Mo Han also understood that if he couldn't thoroughly subdue this Thunder Beast, it would be extremely detrimental to his future control over it. If he forced it to follow the Elemental Sprite's arrangement and come with him, it would surely be unwilling, leading to major trouble down the line.

Therefore, Mo Han quickly spoke to the Thunder Beast, "Still want to fight, huh? Don't say I didn't warn you; this time I won't hold back. I will make you completely submit, and then you must listen to me obediently and stop causing trouble, understand?" Upon hearing Mo Han's words, the Thunder Beast let out a few muffled sounds towards him, seemingly agreeing to Mo Han's proposal. It then turned and made a few similar sounds toward the Elemental Sprite, expressing who knows what? In any case, Mo Han was utterly bewildered. Although he could barely communicate with Xiao Mo and Xiao Han, he had absolutely no spiritual connection with this Thunder Beast and couldn't grasp its meaning at all, causing him to shake his head with a wry smile.

At this moment, the Elemental Sprite, after hearing the Thunder Beast's sounds, spoke to Mo Han, "Xiao Long says that if you can defeat him without using the divine artifact 'Sigh of the Elf Goddess,' he will be completely convinced by you."

Mo Han smiled internally upon hearing this.

He inwardly chuckled that the Thunder Beast was aware of the absurd defensive power of the divine artifact 'Sigh of the Elf Goddess' and wanted to limit his abilities first. He found it amusing that this magical beast knew how to use stratagems; it was truly not simple.

Seeing that the Elemental Sprite and the Thunder Beast were still awaiting his reply, Mo Han quickly stated, "Fine. Other than not being allowed to use this artifact of the Elf race, are there any other restrictions?" Hearing Mo Han agree, the Thunder Beast immediately let out muffled sounds of agreement.

And the Elemental Sprite, seeing this, then declared, "Since that is settled, we shall act as the judges this time. You can both prepare yourselves, and then we can begin."

When the Thunder Beast heard the Elemental Sprite, it surprisingly and consciously moved a distance away from Mo Han, showing impartiality towards the mage. This made Mo Han secretly marvel. Seeing this, Mo Han dared not be careless either, quickly casting several positive enhancement spells on himself.

Then, he laid down several layers of protective barriers around himself.

Having learned to communicate telepathically with the magic sprites, Mo Han's casting speed was now several times faster than before; he finished preparations in less than a third of the time it used to take. For casting lower-level spells, such as Fireball, Mo Han didn't need to utter the incantation at all.

He only needed to voice his intent, and the magic sprites would automatically form the magic Mo Han required according to his meaning. However, for higher-level magic, Mo Han still needed to use incantations to guide the magic sprites to arrange themselves according to his requirements to maximize their power.

Seeing that both Mo Han and the Thunder Beast were ready, the Elemental Sprite spoke faintly, "You may begin," and then vanished without a trace.

However, a magical barrier materialized between Mo Han and the Thunder Beast, clearly intended to prevent the spatial structure from being damaged should either Mo Han or the Thunder Beast unleash high-level magic. Thus, their combat arena was enclosed, though this had absolutely no impact on the magical energy of either party.

Upon hearing the Elemental Sprite's words, the Thunder Beast immediately let out a low roar, and several bolts of lightning shot swiftly towards Mo Han. But these lightning bolts had no effect whatsoever when they encountered Mo Han's protective barrier; they vanished instantly, merely causing ripples across the surface of his shield.

Evidently, these lightning bolts were probing attacks from the Thunder Beast, designed solely to test the energy level of Mo Han's protective barrier.

Indeed, following these few bolts of lightning, the Thunder Beast suddenly let out a furious roar, and countless magical elements furiously gathered around it. It seemed the Thunder Beast intended to strike Mo Han immediately with high-level magic.

But Mo Han would not allow it to cast successfully so easily. He shouted, "Fireball!" and immediately several fireballs hurtled towards the Thunder Beast. However, when they neared within three feet of the beast, they were intercepted by a burst of white electric light. It appeared the Thunder Beast also possessed a protective barrier; those low-level spells were incapable of piercing its surrounding defenses.

Seeing this, Mo Han quickly changed his strategy and began to chant in a low voice: "Great King of the Ice Spirits, Master of the vast ice plains, grant me your power, a pure divine sword, to vanquish the evil before me! Sword of Ice."

He was clearly casting a high-level spell, though the casting speed was significantly faster. As Mo Han finished his incantation, a brilliantly shining ice sword suddenly materialized before him, its blade condensing immense ice-elemental energy. This was the 7th-tier single-target ice magic, 'Sword of Ice.' Under Mo Han's command, this ice sword swiftly stabbed towards the Thunder Beast's eye.

Upon encountering the Thunder Beast's protective barrier, a flash of light erupted, and this immensely powerful ice sword broke through the beast's shield, aimed directly at its eye. The Thunder Beast, midway through its own spellcasting, was greatly alarmed and hurriedly swung its forepaws in an attempt to deflect the ice sword. With a light sound, the ice sword, under the massive force of the Thunder Beast, was knocked far away before dissolving into the air. However, Mo Han had successfully interrupted the beast's spellcasting.

After batting away Mo Han's ice sword, the Thunder Beast became furiously enraged. It seemed to have not expected Mo Han to be able to conjure such a powerful high-level spell so quickly, which was clearly far stronger than any it had encountered from him before. Realizing this, the beast understood why this human dared to accept its challenge so readily. Thinking this, the Thunder Beast suddenly extended its forepaws and slammed them heavily onto the ground, leaving Mo Han puzzled. Had the beast lost its mind after taking a hit from him? It leaped toward...