Before anyone could fully process why Zhu Jia would burn through so much energy so early, Gu Mama released the ball with a strong upward flick.
It soared high above the two players, spinning cleanly in the air.
"Here's the tip-off!" Lin Yulan's voice exploded through the speakers, brimming with excitent and barely contained thrill.
The entire atmosphere in the gym seed to crackle as the ga officially began.
'Damn it! Just as I thought, I can't compete with her without using fire magic!' Jin Ruolan clenched her teeth hard, frustration flashing across her face.
She jumped with everything she had, but Zhu Jia moved like lightning.
With the enhanced strength and speed from her manifestation, Zhu Jia rose effortlessly higher and snatched the ball cleanly out of the air at its peak.
The second her feet touched the ground again, she exploded forward in a blur, streaking past Jin Ruolan before the Blue team captain could even react.
Wasting no ti at all, Zhu Jia whipped a sharp pass to Fu Ting, who had already cut toward the wing.
Fu Ting caught it smoothly, but a Blue team defender imdiately lunged in to try stealing the return pass back to Zhu Jia.
Fu Ting didn't hesitate. She read the movent and redirected the ball in one fluid motion, sending it toward Zhang Yufei instead.
Zhang Yufei reached out, fingers stretching for the incoming pass, but before she could secure it, a dark, shadowy hand suddenly rose up from the floor like smoke given form.
It clamped around the ball mid-flight and deflected it sharply sideways, straight toward Jin Ruolan.
The shadowy interception drew a fresh wave of surprised noises from the crowd.
Jin Ruolan caught the redirected ball without breaking stride, already turning to push the counterattack the other way.
The Blue team's montum had shifted in an instant, and the Red team's risky opening gambit suddenly looked like it might backfire before it even had a chance to unfold.
At the exact sa mont, Xie Qingyi smoothly slid in front of Fu Ting, planting herself directly in the taller girl's path.
Her stance was light but firm, cutting off Fu Ting's route to help defend the fast break.
"What an annoying ability," Fu Ting muttered under her breath, barely loud enough for anyone to hear.
With a subtle, precise twist of her body and a quick step to the side, she shook off Xie Qingyi's pressure and slipped past her like water flowing around a rock.
"Hehe, too late now," Xie Qingyi said with a sly, knowing smile, not even bothering to chase.
That tiny delay she had created was more than enough.
Jin Ruolan had already used those precious seconds to surge past the scattered Red team defense.
She moved with terrifying speed , the basketball bouncing low and controlled at her side.
Over on the other side of the court, Zhang Yufei suddenly found herself unable to move. One of Chen Miya's subtle tricks had taken effect without warning.
A thick, gnarled tree root erupted silently from the polished gym floor, coiling around both of Zhang Yufei's legs like living ropes.
It tightened just enough to pin her in place, roots digging into the wood without cracking it.
The two remaining Red team defenders, regular students without the sa level of talent, froze as Jin Ruolan bore down on them.
She approached with the cold, unstoppable aura of soone who had already decided the outco.
"H-Hey, I'll try to block her," one of the girls stamred, her voice shaking slightly. "You guard the basket." She forced herself to step forward, knees trembling but determination flickering in her eyes.
Neither team had spent years practicing actual basketball drills. Their movents weren't polished or textbook.
But their superhuman strength, speed, reflexes, and especially their sharp divine senses more than made up for the lack of formal skill.
Every player on the court could read intentions, predict trajectories, and react faster than any normal human ever could.
The hesitant defender planted her feet wide and raised her arms, trying to body up and force Jin Ruolan into a tougher angle. But Jin Ruolan flowed like liquid shadow.
She executed a clean, low dribble between her legs, changed direction in a heartbeat, and exploded past the girl so quickly that the defender could only spin around and stare in stunned disbelief at the empty space where Jin Ruolan had just been.
Jin Ruolan closed the distance to the basket in three long strides. She gathered herself and launched upward, body extended, eyes locked on the rim with absolute focus.
The second Red team defender reacted on pure instinct. She leaped straight up to et the shot, summoning a shimring shield of pale spectral energy between her palms.
The barrier flared to life just in ti, a translucent wall ant to stop the incoming ball cold.
But the shield lasted less than a second.
A roaring fireball erupted from Jin Ruolan's free hand and slamd into it, shattering the energy construct into harmless sparks that rained down like dying embers.
The redhead's lips curled into a wicked, triumphant grin.
Her eyes flashed with victory as she whipped the basketball toward the hoop with ferocious speed and spin.
Yet the instant the ball left her fingertips, a brilliant flash of golden-white light streaked across the court. In the blink of an eye, the shot simply vanished from its path, snatched clean out of the air.
The entire gymnasium fell into stunned, breathless silence.
'Oh, damn it. I should've just dunked it,' Jin Ruolan cursed to herself, frustration burning in her chest as she landed lightly. She had gotten cocky at the last mont, and it cost her.
The ga had barely started, but the pace was already blistering.
The entire sequence, from tip-off to near-score, had unfolded in a handful of heart-pounding seconds, leaving the crowd reeling.
"Oh! A brilliant save by Zhu Jia!" Lin Yulan's voice finally shattered the quiet through the speakers.
Her tone rang with genuine excitent, though if anyone looked closely, they might have caught the faint irritation in her eyes as she shot a sideways glance at Yang Chen.
He sat there lazily yawning, one hand covering his mouth, clearly not planning to add anything useful to the comntary.
Zhu Jia wasn't finished.
After intercepting the would-be ga-opening shot with her blinding speed, she imdiately turned and exploded down the court the other way.
Her body shimred and blurred, transforming into long, dazzling streaks of light that left faint afterimages trailing behind her.
Fu Ting and Zhang Yufei both let out small, relieved breaths.
The root around Zhang Yufei's legs crumbled away as Chen Miya shifted her focus elsewhere. The twins sprang back into motion without hesitation.
Fu Ting moved first, sliding in front of Xie Qingyi and engaging her directly, using her height and reach to keep the tricky Blue team player occupied and unable to chase the fast break.
Zhang Yufei darted forward at the sa ti. She threw out both hands in quick, precise motions, conjuring thin barriers of shadow that blocked two rushing Blue team mbers in their tracks.
They bounced off the dark walls with surprised grunts, montarily stalled.
That left only one player standing between Zhu Jia and the Red team's basket.
Chen Miya.
She stood alone under the hoop with her feet planted wide.
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