Chapter 959

Gu Qing and Qi Yue stood behind Zhuang Ya, looking together at Tang Ruan in the distance.

Zhuang Ya spread her slender hand.

A tongue of flame appeared in her palm.

The flame quickly grew larger, churning and burning on her palm.

Then the large flame suddenly shrank and rounded itself, condensing into a fist-sized fireball, but one that glowed even brighter.

Zhuang Ya looked at Tang Ruan and flicked her wrist.

Whooosh~

The fireball sliced through the air and slammed into Tang Ruan's left flank with searing heat.

Boom!

Flames scattered.

The spotless white jade armor on Tang Ruan's left flank was scorched black.

The center in particular was still giving off black smoke.

Tang Ruan patted her lower belly, and the black smoke scattered from the pats.

With a light rub, the black came off, revealing the flawless white jade armor beneath that had just recovered.

Tang Ruan called out, "Sister Zhuang, your aim this time was really accurate — clear improvement!"

Zhuang Ya said helplessly, "Tang Ruan, just how strong is your recovery? I feel like that fireball hitting you was nothing more than a balloon popping."

Tang Ruan shouted again, "It cost me a lot of durability — keep going, you can fire continuously!"

Zhuang Ya nodded. "Alright, then this time you move around, and I'll fire again!"

Tang Ruan began running about wildly at her words.

Zhuang Ya clenched her fists, then suddenly spread them open.

Whoooosh~ Whoooosh~

Two fireballs had already condensed and shot out at high speed.

This time the speed at which the flames condensed was clearly faster — it seemed she could control it to some extent.

Whoooosh~ Whoooosh~

Another two!

Whoooosh~ Whoooosh~

Six fireballs in all flew out, screaming as they slammed toward Tang Ruan.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Three missed, smashing open the earth and leaving three small pits still smoldering with embers.

Bang bang bang!

Three hit Tang Ruan.

The fireballs burst open.

"Ouch, so hot, hehe!"

Tang Ruan quickly patted her body, knocking off every trace of the fireballs.

Zhuang Ya said with some worry, "Tang Ruan, how are you? Are you alright?"

Gu Qing comforted her, "Don't worry — at this level, Tang Ruan would only feel happy."

"H-happy?" Zhuang Ya didn't quite understand.

But Tang Ruan did seem to have laughed twice just now.

After Tang Ruan dusted the black ash off her body, she was indeed perfectly fine, not a hair out of place.

Zhuang Ya exclaimed in amazed admiration, "So when you said earlier that Tang Ruan was incredibly brave, that's what you meant…"

Tang Ruan ran over.

"Sister Zhuang, your fireballs are really powerful — getting hit feels like a hammer slamming into you, and they're scorching hot too."

Tang Ruan was praising her.

But Zhuang Ya felt her confidence take a hit.

"Sigh… I know you're sincere, but I can't help feeling you're mocking me."

Gu Qing said with a smile, "We all grow stronger little by little — we were all very weak at the start too. Don't rush. With my lord here, the day you grow stronger is just around the corner."

Only now did Zhuang Ya notice Zhao Chi.

"Greetings, my lord."

Zhao Chi said with a smile, "Why are you so listless right now? Bring out your confidence. Gu Qing is right — we all build up strength bit by bit. And you can't treat Tang Ruan as an ordinary opponent. An ordinary opponent would already have been burned to a crisp by your attacks just now."

Gu Qing said, "Exactly. And your fireballs are ranged attacks — against distant enemies, flying enemies, you're better at it than we are."

Qi Yue also said, "Right, Sister Zhuang Ya, don't rush. I think my lord really likes you — he's bound to invest effort in you."

Zhuang Ya forced a smile. "Thank you all for comforting me…"

As for the second half of Qi Yue's sentence, she gave no response.

Zhao Chi pulled out the Sea of Fire Technique skill book.

"I bought this for you — an intermediate spiritual technique. The damage should reach the next level."

Zhuang Ya's eyes went wide.

"Huh? For me?"

Zhao Chi took Zhuang Ya's hand and placed it on top.

"No need for more words! Learn it right now! Then give it a try!"

Zhuang Ya stared at Zhao Chi in astonishment, not understanding why his tone had suddenly become so forceful.

But she immediately realized Zhao Chi had said it on purpose, not wanting to waste time arguing with her.

Zhuang Ya gave a humphing laugh: "Little Zhao Chi, why so harsh with your tone? If you want me to learn, I'll learn!"

A red light blazed.

The Fire Sea Technique skill book lit up with a dazzling red glow, just like flames.

The light formed a great circle, completely enveloping Zhuang Ya within it, then drilled entirely into her body.

"Heh~ so this is an intermediate spiritual technique."

Zhuang Ya looked at her hands, feeling the new spiritual technique's power.

Zhao Chi pointed at the wooden dummy ahead; its surface was already covered in black scorch marks, with several spots burned into charcoal — clearly the work of the fireballs Zhuang Ya had just thrown.

"Try out this new spiritual technique."

Zhuang Ya nodded and walked up to the wooden dummy.

Gu Qing, Tang Ruan, and Qi Yue all watched her without blinking.

Zhuang Ya stood five meters in front of the wooden dummy and extended her right hand.

Suddenly, a finger-thick tongue of fire coiled around her forearm, bathing her fair arm in an orange-yellow glow.

Immediately after, the fire snake suddenly thickened, burning fully along her forearm.

"Careful," Tang Ruan called softly.

But Zhuang Ya showed no sign of pain at all; instead she tilted her chin slightly toward Tang Ruan, signaling she was fine.

It seemed the flames would not harm her.

After another half-second, the fire moved forward, compressing into her hand.

Suddenly, the firelight flared bright.

Like a high-pressure water gun blasting a column of water, a great surge of flame burst forth from Zhuang Ya's palm, gushing out.

The pupils of the several women all reflected the orange-yellow firelight.

Zhuang Ya's palm seemed to have become a flamethrower; a one-meter-thick stream of fire completely covered the area five meters ahead.

The wooden dummy crackled and popped within the flames.

"Wow~" Qi Yue breathed out in admiration, feeling waves of heat rolling in.

Gu Qing's eyes narrowed as she shielded against the fiery wind: "That's really powerful!"

Zhuang Ya had already frozen in place.

Such a raging torrent of flame — it had actually come from her?

The wooden dummy was completely ablaze; its power was on a completely different level from those fireballs earlier.

Zhuang Ya felt a surge of excitement within — this kind of power, it was too strong!

"Ha! Lord Zhao Chi, did you see that? This is actually my spiritual technique? Ha~ hahahahaha!!"