Chapter Sixteen: Who Was Dealt With?

"What is this all about?" Xu Wen looked wearily at the three massive bath tubs placed before him, nearly filling the entire room. It was hard to associate such things with the two pretty young women standing in front of him. Did girls in this world have a habit of gifting bath tubs—three at a time, no less?

This was absurd...

Only after the girls explained their intentions did Xu Wen rein in his swelling confidence and flatly reject their challenge. Was this a joke?

If every registered disciple decided to imitate them and drag a few bath tubs in to demand a challenge, how could he ever find time to cultivate? Would he spend his days in the room wrestling with bath tubs?

"You have half a minute to clean up and leave my room. If Senior Sister catches you here, your eligibility to enter the inner and outer gates will be revoked. Don’t blame me then," Xu Wen issued a direct order to leave.

"How could you be like this? Are you afraid to accept a challenge from girls?"

"Exactly! Are you even a man?"

The two girls echoed each other, putting on a show.

"No," Xu Wen replied with an unusual firmness, leaving the girls who had hoped to provoke him utterly speechless. "You..." They stared at him, unable to utter the lines they had prepared.

"Trying to use provocation against me?" Xu Wen scoffed inwardly.

"Enough with the you-and-me talk. I’m only fourteen, a genuine, original boy—not the kind of 'man' you speak of. What about you two? Have you become women yet?" Xu Wen reverted to his mischievous self, adopting a nonchalant expression as his gaze swept up and down the girls.

"Shameless!" Shi Ya’s cheeks flushed a deep red, her eyes blazing with fiery anger.

But Xiang Nan, bold and fearless by nature, was amused by Xu Wen’s playful retort and burst out laughing. "Good! You’ve got the guts to duel with the Gale Fox, but do you dare accept a challenge from us girls?" She stood with hands on her hips, fierce and imposing.

"Sorry, I don’t have time," Xu Wen replied, his tone so irritating that even he felt like he deserved a slap.

Sure enough, Shi Ya huffed angrily at his shameless demeanor and tried to storm out, but Xiang Nan grabbed her arm.

"Brother Xu, we might be cultivating under the same roof soon. Help us out—it won’t take much of your time." Xiang Nan, usually boyish, suddenly acted coy, her sweet tone dropping the room’s temperature by several degrees.

"Still no. It’s a pointless challenge, and winning brings no benefit."

Xu Wen tossed out a line, and Xiang Nan promptly caught it. "That’s easy... Whoever loses agrees to a condition set by the winner. Of course, it must be within their ability, and no backing out. What do you say?"

Xiang Nan’s quick agreement and straightforward wager made Xu Wen uneasy as he looked at their bright, expectant eyes... Strange, why did it feel as if he was the one being set up?

"Tell me the rules first," Xu Wen asked cautiously.

"The rules are simple. We each have a bath tub filled with the same amount of water. We each summon the one-star magic 'Flame Hand,' and whoever evaporates the most water in the shortest time wins," Xiang Nan explained succinctly.

Now Xu Wen finally sensed something amiss. Examining the bath tubs, he pondered: with their current strength, using 'Flame Hand' alone would hardly evaporate all the water. At first glance, it seemed a contest of magical depth—who had the highest level. But in truth, there were tricks to it.

If one recklessly summoned 'Flame Hand' and plunged it in, the magic could be extinguished by the water. After all, 'Flame Hand' was just a low-level one-star spell.

Moreover...

The intense steam generated by fire meeting water was another issue. The steam would seriously hinder contestants from gauging the bath tub’s condition.

These two had crafted a trap for him.

...If he couldn’t anticipate every possible scenario from the start, progress mid-challenge would be greatly affected. Even if their levels were similar, he could easily lose.

After much thought, Xu Wen finally agreed to their challenge.

Let’s compete, then.

They were hiding things, but so was he. His strength had already reached the peak of second-star third tier, and within two days he would advance to mid second-star. With the aid of the purple jade pendant under his clothes, his magical output was comparable to a mid-level second-star fire mage. The girls surely weren’t stronger than Ding Yushan!

"Agreed!"

"A gentleman’s word is his bond! Once promised, no turning back!" Shi Ya’s eyes shone as she reminded him repeatedly, only to be met by Xu Wen’s eye roll: "Same goes for you."

"Haha, if you lose, you have to tell me your alchemy secret!" Xiang Nan pointed at Xu Wen, as if already victorious.

Xu Wen immediately realized he’d been tricked; the girl had plotted this from the start.

"Hmph, we’ll see after I win. But if I do, little miss, you’ll be my maid," he retorted, though truthfully, he liked her lively, cheerful, straightforward character—bold but not cunning, clever and cute.

"Hmph! If you lose, you must not only tell Xiang Nan your alchemy secret, but also be my servant!" Shi Ya fired back.

"..."

Xu Wen was speechless. If he lost, he had to fulfill two conditions? He had to beat both to truly win; otherwise, it was a loss... By probability, he had an eighty percent chance of losing.

Cunning little foxes!

No wonder the ancients said: never offend women or petty men. How true—the road to wisdom is ever outmatched by cunning!

The three prepared themselves, each standing before their bath tub and chanting the incantation...

Whoosh!

Dark-red flames surged almost simultaneously from their hands!

In an instant, the scorching outer flames brushed against the water in the tubs...

Xu Wen noticed that as he made his move, Xiang Nan and Shi Ya watched him closely. Seeing that he didn’t plunge his hand directly into the tub, both looked slightly surprised and disappointed.

Hmph, little foxes...

Had he plunged his hand in, he’d have wasted time reciting the spell all over again.

But what happened next surprised Xu Wen.

Things did not quite match his expectations.

Though 'Flame Hand' was hot, its fire rose upward. With the palm hovering above the water, the back burned fiercely, heating the air in the room, but very little heat actually reached the water beneath.

"..."

Xu Wen finally realized the challenge was more complex than it seemed.

With a full tub of water, relying only on the surface heat of 'Flame Hand' would evaporate only the thinnest layer, producing scant steam and evaporating water painfully slowly.

"Heh, you’ve noticed, haven’t you?"

Xiang Nan’s face was sly as she looked at the grim Xu Wen. "Normally, when boiling water, the fire is beneath—the heat is concentrated and fully utilized. In our current situation, even if we use up all our magic, we’ll only evaporate a tiny bit."

"..."

Xu Wen didn’t reply. Instead, he stared at Shi Ya, whose flames were morphing under an invisible force.

Xiang Nan followed suit; her 'Flame Hand' transformed into a fan-sized blaze that barely touched the water’s surface. Instantly, the steam from their tubs intensified tenfold, greatly speeding up evaporation.

They were prepared!

Xu Wen’s heart sank, but he didn’t give up, fixing his gaze on the girls’ changing 'Flame Hands,' silently studying the variations and temperature.

"Give up, you’re just starting to learn. You’ve already spent much magic. At most, just tell us your alchemy secret—you don’t have to be our servant. Is that fair?" Shi Ya, worried Xu Wen thought they were tricking him, stepped back and tried to persuade him.

"Hmph! The word 'surrender' doesn’t exist in my dictionary."

Despite the girls’ small scheme, Xu Wen was not angry; instead, his old pride was stirred. He spoke, his eyes growing calm as he lifted his right hand from the water and the flames silently intensified.

Shi Ya and Xiang Nan frowned and shook their heads...

They thought Xu Wen was foolish to increase his magic output. Since the fire naturally rose upward, no matter how fiercely it burned above the water, it would still have little effect. Doing so would only drain his magic faster.

Yet!

In the next second, the room’s temperature rose noticeably! From Xu Wen’s palm, a crimson blade formed—tangible, hotter, and so sharp that Xiang Nan and Shi Ya were both startled...

Xu Wen managed to control the next phase of the flaming blade, using his mental strength to guide half the blade into the water, struggling.

Sss!!

Ssss!!!

As the blade touched the water, powerful steam billowed, denser than the girls’ by several times.

Xu Wen was right—the blade’s temperature and focus were dozens of times greater than 'Flame Hand.' Once it touched the water, the tub’s water level dropped by more than a centimeter, an astonishing effect!

The water’s erosion of the flaming blade was not severe. Apart from some increased magical output, the blade remained intact beneath the surface. If he held on for thirty seconds, the tub would be dry—victory was assured!

Xu Wen’s face lit up, about to push the blade deeper and accelerate the water’s descent, when suddenly the door burst open and a voice shouted:

"Stop, stop!"

"Xiang Nan, Shi Ya! Senior Sister says no private challenges during training! Hurry, go!"

"Ah, Senior Sister..."

Xiang Nan widened her eyes in mock surprise at the three people at the door, quickly dispelled her magic, and dragged the crestfallen Shi Ya out. "This round doesn’t count!" Her voice echoed from outside.

"What?"

Xu Wen realized the girls had already dragged the troublemaker Jin Yu away, leaving behind three giant bath tubs and Mi Xue, Senior Brother Li, and Senior Sister Wang, who stood at the door, stunned as they watched the three little foxes flee.

He’d truly been outfoxed by them this time!