While I was chanting a curse, the system said I was Xiao Yan?

"Don't space out!" Tianyan's voice wasn't loud.

Haibara Yu snapped out of his daze, gripped his short sword, and charged toward the three cursed spirits on his left.

He was fast and agile, his short sword twirling in his hand, the runes on the blade leaving trails of pale blue light as he swung it.

The first strike landed on the neck of a cursed spirit. The blade cutting into flesh felt like cutting through soaked cardboard; there was little resistance, but the sticky sensation was very uncomfortable.

The cursed spirit's head flew up, tumbled twice in mid-air, and landed on the ground with a dull thud.

Black liquid gushed out from the broken end, splashing onto Haibara Yu's trouser leg. He didn't frown or stop.

The second cursed spirit pounced, opening its mouth full of sharp teeth, aiming straight for his throat.

Haibara Yu turned to the side, his short sword slashing upwards from below, the blade cutting into the cursed spirit's jaw and exiting from the top of its head.

The cursed spirit's body froze in mid-air for a moment, then deflated like a punctured balloon, turning into black mist and dissipating.

The third cursed spirit tried to escape, its four claws frantically digging at the floor as it darted toward the stage.

Haibara Yu did not give chase.

He stood still, gripped the dagger tightly, took a deep breath, and then threw the dagger away.

The short sword spun in the air, the runes on its blade trailing a spiral of blue light as it spun, precisely striking the cursed spirit's back and pinning it to the floor.

The cursed spirit struggled a few times, then stopped moving.

Nanami's fighting style is completely different from Haibara Yu's.

Haibara Yu is fast, ruthless, and accurate; every strike is clean and crisp. Although he doesn't seem to use any special techniques, it's clear that he has put a lot of effort into his swordsmanship.

The Seven Seas are stable.

Tianyan could sense that every time Qihai attacked, the output of his cursed power would produce a subtle 'deviation' the moment it touched the target. It wasn't a black flash, but a more controllable and precise 'weak point strike,' or rather, a critical hit.

His blade was covered with a faint halo of magical energy, and each swing would cause a lot of damage to the cursed spirits. Although it had no blade, it could still cut through them.

This is the birth method of the Seven Seas Builder, the Ten-Stroke Incantation.

Divide any target into ten equal parts and force an absolute weak point at the 7:3 dividing point. Hitting the weak point will always result in a critical hit!

He chopped the first cursed spirit at the waist, breaking it in two.

The second cursed spirit pounced from the side. Nanami didn't dodge, but instead took a step forward, lowered his body slightly, and flicked it upwards, hitting the cursed spirit's chin squarely.

"Click."

The cursed spirit's head exploded instantly, and the remaining body tumbled in mid-air before crashing heavily to the ground, twitching twice, and then remaining still.

Nanami Kento stood up straight, his expression unchanged.

Tianyan looked at him and nodded inwardly. Both of them were quite strong. Although their student IDs showed them as Level 3, they would soon be able to advance to Level 2.

The remaining few cursed spirits on the ceiling seemed to sense the threat and began to retreat deeper into the space.

Tianyan gave them no chance, shooting out several bone spikes from his palm, pinning the last few cursed spirits to the ceiling with pinpoint accuracy.

He lowered his hand, revealing a unique cone-shaped protrusion in his palm. This was a ranged attack method he designed based on his low-level Xuan-rank combat skill, "Blowing Palm," and it turned out to be surprisingly effective.

Black liquid dripped down, pooling on the ground.

The hall fell silent.

Haibara Yu ran back, panting, with that smile still on his face.

"Senior Tianyan! I did it! Three of them!"

Tianyan's tone was calm, but the corners of his mouth curved slightly: "You two did a good job."

Haibara Yu's smile grew even brighter.

Qi Hai walked to Tian Yan's side, his gaze falling on the dissipating remnants of the cursed spirits on the floor, and his brows furrowed slightly.

"The aura of the curse... has not yet dissipated."

Tianyan nodded.

"Because there is something even bigger."

His gaze swept across the hall and landed on the door behind the stage. The door was closed, but wisps of black mist were slowly seeping out from the crack, crawling along the floor like snakes.

"Almost Level Two"

Tianyan said, "Or even higher."

Haibara gripped the short sword tightly, his smile fading slightly, replaced by a serious and focused expression.

Nanami didn't speak, but his curse power had already begun to gather.

Tianyan strode towards the door, and when he reached it, he raised his right foot and kicked the door open.

"Haibara, draw their attention from the front. Nanami, flank them from the side. I'll attack from behind."

"Understood." Nanami nodded.

"Received!" Haibara Yu's voice was lowered, but his energy was still there.

Behind the door was a small private room, much smaller than the main hall. The walls were covered with dark red wallpaper with gold patterns, which looked somewhat eerie in the dim light.

In the center of the room was a round table with several wine glasses on it. There was still some wine left in the glasses, but the wine had evaporated, leaving only brown residue on the glass.

Deep within the room stood a cursed spirit.

Its size was several times larger than those level-three cursed spirits, standing over two meters tall. It resembled an elongated human figure with slender limbs and dark red skin covered with black lines, like blood vessels floating on the surface of the skin.

The face was blank, without eyes or a nose, only a mouth with jagged teeth, like broken glass.

It sensed the presence of Tianyan, and its mouth slowly opened, letting out a low roar that seemed to come from the depths of its throat.

"roar!"

Haibara gripped his short sword and charged in, heading straight for the cursed spirit!

The cursed spirit's arm lashed out with astonishing speed. Haibara Yu ducked to dodge, and his short sword slashed a long gash across its arm.

Black liquid gushed out, and the cursed spirit let out a painful screech as it reached out its other hand to grab at Haibara Yu.

Haibara Yu took two steps back to avoid the grab, but the cursed spirit was faster than him. The hand changed direction in mid-air and went straight for his face!

Just then, a figure cut in from the side.

It's Nanami.

His blade, coated with dense magical energy, slashed at the cursed spirit's wrist.

"Click."

The sound of bones breaking.

The cursed spirit's wrist bent at an eerie angle, and its hand hung limply at its side.

The cursed spirit let out an even sharper screech, its body suddenly spinning, and its other hand swept towards Qi Hai.

Instead of retreating, Qi Hai took a step forward, his body slightly lowered, and his left fist slammed out, striking the cursed spirit squarely in the abdomen.

The cursed spirit's body suddenly arched back two steps and crashed into the wall.

Haibara Yu seized the opportunity, rushed forward, and thrust his short sword straight into the cursed spirit's throat. The blade pierced through the flesh and emerged from the back of the cursed spirit's neck.

The cursed spirit's body froze.

Haibara Yu was panting. He looked down at his short sword, the blade covered in a black liquid that was slowly evaporating.

"That's it? It didn't seem that difficult!"

Tianyan's gaze fell into the shadows deep within the private room: "Not yet."

Before the words were finished, two pairs of scarlet eyes lit up from the shadows.

Not one pair, but two pairs.

Two monsters that looked similar to the cursed spirit emerged from the shadows.

Level Two Cursed Spirit!

Two still!