Dusk thickened over Loyang when the first roar split the merchant quarter.

  Wood splintered. A storage fence collapsed inward.

  The spirit beast emerged heavy , hide layered in dull crimson scales streaked with soot-black veins. Its breath steamed faintly despite the warmth of the evening.

  Not a forest predator.

  Contained.

  Transported.

  Released.

  Li Wei’s hand went to his blade immediately.

  Feng stepped forward despite the tremor in his arm.

  Ru Yan’s eyes sharpened.

  “Fire-aspect,” she said quickly. “Flame Spirit Beast.”

  The beast exhaled — a wave of scorching breath that cracked stone and sent merchants fleeing.

  Li Wei attempted to flare his ember. The flame flickered weakly. His injury resisted output.

  Feng summoned lightning — It sparked, then dispersed mid-air. Too unstable.

  They could not win this with force.

  Zhi Yuan stepped slightly to the side, watching the breath pattern.

  “Overpressure build-up,” he murmured. “Core venting through throat .”

  The beast charged.

  Ru Yan moved first

  Water spiraled from her sleeve — not a torrent, but a focused ribbon. It struck the beast’s chest, hissing violently.

  Steam exploded outward.

  The beast staggered.

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  Ru Yan’s voice was sharp now.

  “Water disrupts the outer plates!”

  The spirit beast weakness is identified.

  Zhi Yuan lifted his hand.

  “Aэr?.”

  Wind curved along Ru Yan’s water stream, tightening it, compressing impact, forcing moistue deeper into heated scale.

  The steam thickened.

  The beast roared — not in dominance. In irritation.

  Zhi Yuan followed immediately—

  “Фlаrэ.”

  A narrow lance of flame shot through the channel — not to burn the beast—

  But to trigger rapid thermal shift. Heat to wet to flash expansion.

  The scale plates cracked.

  Not dramatically. But enough.

  Li Wei saw it.

  “Opening!” he breathed.

  He stepped forward, embedding what little flame he had left into his blade — not projecting outward, but compressing it into edge density.

  He struck the cracked plate. The blade slid in deeper than expected.

  The beast recoiled violently.

  But it did not fall. It was durable.

  It inhaled sharply — Preparing another breath.

  Ru Yan moved again.

  Water surged — heavier this time, dragonic undertone faint beneath it.

  The beast’s throat glowed—

  Then—

  Zhi Yuan changed the sequence.

  His fingers shifted.

  “Freeze.”

  The word was softer than the others.

  The water along the beast’s throat crystallized instantly.

  Frost raced inward.

  The internal heat met sudden stillness.

  A crack like splitting stone rang through the alley.

  The beast convulsed— And collapsed.

  Silence fell.

  Steam drifted slowly from frozen scales.

  Ru Yan looked at Zhi Yuan sharply.

  “I thought your spiritual power was wind.”

  Zhi Yuan lowered his hand

  “No.”

  She narrowed her eyes.

  “Then that—”

  “Is configuration,” he replied simply.

  Li Wei stared at the frost creeping along the ground.

  “You can change elements?”

  Zhi Yuan shrugged faintly.

  “They’re functions.”

  Feng exhaled slowly, still steadying his injured arm.

  Li Wei stepped closer.

  “Can I use that?”

  The question came without pride. Without hesitation. Just raw curiosity.

  Zhi Yuan paused.

  Mid-battle. Lantern light flickering.

  In his perception— The familiar pressure shifted.

  Not words. Not a full panel. But intent.

  Permission.

  He didn’t fully understand it himself.

  But he responded instinctively.

  “Permission granted,” he said quietly.

  Li Wei blinked.

  “What does that mean?”

  “I’m not sure,” Zhi Yuan admitted. “Think of cold. Not absence of fire. Think of stillness. Containment.”

  Another roar cut through the district. A second beast burst from a side alley. This one larger. Faster.

  Li Wei turned toward it. He didn’t feel different. Not stronger.

  But something shifted in his vision— Just for a breath.

  Across his sight— Foreign characters flickered.

  His pupils constricted—

  Разреш-許可Δ 承

  Pa3ram_設置 ? 完

  —and for half a heartbeat, they burned red.

  He did not understand the language.

  He did not know why it appeared.

  He only felt— Access.

  The beast lunged.

  Li Wei raised his hands

  The ember at his core did not flare outward.

  It condensed. And along its edge—

  A thin line of pale frost formed.

  Unstable. New.

  If you have theories, I’m curious to see them.

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