hit the base of her thigh.

In less refined terms, he kicked her butt.

Tushan Chujiu’s body suddenly went rigid, shivering violently.

Zheng Qing clearly saw the long fur on the big tail he was holding stand on end as if attracted by static electricity. He instinctively thought the opponent was about to use some big move to counterattack and instinctively swung back.

Bang!

Another round.

This time, he held back a bit, so the impact wasn’t as solid. But due to the surrounding heat and mist gradually dissipating, the scene was caught by many young wizards by Crescent Lake.

Everyone was dumbfounded, unsure of what had just happened.

Including Jiang Yu.

She felt like it was just the blink of an eye, how did Zheng Qing grab the big fox’s tail and smash it to the ground? Didn’t he just release a flock of birds? Besides, grabbing a fox’s tail seems a bit impolite.

You must not laugh, definitely must not laugh!

The young lady of Zhongshan frowned, bit her lip, and pinched the pink-robed witch beside her hard, nearly making the latter jump.

"Enough!"

From Centimeter Mountain came a reprimand suppressed with anger: "Are you trying to humiliate the Tu Mountain clan?"

Zheng Qing looked up blankly toward where the sound came from, confused as to why it was said — isn’t this the Magic Stage? Just a fight, how did it escalate to ’humiliation’? Or is it that I must pretend to be defeated to make sense? Has the victor already been predetermined?

Feeling dissatisfied, he squeezed the big tail in his hand, trying to wake up his opponent to reason it out.

Tushan Chujiu’s body trembled slightly, fists clenched tightly within her sleeves, but her eyes remained closed, resolute without any movement.

This stalemate won’t do.

Zheng Qing pondered for a few seconds, finally coming up with a solution.

He fixed his gaze on the captive, clenched the fox tail tightly with one hand, and took out a creeping cloud talisman from the grey cloth bag with the other, throwing it onto the ground. The surrounding mist gathered beneath the witch, swiftly forming a small white cloud to lift her up.

Then he grasped the tail, dragging the witch, throwing her out of the Magic Stage amid the low, slow rumbling of the creeping cloud talisman.

Splash!

Perfect!

Zheng Qing unconsciously patted his hands, feeling quite gentlemanly for not dragging her directly on the ground off the Magic Stage. Besides, the sudden emptiness in his hand felt quite unfamiliar.

"Thank you... Eh, where is she?"

After throwing her off the Magic Stage, Zheng Qing, according to the rules, solemnly performed a courtesy but on looking up, he discovered nothing but emptiness; Tu Mountain Chujiu was nowhere to be seen.

However, Jiang Yu by Crescent Lake saw very clearly.

Almost just as Tu Mountain Chujiu hit the ground, a white rainbow light impatiently descended from Centimeter Mountain, precisely enveloping the witch, whisking her back to the mountain.

This time, the judges on the judging panel expressed no objections.

"Zheng Qing challenges Tu Mountain Chujiu; the victor, Zheng Qing!"

A green bird spread its wings, rising from the foot of Centimeter Mountain, circled Crescent Lake once, and its clear, melodious sound echoed across the shimmering water, appearing elegant and composed.

Yet the more so, the scene where the warlock swung a beauty onto the ground just now became all the more striking.

So, at Centimeter Mountain, beside Crescent Lake, everyone quietly stared at the young warlock still standing at the edge of the Magic Stage, observing the seemingly shy smile on his face, in silence for a long time.

No applause typical at the end of usual challenge matches, nor cheers, not even the murmur of exchanged small talk.

Everyone looked at him with complex expressions, unsure how to evaluate this scene.

"This is what a true challenge is... This is what a true wizard is!"

The current Lei Zhe of the Sacred Will, Zhang Uncle Zhi of Tianmen Zhang Family, with arms crossed, looked at Zheng Qing with a gaze full of reassurance, repeated a praise he had given before: "No wonder my brother willingly stays below him."

"Apart from your family, nobody at Centimeter Mountain finds this normal." Zhao Qiao unreservedly retorted.

Yet Deng Xiaojian looked at Zheng Qing with newfound admiration: "Now I truly believe that he and Su Councilor have children... Normal wizards wouldn’t do such ’ruthlessly smashing flowers’ things!"

"It’s not called ’ruthlessly smashing flowers’, it’s clearing relations, self-proven innocence."

Zhan Yuchen, who once managed Pet Garden, smacked his lips, providing a very fitting example: "If a little fox in the garden had stolen someone’s chicken leg, it’d surely brush its teeth, rinse, wash its paws clean, then intentionally grin and pace circles before you, to prove it hasn’t stolen."